SotR: Durumoomoo and the Maze

Durumu the Forgotten down in 25man! – Undying Resolution is now 7/12!

I realize it has been rather quiet on the blogging front, especially in terms of raiding.  Fear not!  It is not for lack of interest, progress, or anything else of a negative nature.  It is mainly more a shift of my attention.  I have been working on a story or two when the muse wills it, as well as playing WoW quite a bit.  The stories are coming along slowly, but somewhat steadily.

With six 90’s and a Druid ever so slowly making her way there, I have been keeping busy with daily profession cooldowns (and farming them mats to fund them), my farms, capping valor, and gearing toons.  In addition to my Monk my Shaman, Pally, and Death Knight all valor capped this week.  My Monk is coming along nicely, and holding her own well in 25man.  My Shaman has received a few minor upgrades, and is already exalted with the Kirin Tor Offensive.  My Pally is coming along in his Holy set, and almost high enough for ToT now.  My Death Knight is just high enough to start doing ToT LFR, should I renew my courage.  (This past week, I was dragged into a normal Terrace, which was my first raid tanking experience so far this expansion.  It went well enough that I allowed myself to be dragged into the T14 LFR’s as well.  Already at 480, DK-Effy is ready to move on, as long as I can continue my momentum.  heh)

But there has also been much raiding.  We are now raiding three nights a week – Wednesday, Thursday, and Sunday.  It is boding well for progression, even when a fair snag caught us in the form of a giant malevolent eyeball named Durumu the Forgotten.

I am seeing a fascinating, if not temporarily frustrating, trend forming with Throne of Thunder: a seemingly exponential increase in boss mechanics.  With the help of DBM and a few attempts under my belt to solidify what all the garble that is spewed at me from videos and boss descriptions all mean, I have little issue with numerous mechanics.  I will find my happy place, my healing nirvana, and the fights will progressively smooth out.

What created a temporary wall for not just myself, but our guild in general (all of whom I have come to trust in their raid proficiency as well) was not the mechanics of Durumu, but the visuals.

Debuffs that need cleansing – check.  Debuffs that need to NOT be cleansed – check.  Stuff to not stand in – check.  Stuff TO stand in – check.  Stack up, spread out – check.  Periods of high incoming damage – check.  Adds – check.  Heck, I have even learned how to kite a boss and function a construct.

But maze… well, I have the idea of it down.  I know what I need to do.  But can I always SEE it?  No.

The Durumu encounter, most specifically the maze, seems to me a practice in compounding frustration.  The maze is a purple mass, not even a solid purple mass mind you, on top of a floor of similar shimmering purple mass.  It seems the very purpose of the maze is not to instill a feeling of a mouse chasing the cheese, but more a nightmarish run through an ever-changing corridor of dead ends while being chased by imminent doom in the form of a disintegrating eye ray.  To add to this feeling, the maze is difficult to predict and often seems to change on a whim at the beginning of its formation.  Even while attempting to outrun the approach of your untimely death, the maze often ceases to open sporadically, adding to the anxiety of that beam catching up.

Honestly, all of this I can handle as a raider, but one – the near impossibility of actually being able to decipher the maze at times.  The progressive opening of the maze is fine, what I refer to is more the difficulty of differentiating between maze-wall, maze-floor, and “good” floor that can actually be walked upon without killing you.  It is already bad enough that you can effortlessly walk from floor to “wall” with nothing stopping you.  (Except the obnoxious complaining of GTFO.)

UR downed Durumu this week, making us 7/12, but I can honestly say that it will be a long while before this fight feels comfortable for me as it currently is.

Alas, on to Primordius!

~ Effy

EDIT: It seems the maze was hotfixed today.  Uhm, hooray?  At least UR downed him before the nerf.  heh  But I still HAD to get in my rant!  😛  So excuse the rushed usage of my “post” button.