Raiding in World of Warcraft? At least Cortyn missed it tremendously and reports why everyone should check out Castle Nathria.
I have actively raided occasionally in the past. I was really permanently active from Vanilla to Wrath of the Lich King, and after that, I was in different groups, usually for a few months, before the usual guild drama tore everything apart or simply other games wanted my attention.
Although I also experienced the raids in Legion and Battle for Azeroth, it was rather sporadic for work and not with fixed groups – a visit for one or two evenings, without commitments and with people you barely knew.
Now, with the release of Castle Nathria in WoW: Shadowlands, I’ve started to take raiding more seriously again.
Anecdotes and Silly Moments of Raiding
I completely forgot what wonderfully silly moments can be experienced while raiding. Certainly, it was also because the teammates in Discord were all so relaxed that the atmosphere was simply great. A lot of joking was going on, and in the heat of battle, sentences like these came up:
“Spot the boss for me!” – “Can’t, I have a cooldown?” – “Why do you have a cooldown?” – “BECAUSE I’M DUMB!”
“Now burst damage on the add.” – “My burst damage comes over a long duration.”
And of course, there’s never a shortage of the leap of faith, which I only use to do something meaningful 5% of the time, and the rest of the time I’m either pulling teammates to their death or showing other players that they shouldn’t rush ahead because a slow priest will otherwise feel left behind.
Raiding is a great experience that is worth it
It wasn’t until then that I realized how much I missed it. The joking around in Discord, the collaborative effort on boss fights. Although a good half of the players were basically “randoms,” the mood was good, there were no insults or accusations when mistakes were made, and fun was the priority.
We literally crashed on Kael’thas. No matter what we did, the transition from the first to the second phase never quite worked, and everyone was running around like headless chickens – myself included.
However, contrary to my fear, this did not cause players to leave the group. The ambition was there, as I hadn’t experienced in a long time. Where players normally leave the group with a “Bye, Noobs” after at most the third wipe, here all players stayed together and fought … and fought … and fought. We died on Kael’thas for a total of 4 hours before we decided to leave the elf king alone for today.
Yes, I know. For many of you, the normal mode is probably already boring after the first week. Our group was quite a colorful mix, except for some guild colleagues and acquaintances. Not all players had a legendary item in the first raid week, and one of our healing druids even wielded his stick weapon, which gave him no intelligence at all.
But that didn’t matter to us because everyone in the raid was pretty laid-back, joking around in Discord, and one more or less wipe didn’t seem to frustrate anyone. We didn’t pay attention to DPS lists, but rather just had fun.
By now, we have already gone for the third time, sending Kael’thas to the ground with an altered strategy (or rather full healing) and also defeated Lady Inerva Darkvein. So far, we have failed at the Council of Blood because the group’s dancing skills leave a bit to be desired. But we will get there too.
I, by the way, didn’t get much loot – but that doesn’t matter. With the fun that the raid provided, good loot takes a back seat.
Go raiding if you get the chance
What I want to say is: If you have never pushed yourself to try raid content, now is the time to do it. Because the bosses in Castle Nathria are a lot of fun. If you bring patience and the willingness to learn the mechanics and improve, you will hardly find a better time to start raiding.
So don’t wait until only experts remain and the groups have all crazy and exaggerated demands on their members again. Find some like-minded people now, turn a blind eye here and there when the gear isn’t optimal yet, and try your hand at Castle Nathria.
Not only are the fights really interesting, but it’s also a nice opportunity to re-establish long-term conversations with other players and perhaps gain a few teammates for your friends list and regular activities.
It’s worth it, believe me.
Have you already been to Castle Nathria? Or are you just checking out the new raid in LFR mode? Or are you just following the World First race?
