The first attempt at Shazzrah went exactly as expected.
They wiped spectacularly.
Only Warquell survived, thanks to Oldguard's Divine Intervention.
Two Paladins had both popped Divine Shield and raced to cast Divine Intervention. It was surprisingly intense, coming down entirely to reaction speed. Neither wanted to miss the chance to save the raid.
In the end, Oldguard was faster and got his DI onto Warquell first.
"Haha, this old man's still got it," Warquell said admiringly.
Oldguard chuckled. "I push a handcart every day. I'm still in my prime."
It wasn't as though they wanted to handle the wipe this way. Every other healer was dead. Shazzrah could blow up an entire cluster of players at once, making it brutally efficient at clearing the field.
"Next time, let's spread out. When the boss Blinks, everyone scatter immediately."
Reaching Shazzrah after only two days of progression was already good enough for Gabryell. He couldn't ask for too much.
He was the only reincarnator leading thirty-nine newbies. Even a raid made up of forty reincarnators couldn't guarantee clearing MC progression without a single wipe.
Warquell clicked off Divine Intervention and started rezzing everyone.
Once the raid was back up, Gabryell had everyone rebuff and recover.
"Smooch, pull again."
Smooch once again used her Wind Serpent to pull the boss. After two pulls, the poor thing finally survived this one.
It was probably moved to tears.
Their second attempt went even worse than the first.
Because everyone had spread out, no tank was close enough to grab Shazzrah immediately after a Blink. The fight became even more chaotic, and even more people died.
By the time Carlos reached the boss and tried to pick it up, Shazzrah Blinked away again.
And another huge chunk of the raid disappeared.
After a few rounds of that, there was practically nobody left. Carlos spent the entire attempt chasing Shazzrah around without ever getting a chance to hold it properly.
The second wipe was even faster than the first.
"Yeah, this isn't going to work. We'll have to use the strategy people settled on later."
Gabryell checked the remaining duration on their consumable buffs.
They still had enough time for one more attempt.
Whether they killed Shazzrah or wiped again, they would stop progressing MC afterward and move on to Onyxia's Lair.
Dire Maul was opening tomorrow. If they couldn't clear Onyxia's Lair, how was Carlos supposed to get Quel'Serrar?
"Heals, get up and rez the healers first."
They didn't need Divine Intervention this time. Gabryell had already asked a Warlock to put a Soulstone on ServerHeals.
"This boss is disgusting. It keeps teleporting all over the place. I can't keep up at all."
This was Carlos's first time fighting a boss that teleported this frequently.
"The damage is way too high," DaVinci complained. "The second we melee go in, we're dead. It just spams Arcane Explosion forever."
He checked the damage meter.
The entire melee group was sitting at the bottom with absolutely miserable numbers.
DeathScum agreed. "This boss fucking hates melee. Going in to hit it is worse than just standing back and shooting it."
"Mages want to protest too," Coldhands said. "Why the hell doesn't it spend mana on Arcane Explosion? If mine didn't cost mana, I could blow through Azeroth by myself."
OldSeven said, "I want Shazzrah as my master. Teach me infinite Blink."
Everyone kept complaining in raid chat.
Things had gone far too smoothly earlier, so wiping twice in a row had put a noticeable dent in everyone's mood.
A few more wipes and they'd get used to it.
Once everyone had been resurrected, Gabryell reorganized the strategy.
"We're going back to the positioning from the first attempt. Groups 1, 3, and 7 on the left. Groups 2, 4, and 8 on the right. After two pulls, you should all have some idea of how the boss's Blink works."
Gabryell walked over to the left side.
"Think of the room as a triangle. We're going to use an isosceles triangle formation. Carlos's position, where he starts tanking the boss, is Point A. The odd-numbered groups stand at Point B, and the even-numbered groups at Point C."
"What's an isosceles triangle?" OldSeven asked.
Coldhands stared at him.
"You seriously don't know that?"
"I never even finished elementary school. How the hell would I know? If you know, then tell me."
Coldhands paused.
"Actually... I don't know either. Having to learn math just to play a game is bullshit."
Gabryell ignored the two clowns and walked over to the right.
"Since everyone starts grouped at these positions, the boss's first Blink will randomly take it to either Point B or Point C. Whichever one it picks, don't panic."
As he spoke, Gabryell returned to Point A, where Carlos would start the fight.
"After the first Blink, everyone at the point the boss lands on immediately moves to Point A. I'll station one tank at each of the three points. Wherever Shazzrah Blinks, the tank already standing there picks it up."
"The tanks stay put. Don't drag the boss around. Only the DPS and healers move, and you move to the boss's previous position. That way, no matter where Shazzrah Blinks, the triangle never changes."
The strategy itself was actually simple.
They would maintain three fixed points. Whenever Shazzrah Blinked, the group standing at its destination would move to the boss's previous position. The tank stationed at each point would stay where they were and pick up Shazzrah whenever it appeared.
That way, the three-point formation would remain intact for the entire fight.
"This sounds so fucking complicated."
OldSeven, the hopeless student of the group, was completely lost.
"Leader, can you say that again?"
Gabryell explained the whole thing one more time.
OldSeven, who hadn't even finished elementary school, still didn't understand.
"I'll mark the three tanks. When I call for the odd or even groups to move to Circle, Moon, or Star, just follow everybody else."
This time, Gabryell planned to let the melee DPS attack as well.
Otherwise, their damage was simply too low.
"Mages, Druids, decurse. Tanks first. After that, prioritize melee so they can actually stay in and DPS."
As long as everyone handled the movement correctly, the healers and ranged DPS shouldn't take too much damage. That would let the decursers focus more attention on the melee and keep them in the fight.
"Heals, keep Deaden Magic off the boss. The second it goes up, dispel it. Otherwise our caster DPS gets cut in half."
"Paladins, watch the three tanks. Don't let any of them drop."
"Priests, help keep the melee alive. Shield them, Renew them, whatever you can. Melee, if you can't handle the damage, don't be stupid and tunnel the boss. Back out, bandage, and if you're about to die, pop a Major Healing Potion."
Gabryell had explained everything he could.
If they still couldn't kill Shazzrah after all that, then their awareness simply wasn't good enough yet. They had reached the current limit of the raid's skill level.
They would need more experience before they could push any farther.
Gabryell marked the three tanks.
"Carlos, Point A at Circle. Susie, Point B at Moon. David, Point C at Star. Night, stay with David. When the boss Blinks over there, hang back at first. Only step in if David goes down."
David immediately protested.
"I'm not going to die."
Susie replied, "You never know. You're pretty damn fragile."
David accidentally let something slip.
"I only weigh about two hundred pounds."
Two hundred pounds.
Poor little Mushy was probably going to get flattened.
Gabryell sent out the ready check.
"Click ready if you're good."
Running a ready check was a good habit. If the raid leader pulled without making sure everyone was present, only to discover afterward that someone had gone AFK, that was the raid leader's fault.
Once everyone had confirmed, Gabryell gave the call.
"Take your positions. Smooch, pull."
"Got it."
Smooch took control of her Wind Serpent and sent it in. She was already getting the hang of these pulls.
At the very least, her pet wasn't dropping dead every single time anymore.
"Boss incoming," Smooch warned.
Carlos braced himself.
He bandaged himself first. The moment Shazzrah appeared at the cave entrance, he used Bloodrage and Demoralizing Shout.
"All three tanks, stay at your positions. DPS, every time the boss Blinks, wait until the tank has it before you attack."
Carlos picked up Shazzrah.
Gabryell waited until three Sunders were up.
"Melee, go in. Everyone DPS. Priests, keep an eye on the melee."
Most of Shazzrah's damage came from Arcane Explosion. As long as Carlos's curse was removed immediately, four Paladins were more than capable of keeping him alive.
"Mages, Druids, decurse."
The curses came fast.
Gabryell had barely put Detect Magic on Shazzrah before the first wave hit.
He immediately decursed Carlos. Only after seeing Susie and David cleaned as well did he start working through the melee DPS.
This time, the melee had healers watching them, and their curses were removed almost immediately.
Not a single person died.
"Get ready. Blink coming."
Gabryell watched Shazzrah closely, judging where it was about to go.
"Odd groups at Point B, move to Circle! Susie, hold the boss. DPS at Point C, ease off and give her time to build threat."
Not everyone was as hopeless a student as OldSeven.
The moment Gabryell finished the call, everyone at Point B except Susie ran straight toward Point A, where Carlos was stationed.
"Decurse Susie and keep her topped off."
Gabryell kept track of the entire battlefield.
"Heals, dispel!"
With Deaden Magic active, Frostbolt was only hitting Shazzrah for three or four hundred damage.
It was unbelievably frustrating.
ServerHeals reacted as quickly as ever and stripped the buff immediately.
"Even groups at Point C, move to Moon! David, pick up the boss."
Shazzrah Blinked again, this time to Point C.
Everyone at Point C except David immediately ran to Point B, where Susie had been stationed.
OldSeven might have been terrible at school, but he wasn't stupid.
Everyone else ran, so he ran with them.
"Good. Keep this rhythm."
This attempt was going extremely well.
So far, not a single person had died.
"You're insane. You actually came up with this? I'm impressed," Crit said.
Several others immediately chimed in with their own praise.
Gabryell cut them off.
"Stay focused. Talk after the fight. Don't die. If we keep this rhythm, he's dead."
Once they found the right rhythm, Shazzrah really wasn't that difficult.
Still, getting through the entire fight without a single death was basically impossible.
As the fight dragged on, casualties gradually began to appear.
Most of the dead were melee DPS. Only two ranged players went down.
"Six percent! Burn it! Snowy, dispel!"
ServerHeals's dispel had been resisted, so Gabryell immediately called for Danielly to cover him.
Danielly had dueled plenty before, so offensive dispels were second nature to her. The moment Gabryell made the call, she stripped Deaden Magic off the boss.
"Everyone at Point A, move to Point B. Finish this move and we've got him."
Gabryell could finally relax a little.
Shazzrah had only three percent HP left.
There shouldn't be any more surprises.
And there weren't.
With Gabryell keeping the calls tight, Shazzrah finally went down.
"Nobody loot yet. Healers, rez the dead first. We'll loot when everyone's back up."
Everyone had performed extremely well on that attempt.
Gabryell was more than satisfied with their execution.
This was exactly what a proper progression roster should look like.
Everyone had earned the moment, so Gabryell deliberately waited until every dead player was back on their feet before letting anyone touch the corpse.
This time, he wasn't going to have Lunatori loot it.
He wanted to give everyone else a chance to enjoy the thrill.
Shazzrah couldn't drop any Legendary gear anyway.
"Go ahead. Anyone can loot."
Tonight's haul had already been absurdly good, so Gabryell wasn't particularly worried about whether Shazzrah would be generous.
Their consumable buffs had already expired.
He decided to stick to the original plan: stop MC progression for the night and switch over to Onyxia's Lair to see whether they could carry their momentum forward and take down the Black Dragon Princess.
If everyone maintained the same level of execution they had shown against Shazzrah, Gabryell believed they had a real chance of killing Onyxia.
"Haha, I got it!"
Smooch laughed.
She had managed to grab the boss loot this time.
"What dropped?" Gabryell asked.
Smooch linked the items.
Giantstalker's Gloves and Salamander Scale Pants.
No wonder she was so happy. The T1 Hunter gloves had 2% hit and were an excellent pickup.
"At least the run wasn't for nothing."
Gabryell was even more interested in the Salamander Scale Pants.
They were BiS healing legs for Druids and Paladins during the MC tier, even better for healing than the T2 legs from Rag.
...
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