Here at GW, we love even the small downs (heck, this week, we reported on a downing in the Stockades -- although it was by the Horde), but when other guilds are able to clear out the whole endgame in the time it takes you to go from one endgame boss to another, it's probably not the best idea to go on to the forums bragging how great your progression is.
That story and many others in this week's GW, which starts right after the break. Your tips fuel our column -- please send any and all tips about drama, downed, or recruiting guild news to wowguildwatch@gmail.com. Click the link below to read on.
We've talked about 2 manning Karazhan, Shaman-tanking Karazhan, and Paladining Karazhan. But just when you thought it was safe to grab a plain old boring 10-man Karazhan group with actual varied classes with decent gear and consumables and stuff, here comes one more permutation, and this one perhaps the most offbeat we've reported on yet.
It all started, Don Claus of the Stormwardens guild on the US Dragonmaw server tells us, with a pretty simple comment: "I'd love to see Tankin tank Prince in a dress." The Stormwardens decided to take it one step further and just slap suits on everyone. What followed is a story of a group revellers seeking to join the fabulous night life of Karazhan.
Let's face it-- anybody can down Attumen. A Karazhan PUG can drop Attumen in their sleep. But Moroes is the first real boss of Karazhan. If you can get him down, you're ready to roll all the way up to Curator. Finishing that undead steward off for the first time just feels so good.
News of Moroes downings and more in this week's GW, which starts right after the jump. Send us you drama, downed, and recruiting tips, as always, at wowguildwatch@gmail.com. Click the link below to read on!
Each week, Daniel Howell contributes BigRedKitty, a column with strategies, tips and tricks for and about the hunter class sprinkled with a healthy dose of completely improper, sometimes libelous, personal commentary.
We'd like to present for your entertainment pleasure a short movie of a hunter's perspective of the Moroes pull in Karazhan. The concept behind this project was to give hunters a visual guide for what their roles and responsibilities are, and the skill-set they can bring to a raid.
Your feedback will be most appreciated. Download the 48MB wide-screen version here.
Daniel Howell continues his quest to become the WoW-Scorsese as the hunter-pet duo extraordinaire known to lore as BigRedKitty. More of his theorycrafting and slanderous belittling of the lesser classes can be found at bigredkitty.blogspot.com.
When Lua from Doomhammer posts on the forums asking for a little Karazhan trash relief, Bornakk (who's new on the forums-- not sure whether he's a CM or a mod yet) says no-- Blizzard is happy with the pacing of Karazhan. So you're meant to be taking a long time clearing all those little mana guys before and after Curator.
But this idea of making Karazhan faster brings up another point I've been mulling over for a while now. When we first heard about Kara, a "new 10man instance," back when we were all playing vanilla WoW, I got really excited about the fact that we were going to have a new UBRS-- an epic raid that 10 people could finish off in a few hours. Kind of a short but preview of the bigger raids to come. Fighting Rend while Nefarian was yelling at him was some of the best times I'd ever had in WoW, and I looked forward to leading the same kinds of groups through Karazhan.
But Karazhan didn't turn out like that, did it? It's still more complicated, and for many guilds, it's still the main event. There's a timer on it, most groups take at least two days to clean it out, and while the encounters in UBRS weren't necessarily easy if your group wasn't up to it, the encounters in Karazhan are pretty merciless-- Moroes takes coordination that even the Drakk fight never needed.
That's not necessarily a bad thing-- I like Karazhan a lot. But just as UBRS was diluted from its original form (as a harder 15 man instance with more trash than it has now), I wonder if Karazhan will eventually have the same fate. When more and more guilds have moved up the ladder, and we're all farming Zul'Aman and progressing on Mount Hyjal, will Blizzard eventually nerf Kara into the new UBRS, with streamlined trash and no timer?
Before everyone heads out tonight to various and sundry events, I wanted to take a moment out to give you all a valuable tip for anyone playing WoW and who intends to drink far too much in-game ale. As many people have noticed, when you overindulge in game, your screen will go from lovely and clear to blurry and hard-to-navigate. For those who weren't aware, the drunken effect that you get when you overindulge -- as well as that comes from the waiters in Moroes' room, the poison effect from the spiders in ZG, and pretty much all other drunken/hazy visual effects that mobs can cause you to experience -- are tied to your "Full-Screen Glow Effect" in Video Options. So if you're in dire need of quick sobriety, or just want to improve your system's performance and not have to deal with it while mid-run, pop into your Video Options and say no to the glow.
Although I recommend turning it back on if you're just drinking (in game) for fun, personally. Some of those folks from the Darkmoon Faire are much better looking when they're blurry. Whooo...
I would say that I'm sorry that Guildwatch is running a little late this week, but you didn't really notice, did you? No worries, we're here now, with all the drama, downings, and recruiting that any one man (or woman, or orc, or undead) can handle!
And please-- please!-- remember that this column runs on your tips, so throw any and all news you have about drama going on around the servers, guild progression, or recruiting notices in the box at wowguildwatch@gmail.com. You do it-- we just report on it, right after the jump.
I'm not exactly sure why that guy's got a green triangle raid target over his head-- wait a minute. Is that Moroes?? Did he sneak up to the Prince with this unsuspecting guild? Look out guys! That garrote'll getcha every time!
On a completely unrelated note, it's time once again for this week's Guildwatch-- your weekly dose of drama, downed notices, and recruiting pleas. If you've got something to share for next week, send your tips and info to wowguildwatch@gmail.com, and click the link below to read this week's GW. But watch out for sneaky raid bosses impersonating fellow guildies!
Answer honestly now: who actually kept the Luffa? The Luffa is a pretty much worthless trinket (except maybe for Rogues who often fight Druids or Warriors) available at level 49 from a quest in Searing Gorge. All it does is remove one bleed effect. It's not a bad trinket when you get it at level 49, but after that, more and more trinkets show up that do so much more that for most players, the Luffa ends up either in the bank, or, more likely, vendored away.
I know I sold it. But those of you who hang on to everything you find in the game have a reason to celebrate: the Luffa is back. Apparently in Karazhan, there's a rogue boss named Moroes who lays down a debuff called "Garrote"-- it's a whopping 1000 damage per 3 seconds for five minutes (or until he dies, as of 2.0.6), which is a lot of damage. And yet, while Stoneform, Divine Shield and Ice Block will all remove it, the only other way you'll get it off is, you guessed it, the ol' Luffa.
If, like me, you did vendor it, don't worry too much-- the Luffa only works sometimes, and the fight's not impossible without it anyway. But a few players are feeling a little regret at tossing away something they'd never thought they'd need. Maybe a future quest in Outland will someday grant us an extra absorbent Luffa for future use.
Update: And here's even more reason to keep it. Commenter Wari asks about Rokmar the Crackler's debuff in the Slave Pens (he drops a bleed that does damage until the player who has it is healed to full), and it looks like the Luffa will clean that annoying buff off too. Who knew the Luffa would be so useful?
When Lua from Doomhammer posts on the forums asking for 
Answer honestly now: who actually kept the Luffa? 
Subscribe
