Deadmines and Wailing Caverns

The Deadmines

Level 21

I have fond memories of Deadmines, growing up as a little wow player back in the day. Before the DF tool it was one of those instances where one was run through by a higher lvl guildmate rather than a 5 man group. Now in its Heroic form in Cata it is another story, well there are a few dungeons to tank through before Bree gets close to sniffing a Cata heroic.

The pulls are fairly straight forward, although there are a few corners underground and the boss fights also seemed straight forward in their mechanics. Again I felt nervous to begin with but settled as the dungeon progressed, which did allow me time to observe what was going on in the group and start to enjoy the role a bit more.

One thing I did notice was how comfortable everyone else was at pulling mobs. Obviously I wasn’t pulling fast enough (ok I thought I would never say that about myself irl) But the ret pally pulled, even the hunter and mage pulled mobs and ran away when they started chasing after them. Is this what happens as a lowbie tank? Is this something that I would have to get used to? Or experiment more with pulling larger mobs faster and see what I can take? I always thought that the tank should dictate the state of play? Then I thought I hope that I didn’t do that thought of thing running around as a mage or lock. (Of course not)

While in there I dinged 22 and gained overpower (yay)so won’t be going back into Deadmines again in its heroic form, much later…much much later (/shudder)

So off to Wailing Caverns

Level 22

I find Wailing Caverns to be one of those instances that you do once and try to avoid it again. It is long, windy with lots of bosses (so ok there lootwise) numerous quests (therefore lots of xp) and did I mention long? It makes it easier if you know your way around but in a pug while most players are rushing towards endgame content it seems only the purists know their way around. In theory I knew where I was going but relied heavily on the map. Ok have you seen the map? It is as if Mr Squiggle had a field day and Blackboard wasn’t there to yell “hurry up.” (Not sure if anyone outside of Australia would get the Mr Squiggle reference :p )

The boss fights are fairly straight forward and the end game event worthwhile but the instance wasn’t without drama. Our first healer confessed early on that it was their second attempt at healing. Little did they know that it was only Bree’s third attempt at tanking. So while at Lord Serpentis the healer decides to pull Verdan the Everliving and fight him on their own. Throughout the fight the healer decided to jump in and dps but it’s one thing playing with the trash, pulling a boss while everyone else is on another boss is another thing together. It also doesn’t help when the healer leaves mid fight. Oh well with another healer and lots of running it was over. I survived and got myself a new shield in the process.  (WornTurtle Shell Shield)

(Oh and 10 points for making the connection with the guild name )