I remember when all this was fields...

So it came to pass that after last night's enjoyable but also excruciatingly annoying raid where bad guys just refused to play fair, several of our lot managed to do a run through Shattered Halls to unwind. Now having never been there before, I was filled with a slight sense of "This is going to get expensive" because I remember the first time a group went into there, I was listening to the conversation over Vent and thinking "Ouch!". For several hours we sat in silence as they tried to figure out each encounter, wondering if they could do it this time. After they emerged sweaty and beaten, it was commented on that people would need much better gear to be able to do well there.

Fast forward 2 months and it's my turn. Having just handed over 19g in repairs after Karazhan, I didn't fancy having to do the same here, but on we went. It was with a sense of slight disappointment when we found that the place seemed somewhat friendlier. Groups that had previously given the first group the kind of beatdown reserved for red-headed stepchildren were falling over before our onslaught. In fact there was only one hairy moment and that was right at the end with the final boss and his whirlwindy, spinny assault of death. He fell meekly on the second attempt.

It set me to thinking about all the other places that as a guild we used to go to and thought they were hard. Encounters waged and lost because the target just seemed to hard at the time. Fast forward a short while, you maybe replace one or two items of gear, respec slightly to eke out a bit more healing or DPS and all of a sudden that same mob is a pussycat. Pre TBC it was the Baron Rivendare that caused problems, but get a few pieces of your dungeon set and a slightly better weapon perhaps and he goes down faster than a 2 dollar whore.

I guess that this really links back to my opening statement about Karazhan and the question should therefore be this: When the fuck will certain bosses become easy? I'm all for a long, hard fight with a mob always being right on the ragged edge. When you down them for that first time, there's the sense of elation (right up until the point you find the boss has dropped bloody dr00d gear again) and accomplishment. Now it's not so much accomplishment, more relief. I find that there are too many incalculable elements to these fights, it's not a case of tactics working or not working, you have to rely on random elements. Take Moroes for instance; his Garrote is nasty and spells certain doom if you can't get rid of it. Bubbles and Stoneskin work, but one of those relies on you choosing the correct race 70 levels ago. Noone is going to think "Oh yes the Moroes fight, I shall choose a Dwarf!". The other part is reliant on Paladin bubbles, which can only be used every few minutes, so basically you might get one or two off if you're lucky. Now if you are incredibly lucky, he'll go for these people first so by the time that the Garrote does start sticking, he'll be almost dead anyway. If he goes for myself though for instance, then that's 5 minutes of one of the healers having to keep an eye on me for the entire fight and pour much mana into keeping me alive. Of course there's always his 4 adds to consider and if one of those gets loose then it can cause havoc. Or if Moroes happens to stun the MT and decides to run off and gank one of the healers who also happen to be keeping one of the adds shackled...the list could go on.

It could just be that we aren't good enough for the encounter yet, but then what of the Maiden or Romeo and Juliet in the Opera event? Couple of her bolts at the same person within a second or two and our most promising attempt of the event falls down in tatters.

Scripted fights are supposed to be challenging, but with the right tactics should be beatable more times than not. These new fights are too unpredictable and down to random factors we can't control.