Sang Grail

Web Site Transition to WOWStead

The Sang Grail guild web site is transitioning to SangGrail.WoWStead.com. The new site offers all of the same functionality, but is actually integrated with the guild and internal guild ranks better. Check it out and start using the forums.

Another cool aspect of the site is the gallery where guild members can post pictures to the site easily for others to see. I think you will like the site.

The Guild and Raid rules are currently posted in the forums and some other recent forum posts have been transitioned. If you would like to move anything else over to the new site, simply copy and paste it into the new site, or ask Daffnae/Mojjee for help.

This web site will remain up for quite a while to continue to reference old information; however new posts should all go on the new site going forward.

Officer Transition

Shin, Duck and I have accepted an opportunity to raid with another guild. As such, we will be stepping down as Sang Grail officers, and we will be removing our main raiding toons from the guild. We have posted in the forums if you would like more information on this topic, or feel free to approach us in game.

Limited Raid Week

Summer is upon us with vacation schedules mixed with out-of-the-ordinary work schedules. Therefore, we’ll have only one raid night this week for the Wed/Fri/Sat raid group. So the schedule is as follows:

Wednesday - Off Night
Friday - Off Night
Saturday - Raid Night - pushing one of the final bosses, possibly sticking with Al’Akir that we made progress on last week.

If you would like to pug BWD on the other nights, please do so. Please keep yourself available for BOT and TOTFW.

Group Beta Awesome

Group Beta Awesome is still running regularly on Sunday / Monday nights. If you would like to get involved and you are not currently getting invites, please contact Moncaros.

Please read the raid information on this site before doing so to make sure you meet the raid requirements and are ready to come prepared for a raid.

Happy Raiding!
~Daff

Thanks to Moncaros, Dreshin and Jadelin for completing the challenge!

Web Site Updates

I’ve just spent the morning updating the static pages on the web site (the pages you can access from the links at the top of the page and also listed on the right).

These pages include:

• Sang Grail Info
• Raiding Info
• Downloads
• Videos & Tutorials

Please review the information as a refresher (or read it for the first time if you haven’t).

Guild Challenge

One of the pages in the content above has been marked as the answer to the guild challenge. If you find this page in the next week, please post a reply on that page or contact Daffnae in-game for a chance to win a Maelstrom Crystal.

Web Site Ideas

If you have ideas for things you like to see on the Web site, please reply to this post with your ideas. We’ll try to get them incorporated.

Forums

Don’t forget about the forums. The forums are a great resource for sharing information within the guild. There is a link to the forums in the upper left introductory paragraph on this page. Sign up for the forums (using your guild name) if you haven’t already. If you want to get involved in raiding, you should be visiting the forums often.

Happy Gaming!
~Daff

Awesome!

Chimaeron is Down!

Group Beta Awesome downed 5 bosses this week, including Chimaeron to end the night.

Attendees between the two nights were as follows:

Tanks: Xectavas, Exfactor
Healers: Dareths, Moncaros, Noobitron
DPS*: TheDuck, Jadelin, McMurdock, Arlinto, Mojjee, Zalock, Nicodar (Shin’s brother)

Congratulations on some great raid progress!

What is Group Beta Awesome?

Group Beta Awesome is Sang Grail’s second raid group. It provides raiding opportunities for new raiders, alts and raiders where the Sunday / Monday schedule works better than Wedesday, Friday Saturday.

Raid Times: Sunday and Monday at 8:30 server. Be on for invites approximately 15 min prior to start time.

Getting Involved: most level 85 toons will get an in-game invite; however, mass invites can only go out to 100 people at a time, so based on your rank, you might get skipped in the invite. If you aren’t seeing invitations and you would like to get involved, please contact on of the guild officers (rank Noble).

While this run has been started to give opportunities for new raiders, it is on it’s way to becoming an equally progressed second run.

Raiding Requirements

Group Beta Awesome is a great place for new raiders to get involved, so the gear / experience requirements may be a little lower than we will have in place for the Wednesday / Friday / Saturday run. However, you should still be coming to the raid prepared.

Gear: Have an appropriate gear level equipped with stats that are appropriate for your class.

Enchants / Gems: You should be fully enchanted / gemmed. The audit section of the armory can help you see if you are missing something.

Food / Flask (or Elixirs): Come to the raid with proper buff food and flasks. It’s best to stock up on these before raid time to avoid high AH prices.

Be on time and attentive for the raid period: We generally start invites at 8:15 and end at around 11pm server time. We will have several breaks, but otherwise you should be available and able to give your attention to the raid.

Be considerate: Please do not show up unprepared. It’s inconsiderate to the others setting aside their personal time to be part of the raiding group. No one likes to have their time wasted.

Happy Raiding!
~Daff

Starter Mage Edition

Arcane mages are back!

I wrote Mojjee’s Mage Manual right after the big patch before Cata on playing an arcane mage. If you are looking for more detailed information, this is probably a better resource. Most of it is still true (I re-read it to confirm), but I reference ICC and a few other out-dated things.

DPS Basics

There are 2 phases for DPS: 1. Burn Phase and 2. Mana Conservation. Mastering these two phases will lead to amazing dps.

Head to the Raiding Training Dummy in Old Town. It’s time to practice. If you want, play around on the test dummy initially and notice your DPS before you try the following “tests”.

Make sure you have an addon like Recount running to view your dps while practicing on the training dummy.

Training Dummy Test #1 - The Burn Phase

The Burn Phase is the most fun. Make sure your Arcane Blast is on a hot key that is really easy for you to find / press. Mine is the number 7 on my keypad so I can use my right hand.

Test #1: Simply press the Arcane Blast key as fast as you can. It doesn’t matter if the spell is still casting. As soon as it ready to cast again it will trigger. This takes the guess work out of the timing.

Make sure you have Mage Armor and Arcane Intellect buffs. Check that you are using the Glyph of Mage Armor.

Press the button as fast as you can (don’t cast any other spells) until you are out of mana. Make a note of how long this took (probably not too long) and what your DPS was.

Training Dummy Test #2 - The Burn Phase Enhanced

Test #2: Now do the same as test #1, BUT this time cast Arcane Power and Mirror Image first. Then, immediately start spamming Arcane Blast as fast as you can.

Check your number again. Your numbers should go up significantly, but the time it takes to run out of mana should go down. This is important to understand.

Make a Pop Macro

Task: Make yourself a “Pop” macro that pops your cooldowns. I use this at specific times in the fights. If nothing else, use it toward the beginning of the fight until you learn how to better manage the timing. This combines the addition of Arcane Power and Mirror Image (plus trinkets and Mana Gem) into one button push.

Here is my macro:

/cast Arcane Power
/use 13
/use 14
/cast Mirror Images
/use Mana Gem

Training Dummy Test #3 - The Mana Conservation Phase

Now we will test the more boring, but very important, Mana Conservation phase. The goal here is to be able to maintain your mana at a high level for approximately 2 minutes (between Evocation cooldowns).

You will using Arcane Blast as your main spell, still, but you will now also use Arcane Missiles and Arcane Barrage intermittently.

Test #3: Start out casting Arcane Blast (still using the button spam method), but now watch your cast bar to see when it’s actually triggering…you need to keep count. As the third Arcane Blast is casting, check to see if your Arcane Missiles have proc’ed. If it has, start spamming the Arcane Missiles button so it will trigger as soon as your Arcane Blast is finished. When it is almost done channeling, start spamming Arcane Blast again.

NOTE: if you are on your third Arcane Blast and Arcane Missiles has not proc’ed, start spamming the Arcane Barrage button until it goes off, then go back to Arcane Blast.

This sequence is a little “clunky” at times with trying to cast as fast as possible and weaving in the other spells. Don’t worry too much if you accidentally mess it up a little.

Keep trying this to get a feel for it. The goal is to maintain your mana for two minutes.

How to See if Arcane Missiles Proc’ed

Blizzard now has an in-game notification of the Arcane Missile proc. It shows on my screen as rounded brackets in the center of my screen. It’s pretty obviuos to see. Play around with this, to make sure you can identify it easily.

If in doubt, assume it hasn’t proc’ed and use Arcane Barrage. The only issue with this approach is that it uses more mana. Arcane Missiles is a mana-free cast, so it is generally better for your mana conservation phase. So use it when you can.

Training Dummy Test #4 - Timed Mana Conservation Phase with Evocation

Test #4: Same as test 3, but this time use your Evocation at the start. Make sure you can see the cooldown for this spell on your screen. Now use your casting style to conserve mana until this spell is available again.

As soon as it’s available, or almost available, move into the burn phase to use up the rest of your mana. You should be getting low on mana (between 0% and 40%) mana by the time your Evocation is available.

NOTE: there is a talent that decreases the the cooldown of Evocation to 2 minutes. Make sure you have that.

Putting it into Action - Trash Pulls

Trash pulls are generally quick fights. Your goal here is to use Arcane Blast almost exclusively. Only move into your mana conversation rotation if necessary. I can generally burn the mobs (single target) Arcane Blast and adding in a Evocation if off cool-down and needed.

Putting it into Action - Heroic Bosses

The non-Zandalari heroic bosses generally go down pretty fast. If the other dps is pretty good, i’m able to use the following approach:

Arcane Blast x 3
Pop Macro - Arcane Power, Arcane Missiles, trinkets
Continue to spam Arcane Blast
Evocation at about 20%
Resume spamming Arcane Blast
Conserve mana if I get to 40% mana and it doesn’t look like the fight will end before I’m out of mana.

Putting it into Action - Raid Bosses (and Zandalari)

Raid boss and the new Zandalari Heroic boss fights last much longer. You’ll need to go through several rotations of your Burn and Mana Conservation phases.

Burn + Pop (generally lasts 15 - 20 sec)
Evocation
Conserve for next 1 min 45 sec
Burn until Evocation up
Evocation
Conserve for next 1 min 45 sec
Burn until Evocation up
(repeat)

Use your pop trinket in each of the burn phases. All of the items might not be off cooldown, but it’s good to get in the habit.

If possible, plan for a burn phase during Heroism.

More to Come

I will add more to this later today or tomorrow. This will focus on gear / reforging etc.

Happy Gaming!
~Daff

I came across this post on Falling Leaves and Wings by way of Manalicious, and I thought it was a nice reminder of things I try to remember every day as part of being a good person and part of finding happiness in the game and in life.

It’s Easy to Forget
Falling Leaves and Wings
May 3, 2011

It’s easy to forget that there is a person with feelings on the other side of the avatar.
It’s easy to forget that you often have no idea what’s going on in someone’s life outside of the game.
It’s easy to forget that lack of insight means that you don’t always know how someone’s going to react.
It’s easy to forget that even the thickest skin still has soft spots.
It’s easy to forget that many times you should think about what you say before you say it.
It’s easy to forget that text doesn’t always translate well.
It’s easy to forget that people generally don’t like an asshole.
It’s easy to forget that often times people have the best intentions.
It’s easy to forget that cattiness wears people thin.
It’s easy to forget that sarcasm is often missed.
It’s easy to forget that discussion is healthy.
It’s easy to forget that compromise often leads to success.
It’s easy to forget that things don’t always go as planned.
It’s easy to forget that everyone makes mistakes, some are just more visible than others.
It’s easy to forget the good and remember only the bad.
It’s easy to forget that sometimes it’s incredibly lonely at the top.
It’s easy to forget that often times those that work the hardest are also the most underappreciated.

NOTE: I’m not posting this because I think anything is wrong. I just thought others might appreciate it too.

Today was my first visit to the Falling Leaves and Wings blog. I think I might start checking it out more.

Happy Gaming!
~Daff

Chimaeron Edition

Before

Chimaeron sleeps peacefully, clueless that we are about to make an attempt at his life.

After

Our raiders showed up prepared for the fight, executed it (near) flawlessly, and we came up the victors in the fight.

Now Let’s Break it Down

Basically, we grouped up, spread out, grouped up, spread out, grouped up, spread out and then kicked his butt!

Check out the logs for more info.

Progression Update

Sang Grail is now 9/12 for Cataclysm Raid Bosses. Eight days ago we were 7/12. That’s great progress!

We are down to the final bosses in each of the 3 instances: Nefarian, Cho’gall and Al’Akir. Everyone should start researching all of these bosses. We haven’t decided a specific target to focus on yet, but I suspect we may give a couple of them a try and then make a final decision for our focus once we get a better feel for the fights.

Great Job!

Great job everyone! I know everyone has been making an effort to improve their contributions to the raids and also to research the fights. Our success on Chimaeron (down on our 4th try ever) is a great example of what we can do with a little preparation and concentration during the encounter.

Thank you to everyone involved!

Happy Raiding!
~Daff

One Strategy - 25 Man

Fast Tube by Casper

Another Strategy - 10 Man

This one shows what’s happening a little better (look for the orbs on the side of Ony), but the strategy is less conventional.

Fast Tube by Casper

Most of this information is copied from the forums with some really important links to follow and read.

The Basics

Here are the basics of the fight:

Phase I: Basic Phase
- DPS spread out (prevents extra caustic slime targets)
- Tanks swap (suggestion - OT swaps to take Double Attack, then MT takes right back)
- Healers keep everyone above 10K to stay alive
- Healers conserve mana for Feud phase

Phase II: Feud
- Everyone stack up
- Heavy Healing on full raid group
- Tank healer is also raid healing here

Phase III: Final Phase (after 20%)
- Person highest on Omen will get destroyed so KITE BOSS and then drop aggro or let someone take over highest threat.
- Use special mechanics to try to bounce boss around.
- Heroism during this phase

Required Reading for Everyone

Read this article at Cannot Be Tamed to explain the timing of the fight. - VERY IMPORTANT TO UNDERSTAND.

Healer Details

Healing thoughts:
- Tank healer watches both tanks, keeping Main Tank (Break Tank) above 10K at all times and keeping Double Attack tank healed up.
- Timing of different abilities is VERY important. Make sure you have visited the
- Healers need a quick way to see who drops below 10K health. this is a big game of whack-a-mole to use fast heals that will heal for over 10K (starting from 1 hp).
- Need to be able to switch to heavy raid heals
- also be aware of kiting / dropping aggro in phase III.
- Use cooldowns for tanks during the Double hit in phase I.

Additional Required Reading for Healers

Read this post for healer discussion on this encounter: http://www.plusheal.com/viewtopic.php?f=40&t=8101

More PlusHeal.com Chimaeron Topics
http://www.plusheal.com/viewtopic.php?f=40&t=9760

http://www.plusheal.com/viewtopic.php?f=40&t=9758

Researching and Evaluating with World of Logs

If you want to see the timing for yourself in the logs, you can use this expression in the “Expression Editor” on WOL.

spell=”Double Attack” or spell=”Massacre” or spell=”Caustic Slime” or spell=”Feud”

The link above is an example from our initial try. I also look at the logs for other guilds successfully downing this boss on a regular basis for good ideas. I also like to add or SourceName=”Daffnae” (or other healer name) to see exactly what the healer is doing to react to the situations.

Based on research I’ve done on other guilds, here is some information on how to heal for two of our healing classes. NOTE: the Cannot be Tamed article linked above has other suggestions and lots of good info in the comments. The other link to PlusHeal.com also includes great suggestions.

Holy Priest (Caustic Slime - Raid Healing)

Summary:
- Renews and POM on tanks to help out
- Heal + Healing Stream Totem + Echo of Light are sufficient on Caustic Slimes
- Prayer of Healing (both groups) plus COH on Massacre
- POH, Divine Hymn, COH etc on Feud with Flash Heals on tanks in between POH for serendipity (drop lightwell before Feud)

Shaman (Caustic Slime - Raid Healing)

Summary:
- alternating riptide and healing wave on tanks to help out
- Healing wave (followed by riptide if needed) on Caustic Slimes
- Chain Heal x2 or 3 on Massacre
- Healing Rain and Chain Heals for Feud
- Other: earth shield on main tank, I see ancestral fortitude on double attack tank and lots of earth living
- Healing Stream totems should be split one in each group if there are two…otherwise, should be in the priest group to make “Heal” more effective for low mana.

The Video

Fast Tube by Casper

Happy Raiding!
~Daff