Ofcourse,havingafundamentalunderstandingoftheencountersintheiroriginallydesignedform,andhavingaraidforcewhichoperatesthrougheachbossfightlikeclockwork,bothhelp.WhileeventhesloppiestPuGissteamrollingcontentnow,you'restillgoingtoneedpeopleintheraidwhoknowhowthingslikeVashj'scores,Kael'sweaponsandArchimonde'stearswork.WhichbringsusneatlyontohowBlackTempleandSunwellhavefaredsincethepatch...
Thisisprettysymptomaticofraidingpost-3.0.2ingeneral-whilenothingonthesurfacehaschangeddrastically,everything'sbecomeawholeloteasier,asincreaseddamageoutput,decreasedmobhealthandrelaxingofraidconstraintsalladduptogreateffect.Previouslycomplexencountersbecomealmosttrivialandpreviouslytrivialencountersbecomehilarious,withaslighttwistofnostalgiawhenrememberinghowhardtheywerefirsttimeround.
BlackTemple
Notexactlytheseriousraider'sfavouriteinstance(duetooverfarming,mostly),BlackTempleisnowalotshorterand-hopefully-this'llsweetenitabitifyouhaveenoughenthusiasmtokeepfarmingitbeforeWotLK.Thecomplexityofprettymucheveryencounteristrivialisedwiththechanges,althoughthat'snottosayyoucanbeentirelycomplacent.
Naj'entuswill(probably)stillinvolveaspinethrow,andyou'llstillhavetoavoidvolcanoesonSupremus(asifyoudidinthefirstplace!).Teronistrivialandmostlikelykillableevenifnobodyintheraidcandoghosts.MostofthedelicatebeautyofBloodboilco-ordinationcanbethrownoutofthewindow,andtheReliquaryofSoulsdoesn'tlivelongenoughtobeathreat.MotherShahraz'sstrictshadowresistancerequirementcanbewrittenoff,andwhiletheIllidariCouncilcanstillbeatrickypull,thelengthofthefight-oneofitsmainchallenges-isdrasticallyreduced.Illidanhimselfwilldiewithoutademonphaseformostexperiencedgroups,andcanbetankedbyadruidnow,butyou'llstillprobablywanttwoflametanksforsafety.
Oneofthecommonthemeswithallthesefightsisthatthereduceddurationmeansthere'salotlesschanceforindividualmistakes,suchaspoorreactionstoShahraz'sports,orpoorperformanceatghosts.EvenifyouareoneoftheunluckyfewpickedbytheRNG,you'llprobablystillpullitoff(oryourraidwilltriumphanyway).Ifyou'vebeenstrugglingwithoneofthesefightsbecauseoftoomanymistakescascadingintoawipe,it'sdefinitelyworthgoingbackandseeingifyoucankillitnow-youprobablywill.
SunwellPlateau
ThedesignoftheSunwellmarkedachangeindirectionfromBlackTemple,ensuringagreaterdealofindividualresponsibilityfortheraid'swelfare-i.e.ifyouscrewedupinBlackTempleonlyyoudied,butifyouscrewupinSunwellyoucanwipethewholeraid.AswithBlackTemple,thisisdiminishedwiththechanges,butwe'dstillrecommendknowingthefightstosomeextentbeforerunninginandplanningtoone-shoteverythingwithaPuG.
Kalecgos'portalsarestillfairlycrucialtotheencounter;you'llwanttomakesureyourtanks,healersandDPStakeportalsinmixedgroups,thoughyoucanchangethestrategysomewhat.Thedragon'shealthdropsfairlyfastduetothesheernumberofpeopleupstairsatthestart,andyouneedtoensurethedemonactuallydiesintime,soyoucouldassignyourbestDPSerstogodownfirstregardlessofwhogotported.It'suptoyouhowyouhandleit,youroldstrategywillworkjustfine,aslongasyoudon'tgetentirelycomplacentandforgetthattanksintheshadowrealmneedhealing(orsimilar).
BrutallusstillneedstobetauntedandtheraidneedstonotspreadBurn,buthishealthandyourDPSmeansthefightisoversofastitisn'tamajorproblemifpeopledie.ExpecttosetsomejuicynewDPSrecords.
Felmystseemstobeuniversallydyingbeforehersecondairphase,andagain,iseasilykillablenowifafewpeoplefailtomoveoutofbreaths,encapsulatesorgreenbeams.Ideallyyourraidiswellexperiencedatavoidingthesefatalspells,andit'salmostunfortunatethatyoucan'treallyassesstrialists'performanceinthisdimensionwiththefightinitscurrentstate.You'llstillwanttofollowthesamebasicstrategyasyoudidbefore,toensuremassdispelling,butaseveryclasscantheoreticallyAoEtanknowyourprotectionpaladincanfinallygetanightoff.
TheEredarTwinsencounterisonewherecomplacencyisdefinitelydeadly;therearefewerConflagratescast,butthatdoesn'tmeanyoucanblowuptheraid!Ifyoudon'twipetoconflagratesortheledgeboss,they'llbedeadbeforeyoucanblink.
It'sarealshametoseeM'urureducedtoamucheasierfight;zergingM'uruhimselfmeansthebloodelfaddscanbeoff-tanked(byoneortwotanks,yourpreference)andtheresultingshortphase1durationallowsforonetanktodobothsentinelsandspawns.Yourownversionofthismightdiffer,ofcourse,butanywayyoutrytoputit,thefight'sdefinitelysimplifiednow.Evenifhalftheraidisunawareoftheactualspecificsoftheencounter,you'lllikelystillbeatit.
AndnowKil'jaeden.Thisisafightwithmanycomplexaspects,andwe'drecommendfamiliarisingyourselveswiththeoriginalversionoftheencounterbeforeattemptingthe3.0.2version.ThechangetoKJ-reducedhealth-hasalotofknock-oneffects,reducingthedurationofeachphaseandthusremovingalotofthedangeroftheencounter,buttherearestillbasicstepsfromtheoriginalstrategyyou'llwanttotake.
AswiththeotherfightsinSunwell,itshouldbeprettyeasytotakesomeonenewalongandtellthem"standhere,whenyouseeahellfireanimationonthegroundmovethere,whenyouseehimcastingDarknessmovehere"withoutexplainingmuchoftheactualfight'smechanicstothem.It'dbeashame,ofcourse,todenypeoplethejoyofunderstandingsuchacomplexencounter,butraidingpost-3.0.2isn'taboutcomplexity;it'saboutzergingcontentasfastaspossible,forlevellinggearorsimplyforthefunoffinallyhavingcompletedendgame.
We'dlovetohearmoreaboutyourpost-3.0.2raidingexperiences,sofeelfreetochipinbelow!Bestoflucktoanyonetryingthesebossesforthefirsttime-judgingbythenumberofnewkillsrecently,theyshouldn'tbetoodifficultforanyone.
Forexample,althoughyou'llfindheonlycastsDarknessofaThousandSoulsahandfuloftimes-dependingonhowfastyoukillhim-youstillneedtoknowwhattodowhenhedoescastit.Meteorswillstillland,andyou'llhavetoavoidthem.TheraidstillneedstospreadouttoavoidexcessivedamagefromFireBloomandFlameDart.Youwillfindthatthemosthecticpartofthefight,phase5,isalotsimplerwhenit'soversomuchquicker;also,youcantoleratealotmorepersonalerrorthanbefore,soevenifacoupleofpeopledietometeorsitwon'tbetheendoftheworld.