Onyxia Postmortem

[LochnarITB]

Good writeup and pretty solid strategy. I just have a couple comments.

Strategy: I have a couple suggestions for the whelps. I am assuming one whelp group for each side with at least two mages per group. Through phase one, or at least near the end of it, these mages should have their mana at or near max. Using wand shots or even time staggered frostbolts should achieve this. The instant Onyxia announces the transition to phase two, the mages should position themselves to each cover half of the mouth of the whelp pit, far enough out that aoe won't impact the pit itself. Each mage could have one priest assigned to throw up a shield or (and?) put up their own shield, be it mana shield or ice barrier. At first sight of the whelps, aoe would start covering their half of the opening. I would actually like to see if blizzard would work better than IAE for this. Having the opening split would, hopefully, split the aggro of the initial wave which seems to be believed to be the largest. Subsequent waves could then be picked up as they came out. Keeping the whelps under control with the fewest breakouts using the minimum number of players seems to be key in getting through phase two with the party in good health.

The encounter itself: I had been in one other attempt prior to this. That encounter had left a sour taste for it. We had been given seemingly contradictory directives and chaos and diminished attack strength was the result. I was disappointed in the encounter. It actually seemed trivial with the only difficulty being out pacing damage from Onyxia with damage to her. This attempt was much better. We went in expecting to be learning. We encouraged players to be active participants rather than player controlled damage totems. I actually think we are very close to taking her down already. We have a solid group with good tactics that just need refining. We will do this. I am going to start carrying some sauce for when we turn the tables and put her on the BBQ. :D