First of all, I would like to thank all of you who showed up for last night’s Expeditionary Force. It gave all of us to experience a new aspect of the game. Even though we may not have been successful, it was a very good learning experience for us all. We went in not knowing what to expect and came out learning a lot.
I would like to try this again in 2 weeks. In the mean time, all those of you who would like to try again should spend some time leveling your character to a sufficient level so that we won't repeat the same mistakes as before.
The next Expeditionary Force is planned on Friday, November 12 at 9PM CST. We will still try for Kolshushu again. In the mean time, let's get some tips posted here on how to be more effective in completing the mission:
1)The level cap seems to be 10 levels above the minimum. The gate guard will tell you the minimum level. When we did Kolshushu, the minimum level was 20 with a max of 30. As such, be at the capped level. These mobs are not easy. This will also help prevent problems such as getting aggro from the mobs in the area.
2)There was a question regarding to the amount of people who can participate in the Expeditionary Force. The answer is 3 parties of 5 people maximum can do it (15 people max).
3)Make sure you're at least 3 levels above your capped level. This will prevent you from deleveling under the cap. We had one person who deleveled under the minimum.
4)Be sure to have at least 2-3 tanks. This helps in being able to keep aggro off of the damage dealers and healers.
5)Knowing what mobs will spawn helps you understand which ones to attack first. You have two choices: attack beastmen mages first then beastmen melee second or you can silence the beastmen mages and attack beastmen melee first. Sleep doesn't seem to stick for very long on these guys.
6)Have the main tank declare a target and everyone assist him on his target. The easiest way to run into problems is if everyone is attacking everything in sight. This was the problem we encountered several times last night. If need be, create a macro to avoid problems such as "/assist <name of main tank>"
7)Make sure the area is clear of mobs in case someone has to use an AoE attack (like Horde Lullaby, Stonega, etc).
8)Enfeeblers and Bards could prove invaluable in this. It might also be good to bring along 2-3 beastmasters who can use their jug pets as well.
9)Some people debate whether it is best to have the main tank approach the beastmen banner and make the NMs spawn. In my opinion, it would be best to have another person spawn and have the main tank choose a target to provoke, and then have everyone attack it. This gives the main tank a chance to see what his targets are and take the best course of action.
10)Although we haven’t tried it, it might be prudent to be a pretty good distance away from the banner and bring the NMs to the designated camp. This way the NMs will be somewhat spread out and can be dealt with a lot more easily.
11)These missions can take some time, so please set aside some time to get it done. It is important that we stick together to the very end. (Last night people didn’t know how long it would take so people were having to go during the middle. (My ISP decided to drop my connection last night after our first victory >.<)
OK. If anyone has anything to add, please feel free to do so. I think this is a good way to have people get together and enjoy different things about the game. These Expeditionary Forces are fun and a little time consuming, but it brings about something other than mindless leveling.
Remember: The next Expeditionary Force is planned on Friday, November 12 at 9PM CST (-6 GMT)