H-Halfus down - Not the way I wanted it

One of the big challenges around leading a raid is coming up with a strategy that works, and hopefully one that is repeatable. I don't like strategies that depend on luck or some sort of gimmick solution, though what constitutes a gimmick can certainly be argued. For example, is using a Retadin to 'tank' Chimaeron a gimmick - or using the mechanics of the fight to your advantage? What about chaining HoPs and Divine Protections on your tanks for Halfus? Both strategies are repeatable, though not by every group.

Not what we wanted

Monger and I were really torn on the Halfus strategy. First and foremost, we want the boss down. There's no bonus loot for making the fight extra difficult, or doing it your own way. There's just normal mode and heroic. One thing that we shoot for though, is to not follow a set 'strategy'. We've noticed time and time again that the strategy that works for one guild may not be the best method for us. We've defeated a lot of bosses using non-traditional methods (single tanking, low healers, etc).

Our goal for Halfus was to do a 2 healer, 2 tank, 6 DPS strat. The theory here was that with the extra DPS we would be out of the danger zone faster, meaning less healing needed in the long haul. We didn't get to spend a lot of attempts trying this (due to scheduling), and wound up using the safer (and more boring) 4 healer method instead. While I will admit that there were still plenty of pucker moments, the 4 healer strategy is certainly more stable. On the downside, we did hit the enrage timer once - but we're pretty sure that's because we lost a DPS on the first pulse in P2. Having 2 Lightwells was pretty awesome though, since you can click on them even during the knockdowns.

I will probably go with a modified Shockadin spec, similar to what I am using for Chimaeron, for our next Halfus kill. This will let me dish out some DPS without punching holes in my mana bar, once we get to P2. This was bringing back memories of some old raids where you'd call for every DoT you could get - even Holy SW:P.

What's next

Now we move on to Atramedes and Maloriak. We spent a good bit of time on Cho'gall, and it doesn't seem that bad. I suspect we'll probably get H-Cho'gall before we get the Double Dragons. We'll see.