Hello super friends, Pasta Fagioli here. After experiencing Mechagon Hardmode myself with Tiraffe, Corig, Jibbles, and Demonestra, I decided to make my own guide to give tips and tricks in case other people want to do Mechagon Hardmode. The guide will cover a lot of ground to help you perform this task; composition positives and negatives, buffs you can get around the island, and certain boss mechanics that cause problems in Hardmode.

PLEASE NOTE: A majority of the bosses in this run are a HUGE dps check, whether it be the first 3 or King Mechagon. The more dps you have, encounters will be much easier. I’d recommend a minimum of 430+ item level for the dungeon, depending on your composition and what utility each class you bring can do.

Hardmode Rewards

Mechagon Hardmode gives 3 rewards in total:

  • An achievement “Keep DPS’ing and Nobody Explodes” to all members of the party.
  • One member gets a 430 azerite helm.
  • One member gets the “Aerial Unit R-21/X.”
  • If nobody dies at all during a single lockout of Mechagon Hardmode, everyone gets the Hertz Locker achievement which rewards Vision of Perfection Rank 4.

Most groups will probably run this over several weeks

Continue reading →

I’m leaving behind the “Raid Wrapup” posts with last tier. More info at the end of the post!

Black Team Progression

I’m still going to refer to Mythic as “Black” team on occasion, because…we’re not always doing Mythic.

This week, Black team ran through 7/8 bosses of normal in 1 night. This is the first time we’ve cleared that many bosses on a difficulty in a single night. The success of Black team the previous tier, and the decision to keep us together, really let us hit the ground running. The Warlords wanted to blast through Normal just so we got the basic feel of the fights before hopping into heroic. Many of our normal kills were a bit of a mess, so we think it was a valuable experience to see before heading into Heroic. We took a few looks at Aszhara, but opted not to spend too much time on her. Instead, we downed the first 3 heroic bosses (staying late to do s0), getting everyone the Reliquarys they needed for the Condensed Life-Force essence.

Heroic Commander Sivara
Heroic Blackwater Behemoth
Heroic Radiance of Aszhara

Red Team Progression

I’m still going to refer to Heroic as “Red” team on occasion, because…they’re not always doing Heroic.

The Red team did excellent. The many new faces worked together beautifully with the old, and it was a very relaxed weekend. The group pulled 6/8 on the first day, one-shotting everything except Queen’s Court. Monday they downed Za’qul and popped into Heroic to start their serious progression efforts. That said, the Red team does need additional healers as well as 2 permanent tanks. We currently have multiple alts from Black filling in, and while that’s fine for a while, it will quickly burn out those who don’t want to raid 4 times a week. Anyone who has a tank or healer, or knows a tank or healer, talk to us! We’ll get you or them up to speed.

The team has a little fun with an orange spraybot in some downtime
Normal Zaqul bites the dust!

“Discontinuing” the Raid Roundup

Life gets busy, and summarizing 2 raid teams takes a lot of effort (especially when I am not present on both teams). As a result I will be “discontinuing” my raid roundup posts.

But never fear! The analysis won’t be stopping. Two of our more active members will be stepping up to the plate to provide insight, analysis, guides, tips, and more on the raid as well as other competitive areas (like Mythic+ or Operation: Mechagon).

Please welcome Fokola and Tiraffe to the posting privileges on the site. They’ve both provided helpful guides and co-written a number of things that I’ve copied onto the site anyway. In essence I’m cutting out the middle man and giving them direct access to the site, for your benefit.

Whether they choose to continue weekly analysis or simply opt to discuss strategies and changes as-needed is on them. We’re giving them the freedom to choose what they want to do, and we think that will benefit everyone.

 

Tiraffe leaps into battle!
Fokola flexes on the opposition!

Limit’s Eternal Palace guide: https://www.azsharaguide.com/

Questionably Epic’s EP Boss Guides: https://questionablyepic.com/eternal-palace/

Azhara’s eternal palace boss info cards: https://imgur.com/gallery/GlsWKxp

Wowhead Raid Gear / Boss Loot: https://www.wowhead.com/guides/azsharas-eternal-palace-raid-gear-azerite-armor-boss-loot

Wowhead AZ loot guide: https://www.wowhead.com/news=292651/find-your-best-azerite-essences-class-guides-updated-for-rise-of-azshara?webhook

Tiraffe & Fokola AZ loot guide: https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/19iRol05iiEAOqht6uOvgNrbDj1CDfwLOzGdL5f3RSVw/edit?usp=sharing

Droptimizer / raidbots BIS writeup: https://medium.com/raidbots/droptimizer-4f9c179d2f1

Fatboss:  video guides, wowhead writeup, another wowhead writeup

Longest Powerpoint Ever

EP Weakaura Pack

With the new patch a week underfoot, I’ve gotten a lot of tips and tricks sent to me over the course of the week. If you have more, PLEASE share, and I’ll add to this post!

Nazjatar

Murloc Trading Game

If you want the Crimson Tidestallion or any of the dailies, you gotta get yourself this weakaura: https://wago.io/6YhvXz76q Talk to each of the murlocs and eventually it will automatically purchase everything you need from the vendors! If you prefer the manual walkthrough of the most prized of Mrrl’s possessions, the Tidestallion, check out this Wowhead Guide.

Thre are a ton of other goodies from it as well – you can get rep tokens for followers, manapearls, and more. Just be sure to have your Aszh/ari Benthic Cloak equipped – it won’t work otherwise!

XP for your Followers

Kill the ancient coral rares! Check out Wowhead for a walkthrough!
Kill specific enemies to pick up tokens for specific followers – Giant Crab Leg for Poen, Eel Fillet for Vim, Fathom Ray Wing for Neri, and Reefwalker Bark for all three.

Getting Around

You can kill (and loot) Deepcoral Bud to get Deepcoral Pods – those will increase your jump height, length, and let you take less fall damage. Pretty useful! You’ll find a ton of these in the coral forest in the center of the map.

You can kill Toxigore the Alpha and get an Alpha Fin which gives you an insane burst of speed for a short time.

Whatever you do, don’t take a Scroll of Torga’s Swiftness. It does the exact opposite of helping you get around efficiently.

Daily Events

At reset time (11am est) and 12 hours later (11pm est), you will have two events: One for non-WM which spawns 5 elite Naga and gives you an unstable manapearl buff, and one for WM-on that gives you nazjatar battle tokens. An hour later in non-WM, Aszhara summons a being from the depths, which gives you a 150 rep token. If you miss it, these events happen at other points in the day too, but reset and 12 hours later are the most easily caught!

Algans

There are a number of regular creatures called Algans – Lost Algans and Wandering Algans. Killing them nets you manapearls and benthic gear. There’s also a chance to spawn a rare when enough die! If you can’t keep track (because they’re not rares), this weakaura is perfect for you.

Mechagon

Rare Hunting

If you are looking to kill a variety of rares for mounts, pets, rep, and more, you will absolutely need this WA. If you have Tomtom installed, it will place a marker on your map automatically when a rare calls out its existence. It will also play a buzzing tone in case you’re not looking at the game, to alert you of rare spawns. Either can be disabled.

Mecha-Pepe

You can find P3-P3 at 68.5 47.9 in The Other Place (future alternate Mechagon).

Drill Rig Map

When the rigs come back up next time, you’ll be prepared!

Both Locations

Rare Hunting

Rarescanner
Handynotes and TomCat’s Tours for Nazjatar and Mechagon

Zuldazar

Mount Questlines

You didn’t forget about your direhorn hatchling, did you? She’s waiting to be fed and played with to evolve into a mount for you! Go back to Warbeast Kraal every day and do her dailies.

What about Kua’fon? He can fly – go and visit Paku south of Warbeast Kraal for a short questline and cutscene!

Thank you everyone who came out and asked questions! I’m going to be dividing the meeting / Q&A up into two sections – the ‘mythic’ team and the ‘casual’ team.

Raid Pre-Planning Meeting Agenda:

  • Raid Times
  • Raid Teams
  • Mythic / hardcore
  • Heroic / easygoing
  • General Q&A

Mythic / Progression Team

Raid Times:

Thursday & Friday
7pm – 10pm (est) / 4pm – 7pm (pst)

Membership

Currently the main progression / mythic group is remaining the same. We want to keep the momentum going. Everyone who was a main or an active sub during Battle of Dazar’alor is on the Progression team. You are all considered mains until we hit mythic. When we hit mythic and need to limit to 20 people we will determine who will be considered a sub at that time. This means that performance is important – just because you were mythic in BoD doesn’t mean you can slack off in EP!

The mythic team’s membership and roles are not ‘locked’ – there is potential for both upward and downward mobility. If a person on the mythic team underperforms, we will be scouting the heroic team for a replacement. That said, we will be offering leeway as people adjust to new characters, roles, and mechanics. Don’t fret because you made a mistake on the first day – but we need to see improvement over time if you want to be on the Mythic team.

Anyone who isn’t on the mythic team but wants in on it should let us know so we can more closely evaluate their performance in the heroic group.

Mythic Q&A:

When will we know our roles?

We are asking for people to lock in between 2-3 characters by July 2nd, and their final role by July 9th. Roles are somewhat first come first served, and priority is given to those who are already playing those roles. (For example, we currently have 3 Demon Hunters; if none of them wants to swap, we will not be accepting more Demon Hunters) If you wait too long you may not get your choice at all.

Is there a chance of week 1 heroic?

Maybe. This depends on everyone reaching 415, for example. We are not accepting those who are not carrying their own weight or who waited too long to choose a new main. In addition to showing a strong understanding of mechanics. We are not going to smash against heroic bosses for several hours with no progress. We may opt to pop in to normal, see how it goes, and if it’s breezy and clean, go into heroic. Warlords will figure that out.

Can we pug Mythic BoD without penalty now?

Absolutely

Are we running loot council?

Not exactly. However, send your BiS itemization from bosses to Tiv. This has the effect of both you knowing and planning more about the class and the raid, and us being able to more easily spread loot for the group if something gets called into question.

What if someone has to eventually leave because of school in the fall?

We would love to keep you until then! If you eventually have to phase out because of classes or something else, please give us ample notice to train up a replacement, and let us know if you want to move to the weekend group, act as a sub, or anything else.

Are we giving up Mythic BoEs?

Depending on how farmable EP is, we may wind up requiring all or some of the funds from mythic BoE sales to fund guild bank repairs.

Can tanks pug ahead?

That depends entirely on what the group is doing and how it progresses. If we’re doing heroic week 1, feel free to go ahead on normal. Same with vice versa. We’ll keep you posted.

Can I sign up as DPS on the weekend team?

If the other raid group needs DPS, yes. However, we will be prioritizing roles they need.

Heroic / Easygoing Team

Raid Times

Saturday 5pm – 8pm (est) / 2pm – 5pm (pst)
Monday 7pm – 10pm (est) / 4pm – 7pm (pst)

Membership

Those not interested in main progression will be on the ‘weekend’ team. The weekend team will be more casual than the progression one – more lighthearted / easygoing / forgiving of mistakes. If we as RLs don’t live up to that standard and people think we’re being too harsh, then please communicate with us or with Urostek ASAP. It can be tough tough to swap between ‘mean progression raid lead’ and ‘casual funtime raid lead’ sometimes!

We’ll still want to progress on the weekends so serious underperformance of mechanics or play will be penalized in the forms of benches from certain bosses, but only after repeated or chronic offenses.

Anyone who isn’t on the mythic team but wants in on it should let us know so we can more closely evaluate their performance in the heroic group.

Because the weekend group will likely be missing some key roles (heals/tanks), people from the main progression group may bring one alt to the weekend group if the weekend group needs filling. Mythic mains bringing alts will only be allowed to bring the one alt until a determined time (this is so we don’t get people coming in on multiple alts every few weeks to try to get gear, thus hurting the other players gear efforts). Mythic members bringing alts to the weekend group will be held to a higher standard of performance and attitude – coming to weekend group is a privilege and should be treated as such. You are there to help fill in gaps that the other group needs, not be handed a carry.

Q&A

How do I tell you my role intention for Eternal Palace?

Fill out the spreadsheet here.

What are the addon requirements?

In addition to DBM or Bigwigs, we will be requiring all new raiders to use Weakauras and install specific packs that we link them.

What’s the ilvl requirement for Eternal Palace?

ilvl requirement is 400 for normal and 415 for heroic

What are some resources I can read about to prepare?

Check out the #palace-raid-planning channel in discord. Eventually we’ll move those pins to Raiding Discussion.

What if we have a problem with the Warlords or other raid members?

If you don’t feel comfortable talking to the Warlords or the other member about it, please reach out to Urostek. This is especially imperative if you think you maybe treated unfairly or not taken seriously.

Are we picking team names?

Maybe? It wasn’t planned but we could? SHRUGS!

Are we doing more AOTC runs?

We might! It wholly depends on who needs them and how much begging happens

Will you be updating the audit sheets?

Yup! We have an audit sheet for Mythic Raiders and one for Heroic Raiders. I will be clearing out / adding people to that in addition to…

What about the attendance?

I will be cleaning out the attendance page and adding new folks as well before the new raid starts. I will also be paying very close attention to mythic attendees lateness.

What if I don’t want to raid for a few weeks?

Attendance is on a freeze right now. You can earn vanguard, but not lose it!

What do I need to do to join in?

Read the Rules and Regulations! Are you already a raider? Re-read and re-confirm!

Raid interest meeting for Eternal Palace on Thursday at normal raid time (4pm server / 7pm est)! This will be for both new and returning raiders. I encourage folks to look over these past posts to answer common questions:

https://www.ministryofdefense.net/uldir-raid-pre-planning-meeting-minutes/
https://www.ministryofdefense.net/bfd-raid-planning-minutes/

We’ll be talking about ilvl minimums, expectations, and the two raid groups (yes, we’re keeping two).

If you can’t make the meeting please let a Warlord know so that we can fill you in. I will also write up another Q&A / meeting minutes like I did for Uldir and BoD.

In the meantime please check the spreadsheet below so we can get a sense of what everyone is playing.

https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1YlSI5h2w3rlITTajV0wp7OYFhRs7h_AipuvY-d4dTp0/edit#gid=0

Hopefully this is self explanatory.

Slap your name on the left, select checkmark if that’s what you’re gonna play for sure, select question mark if you might play that class, leave blank otherwise. Don’t include alts, just your main intention.

There’s also a ton of good information in the #palace-raid-planning channel of discord!

Thanks to Arianrhod for putting together an incredibly fun and rewarding event last Saturday!

Altogether, we had 20 people attempt to hunt us all down, with 11 successfully deciphering the clues to all the officers.

Did you miss any clues? Check out the hints and their locations!

Group 1 Hints:

Urostek: At his usual capital city hangout. D-Fence!
Harmesi: We used to train mages here until we moved to help fight the Lich King
Quetzie: Owls, pterrors, bats, and crows; Different druids, different forms. Quetzie looks across the place where training them was once the norm.
Grimmbrew: With the Gordok I stand, waiting on a champion in dire need.
Jibbles: No, I’M the Gobbo King and I’m taking over the palace!

Did you figure them out?

Group 1 Solves:

Urostek: Orgrimmar AH Fence


Harmesi: Dalaran Crater


Quetzie: Moonglade


Grimmbrew: Dire Maul


Jibbles: Gallywix’s Pleasure Palace

Group 2 Hints:

Round 2 was trickier than round 1!

Lineda: With bark of steel, the trio stands. Forever petrified by evil hands. Crazed, corrupted, Furbolgs, more, deep in the woods of northern Kalimdor.
Arianrhod: Door to Crushing Bones and Cracking Skulls
Deathhoss: Among the poor and transient I stay, a failed payment led to this place in the west, where my brotherhood made a home
Zextol: Atop Lei Shen’s ORIGINal resting place.
Telann: Say what? Corgi butt. Or Corgi butts drive me nuts.
Bulborbish: When Blightcaller finishes a campaign, he can’t help but return to what was once his home.

Did you figure them out?

Group 2 Solves:

Lineda: Felwood, Between 3 Petrified Ancients
Arianrhod: Blackrock Foundry


Deathhoss: Deadmines entrance
Zextol: Hall of Origination Entrance


Telann: Orgrimmar, Anniversary Vendor Location
Bulborbish: Eastern Plaguelands, inside Marris Stead

Winners

Everyone who participated was entered into both a 20,000 gold raffle and enough bones for the Albino Raptor!

Congratulations to Clownshadowz for winning the gold. As a newer character, that gold will be put to good use, I’m sure!

Congratulations to Vaughna for winning the Albino Raptor!

The Grand Prize reward for finding all officers was to be entered into a raffle for an in-store mount of choice. The winner was Gary (Elide). Congratulations!

Next Time

The officers all had a blast with this event and we’ll definitely do it again. We may change a few things up (maybe we’ll be themed, like only in Pandaria or Northrend) or we may decide to really stretch out how far you can fly on flight paths and have you bouncing around the continents even more!

Thanks to Arianrhod for organizing such an awesome event, and thanks to all participants   we’ll see you next time!

With almost record timing on the kill, the gang tore through Mythic Conclave last night. We had 3 pulls the previous week after killing Opulence, and last night we got in 14 pulls including the kill. Considering it took us over 100 pulls to kill Opulence, this is an almost record-breaking feat. Congratulations to everyone involved!

…and it would appear our members are incredibly excited about it: