Tonight we finally spanked Warmaster Blackhorn heroic into the ground. This was a Realm #2 kill and Alliance #1.
Unfortunately, Blackhorn despawned before we got around to taking a picture, so here's a picture of us being generally confused instead.


Now, only Deathwing remains...

Cheers,
Gav

In other news

We've been progressing through Dragon Soul heroic a bit more since the last news post and we are currently sitting at 5/8 heroic progress, this means we've downed Zon'ozz and Hagara. We've also had some decent attempts on Warmaster Blackhorn and we believe we can take him down relatively soon, as long as we get the attempts in of course.

We also cleared out some old t11 heroics that had been left unfinished since long ago and currently we only need 2 more to complete the set (gotta catch 'em all!) and on top of that, several more people have gotten their Glory of the Firelands birdies!

Cheers,
Gav

A new year is upon us and a great one is behind us. This last year our guild turned 4 years old, which is quite old around these parts!
We got some tasty realm firsts, including "Guild Level 25" & "Glory of the Firelands Raider". We assembled a legendary staff, we held PvP tournaments and ventured into RBGs. We even put together a group to go back into Ulduar and do Herald of the Titans again, just like we did in Wrath. 

We kept our position as being one of the top guilds on the realm, consistently getting alliance first kills in normal mode and heroic. Dragon soul was cleared within two weeks and once it was done we started looking towards doing a bit of heroic modes on the side.
Currently we're sitting at #1 Alliance side and #4 on the realm, with 3/8 heroic kills in Dragon Soul before the nerf.


The future

With the end of the expansion looming before us, we look take a moment to look back and also to look ahead.
What do we have left to do in this expansion that we want to get done before it's all outdated content? If there ever was a right time to go back and kill those bosses that we left standing when we left the raid, that time is now...

Earlier this week, we checked an item off that list by defeating Sinestra:

 

A bit late perhaps, but better late than never! Also, it's worth pointing out that this boss is definitely still harder than anything in Dragon Soul (normal) and quite possibly harder than some of the heroic modes even.

Other than defeating the bosses of old, we still want to try and push through Dragon Soul heroic as far as we can go. Hopefully making it all the way, just like we did with heroic Lich King back in Wrath.

And once every single boss of the expansion lies dead before our feet, it's time to embrace the pandamonium that is sadpanda pandaren expansion!

In other news

• EPGP rules have been adjusted slightly to clarify loot rules regarding offspecs. This has practically always been followed but wasn't explicitly written out, but now it is:

When it comes to offspecs, loot should be rewarded based on roll rather than priority. It is also up to the masterlooter to make a judgement call regarding active offspecs vs less active offspecs. If we for example have a dps/healer who really does use both roles often, that person should be prioritized for his or her offspec over someone who has an offspec they never use.

• The Iron Man Challenge is on! Read up on the rules in this thread and do your best to beat the current strongest Iron Man; Lussekatt!

Thanks for a great 2011, and here's to a great 2012! Cheers!

/Gav

Dungeon & Raid hotfixes

Hour of Twilight

Archbishop Benedictus

• Thrall should no longer despawn when no players are near him after the gauntlet has been completed.

Throne of the Four Winds

Al'Akir

• Wind Burst should no longer knock players back too far.

Dragon Soul

Morchok

• Earthen Soldiers, Ancient Water Lords and Earthen Destroyers now move faster.
• Morchok's Resonating Crystals should now always target the closest players when they explode.

Yor'sahj the Unsleeping

• Damage done by Forgotten Ones, Void Bolt AOE, and Searing Blood has been reduced on 25-person, Heroic difficulty.
• Yor'sahj's health has been reduced by 10% on 25-person, Heroic difficulty.

Hagara the Stormbinder

• Hagara’s Frost Shield can no longer be broken by Shattering Throw to avoid her Frozen Tempest phase.

Warlord Zon'ozz

• Disrupting Shadows no longer deals AoE damage or knockbacks when the duration is reduced with Mage Armor on Heroic raid difficulties.

Warmaster Blackhorn

• Shockwave can now be broken by trinkets and other effects that cancel stuns.
• Blackhorn's Vengeance now accrues at a rate of 1% per 2% of missiong HP on Raid Finder difficulty.
• After Warmaster Blackhorn is killed, the deck fire on upper decks is no longer present on Heroic difficulty.
• Warmaster Blackhorn, the Twilight Elite Slayers, and the Twilight Elite Dreadblades are no longer able to attack players while mounted.

Spine of Deathwing

• Blood Corruption: Earth will no longer morph into Blood Corruption: Death when dispelled.
• Blood Corruption: Earth now applies two stacks of Blood of Neltharion when it expires on 25-player heroic difficulty.
• The health pools for Burning Tendon, Corrupted Blood, Corruption, and Hideous Amalgamation have been reduced by 6 to 11% for 25-person raids on both normal and Heroic difficulty.
• Hideous Amalgamations with the Superheated buff no longer pulse their AE damage after being thrown from Deathwing's back.

Madness of Deathwing

• Damage done by Elementium Blast, Corrupted Blood, and Blistering Heat have been lowered on Raid Finder difficulty.
• This encounter should now complete when all players die after Deathwing has been defeated.

Dungeon & Raid hotfixes

• End Time
  
  • The trash preceeding Echo of Baine should now hit for less Fire damage.
• Hour of Twilight
  
  • Flailing Tentacles now despawn shortly after they appear, and can no longer be attacked.
• Well of Eternity
  
  • Players should no longer lose the Shadowcloak buff when a group member leaves, joins, or zones in or out of the instance.
  • Mannoroth
    
    • Magistrike Arc should no longer be activated by pet attacks, and now has a 100% chance of being activated after a 3 second cooldown.
    • Rogue Stealth and mage Invisibility are no longer broken when Doomguard Devastators land and become valid targets, or when other Demons spawn from the Nether Tear portal.
• Dragon Soul
  
  • Accepting a Warlock summon while riding a drake taxi in Dragon Soul should now cancel the drake ride and port the player to the location of the summon.
  • Fall of Deathwing is now available via Raid Finder once you have completed Siege of Wyrmrest.
  • Players who have killed the final boss in one of the wings of Dragon soul via Raid Finder will be more likely to enter fresh instances on subsequent Raid Finder instances that week. This should make it easier to kill earlier bosses that they might have missed.
  • Yor'sahj the Unsleeping
    
    • The Aggro Radius has been properly adjusted for all difficulties of this encounter.
    • Slimes, Mana Voids, and Forgotten Ones have had their HP reduced by 20% on Raid Finder difficulty.
    • Pets cannot be summoned during the decent into this encounter.
  • Warlord Zon'ozz
    
    • Ball damage should now be splitting its total damage amongst all players nearby on Raid Finder difficulty.
    • Pets cannot be summoned during the decent into this encounter.
  • Ultraxion
    
    • Players should no longer find themselves in the Twilight Realm after Ultraxion has been defeated.
    • Essence of Dreams should strain CPUs less in 25-player raids. This buff will now activate once per second for each healer who has the buff, and the healing done by the effect will equal the amount of health healed by the healer within that one second window.
  • Spine of Deathwing
    
    • Corruption, Hideous Amalgamation, and Burning Tendons are now level 88, up from 87, and have had their health slightly increased.
  • Madness of Deathwing
    
    • Priests under the effect of Spirit of Redemption will now receive credit for defeating Deathwing as long as they were part of the encounter.
• Temple of Ahn'Qiraj
  
  • The Prophet Skeram, the Illusions of The Prophet Skeram, Princess Yauj, Lord Kri, and Vem no longer grant reputation when killed.
• Throne of the Tides
  
  • Lady Naz'jar
    
    • All of the creatures in the Lady Naz'jar gauntlet are now immune to mind control mechanics.
  
  
  • Zul'Gurub
    
    • High Priest Venoxis has been convinced to clean up after himself when his encounter is reset, and his venom puddles should disappear.

Cheers,
Gav

Patch 4.3 is live and with it comes many changes. Such as a new raid instance, three new dungeons, the "looking for raid" system, new Darkmoon Faire, Transmogrification, Void Storage and many many other tweaks and balance changes. Please make sure you take a look at the patch notes (here's also a complete preview of all new features)!

Notes for raiders:

• EPGP is not being resetted completely. Instead we're resetting EP by 90% and GP by 100%. This means that all those people who did put in extra time at the end of last tier see a little bit of priority in the beginning of our raiding in Dragon Soul but within a week or two, things will even out to be about equal.
  
  
• We're aiming for 25-man mode as long as we are staying in normal mode, when it's time to switch to heroic mode we'll have to reevaluate if we'll be able to do it in 25-man or not. This will most likely completely depend on sign-ups throughout the week (and of course this goes for normal mode as well).
  
  
• Looking for Raid (LFR) is of course puggable. Pug as much as you like! But it might be a good idea to bring some guildies along for the increased chances of success... :)
  
  
• We are progressing FAST through the new raid and we expect EVERYONE who joins to have prepared by watching strategy videos/read up on tactics, bringing their own consumables, etc.

That's all for now. Let's kick fatty in the face!

Cheers,
Gav