Anniversary Raid - Plane of War - The Brothers Zek

[Zaknaffein]

Apparently I'm blind and never saw the Message

Zek Brothers: Lowered the damage done by the Zek Brothers slightly, and lowered AE rampage damage.
Adds & Weaknesses:

• Lowered the HP and damage values of the adds in this event.
• Increased bonus spell damage to adds and increased how quickly it scales up, but the bonus will only apply to the first hit every second.
• Rallosian Priests now have a bigger bonus to melee damage, but will lose health over time while charmed.
• Adds that are weak to fire now take more damage from hand-to-hand attacks.
• Adds that are weak to cold now take more damage from piercing attacks.
• Adds that are weak to stuns now take more damage from blunt attacks.
• Adds that are weak to snares now take more damage from slashing attacks.

That makes things easier knowing that >< though I was on the right track sort of with just going by the usual mechanics and what I was seeing in logs!

I attempted a few times to go and poke my head out into the main room while the other two wars were tanking so I could capture some logs on the unknown mob weaknesses and test a few things out, though I found out that I really can't leave my room in there or bad things happen >< ..Or that I can't summon tank another direction or Clerics get grumpy and yell at me when I die! (the yelling part is probably why I died, too much grumpy cat typing to yell at me, not enough clicky heal!)

On a serious note, if you guys rely on group heals for this, I suggest we summon tank to the farther areas from Tallon to avoid his ae's, Mainly his Snare. I still can get hit with Event add snares but I don't seem to get hit by tallon's.. though I could be wrong, I'll have to scrounge around my logs some more. Snare, and if we get stunned from the FD right next to vallon are usually what kills warrior's on Vallon.

Didn't take long to see the split raid and being inside the zek rooms isn't a viable option, not sure what all happened on other side but one thing I noticed ere the % adds made a b-line for mild and wind it seemed.

[Thu Sep 04 20:58:39 2014] a Rallosian provost has taken enhanced damage from Evilash's fire spell!
[Thu Sep 04 20:27:35 2014] a Rallosian warmaster thrashes frantically under the influence of Minisca's snare spell!

So with the above logs and the logs from previous posters I think that covers all 9 mobs weaknesses? Not counting Priests ~
Should be able to fix up my triggers later tomorrow, and ditch my event add timer if that really is based on the zek's HP% Balance.
Rangers, chanters, bst, druids wizzie's monks and Paladins are all we need to win on the adds, np!~
Now to work on the DPS for the brothers!~

[Nuttann]

Sorry, I mentioned outside room corners without taking into account LoS for DPS.  Perhaps near door and a campfire a certain distance away.  Either that or after it fires, go right back to door to reset. Staying together for group heals/cures and single heals and cures was my intent.

[Zaknaffein]

Updated my GINA triggers Here - These are not the Official triggers and are still a work in progress at the moment. Just un-check anything you don't want to use in them.

The adds seemed to be worked out and we'll get better on those now with more practice and what classes we have available I imagine. Next is to work out what DPS to put on which Zek and killing them off in between adds ~

[Furro]

 
Another good run this weekend with encouraging results.  Our refined focus on adds by class has improved kill times.  Other positional tweaks and player efforts are also paying off.

Minor tweaks and adjusts outlined below.  Also updated original strategy post to reflect changes/corrections and additions.

Overview

• Adds & Weaknesses - How it Works section added to explain and help optimize play.
• Adds & Weaknesses - By Mob Name table updated to reflect our experiences and feedback.
• HP Percent based adds for Tallon Zek and Vallon Zek confirmed.  See related section for details.
• Trigger Addition: Timed Adds trigger with overlay.
• Trigger Addition: TZ/VZ Out of balance.  TZ/VZ Switch places when out of balance.
• Trigger Addition: Vallon Zek swarm adds overlay.
• Trigger Addition: Salvebringer add, Slog DoT + Melee Slow + Snare (2 min duration), disease cures.
• Triggers Update: /Con add weaknesses triggers helper set.

Adds & Weaknesses - How it Works

Each mob has at least two weaknesses: SPELL and MELEE.

Spell:

Beyond the standard NUKE spell lines, other spell weaknesses function abnormally.  DoT spells act as NUKES.  For example, casting a FIRE DoT on a related weak mob results in a NUKE for each cast.  Casting the DoT over and over nukes the mob repeatedly.  SNARE works as a NUKE as well on the related weak mobs.  For example, a Ranger cast of Earthen Shackles (Level 69), can NUKE the mob for 4.5 million damage.

Spell damage scales.  The more of each damage the higher it scales.  In other words, on a COLD weak mob, the more of us using cold against it the higher the damage.

Melee:

Melee weaknesses are straight up bonuses to hits.  No bonus message is returned, however you will notice excessively high hits from normal against weak related mobs.

The best way to optimize in this area is be sure you're swapping weapons appropriately and focus on priority mobs we assign to your class, then other types.


Adds & Weaknesses - By Mob Name

Please reply with any relevant inaccuracies and proof if applicable/possible.

Timed Adds		Weaknesses		Notes
Skirmisher		COLD / PIERCE		- Kiteable (does not summon) - Casts Backstab, which will DT if not corruption cured (Mortal Wound)
Priest		Charm acts as DoT		- Casts 1 Million HP Heal (Battlefield Healing)
				- Casts invulnerability at 20% HP (Divine Barrier)
				- Can heal other mobs/TZ/VZ while invulnerable (unless charmed of course)
				- Headshot/Decapable (dark-blue /con)
Percent Based Adds				* If one boss is lower HP, adds spawn when other reaches % interval
(At 5% Intervals)
Flamespeaker		COLD, MEZ / PIERCE		- Summons - Single-target 77k DD (Battle Blaze)
				- Target AE SNARE (Chains of War, 1000'/30' range)
				- Target AE 42k DD + STUN (Column of Steel, 1000'/30' range)
Warbrute		FIRE, SNARE / H2H		- Summons
				- Target AE 18k DoT + STUN (Boulder Crush, 1000'/15' range)
Provost		FIRE, MEZ / H2H		Anti-kite code:
				If you will not face me, Winana, I will find a new target!
				Perhaps Dimbly will stand and fight!
				- Summons
				- Flurries
				- Headshot/Decapable (dark-blue /con)
Lifetaker		SNARE, MEZ / SLASH		- Summons
				- Do not use AA Snare
				- Headshot/Decapable (dark-blue /con)
Warmaster		SNARE / SLASH		- Summons
				- Do not use AA Snare
				- Caster PBAE 30k DD + STUN (Giant Stomp)
				- AE Rampage
Archer		STUNS / BLUNT		- Rain/Barrage 17.5k x 3 single-target and 50% chance of target AE 52k DD 1000'/10' range (Salvo)
				- Flurries
Marauder		STUNS, MEZ / BLUNT		Anti-kite code:
				If you will not face me, Winana, I will find a new target!
				Perhaps Dimbly will stand and fight!
				- Summons
				- Single-target Rampages
Salvebringer		STUNS / BLUNT		- Target AE 10k DoT + MELEE SLOW + SNARE.  2 minutes duration.  (Slog, 1000'/10' range)
				- Disease cures Slog (110 counters)

Tallon Zek & Vallon Zek - HP Percent Adds

Adds spawn at 5% HP intervals of Tallon Zek and Vallon Zek.  If one boss is lower HP, adds spawn when other reaches % interval.

• FIVE adds spawn at each interval.
• Spawn in middle area.
• Random mob type, but from different locations in middle area each time.

Trigger for Timed Adds - Skirmisher & Priest

My previous time was slightly off.  Going based on feedback, we get two timed adds every 1 minute 35 seconds.

Vallon Zek shouts, 'I know not, brother.  Perhaps we should defeat them in the same manner as always!'
                                                                   
This only goes off ONCE per event.  Therefore we're going to use a repeating overlay trigger with an early warning text/voice.

GINA File: pow-anniversary-raid-timed-adds.gtp

Note: This is a GINA file because we need a repeating trigger with early warning built in.  GTT does not have these features.


Trigger for Tallon Zek & Vallon Zek - HP Out of Balance

When Tallon Zek & Vallon Zek are out of balance they emote and SWITCH PLACES.  Lower boss HP matches higher boss HP + 5%.

Vallon Zek says 'SWITCH!'

GTT File: pow-anniversary-raid-zek-tzvz-out-of-balance-switch.gtt


Trigger for Vallon Zek - Swarm Adds

Vallon Zek spawns up to FIVE swarm adds (clones).

Vallon Zek shouts, 'I know not, brother.  Perhaps we should defeat them in the same manner as always!'

GINA File: pow-anniversary-raid-vz-swarm-adds.gtp

Note: This is a GINA file because we need a repeating trigger with early warning built in.  GTT does not have these features.


Trigger for Slog from Salvebringer Add

Salvebringer adds cast Slog - Target AE 10k DoT + MELEE SLOW + SNARE.  2.5 minute duration (1000'/10' range).  Disease cures 110 counters.

Pattern: Your body slows down
Action: Disease Cure!

GTT File: pow-anniversary-raid-zek-salvebringer-slog.gtt


/Con Add Weakness Triggers

Updated /con triggers.  Delete old /cons and import new set.

GTT File: pow-anniversary-raid-zek-con-adds.gtt

[Tmon]

Since during raids I live most of my life assisting our MA (gotta love Curmugly’s voice hehe) I am not used to having specific targets assigned to me, but I guess the tanks are used to it.  Anyway, on the past PoW attempt, Furro assigned two mobs to me and Sunlace with something like:

Sunlace, Tmon – a_rallosian_warbute00,01

I didn’t quite understand the 00,01 part so I mistakenly created a hotkey /tar a_ rallosian_warbute yes it worked, kinda,  but didn’t work as Furro intended.  I correctly assumed the first warbute (00) was for Sunlace and the second (01) was for me, but I didn’t know how to manage that correctly in a hotkey.

Thanks to Endotron and Curmugly for helping me create the proper key.  I made a hotkey with two lines:
/tar a_ rallosian_warbute00
/tar a_ rallosian_warbute01

If I were Sunlace, then I would have a key with the reverse
/tar a_ rallosian_warbute01
/tar a_ rallosian_warbute00

The way the key is organized, if my mob (a_rallosian_warbute01) is up it will first target Sunlace’s mob (00) then my mob.  If my mob is not up, then it will target Sunlace’s mob, so I can assist and simply ignore the second /tar.  The reverse is true for Sunlace’s key.

This might be common knowledge for the tanks or other classes, but as I said above since my focus in raids is mostly assisting, the concept was foreign to me.  Thank you to Endotron and Curmugly for straightening this out.

[Tyranosawr]

/Con Add Weakness Triggers

Updated /con triggers.  Delete old /cons and import new set.

GTT File: pow-anniversary-raid-zek-adds.gtt - this link doesn't work

[Furro]

/Con Add Weakness Triggers

Updated /con triggers.  Delete old /cons and import new set.

GTT File: pow-anniversary-raid-zek-adds.gtt - this link doesn't work

Fixed.  Sorry about that.

[Zaknaffein]

Tmon I'm not sure if that is the most efficient way to handle the % based add waves. Every 5% we get 5 adds, and it's totally random as far as I know which ones spawn. If we don't have a warbrute spawn, but have a provost up, or two,  are you not attacking them? Instead of just being assigned to 1 mob type, why not make a hot-key something like this:

Line 1: /pause 5, /target a_rallosian_provost
Line 2: /pause 5, /target a_rallosian_warbrute
Line 3: /pause 5, /pet attack
Line 4: /cast <1-12> Fire nuke of death!

That will target your warbrute(s) first, and if none are up it will target the other Add that is weak to fire, provost. You can make it just target the two mob types, and then you can hit your other nuke keys or whatever works for you. As for what pet to use I really am not sure, maybe fire pet for the nukes, or earth pet and just don't equip it with any weapons so it's hitting with HtH? Or stun pet and have it attack the weak to stun mobs (Archer, marauder, salvebringers) whatever works the best really.

I tweeked my GINA triggers a little bit as well if anyone uses them. Download them Here - Not official triggers ~

[Furro]

 
Defeated Friday, September 12, 2014!

Outstanding teamwork, persistence and effort by everyone!  Challenging content is what it's all about!

[Mildaria]

Add spawn locs:



Spawn points for map file: (or download attached map file)

     P 237.0000, 2513.0000, 2.8900,  0, 100, 255,  3,  priest
     P 162.0000, 2513.0000, 2.8900,  0, 100, 255,  3,  skirmisher
     P 163.0000, 2436.0000, 2.8900,  0, 100, 255,  3,  A5
     P 237.0000, 2439.0000, 2.8900,  0, 100, 255,  3,  A6
     P 288.0000, 2563.0000, 2.8900,  0, 100, 255,  3,  A4
     P 287.0000, 2387.0000, 2.8900,  0, 100, 255,  3,  A2
     P 113.0000, 2561.0000, 2.8900,  0, 100, 255,  3,  A3
     P 112.0000, 2388.0000, 2.8900,  0, 100, 255,  3,  A1

Every 1:35 we get a priest and skirmisher at the specified points.

Every 5% of VZ's HP we get 5 adds in random places of any of the A1-A6 locations. Sometimes two or more adds have the same spawn point in a single wave.

If adds are not picked up quickly, they assist TZ and VZ, and go after people in those rooms. TZ and VZ share aggro lists - if the tanks on one side die, tanks and healers from the other boss team get summoned and killed.

When we wipe on this event, here is what I'm noticing most often -

Adds are not picked up, so they run into TZ/VZ rooms. They kill a couple people in the room, and one of the boss teams begins to seriously struggle/die. The boss then summons people from the other boss team. Now both boss teams are borderline wiping, and VZ/TZ begin summoning and killing DPS (once the MTs for one team have all died, pretty much everyone else in the raid has more aggro, and will be killed first). From here our DPS slows immensely and we lose our chances of beating the event during the time limit.

I don't know if something else is causing adds to not get picked up (maybe add tanks died earlier or something else), but I see this as our biggest issue. Adds are all controllable in some way - either mez, stun, or snare. We need to memorize add weaknesses and act on them. I have a little postit on my monitor with the add types and banes on it - it makes it easy to check during the raid, as I don't have them memorized.

Another suggestion to ease add kills is to make an /xtar hotkey (ex: stunnable adds) -

     /xtar set 3 a_Rallosian_archer00
     /xtar set 4 a_Rallosian_marauder00
     /xtar set 5 a_Rallosian_salvebringer00

This assigns slot 3, 4, and 5 of your extended target window to each mob, respectively. I hit this key when adds pop, and easily find out if anything currently up is stunnable. (This wont work for multiple spawns of each type, but it helps). If no mobs of that name are up, you get a red message saying the NPC does not exist.

Another thing I wanted to bring up is dealing with the snares on this event. Many of you already know this, but just as a refresher / for those who don't - there are 3 types of snare:



Radiant Cure, the Cleric Epic, and Pure Spirit have a 95% chance of removing detrimental spells (works on Barb of Tallon / Chains of War). PAL Splash has a 60% chance of removing detrimental spells. Slog must be cured by disease. When you need a cure, it really helps if you specify what type you need. I suggest asking for a disease cure if you get Slog, and for the others ask for a detrimental cure. Otherwise, there is a good chance your curer will cast the wrong cure.

[Zaknaffein]

I was out on a camping trip last week so wasn't able to be there for raids but I can hazard a guess as to what the causes of some of the issues that are still going on.

Breakdown in communication/knowledge/skill. We need to make GINA mandatory for all raids, do away with the outdated GTT. If everyone used GINA and uploaded the triggers I've made for this event that I posted in my last post, it covers just about everything you need with details and descriptions and the option to turn off each trigger if you don't need it. I also would think a vent/ts whatever server for the raid would help as well.

 I was hesitant myself to switch over to GINA from GTT because I really am not tech savy and was intimidated by what other people were saying, and the thought of having to move all of my triggers over wasn't very appealing. I read the post Ssark made HERE though and followed his directions. It took me just a few hours to transfer and figure out the overlays and everything else about GINA. I think if I can figure it out, most anyone else can, and if you still need help there are plenty of people willing here to answer questions.

The agro associated with the %adds on spawn reminds me of Solteris 2 event and how those adds agro is when they spawn. Just need the tanks to be on point and in position when VZ reaches each 5% interval, don't hesitate to defelct/use discs and all of that either or yell at furro if you die from lack of heals. The map and location points Sirene posted there should help so tanks know where to stand at. I would actually just make your base camp there and not move to far from that general area really. Can assign tanks like we do for ToR perhaps to lcoations isntead of mobs.

The snares again are part of the GINA trigger package I have linked in my previous post. Healers could make triggers themselves for when a tank gets hit but that would be quite a lot of triggers to make, one for each warrior.. because making a generic text phrase for the trigger will get everyone within range who gets hit which would be annoying. OR, the tanks themselves can just use my triggers and then do what it says when it fires ~... It also is helpful if my curer doesn't have me on ignore so when I ask for specific cures in group I can actually get them, instead of staying snared and making you heal more and increasing the odds of me dieing.

[Furro]

Add spawn locs:
...

Thanks for the specific locs.  Our focus has been generally on the middle area.  However, we still need to position tanks closer to A1, A5 and A2, A6.  Our time to date, the tanks (with the exception of some attempts this past week), were of them mainly east and west of center towards the south end, which as we can see the adds end up in TZ/VZ as the distance is still too great to snag them in time.

The main goal last week with the position tweaks (players assigned to adds such as tanks, to be closer to middle), was all in the effort to prevent adds ending up in TZ/VZ room.  Going forward, that remains our goal, as solving this goes a long way to allow DPS to play their part effectively at dispatching the adds as they're able to immediately have line-of-sight and so forth.

If adds are not picked up quickly, they assist TZ and VZ, and go after people in those rooms. TZ and VZ share aggro lists - if the tanks on one side die, tanks and healers from the other boss team get summoned and killed.

When we wipe on this event, here is what I'm noticing most often -

Adds are not picked up, so they run into TZ/VZ rooms. They kill a couple people in the room, and one of the boss teams begins to seriously struggle/die. The boss then summons people from the other boss team. Now both boss teams are borderline wiping, and VZ/TZ begin summoning and killing DPS (once the MTs for one team have all died, pretty much everyone else in the raid has more aggro, and will be killed first). From here our DPS slows immensely and we lose our chances of beating the event during the time limit.

I observed the same as well.  We suffered more MTO deaths this past week due to either % based or VZ swarms (clones) killing our MTO than on our win run.

As for the death cycle, once MTO dies etc, yep.  I agree, especially on VZ side, where the MTO dies, the deaggro/aggro buff is in play + FD and it's difficult not to have DPS get summoned and killed.  But back to the root of the deaths comes % based adds and swarms.  The better we handle the adds, the higher degree of survival our MTO has.

I don't know if something else is causing adds to not get picked up (maybe add tanks died earlier or something else), but I see this as our biggest issue. Adds are all controllable in some way - either mez, stun, or snare. We need to memorize add weaknesses and act on them. I have a little postit on my monitor with the add types and banes on it - it makes it easy to check during the raid, as I don't have them memorized.

Some of the issues with adds stems from positions of pickup tanks.  Whereby, we have a tank or two closer to middle than others, they pickup their adds and get 2-3 extras and the players assigned to them are either out of range of /tar and/or delay and as a result the tank quickly dies.

As mentioned previously though, if we position our tanks closer to the the northern positions, they should be better able to effectively pick up their adds.  But it's not just tanks, the entire raid with exception of MTO groups are effectively needed to turn their attention to adds immediately each time a set spawns.  It's the combined effort of everyone taking advantage of add weaknesses that dispatches them quickly.

Adds need to die in 5-10 seconds.  Last week, we had certain adds up for durations of 45-55 seconds.  In contrast, the timed Skirmishers are dead in 2 seconds approximately.

Another suggestion to ease add kills is to make an /xtar hotkey (ex: stunnable adds) -

     /xtar set 3 a_Rallosian_archer00
     /xtar set 4 a_Rallosian_marauder00
     /xtar set 5 a_Rallosian_salvebringer00

This assigns slot 3, 4, and 5 of your extended target window to each mob, respectively. I hit this key when adds pop, and easily find out if anything currently up is stunnable. (This wont work for multiple spawns of each type, but it helps). If no mobs of that name are up, you get a red message saying the NPC does not exist.

This is a good idea.  We already give a breakdown in /rs for each class and  a list of priority mobs that their class shines against.  Each player can extrapolate based on the list their /xtar hotkey setup.  The bonus to the /xtar is, that it doesn't have range limitations as /tar does.

This could be helpful for players assigned specifically to mob_type00, 01 etc.  Where we know for a fact from feedback that they are not always in /tar range of their assigned mob.

Going further however, targeting mobs is merely another hotkey using the /xtar target function:

/xtar target #

Where # represents the ETW slot you want targeted.  We can work it backwards in the hotkey to represent our priority with the last line representing the highest priority mob first.  As follows:

/xtar target 5
/xtar target 4
/xtar target 3

ETW slot 3 gets targeted last if anything is there.  If not, 4 is targeted, if nothing then 5.

So it comes down to two hotkeys.  One to SET the order in ETW, and the second hotkey to get the priority target.  Mob dies, hit target hotkey again to get the next mob.

Another thing I wanted to bring up is dealing with the snares on this event. Many of you already know this, but just as a refresher / for those who don't - there are 3 types of snare:



Radiant Cure, the Cleric Epic, and Pure Spirit have a 95% chance of removing detrimental spells (works on Barb of Tallon / Chains of War). PAL Splash has a 60% chance of removing detrimental spells. Slog must be cured by disease. When you need a cure, it really helps if you specify what type you need. I suggest asking for a disease cure if you get Slog, and for the others ask for a detrimental cure. Otherwise, there is a good chance your curer will cast the wrong cure.

I agree with this, and it's something I tell my group about as well.  They can't just say cure please.  Because I need to know whether to use RC AA, or Disease.  I'm always west side, so those are the two main ones to deal with.  On East, they're dealing with the debuff, which is curse if I recall.  Also worth noting is with respects to RC AA and the range.  I let my group know that when asking for RC AA cure, they must be in range of me, or it won't hit.  It's about a 1 minute cooldown on the AA, so it's pretty critical not to miss it, especially for VZ swarm (clone) handlers.

On the same topic, for East side.  TZ Debuff Tallon's Balance removal is critical.  Here's why (this is already outlined in our strategy post):

Tallon's Balance		DoT Increase Spell Damage TAKEN by 1% to 50%.
		Caster PB AE, 300' range.  Lasts 10 ticks (60s).
		CURSE CURES (50 counters) to remove it.
		Pattern: Chromatic runes surround you.
Strategic Blow		40k DD + 7k DoT + STUN (Single-target, 30 ticks)
Barb of Tallon		29k DoT + HATE REDUCTION 200% (Target AE 1000'/30')
		CURE DISEASE (65 counters) to remove it on MT
		Pattern: Your stomach lurches and refuses to obey you.
Barb of Tallon		68k DoT + MELEE SLOW + Snare (3.5m duration, Target AE 1000'/30').
Barb of Tallon		52k DD + STUN (Target AE 1000'/60')
Barb of Tallon		SPELL / MELEE SILENCE - 1 tick (Single-target, 1000' range)
Barb of Tallon		47k DoT + SPELL SLOW (Target AE 1000'/30', 2 ticks duration)

When one has Tallon's Balance debuff on, they're going to take 1-50% more DoT damage.  Now one may think, whoopi do, 1% more to 50%, I'll take my chances!  Well.. When they get hit a moment later with any of the DoTs listed in the table, they're going to die in short order.  In fact, I've watch how Ribbitting died to this many times last week, because he wasn't curing himself in addition to asking for a cure.

TB is cast often.  However, if everyone can be a bit more proactive and get cohesive with their healer in group, they'll survive and be less of a burden.   For example, TB takes 50 curse counters to remove.  That means as a Druid or Cleric, it takes TWO casts to cure it.  However, if one or more players in the group, for example a Paladin takes a second to cast their curse cure to remove even 2 counters, the Druid or Cleric only has to cast ONCE to remove the remainder of the debuff.  This makes a huge difference.

One more thing here, for everyone to remember.  The radius I outlined in my strategy diagram does not completely represent Tallon's Balance AE limits.  The area is bigger and encompasses a portion of VZs room and the corner to the right as you enter.  Two issues here that I saw people doing last week:

• Melee DPS on VZ, avoid the right side of VZ room, or you'll hit by the get TB debuff.
• VZ Swarms (clones), whether assigned or have to run from one on you, DO NOT run in the middle north area.  That's right in TB territory (not Tuberculosis).

[Furro]

I was out on a camping trip last week so wasn't able to be there for raids but I can hazard a guess as to what the causes of some of the issues that are still going on.

Breakdown in communication/knowledge/skill. We need to make GINA mandatory for all raids, do away with the outdated GTT. If everyone used GINA and uploaded the triggers I've made for this event that I posted in my last post, it covers just about everything you need with details and descriptions and the option to turn off each trigger if you don't need it. I also would think a vent/ts whatever server for the raid would help as well.

This is something already in the works.  Going forward starting with the next expansion (TBS), our triggers will only be in GINA and GTT will no longer be supported (the GTT site does not even exist anymore).

Re: Vent/TS

Some of our raiders would benefit from this, as they're slower typers (which is fine), but in the big picture I don't think it's necessary at this time to make it mandatory.  In fact, what would help us the most is if everyone was less shy about something they don't understand, be it an event mechanic, where they need to be/assigned, or even their skill and asking for assistance.  For example, perhaps one player is much better at handling VZ swarms over another.  That person picking up on it could help the others by sharing what methods they're using and as a whole we become better for it.  We're not competing against each other, we're competing against the content.

Not to digress too much into this area, but a big issue with EQ is the mindset some players settle into.  The idea that time somehow equates to skill in EQ, which is not at all true.  One can be a long time player of EQ and not adaptive to the times/changing dynamics of their class and the game, and as a result be a huge detriment to their team.  It's more about how one effectively utilizes their time in these areas to improve their skill.  Such as tapping into knowledge and experience of other players, reading forums often to keep up to date, asking questions, tweaking their UI and setup and so forth.

Why do I bring this up here?  Because GINA vs GTT is another avenue where as players, we can increase our effectiveness by migrating to a better program.  Just as there are many other facets of both wins and losses that we gain from reflecting what we can do on a personal play level to improve performance and be a productive member of the team.

An event like Plane of War makes us stronger as a team.  How a team handles the raid and overcomes it really tells a lot about the team as a whole.  It's one thing to work at an event, it's another completely to not give up because of the perceived difficulty.  We've had other events over the years that fall into the category of Plane of War.  In recent memory, Pillars and Sep5 in VoA, and Brells Temple events in UF come to mind.  Challenging events, that have low tolerances for mistakes and hinge largely on the ability of a team to cooperate, adapt and demand a high attention level.  We've overcome those past events just as we have this one.  Now it's about honing our play and repeating it to become better raiders overall.  Cherish the time on these types of events, because they're the most rewarding of any in EQ.  It's all about challenging ourselves against the content.

I was hesitant myself to switch over to GINA from GTT because I really am not tech savy and was intimidated by what other people were saying, and the thought of having to move all of my triggers over wasn't very appealing. I read the post Ssark made HERE though and followed his directions. It took me just a few hours to transfer and figure out the overlays and everything else about GINA. I think if I can figure it out, most anyone else can, and if you still need help there are plenty of people willing here to answer questions.

Ssark did a good job on the post.  I'd recommend people tackle it on a non-raiding night of course, when chilling during the week to fiddle with the settings etc.  Yes, our channel is helpful in this area as well, as I've seen others get GINA help therein.

The agro associated with the %adds on spawn reminds me of Solteris 2 event and how those adds agro is when they spawn. Just need the tanks to be on point and in position when VZ reaches each 5% interval, don't hesitate to defelct/use discs and all of that either or yell at furro if you die from lack of heals. The map and location points Sirene posted there should help so tanks know where to stand at. I would actually just make your base camp there and not move to far from that general area really. Can assign tanks like we do for ToR perhaps to lcoations isntead of mobs.

I mostly addressed this in my previous reply.  But yes, I believe with the aforementioned tweaks going forward, we'll be able to snag the adds more quickly and prevent them from ending up in TZ/VZ rooms.

The snares again are part of the GINA trigger package I have linked in my previous post. Healers could make triggers themselves for when a tank gets hit but that would be quite a lot of triggers to make, one for each warrior.. because making a generic text phrase for the trigger will get everyone within range who gets hit which would be annoying. OR, the tanks themselves can just use my triggers and then do what it says when it fires ~... It also is helpful if my curer doesn't have me on ignore so when I ask for specific cures in group I can actually get them, instead of staying snared and making you heal more and increasing the odds of me dieing.

This is more about efficiency.  As a player, if I had no ability to cure the various effects we're hit with, I would have specific hotkeys asking for a cure in group (ie, Disease cure please!, Curse cure please!).  This way their healer can immediately react by casting x heal for y type of effect.  These little things help us healers in such a big way, I can't describe how infuriating it is for someone to a) ask for a "cure plz" and not be specific, b) ask for a cure and be out of range.  Kinda like; as a melee in group, expecting a heal when at TZ and I'm over on VZ side (Lisard... Look at the flowers Lisard  )

[Lisard MNK]

/offtopic

(Lisard... Look at the flowers Lisard  )

dude 17 more days! Season 5. gonna be intense!

/ontopic

Ya, sorry, sometimes it sucks lol Big room, Little hobbit, cant throw heals far /hide. Importance here is communication. Everyones got diff stuff and the event is all over. so talk to your group. for example "hey furro gonna go DPS XYZ dont freak out cause im over here in africa BRB" or "Gotta chase my Assigned ADD Down cause its Over there. BRB" that lets your healer know and they can adjust and not worry everytime your HP bar drops they know why.

[Ssark]

From the chatter here, this sounds like my kind of event (Sep 5, Pillars, etc.), a real son-of-a-bish.  Take pride in the accomplishment.  A lot of other raids are pushovers, but it's tackling and succeeded on these type as a team that should make you feel good, like you've accomplishing something and made it somewhere.

Wish I had been there, but good to see Freelance still taking on the toughies, sticking it out, and using superior teamwork, tactics, and skill to beat the challenges set before the team by the devs.

/salute