ENDURANCE TriaL COMPLETE!

In a great show of true open raiding spirit, we gathered for our scheduled MPG trials and started out with the easier ones while we worked on our key classes.   After Corruption, Hatred and Specialization trials were downed in short order, we went into Endurance with payback in mind from coming so close to winning last weekend.

Endurance went smooth at some points but had it's moments of near chaos!  With the battle rezing and DR'ing of 2 of our main CH'ers, while maintaining the CH during this time, to the great work of the offtankers who closed ranks towards our CH team to protect them from adds.  Not to mention, the amazing effort of the DPS and CC groups with the help of the support classes to balance it all out.  

Endurance trial is a good trial in that it brings out the best in everyone, since each class comes into play.  Last night was a perfect example of how people outside of a guild setup can come together and mesh to accomplish a goal.

After Endurance trial, we did Adaptation and Foresight to finish off the night.  So in total, we did all 6 of the MPG trials in on sitting.

Great effort by all those who attended, and special thanks to: Spritee for COTHing, Heeth, Sharran, Skaldine and Chekakoch for CC and MA'ing.   Bubbley and Arthursuen for MT'ing.  Thewun for berserker aura.. even though trolls are ugly.  Healers, Daikan, Twinlet, Dodan and Korlayn.

Earlier in the week, we did DoN as scheduled on the Wednesday.  Completed almost all tiers, minus Guardian of the Sands, and Ju`rek.  Lots of people seem to still need these progression pieces from what I saw, so we'll continue to schedule them every couple weeks.

On Friday, we did our regular Tacvi run.  Everything went smooth up until  Tunat, but it seemed he worked on his defensive AA or recently obtained some gear!  He owned us on the first attempt, then the 2nd attempt we got him down to around 3 percent.  So we called in some extra DPS and taught him a lesson!  Thanks to all those who were able to stay for the duration and finish him off.

Freelance state:

Update: Now that we'vs successfully completed all 6 of the trials (several of which we've done multiple times), we'll be starting weekly CoA raids.  These raids will be posted ahead of time on the forums, so please keep an eye on the board to keep up to date.  Further, always best to idle in the freelance:raids channel to stay in the loop for pickup non-scheduled raids.   Thanks.

Update: With CoA, comes 2.0's.   I think every couple weeks or weekly to start, I'll try and schedule an evening to help those who obtained orbs from our CoA raids complete their 2.0's.

Loot lists have been updated.

News Archived

Posted by Furro on August 5, 2007

Endurance trial - so close!

So close on endurance trial last night, it's worth mentioning.  We went in with 39, and held it together until about the last few percent.  We wiped at 2 percent!   Best attempt yet, and great effort by everyone.

On Friday, we went back and did some more GoD backflagging.   Ikkinz and Uqua went smooth, and Inktu'ta was done Sunday, since we wiped a couple times on Cursecaller event on the Friday. 

According to my info, we flagged over 2 groups for Txevu / Tacvi this weekend, so it was time well spent.  I'm certain those people appreciate it, and it'll definately alleviate the pig issues we've seen crop up the last couple Tacvi raids.

Saturday's Tacvi went great as usual.  Although I didn't note the time, it felt like one of the fastest runs to date.   Nice work, and thanks for attending all.

This upcoming week Tacvi will be on the Friday, and some DoN on Wednesday with possible raids  on the other days depending on tank / healer situation.

As always, let your guilds know they're more then welcome to join us on raids on their off nights.  Have them idle in freelance:raids channel to stay in the loop as well as frequent the forums for scheduled events.

Thanks.

Loot lists have been updated.

Posted by Furro on July 30, 2007

Oblivion & Mistwalker down!

Great start this week, with a Freelance First killing of Oblivion and Mistwalker on Monday, to repeating our successful clearings of Tacvi and the regular cycle of other targets.

Weekly Summary:

Monday: Yar`lir, Oblivion, and Mistwalker

Thursday:  Circle of Drakes and Rikkukin

Friday: Tacvi cleared

Saturday: MPG raid trials - Hatred, Corruption and Specialization

Freelance state:

Update: Although we didn't attempt Endurance trial on Saturday due to lack of healers, we did manage to cycle through the 3 easier trials.  To me, this is a success in that we gained 9 drops of gear in a short time period as well as possibly flagged those that were missing those trials.

What I'll do is keep co-ordinating these trials for during the week also, when key classes are available.   So keep idling in the Freelance channel to stay in the loop for when these raids happen please.

Update:  I added some screenshots submitted by Scornfire to the gallery here.  Thanks Scornfire for the pics.  If anyone else has some screenshots of our raids they'd like added, just drop me a tell in game.

Loot lists have been updated.

Posted by Furro on July 23, 2007

Foresight down!

Friday:  Having attempted Foresight twice earlier in the week, we refined our strat and beat the trial Friday night!  Persistance paid off with those earlier attempts.  Great effort by everyone!

Our next big hurdle trial wise, will be Endurance.  Hopefully this week we can give it go and refine some issues from previous attempts.  We have the strat down, it's just a matter of executing it.

Saturday:  Tacvi cleared.  Still well worth the time, we had good numbers, and it's obvious people still have a use for the drops there.  We had only 2 items rot, both of which were class specific (Berserker Axe, and Wizard primary).

Freelance state:

Update:  We're making progress towards CoA.  Having beaten Foresight,  our next goal will be to win Endurance trial.  The goal is still to get a good chunk of freelance into CoA and continue farming the trials for the drops / flags.  Additionally, we'll be able to backflag from inside CoA.

Update:  Once we're into CoA, I'd like to go back and do some GoD backflagging, to help those regulars who join us for weekly Tacvi raids, but are still missing the flag to get in.

Update:  An issue was raised last night by someone, regarding loot / randoming.  Specifically, it was pertaining to loot that was opened to secondary winners.  That is, loot where no one initially randomed on, so we open the /random again to those who already won something.

Issue: person decides to /random on item (having not won anything that night), thinking the item doesn't count as loot.

We count any initial winnings of loot, as a loot win.  It's that simple.  Why do we do this? Because we're trying to spread the loot around. 

Here's the logic behind the rule by example:  if the loot didn't count towards anything, you could have a person holding out for a specific item, but before that; he might /random on a piece of secondary loot (having not won anything that night yet), win it, and then later that evening, he turns around and randoms on the item he really wants and wins over someone who won nothing that night..  That's the problem.  We don't want someone walking away with 5 pieces of secondary loot, and then turning around and /randoming against someone who's won nothing.  It's just not fair to the rest of the raid.

I've amended this info into the "Raid Rules - Overview" sticky posted on the forums here.

I'm totally open to suggestions regarding how we do loot.  If you can however, please save your concerns until after the raid is done.  Unless it's something where we've misjudged the winners of a piece of loot (ie, didn't see the highest roll) etc.

Update: Added an Omens of War - CoA Flagging section off the main page, or you can access it here.

Loot lists have been updated.

Posted by Furro on July 15, 2007

Tacvi cleared!

Friday: We had a great showing for Tacvi, and cleared the zone in approximately 3 hours.  We'll get faster with subsequent runs no doubt.  Congrats those who won loot and backflag pieces.  Nice work all!

Saturday:  MPG raid trials -  We had a good turnout for these, better than I expected.
Although we had good numbers, we only mangaged 1 win.   But I'm not discouraged, keep in mind, the 2 other trials (Endurance and Foresight) are the hardest of the 6.   I'm confident we can beat both of these trials with practice and some minor strat changes (people getting used to emotes in foresight trial for example, and Endurance position changes).

We've come very close to winning both of those trials before.  It's just a matter of getting people used to them, and refining our strat.  I'm not concerned about the other 4 trials as we've beaten them in the past without any major problems.  Just like with GoD, this is a work in progress, the more we attempt these the better we'll get at it.

Note:  Audio Triggers - I know some people are totally against these.  I realise they don't work for everyone.  I use them, but I can read the emotes also.  I find them useful because I can respond to an audio sound faster while healing and focusing on other things.   Since I lauched the site, I've had a page setup and available for audio triggers I use with info on how to set them up.  The reason I mention this now is, that with the Foresight trial, these are handy triggers to have setup.  Worth trying in my opinion if you're having difficulties reading the emotes fast and responding to the actions.  Here is the link to the audio trigger page.

Freelance state:

Update - Some people have asked when / if we're going to do more backflagging for GoD.  The answer is yes, we will.   The plan is to either work on these backflag events during the week (aka via a schedule perhaps) or every 3-4 weeks I'll schedule them into a Friday / Saturday or possibly a Sunday.  I havn't forgotten those who need pieces to complete their flags.  I still maintain a list of who has and needs what pieces.

Update - To those wondering where are the raids during the week?  Valid question.  I havn't been scheduling raids during the week, which isn't to say we don't do stuff, idling in the channel is the best way to pickup on these non-scheduled raids.  During the week, our raids are all spur of the moment depending on who's around.  Even though you may see 70 people in the channel for example, alot of those members are raiding with their guilds.  However, what I'm going to do is try and schedule and post things for this upcoming week and see who shows up.  Keep in mind, scheduling things in advance has worked for us on Fridays/Saturdays, but those are days usually guilds don't raid on.  Scheduling anything during the week may not materialize.   But it's worth the effort to post something and go from there.  Ideally I'd like to do MPG trials during the week, as this is how we've done them in the past.

Update - You want to help Freelance in some way?  This is great.  The biggest help I think at this point is to continue to spread the word to your friends and guildies about us.  Feel free to direct them towards the site, the forums, and have them join our channel so they can stay in the loop.  We've increased our numbers substantially in the past 2 months, and continuing our growth will only serve to allow us to raid more often and help a larger group.  That's what it's all about.  Helping people.

Loot lists have been updated.

Posted by Furro on July 8, 2007

TXEVU - Zun`Muram down!  Tacvi partial clear!

First order of business in Txevu last night was to repay a visit to Ixt Hsek Syat (aka The Runt Event) who successfully ripped us a new one the pervious week.  Learning from our mistakes, we downed him and his little Champion friend!  Albeit it wasn't easy, that event is harder than High Priest.  Even though we had some deaths, it was nice to go back and teach him a lesson!

Second target was High Priest Nkosi Bakari.  We killed him no problem, just like the previous week.

Third target, and our main goal in Txevu, we headed towards Zun`Muram Tkarish Zyk.  This guy is the keyholder to Tacvi basically, and so we had to kill him to get our signet in order to spawn Tacvi instances. 

The Zun`Muram fight was executed perfectly by everyone there.  I can't stress it enough how well the instructions were followed.  Great work all!  We had only  a few deaths, and I believe we can avoid those in the future with some simple group changes and minor instruction for when people other than the 2 tanks get banished.

For future Txevus, we may go straight for Zun`Muram, and then fallback on HP, or a few of the other minis in there for additional loot/fun such as the Cragbeast Matriarch Event etc.

Following Zun`Muram, we decided since it was still early, to go ahead into Tacvi and mess around in there until our numbers dropped off.  Messing around was an understatement!  We killed: Pixtt Xxeric Kex, Pixtt Riel Tavas, Zun`Muram Kvxe Pirik, and Zun`Muram Yihst.  That's basically half of Tacvi, in a 2 hour timeframe.   Amazing job everyone!

Special thanks to: Jail door openers on Zun`Muram Pierrce, and Kenteck.  Brkur and Nuvane for your quick charm reflexes on chaosslayer.  Additionally, thanks to, Thewun (albeit trolls are ugly), Suurge, Tendon, Heeth and his cleric, and Starrgazer who was being boxed by Brkur that evening for coth purposes.   Also thanks to all those who came to help, great effort and it showed in the true spirit of EQ that open raiding isn't dead.

Raids posted for next week: Tacvi and MPG trials!

Loot lists have been updated.

Posted by Furro on July 1, 2007

GoD backflagging 3x!

Continuing our backflagging efforts, we successfully did all 3 flag raids in one night (Ikkinz, Uqua and Inktu'ta).  According to my numbers, we finished Txevu Ciphers for 25 people last night.   Great showing by all and nice work!

Loot lists have been updated.

Posted by Furro on June 30, 2007

txevu progress!

Saturday:  Highlight of the evening was killing High Priest Nkosi Bakari!  This is a big step, in that we now have the key to Zun`Muram Tkarish Zyks' area.   HP is still worth doing however since he drops decent loot and having multiple keys is worth it for down the road.  Considering we did HP with 30 or so people, I think we did a great job.   I can't thank everyone enough for paying attention and following instructions so precisely.  Nice work.

Before and after HP we did attempt Runt event, and although we wiped a couple times on it, we gained some valuable information on how to handle it next time.  I'm confident we can beat that event with a revised strat.

After our Runt wipe following HP, we CR'ed in the room but the event despawned before we could go again.  Since we were all in the zone we decided to give Ancient Cragbeast Matriarch a try.   Well, what can I say here, we wiped with style. :P  In about under a minute.  My first impressions of this event is that it reminds me of T`Shara or something similiar.  I suspect not many do this event, it's difficult to find info on it even.  It does have a decent drop table, so we might consider doing it again maybe after Zun or something when we're ending off a night.

Friday: Backflagging went moothly until the servers crashed 2x on us during Uqua.  However we did do Ikkinz 4 with no problems and had a great turnout.  According to my logs 23 people looted a Sliver from ikkinz.

I'd like to re-schedule backflagging for this upcoming Friday again, so we can bang out all 3 in one night.  I'm absolutely certain we can do this now if we have the turnout we did this past Friday.    In doing the flagging in one sitting, it's more likely those that need 2 or 3 of the flags will get them that night and be able to attend Txevu/Tacvi raids the following night.  Increasing our numbers in Txevu / Tacvi is critical to our success in those zones.

Note:  I just want to stress here to those that are missing their KT flag how important it is to get them done.   Having your KT flag makes setting up the raid go alot faster and easier.  If we exceed our pig limit, it causes alot of problems during formation and inside the instance.  I get spammed with 6-10 lines of 2 min warning messages of those that are not flagged when someone in the raid goes LD or drops after a target.  So then we have to scramble to find a flagged person or the pigs get booted from the zone.

Only Tipt is required now for KT flagging.  I have a page setup off this main page here "Gates of Discord Flags" which has info on the Tipt npc location etc., to help those that want to do a quick run and get their flag done.

I started a thread on the forums for those missing the flag, and they can post under it.

Also, Camanern has offered to do Tipt runs for those that need it.   Realize he is in a raiding guild, so his time is limited.  But if you drop him a line sometime, perhaps he'll have a free moment and do a run.

Freelance state:  Just to keep everyone informed, we are progressing at a good pace.  Our goals are still to reach Tacvi, and do weekly runs of it.  Additionally, we'd like to alternate Tacvi with MPG / CoA.  For now our big push has been GoD, and it will pay off.   In a way, I feel it's already paid off in that people have come together to help their fellow players progress and obtain gear they may not have access to otherwise.

Just a reminder, feel free to spread the word about this site, our forums and the channel to your guildies and friends.  Our strength is our skill as players and comradery, which in greater numbers will ensure our success.

Loot lists have been updated.

Posted by Furro on June 24, 2007

God backflagging continues

We did a 2nd run of Uqua last night, to help those who missed it a few weeks ago.   Improving on our last Uqua, this run was 1 hour and 35 mins from zone in to finish.  Nice work everyone!

Special thanks to:  Bonaiel (for cothing), Thewun for pulling (too bad trolls are ugly).

Also I'd like to thank everyone who came to help those who needed the Fragment to progress.  According to my list several people finished up their flag last night, Congrats!   Among those who didn't finish, some only need Inktu'ta now to complete.

I believe we're progressing at a good pace, a tribute to everyones hard work and dedication to help others.  Thanks.

In addition to GoD progression, we've been killing our regular cycle of mobs: Shyra, Kess, Rikk, CoDrakes etc.  We have a few new targets in the works also, and hope to try them soon.

Loot lists have been updated.

Posted by Furro on June 16, 2007

Noqufiel met his match!  Inktu'ta defeated!

An excellent turnout last night for Inktu'ta.  We pushed through the zone at a good pace.  From start of the zone to end,  in under 3 hours.  I'm certain we can get that down to 2 hours for our next run at it.

Everyone as usual followed instructions, which made for a smooth raid.  Thanks.

It's worth mentioning here that a few people couldn't be piggied into the zone because we reached our max.  I apologize to those who didn't make it in.   My understanding was Inktu'ta wasn't a flagged zone, or it wasn't perhaps in the past, and with the new GoD flag changes it now checks for a qvic flag when inside.

According to my logs, lots of people hailed the final NPC for their piece, which is great.  Even the 6 piggies that had to camp out and back just before the final fight when they got the 2 minute warning managed to hail and get their splinter!

All in all, I think we had a great raid, well worth the time for progression and drops.

Additionally, I'd like to thank those who helped on the strats: Chekakoch, Garsmahg, Thewun, Littlebadboy, Fulanita, and a few others I may have missed no offense intended! :)

Thanks also to those that came to help others out, greatly appreciated.

Congrats those who won BiC pieces and Loot!

Txevu - Lair of the Elite is next!

In order to find out who's missing what flag, check the forums - ramblings section and post under the thread of the flag you're missing.

For those of you who have Ikkinz 4 done and Uqua, please take the time and finish your Qvic flag, all you have to do is hand in the item and that's it. Check out the flag section under "Additional Info" here off the main site for more details if you're not sure which NPC to hand into.

Loot lists have been updated.

Posted by Furro on June 3, 2007

Uqua defeated!

We had a good turnout for Uqua last night.  Defeating the events with ease and in decent time.  From start of the zone to end, took only 2 hours.  I'm confident we can cut that down to an hour and 20 mins or so next time.

Inktu'ta, the Unmasked Chapel is next!

I've scheduled a tentative Inktu'ta raid for next Saturday (June 2nd).  Check the Upcoming Events board on the forum for details.

Our Ikkinz 4 lockout ends late this upcoming Wednesday.  So probably Thursday or Friday we'll try and do another Ikkinz 4 run for those who missed it last week and still need the Sliver to finish up their Qvic flag.

Thanks all who came to help others out on Uqua and congrats to those who won loot.

Loot lists have been updated.

Posted by Furro on May 27, 2007

Same ol` targets Friday night?! I think not!  A few freelance first kills!

We didn't have big numbers last night, but we managed to pull off a few targets!

First, we went and did the usual Circle the Drakes, since our lockout was gone.

After CoDrakes, we did Ju`rek the Corrupted for those that needed the progression piece.

Following a short breather, we decided to go kill Antraygus, the Sporali King!  Great work on this everyone!  Fun little fight, with a decent table.  This was a first time win on him, great work all!

Having beaten the Sporali King, and being so close to Illsalin, we decided to go kill Ritesmaster Verok.  This was another first time kill for Freelance, but I had no doubt we would win -- easy mob, with a simple script.

After Verok, we headed over to Devastation to teach Titanothon a lesson!  Not a first time kill for Freelance, but we hadn't done him in a long time.  He dropped without any problems.

Seeing as we were close to Sverag, Stronghold of Rage; we decided to zone over and tackle Voidblade (a rage mini-boss).   This was another first time kill for Freelance!  After clearing some trash and engaging Voidblade, everyone was playing top of their game and followed instructions perfectly, Voidblade didn't stand a chance!  Good work as usual everyone!

All in all, for a Friday, we did outstanding.  First time kills are always fun!  Thanks for coming all and congrats to those who won some loot!

Loot lists have been updated

Posted by Furro on May 26, 2007

ikkinz 4 - Done!

Completed ikkinz trial 4!

Uqua next.

Once our lockout is gone on ikkinz we'll probably have to do another quick run of it, to get slivers for those that missed out last night.

Before Ikkinz, we did the usual Yar`lir, Shyra, and Rikkukin.  The loot list has been updated.

I've scheduled a tentative Uqua raid for this Saturday (May 26).  Reminder, for those that got a sliver last night, you need the Uqua Fragment piece also to finish up your Qvic flag.

Posted by Furro on May 24, 2007

ikkinz 1-3 done!

Completed ikkinz trials 1-3 with 1-2 groups.  Thanks for the help!

Also completed Icon of the Altar, so handing in the icon to the sentinel should get us the Ikkinz 4 instance (the important trial as it's part of qvic access)

Posted by Furro on May 12, 2007

Freelance News

No news is good news

Posted by Furro on May 06, 2007

NEW troll colors!

Thewun changed his troll colors! OMG!

Posted by Furro on May 06, 2007