Spellplague - What could possibly go wrong?

[Phelaia]

Well, I can say that my Burnadin OP has been through MSP. First two bosses are fine. Healdins are actually great for a cluster fight on a floating platform anyway. Now, that last fight against Nostura...I did not know the mechanics of the curse, and that's what killed me in 5 seconds flat. I proceeded to do some studying on Youtube, and I think I know how it's supposed to work, but I guess the only way to really learn is to try it, right?

FYI, there's a new secret boss in MSP: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=M5NCiCI-LcM

[Phelaia]

Dungeon: Master Spellplague
Date: November 10, 2018
Group: Tyrandil (GF), Hrothnor (GWF), Aratech (Spellstorm CW), Phelaia (Heal-OP), Mya (SW-PUG)

Saturday afternoon, the kids are napping. Tyrandil got the group together for some random queues. We warmed up with a quick random Intermediate queue to Tiamat. Tyr said, "How about Random Advanced?" I was hoping we wouldn't be dropped into FBI or Master Spellplague, but the queue gods of Faerun had other ideas, and we found ourselves standing at the opening campfire in Master Spellplague! Phel immediately inspected our PUG SW, and it turns out that he/she is 15k item level and very well geared. Good, that makes Phel's job clear, not easy, but clear.

The way to the first boss went swimmingly, and Tyr ran face first into the 2-3 mobs at a time. The group survived them just fine. This is looking good.

First Boss, Kabal: our first attempt was sadly hilarious. We lost Hroth at about 50% of first round. It turns out that Hroth did not know the mechanics. In fact, Hroth figured out the mechanics after he died and was watching from the outside. No problem. We try again. The second attempt went much better.

Second Boss, the Nothic Eye: this boss has always been a headache, since the whole fight takes place on a tiny platform smaller than the one way back in Mad Dragon. If you fall off, there's no coming back. Our first attempt was a little disorganized, as people were falling off one by one. Again, the mechanics of the boss's push attack had to be explained. Our second attempt went much better, and no one fell off. The key here is to pull your camera FOV out to 90 to 100 so that you can see the whole platform. As long as we all stay close to the center of the the platform when the push attack comes down, you get pushed just to the edge without actually falling off. Oh, and this is a fight where using an Augment as your companion might work better than an attacking companion.

Third Boss, Nostura: just like the version from the campaign, she's quite a pain in the neck. The worst thing is "curse" she lays on you. It's a DOT that can kill a pally in 5 seconds flat, which I later found out the hard way. In hindsight, using a Soulforged instead of a Negation or Barkshield in the armor slot might work better. At about 45%, Hroth went down. Phel tried to save Hroth. Hroth got up, but Phel was dead. I think that was a worthy trade. Our SW bit the dust at about 15%. In the end, Hroth, Aratech, and Tyr hacked down Nostura slowly but surely.

NOR has once again made history in the random queue. What's next? Tomb of the Nine Gods? Bring it!

[tornnomar]

Congratz! And yes indeed, Tong Next!

[Phelaia]

Ok, now that I've been through MSP a few times...here's a tip for the Nothic Eye:

First, pull your camera out to about 90. Now look down on the platform--it's a cinnamon bun! The swirling layers starts in the center, and if you stick pretty close to the center of the cinnamon bun, you won't get pushed off when the Nothic Eye does its jump-n-push combo.