First off, I’d like to welcome everyone who has just arrived from Mania’s Arcania. I already knew that BigRedCrab was on Mania’s blogroll (which from my stats brought in a few visitors), but I wasn’t expecting to be presented on the Coummity Round-Up. Anyways, again I’d like to welcome everyone. BigRedCrab is still fairly new (this only being the 7th post) but hopefully as time goes on, I’ll have a nice collect of topics.

For those who were wondering about the Claw Experiment, I just want to clarify that I know it’s basic common sense to train Claw if it’s the only ability available to the pet. The purpose of the experiment is not to sway hunters to train Claw, but to get people a “wake up call” on how much a pet’s DPS is increased with Claw. Most people, such as I, just train and auto-cast Claw and forget about it. So how much increase does you pet’s DPS receive with Claw? 33% It was most definitely a wake up call for me.

Other news, Stra finally ran her first Karazhan. It all started while I was in the Bone Waste trying to finish up some quests for some gold when I decided to jump onto the LFG Karazhan window. There were to Karazhan groups currently running. Almost instantly, I receive a whisper from the Raid Leader (RL):

RL: Stats?
Me: 8k Health, 5k Mana, 1.1k AP
Nothing…
Me: I’ve ran Karazhan before on my Warlock. This will be first time on hunter.
Nothing…

Not even a reply telling me sorry. I was kind of bummed out that I wasn’t able to get into a PuG for my first Karazhan run with Stra. I thought I wouldn’t run Karazhan that day so I went on with my quest but kept myself in the LFG Karazhan window. After about ten minutes, I get a whisper from the Raid Leader in the other raid:

RL: Hey, up for Kara?
Me: Sure
RL: Okay, one sec.
Me: Just want to let you know this is my first time on my hunter, but I’ve ran Kara a dozen times on my warlock.
RL: No problem. How much health do you have?
Me: 8k unbuffed.
RL: Sweet.
RL: We’re at Illhoof atm. That okay?
Me: Sure.

After a few moments, I get and invite and a few moments after that, I get a summon. There I was, down the stairs just outside of Illhoof’s room. It was my first time in Karazhan with my hunter, but wait! Where was Stra? I’m sure she would love to see the raid… but would the raid love to see Stra? I called for Stra and the red crab appeared…

CRAB!

One of the raid members saw the crab and yelled it out to the whole raid. There soon came a flock of “LOL”s. Was I going to make fun of? Was I going to be kicked? I never told the raid leader about my crab. Nope, they all finished they’re laughs and begun to buff up. They through a few buffs up on me and Stra. There I sat with about 9k Health and Stra 7k health. She was one meaning killing machine. I got a Ready Check and we went in.

ILLHOOF

As a warlock, I’m use to spamming Seed of Corruption. I wasn’t quite sure how to fight Illhoof this time, but there was another hunter in the group and after watching him, I got quite into it. I sent Stra in at Illhoof and she fought her heart out. I threw a Mend Pet out a few times (I’m not quite sure why or how she was receiving damage) which in turn drew aggro from the horde of imps, but she survived. I had to pop two mana potions, but we were able to down Illhoof with ease. No deaths… not even the pets. Fortunate for me, Girdle of the Prowler dropped and I was the only roller for it. My first epic on my first Kara boss kill.

SHADE

We fought our way to Shade which only consist of one group of mobs. As we sat at the door, the Raid Leader explained the fight to those who were new. I already knew the fight so I prepared myself and Stra. The warlock popped out some healthstones. As I went and grabbed one, I saw the doom my crab was to face in this fight. Stra’s 13k armor was not to protect her from Shade’s extreme spell damage. It was a fight I was sure Stra would not survive.

The raid leader was just about to wrap up everything and send out a Ready Check when someonne (I think the druid) got a little too close to Shade and pulled aggro. Everyone quickly recovered and got to their positions only to be pulled to the center instantly. Stra and I ran for the wall. I made it to the wall and turned around ready for the blast. BAM! I was okay but I heard Stra shriek in pain. She was not out of the blast radius and took heavy damage, but she survived (15% Health). I quickly threw Mend Up on her and sent her to fight. Soon after, a Blizzard came my way and I circled the room shooting as many shots as I can in the process. The Blizzard went way, the danger was still in air with Flame Wreath. The Raider Leader called everyone to stop moving and they did so. Once the Wreath was done, everyone went back to their positions. The fight looked like it was in control and Stra may actually survive.

BAM! BAM! Stra’s health started dropping quickly. BAM! Stra shrieked for help. I watched in horror as Shade begun casting Arcane Missile on the young crab. Stra’s shell frizzled with hot arcane magic. I quickly threw a Mend Pet up. Any more and Stra was for sure to die. I attention then swayed to the Blizzard that was on a direct course at me. It was either me or the crab. It was a tough choice. I threw up last Mend Pet up and quickly ran. As I circled the room, I watched as more Arcane Missiles flew at Stra. There was nothing I can do. Finally, it ended. The arcane missiles ceased. I glanced over to Stra’s location. There she was, alive still giving all she got at Shade. Shade had angered Stra and released the Beast Within. Nothing could stop Stra, not even Shade’s elementals. Suddenly, Shade fell and so did the Steelspine Faceguard. I again was the lone roller of this epic loot. It makes me proud whenever we down Shade before his Mass Polymorph

NETHERSPITE

Netherspite was not going to be an easy task, especially with people new to the encounter. As a warlock, I tanked the blue beam. Now, without any beam duty, I was pure DPS. During the banish stage, I can feign death and not even be targeted. The question is, will Stra live through this encounter? Stra got lucky during Shade, will her luck save her from Netherspite?

Encounter One Foreshadow…

We engage Netherspite and the portals pop up. Everyone grabs their beams and I send Stra into battle. The first part went perfectly. Netherspite banishes himself and I call back Stra and have him stay out of melee range while I feign death. Netherspite spins as he starts throwing out his spells at the other players. Stra and I are unharmed. Unfortunately, I can’t say that for the rest… Once Netherspite leaves his banishment, massive portal chaos arise. The red beams jumps between people as Netherspite downs them and the green beam heals what damage we’ve done. Realizing that this encounter was wipe, I ran to the door and feigned death. The raid members began dropping like flies. Eventually, Netherspite reaches Stra on the threat chart. To my amazement, Stra not only survives one hit, or even two hits… but takes on three hits before the crab falls (to be all honest, Netherspite missed Stra on the second hit).

Encounter Two

After the raid regrouped, the raid leader clarified who had which beam. Right in the middle of the clarification, one of the raid members got to close to Netherspite. He took out too many of our members too quickly for us to counter the attack and just as it was a wipe, I feigned death. Unfortunately, Stra was one of the many victims of this premature pull.

Encounter Three

The main tank went AFK and to prevent another premature, I sat behind the door. As we waited, the Raid Leader explained the fight in the slightest detail. As we waited, the shaman in the group sent me a whisper:

Shaman: Where did you get the crab?
Me: I got her in Durator when I was level 10. Had her ever since.
Shaman: That’s sooo cool! I think that’s awesome that you have a level 70 crab.
Me: I’m happy then. I’m happy now
Shaman: It’s not everyday I see a crab in raids.
Me: This is her first time here too  
Shaman: I want to work on my hunter. I want a crab too! 

When the main tank came back, they initiated a Ready Check and buffed up. The main tank went in and engaged Netherspite. Like the first attempt, the portals came up and everyone took they’re place. Everything went smoothly except for one death (due to the lack of attention to the black voids). The banish stage began and everyone ran to the walls. I called Stra back, place her on Stay, and ran to a corner to feign death. Netherspite sent out a few breaths out but nothing serious. Once the portals opened up again, everything took their spots. A perfect execution. I sent Stra back to Netherspite and she started being him. Netherspite was almost dead and the banish stage was about to begin. I called back Stra and had her stay at the door while I feigned death in the corner. As I layed there, I saw Netherspite had targeted Stra. I could see her all by herself as the Netherspite’s breath bounded her. Breath after breath after breath. It seems that Stra was the only target available for Netherspite. I was amazed to see Stra still barely standing after three Netherbreaths.

Netherbreath: An attack hitting everyone in a cone out from where Netherspite is facing at the time for ~4.5k arcane damage in addition to knocking them back ~20 yards. Will be cast very frequently during Banish phase. Cast time: 2.5 seconds. -Wowwiki

There was nothing for me to do. If I came out of feign death to save Stra, I would be an available target. I laid there watch Stra breath heavily from such exhaustion. Luckily for her, the banish stage was over and we were able to finish off Netherspite. Stra had once again survived the beating of a raid boss.

PRINCE

Prince was fairly easy as a warlock. In fact, I always ranked Netherspite or Nightbane as harder. There wasn’t anything too special about Prince. No epic battle for Stra, no near death experience. In fact, the encounter went smoother than any other encounter I ran with this PuG. Luckily for me though, the T4 Helm dropped and yet again… I was the only roller. Stra… you served me well.

Hopefully next time I run Karazhan, I will record the boss fights just to show how a crab does things in raids