AQ20 Adventure

With how well I've been finding my footing in my new guild, it was only a matter of time until I'd come along to one of their social raid nights. Currently the most popular destination is AQ20 (as the "Ruins of Ahn'Qiraj" are informally called) because like Zul'Gurub, it's an easy catch-up raid with no attunement and low gear requirements. So this was my own first destination as well. Considering that AQ20 was the first raid I ever set foot in, it seemed oddly appropriate.

I was actually starting to suffer from a slight case of nerves just beforehand as I really wanted to make a good impression, though I kept reminding myself that I knew very well what it was like to inspect a new recruit from the other side, and - considering that it was a social night - people weren't actually very likely to care as much about any details that I might be worrying about as I did myself.

I knew that no consumables were required, but I did have to face the world buffs question for the first time. I've long been aware of the "world buff meta" as a vague construct, but I hadn't really been pursuing any myself. I decided that I wasn't going to start now, but the head drop coordination Discord for the server (which I'd joined after winning the Heart of Hakkar in my first ZG) stated that there were going to be both a head and a heart drop shortly before raid start, so I thought that I might as well pick those up.

They lasted for exactly one pull, as we wiped on the second one, which made me laugh and just highlighted the futility of that meta once again.

Me saying that we wiped on the second trash pull may not sound like it went very well, but it was actually an OK run overall. As I was saying to the hunter class leader later, I was surprised by where we had pain points, such as that trash pull, and the wipe we had on Moam, which is an extremely easy boss. On the other hand we dealt just fine with Ossirian the Unscarred (whom I didn't hit once, as I was tasked with running up and down one side of the room and clicking crystals), and a ninja-pulled Buru for example. Basically, there were no real problems other than people being a bit silly.

Much to my surprise I was instantly given the responsibility of pulling trash at the start, despite of there being a more experienced hunter in the group, which made me raise an eyebrow as I wondered whether I was being tested in some capacity. I certainly wasn't left without instruction though, with one of the officers in specific sending me frantic whispers to "pull now" or "don't go any further" all the time. Despite of that one trash wipe, I don't think my performance came up wanting, as I was told that the wipe had more to do with dispels not being done in a timely manner than anything else.

There was also a funny moment later when we were pulling the Anubisaths on the way to Ossirian and I was once again asked to pull - so I ran up on my mount to get aggro and tried to quickly get back to the group but wasn't quite fast enough, so I was splatted by a meteor just before I reached them. (The damage from the meteor ability they do needs to be shared out among the whole group to be survivable.) I was actually uncertain whether I'd done something wrong or had just fallen victim to some sort of newbie hazing ritual. I think that ultimately the answer was neither, and it was more a mix of them still trying different pulling tactics for these and not fully having thought their request for me to pull alone through to the end.

I didn't get any loot on that run other than a Qiraj Spiked Hilt, which is a token that can be turned in for a melee weapon... once you hit exalted with the Cenarion Circle. Not likely to happen to me anytime soon! In fact, I didn't even really want it for that exact reason, but we had several drop in a row and by the end there was nobody else who could have used it even potentially, which was the only reason I agreed to take it.

Still, the whole experience definitely left me with a taste for more once again.