Progress in ToC went quite well for <The Bandits> until we hit Anub. Many times it was quite late by the time we got to him and we struggled to really get him below 30%.

However, since the 3.3 patch many of you have been working really hard on your gear and I know a lot of you have also been working really hard on becoming better at playing your toons.

Last night was proof that it is paying off. The DPS was fantastic! It's been great to see a lot of you go from struggling to hit 3k DPS to pulling 4.5k - 5k+. For those of you that are still struggling to get to the 5k mark don't worry. Just practice and keep researching what you might be able to change to fix that up. I honestly thought that 5 healing Anub was going to be a bit of a small disaster, but you guys rocked! (A big thanks to Illia for bringing her pally to make life easier on the tanks health bars :P)

It was our 3rd attempt of the night that did it. <The Bandits> got through the entire fight without anyone dying. This is one of the big areas that we've been getting a lot better at recently... avoiding damage. The more damage we avoid the better our chance of success. So, great work last night on keeping away from Anub's spikes and not making it impossible for the healers to keep you alive. :D

Overall though, last night belonged to the DPS. This is where the most improvement has been. The DPS was 88k for the attempt that brought him down. Most people were over 4k and quite a number of you were over 5k (or just below it). So, great work! Keep it up and push those numbers higher!

Thanks Temp for stepping up into the tanking role for a number of the fights. Good job Alaron and Addric on the last fight :)

So, here lies Anub....<The Bandits> epic win!

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Last night (2nd of December) would have to be one of the BEST raiding nights <The Bandits> have had for some time. (Well, in my opinion anyways)

Our original goal had been to extend our previous week's raid lockout and practice the twins fight till we got it. But, a large number of guildies wanted to start fresh for the extra loot and trophies and so we did. (And wow, I'm glad we did now!)

So, with everyone happy and ready to rock and roll we stomped on the beasts quickly, Jarax went down just like the little gnome that brought him in...(so far no wipes). When the Faction Champs spawned I realised we probably had pretty much the worst possible combination to fight. But, you guys ROCK! We single shot the Faction Champs with only 3 deaths (I think). So still no wipes!

So, in record time we are standing in front of the twins with everyone quite intent on bringing them down. First attempt started well, but we failed to break a shield and a few might have failed at dodgem ball. :P Second attempt went event better than the first and I started to get excited! I realised we are going to get this tonight!

The third attempt was it! Everyone did exactly what they were supposed to do and they did it AWESOMELY! The DPS was just fantastic. Every shield was broken with plenty of time for interrupts and everyone switched colours at the right times, and the Twins... well they were just no match for the persistence of <The Bandits>

So, thanks to all of you that came along. It was a fantastic raid night, and I don't know about all of you, but I had loads of fun! It's great to see us working together as a team to bring down another progression kill!

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Well, <The Bandits> decided to let Hodir live another few days and went off to do the Trial of the Crusader.

The first of the Northrend beasts went very well. With only a few people dying to the fire on rare occasions in our early attempts. This was quickly fixed and a lot of focus went into getting the worms down. They proved to be a bit of a challenge, and sometimes we were just plain unlucky. We still have a bit to work on to get our positioning perfect, but eventually we got the hang of the fight and moved onto Icehowl. Icehowl wasn't too bad, couple of times he did manage to trample someone and this generally ended up wiping us.

But, <The Bandits> in the end were victorious. Like a common trend we've seen over the past few weeks. We go for about 5 - 7 wipes and then it seems everyone gets the idea of exactly what's going on and we start getting the fights down.

I (Krag) had a small outburst, for which I'm sorry. Raiding is meant to be fun and getting angry is certainly not fun. It's awesome to see all of you getting better and better!

Can I please encourage (read BEG) you all to go learn and watch the upcoming fights for both ToC and Ulduar so that it's not quite as much learning to do while we are fighting. Let's start lowering the number of wipes we have for a successful kill. And knowing exactly what to expect/do during the fight will help here a lot.

So, here's Icehowl.... a tad messed up from banging his head against the wall. The Bandit's wall!

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So over the past week or 2 <The Bandits> have gotten a couple more progression kills under their belt!

The Iron Council were the first to meet their demise. We almost got them on our very first attempt, but it wasn't to be. Not long after though, we were jumping on their bodies.

Auriaya however, proved to be a bit of a challenge. But with every attempt progress was made. The DPS was blindingly quick on taking down the sentries and defenders. In fact Ayan will vouch for me that I turned and asked her how many sentries you got left to kill (thinking, 2 or 3). She says, "Err...they are all dead!" So yes, the DPS was fantastic. Our successful attempt was scary with only about 8-10 people left alive for the actual kill. But, it was an excellent example of a fantastic team effort. With 2 of our best healers not there that night, it was a most impressive effort. A big thank-you to Temp, Grexis and Jel for their interrupts on the final attempt. :D

I'm looking forward to having loads of fun taking down Hodir with you all soon!

The remnants of the Iron Council!

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Cat Lady.... RIP

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Well, after many attempts (more then anyone could be bothered to number I'm guessing) we finally gave Ignis some of his own medicine. Leading up to his demise steady progress was made, but each time something would go wrong and there wasn't much room for mistakes.

But on our successful attempt everyone put in a fantastic effort. We all know that sacrificing Illia tends to bring good luck, so to be sure to be sure, we sacrificed her 4 times! :P This obviously distracted Ignis so much he could hardly put up a fight it seems.

I would like to especially praise our tanks who were fantastic at keeping those adds out of the group. (I understand that Illia's deaths were part of your plan. hehe) And Zane for kiting that boss so well. :D

Healers were outstanding. It was great to get Amitty back into the mix. Derangeur healed like a seasoned pro even though that's not his main spec, and Alaron came in and avoided all the wipes, just healed a successful attempt. (Did you plan that Alaron :P) Obviously our regulars Elassar and Illia were just awesome as per usual. (It's ok Illia, sacrifices do take their toll on your HPS :P) Komo did exactly what a pally should do, get a sore finger spamming your heals on the tanks :P.

And last but not least the DPS put in a great TEAM effort! Dazy and Ayan thank you so much for blowing up those adds quicky. And I'm really impressed by the teamwork and communication going on to help everyone do their absolute best.

So here's Ignis....fire's gone out

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After this we went and took a look at the Iron Council. And for a few minutes I thought, "Wow we are going to 1 shot this!!!!!" But, no... Brundir had other ideas by doing his lightning whirlwind straight after the interrupters had to run away from him because of a Death Rune. So, although we didn't get him down, it does prove to us that we've got what it takes.

So, thanks guildies for an awesome night. We are really making progress as a guild and as a raiding team.

Go <The Bandits>!!!!!