A meeping druid (![[info]](http://l-stat.livejournal.com/img/userinfo.gif){kind=small} meeperie) wrote,@ 2009-01-04 20:02:00 |
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Oh, how the molten have fallen...
This weekend was full of raiding fun. Saturday, I got tapped for my first visit to Naxx. We got Spider and Military wings down and killed Helgrim of the Glowing Green Acidfirelava, and only wiped on him once. I got to tank the back two of the Four Horsemen along with Liongale, our raid leader pally. That was remarkably fun. I mean, aside from avoiding the black circles of doom and spamming mend pet between steady shots, and occsionally rezzing my loyal raptor so he could soak bolts for me, it was fun. Aspect of the Viper meant I never ran out of mana, and it was easy enough to whip around and right-click the other horseman and hit pet attack when Lion called out for me to switch with him. Also, I got a nice 2h sword. I won't have to upgrade that bad boy unless I somehow manage to be part of a Malygos raid where Black Ice drops, and win the roll.
Friday, however, was equally fun. I ran Molten Core.
Three years ago, Molten Core was absolutely out of the question. Even if I got my hunter (I was playing a nelf hunter at the time) to 60, there's no way I'd have the time to go on a 6-8 hour raid even if I could find a raiding guild that would take me. Back then, it was just accepted that hunters didn't bring their pets out for raids - pathing issues, DPS issues, wasting mana to heal them, it just wasn't done. (Now, however, the exact opposite is true. Thank you Blizz!) Even if something dropped for a hunter, you'd be rolling against multiple other hunters for it since MC was a 40-man raid. And then there was Rhok'delar, Longbow of the Ancient Keepers.
This epic bow was only for hunters - and the item that started the quest for it dropped from Majordomo. In order to summon Majordomo, you had to have 7 people who were honored or better with the Hyxraxian Waterlords, and you got rep with them by killing things in Molten Core. The quest line for the epic bow required a hunter to kill four level 60 elite demons wandering in various corners of the world. Alone. If anyone or anything got on the demons' agro table - if a kind stranger healed you or a nasty stranger attacked the demon, or even if your pet took a swipe at it - the demon would despawn. Then, once you killed all four demons, you had to raid Onyxia. The attunement for Onyxia was long and annoying as hell, but I won't go into it. One of the things she has a chance to drop is a Mature Black Dragon Sinew, which becomes the string for the epic bow. And again, this was a 40-man raid, so even if she did drop the sinew...you're rolling against the other hunters in the raid for it.
That was three years ago. The amount of time and effort required to get this ultimate hunter weapon was just insane, and I never thought I'd ever have a chance to do any of it. Now, however, the level cap is 80, the attunement for MC can be soloed easily, and the attunement for Onyxia has been lifted entirely. Five people can kill her with a bit of coordination, the same as any five-man instance boss. Hunters are now mocked and shunned for NOT having their pets out, rather than for having the audacity to bring their pets with them to the fight. Next patch, the rep requirement for summoning Majordomo and Ragnaros is going to be lifted. And I have a Mature Black Dragon Sinew sitting in the bank. As for running Molten Core?
This is Takk, my loyal black raptor. He's tanking Garr, one of the bosses in Molten Core. As you can see from the bars on the left, there were a mere six other people in there with me. Molten Core has gone from a 40-man time sink for the hardcore elites to something bored people do on a Friday night for giggles. We didn't bother with the epics, really. They're sadly outdated and good only for RP outfits, or nostalgia. We had to remind the priest to loot them so he could shard them...but then never bothered distributing the shards. Me, I want the Ancient Petrified Leaf so I can go kill demons and own the bow that, three years ago, I never thought I would ever have the remotest chance at getting.
A friend once challenged me to get the epic hunter bow when he thought I was bragging about my first Kara run, saying that if I wanted to brag, I should go get that. But I'm not doing it for the bragging rights, since anyone will be able to get it come next patch. I'm doing it because it's spitting on the grave of old-world raiding and thumbing my nose at the raiders of three years ago who looked down their noses at anyone not willing to put in the insane amount of time and effort for the merest chance of reward. Petty? Maybe. But I can't think of a single better weapon to use as part of an RP outfit. Also, Ryxl hates the hell out of the Black Dragonflight. Take that, old-world raiders. I'm using the once-great epic hunter bow as an RP prop. ^_^
This weekend was full of raiding fun. Saturday, I got tapped for my first visit to Naxx. We got Spider and Military wings down and killed Helgrim of the Glowing Green Acidfirelava, and only wiped on him once. I got to tank the back two of the Four Horsemen along with Liongale, our raid leader pally. That was remarkably fun. I mean, aside from avoiding the black circles of doom and spamming mend pet between steady shots, and occsionally rezzing my loyal raptor so he could soak bolts for me, it was fun. Aspect of the Viper meant I never ran out of mana, and it was easy enough to whip around and right-click the other horseman and hit pet attack when Lion called out for me to switch with him. Also, I got a nice 2h sword. I won't have to upgrade that bad boy unless I somehow manage to be part of a Malygos raid where Black Ice drops, and win the roll.
Friday, however, was equally fun. I ran Molten Core.
Three years ago, Molten Core was absolutely out of the question. Even if I got my hunter (I was playing a nelf hunter at the time) to 60, there's no way I'd have the time to go on a 6-8 hour raid even if I could find a raiding guild that would take me. Back then, it was just accepted that hunters didn't bring their pets out for raids - pathing issues, DPS issues, wasting mana to heal them, it just wasn't done. (Now, however, the exact opposite is true. Thank you Blizz!) Even if something dropped for a hunter, you'd be rolling against multiple other hunters for it since MC was a 40-man raid. And then there was Rhok'delar, Longbow of the Ancient Keepers.
This epic bow was only for hunters - and the item that started the quest for it dropped from Majordomo. In order to summon Majordomo, you had to have 7 people who were honored or better with the Hyxraxian Waterlords, and you got rep with them by killing things in Molten Core. The quest line for the epic bow required a hunter to kill four level 60 elite demons wandering in various corners of the world. Alone. If anyone or anything got on the demons' agro table - if a kind stranger healed you or a nasty stranger attacked the demon, or even if your pet took a swipe at it - the demon would despawn. Then, once you killed all four demons, you had to raid Onyxia. The attunement for Onyxia was long and annoying as hell, but I won't go into it. One of the things she has a chance to drop is a Mature Black Dragon Sinew, which becomes the string for the epic bow. And again, this was a 40-man raid, so even if she did drop the sinew...you're rolling against the other hunters in the raid for it.
That was three years ago. The amount of time and effort required to get this ultimate hunter weapon was just insane, and I never thought I'd ever have a chance to do any of it. Now, however, the level cap is 80, the attunement for MC can be soloed easily, and the attunement for Onyxia has been lifted entirely. Five people can kill her with a bit of coordination, the same as any five-man instance boss. Hunters are now mocked and shunned for NOT having their pets out, rather than for having the audacity to bring their pets with them to the fight. Next patch, the rep requirement for summoning Majordomo and Ragnaros is going to be lifted. And I have a Mature Black Dragon Sinew sitting in the bank. As for running Molten Core?
This is Takk, my loyal black raptor. He's tanking Garr, one of the bosses in Molten Core. As you can see from the bars on the left, there were a mere six other people in there with me. Molten Core has gone from a 40-man time sink for the hardcore elites to something bored people do on a Friday night for giggles. We didn't bother with the epics, really. They're sadly outdated and good only for RP outfits, or nostalgia. We had to remind the priest to loot them so he could shard them...but then never bothered distributing the shards. Me, I want the Ancient Petrified Leaf so I can go kill demons and own the bow that, three years ago, I never thought I would ever have the remotest chance at getting.
A friend once challenged me to get the epic hunter bow when he thought I was bragging about my first Kara run, saying that if I wanted to brag, I should go get that. But I'm not doing it for the bragging rights, since anyone will be able to get it come next patch. I'm doing it because it's spitting on the grave of old-world raiding and thumbing my nose at the raiders of three years ago who looked down their noses at anyone not willing to put in the insane amount of time and effort for the merest chance of reward. Petty? Maybe. But I can't think of a single better weapon to use as part of an RP outfit. Also, Ryxl hates the hell out of the Black Dragonflight. Take that, old-world raiders. I'm using the once-great epic hunter bow as an RP prop. ^_^
