I know it has been a few days (week or so) since my last post on either blog but boy things have been busy. Work is busy, home is busy, kids are busy and at the end of the day I just want to relax and play some video games, hence why no posts! We have been raiding on Saturday nights though and the past two weeks we have ventured into BRF. The guild ended up getting Gruul and Beastlord Darmac down!

I am really enjoying the difficulty of BRF, and I know that it has caused some tension in other guilds and trash is REALLY annoying at times, but it feels like a step in the right direction. The guild has seemed to pull together more and put forth a great effort at getting these bosses down. Not that we were not doing the same thing in Highmaul, but it feels that this time we are pushing harder than before. The new gear that we are getting helps a lot too. I would like to be able to say that I have been trying to get into other groups and run some Heroic Highmaul but that has not happened since I have been getting sucked into other games….dang you Alien: Isolation and Age of Wonders 3…

Gruul

I am so glad that Gruul is back. I loved this fight a long time ago, and this space makes it that much better. When we fought Gruul before, I felt that the space was bigger and it allowed for more movement of groups. This time, we are in a more compact zone and we had to pull together and make sure we were listening to the queues called by the raid leader. This might also be the first time I have ever seen a group put in Tranquility rotations, but this is also the first time I have ever ran with more than two Resto druids (we currently have three). But, the Tranq rotations really helped keep us focused and made sure we did not over-tranq one another. Two things I love about Gruul is cave-ins and his smash. These allow the raid leaders to see who is paying attention and not getting hit by the bad and really helps players tune into what they need to be paying attention to. Raid awareness is KEY in BRF and I think that this will be a continuing trend.

Beastlord Darmac

We did not get him down the first week, but we did get him down in week 2! This fight can sometimes be a mess, especially with all the fire in the end. I like that DBM does let you know what direction he is pointing in to breathe the fire. I just watch for the red circle so I do not get hit with that nasty fire. I hate fire, mostly because I run through as a Tree and we are flammable! The fight is complex in that it takes a bunch of different tactics and puts them into one area. This was a great test for our group and after a few tries we got it right. I like this complexity here! I even had to use Soothe which is a spell I have not used in a LONG time.  Again this focuses on raid awareness!

Three Resto Druids!

Our normal healing group (lately) has been three Resto Druids and two Priests.  This is a much different healing group that I am used to from the past. I always have ran with a Pally or a Shammy and I honestly think that this is making us become better healers since we are missing some of that direct healing. We have to heal in different ways to make sure large amounts of damage are not killing our tanks. I am not saying that Druids are not good at healing, but it is a different type of healing (HoTs) and I am thankful we are running with Priests at least to help us balance out. There are a lot of times where our HoTs are keeping the group alive but some of the heavy hits are tough. But every week were are getting better and better at complementing one another and ensuring that we are able to heal the fights. I cannot wait to get back in there!

Happy Healing!