My first ever kara

[Gekothan]

On Wednesday I'm most likely going to attending my first Kara ever, which probably isn't a big deal for most of you but it is for me seeing as it'll be my first ever RAID. :embarassed: Has anyone got any tips/advice for a first-timer afflic lock in Karazhan? I'm reading up all of the tactics I can and watching plenty of videos. I believe my guild is very far in, so they should be able to help me but I'd like to get as much advice as possible :)

[Imraath]

Even the best groups wipe. Don't sweat it!

[evolutionsentra]

Just focus fire and dont pull agg. As an afflic lock myself, I sometimes forget about how hard mobs hit in there and just loaded up dots on everything that wasn't CC'd. Bad idea. Just make sure you have KTM threatmeter installed and stay well below the MT. soulshatter is your best friend.

[WatcherZero]

As a lock.

1: Dont pull aggro.
2: Focus fire, woe befall those who dont FF.
3: Have unlimited shards, serisouly everyone expects it of locks.
4: Everyone wipes, Dont get frustrated and want to quit.
5: Keep soulstone up, especielly before a boss and especielly when its a wipe recoverable position.

[Leonavice]

I got 1 more to add.

Don't afk at all and don't waste time talking non-raid related stuff. Attumen's trash has a 25 minute respawn rate. You don't have much time.

[earindur]

On Wednesday I'm most likely going to attending my first Kara ever, which probably isn't a big deal for most of you but it is for me seeing as it'll be my first ever RAID. :embarassed: Has anyone got any tips/advice for a first-timer afflic lock in Karazhan? I'm reading up all of the tactics I can and watching plenty of videos. I believe my guild is very far in, so they should be able to help me but I'd like to get as much advice as possible :)

what spec are you m8? and what bosses are you going for?

My guild just took illhoof down and wiped on spite at 5% last night. I've been leading the raids since attumen. Im an affliction lock so hopefully i can give you some advice.

1. Be aware of your surroundings, never run off when you dont know where you are going and never run infront of the tank. If he pulls agro no big deal, if you do, the group is already trying to recover.

2. Dont be too eager,wait for 2-3 sunders then start Slow and steady DPS (or 5k hp in a druids case). You dont need to top the dps charts, just use your first few kara runs to get a feel for what you can and cant do.

3. Utility/Preparation, Soulstones and healthstones, keep them up at and on people at all times. Bring anywhere from 20-30 soul shards and farm more when you are in there, nothing worse than having to summon 5-6 people wipe after wipe. Also bring at least 10/10 hp/mana pots.

4. Mobs in raids will kill you in one or two shots, install a threat meter and soulshatter before you pull agro, not after. always nuke down the same target before moving to the second (if you are affliction you can dot both tanked mobs).

5. Try to avoid tab targetting, especially with dots. 1 dot will ruin the chance of shackling that mob for 15-30 seconds resulting in a dead priest/warlock.

6. optimise your time, after a pull, lifetap to 50/50 mana/hp then eat and drink at the same time, making you ready to go again faster. Create a soulwell, take a healthstone, tap the life to mana then use the healthstone and take another.

7. Have fun and dont beat yourself up for mistakes, you WILL make them. Just learn from them and dont do it again.

[Gekothan]

I pretty much ripped of det's lovely spec and swapped a point in CoEx to get 5/5 Fel Concentration to aid my mats farming. So, 43/1/17 (http://www.wowhead.com/?talent=AqMriRfkVtbooZxx0pM) :)

No idea what bosses we're going for this time around, but I assume the leader has a target in mind for us to reach. I'm not worried particularily about dealing with bosses, as now I think I've seen enough vids and read up plenty of tactics, and of course as it's my first time the raid leader will be able to fill me on their usual tactics. Got a few more q's though about trash pulls:

1. What size trash pulls are the norm in there? I've been in the entrance before with a couple of friends for a laugh and looking into the hall straight ahead, looks like some potentially large pulls, but I never tried aggro'ing anything to see.

2. Will there need to be any CC from me at any point (fear [which I certainly hope not as I don't have CoEx], seducing etc)? I absolutely hate being relied on to CC in 5-mans in a PuG and in the past it has caused some pretty embarrassing wipes when people literally ORDER me to fear and CoEx excess trash despite me telling them "I don't have CoEx and it'll just give us another group to deal with if Mr. Feared Mob decides to run into another group of his friends". Though I don't usually have a problem keeping things seduced, but seeing as all of the trash from what I've seen is Undead, I guess seduce is worthless in kara right?

[rubberdubbie]

Get KLM Threatmeter...

[Gekothan]

Get KLM Threatmeter...

Been using it for months already ;]

[amgyn]

aggro aggro aggro!!!! (dont pull it)

[The Grailmaster]

Do not use seed of corruption(illhoof is the exception) unless the raid leader wants you to. I have seen a lock use it on the hallway after the opera event and pull the whole floor above us to us. something to do with the y axis i guess.. i just know don't use it unless the RL says to.

[Ascendotuum]

You shouldn't be seducing anything, but you will be called on for banish

[earindur]

1. What size trash pulls are the norm in there? I've been in the entrance before with a couple of friends for a laugh and looking into the hall straight ahead, looks like some potentially large pulls, but I never tried aggro'ing anything to see.

the largest elite pull you will get is a 5 man elite pull. IIRC this is in the ballroom and the last pull before attumen. Two shackles one ice trap, 2 tanked mobs is normally the action of choice.

For you this means no CC, just dont dot the wrong target :P

2. Will there need to be any CC from me at any point (fear [which I certainly hope not as I don't have CoEx], seducing etc)

Yes there will, fear not so much (i have only used fear on the wizard of oz event and the mana worms prior to curator). Most mobs are undead in here, so fear isnt an option.

You will be expected the banish the demon(esses) on the way to maiden, banish the arcane gits on the way to aran. thats about it.

CoE is nice for the moroes fight, they arent immune IIRC but after that not a big deal.

Now after answering your questions heres a few affliction tips :)

dot the two mobs being tanked then focus fire the main target down before moving to the second target.

Curse of shadow is far more efficient if you have a shadow priest in the group.

Use curse of weakness when the mob in question doesnt need to be dps'd down (attumen before he mounts, moroes before the adds are dead)

use CoS on the shackled adds in the moroes fight, it reduces the resists and early breaks. it shouldnt i know, but the priests have noticed a difference.

equip a spellstone during the maiden fight, it allows you to dispell one holy fire from yourself. saving your own arse if the healers are slacking.

the spell shades and sorceress shades between curator to chess have a type of invisibility, be sure to buff detect invisibility on the raid for these mobs.

ignore the post about not using seed of corruption, the aoe pulls in the dining room, ballroom, currators room, illhoofs room etc all require it. dont use it when mobs are close by or shackles are in the fight.

if i think of anything else, ill let you know.

[lofta]

IMO as raid leader, Destro/Affliction is more effective for Kara then Demonology.

[earindur]

Do not use seed of corruption(illhoof is the exception) unless the raid leader wants you to. I have seen a lock use it on the hallway after the opera event and pull the whole floor above us to us. something to do with the y axis i guess.. i just know don't use it unless the RL says to.

why bother clearing them?

use the side entrance after the stage event and you skip those mobs.

[Gekothan]

Just a little bump and a detailed'ish report on my first real kara raid.

I had my first *real* kara run tonight, this week I helped with a couple of bosses (curator and prince) when they needed a replacement, but tonight I had my first real run starting in a fresh instance. I must say it went very well, we managed Attumen, Moroes, Romulo/Julianna, Maiden, Curator, Shade and the Chess Event all within the space of JUST under 4 hours (I used 2 flasks, and just as we portalled out my 2nd one had just worn off, so that's a pretty accurate figure).

We had 2 wipes, one on Moroes caused by an accidental pull and one on Romulo/Julianna because I think the mage forgot about the aggro reset on stage 3, however other than those 2 incidents things went swimmingly.

The group consisted of myself (afflic lock), a demo/destro lock, a frost mage, feral druid/prot warrior tanking, holy priest/holy pala/resto druid healing and 2 rogues. I was at the bottom of the damage meters out of the 5 DPS'ers which seemed a bit strange as my stats were pretty much on par with the other lock, but I guess seeing as most of the instance consists of trash mobs that gives affliction locks a disadvantage on the overall damage since my nukes are inferior to that of destrolocks, and by the time all of my DoT's have finished running their course the mobs are long dead, so next time I think I'll be resetting my damagemeters before bosses to see how I perform in longer fights.

Had no problems with CC, just a few banishes here and there from me and the other lock and a couple of howl of terrors on the smaller trash around the large arcane voidwalker type things before curator which isn't exactly a bother to manage.

Had some decent loot too, I won the Handwraps of Flowing Thought and Harbinger Bands from Attumen as well as the T4 gloves from Curator. Personally I prefer the Handwraps of Flowing Thought since I'm affliction, but I'm gonna use the T4 gloves if I ever spec destro or get a second piece for the nice bonus. Trial-Fire Trousers dropped from the opera event too, but I didn't roll on them as they were a much bigger upgrade for the other lock (he was using the kilt from BM before, where as I have Spellstrike Pants).

Overall, I thoroughly enjoyed my first real Karazhan experience, it's a very well designed instance and I look forward to going back there.

[Schift]

Glad to hear it went well and you came up with some loot!