[WTLK] - A noobs tale of normal Nexus and Azjol-Nerub

[Seldum]

If you are bored you can read my little story.

Last night I had a few hours for some gaming, and wanted to try out the random dungeon tool.

I'm still lvl 72 and still a n00b I found out.

First I tweaked my healing setup, formations etc. and hit the Random Dungeon tool. Kewl I got Azjol-Nerub.

I know this instance is short and I have seen Nolife aka The Moo's doing this, so I was fairly confident it should work out well for me.

The first mob pull got pwned. Okey now to the first "boss" I think. I start out by pulling some of the mobs to the left.

I goes okey, and bahm I loose aggro on one of the mobs and in 2 sec my healer is dead. Okey - again.

This time I keep an eye on omen and on the mobs. Again one mob rushes my healer, I taunt, nothing happens. Before im able to use my Growl or whatever the ability is called which taunts all mobs to hit me, my healer is dead again. The figh goes on and eventually I wipe.

Okey wtf? - Again.

This time one of my dps dies and my tank also dies because I screw up on the healing.

Again. - im starting to get annoyed. Because, normally I NEVER loose aggro on mobs when my tank is pounding on them and when I do I can taunt them back.

The same happens as in the beginning. My healer gets hit so hard I can't save him. I also find out my battlerez macro dosen't work like I want it. /Cast [combat,target=vuhdo] Rebirth; [nocombat] Revive on my healer, on the others I have the same but with [combat, target=vuhdo, Barnweed (my healer) = dead]. I dunno if I can do this lol, but it was worth a try. Anyway.

My gear is now beginning to get yellow. Okey one more try. Again I wipe. Almost on the brink of nerdrage, I exit the instance. I repair and hit the random dungeon finder again and gets the nexus. Kewl. This instance is also new to me.

I have seen one video on this instance, and have no clue what I should do or where I should go. So I start out with clearing the halls and the room with the big dragon. Then I go right and into the "frozen druid land lol" I meet the first boss. And kill him with ease. Really - I even mock his corpse with a /lol

Okey on the the next. This is the boss on next to the "nexus rift". Don't remember his name. The big energy thing. I wipe on the first try due to absolute chaos and me spending alot of mana on the boss when I need to kill the Chaos whatever which spawns. Second try I down him.

Okey, I complete the quest with the interdimentional thing, and go to the next boss. This turns out to be Grand Magus Telestra.
Uhh I wipe so hard. Seriously. I knew she would fling my group around in the room, but I haden't really giving it a seriously thought. First time I just hit "follow" and my group went up to the tank thus receiving a firebomb and another firebomb before i'm able to stop follow and move em away.

I go to the left this time to clear a quick way to her. Killing all the mobs which is frozen in place and completing the other quest I got for the nexus.

To spare you of my humiliations in the rooms, let me just say I wipe another 5-7 times on Magus Telestra. I stop, and go and make me some dinner. Btw. I can't really stop laughing while im flying around in the room in a total mess lol. This fight is epic.

I find a video on the web and study a fight with her. Go back into the nexus and straight to Grand Magus Telestra.

I find out the hard way that I can't keep my toons up close to magus telestra since she just AOE more than I can heal. So I guess the way to beat her would be to keep my toons on the distance and spank her with my tank. I make some adjustments to the way I turn of Followstrobing etc.

I finally get her down. The fight where I succeed, is a fight where all my dps is dead actually. But my tank and my healer takes care of her. Its a slow process but my healer dosen't run out of mana, and I spank her until she is dead.

I was quite pleased with myself. I'm probably going to back since I had to log after I killed her, so I diden't even finish the instance. And I haven't fought the dragon yet. I actually don't know how to free it, but I will read up on that.

I had a blast in The Nexus, and the fight with Magus Telestra was very difficult for me and fun. I guess I was lucky to kill her, but i'm definitely going back to try again.

It's clear to me that I'm able to lvl way faster doing quests than doing instances, but its fun and more challenging and therefore rewarding to do instances atm. I guess its also a good idear for me to learn my way around before I go and do them at heroic at lvl 80.

[Cesare]

The mob in AN going for your healer is the Skirmisher, and he's basically untankable (aggrowise). Stun him and burst him down first.

[Seldum]

Ahh nice to know. Ill get back into that instance and i'm gonna try kicking some Skirmisher butt then. Apparently I was not fast enough to do this the first time I was there. I could also root the mob.

[dougie700]

Yeah Skirmishers are a pain, tankwise anyway, that one gets the Skull every time, then the warrior then the watcher, as soon as the watcher is down prepare for the next set (3 in total) if you kill the watcher first then the next watcher comes into the fray so better off to kill em last in ur group of 3. also when the first watcher is down don't taunt the next group wait for them to come to you. I have a couple of times tried to second guess wich watcher is coming next and got it wrong, then you end up with 2 skirmers, 2 warriors and 2 watchers at the same time.

Hope that is usefull and good luck :P

[Jubber]

Once you kill the 3 bosses in the nexus you can release the dragon. Easy way to remove the debuff stacks is cast, wait for 2 stacks then jump, cast wait for 2 stacks then jump.. she is really easy otherwise. One of the easiest heroic bosses.

[wonz]

Noone said Multiboxing is easy, except those who hate multiboxing in nerdrage.

You are no noob Just keep on trying, Azjol Nerub is one of the hardest Instances to go, in special for melees, if you got blue / green equip. Go Utgard Keep and Nexus. First. Then Drak Tharon. Be sure to focus the small mages on your way to the first boss ;)

[zenga]

Ahh nice to know. Ill get back into that instance and i'm gonna try kicking some Skirmisher butt then. Apparently I was not fast enough to do this the first time I was there. I could also root the mob.

Killing that one first turned out to be crucial for me. Also i have a macro ready to protect my healer with taunts in case i screw up.

[jimbobobb]

I highly recommend looking up fights and strategies and such both on www.wowwiki.com and here, in our dungeon and mob forum. Lots of stuff has been figured out, and especially here you will find strategies tailor made for boxers. For instance on the Grand Magus, you can actually just sit all of your guys outside her little bubble against the wall. Then just kinda pull her a bit towards them, and they can dps/heal from there, and not get tossed about really, or hit much with bombs.

If you're all about figuring stuff out on your own, then by all means go nuts, but there is a real wealth of knowledge here that I would recommend you take advantage of!

[Starbuck_Jones]

That caster lady in nexus is a biotch. There is a screenshot in the sticky thread for WOTLK heroics were to park your toons behind the 'glass' so they dont get tossed around but facehump the glass instead. Its a 4-5 min fight for me on her as I just beat her silly with the tank and run back for new set of HOT's and heals every 30 seconds or so. When she splits then usealy she is in range to get pounded by the group in the window. In the end its an easy fight if you use that gimmic for a gimmic boss. Ive even had her a few times toss them up on top of the glass and can run around up there and cast down on her.

Dont worry, I wasnt able to clear a single normal instance till 76 so getting roflstomped shouldnt get you down.

[Seldum]

Thanks for all the comments and tips.

The harder the work the better that taste of victory :) Theres nothing like clearing an instance completely, especially when everything is new for me.

And considering the advice to read up on the instances - this has been noted.... well I actually tend to do this, but I haden't paid enough attention reading up on Azol Nerub. Ohh well, you live and learn.

Most of the times I use Wowhead, and read the comments, thus it dosen't state anything directed at boxers and often they hype the battles alot, but it might be due to the comments being old and therefore the gear "back then" wasen't as good as today or the bosses have been nerfed.

[Chilaxx]

A quick question, in Azjol-Nerub normal, you get the 3 waves and then you drink up and stuff, but the boss won't come after you right away..
Was this a change or is this only happening in the normal version?
Because in heroic the boss just comes after the 3 waves, no?

Last time i did Hc Azjol-Nerub i did the watch him die achievement so i'm not sure if there ware a change or not :p

Ciao!

[Seldum]

Good question. WTB answer from an more experienced instance basher :)

Heres another one:

My tank currently got a Defence Rating og 359. I read in a tanking guide that you need 475 to be uncrittable (415 with Survival of the fittest).
I must be honest. I don't even know how I can improve this rating? :/ Is it based on my armor, strenght, agility or?

I have no clue if my current stats is "okey" for my lvl. I can see im actually pretty poorly geared. I have buffed 14,5k health and 14,4k Armor.

Sometimes my health dissapears very fast in fights, almost so fast my healer can't heal fast enough and I have to hit my "ohh darn it i'm still a noob" button to pop my abilities. And on other occasions I almost laugh at the mobs hitting my tank and a rejuv is all healing needed. So i'm thinking the mobs crit me or something.

I always tank with the mobs in front of me (ofcause).

[zenga]

Good question. WTB answer from an more experienced instance basher :)

Heres another one:

My tank currently got a Defence Rating og 359. I read in a tanking guide that you need 475 to be uncrittable (415 with Survival of the fittest).
I must be honest. I don't even know how I can improve this rating? :/ Is it based on my armor, strenght, agility or?

Not that i'm the experienced instance basher you were looking for, but here is your answer (http://www.wowwiki.com/Defense) in detail.

[Trick]

My tank currently got a Defence Rating og 359. I read in a tanking guide that you need 475 to be uncrittable (415 with Survival of the fittest).

Since you mention Survival of the Fittest, is your tank a Druid? If so, simply ignore anything about Defense and just max out Survival of the Fittest. As of 3.0, that talent makes a Druid crit-immune against mobs up to 3 levels higher (raid bosses, for example).

[KAC]

I multibox a 5 man setup running prot pally,druid tree heals and three elemental shaman for dps. I started my team using my prot pally as my tank at 80 and I had every piece of epic 5 man dungeon gear and some boe naxx 10/25 man stuff. I am also at 450 enchanting on that toon and have every enchant so I had all the best. Having this tank to take my 4 70s to 80 made it much easier and hassle free than trying to take a complete group of 70's to 80 in the instances. I had a lot of extra time to react to things because my pally can take such a beating. I've completed every 5 man heroic dungeon in wotlk many, many times and know all the encounters. YOu are trying to do AN on normal and are wiping with your team I would suggest that you save that one for later as it is very short but one of the most pain in the ass instances. The poison in there is ridiculous on heroic mode and yes you best blast that skirmisher immediately or you will die everytime! I have 12 totems and my team can pretty much heal itself and dps anything in any 5 man wotlk heroic. there are a few I havent completed due to the nature of the instance and having to ride vehicles basically. I'm glad I did what I did and started with an 80 tank. You have to be prepared to spend a lot of gold to make your life easier or be prepared to die all the time and waste it on repair bills.

[Seldum]

Thanks for all the tips and tricks.

I read up on both The Nexus and Arzol Nerub.

So last night I used the random dungeon tool again and guess what I drew first time around. Yes, Arzol Nerub. Instead of waiting the 15 min for a new dungeon I tried my luck again. I actually made it to the first boss and got him down to 20% health (in like fith try) but finally wiped probably due to my own healing/tanking mistakes.

When I came back the sequence had reset and I would need to do the 3 battles prior to the boss, and I though screw it and picked another Random Dungeon. I got the Nexus - but unfortnately I was running out of gaming time for the night. So I just went directly for Magus Telestra to tryout the glass hugging tip.

It sorta worked for me. I had some trouble getting her in range, especially when she moves about.
It was working really well one time, until my toons apparently pulles aggro from patrol I haden't cleared (mental note till next time).
I guess you live and learn. But I can feel i'm improving in controlling the fights. Its fun but a bit expensive compared to my low lvl.

[d0z3rr]

Keep trying Azjol-Nerub. It is a frustrating experience if you haven't cleared it yet, but once you do, you will clear it with ease, it's a very short instance.

RIght before the guantlet you will see the boss yell that there are intruders, I'm pretty sure that is when the gauntlet "starts", and from then on there is a certain amount of time before the boss comes running for you. I myself had a 5 paladin group, so normal Azjol-Nerub was pretty easy as the skirmishers did not even scratch my Rets. I don't know your group makeup though. I remember trying it on HC and while I was killing the 3rd wave, the boss came running for me out of nowhere, so this leads me to believe I did not dps the waves down fast enough.

Second boss is mostly tank and spank, just wait for her to kill all the spiders then she will come for you, stay out of the green stuff and cleanse your ass off until she is dead. There is another guantlet before her, you will have to fight 3 very large bugs, but they are simple.

Third boss is where your healer's mana pool/regen will be tested, it's long. Run everyone in at once, because a wall will come up and anyone left outside the circle will be unable to participate.

I like AN because there is not that much trash.

[d0z3rr]

It sorta worked for me. I had some trouble getting her in range, especially when she moves about.

Not sure if you discovered this yet, but while she is throwing everyone around your spell casters can still cast instants on her. And any melees can quickly hit her when they get close.

[Seldum]

Did a random dungeon again and got the Ahn'kahet: The Old Kingdom. Got to the first boss "Elder Nadox" without wiping, and got my ass handed to me lol. Anyway I read that you should not engage him out of his room since he enrages... hmm maybe that was the reason he wtf pwnd my tank pretty fast, atleast almost as fast as I could heal him.

After a few wipes since I diden't know the instance I did another random instance and killed one of the bosses in nexus, but I had to log so I diden't get to complete this instance.

Thanks for all the tips and tricks, ill definitely going to try it out and keep trying and trying and trying.

Last Friday, I did some questing and nearly fell a sleep in Grizzly hills doing some of the kill quests. I'm beginning to get fed up with questing as its not a very rewarding challenge to do in a 5 man group. But the xp was good since I don't spend alot of time on corpse run - and its also cheaper. I'm nearly 74 now.

[Starbuck_Jones]

Old Kingdom has some tricky bosses. The first 2 are fairly easy, the rest are gimick fights. If you cant on demand burst out like 60k damage in 10 seconds on the caster boss, you will wipe when she goes all super saiyan. Nightmare and mushroom boss are just not worth the frustration when you can just pop right into a non random of your choosing instead.

As for Nerub the first boss isnt so bad. If your having problems, use your stuns if you have them. Also pick up some Runescrolls of Fortifications, Drums of Forgoten Kings and the druid drums if you dont have access to some of thoes spells. My paladin picks up a good 4k more hp and the dpsers pick up a good 5-6k more HP/MP with these cheap buffs. The spider boss is easy if you have nature resist. Just dps till he spits, then run in a circle around him as he splooges. The last boss park your range dps under the hooks along the outer edge so they dont take fall damage when spiked. Spread out a little bit so only one gets spiked at a time and its an easy fight as your tank agros everything.

[Seldum]

I did old kingdom last night. I was questing and wanted to do a instance. First I pulled up old kingdom, then I quested on and the new random was old kingdom again.

I though, scew it lets see what it got. I knew the elder fight a bit, but I wiped like 10-12 times on this guy until I finally got my positioning and tank skill right. 2 hours later, I had cleared the last boss in the instance and my First Random Dungeon - ever! I was fairly happy with this.

Theres some nice fights, but the first boss in the chamber which spawns elites, is definitely the worst fight.

Today I have enchanted my tanks equipments a bit and used some armor reinforcements on the rest of the gear. I hope next run will be a bit faster lol and not so expensive.... But im learning the tricks etc. and getting better at managing the fights. Also beginning to learn to move my toons out of trouble while tanking.

It definitely helped me that I put a healing macro for the tank in my druids action bar so I don't have to click with the mouse for tank heals as much as before with only Vuhdo and ISboxer repeater regions.
I have put the tank healing macro on the same button as my swipe ability, and not the same button as my main dps, as it cost a bit to much mana.

Thanks for the tips, ill try em out at some point.

[Seldum]

Just did Drak'Tharon Keep without much trouble. That was fairly easy, even though I wiped a bit on the summoner until I got the hang of the fight.

Ohh well you live and learn.