Poptarts

Just kidding, but it got your attention... maybe ;)

Today we're gonna talk about raid preparation. As a raider, there's three phases to learning new bosses. You have, 1) Preparation, 2) Execution, 3) Acquisition. We're gonna look at preparation.

Preparation is an important aspect in raiding, and everyone goes about it in their own way. Some look at guides, some watch videos... and some don't do it at all. Personally, I use a combination of guides and my own notepad notes in order to properly prepare for a new boss fight.

Now, I only usually do this for heroics. I'm going to be doing a Madness of Deathwing one, so it will be a bit more structured and informative than my usual ones, due to me already knowing the fight. Here it goes:



Kill Order P1 ----
1) Blistering Tentacles (Platform 3&4)
2) Hemo Bloods (As assassination aoe with DW targeted/As Sub don't do anything teehee)
3) Glowing red tentacle (Save SDance/Vanish/ColdB/Vendetaa for this so maximum uptime)
4) Deathwing Tentacle (Use SDance on CD unless Cataclysm timer coming up then save no more than 20 seconds/Same for Vanish)
5) Elemntium Bolt (Only swap if on ground then it;s #1 PRIO!!!!!! :()


Kill Order P2---
1) Small tentacles (Use Dream if Strapnel)
2) Big adds (Combat cleave nice here, sub can burst them np)
3) Deathwing head (Stay on deathwing if Ange/Scythe say usually 2nd set adds around 8%)


Shadowstep Yay-Nay / Backstab Yay-Nay ---- (Try to shadowstep mobs that are useable on when you can use it close to SDANCE or VANISH CD)
1) DW tentacle - Nay / Yay
2) Glowing Red Tentacle - Nay / Yay
3) Blistering Tentacles - ?(Assuming Nay) / Yay
4) Blistering Bloods - Yay / Yay
5) Elemntium Bolt - Yay / Yay
6) Little Tentacles - Yay / Yay
7) Big adds - Yay / Yay
8) Deathwing Head Nay / Yay

Mechanics to Feint -
1) Bolt Impact
2) Ground slam from glowy tentacle (maybe)
3) Blistering Tentacle aoe
4) DW random AOE
5) Strapnel (Most likely not)



What doooooo?
1) Stab tentacle
2) Move to other tentacle
3) Stab Tentacle
4) If bolt land (kill)/ Move to other platform
5) Stab tentacle
6) move other tentacle
7) stab tentacle
8) If bolt land (kill)/ move to other platform
9) Stab tentacle
10) Move other tentacle
11) Stab tentacle
12) Kill blistering tentacles
13) Move platform
14) Stab
15) Kill other tentacle
16) Group up for bolt impact
17) Kill bolt
18) Stab tentacle
19) Kill blistering tentacles
20) Hop platform
21) Stab Deathwing
22) Kill adds
23) Kill deathwing
24) Loot useless loot (for me)

Most important note - Never shadowstep non shadow-step moves or you diiiie.


So there you have it. This is basically what my notepad looks like on any given fight. Note that it's completely rogue based, and more tuned towards Sub spec. This is not to be used by ranged for kill order. But basically, preparation is very important, and it helps for you to know almost exactly what you'll be doing before you even get to the fight. Good luck!

P.S : Sorry for the spelling/grammar mistakes, but I wanted it to be as authenticate as possible.

/guffaw

-Bus