WoW Insider has been talking a bit about Uldaman recently, and I think there's a lot of merit to further exploration of the site. Uldaman was the first area in World of Warcraft where we got to explore the Titans. However, the state of Uldaman, or at least the parts of Uldaman that we have seen so far, are mostly ruined and crumbling. Clearly, there was once a very impressive complex there, but it has been buried beneath the earth, swallowed up by the sands of time.
Since we explored Uldaman's depths, we've seen far more in the way of Titan installations. Ulduar, for example, is a massive complex that, despite the outbreak of Yogg-Saron's corruption, was the first example we saw of Titan technology fully functional. In fact, the Titan facilities in Northrend seemed to span the continent, from Sholazar Basin to Wyrmrest Temple, and if you also take into consideration the ancient Vrykul settlements that may well have pre-dated the Curse of Flesh, or the Iron Dwarf buildings going down the eastern coast, or even the Blue Dragonflight headquarters in the Coldarra, we were exposed to a huge amount of Titan things in Northrend.
And it didn't end there either: Cataclysm took us not only to the four Elemental Planes (which were created by the Titans to serves as prisons/suitable habitats for the Elementals) but also to Uldum, whose primary purpose appeared to be to house the re-origination device.
And now, even in a distant land that at first seemed wholly unconnected to the rest of Azeroth, we have now discovered that the Titans left their mark here as well, creating the Mogu and filling the continent with facilities like Mogu'shan Vaults.
We have gained a generally better sense of what the Titans' game plan was, even if we don't know what their ultimate goal was. As Mogu'shan Vaults seemed to be where the Titans created the Mogu, and Ulduar's Forge of Wills was capable of pumping out Iron Vrykul, Earthen, and Mechagnomes, it would seem possible that Uldaman could have held another production facility, creating the Earthen that would later transform into the Bronzebeard, Wildhammer, and Dark Iron dwarves. Yet neither Ulduar nor Pandaria's Titan facility had people-production as its main purpose. Ulduar served as both the prison for Yogg-Saron and the seat on which the Prime Designate watched over the planet. Uldum was the home of the re-origination device, which the Tol'vir were created to protect. Pandaria's Facility (whose "Uld" name has not been revealed) was likely pulling double duty as a prison for Y'shaarj and some kind of experimentation facility with the Vale of Eternal Blossoms.
So while it's fine that Uldaman is the birthplace of the playable dwarves (and likely gnomes) it stands to reason that there ought to be some other purpose behind the place.
The one thing we do see happen in or around Uldaman that we haven't seen anywhere else is the purification of Wrathion's egg. Out in the Badlands, a Red Dragon, aided by an adventurer, steals a black dragon egg and brings it to a Gnome scientist. After exposing the egg as well as several other black dragon samples to a strange Titan device, the egg is purified - totally cleansed of the Old God Corruption. This is how Wrathion came to be.
The story goes that the Titans could not destroy the Old Gods without destroying Azeroth itself. For years, we did not know exactly why, but when we traveled to Pandaria, the answer became clear - when Y'shaarj was killed, the problem became more insidious, as his essence seeped into everything, called forward whenever someone merely had a negative emotion. If the continent-spanning threat of the Sha is the result of one Old God's death, what might occur if all of them were to be destroyed? At least a living Old God can theoretically be contained.
The Titans imprisoned the Old Gods eons ago. But would the Titans have simply given up? Would they simply lock the doors and hope that the Old Gods never figured out how to get out?
No. They would have started a massive campaign to research some way to extract the Old Gods. To purify Azeroth without having to destroy it. And the place where that research was conducted? Uldaman.
Uldaman may have been the most important facility on Azeroth - the one that held the strongest hope for a lasting victory agains the eldritch beings that poisoned the land. Within the space of a few seconds, the Eye of the Watchers was able to purify a black dragon - whose entire line had been corrupted for ten thousand years. Perhaps Wrathion is just the first example of what Uldaman means for Azeroth.
Friday, April 12, 2013
Thursday, April 11, 2013
The Darkspear Revolution and the Quasi-Dailies plus Questions about 5.4
5.3 is still in its evolutionary stages, probably about halfway or maybe even earlier in its turn at the PTR. The point is, there could be a serious thing we're missing or something else that will be a huge part of the patch, but for the most part, it looks like the centerpiece is the struggle against the Kor'kron throughout Durotar and Northern Barrens. Presumably Horde players will still be able to make use of Orgrimmar, but it's clear that it's not a safe place to be, especially for the Trolls, whose Valley of Spirits has been pretty much shut down. Darkspear dissidents are getting gunned down in the streets and there's an open conflict between Darkspear and Kor'kron forces between Razor Hill and Sen'jin Village.
The Alliance is also there in force, sending a large SI:7 Operations contingent to undermine Garrosh's forces, and the Alliance has even begrudgingly made a deal with Vol'jin to cooperate so that at the end of the day, both of them can remain standing.
So you'll be able to go around killing Kor'kron forces and escorting caravans across the territory to gain resources that can be traded in for gear and vanity rewards. There will probably be plenty to do, but one thing that has yet to be mentioned is daily quests.
Mists has of course been all about the daily-quest-fueled reputation factions. While it's been the number-one complaint of many, it's also given each faction a fairly distinct personality. Earning rep with a faction does truly feel like you're doing it for them, and while it's not so great for tanks and healers, I actually don't mind questing as a thing.
Will there be factions associated with this campaign? Or daily quests?
Here's the thing: The Isle of Thunder has plenty of daily quests, but also a fair number of non-daily stuff, such as the many rare spawns that function as impromptu raid bosses and the summonable 5-man bosses.
Those are fine, but honestly, I actually haven't really done any of the summoned bosses. The rares are good, but you don't really get a story out of these random enemies to hunt down and kill.
I honestly don't know how the attack on the Kor'kron is going to play out, and how popular it will be. Without a robust system of objectives and rewards, it might get old very quickly. Compare that with the Isle of Thunder, where even though I'm exalted with the Kirin Tor Offensive, I still do a round of dailies if a new phase opens up, just to check out the new area (I think my server has probably opened up the last phase in the past few hours, actually.)
So 5.3 is obviously about what Pandaria has done to the Alliance and Horde (well, really more the Horde. Not a ton of Alliance stuff going on that I can see, though once we find out more about Blood in the Snow that might change,) as a prelude to 5.4's Siege of Orgrimmar.
A few things occurred to me about that final patch (presumed final patch.) One is: where is the instance portal? They've been able to pull some strange things with where an instance actually is before - remember that Dragon Soul, which is set in then-present-day Northrend mostly, has its entrance in the Caverns of Time?
It would be pretty weird to have the portal right in Orgrimmar, and would of course also make it super-convenient for the Horde while making it very inconvenient for the Alliance. But then if you gave the Alliance a way to get the portal easily, wouldn't that just make it too easy for Alliance players to get to and raid Orgrimmar without warning?
Admittedly, I haven't seen city-wide raids since Wrath of the Lich King.
The other thing I wonder about is World Bosses. Mists of Pandaria brought back World Bosses in a big way, using the easier bosses to create effectively non-instanced versions of the Vault of Archavon/Baradin Hold pick-up raids, and the more challenging bosses to echo the older Vanilla and BC-era bosses (though Galleon at least seems relatively easy, for all the hype. I have yet to try Oondasta.)
So two questions: who would the World Bosses be and where would they go? Having a World Boss hanging around Durotar would be a little crazy, though I suppose if people are phased with the Kor'kron Assault you could hide it from lowbies. Then again, if a high-level player wanted to help their low-level friend, how would they switch phases?
For that matter, would this battle in Durotar and the Barrens be something that was available for a limited time only?
Then again, while 5.4 is certainly bringing the Orgrimmar raid, perhaps there will be other outdoor areas that appear. With the Thunder King's fall, the focus seems to be shifting away from Pandaria itself, but could there be parts of the land we have yet to explore?
Or maybe we'll finally see Kul Tiras?
Tuesday, April 9, 2013
Halls of Flesh-Shaping from a DPS perspective
So it turns out we have another week before we face down Lei Shen and the whole of LFR Throne of Thunder effectively goes on farm (not really a term that has much meaning when it comes to LFR, of course.) After neglecting my Death Knight as I level up a Worgen Rogue (and try to level his leatherworking after-the-fact, which is a HUGE pain that I'll probably write an entire article about) so that I can have a rogue Alliance-side to benefit from all the guild perks and my alt network (my poor Hordies, I never see you guys anymore) and also because Worgen are awesome.
Anyway, I took Oterro through the Halls both last night and today after the server reset, so I've got a decent amount of recollection about the segment. I still don't have Son of Animus, but damn it, I'm going to have it some day!
Durumu the Forgotten:
The only real difference dps'ing this than tanking it is that you need to go kill the Fog Beasts that get illuminated by the light. I'm still not quite sure why I was told to tank in the yellow beam, but basically, if you get a beam pointed at you, you want to run around the boss as quickly as possible to illuminate your beam's respective add. Then you kill it. If you're not selected for a beam, just kill the adds when they get illuminated.
Thankfully, they've made the maze a little clearer to see in a recent small patch. The key to the maze segment is not to get too tunnel-visiony on your DPS rotation. You can still put some damage on the boss, but don't expect to be pulling off anything serious.
Primoridus: The key here, I think, is to make sure you know what kind of ooze residue you're stepping in before you do so, so as not to get the debuffs from the purple ooze. There's a lot of raid damage here, so survival abilities are a great idea. And don't even think about attacking the boss unless you're fully mutated, except maybe when the boss is first pulled and there aren't any oozes to attack.
Dark Animus: This, I expect, is going to keep wiping people for a while, like Garalon. The key to the fight seems to be to do things gradually. I've seen two very effective strategies here.
One is that you have one tank just babysit every little Anima Golem and have the other tank pull one or two of them off at a time, to a big stack where all the dps and healers are standing. As the Large golems start activating, this broke down a bit for us, but it also meant that we got one of those at a time. These Large golems are the most dangerous, and should be focused down as quickly as you can.
The other strategy was to have us start on one side of the room, effectively dealing with the chaos of AoE and Crimson Wakes, but only half of them at a time.
In both cases, remember that there's not enough Anima to fully power Dark Animus, so basically you want to kill every add. If you can get every Large Anima Golem down, you should be in pretty good shape, and if you get both Massive Anima Golems down, it's very unlikely that you will wipe, unless you've got like three people left or the tanks don't know how to get out a ring or do a taunt-swap.
Conclusion:
Durumu is actually probably going to be a one-shot boss after a few weeks of people getting to know the fight. The Disintegration Beam phase will cause a lot of panic, but when you find out how to survive it, the rest of the fight is trivial. Primordius does have a lot of raid damage, but as people gear up and kill him quicker, and are also better about getting their oozes, this should be a piece of cake. Dark Animus, well, you're probably going to have people shouting at each other and arguing strategy for a long time yet.
This time for real, Lei Shen, you and me, buddy, next week.
Anyway, I took Oterro through the Halls both last night and today after the server reset, so I've got a decent amount of recollection about the segment. I still don't have Son of Animus, but damn it, I'm going to have it some day!
Durumu the Forgotten:
The only real difference dps'ing this than tanking it is that you need to go kill the Fog Beasts that get illuminated by the light. I'm still not quite sure why I was told to tank in the yellow beam, but basically, if you get a beam pointed at you, you want to run around the boss as quickly as possible to illuminate your beam's respective add. Then you kill it. If you're not selected for a beam, just kill the adds when they get illuminated.
Thankfully, they've made the maze a little clearer to see in a recent small patch. The key to the maze segment is not to get too tunnel-visiony on your DPS rotation. You can still put some damage on the boss, but don't expect to be pulling off anything serious.
Primoridus: The key here, I think, is to make sure you know what kind of ooze residue you're stepping in before you do so, so as not to get the debuffs from the purple ooze. There's a lot of raid damage here, so survival abilities are a great idea. And don't even think about attacking the boss unless you're fully mutated, except maybe when the boss is first pulled and there aren't any oozes to attack.
Dark Animus: This, I expect, is going to keep wiping people for a while, like Garalon. The key to the fight seems to be to do things gradually. I've seen two very effective strategies here.
One is that you have one tank just babysit every little Anima Golem and have the other tank pull one or two of them off at a time, to a big stack where all the dps and healers are standing. As the Large golems start activating, this broke down a bit for us, but it also meant that we got one of those at a time. These Large golems are the most dangerous, and should be focused down as quickly as you can.
The other strategy was to have us start on one side of the room, effectively dealing with the chaos of AoE and Crimson Wakes, but only half of them at a time.
In both cases, remember that there's not enough Anima to fully power Dark Animus, so basically you want to kill every add. If you can get every Large Anima Golem down, you should be in pretty good shape, and if you get both Massive Anima Golems down, it's very unlikely that you will wipe, unless you've got like three people left or the tanks don't know how to get out a ring or do a taunt-swap.
Conclusion:
Durumu is actually probably going to be a one-shot boss after a few weeks of people getting to know the fight. The Disintegration Beam phase will cause a lot of panic, but when you find out how to survive it, the rest of the fight is trivial. Primordius does have a lot of raid damage, but as people gear up and kill him quicker, and are also better about getting their oozes, this should be a piece of cake. Dark Animus, well, you're probably going to have people shouting at each other and arguing strategy for a long time yet.
This time for real, Lei Shen, you and me, buddy, next week.
The Kingdoms of Humanity
Not all that long ago, and practically the blink of an eye to some of the longer-lived races of Azeroth, Humanity was not a single, unified force that made up the backbone of an inter-racial Alliance. Before the Orcs ransacked Stormwind at the end of the First War, there were several human nations, each with their own rulers, armies, and territories. In the face of outside aggression, humanity could band together, such as to fight off the Amani Trolls, and it was in the Troll Wars that humans made their first friendly contact with the High Elves of Quel'thalas, providing military support in exchange for training in the Arcane.
Altogether, humanity comprised seven kingdoms: Lordaeron, Stromgarde, Alterac, Gilneas, Dalaran, Kul Tiras, and Stormwind far in the south. Yet in the wake of the three great wars and the period that followed, many of these nations have crumbled. But are they due for a comeback? Let's look at each of them.
Stormwind is obviously in the best position of all the human kingdoms, rebuilt following the Second War to become the beating heart of the Alliance. Despite problems with the Defias and invading Blackrock Orcs, Stormwind manages to control a fairly large territory, even before you factor in its role as the Alliance's main capital. We're not worried about Stormwind.
Dalaran was always a little strange compared to the other kingdoms, as it was not a monarchy, and really served as a kind of huge and powerful university. Dalaran embraced the Horde in the fight against the Lich King, and despite a few squabbles, even following the Wrathgate Incident it served well as a neutral operation. With Jaina's ascension to leadership of the Kirin Tor, and the revelation that some members of the Sunreavers were using Dalaran's resources to aid Garrosh's Horde, Jaina ended Dalaran's neutrality. The Horde had been in Dalaran at the Kirin Tor's invitation, and that invitation had expired. So that's a second human kingdom we can put together with Stormwind, strengthening human solidarity.
Gilneas was long thought a lost cause. Following the Second War, Genn Graymane was outraged that the Orcs were allowed to remain in Azeroth, and withdrew from the Alliance and indeed the entire world, building the Graymane Wall to isolate the nation from the disastrous chaos that might ensue in future years. Yet, as the Scourge threatened to overtake the continent, Archmage Arugal, a Gilnean mage in Dalaran who wanted to help protect his homeland, ultimately unleashed the Worgen curse, which ran rampant through Gilneas. With the Wall shattered by the Cataclysm and the Forsaken invading, ultimately Gilneas was forced to accept the help of the Alliance. The thing about Gilneas is that much of the country is arguably not human anymore, yet Gilnean humans and worgen live side by side. The Gilnean return to the Alliance fold may have been fostered by the Night Elves, and it may have only come thanks to an enormous crisis, but Gilneas has rejoined humanity, even as its peoples bodies have transformed into something else. Three kingdoms, then.
Stromgarde is actually the oldest of the human kingdoms, as Arathor was the first of humanity's nations. Yet Stromgarde is a ruin for the most part. The capital is overrun with remnants of the Old Horde, except for a single district. Much of the land has been taken back by the wild. It probably does not help that Stromgarde sits right on the front between Alliance forces and the advances of the Forsaken. It's not that there aren't still some people in Stromgarde to contribute to humanity's protection, but they're not really in a position to do much.
Alterac was utterly devastated by the Second War, after the Perenolde dynasty tried to ally with the Horde to be spared their wrath. As if that wasn't enough, the replacement that the Alliance installed after the Perenoldes were defeated was Daval Prestor, who we might also remember as a certain enormous flying volcano named Deathwing the Destroyer. Alterac is a complete ruin now, and the only remnant of its people is the Syndicate, which is little more than a gang of thieves, and not remotely interested in an alliance with, well, anyone.
Kul Tiras would probably be fine with helping the rest of humanity if they could get to them. We actually know next to nothing about what has happened to Kul Tiras, but we do know that there could be one major point of contention. Jaina Proudmoore's father was the leader of the nation, but he died when Jaina allowed Rexxar and his companions to fend off an attack from Theramore. Jaina had hoped that by engaging with the Horde and preventing a fullscale invasion of the newly-established nation of Durotar, a lasting peace between the Alliance and Horde might be preserved. Of course, the crater that is what remains of Theramore proves that this did not work out. It's likely that Kul Tiras would be happy to help fight off the Horde, but we don't really know where they've gotten off to, so we'll put this in the "maybe" category.
And then there's Lordaeron. When the Lich King lost his grasp over the Forsaken, there may have been some hope among the undead of Lordaeron that they might be able to rejoin their brethren, to fight for the Light and righteousness once again. Yet many of the Forsaken had spent too long as Scourge. They felt a bitterness toward the living and a seething lust for revenge against the Lich King. It did not exactly help that the living humans they came across reacted with horror and revulsion, nor did it help that Sylvanas had a very different vision for her people - one that embraced undeath. While members of the Forsaken can be good and heroic, the overall structure and path that Sylvanas has laid out for them makes peace with humanity a near-impossibility. Factor in the Wrathgate, the massacre of Hillsbrad, and the unprovoked and brutal assault on Gilneas, and we can safely say that the Forsaken are not going to be rejoining humanity any time soon.
So that's three that are solidly part of the Alliance, one that would be if it had the strength to do anything other than grab on and hope they don't die out, one that probably would help if they weren't an entire nation lost at sea, one that was really just utterly destroyed, and another that was destroyed, but came back as humanity's enemy.
I actually think there's a lot of untapped potential in the story of humanity's many nations. With the Dwarves uniting the three great clans, it strikes me that it would be fascinating to see humanity try to pull itself back together.
Altogether, humanity comprised seven kingdoms: Lordaeron, Stromgarde, Alterac, Gilneas, Dalaran, Kul Tiras, and Stormwind far in the south. Yet in the wake of the three great wars and the period that followed, many of these nations have crumbled. But are they due for a comeback? Let's look at each of them.
Stormwind is obviously in the best position of all the human kingdoms, rebuilt following the Second War to become the beating heart of the Alliance. Despite problems with the Defias and invading Blackrock Orcs, Stormwind manages to control a fairly large territory, even before you factor in its role as the Alliance's main capital. We're not worried about Stormwind.
Dalaran was always a little strange compared to the other kingdoms, as it was not a monarchy, and really served as a kind of huge and powerful university. Dalaran embraced the Horde in the fight against the Lich King, and despite a few squabbles, even following the Wrathgate Incident it served well as a neutral operation. With Jaina's ascension to leadership of the Kirin Tor, and the revelation that some members of the Sunreavers were using Dalaran's resources to aid Garrosh's Horde, Jaina ended Dalaran's neutrality. The Horde had been in Dalaran at the Kirin Tor's invitation, and that invitation had expired. So that's a second human kingdom we can put together with Stormwind, strengthening human solidarity.
Gilneas was long thought a lost cause. Following the Second War, Genn Graymane was outraged that the Orcs were allowed to remain in Azeroth, and withdrew from the Alliance and indeed the entire world, building the Graymane Wall to isolate the nation from the disastrous chaos that might ensue in future years. Yet, as the Scourge threatened to overtake the continent, Archmage Arugal, a Gilnean mage in Dalaran who wanted to help protect his homeland, ultimately unleashed the Worgen curse, which ran rampant through Gilneas. With the Wall shattered by the Cataclysm and the Forsaken invading, ultimately Gilneas was forced to accept the help of the Alliance. The thing about Gilneas is that much of the country is arguably not human anymore, yet Gilnean humans and worgen live side by side. The Gilnean return to the Alliance fold may have been fostered by the Night Elves, and it may have only come thanks to an enormous crisis, but Gilneas has rejoined humanity, even as its peoples bodies have transformed into something else. Three kingdoms, then.
Stromgarde is actually the oldest of the human kingdoms, as Arathor was the first of humanity's nations. Yet Stromgarde is a ruin for the most part. The capital is overrun with remnants of the Old Horde, except for a single district. Much of the land has been taken back by the wild. It probably does not help that Stromgarde sits right on the front between Alliance forces and the advances of the Forsaken. It's not that there aren't still some people in Stromgarde to contribute to humanity's protection, but they're not really in a position to do much.
Alterac was utterly devastated by the Second War, after the Perenolde dynasty tried to ally with the Horde to be spared their wrath. As if that wasn't enough, the replacement that the Alliance installed after the Perenoldes were defeated was Daval Prestor, who we might also remember as a certain enormous flying volcano named Deathwing the Destroyer. Alterac is a complete ruin now, and the only remnant of its people is the Syndicate, which is little more than a gang of thieves, and not remotely interested in an alliance with, well, anyone.
Kul Tiras would probably be fine with helping the rest of humanity if they could get to them. We actually know next to nothing about what has happened to Kul Tiras, but we do know that there could be one major point of contention. Jaina Proudmoore's father was the leader of the nation, but he died when Jaina allowed Rexxar and his companions to fend off an attack from Theramore. Jaina had hoped that by engaging with the Horde and preventing a fullscale invasion of the newly-established nation of Durotar, a lasting peace between the Alliance and Horde might be preserved. Of course, the crater that is what remains of Theramore proves that this did not work out. It's likely that Kul Tiras would be happy to help fight off the Horde, but we don't really know where they've gotten off to, so we'll put this in the "maybe" category.
And then there's Lordaeron. When the Lich King lost his grasp over the Forsaken, there may have been some hope among the undead of Lordaeron that they might be able to rejoin their brethren, to fight for the Light and righteousness once again. Yet many of the Forsaken had spent too long as Scourge. They felt a bitterness toward the living and a seething lust for revenge against the Lich King. It did not exactly help that the living humans they came across reacted with horror and revulsion, nor did it help that Sylvanas had a very different vision for her people - one that embraced undeath. While members of the Forsaken can be good and heroic, the overall structure and path that Sylvanas has laid out for them makes peace with humanity a near-impossibility. Factor in the Wrathgate, the massacre of Hillsbrad, and the unprovoked and brutal assault on Gilneas, and we can safely say that the Forsaken are not going to be rejoining humanity any time soon.
So that's three that are solidly part of the Alliance, one that would be if it had the strength to do anything other than grab on and hope they don't die out, one that probably would help if they weren't an entire nation lost at sea, one that was really just utterly destroyed, and another that was destroyed, but came back as humanity's enemy.
I actually think there's a lot of untapped potential in the story of humanity's many nations. With the Dwarves uniting the three great clans, it strikes me that it would be fascinating to see humanity try to pull itself back together.
Sunday, April 7, 2013
The Horde's Destiny and the Orc Question
The Horde was created by the Orcs. It was created on Outland, where the only other playable race that existed was the Draenei. The Horde was made up entirely of Orcs until the Second War, when they made alliances with the Amani Trolls, the Ogres, and a handful of Goblins.
The Darkspear, then, are actually somewhat recent members of the Horde, even if the link between the original Horde and the current one is somewhat tenuous. However, if there is a through-line, connecting Old Horde with New, it is the Orcish people. Before the Horde, they had no unified structure to bring them together as a nation.
Thrall's time as Warchief saw the Horde transform utterly, both in that he reined in the Old Horde's lust for conquest and that he expanded it to include new allies - the Darkspear, the Tauren, the Forsaken, the Blood Elves, and the Goblins. The Horde was now a strong alliance between people, whose vision was to carve out a safe home for all of its citizens.
Yet when Thrall stepped down in the face of the Cataclysm, the person he appointed to rule in his stead was a catastrophic choice. Thrall likely saw the Cataclysm as a threat not only to the structure of the world, but also the safety of his people. He wanted a wartime leader who would be able to fend off the Twilight's Hammer, the Naga, and any other threats who might take advantage of the chaos. Little did Thrall realize that it was Garrosh who would seize an opportunity in the Shattering, rallying his people in a renewed war against the Alliance.
The irony is that not only did Garrosh embody the sort of opportunism that Thrall chose him to defend against, but he's not even a particularly effective military commander. Garrosh has pushed into Ashenvale, yes, but that seems to be the extent of his successes. While the Bilgewater Cartel has secured a great deal of Azshara, it is really Sylvanas who has been able to expand her territory, and Sylvanas has proven time and again to have only a theoretical loyalty to the Horde. In fact, it was under Garrosh that the Horde finds themselves scrambling to hold on to the Souther Barrens, the very heart of Horde territory.
Garrosh is a good fighter, and should be leading his men on the front lines while someone more wise and intelligent calls the shots back home. He would have preferred it that way, and the whole of Azeroth would be better off if that were the case.
But as it stands, the Horde is about to fall into civil war, and Garrosh's downfall is imminent. The leader of the rebellion is Vol'jin, who Thrall probably should have chosen as Warchief in the first place. The only reason he did not? Vol'jin is not an Orc.
Despite what even Blizzard representatives like to say, Warcraft is not all about Orcs vs. Humans. Sure, those two races are huge factors in the way of the world, but while Garrosh makes plenty of enemies abroad, the enemies he makes at home are angry with him because of the fact that he forgets what the Horde has become. It is not simply a nation of Orcs - it is a coalition between the Orcs and several other races, each with their own needs and desires.
The comeuppance for this hubris will likely lead to a new leadership for the Horde. Whether we see Vol'jin just straight-up become Warchief, or if the Horde reinvents itself, creating some kind of governing council comprised of various racial leaders (Lor'themar and Baine seem like good candidates, though it might be best to just have eace race send a representative.) The Horde might be a lot better to live in if every people gets their say, and never again will we see one race dominate the others.
But what does that leave for the Orcs?
Clearly not every Orc is a fan of Garrosh. We know that Saurfang, Eitrigg, and of course Thrall are not happy about the way Garrosh is running things. Yet the Orcs are divided. Here is a leader who is telling them that they are the strongest and most deserving people in the world. It's an attractive philosophy if you don't think about your non-Orc neighbors too much.
When Garrosh is gone, what happens to the Orcs? Should they be punished for what Garrosh did? Do the Orcs not get a seat on this War Council?
Can the Horde still be the Horde without Orcs?
Even if they are afforded some degree of power within the Post-Revolutionary Horde, who will speak for them? Thrall is still beloved by some, but part of the Garrosh take-over saw an abandonment of Thrall's ways, and some have even denounced him in favor of Garrosh's leadership style. And that's not to speak of the other problem, which is that to an extent, the Garrosh Regime is Thrall's fault. He was the one who invested the Horde's future with this ruthless dictator. Has Thrall lost the right to lead his people by inflicting Garrosh Hellscream on them?
Who does that leave? Saurfang is old, and probably not the strong man he once was. Like Garrosh, he's always been a soldier, albeit one with the wisdom of age. Eitrigg is also older, and probably wise, but he's never been a leader. It would be nice if Thrall had groomed a successor, but of course, that was Garrosh, wasn't it? And we saw how well he did there.
The Orcs probably lost the right to be sole leaders of the Horde - that's almost a guarantee. But surely the Orcs should be able to lead themselves? The question that demands an answer is "who?"
The Darkspear, then, are actually somewhat recent members of the Horde, even if the link between the original Horde and the current one is somewhat tenuous. However, if there is a through-line, connecting Old Horde with New, it is the Orcish people. Before the Horde, they had no unified structure to bring them together as a nation.
Thrall's time as Warchief saw the Horde transform utterly, both in that he reined in the Old Horde's lust for conquest and that he expanded it to include new allies - the Darkspear, the Tauren, the Forsaken, the Blood Elves, and the Goblins. The Horde was now a strong alliance between people, whose vision was to carve out a safe home for all of its citizens.
Yet when Thrall stepped down in the face of the Cataclysm, the person he appointed to rule in his stead was a catastrophic choice. Thrall likely saw the Cataclysm as a threat not only to the structure of the world, but also the safety of his people. He wanted a wartime leader who would be able to fend off the Twilight's Hammer, the Naga, and any other threats who might take advantage of the chaos. Little did Thrall realize that it was Garrosh who would seize an opportunity in the Shattering, rallying his people in a renewed war against the Alliance.
The irony is that not only did Garrosh embody the sort of opportunism that Thrall chose him to defend against, but he's not even a particularly effective military commander. Garrosh has pushed into Ashenvale, yes, but that seems to be the extent of his successes. While the Bilgewater Cartel has secured a great deal of Azshara, it is really Sylvanas who has been able to expand her territory, and Sylvanas has proven time and again to have only a theoretical loyalty to the Horde. In fact, it was under Garrosh that the Horde finds themselves scrambling to hold on to the Souther Barrens, the very heart of Horde territory.
Garrosh is a good fighter, and should be leading his men on the front lines while someone more wise and intelligent calls the shots back home. He would have preferred it that way, and the whole of Azeroth would be better off if that were the case.
But as it stands, the Horde is about to fall into civil war, and Garrosh's downfall is imminent. The leader of the rebellion is Vol'jin, who Thrall probably should have chosen as Warchief in the first place. The only reason he did not? Vol'jin is not an Orc.
Despite what even Blizzard representatives like to say, Warcraft is not all about Orcs vs. Humans. Sure, those two races are huge factors in the way of the world, but while Garrosh makes plenty of enemies abroad, the enemies he makes at home are angry with him because of the fact that he forgets what the Horde has become. It is not simply a nation of Orcs - it is a coalition between the Orcs and several other races, each with their own needs and desires.
The comeuppance for this hubris will likely lead to a new leadership for the Horde. Whether we see Vol'jin just straight-up become Warchief, or if the Horde reinvents itself, creating some kind of governing council comprised of various racial leaders (Lor'themar and Baine seem like good candidates, though it might be best to just have eace race send a representative.) The Horde might be a lot better to live in if every people gets their say, and never again will we see one race dominate the others.
But what does that leave for the Orcs?
Clearly not every Orc is a fan of Garrosh. We know that Saurfang, Eitrigg, and of course Thrall are not happy about the way Garrosh is running things. Yet the Orcs are divided. Here is a leader who is telling them that they are the strongest and most deserving people in the world. It's an attractive philosophy if you don't think about your non-Orc neighbors too much.
When Garrosh is gone, what happens to the Orcs? Should they be punished for what Garrosh did? Do the Orcs not get a seat on this War Council?
Can the Horde still be the Horde without Orcs?
Even if they are afforded some degree of power within the Post-Revolutionary Horde, who will speak for them? Thrall is still beloved by some, but part of the Garrosh take-over saw an abandonment of Thrall's ways, and some have even denounced him in favor of Garrosh's leadership style. And that's not to speak of the other problem, which is that to an extent, the Garrosh Regime is Thrall's fault. He was the one who invested the Horde's future with this ruthless dictator. Has Thrall lost the right to lead his people by inflicting Garrosh Hellscream on them?
Who does that leave? Saurfang is old, and probably not the strong man he once was. Like Garrosh, he's always been a soldier, albeit one with the wisdom of age. Eitrigg is also older, and probably wise, but he's never been a leader. It would be nice if Thrall had groomed a successor, but of course, that was Garrosh, wasn't it? And we saw how well he did there.
The Orcs probably lost the right to be sole leaders of the Horde - that's almost a guarantee. But surely the Orcs should be able to lead themselves? The question that demands an answer is "who?"
Saturday, April 6, 2013
Immunities, the Old Gods, the Burning Legion, and Queen Azshara
Cataclysm may not have been a very popular expansion, and the extreme linearity of questing in most of the top level zones engendered some ill will (though in the low-level zones it was a bit of a godsend.) Still, looking back on it, and having a big endgame like Mists, there were some interesting ideas introduced in Cataclysm.
I've often talked about the strange interaction between the Old Gods and the Burning Legions - two forces that theoretically have the same goal (destroying Azeroth) but nevertheless seem utterly opposed to one another.
To summarize, if I can make this brief: Nether energy, which you could consider the defining trait of all things demonic, seems to provide some sort of immunity to the effects of the Old Gods' corruption, even if Nether energy twisted into Fel energy (the most common form of it among Demons) is a corruption itself.
There is a distinction - the Warlock Green Fire chain shows us this, showing how Illidan's demonic servants did not have the Fel green look to them because they were fed by a different source of Nether energy.
More to the point: the Old Gods never seem to be able to corrupt demons, or the product of demons, such as the Scourge (though as I said in a recent post, there might actually be something paradoxically Titanic going on with the Scourge.) Still, the Scourge is able to exist surrounded by the congealed blood of an Old God and don't seem the worse for wear (well... not that they had a lot more to wear out.) The only people we do see going crazy from Saronite in Icecrown are the Argent Dawn prisoners in the Saronite Mine in Ymirheim. The Lich-King-empowered Vrykul, or Ymirjar, and the Val'kyr there are totally fine, even though I'm sure Darkspeaker R'khem (the only friendly faceless one we're likely to see) is standing right there.
We tend to think of anyone interacting with the Old Gods as going totally insane, like Twilight's Hammer or the various people we've seen succumb to madness (Deathwing, for instance.) The various Aqir races don't seem totally insane, and were actually able to build up empires in service to the Old Gods, but if we accept that they were created by the Old Gods in the first place (and to be fair, that is up for debate,) we might be able to accept that the Old Gods built in a little insanity-protection so that the Qiraji, Mantid, and Nerubians would be able to serve them better (though I'm still a little unclear on the Nerubians. They send us to kill Herald Volazj in Ahn-Kahet, but wouldn't they be on his side, as long as they weren't scourgified? And if they were scourge, wouldn't they not want us to kill Elder Nadox or whatever his name is?)
But there is an entire race that was corrupted by the Old Gods, transformed from their old forms into new, monstrous ones: the Naga. They don't seem to be insane - they're just evil. Now sure, they could be more subtly insane, like the members of the Black Dragonflight, who were able to pursue their goals methodically and intelligently even though they were nuts, but I wonder if there's a different explanation.
The Naga have always felt slightly separate from the Old Gods, with their own goals and their own motivations (mainly, letting Queen Azshara retake her position as the ruler of all Azeroth.) Perhaps there is a reason for this:
Before she became a Naga, Azshara was the one who allowed the Burning Legion to invade Azeroth during the War of the Ancients. Azshara had already been a gifted sorceress, and she offered to become Sargeras' bride when he arrived on Azeroth. We can assume, then, that there was a whole boatload of fel magic going through Azshara and her forces. In fact, an entire race of demons was created from Night Elves - the Satyrs.
Azshara and the Naga represent something unprecedented in Azeroth - the fusion of Fel power with Old God corruption. Azshara has an alliance with the Old Gods, but the remaining fel energy in her people provides them independence.
The Naga have never really be center-stage villains in World of Warcraft, but they are certainly a formidable foe. In Vashj'ir, we discover that Azshara has a MASSIVE army at her disposal, and one that is supplemented by her faceless allies.
Not only that, but our attempt to rescue Neptulon from her forces in the Throne of the Tides was ultimately a failure (Vashj'ir was a dark zone,) so now she could be potentially adding the power of an Elemental Lord to her arsenal.
I know that the Burning Legion itself is a serious threat that we're definitely going to have to deal with sooner or later, but with the Scourge held back by the Jailor of the Damned, Garrosh's disastrous war about to end, and Deathwing blasted to smithereens, Azshara is sitting very comfortably at the top of the list of biggest dangers on Azeroth.
We might want to deal with that.
I've often talked about the strange interaction between the Old Gods and the Burning Legions - two forces that theoretically have the same goal (destroying Azeroth) but nevertheless seem utterly opposed to one another.
To summarize, if I can make this brief: Nether energy, which you could consider the defining trait of all things demonic, seems to provide some sort of immunity to the effects of the Old Gods' corruption, even if Nether energy twisted into Fel energy (the most common form of it among Demons) is a corruption itself.
There is a distinction - the Warlock Green Fire chain shows us this, showing how Illidan's demonic servants did not have the Fel green look to them because they were fed by a different source of Nether energy.
More to the point: the Old Gods never seem to be able to corrupt demons, or the product of demons, such as the Scourge (though as I said in a recent post, there might actually be something paradoxically Titanic going on with the Scourge.) Still, the Scourge is able to exist surrounded by the congealed blood of an Old God and don't seem the worse for wear (well... not that they had a lot more to wear out.) The only people we do see going crazy from Saronite in Icecrown are the Argent Dawn prisoners in the Saronite Mine in Ymirheim. The Lich-King-empowered Vrykul, or Ymirjar, and the Val'kyr there are totally fine, even though I'm sure Darkspeaker R'khem (the only friendly faceless one we're likely to see) is standing right there.
We tend to think of anyone interacting with the Old Gods as going totally insane, like Twilight's Hammer or the various people we've seen succumb to madness (Deathwing, for instance.) The various Aqir races don't seem totally insane, and were actually able to build up empires in service to the Old Gods, but if we accept that they were created by the Old Gods in the first place (and to be fair, that is up for debate,) we might be able to accept that the Old Gods built in a little insanity-protection so that the Qiraji, Mantid, and Nerubians would be able to serve them better (though I'm still a little unclear on the Nerubians. They send us to kill Herald Volazj in Ahn-Kahet, but wouldn't they be on his side, as long as they weren't scourgified? And if they were scourge, wouldn't they not want us to kill Elder Nadox or whatever his name is?)
But there is an entire race that was corrupted by the Old Gods, transformed from their old forms into new, monstrous ones: the Naga. They don't seem to be insane - they're just evil. Now sure, they could be more subtly insane, like the members of the Black Dragonflight, who were able to pursue their goals methodically and intelligently even though they were nuts, but I wonder if there's a different explanation.
The Naga have always felt slightly separate from the Old Gods, with their own goals and their own motivations (mainly, letting Queen Azshara retake her position as the ruler of all Azeroth.) Perhaps there is a reason for this:
Before she became a Naga, Azshara was the one who allowed the Burning Legion to invade Azeroth during the War of the Ancients. Azshara had already been a gifted sorceress, and she offered to become Sargeras' bride when he arrived on Azeroth. We can assume, then, that there was a whole boatload of fel magic going through Azshara and her forces. In fact, an entire race of demons was created from Night Elves - the Satyrs.
Azshara and the Naga represent something unprecedented in Azeroth - the fusion of Fel power with Old God corruption. Azshara has an alliance with the Old Gods, but the remaining fel energy in her people provides them independence.
The Naga have never really be center-stage villains in World of Warcraft, but they are certainly a formidable foe. In Vashj'ir, we discover that Azshara has a MASSIVE army at her disposal, and one that is supplemented by her faceless allies.
Not only that, but our attempt to rescue Neptulon from her forces in the Throne of the Tides was ultimately a failure (Vashj'ir was a dark zone,) so now she could be potentially adding the power of an Elemental Lord to her arsenal.
I know that the Burning Legion itself is a serious threat that we're definitely going to have to deal with sooner or later, but with the Scourge held back by the Jailor of the Damned, Garrosh's disastrous war about to end, and Deathwing blasted to smithereens, Azshara is sitting very comfortably at the top of the list of biggest dangers on Azeroth.
We might want to deal with that.
Wednesday, April 3, 2013
Halls of Flesh-Shaping
The Halls of Flesh-Shaping is the weirdest section of Throne of Thunder, but it's the one that I think has the most old-school dungeon feel to it. Here there be monsters.
There is a very small amount of trash to kill before fighting Durumu the Forgotten, but killing the last one will bring the boss to the room you're in, so beware. Large Fog Beasts will jump onto the central platform, knocking you back when they land (my co-tank, who in most ways was far more on top of things than I was, and friendly to boot, nevertheless got blown away by these twice.) Killing one will cause an invisible, smaller Fog Beast to appear.
Durumu the Forgotten:
This one here is a raid-killer, but is not terribly difficult once you get the rhythm of it (granted, as a tank, your job is fairly simple, so I might not be doing justice to the other responsibilities of the raid here.) There are two major phases one has to deal with.
The light-cone phase has Durumu shining a red, yellow, and blue cone toward a certain player. You need to use this light to illuminate various adds that are dealing damage to the raid. The longer you stay in a beam of light, the more damage it will deal to you, but this ramps up very slowly (still, it does not go away until the end of the fight.) For reasons I haven't quite figured out, the tank is supposed to stand in the yellow beam.) Tanks swap a debuff while the dps has to focus on killing those adds when they've been found. Killing the adds (which do not have to be tanked) will, I believe, cause the light cones to turn off, saving you from some damage.
Meanwhile, random people will be targeted with "Lingering Gaze," which drops a little purple slime pool that you should not stand in. These persist through the encounter.
The other major phase is his Deconstruction Beam (or is it Decimation...?) Here, most of the floor will become covered with Eye Sores, which deal heavy arcane damage. The key is that you've got to group up on the one safe spot and move around him as he rotates his beam - if you don't the beam will insta-kill you. There seems to be a kind of underlying maze of safe places to stand, so you've got to be paying attention. Eye Sores and the beam will likely be what kills half your raid immediately.
These two phases alternate, and otherwise it's a straight burn.
Trash before Primoridius:
The trash here is pretty simple - you just need to kill the various oozes scooting around. I believe they coalesce into more dangerous slimes, but honestly it was all happening so fast that I don't think there was much to look out for. I do believe the oozes will keep coming, though, so it's a gauntlet that you should try to run through.
Primordius:
The main mechanic here is that those various oozes will all be heading toward the boss. If they reach him, his evolution meter will go up. Every time it fills, he gains a new ability. People will not be able to do full damage to Primoridius at first. By killing oozes, however, they will gain various buffs, eventually becoming "fully evolved," and transforming into a Saurok. Now they should start attacking the boss, as they now deal full damage to him. Killing more oozes while already fully evolved will actually turn those old buffs into debuffs.
The tanks need to kite Primoridus slowly so as not to leave him in giant puddles of ooze residue, or his meter will begin to fill. There is also a tank-swap debuff, but the good news is that that debuff also causes you to deal a bunch of damage to the oozes every time you hit them with an attack. Therefore, the currently-inactive tank should be going around, spamming aoe on the oozes to keep them from reaching the boss.
This is one of those fights that's got a lot of crazy mechanics but is relatively simple in practice. Dps should just remember to kill ooze until they're evolved, then switch to the boss until the buff runs out.
Trash before Dark Animus:
The trash here is just two pulls of Mogu. The first is a pair of warriors who will periodically stun everyone in front of them, so tanks should face them away from the raid. The next group is apparently somewhat complicated on normal, but on LFR it's an AOE Zerg.
Dark Animus:
The main challenge of this fight on normal is that you can't kill all the adds, because doing so would put all the Anima into the boss, and he would use his "wipe the raid" ability. However, since there's not enough Anima in the room to fully power the Dark Animus on LFR, the fight becomes very simple once all the adds are down.
At first, all the Anima Golems will activate. AoE these down, and then the Large Anima Golems will activate. There are 12 of these, if I was counting correctly. The main thing to worry about with them is that they cause various players to deal tons of damage to anyone near them, possibly leaving a trail of bad stuff (the ability is Crimson Wake.) After enough of these guys go down, the two Massive Anima Golems activate. These guys continuously debuff the tanks, but I think it's less of a tank-swap mechanic than simple something to make you kill them fast enough.
After all the Large Golems are down, and maybe along with one of the Massive ones, the enormous Dark Animus will get up. If you've downed all the adds, you'll pretty much have the fight already. The only real mechanic I knew I had to look out for was Anima Ring, where the currently-targeted tank will get a ring of anima globules that tighten around them. The tank should run out of this so as to only get hit by one of the globs, while the other tank picks the boss up. Getting hit by one of these will increase the damage you take by 50% each.
I can't speak to any other mechanics here, honestly, but I get the impression that, at least in LFR, Dark Animus is a frontloaded fight that becomes a near-guaranteed win once the adds are down.
Conclusion:
3/4 of Throne of Thunder is now on LFR. Once again, I'm impressed by the creative fight mechanics of these bosses. With only the last wing left to go, I'm already very happy with what I've seen so far. Hopefully some day I'll be able to whip my guild into shape and take a few cracks at this on Normal.
Overall, so far, the second wing seems to be the easiest one to figure out and down bosses with consistent ease. This one is going to take some learning, but mechanically it's more about just figuring out what the right thing to do is, rather than fights like Horridon, where tunnel vision will be what kills you in the long run.
I'll try to run this on Oterro later this week to get a DPS perspective on the fights. Next week we go to the top and finally face down Lei Shen.
There is a very small amount of trash to kill before fighting Durumu the Forgotten, but killing the last one will bring the boss to the room you're in, so beware. Large Fog Beasts will jump onto the central platform, knocking you back when they land (my co-tank, who in most ways was far more on top of things than I was, and friendly to boot, nevertheless got blown away by these twice.) Killing one will cause an invisible, smaller Fog Beast to appear.
Durumu the Forgotten:
This one here is a raid-killer, but is not terribly difficult once you get the rhythm of it (granted, as a tank, your job is fairly simple, so I might not be doing justice to the other responsibilities of the raid here.) There are two major phases one has to deal with.
The light-cone phase has Durumu shining a red, yellow, and blue cone toward a certain player. You need to use this light to illuminate various adds that are dealing damage to the raid. The longer you stay in a beam of light, the more damage it will deal to you, but this ramps up very slowly (still, it does not go away until the end of the fight.) For reasons I haven't quite figured out, the tank is supposed to stand in the yellow beam.) Tanks swap a debuff while the dps has to focus on killing those adds when they've been found. Killing the adds (which do not have to be tanked) will, I believe, cause the light cones to turn off, saving you from some damage.
Meanwhile, random people will be targeted with "Lingering Gaze," which drops a little purple slime pool that you should not stand in. These persist through the encounter.
The other major phase is his Deconstruction Beam (or is it Decimation...?) Here, most of the floor will become covered with Eye Sores, which deal heavy arcane damage. The key is that you've got to group up on the one safe spot and move around him as he rotates his beam - if you don't the beam will insta-kill you. There seems to be a kind of underlying maze of safe places to stand, so you've got to be paying attention. Eye Sores and the beam will likely be what kills half your raid immediately.
These two phases alternate, and otherwise it's a straight burn.
Trash before Primoridius:
The trash here is pretty simple - you just need to kill the various oozes scooting around. I believe they coalesce into more dangerous slimes, but honestly it was all happening so fast that I don't think there was much to look out for. I do believe the oozes will keep coming, though, so it's a gauntlet that you should try to run through.
Primordius:
The main mechanic here is that those various oozes will all be heading toward the boss. If they reach him, his evolution meter will go up. Every time it fills, he gains a new ability. People will not be able to do full damage to Primoridius at first. By killing oozes, however, they will gain various buffs, eventually becoming "fully evolved," and transforming into a Saurok. Now they should start attacking the boss, as they now deal full damage to him. Killing more oozes while already fully evolved will actually turn those old buffs into debuffs.
The tanks need to kite Primoridus slowly so as not to leave him in giant puddles of ooze residue, or his meter will begin to fill. There is also a tank-swap debuff, but the good news is that that debuff also causes you to deal a bunch of damage to the oozes every time you hit them with an attack. Therefore, the currently-inactive tank should be going around, spamming aoe on the oozes to keep them from reaching the boss.
This is one of those fights that's got a lot of crazy mechanics but is relatively simple in practice. Dps should just remember to kill ooze until they're evolved, then switch to the boss until the buff runs out.
Trash before Dark Animus:
The trash here is just two pulls of Mogu. The first is a pair of warriors who will periodically stun everyone in front of them, so tanks should face them away from the raid. The next group is apparently somewhat complicated on normal, but on LFR it's an AOE Zerg.
Dark Animus:
The main challenge of this fight on normal is that you can't kill all the adds, because doing so would put all the Anima into the boss, and he would use his "wipe the raid" ability. However, since there's not enough Anima in the room to fully power the Dark Animus on LFR, the fight becomes very simple once all the adds are down.
At first, all the Anima Golems will activate. AoE these down, and then the Large Anima Golems will activate. There are 12 of these, if I was counting correctly. The main thing to worry about with them is that they cause various players to deal tons of damage to anyone near them, possibly leaving a trail of bad stuff (the ability is Crimson Wake.) After enough of these guys go down, the two Massive Anima Golems activate. These guys continuously debuff the tanks, but I think it's less of a tank-swap mechanic than simple something to make you kill them fast enough.
After all the Large Golems are down, and maybe along with one of the Massive ones, the enormous Dark Animus will get up. If you've downed all the adds, you'll pretty much have the fight already. The only real mechanic I knew I had to look out for was Anima Ring, where the currently-targeted tank will get a ring of anima globules that tighten around them. The tank should run out of this so as to only get hit by one of the globs, while the other tank picks the boss up. Getting hit by one of these will increase the damage you take by 50% each.
I can't speak to any other mechanics here, honestly, but I get the impression that, at least in LFR, Dark Animus is a frontloaded fight that becomes a near-guaranteed win once the adds are down.
Conclusion:
3/4 of Throne of Thunder is now on LFR. Once again, I'm impressed by the creative fight mechanics of these bosses. With only the last wing left to go, I'm already very happy with what I've seen so far. Hopefully some day I'll be able to whip my guild into shape and take a few cracks at this on Normal.
Overall, so far, the second wing seems to be the easiest one to figure out and down bosses with consistent ease. This one is going to take some learning, but mechanically it's more about just figuring out what the right thing to do is, rather than fights like Horridon, where tunnel vision will be what kills you in the long run.
I'll try to run this on Oterro later this week to get a DPS perspective on the fights. Next week we go to the top and finally face down Lei Shen.
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