The fall of Naxxramas

Was asked last night to join a raid to Heroic Naxxramas with Offline and a few members of my guild, the Champions of Silvermoon. Thought it'd be good experience to raid with 24 other people and I might have a chance at some loot - and boy, was I right!

First up was Patchwerk and the Construct Quarter. I love Patch, it's just a case of tank-n-spank, no running around and a great chance to compare my DPS with the rest of the group. Compared to a fully geared mage I was pitiful, but still kept in the top 10 all through the raid. Will have to work on progression as I get into Ulduar and improve on my gear. We downed him in 3 mins 2 seconds, 2 seconds off the achievement.

Similar success on the rest of the wing and all of a sudden, Thaddius is on the floor and the construct quarter is cleared. No loot, but a close roll or two, however not many of the items were HUGE upgrades. Gluth dropped the Saltarello shoes which aren't a massive improvement over mine.

Next was the Military quarter - the only wing I still haven't had chance to complete on 10 man, but having been up to the trash before the four horsemen I was confident I could stay upright and provide solid DPS for the group. Which I did. Loads of plate dropped throughout the raid, and a fair bit ended up disenchanted, but nothing caught my eye. The next achievement flashed up as the horsemen were zerged one by one...

The Spider Wing got me my first epic loot of the night. Anub'Rekhan was kind enough to drop the Gemmed Wand of the Nerubians and a very nice pair of trousers. Compared to my Leggings of Lost Love they're nothing special for an already hit-capped warlock, but as we had loot rules of 1-item-per-boss all the casters were holding back for the trousers - so I stole the wand without much competition ;-)

We moved quickly on to Grand Widow Faerlina and added Heroic: Momma Said Knock You Out to the ever-growing list of achievements, shortly followed by the clearance achievement.

Lastly, we downed the Plague Quarter, doing the Safety Dance along the way. Can't remember what bosses dropped things I rolled on, as I was completely buzzing from the wand - but thanks Loatheb for the Tier 7.5!
Sapphiron's Demise came quickly after, as I experienced my first death of the night. Others had already been hugging the floor, so I didn't ruin an undying attempt - which would have been a terrible burden. I don't know WHY I died, as I was hugging the back of an ice block. Must have had a toe stuck out or something. Really disappointed as I'd done really well up to this point. That's when it went downhill.

Kel'Thuzad was interesting, starting slow and meaningful, downing the banshees quickly at long range - until someone pulled the lot. Anyway, we managed to gain control and AoE them all down quickly, spreading out for phase 3 and starting to chip away at the boss's health, I got tunnelvisioned on the threat meter and by the time I realised I was in a void zone it was too late. Wow locked up as I started to run away and I was dead before I could move. Still, my 3.5K DPS wasn't missed, as the achievements rolled in. Heroic: Kel'Thuzad's Defeat and Heroic: The Fall of Naxxramas flashed up on the screen and I waited to be resurrected.

One final bonus... a cracking roll on The Turning Tide gave me my final piece of loot. Haven't stopped smiling since! Now without any blue items, and 7 pieces of "epic" gear, I'm ready to tackle Ulduar. Need to get the +63 Spellpower enchant (27 dusts short) and get the shoulder enchant from Hodir now I'm exalted with them.