Silent Raiding

Weds. Ulduar run was a mixed bag from Svenn's point of view. The gauntlet was cleared, and the boss went down on the first attempt. In fact there was only a few deaths throughout the whole encounter. There was however a frantic feel to the whole thing that was a bit unsettling. Vehicle assignments took forever and were pretty haphazard at best, there didn't seem to be much in the way of a planned route for clearing the trash, (maybe because I was unfamiliar with the gauntlet leading up to the fist boss), there was no clearly established kiting route, and no one was talking.

That being said, we still managed a to drop Flame Lev. in one shot. So why bring it up? Well, the reason is simple: coordination. It is apparent that most of the content FIST is currently running requires little coordination. However, the few fights we still have trouble with are what I call "gimmick fights", ie. 4H, Gluth, Thadius, (Maxxenna occasionally). These fights require close coordination between different groups doing different tasks, cross talk among the raid as a whole, and a clearly defined strategy. As we continue our progression with K'T, EoE, and even into Ulduar, the demand for coordination will increase further.

When Svenn first started into Naxx on those early progression runs, voice chat was alive with raid members advancing strategies, calling things out, and occasionally bursting into their favorite 80s song. Things were new and untried, people were new and untried, and the unknown lurked around every corner. Since then we have gained a level of familiarity with each other, the fights, and our surroundings. Everyone is running Deadly Boss Mods (DBM) so there is less need for calling out debuffs, void zones, etc. However, the case for talking to each other remains.

NOTE: Svenn started this post last Friday. The group chat dynamics changed last night as FIST slammed through the Construct Quarter, downed Sapph, and made 2 very good attempts at K'T before calling it a night. Chat was alive with conversation and coordination, and a good time was had by all. I decided to post it as is because I think it may be of some value as we continue to build our raid group and progress through Ulduar.