8.3 releases on January 14th, and with it comes a bunch of game-changing mechanics, zones, and scenarios. Although 8.3 took a while to get here, it brings a huge amount of content. It can be a bit much to process all at once, so this guide will give a TL;DR of all the new stuff coming in Visions of N’zoth, along with general tips along the way for raiders who want to maximize their efficiency when the new raid becomes available.

Patch/Raid Release Schedule

January 14 – Visions of N’zoth Goes Live
January 21 – Normal and Heroic Difficulties
January 28 – Mythic Ny’alotha, Raid Finder Wing 1 (Vision of Destiny)
February 11 – Raid Finder Wing 2 (Halls of Devotion)
February 25 – Raid Finder Wing 3 (Gift of Flesh)
March 10 – Raid Finder Wing 4 (The Waking Dream)

New Legendary Cloak – Ashjra’kamas

When you’re going through the 8.3 questline, you will eventually get a 470 ilvl legendary cloak, Ashjra’kamas. This cloak will most definitely be an upgrade of whatever you have on, and it gives two major bonuses; corruption resistance and reduced sanity drain. The corruption resistance helps you negate the negative effects on corruption gear (more on that later), and the sanity drain reduction helps in Horrific and Lesser Visions of N’zoth. To upgrade the cloak, you have to complete certain sections in Horrific Visions based on how much your cloak has leveled up. When you start off with your cloak, you’ll want to always make sure you kill the “major” boss in the Horrific Vision in every run. If you don’t kill the major boss, even if you defeated bosses in side zones, you will NOT get the items to upgrade your cloak. When your cloak reaches rank 6, it gains an active effect that allows you to remove all corruption debuffs on you currently and for the next 6 seconds. Rank 12 gives a mainstat proc.

More information on the legendary cloak can be found in Wowhead’s legendary cloak guide.

Continue reading

This evening, Tiraffe and I peeled through the various defensive azerite traits available for the Mythic raiders for Sivarra. Many (most) of these are great across the board for the raid – many of these are also amazing in M+. Some of the poorly ranked ones may be better for other fights, or for M+, or for PvP. It’s important to be familiar with your spec when making these decisions.

It’s also important to note that many of these abilities require you to actively use specific spells – for example, Ursoc’s Endurance is useless if you’re not using Barkskin! Therefore, if you’re not using some of these abilities either on cooldown or as when is most effective, you may want to stick with the more passive traits listed, even if they’re in a lower tier.

Azerite Traits

A+ Tier:

Resounding Protection (stack when possible – this should be the default trait you look for)
Impassive Visage (excellent for constant damage fights like this one)
Death Knight – Runic Barrier
Demon Hunter – Thrive in Chaos (tank spec)
Paladin – Gallant Steed

A Tier:

Gemhide (tanks)
Death Knight – Cold Hearted
Demon Hunter – Soulmonger (Tank)
Druid – Ursoc’s Endurance, Switch Hitter (resto aff. only)
Hunter – Duck and Cover, Nature’s Salve (IF TALENTED)
Mage – Eldritch Warding
Priest – Sanctum
Warlock – Desperate Power
Warrior – Moment of Glory
Engineering – Personal Absorb-o-tron

B Tier:

Self Reliance (ranged)
Death Knight – March of the Damned
Mage – Quick Thinking (fire)
Rogue – Shrouded Mantle
Warlock – Lifeblood (you can prepot these!)

C Tier:

Longstrider
Hunter – Shellshock, Nature’s Salve (not talented)
Mage – Quick Thinking (frost), Cauterizing Blink
Monk – Strength of Spirit
Shaman – Serene Spirit, Ancient Ankh Talisman?
Engineering – Auto-Self-Cauterizer

F Tier:

Gemhide (everyone else)
Vampiric Speed
Self Reliance (melee)
Bulwark of the Masses
Demon Hunter – Thrive in Chaos (dps), Soulmonger (dps), Burning Soul
Druid – Reawakening, Switch Hitter (any except resto aff.)
Mage – Quick Thinking (arcane)
Monk – Exit Strategy, Sweep the Leg
Paladin – Stalwart Protector, Empyreal Ward
Priest – Death Denied, Twist Magic
Rogue – Footpad, Lying in Wait
Shaman – Pack Spirit
Warlock – Terror of the Mind
Warrior – Intimidating Presence, Bury the Hatchet

Defensive Talents

If you’re not sure what defensive talents to use, you should check Warcraft Logs and see what the top talents for your spec are. While the mythic raiders should already know what offensive talents are the best overall on a per-fight basis, a mythic progression boss might have different defensive requirements than you’re used to. This is also useful for the non-mythic raiders who may be unfamiliar with how to check their class’s top talent builds

Warcraft Logs Mythic Abyssal Commander Sivarra Reports

From that page, select your class and spec from the dropdown. At the top of the list, you’ll see “Top Talents”. You can look on a ‘row by row’ basis to see what most people take. Then, you can look on the right-hand side of the long list to see any variants. Perhaps some people are taking a slightly different talent. You can investigate further as to why. Maybe their group comp requires it, or maybe it’s personal preference.

You can also look at the top azerite essences (which follow the azerite powers, though are on the same row).

For non-mythic raiders, you can also change ‘mythic’ to a different difficulty. You can also change it to another boss (not marked on the image, but should be pretty obvious).

Finally beating the past couple of weeks of procrastination, Tiraffe and Fokola put together a weekly raid roundup for both teams to review. The roundup contains 3 sections; 2 for each raid team and a section for improving an individual’s dps and some other small things to note.

Thursday/Friday Raid Roundup

Sivara (H/M)

Good: Comfortably meeting dps/hps requirement on Heroic.

Bad: Folks still dying to Overflow mechanic. This is happening for 2 reasons:

  1. Not enough people stacking on the Overflow target. 3 or more is recommended for heroic. We should have enough healers/ranged to cover this without having to have the rest of the melee move.
  2. Heavy Defensives/Immunities not being used when there’s mechanic overlap and/or 2 or less people are soaking. This is a direct result of not enough people stacking, since the teams lack a lot of immunity classes.

For Mythic, people need to dodge the overwhelming barrage to avoid getting unnecessary stacks and need to make sure they pop Unstable Mixture at 3 or 4 stacks. Overall damage could be higher. Azerite defensive traits should also be used instead of mobility to increase survivability.

Note: Outside of the start of the fight and whenever Inversion occurs, people should be better on stacking with their respective marks instead of being a continent away. Since Overflow happens more often than Inversion, it should be better to stack until it’s time to spread instead of the other way around. There’s also something about having more than 4-5 stacks at once, but it probably won’t kill by itself on heroic. Everyone that died last week was either soaking by themselves without a heavy defensive or stacked with just 1 other person and still died due to not using a defensive. Continue reading

I’m leaving behind the “Raid Wrapup” posts with last tier. More info at the end of the post!

Black Team Progression

I’m still going to refer to Mythic as “Black” team on occasion, because…we’re not always doing Mythic.

This week, Black team ran through 7/8 bosses of normal in 1 night. This is the first time we’ve cleared that many bosses on a difficulty in a single night. The success of Black team the previous tier, and the decision to keep us together, really let us hit the ground running. The Warlords wanted to blast through Normal just so we got the basic feel of the fights before hopping into heroic. Many of our normal kills were a bit of a mess, so we think it was a valuable experience to see before heading into Heroic. We took a few looks at Aszhara, but opted not to spend too much time on her. Instead, we downed the first 3 heroic bosses (staying late to do s0), getting everyone the Reliquarys they needed for the Condensed Life-Force essence.

Heroic Commander Sivara
Heroic Blackwater Behemoth
Heroic Radiance of Aszhara

Red Team Progression

I’m still going to refer to Heroic as “Red” team on occasion, because…they’re not always doing Heroic.

The Red team did excellent. The many new faces worked together beautifully with the old, and it was a very relaxed weekend. The group pulled 6/8 on the first day, one-shotting everything except Queen’s Court. Monday they downed Za’qul and popped into Heroic to start their serious progression efforts. That said, the Red team does need additional healers as well as 2 permanent tanks. We currently have multiple alts from Black filling in, and while that’s fine for a while, it will quickly burn out those who don’t want to raid 4 times a week. Anyone who has a tank or healer, or knows a tank or healer, talk to us! We’ll get you or them up to speed.

The team has a little fun with an orange spraybot in some downtime
Normal Zaqul bites the dust!

“Discontinuing” the Raid Roundup

Life gets busy, and summarizing 2 raid teams takes a lot of effort (especially when I am not present on both teams). As a result I will be “discontinuing” my raid roundup posts.

But never fear! The analysis won’t be stopping. Two of our more active members will be stepping up to the plate to provide insight, analysis, guides, tips, and more on the raid as well as other competitive areas (like Mythic+ or Operation: Mechagon).

Please welcome Fokola and Tiraffe to the posting privileges on the site. They’ve both provided helpful guides and co-written a number of things that I’ve copied onto the site anyway. In essence I’m cutting out the middle man and giving them direct access to the site, for your benefit.

Whether they choose to continue weekly analysis or simply opt to discuss strategies and changes as-needed is on them. We’re giving them the freedom to choose what they want to do, and we think that will benefit everyone.

 

Tiraffe leaps into battle!
Fokola flexes on the opposition!

Limit’s Eternal Palace guide: https://www.azsharaguide.com/

Questionably Epic’s EP Boss Guides: https://questionablyepic.com/eternal-palace/

Azhara’s eternal palace boss info cards: https://imgur.com/gallery/GlsWKxp

Wowhead Raid Gear / Boss Loot: https://www.wowhead.com/guides/azsharas-eternal-palace-raid-gear-azerite-armor-boss-loot

Wowhead AZ loot guide: https://www.wowhead.com/news=292651/find-your-best-azerite-essences-class-guides-updated-for-rise-of-azshara?webhook

Tiraffe & Fokola AZ loot guide: https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/19iRol05iiEAOqht6uOvgNrbDj1CDfwLOzGdL5f3RSVw/edit?usp=sharing

Droptimizer / raidbots BIS writeup: https://medium.com/raidbots/droptimizer-4f9c179d2f1

Fatboss:  video guides, wowhead writeup, another wowhead writeup

Longest Powerpoint Ever

EP Weakaura Pack

Thank you everyone who came out and asked questions! I’m going to be dividing the meeting / Q&A up into two sections – the ‘mythic’ team and the ‘casual’ team.

Raid Pre-Planning Meeting Agenda:

  • Raid Times
  • Raid Teams
  • Mythic / hardcore
  • Heroic / easygoing
  • General Q&A

Mythic / Progression Team

Raid Times:

Thursday & Friday
7pm – 10pm (est) / 4pm – 7pm (pst)

Membership

Currently the main progression / mythic group is remaining the same. We want to keep the momentum going. Everyone who was a main or an active sub during Battle of Dazar’alor is on the Progression team. You are all considered mains until we hit mythic. When we hit mythic and need to limit to 20 people we will determine who will be considered a sub at that time. This means that performance is important – just because you were mythic in BoD doesn’t mean you can slack off in EP!

The mythic team’s membership and roles are not ‘locked’ – there is potential for both upward and downward mobility. If a person on the mythic team underperforms, we will be scouting the heroic team for a replacement. That said, we will be offering leeway as people adjust to new characters, roles, and mechanics. Don’t fret because you made a mistake on the first day – but we need to see improvement over time if you want to be on the Mythic team.

Anyone who isn’t on the mythic team but wants in on it should let us know so we can more closely evaluate their performance in the heroic group.

Mythic Q&A:

When will we know our roles?

We are asking for people to lock in between 2-3 characters by July 2nd, and their final role by July 9th. Roles are somewhat first come first served, and priority is given to those who are already playing those roles. (For example, we currently have 3 Demon Hunters; if none of them wants to swap, we will not be accepting more Demon Hunters) If you wait too long you may not get your choice at all.

Is there a chance of week 1 heroic?

Maybe. This depends on everyone reaching 415, for example. We are not accepting those who are not carrying their own weight or who waited too long to choose a new main. In addition to showing a strong understanding of mechanics. We are not going to smash against heroic bosses for several hours with no progress. We may opt to pop in to normal, see how it goes, and if it’s breezy and clean, go into heroic. Warlords will figure that out.

Can we pug Mythic BoD without penalty now?

Absolutely

Are we running loot council?

Not exactly. However, send your BiS itemization from bosses to Tiv. This has the effect of both you knowing and planning more about the class and the raid, and us being able to more easily spread loot for the group if something gets called into question.

What if someone has to eventually leave because of school in the fall?

We would love to keep you until then! If you eventually have to phase out because of classes or something else, please give us ample notice to train up a replacement, and let us know if you want to move to the weekend group, act as a sub, or anything else.

Are we giving up Mythic BoEs?

Depending on how farmable EP is, we may wind up requiring all or some of the funds from mythic BoE sales to fund guild bank repairs.

Can tanks pug ahead?

That depends entirely on what the group is doing and how it progresses. If we’re doing heroic week 1, feel free to go ahead on normal. Same with vice versa. We’ll keep you posted.

Can I sign up as DPS on the weekend team?

If the other raid group needs DPS, yes. However, we will be prioritizing roles they need.

Heroic / Easygoing Team

Raid Times

Saturday 5pm – 8pm (est) / 2pm – 5pm (pst)
Monday 7pm – 10pm (est) / 4pm – 7pm (pst)

Membership

Those not interested in main progression will be on the ‘weekend’ team. The weekend team will be more casual than the progression one – more lighthearted / easygoing / forgiving of mistakes. If we as RLs don’t live up to that standard and people think we’re being too harsh, then please communicate with us or with Urostek ASAP. It can be tough tough to swap between ‘mean progression raid lead’ and ‘casual funtime raid lead’ sometimes!

We’ll still want to progress on the weekends so serious underperformance of mechanics or play will be penalized in the forms of benches from certain bosses, but only after repeated or chronic offenses.

Anyone who isn’t on the mythic team but wants in on it should let us know so we can more closely evaluate their performance in the heroic group.

Because the weekend group will likely be missing some key roles (heals/tanks), people from the main progression group may bring one alt to the weekend group if the weekend group needs filling. Mythic mains bringing alts will only be allowed to bring the one alt until a determined time (this is so we don’t get people coming in on multiple alts every few weeks to try to get gear, thus hurting the other players gear efforts). Mythic members bringing alts to the weekend group will be held to a higher standard of performance and attitude – coming to weekend group is a privilege and should be treated as such. You are there to help fill in gaps that the other group needs, not be handed a carry.

Q&A

How do I tell you my role intention for Eternal Palace?

Fill out the spreadsheet here.

What are the addon requirements?

In addition to DBM or Bigwigs, we will be requiring all new raiders to use Weakauras and install specific packs that we link them.

What’s the ilvl requirement for Eternal Palace?

ilvl requirement is 400 for normal and 415 for heroic

What are some resources I can read about to prepare?

Check out the #palace-raid-planning channel in discord. Eventually we’ll move those pins to Raiding Discussion.

What if we have a problem with the Warlords or other raid members?

If you don’t feel comfortable talking to the Warlords or the other member about it, please reach out to Urostek. This is especially imperative if you think you maybe treated unfairly or not taken seriously.

Are we picking team names?

Maybe? It wasn’t planned but we could? SHRUGS!

Are we doing more AOTC runs?

We might! It wholly depends on who needs them and how much begging happens

Will you be updating the audit sheets?

Yup! We have an audit sheet for Mythic Raiders and one for Heroic Raiders. I will be clearing out / adding people to that in addition to…

What about the attendance?

I will be cleaning out the attendance page and adding new folks as well before the new raid starts. I will also be paying very close attention to mythic attendees lateness.

What if I don’t want to raid for a few weeks?

Attendance is on a freeze right now. You can earn vanguard, but not lose it!

What do I need to do to join in?

Read the Rules and Regulations! Are you already a raider? Re-read and re-confirm!

Raid interest meeting for Eternal Palace on Thursday at normal raid time (4pm server / 7pm est)! This will be for both new and returning raiders. I encourage folks to look over these past posts to answer common questions:

https://www.ministryofdefense.net/uldir-raid-pre-planning-meeting-minutes/
https://www.ministryofdefense.net/bfd-raid-planning-minutes/

We’ll be talking about ilvl minimums, expectations, and the two raid groups (yes, we’re keeping two).

If you can’t make the meeting please let a Warlord know so that we can fill you in. I will also write up another Q&A / meeting minutes like I did for Uldir and BoD.

In the meantime please check the spreadsheet below so we can get a sense of what everyone is playing.

https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1YlSI5h2w3rlITTajV0wp7OYFhRs7h_AipuvY-d4dTp0/edit#gid=0

Hopefully this is self explanatory.

Slap your name on the left, select checkmark if that’s what you’re gonna play for sure, select question mark if you might play that class, leave blank otherwise. Don’t include alts, just your main intention.

There’s also a ton of good information in the #palace-raid-planning channel of discord!