News Archive - November to May - 2010
kerafyrms
awakening cut short by Freelance!
Thursday: Korafax
cleared, Warrens - Crystal Core.
Friday: Korafax -
Pallorax (HM), Crystallos - Air, Earth, Fire Wings.
Saturday: Crystallos
- Ice Wing, Brood Mother, Kerafyrm (attempts).
Sunday: Crystallos - Kerafyrm!
As scheduled, we got in our weekly farm targets, and gave high priority to revisiting Crystallos after our minor hiatus from the zone.
Opening with Air wing, we blew Aerius away for a warmup. We then took on our nemesis Vyskudra and aired out his crib. Through all the wipes prior to date on this event, the practice and persistence paid off. In what is by far one of the best designed encounters in game. It offered a challenge at both the individual level, as well as requiring raid discipline and co-ordination. Following Air wing, we cut down Earth and Fire, with a close call win on the Tjudawos to end the night!
Starting fresh on Saturday, we began melting Ice wing, followed by Brood Mother Visziaj on the second attempt. We had a sneak peak at Brood Mother back during the Dragons 3x LL event, which gave us some idea what to expect. Excellent job following through with your assigned areas and adjusting when called on, as event elements changed unexpectedly.
Following Brood Mother, we finished up the night with two Kerafyrm attempts to size up the encounter. Both engagements were strong, reaching around 54%. Taking note of our trouble spots, we closed out the night, with plans to return for a special Sunday night run.
Our Sunday night run would have normally conflicted with Circle of Prophets guild events. However, CoP offered to cancel their raid night, allowing Freelance to take the timeslot. This action was greatly appreciated, and special thanks to Circle of Prophets and all their members for the gesture.
Sunday, Kerafyrm attracted a large crowd as expected.
On our first attempt, we improved compared to the night
prior, reaching the 45% mark. After a minor
adjustment, we defeated Kerafyrm on the second
attempt. Although there are other mechanics in
play during the encounter, the main trick was dealing with
the spell interrupt AE. Once we had a handle on the
timing, it became easier to work around it.
Outstanding play by all those who attended! Congrats
on your Dragonkin suffix!
Kerafyrm & Vyskudra Screenshots
Bumkus took some snapshots during these events. I
stored them in the Screenshots archive area located here.
Crystallos Rk3 Unlocks
Upon completion of each event inside Crystallos, you receive a hidden character flag. Completion all the events, combined with ally faction, will unlock an Rk3 spell/tome from Sydria the Elder. Sydria is a green drake, located in the valley outside the cave as you head towards Crystallos.
Have a safe week, see you at raids!
Loot lists have been updated.
Posted by Furro on Monday, May 24, 2010
weekend update!
Thursday: Korafax
cleared.
Friday: Korafax -
Pallorax (HM), Warrens - Crystal Core, FoS - A Council
Divided.
Saturday: Korafax
- Venom Lord (HM), FoS - Felbane, Final Confrontation.
This past weekend, we did a FoS theme backflagging run for
Rk/Zeb unlocks. Although we've done some FoS events
several times, we had only a single win on FoS1 prior.
A Council Divided took a few attempts, but with a tactical
change, combined with raid focus, we got it down.
Congrats those who needed the unlocks, and thanks to all who
were able to attend and for your dedication on FoS1 in
particular.
With our weekly clearing of Korafax, our Tower flagging efforts are coming along at a steady pace. On the Hard Mode front, along with Pallorax, we've recently added Venom Lord Ksathrax.
As of late, we defeated Showdown at the Crystal Core, and
been keeping it on lockout weekly.
We've started work on the Rathe theme, with attempts on The
Brothers Zek event. I'm not discouraged by our recent
runs at this encounter, as we're still in the early learning
stages.
This past weekend, Crystallos was slotted in, but it wasn't
set in stone. Higher priority was given to the FoS
theme unlocks instead, as they provide important power gains
overall. Crystallos is a secondary goal, that has been
bumped in the cycle for the last couple months due to our
SoD push and the LL/Anniversary events. However, the
goal remains to defeat Kerafyrm, and complete the SoF
expansion.
In keeping with our objectives, we will be revisiting
Crystallos in the upcoming weeks, in addition to our regular
SoD progression priorities.
Have a safe week, hope to see you at our next raid!
Loot lists have been updated.
Posted by Furro on Monday, May 17, 2010
Mindshear
Personalities Shattered!
Thursday: Korafax
- Pallorax (HM/Normal), BB/QM
Friday: Korafax -
Venom Lord. Anniversary: Steel Behemoths attempts.
Saturday: Korafax
- Mindshear! Anniversary: Steel Behemoths attempt.
Over the last few weeks; combined with our mix of SoD farm
targets, we've been focusing our efforts on Korafax and the
Steel Behemoths Anniversary Event.
Saturday, we ironed out our biggest issues on Mindshear,
resulting in our first kill and complete clear of the
zone! Raid discipline and strong focus as a team were
the major contributing factors to our victory on this
event. Outstanding job everyone!
Mindshear win, coupled with Pallorax and Venom Lord,
completes the Tower Flag for several individuals who
recently won keys. Repeats of this event is essential
to continue the flagging process. In addition, it'll
increase our weekly Tower Key intake to six, and the gear
contributes to overall power gains as a force.
Aside from minor tweaks to optimize our performance on
Korafax events, the goal is to clear the zone in a single
night, with a rotating cycle. That means, shifting the
day we do Korafax runs to cover the most people.
Korafax Hard Mode has been phased in, with the start of
Pallorax over the last two weeks. We'll be increasing
our efforts in this area, as we acclimate further to the
events and gain in overall power from the resulting
gear. These runs are normally slotted in just before
normal start time (earlybird), or tail end of the
night. As always, this depends entirely on setup and
attendance at the time.
Steel Behemoths - Anniversary Event
We devoted several nights over the last few weeks to this
event. Although we didn't win, it was time well spent
learning the encounter and meshing as a team. Along
with several strategy adjustments, raid focus and ability to
react to emotes, we saw steady progress and general
improvement with each attempt. As with any event,
there's a learning curve, and in working through the
process, we're stronger as a force in the end.
We took on this event as a challenge, to pit ourselves up
against a Tower level encounter. This is part of
raiding, in it's truest form. As a raid force, we
accept death in the name of progress for overall gains in
covering ground and the rewards that come with it. A
no fear mentality serves a purpose to hone our abilities as
a raid force and push the envolope.
Thanks everyone for your relentless efforts against this
encounter! When this event goes live again, we'll
revisit the Amalgamated Steel Behemoth and enact revenge
upon it! Rawr!
Hope to see everyone at our raids!
Loot lists have been updated.
Posted by Furro on Sunday, April 25, 2010
venom lord
defanged!
Thursday: Korafax
- Pallorax, Venom Lord!
Friday: Korafax -
Mindshear Attempts
Saturday: SoD - BB
(HM/Normal), LL - Dragons, Dragons, Dragons!
Thursday, following Pallorax, we muscled through our first
win on Venom Lord Ksathrax! Our attempts prior, aided
in refining our tactics for this event. However, this
wouldn't be possible without your support and persistance,
as we tackle and learn new events. Thanks to all those
who were able to make it out, nice job!
Friday, we spent the evening throwing ourselves at
Mindshear Avatar. Although we wiped multiple times,
the results were productive; as they revealed more clearly
the mechanics at play. This event is mostly about raid
discipline, with focus on a couple chaotic factors.
Nothing we havn't done in the past, and with some practice,
I'm confident we can defeat it. Thanks again, for
being patient between attempts, as we worked through our
event trouble spots.
Saturday, we kicked off the night with some regular
farming. Afterwards, we hit up the Anniversary Event -
Dragons, Dragons, Dragons! We improved our dragon kill
count compared to last year. This time, we reached
Brood Mother Visziaj! Although we didn't defeat her,
it was our first look at the event, and allowed us the
opportunity to size it up.
Have a safe week, hope to see you at our next raid!
Loot lists have been updated.
Posted by Furro on Sunday, March 28, 2010
korafax
entered!
Thursday: SoD - QM
(HM), Korafax - Pallorax, Venom Lord (43%)
Friday: Crystallos
- Fire & Earth wing, SoD - Rottrued (HM)
Saturday: SoD - QM/BB, Crystallos - Ice wing, Air1
We had our first hand look at two Korafax events on
Thursday. We defeated Pallorax on our first attempt
and finished out the night with a run at Venom Lord
Ksathrax. Great work everyone!
Aside from breaking new ground in Korafax, we filled in the
rest of the weekend with some much needed farming.
Our Crystallos focus is still strong, and recent progress
on Vyskudra encouraging. Item demand in Crystallos
remains significant, with very few pieces going OPEN.
As I've stated in the past, this zone provides a healthy
supply of gear per run for our time spent. Our
continued efforts in this area are productive, progressive,
and strengthen us as a force.
Anniversary Raids
We are revisiting the anniversary events this year. Including the new raid Steel Behemoths!
The goal this week is to mix in some of these events across our three day schedule. To allocate the time for these raids, I've pushed out some regular targets temporarily. However, I've maintained priority on our progression goals, and Tower keying efforts. Details are outlined on the forums, upcoming events section.
Have a safe week, see you at raids!Loot lists have been updated.
Posted by Furro on Monday, March 22, 2010
short update!
Thursday: Rottrued
(Hard Mode), FoS3 - Final Confrontation
Friday: Crystallos
- Air1, Vyskudra (11%)
Over the last couple weeks, our Crystallos efforts have focused exclusively on the Vyskudra event. On Friday, we had our best attempt to date, getting him down to 11 percent! Outstanding performance everyone!
Have a safe week, see you at raids!
Loot lists have been updated.
Posted by Furro on Monday, March 15, 2010
Weekend update!
Thursday: Queen
Malarian (Hard Mode)
Friday: Rottrued
(Hard Mode), and Showdown attempt (Tyranont 72%)
Among the regular farming targets this weekend, we improved our efforts on Showdown at the Crystal Core event in Warrens. On our second attempt, we managed to get Tyranont down to 72 percent! Considering we only had one enchanter, the results were encouraging. We'll shoot for two enchanters next time, and change our engage strat slightly to get the timing down better. Overall, strong attempts, and marked improvement compared to our prior run.
In conjunction with the above targets, we continued our
split night schedule and assisted CoP in Mansion for
backflags. Meldrath fell on Sunday again to CoP,
wrapping up another twelve flags for Crystallos.
Congrats CoP, friends and those who won flag pieces!
Regular Schedule
Frostfox and Navien, having taken into account last nights flagging, informed me they'd like to hold off on another run and resume both regular raiding schedules. I agree with this analysis, as it's not efficient to clear a zone to flag a couple people.
If you are not flagged for Crystallos, but would like to raid with us there, please feel free to do so! Attending our raids, without the flag, isn't a detriment to your potential to be a contributing factor during our raids. In addition, your presence helps us gauge where we stand on unflagged numbers, and in turn, can signal when we need another backflagging run once they reach a certain point.
Crystallos - Air Dragon Vyskudra
Our nemesis dragon in Crystallos! It's been a few weeks since our last attempt on this event. Having ironed out our strategy based on prior runs, it all comes down to execution at this point. This event is blocking our path to Broodmother, Kerafyrm and rightfully our Dragonslayer titles!
Vyskudra is one of the most challenging, and exciting events in game, hands down. Even at our increased levels and gear, by mere mechanics involved, it has the potential to stop a raid force easily. However! We know Vyskudras tricks, we know what to do. We have the skill, co-ordination, and drive to defeat this dragon of air! If you ever wanted to slay a dragon, this is the one to say you did!
For those regulars who attend, and newcomers, to prepare
yourselves for this epic battle, please review the strategy
and mechanics posted in the Upcoming
Events section. In addition, come prepared by
having your triggers setup in advance. I'd strongly
encourage using GTT also if able. Details are provided
in the above link.
Hope to see everyone at our raids!
Loot lists have been updated.
Posted by Furro on Monday, March 01, 2010
emperor ganak
grounded!
Thursday: QM &
BB (Hard Mode)
Friday: SoD -
Felbane, Final Confrontation (FoS3)
Saturday: SoD -
Showdown at the Crystal Core (Attempt only)
On Friday, following Felbane, we took our first run at FoS3. After some attempts to refine our tactics, we completed the event. This was the final raid within the FoS theme, resulting in further unlocks for many classes. We'll be repeating these raids again for those who missed, and for gear upgrades.
Saturday, we made our first attempt at the Crystal Core event in Warrens. Although it was a chaotic start, we held up well. Our engage tactic had some flaws, but as a result of the run, adjustments are in place for the next attempt to correct the issues. Overall, it was time well spent sizing up our first SoD Tier 3 event. The face time and information gathered will aid us in our next attempt. Thanks everyone for giving it a go!
As planned, part of Friday and Saturday were dedicated to helping CoP and friends in Mansion. The time was put to good use for both these nights, covering five of the six events. Sunday, CoP wrapped up the zone with their first Meldrath kill! Congrats CoP and friends on your win!
As expected, demand for Oils on Sunday was sizably present, but managable. Split night raids will continue for the next couple weeks, to fulfill those missing flags. In addition, Friday will become a split night as well. This will help prevent Saturday from running into overtime.
Thanks all those who were able to attend for CoP's Mansion efforts this weekend. Your dedication to helping others is greatly appreciated! Let's continue to show our support by attending future runs!
Have a safe week, see you at raids!
Loot lists have been updated.
Posted by Furro on Monday, February 22, 2010
council divided
& felbane defeated!
Thursday: QM &
BB (Normal and Hard)
Friday: SoD
Kithicor. SoF - Crystallos Air1, Fire wing
Saturday: SoD - Council Divided, Felbane
On Saturday, we pulled off our first Council win. The previous weekend, we sized this event up, and used the experience towards improving our strategy.
Following Council, we went in to take a look at the Felbane
event in Kurn's Tower. Not anticipating doing the
event that evening, I had not written anything up!
Therefore, during prep, we pieced together info from online
sources and others who had done the event before. With
the basics covered, we took a run at it and pulled off a win
on the first attempt! Amazing effort by all those who
attended!
These raids are all part of the Field of Scale theme (FoS),
and considered Tier 2. The tier consists of three
events: Council Divided, Felbane, and Final
Confrontation. Each event unlocks Rk.III spell/discs
via Zeb in the void. As with Kithicor, it will be
necessary to repeat them a few times to cover as many people
as possible. Aside from helping our fellow raiders
obtain these unlocks, the additional gear gained will no
doubt be put to good use.
Completion of each of these raids was necessary in order to
unlock the next within the theme. This is why we
started with the Council event first. This upcoming
weekend, we should be able to take our first look at FoS3 -
Final Confrontation.
Split Nights
The Circle of Prophets guild and friends, have recently started raiding Mansion. Their goal is to defeat Meldrath, and cover some backflagging for Crystallos.
Many of their members, regularly attend Freelance
raids. As such, their backflagging efforts will
directly contribute towards our overall attendance on
Freelance Crystallos runs.
To aid in their efforts, our upcoming raid nights will
sometimes end earlier then normal. This will allow CoP
to call and host their own Mansion run for the remainder of
the evening. The goal of this tactic is to break up
the zone over several days, instead of two.
As fellow Freelance raiders, success of this plan depends
on each of us showing our support by attending and helping
our friends reach their goal. This effort displays
your true strength of character, by contributing your time,
skill and experience towards a noble cause, that of helping
others.
Details for Split Nights, are posted on the forums here.
Have a safe week, hope to see everyone next raid!
Loot lists have been updated.
Posted by Furro on Monday, February 15, 2010
bloodshed in
kithicor! General Bahgresh demoted
Thursday: Crystallos
Fire1, Air1. SoD - QM (Hard Mode)
Friday: SoD - QM,
Rottrued, Kithicor
Saturday: Crystallos
Earth and Ice wing, Fire2
Friday, we managed our first Kithicor win. Our prior
attempts paid off, as it allowed us to refine our tactics
and avoid earlier mistakes. Overall, raid discipline
and strong effort on all fronts were instrumental in our
win. Outstanding work everyone!
This event unlocks Rk.III spell/discs via Zeb in the
void. As such, it'll be necessary to repeat it a few
times to cover as many people as possible. Aside from
the unlocks, it provides valuable drops which will serve us
well for future encounters.
Kithicor raid is considered Tier 1, in with QM/BB.
Comparing the three raids, I'd rank this one as the most
challenging and rewarding. Perhaps the step up in
difficulty is by design, to prepare us for the next tier of
encounters. On this note, a Tier 2 raid scheduled for
this upcoming weekend.
Thursday and Saturday, we finished up our weekly Crystallos
farming cycle. On the Vyskudra front, we've made
strong attempts over the last few weeks. As a result,
we've developed a working strategy to cover the event
mechanics. At this point, it's a matter of execution
and practice.
Our continuous Crystallos farming is filling in much needed
gear gaps for many of our active members. We now clear
half the zone in a single sitting, and I'm confident we can
push even harder to get a couple more events in. The
more we clear in a single night, leaves us open for other
targets to further our progression.
From a drop perspective, I monitor our loot intake
closely. Aside from the odd charm or cultural drop
going FFA or OPEN, nothing in Crystallos has rotted.
This is a strong indicator of demand, especially for
weapons, visible armor, and runes. Our weekly haul
from clearing seven events in Crystallos is significant for
the short time spent in the zone. These drops, coupled
with our SoD intake; aid in increasing our overall raid
power, and greatly improve our survivability as a force.
This is the benefit of working on multiple expansions at
the same time. We gain from the influx of gear, and
prevent stagnation by continued progress within each area.
There is no question, our time spent farming Mansion,
Crystallos and SoD to date has made a noticeable
difference. Let's continue our efforts in these areas,
to further advance our progression goals. Thanks again
all, for your continued time and dedication to helping
others experience the content and enjoy raiding to it's
fullest!
Loot lists have been updated.
Posted by Furro on Monday, February 01, 2010
December
update!
Thursday: SoD - Bloody Kithicor attempts
Friday: Crystallos
- Fire & Earth wings, Ice 1 (attempt), Air 1
Saturday: Crystallos - Ice wing
Over the last few weeks, we've made steady progress in Crystallos. We're acclimating quickly to the zone and events. As a whole, the encounters are a refreshing change from our Mansion farming.
With Mansion off our regular schedule, it opens up a large block of time to dedicate to Crystallos and further our progress into SoD content.
Last Thursday, we made our first attempts at the Bloody Kithicor raid. A challenging event, and step up from QM/BB. Each attempt resulted in a significant improvement, and I'm confident based on the data obtained from these runs that we will defeat this encounter in the near future.
Friday, we pushed through Crystallos Fire and Earth wings expeditiously. We took our first look at Ice1, and made it to stage2. Following some effort to iron out our strat, we set it aside and finished up the night with Air1.
We returned to Crystallos Saturday, and opened with Ice1. A tactic change, tested late after raids on Friday, proved successful against stage2. As a result, we successfully defeated Ice1, and proceeded to Ice2.
Ice2, took a couple attempts, each requiring a strat adjustment. In the end, we defeated the encounter, finishing up our progress in Ice wing and wrapping up the evening.
Christmas Break
This year, Christmas and New Years land on a Friday.
As a result, it's unlikely we'd see adequate attendance for
our regular raid nights. Therefore, no raids are
scheduled for the following dates: Dec 24-26, Jan 1st.
Our raid schedule will resume in and around the first week of January. Keep an eye on the forums for details!
Merry Christmas and Best Wishes for a happy new year. Be safe, see you in game!
Loot lists have been updated.
Posted by Furro on Monday, December 21, 2009
Crystallos
entered!
Thursday: MMM -
Breakneck, Krond
Friday: MMM -
Brinda, Tinkerson, Prototype, Meldrath
Saturday: SoD - Rottrued, Queen Malarian, Crystallos - Earth 1
Crystallos flagging is coming along nicely. Our
weekly focus on Mansion clears as a priority, is ensuring we
flag as many people as we can. In addition, the gear
obtained is supplementing our force with the necessary
upgrades we'll need to aid in our survival of Crystallos
encounters.
Following our regular targets late Saturday, we entered
Crystallos! We fielded just enough flagged numbers,
and managed to add in several eager pigs; maximizing our
potential. Although it was late, we managed to drop
Earth 1 event - Keeper of the Stones! It took a couple
attempts, but we rallied and pulled through on the second
try! Nice work everyone!
Thanksgiving Weekend:
A holiday weekend can affect our numbers. However, I
went ahead and scheduled raids anyway. As always,
raids are tentative pending turnout. Those who are
celebrating Thanksgiving, I wish you all the best!
Save me some pie please!
Have a safe week, see you in game!
Freelance Raid Guidelines have been amended.
Loot lists have been updated.
Posted by Furro on Tuesday, November 24, 2009
weekend update!
Thursday: MMM -
Breakneck, Krond
Friday: MMM -
Brinda, Tinkerson, Prototype, Meldrath
Saturday: SoD - Rottrued, Queen Malarian
We opened with Breakneck on Thursday, and finished up with Krond. Returning fresh on Friday, we cleared the remaining events, including Meldrath. Over the next few weeks, I'm confident we can tighten up our event times even further.
On Saturday, with Mansion cleared, we were able to get in both Rottrued and Queen Malarian. Nicely done all.
Minimum Level Requirement:
As we close in on entering Crystallos, and further our
progress into SoD, we can no longer operate efficiently with
a 10 level spread. Our current content demands we
raise our minimum level requirement back to 80.
Many of you already meet this requirement. However,
for those who do not; I've set a grace period. For
clarity, below is the exact date/level the change will be
instated:
Effective Date:
November 12, 2009
Minimum Level: 80
Thanks for your understanding. Have a safe week! Hope to see you at raids!
Loot lists have been updated.
News Archived - August to October
Posted by Furro on Sunday, November 01, 2009