Epic Progression Mod 6 - 9 (Apr 2015 - Dec 2017)

[Phelaia]

Dungeon: Epic Grey Wolf Den (lvl 70)
Date: 8/2/2015
Team: Kermit (OP), Tyrandil (GF), Phelaia (CW), Nors (HR), Gina (DC)

This was Kermit's idea. Since we could complete ToS, why not go to Grey Wolf?

We zoned in and started steamrolling. At one point, Kermit told Phel to control *less* becasue he wanted Tyr to take more damage. However, not long after the first mini-boss, the lag spikes started. Everyone on the team got the same lag at the same time. This is not looking good. By the time we got to the second mini-boss, we all got frozen and subsequently kicked. By the time we got back in, all adds disappeared, but the boss was still there. We finished off the boss but it's like time got turned back. After this the lag spikes were intermittent, and it was looking pretty awful. Kermit switched out to a Lesser Briartwine in his armor because Soulforged was not working in there.

By the time we got to the door of the final boss, Tyr said, "Let's see how we can get." We potioned up and charged her straight on. First attempt went fairly well until the first add wave, when a massive lag spike killed us all at about 60%. It was so bad that after Phel was technically killed, but still up and running around the room. We didn't make it as far at the second attempt, but with our third attempt, we got her down to 58.94% before Kermit was all of a sudden dead-dead, and we all went down quickly after that. The strategy that worked was to once boss transforms into wolf form, take down the red wolf ASAP and transform her back into human form to damage her more easily. Tyr thinks we could use just a teeny bit more DPS so that we only have to deal with two Stormcallers at a time, because everytime two more Stormcallers came, the previous two were at about 5-10% HP. Perhaps Phel could take her TR next time to deal with the archers more effectively.

Seeing as almost no one on LFG is doing Grey Wolf these days, it's likely that we're doing the impossible. We all learned the fight a bit better, and it's not like Miss Marrowslake (boss) has anything better to do fighting us in that spartanly decorated den of hers.

[Phelaia]

Event: Greed of the Dragonflight
Total attendance: 16

This is officially NOR's first real raid in Neverwinter. Lots of people showed up, and we formed four groups of four. Tundrra said he felt like something of a speech, but before he could say anything, we were off!

Attampt #1: We all zeroed in on the red one, and since our collective DPS was pretty good, most of us peeled off for another dragon when the red one was at 10%. Tundrra's team was left to tank the red one, while the rest of us headed towards another dragon. Now, most of us were not that familiar with the map, and we ran into the blue dragon by accident, got zapped badly (no red), turned around and ran like hell, and eventually found the green one. At this point, we had 6 minutes left, and once Tundrra's team killed the red one, we had only 1 minute left. There was no way we could get through 1/2 of the green one's HP in a minute.

Attampt #2: Mendicant generously bought a bell for us, and he stayed back at the Stronghold to activate the event, and then he had about 1 minute to rush to the green dragon. This time, we separated into two teams with eight on each team. One team went for the red one, and the other went for the green one. At the end of the timer, both teams had about 10 - 20% left.

Conclusion: We did really well for our very first raid. We can probably use fewer tanks and more single-target DPS. We can probably use more ranged DPS or mobile DPS to take care of the Dragon Empowers quickly when they show up. Healers and Tanks are NOT optional.

[Kermit]

Another successful epic temple of the spider... This one without using the Paladin / Guardian fighter synergy... We had to be a lot more "on our toes" and use strategy to interrupt healing rays and spitting spiders... In the end we prevailed!

Kermit (Oathbound Paladin)
Oz (Trickster Rogue)
Kal (Oathbound Paladin)
Queana (Devoted Cleric)
Hector (Great Weapon Fighter)

[Phelaia]

There were 19 of us on last night, and we divided up into one group of 9 and one group of 10. Group of 10 was on green, and group of 9 was on red. Each team was built around a core of 1 tank, 1 heavy hitter DPS, 1 healer, and 2 flexible DPS. Then each team was filled out with a balanced group of DPS and support. Green Team actually downed the dragon a little faster than Red Team, and when Green was at about 15%, Green Team had to stop so that Red Team can catch up. Hector was helpful in calling out the spawning of Dragon Empowers. There were 10 of us or so on Teamspeak across both teams. For the first time, we did it. Now we gotta do it until we can do it in our sleep.

[Phelaia]

Dungeon: Epic Grey Wolf Den
Date: 8/30/2015
Team: Thorgrim (CW), Tyrandil (GF), Gina (DC), Hector (GWF), Phelaia (TR)

Sometime in the afteroon, Thorgrim and Tyrandil got talking, and the idea of going to Grey Wolf came up. Several hours later, Tyr put the team together. Just as two years ago when NOR first beat Grey Wolf, Phelaia decided to take her TR instead of CW. Somehow the TR has always had better luck in this dungeon. This is also Hector's very first time in Grey Wolf. Now, the damage reduction bug is reportedly fixed, and we shall see if it's really fixed this time.

Before zoning in, Thorgrim asked Phel if maximum control is a good idea, and considering how the adds can jump clear across the room, yes, control is important. Most of the way to the boss was pretty uneventful. The damage reduction bug seems to have been fixed, as everything does seem to hit less hard. Not long before the final boss room along a corridor, the boss herself was looking at us across a cliff and doing her insulting slow clap. Hector decided to jump on top of a rock and hurled a few water balloons at her head. Next thing we know, a couple of of minions spawned next to Gina and two-shotted her! If this was scripted, it's a nice touch on the devs' part.

First try on boss, three of us went down pretty quickly at about 68%. The Stormcaller's lightning line-attack not only shoots almost across the room, it actually turns towards the nearest party member AFTER the red path has appeared.

Second attempt, we got a bit smarter. Somehow the boss ended up near the edge of the room, and that actually created more open areas in the rest of the room for us to run away to. Also, everyone zeroed in on the archer as soon as they spawned, then the Fighters, then the Stormcallers, then the Spirit Wolf, and then back on boss. Amazingly enough, most of us only got soulforged once. Hector was our primary DPS. Phelaia focused on debuffs and made sure to attack whatever Hector was attacking to maximize Combat Advantage. Thorgrim's control was instrumental in keep the adds in a small area so that they're easier to kill down. Unlike 2 years ago, Tyrandil's GF can actually hold the boss's aggro. Gina's healing...I think we'd all be dead in 2 seconds without her.

The whole run took 50 minutes 50 seconds. As it is two years ago, this was a run to remember. Besides, we all got some pretty sweet loot from the chest.

[Elthorik]

I tanked my first Epic ToS last night on my paladin. Hmm, who was there?

Kriket - GWF
Benn - CW
Elthorin - OP
Juez Calvo - DC
Eravan Arkias - CW

This right? I was so tired afterwards, but I thought the group did great. We only wiped once in the boss fight. It took forever though since we lost one of our CWs about 2 bars into the fight. I thought we were doomed. Then when we got to about 1/2 through Syndaryth I thought we were in good shape to beat her. I was able to get her up to the platform, for most of the fight. It worked out great for blocking the blue ray. We hardly had any problems after she was on the platform. It was a great fight(since it was my first EToS that I tanked). I took a screenshot, but it's gone - so I can't confirm the names of everybody there.

[Tundrra]

I tanked my first Epic ToS last night on my paladin. Hmm, who was there?

Kriket - GWF
Benn - CW
Elthorin - OP
Juez Calvo - DC
Eravan Arkias - CW

This right? I was so tired afterwards, but I thought the group did great. We only wiped once in the boss fight. It took forever though since we lost one of our CWs about 2 bars into the fight. I thought we were doomed. Then when we got to about 1/2 through Syndaryth I thought we were in good shape to beat her. I was able to get her up to the platform, for most of the fight. It worked out great for blocking the blue ray. We hardly had any problems after she was on the platform. It was a great fight(since it was my first EToS that I tanked). I took a screenshot, but it's gone - so I can't confirm the names of everybody there.

Great work!

[Phelaia]

@Elth, and that ToS run is why you don't need to shelf your paladin!

[Elthorik]

Last night's EToS run was the quickest I have ever witnessed. Hector is beastly. We had a PUG SW with us and it went very smooth. Great job all.

Lady K - DC
Hector - GWF
Eravan - CW
El'Thorin - OP
PUG - SW

Smooth as silk.

[Phelaia]

Dungeon: Epic Cragmire Crypts
Date: 10/31/2015
Team: Tyrandil (GF), John Rain(DC), Hector (GWF), Udokas (TR), Phelaia (CW)
Why: Blackdagger owes us Astral Diamonds, and we want our money back.

T'was the day of Halloween. Sometime in the late afternoon, Hector all of a sudden proclaimed on guild chat, "Victory!! 100% Legit!!" Phel perked up and saw that he meant victory in Epic Cragmire Crypts. This dungeon has been a thorn in our side as a guild, and the last time we went in there, we got Blackdagger down no further than 91%. Phel started to grill Hector a bit on just how he did it, and how geared his teammates were. Hector said he was the only one with full Lostmauth set, and the other people were not exactly geared to the teeth. Also, in the latest patch, Blackdagger's b.s. attack has been changed to something that we can see coming. Phel talked to Tyr about trying it that night, and Tyr agreed. Evening rolled around, Hector got on, and said if we're still on for trying Cragmire. Udokas said me me me! Rain said, "Well, I guess I could heal..." Off we go to Cragmire.

The very first encounter against some trash mob went blazingly fast.　This is looking good. At first boss, Tyr remarked that it went so fast it was like we were back in Mod 5. This is looking better. We get to the Adventuring Party, and Tyr said, "Let's not do anything funny and fight in this room." The Adventuring Party went down decently fast, and unlike last time, no one went down. This is looking even better.

About 30 minutes later, we were at the door of Blackdagger. This is the plan: Because of the fire on the floor, Phel decided to take out Icy Terrain, and go all single target, with Oppressive Force in the back pocket just in case when the adds starts to swarm. Tyr would hold Blackdagger's attention, while Hector takes his buzzsaw to Blackdagger, with Udokas flanking on the other side. Udokas had the job of opening the keg when the floor gets too firery. Rain would do his best to heal us with Astral Shield, Divine Glow, and such.

First attempt went quite well until Rain went down at Blackdagger's feet, and Tyr, against the little voice in his head, tried to pick up Rain. That was a bad idea, and as soon as Tyr went down, we went down one by one. Also, at about 45%, there is one Sniper that spawns on top of a barrel, and if you're too far away, his healthbar disappears. Phel only saw that too late. When we wiped, Blackdagger was at 40%.

Second attempt went much better. Hector was super on the ball about chopping down the adds. Udokas made a great team with Hector in the DPS department. Tyr managed the keep Blackdagger from charging the squishies. Rain was healing to the tune of 75k-85k, which kept us from dying when the keg was opened. Also, Phel realized about half way through that Blackdagger zeroed in on her with the fire bombs, so the best thing to do was to not stray too far from Blackdagger, and keep the fire bombs mostly on one half of the room. Also, as soon as the adds spawn, top kill priority is the Sniper, and Phel would freeze him until Hector can get to it. When there are Cutthroats around, it's best to kite them to the nearest add the old fashion way and use Oppressive Force to stun and damage them all. 15-20 minutes of shooting, debuffing, whacking, stabbing, and dancing, Blackdagger was toast. Thus our progression dungeons are complete.

One thing worth noting is that recently, we built the Wizard's Workshop in the Stronghold. At Rank 1, it gave us all 3200 HP. That very first time when the keg was opened, Blackdagger charged all of us all at once, and Phel was down to 1 bar of HP, which was almost exactly the amount of HP that the Wizard's Workshop gave us. That one structure meant the difference of life and death for a squishy wizard. Perhaps it'd be worth upgrading the Wizard's Workshop to Rank 2 as soon as we can so that we can all have a little better health insurance in the dungeons.