So let's get to know you a bit first, how long have you been playing WoW?

I've been playing WoW since January of 2008

Was Rogue your first choice or did you mess around with other classes then finally decide to land where you are now?

Rogue was absolutely my first choice (and is any just about any game I play), I've played around with other classes since then but never seriously

What's the name of your guild?
Axiom

So how far has your guild gotten into Ulduar in both 10 and 25 man?

We've gotten to Mimiron on 10 man and Thorim on 25

Do you like or dislike using vehicles at all in a raid instance?

  I'm not really a fan of the vehicle use in Malygos but I think that has more to do with the mechanics of that phase than the fact that we're using vehicles, clumping up and spinning in a circle just doesn't do it for me.  Now Flame Leviathan, that fight is the most fun I've had in a long time.  It's easy but I love it.

Have you completed any Hard modes yet?

As of yet, no.  Gotta give the instance a few clears before we try that.  I'm thinking (hoping) we'll have it cleared next week.

What boss has been the most challenging so far?

I believe that Razerscale gave us the most trouble at first but I think that had more to do with us getting back in the swing of raiding content that's brand new and hasn't been on farm for what feels like forever.  Also, once we realized that the devouring flames target the closest person it was cake.  Delicious chocolate cake.

How would you rate compare the difficulty level of Ulduar to Naxxramas?

On a scale of one to ten.  With Sunwell being a 10 and killing critters being a 1, I would say Naxx is a 3 with Ulduar being an 8, probably peaking towards 9 on the hard modes.

Do you agree with the nerfing of regular modes Blizzard is introducing?

Some of them needed nerfing (Ignis was a terror but that was probably had more to do with bugs) but I definately think they over did it.  XT is a completely joke now.  Adding another minute to the enrage timer seems ok but I felt like trantrum was at the right level of difficulty already.

How about the buffing of Hard modes?

  I'm all for this, I love an encounter than can kick my butt.
Does being able to dual spec benefit your raid greatly or is it something you find yourself and guild mates rarely using in Ulduar?
(and if being used often) does it effect the way your guild distributes items?

Does being able to dual spec benefit your raid greatly or is it something you find yourself and guild mates rarely using in Ulduar?Does it effect the way your guild distributes items?

I haven't seen anyone use their dual spec for a raid yet.  It's not a requirement in our guild, most of us are using it for PvP.  I know that no one would have a problem switching for a fight if we needed them to.  As for loot, we use a very awesome loot list system and dual spec hasn't (and can't really) effect that

Have any Shards of Val'anyr dropped yet?

  Yes, I believe we have 4 or 5

How is your guild distributing them?

  I wasn't involved in the decision, that was something the officers and the healers worked out (despite how good I am with bandages I wasn't invited).  I believe they had a roll off

How do you feel about only being able to fight Algalon one hour per week?

I think it's a cool idea.  Help shape up those guilds with terrible wipe recovery (like us)

On a scale of 1 to 10 how well do you think Blizzard is tuning raid content in Wrath?

  If I had only seen Naxx, I'd say 5 but now, having seen Ulduar I get exactly what they're going for (a nice steady progression) so I'd say 7.5

Is your guild still doing Naxx or is it strictly Ulduar right now as far as time consuming instances?

Nope, it's Ulduar and Ulduar only now.

Do you have any tips for any raiders out there?

Wake up.  No seriously, I had to turn my A game back on for Ulduar.  But for an actual legitimate tip, I'd say work on your UI.  I'm a strong proponent of organizing your UI in order to keep the most relevant information in the middle of the screen for easy access while keeping your situational awareness high.

Thanks for taking the time to talk with me!

Anytime

Be sure to check out Zaltu’s Blog, One Rogues Journey!

That's right, folks! Ensidia just killed Mimiron hard mode, which makes them to first guild to reach Algalon on 25-man. Let's see how long it'll take to get him down ~_^

Grats to Ensidia!

It's a question I ask myself from time to time. I'm sure there are others that feel the same way, but how new is new content? We've seen Ulduar and The Argent Tournament all over MMO-Champion and the PTR for the past few months, anything from the loot that drops to videos/strategies of the boss fights, and I can't help but wonder how much more of a challenge things would be without the PTR. In a good way I mean.


I know that the PTRs are there for a reason, to test the content before it comes out to fix any bugs and make sure it's ready, but personally I think it'd feel much more epic seeing all this for the first time when it's actually released. Having to figure out the strategies yourself instead of just heading over to the forums and reading up how to do the fight right away. Now of course anyone could simply ignore all the information that goes up about the PTRs, but that would put them at a disadvantage when it comes to clearing content the fastest, world firsts, etc. Well if the information wasn't released to anyone wouldn't they be at a disadvantage anyway? No. Everyone would be on the same leveling, figuring out the fights for the first time when they're first released. Seeing the new armor/weapon models when they actually drop for you.

Now of course if Blizzard ever did this they would have to find some other way to test the content before it's released. They had the PTRs up for a month or two and still had a few bugs when the patch went live, so there's some issues that would be needed to overcome.

It would also mean that we wouldn't be seeing 14 boss raid instances cleared in less than 24 hours. Even if it only took a day longer, this is months of content that's being absolutely blown through. Yes, yes I know there's still 1 more boss in Ulduar.

This has it's ups and downs, and I'm sure plenty of people are happy with being able to hop in there and follow what's been written down on paper, but I think it'd put a better feel and more of a challenge into raiding.

~Aenorn

Vodka wasn't far behind Ensidia in the Ulduar train, with the US First kill and World 2nd. Glad EU isn't stomping all over us for World firsts this time. Congrats, Vodka!

Val'anyr Hammer of Ancient Kings is a new Legendary item, and the first one added in Wrath. Though the stats are not yet known, it's expected to be only available in a healing version.

The hammer is created by combining 30 Shattered Fragments of Val'anyr, which drop from most bosses in Ulduar-25, and completing a quest line, much like how Atiesh, Greatstaff of the Guardian was created by combining 30 Splinters of Atiesh from Naxxramas-40 (Pre-BC). Although Atiesh was available in many different fashions, Val'anyr is believed to be only available to healers because the Fragments of Val'anyr that are combined to create this weapon are only usable by Paladins, Priests, Shamans and Druids. Of course it seems rather obvious that it will be healer specific as of the class choices Blizzard has placed on the Fragments, but it's never good to assume! We all know what happens when you do that >:D



Also, the equip effect on the mace is for healers. Did I forget to mention that?

Val'anyr Hammer of Ancient Kings - Equip Effect: Your healing spells have a chance to cause Blessing of Ancient Kings for 15 seconds allowing your heals to shield the target absorbing damage equal to 15% of the amount healed.

Now some of you may be thinking "Ugh, why do the caster weapons always require you to gather so many pieces of this stuff!" which I myself am thinking to be honest :) In Burning Crusade Physical DPS got their Legendary weapons off of drops, but I (along with many others) personally think that makes them feel less epic. I'd rather do a long, awesome quest line or work incredibly hard to get 30 pieces of something to make this amazing weapon than by just getting it off of a boss, which anyone who get's lucky and can down that boss can do. Getting all these pieces then completing the quests that are required takes dedication from both you and your guild and I think this is the way Legendary items should be aquired.

~Aenorn

Yogg-Saron World First Kill by Ensidia


There you have it folks! Ensidia takes the Gold (medal that is).

Congratulations!

ULDUAR

Ulduar is a new raid instance in Northrend that is being released with patch 3.1. It features Tier 8 armor sets, a new Legendary spell caster mace, new epic non-set items, new instance specific achievements, and 14 new bosses including both Normal (10), and Heroic (25) settings and a new Hard Mode which you can choose to activate on each boss. Players will start in the outer part of the instance and work their way inside by killing trash mobs and bosses.

It serves as the prison of the Old God Yogg-Saron as well as the current residence of most of the titanic watchers who have fallen under his influence

"Beneath ancient Ulduar, the Old God of death lies, whispering.... Tread carefully, or its prison will become your tomb."

Flame Leviathan

Flame Leviathan is an incredibly unique fight, as it requires you to use vehicles. At the beginning players will be able to choose from a number of vehicles, each with different abilities. The Health of these vehicles depends not on your stamina, but on your average item level. In retrospect a Priest could possibly tank better than a Warrior on this fight, depending on what gear they have.

Destroying the towers in the area prior to the fight will issue Flame Leviathan be set on Hard Mode. Each tower that is destroyed will give the Flame Leviathan an ability, this ability depends on which tower is destroyed.


Ignis the Furnace Master

The Ignis encounter begins as a general tank and spank. He uses an ability called Flame Jets, which will lock anyone casting out of that spell school for 8 seconds so casters should pay close attention. He will periodically charge random players and place them in the slag pot connected to his stomach, whoever this is should be paid attention to, as it causes a mean DoT.

Throughout the fight, Ignis will begin to activate Iron Constructs. He will gain a 20% damage increase for each of these that are alive. The strategy is to drag them through the Scorch areas until they are Molten. They can be rooted. Once they're molten you should then drag them to one of the water pools. Once there, they will begin to turn Brittle, this causes them to have a 50% higher chance of being critically hit and they will be shattered (killed) if they're hit for over 5000 with a single ability.


Razorscale

Razorscale is the third boss encounter in Ulduar, and is an Ironbound Proto Drake that flies over the Razorscale's Aerie, across from the Colossal Forge. It seems Razorscale is the product of Loken's plans with Veranus.

Razorscale is in the most part a typical old school Dragon fight, an air phase and a ground phase. You must speak with the Expedition Commander to begin the encounter. The fight begins with Razorscale in the air, you'll be protecting the Expedition Dwarfs as they repair the harpoons, it's pretty straight forward: Kill the adds, and stay out of the fire. The harpoons will be repaired one at a time, and once they are they become usable. You'll need to fire all of them to bring her to the ground.

Once she is out of the air she will be stunned for a several seconds, your raid should be DPSing her at this point. After the stun wears off she will return to the air and begin the air phase again.

At 50% Razorscale will land permanently and should be tanked facing away from the group. She will do an AoE knock back during the fight and inflict the Flame Buffet debuff. The DPS should be going all out to defeat her before Flame Buffet causes the tank to be slaughtered.


XT-002 Deconstructor

XT-002 Deconstructor is the fourth encounter in Ulduar. He directly blocks the entrance into the lower level of Ulduar in the Scrapyard.

This fight is mostly a tank and spank encounter. XT-002 should be tanked at the bottom of the stairs in his area. All Ranged classes and Healers should stay together in a tight group, when someone gets hit with Gravity Well or Light Bomb, that person should immediately move away from the group to minimize damage, especially in the case of Gravity Well. Healers need to watch out for Tympanic Tantrum and make sure everyone in the raid is decently healed.

Once XT-200 reaches 75% he will stop attacking and spawn adds. XS-013 will heal him if they reach him, so these are top priority. XE-321 Boombots explode upon reaching 50% health, dealing damage to any players or NPCs in range. This can be an effective method for taking out Scrapbots but take care to make sure that none slip past and heal XT-002.XM-024 Pummelers are standard adds which should be off tanked and DPSed down once Scrapbots and Boombots have been taken care of. Simply rinse and repeat until dead. He will repeat this phase at both 50 and 25%.

To activate XT-200 Hard Mode, during the add phase you can click on XT-200 to expose his heart, which can be killed. Once the heart is killed his health and damage will be increased by 25% and he will be fully healed.


This guide will be continued with the inner bosses of Ulduar in time. Until then, good luck! You can find me swimming on my mount in Stormwind ~_^

~Aenorn