Page 91 of Looking for Group
[Solace] whispers: You like that, though
To [Solace]: i guess i do♥
[Solace] whispers: Seriously, we’ll get it. We kind of go through a flailing stage, then a learning stage, and then it comes together.
To [Solace]: kk
To [Solace]: sorry i didn’t mean to be an elitist dick
[Solace] whispers: No, it’s cool. I suppose you’re used to things being different.
Kit was right, and pissing on other people’s learning curves wasn’t going to help anybody. So Drew got himself a second can of Dr Pepper and settled down for a long evening of wiping.
“Okay guys,” came Morag’s voice. “This isn’t really coming together for us. I know it’s the end of the night and the final boss, but we need to stay focused and work together, or we’re just going to be banging our heads against a brick wall.”
Of course, the other difference between SCDD and Anni was they had none of the recriminations and bullshit. After two wipes like this, Anni would have dissolved into finger-pointing and epeening.
“I don’t think we’re doing anything particularly wrong, I just think we need to be a little bit sharper and a little bit more responsive. Ranged, I think you’re spending too much time on Bloodrose and not enough helping the melee. Melee, I know you’ve got a lot of running around to do, but you need to keep on your toes and get where you need to be when you need to be there. This is a control fight, not a DPS race, so it’s better to do it right than to do it quickly. Let’s fish up, and try again.”
This time round they got to phase two, but the portal team was slow off the mark, so the area filled up with purple death fire and swarming minions. In Anni, they’d sent a seriously tooled-up assassin into the portals solo, and relied on stuns, invisibility, and smoke clouds to keep the portal guardians at bay while he destroyed the Realm Heart. Drew thought about suggesting it, but while he thought Jargogle knew her stuff, she probably wasn’t quite geared enough. It was sort of the weird paradox of hardcore guilds, that if you were good enough at the game it allowed you to do things the easy way. Which, in turn, sort of took the fun out of it after a little while. Although, for Anni, first had been more important than fun.
[Solace] whispers: You’re not hating this too much, are you?
To [Solace]: i’m honestly good now
[Solace] whispers: Think of it as more time spent with me??
To [Solace]: kit i really like raiding but if i had to pick a way to spend time with you it wouldn’t include bjorn yelling in my ears
[Solace] whispers:♥
[Solace] whispers: Maybe we can talk about that later??
Attempt four, they lost too many people to Heartsblood, so they didn’t have the DPS to get through the final phase. The mood in the raid was better than Drew would have expected it to be. Every try had been better than the last, so there was a real “we’ll do it this time” vibe, even though it was getting on for half ten, or half eleven for Ialdir, Magda, and Bjorn.
As they were rebuffing, Bjorn took control of Mumble.
“All right, you noobs, it is time for Uncle Bjorn’s Awesome Pep Talk. This will be our last attempt. If we fail because we suck, I will be putting a poll on the forum to see if people want to come back and try this on Friday instead of going to Greyhallow Hall to do the opera event. But by far the best scenario here is that we kick butt now and go to the opera on Friday.”
[Raid][Mordant]: is that it?
“Do not question the glory of the pep talk.”
Nobody else questioned the glory of the pep talk, so Ella pulled out her axes and charged Lady Bloodrose for the fifth time. Phase one went pretty smoothly. Ella basically spent her time jogging round the central pit, picking up Veiled Attendants before they could activate the ritual pillars. She was occasionally grabbed by an Entangling Briar, but the DPS got her out of them pretty sharpish.
Morag: “Careful, attendant wave in five, don’t push her over yet.”
[Lady Bloodrose] says: Enough of this. Fall before the legions of the Netherworld.
“Well, crap,” sighed Morag. “Next time, less DoTs.”
“I’m on it. Slow DPS on the adds please.” Drew picked up thefirst attendant and sprinted back across the chamber towards the Pillar of Death, where the second one was channelling a beam of purple energy that would give every enemy in the room a massive damage boost.
“Portal team in. Rest of you, on the attendants.”
“Shit shit shit.” That sounded like Bjorn.
They managed to burn the two attendants down fairly quickly, but while Drew was maintaining aggro, Netherworld Minions were swarming out of the still-open portal.
