129062-wildstar-made-me-into-a-raider

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Warning! This is just a fluffy post telling my WildStar story. If you don't care about that stuff, please skip. 
 
It's been a long time since I posted here. Some people may remember me from beta because I used to post here all the time. I vaguely remember a spokesperson of some kind saying that they planned to turn many players into raiders. I wish I could remember who said it or where I heard it, but I'm simply too lazy to research this lol. Getting to the point, it worked. Though I don't really see myself as a raider per say, I have progressed enough to have defeated Ohmna in the Genetic Archives (only once though). I was planning on making this post earlier, but I was too busy enjoying the game.  :P Since it has been laggy lately, I figured this was the perfect time to make a post.  :lol:
 
Before WildStar, the only other MMO I had played was Guild Wars 2. I had always assumed that raiding was something that only the super hardcore players did, and that such a thing was far beyond my reach. I mean, I didn't even learn about moments of opportunity until after I hit level 50 in beta. I was also too afraid to enter any instances beyond Shiphands and the first Adventure. After beta, I took a break from the game until about  3-4 months ago. I feel that I put my heart and soul into beta testing and reporting posts that broke the Code of Conduct. In the grand scheme of things, my contribution is negligible but I really tried to be the best beta tester I could possibly be. This was the first game that I ever participated in a beta as well. I really enjoyed (and miss) the amount of time the devs used to spend on the forums. It was really awesome having them reply to a thread you made addressing the problem. I know that they still do this,  but I just remember being all amazed lol.
 
After beta, I was still hesitant to ever try most instances. One time, I managed to accidentally join a normal Stormtalon's Lair group. I know that sounds impossible, but I ended up grouping with someone without realizing they were queuing for the dungeon. I considered leaving, but then I felt bad about abandoning the party. The run went surprisingly well. When I hit 50, I managed to get into a few normal dungeon and adventure groups with varying results. Crimelord of Whitevale was awesome. Had a traumatizing experience tanking Ruins of Kel Voreth. Did surprisingly well in Skullcano, except I died during the final boss fight.
 
I eventually joined an awesome guild (Whoo Goes) and that was when I started trying to get attuned. I'm the kind of person who feels a burning need to do a quest simply because it's there. Though I never planned to raid, I wanted to see how far I could get. I was lucky enough to have Beloved in pretty much all the zones and killed all the World Bosses before attunement ever crossed my mind so it was mostly the dungeons and adventures I had to worry about. With the exception of Malgrave Trail, it was pretty easy to get silver for all the adventures. My favorite one story-wise is Crimelords of Whitevale. Stormtalon's Lair and Ruins of Kel Voreth were also pretty easy to bronze with a helpful guild. Sadly, I have never survived the final boss fight in Skullcano so I got carried during that part.  :( The first boss and the fire wall lady (can't remember her name) were by far the toughest fights in Sanctuary of the Swordmaidens, and it took me a few tries to get bronze.
 
When I had to defeat an optional KV boss for attunement, a few guildies helped me right after their raid was over. Our raid leader got really excited when he found out I was a Stalker, as our guild had a shortage of them and medium gear just kept dropping. I really wasn't planning on raiding , but I figured since the guild helped me get attuned, I would give it a try. I had planned to give it a try for a month to see if I was cut out for it, but now I can't imagine not raiding unless I have a schedule conflict or I get benched because I suck. Even then, it's not the end of the world for me as I never thought I would raid in the first place.
 
Obviously, the game isn't perfect and I don't love everything about it. In particular, I hate most of the armor in this game and I really don't like how they initially incentivised purchasing box copies (don't get me started on alts!). I just felt like making a post sharing my experience with WildStar and wondering if there were any other players out there like me who never raided until this game. Anyway, back to playing the game!	
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Congraz mate.  I can tell you that I got right back into raiding.  And this experience isn't one that I've had for a long long time.
 
It's refreshing to have and see mechanics that test everyone in the raid including coordination.	
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<Waves to the fellow WhooGoesian, or is it WhooGoesanite, WhooGoesaninny?>
 
I can recall when I first started raiding in WoW.  It was in BC and someone invited me ( alliance holy priest ) into a guild and then asked if I was ready to raid.  I said 'Sure, I love raiding!' They were all getting ready for that nights raid and I went off to meet them there.  Well I was trying to get Ventrillo working as I waited near where I thought they would be raiding.  I sat there for 20 minutes waiting.  Finally I got vent working and I can hear them wondering where I was. 
 
Finally someone sees on the map that I was no where near Karazahn.  I was on a hill in the barrens not too far from the Crossroads.  I mean that's where all the alliance 'raids' isn't it?
			
				
	Edited August 4, 2015 by Quuarm	
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It's been a long time since I posted here. Some people may remember me from beta because I used to post here all the time.
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Stuff!
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-snip-
 
Today, Skullcano bugged out on me. I was really sad, I haven't run it in a long time. I wanted to see if any of the skills I picked up in GA (Kuralak in particular) would help me survive the final fight. One person died during the run through fire part and got summoned, and I think that broke the dungeon. We all ran back to do it but then the event log was like "Defeat Boss Octog!" and we already killed him.  :(
 
-snip-
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It's nice to read how you've grown into the idea of raiding, and are enjoying it, after initially being daunted by it. You wondered if there were others who had never raided until Wildstar? I have a fair number of people in my guild for who that is the case. We actually started raiding quite late, as we are a rather easy going group, so for a long period of time we just did dungeons. In that time and now, I've seen people go from not being able to survive most of Stormtalon's Lair to flawlessly executing fights like Kuralak. They are having a blast, and it's incredibly satisfying to see someone come along that far knowing where they came from and knowing they have never done something like this.
 
So yea, you are not alone. And I hope many more will follow the same path.	
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			'The Dominion.  We conquer worlds and have cookies!'	
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You wondered if there were others who had never raided until Wildstar? I have a fair number of people in my guild for who that is the case. We actually started raiding quite late, as we are a rather easy going group, so for a long period of time we just did dungeons. In that time and now, I've seen people go from not being able to survive most of Stormtalon's Lair to flawlessly executing fights like Kuralak. They are having a blast, and it's incredibly satisfying to see someone come along that far knowing where they came from and knowing they have never done something like this.
 
So yea, you are not alone. And I hope many more will follow the same path.
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I've seen people go from not being able to survive most of Stormtalon's Lair to flawlessly executing fights like Kuralak.
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			I've not gotten to raiding yet, but cannot wait til I finish attunement and do! I've never raided before but I've been enjoying dungeons and world bosses alot so don't see myself not enjoying it. I have a great guild behind me too helping out *waves to KentP and SoulEquilibrium* you guys are great!! I've been playing the game well over a year now and I've not regretted it :)	
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Your reply makes me so happy! I always hear about how other players raided in WoW and other games, and it just makes me feel out of place. I can usually not die during Kuralak, but I don't perform as well as I want.
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Glad to hear that. What would you like to do better on madam Defiler then?
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This gives me some hope. I really want to get better at this game and maybe raid someday but it's intimidating when most players have raided in other games already. I never played WoW (or any MMO, tbh) so the whole thing was brand new to me. I'm still afraid to do Dungeons because I don't want people making fun of me for not knowing the fights, messing up timings, etc. But they seem so fun! When I returned, veteran Shiphands hooked me because it was something I could practice solo (and now I can get Gold in most---I still suck at The Gauntlet, admittedly).
 
Thanks for sharing your story! One day maybe I'll be brave and join a guild and someday raid, too :).	
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Awesome stuff!
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I intended to reply to this earlier but it seems it slipped my mind. Pardon.
 
More damage during the laser phase? Well you could find a large Prime enemy. Something with a good chunk of health, has melee range and which also needs some healing management to stay alive on. Preferable if you solve that with self heals to put some pressure on yourself but in case you can't perhaps a healer buddy can help out. Then engage the enemy and circle around it constantly, making sure it doesn't move from its spot all the while keeping yourself alive and eventually killing it.
 
If you can kill it in a timely fashion without stopping the strafe and without the enemy moving, it means you've learned to do your rotations whilst making tidy circles at a constant speed.
 
I'm the same as your raid leader in that regard then. I find it more important for people to stay alive and do what they are supposed to than that do a lot of damage. Nevertheless those that are willing to improve should be encouraged, I find.	
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I thought of practicing my rotation on a stationary object instead of an actual enemy, as most open world mobs move with you. I can still circle around them, but I can end up in hilarious paths that way. I think when I first had trouble with the combat in this game (Whitevale), I practiced circling around the enemy with a tree. I think I'm gonna have to do that again but pay attention to my rotation and circle both ways. I can circle one direction and attack just fine (starting from left) but I totally flounder the other way. 
 
I understand why you'd want me to use a live mob though (so I know I'm doing damage). I'll probably try one out once I practice circling around more.
 
On another note, I can now survive the final fight in Skullcano!!!!!! The first time I was a tank but I probably killed most of my party because I kept spinning around to keep track of the lasers. The second time I was dps but it was still awesome.  :D	
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I thought of practicing my rotation on a stationary object instead of an actual enemy, as most open world mobs move with you. I can still circle around them, but I can end up in hilarious paths that way. I think when I first had trouble with the combat in this game (Whitevale), I practiced circling around the enemy with a tree. I think I'm gonna have to do that again but pay attention to my rotation and circle both ways. I can circle one direction and attack just fine (starting from left) but I totally flounder the other way. 
 
I understand why you'd want me to use a live mob though (so I know I'm doing damage). I'll probably try one out once I practice circling around more.
 
On another note, I can now survive the final fight in Skullcano!!!!!! The first time I was a tank but I probably killed most of my party because I kept spinning around to keep track of the lasers. The second time I was dps but it was still awesome.  :D
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So, its been nearly a month since I posted here and I thought I'd share with you my experience of raiding so far.
 
In a few words - I'm loving it. Oh yeah, on my first night I died on a first two bosses (my fellow guildies were kind enough to let me heal as that's my main spec) and I was kinda bummed. I also caused a wipe as I pulled argo on the first run of X-89 that I ever did (not making THAT mistake again!!) But my guildies were awesome and didn't have a go at me. We got down to Phagemaw, who I managed to survive (eventually) but I think that was because I was tank healing for that. All in all was a fun time out.
 
On my most recent raid I FINALLY survived X-89 - that was a bit of a milestone for me and I'd survived Kuralak for the first time the week before (seriously those lasers are a pain!!). I'm getting better I feel, and remembering more about the mechanics each time (big bomb flying lessons are FUN!) and while I won't always be healing (we have a few too many main spec healers in our guild - but that's the way the cookie crumbles) I'm surviving the fights for the most part. Sure there are times when it gets frustrating, especially when you die because of a silly mistake you've made, but we ain't perfect, we can only improve with practice. I'm looking forward to when we take down Ohmna, though that may not be for a few weeks yet, and celebrating that with the rest of my guild whether I'm there for it or not. From there, well, we'll see how it goes - but I know I'm enjoying myself and loving my first experience of raiding.	
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Awesome stuff!
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