After the First Raid

Last night was a bit tough.  We were missing some people to real life (exams and such coming up).  We were missing others to computer problems (gotta love patches).  We found ourselves facing the start of raid with two tanks and four healers.  (Thank goodness for dual specs . . .)

In addition, at least one of our healers was beating her head against her addons, which were not cooperating, despite having been updated just before (or sometimes during) raid.  And to top it off, we were having to figure out how to heal and how to make healing assignments.

At least the mages and warlocks were happy.  (Unlike the melee dps . . .)

Our first raiding night in ICC would usually have resulted in our clearing nine bosses or so.  Last night, with all the complications, we ended up clearing five.  But four of those were on Heroic mode, which we felt was something of a triumph under the circumstances and helped boost the confidence of the raid.

We assigned our addon-gimped healer to tanks (fewer target switches), rearranged the way our healers are normally assigned for marks on Saurfang, fretted about the lack of threat reduction talents in healers (don't ask me how many times the Blood Beasts flattened me--I have updated Omen), and remembered that Druids can now be added into the raid cooldown rotation.

My biggest issues right now are 1) figuring out when I can just willy-nilly use my Tree of Life form and when I really ought to save it for something, 2) remembering that Tranquility exists, and 3) wondering if my Empowered Touch is really working, because Vuhdo hasn't been showing my Lifeblooms being refreshed from my Nourish casts.  (Maybe it's a Vuhdo thing?  Since my Grid plug-ins are broken, I've configured Vuhdo.  Getting used to the different view probably isn't helping my performance right now.)  I think I'm going to tweak my spec a little, as well, and switch the click binds for Lifebloom and Regrowth.  (So I won't absently cast LB when I just want to add a little more healing . . . yep, did that.)

At least I seem to be managing to remember to cast frequent Swiftmends for the Efflourescence effect.  (I'm usually Swiftmending the melee, so Efflourescence will have the greatest value.)

By the time we were done, people were ready to be done.  But that's normal when someone is on a learning curve.  Lately, we've been rather spoiled:  we've known our classes and our roles, and we could do a lot of raiding with our eyes closed.  Right now, we're having to constantly think and focus, and when you have to use your brain as much as this, it becomes rather tiring to the mind and the nerves. (Sort of like the difference between standing in a room of people speaking in your native tongue and standing in a room of people speaking in a language you are supposed to be learning . . . you never know how exhausting that can be until you've done it.)

We'll learn.  We always do.  But something tells me we won't be trying Heroic Putricide this week.