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Before we get started, let’s all agree to shelve our own individual notions of difficulty. It is, after all, a totally subjective notion and what could be difficult to one player can be a cakewalk to another. Excellent! Now that that’s settled, we can talk about the joy and utter despair that is progression raiding.

My guild has recently started attempting Heroic ToGC (25 man) and last night was our first real success. We managed, with the aid of several resilient Paladins and Shamans that were the last members of our raid left standing, to down Icehowl. We spent a couple of hours adjusting our strategy (plant totems here, park imps here, space out approximately 15 yards, etc) and after lots of frustrating wipes, we succeeded!

The entire raid erupted in a collective cheer over vent and I shouted so loud that my upstairs neighbor pounded the floor with her broom (She is one sweet woman). After the adrenaline faded and I had a chance to think back about our progress, I realized how much I had missed progression raiding. Keep in mind that I’ve been pretty darn casual since my hardcore raiding days in TBC. Progression raiding is a beast unto itself and there is no other experience in WOW that comes close. Encounters are designed to test even the most seasoned veterans and players find themselves using their class in unique and novel ways. For instance, we used levitate at the start of the fight because it saves players from the first fire tick on Gormok. Seemingly small alterations to a fight, like favoring one debuff over another, can have a significant impact on the end result.

However, progression raiding is a double edged sword. The fights are so challenging that all 25 players need to be dialed in. Anyone asleep at the wheel can cause a massive problem for the rest of the raid and in many cases, causing or contributing to a wipe. Gathering together focused and motivated players is almost as difficult as the encounters themselves.

Progression raids can be the lifeblood of a guild or the final blow that finishes a guild off.   Lady Vashj was the anvil that shattered many guilds in TBC. Poised on the blade’s edge between success and failure may not be for every player but the fulfillment I felt last night reminded me that such a precarious position was just what I had been missing.