When to start MoP raiding?

[Aleckin 3]

Mists of Pandaria launch day is Septermber 25th. When does your guild and raid group plan to start raiding?

My guild's raid group will take leveling at a manageable pace and enjoy the questing in Pandaria, take time to gear up in LFR and valor points gear, learn the fights in LFR, wait for the gems/enchants/glyphs prices to come down, max out the professions, particularly Alchemy for the cauldrons and Cooking for the food buffs, and maximize the potential for success in our Saturday 8-11pm raiding schedule.

[Zagam 1,982]

They're removing cauldrons, so don't waste your time maxing that profession. Also, most decent guilds clearned normal DS the first week it was out before it was even available in LFR. Granted that was with gear from the previous tier, but there's no reason a decent guild who progressed through heroic DS can't clear all the normal modes the first week and get a head start.

[Peelyon 416]

I think I would like to get a look at bosses within the first week but this all depends on levelling etc. With work and other commitments for a lot of the guild, trying to really get stuck in straight away isnt an option for most, so it may see those that have reached level 90 run dungeons / heroics etc until the rest of the group have caught up.

Does anyone know if there are any trash packs / BoEs to farm? One thing we were extremely slack on in Cata was we didnt take any advantage of trash farming Bastion of Twilight early on when the epic drops from there were obviously very useful.

However saying that I dont think the entry level bosseswill be as difficult as the like of Magmaw / Omnotron / Halfus / Conclave (personally I thought these bosses were fairly hard for 1st bosses especially if you got a tough combo for Halfus!).

For example Stone Guards for looks very easy mechanic wise compared to the above four bosses!

I think as soon as we have 10 players, regardless of gear we will pop our heads in and see how far we get. If its clear our tanks are getting smashed / healers are oom halfway through the fights then we will then take a step down and push some 5 man content instead.

I've a feeling that LFR may be inactive for week 1 possibly but as soon as it is available we are hoping to sign up with a full guild group so we can at least learn the bosses together a little (remember loot will be different so you cant trade items anymore).

Edited July 29, 2012 by Peelyon

[Astropolix 10]

For us it'll all depend on how leveling goes. As we are all students just finishing university or ppl already working full-time it's kinda hard to powerlevel on a Tuesday... Especially as some of us start their jobs in September - can't really take vacation right away ;-)

[Jayde103 3]

My guild/raid leader currently has given everyone, interested in raiding in MoP, a month to get leveled and geared for raiding.

[Damien 1,514]

Have you heard that Blizzard is going to gate content? With only one raid becoming available a week after the beginning of MoP and other raids becoming available a few weeks later.

[Peelyon 416]

Have you heard that Blizzard is going to gate content? With only one raid becoming available a week after the beginning of MoP and other raids becoming available a few weeks later.

Aye managed to see that earlier today, personally I think its great. Those that want realm first kills can still push hard and grind heroics etc and those that cant blitz level can try and use the first week or so before worrying about losing out on that initial raid lockout.

Also helps with progression and direction in terms of leading raids and helping the slackers in the group prepare. Although I loved the flexibility of early Cata having just one boss for the others in my group to look at will help them focus a bit more.

[MadMonk 154]

Blizzard Insider #45 - Mists of Pandaria - Raid Preview

How does Mogu’shan Vaults fit into the larger raiding plan for Mists of Pandaria?

Scott Mercer:

There will be two outdoor world bosses, along with the Mogu’shan Vaults raid instance, available when Mists of Pandaria first launches. One idea we’re considering is to delay opening Mogu’shan Vaults until a week or so after the expansion’s release, similar to how we’ve always handled the start of the PvP season, just to give players a little time to reach level 90 along with their friends and get acclimated to Pandaria’s new 5-player dungeons, daily quests, and scenarios. In any case, Mogu’shan Vaults is just the tip of the iceberg when it comes to the raid content we have lined up for Mists.

Ion Hazzikostas:

Mists of Pandaria will also include two other raid zones, which we plan to make available a few weeks after Mogu’shan Vaults: the Heart of the Fear and Terrace of Endless Spring. These two raids feature 10 bosses between the two of them and play out as a two-part story. In the first raid, the Heart of Fear, the players fight the mantid empress who has been possessed by the Sha of Fear. Sha, for those who don’t know, plague Pandaria as physical manifestations of negative emotions, like fear, doubt, and anger, and they tend to have a corrupting influence wherever they take root. When the players defeat the possessed empress, the Sha flees her body and hides elsewhere. In the Terrace of Endless Spring, the next raid instance, the players track down the fleeing Sha and finish it off. Both of these instances are a higher tier than the Mogu’shan Vaults and are designed to be tackled using gear obtained in the Vaults, which is why we plan to make them accessible a few weeks after the Vaults unlock.

Scott Mercer:

Yup, and all of this is just the raid content coming before our first major content update. We’ll be announcing even more raiding details in future when we start discussing patch 5.1.

(Source)

I'm not sure if I like this, I wouldn't mind waiting a few weeks for the second and third raid, but not having any raid on release would kind of suck. The race to lvl90 and raiding in crappy greens and blues is part of the race, if we have a full week before the first raid we'll all be in full epics and high level heroic dungeon gear. We'll have to wait and see, but here's to hoping they'll release Mogu'shan Vaults from week 1.

[Panzer 13]

As an ex-hardcore raider (now passed for casual) I'd rush to 90 with my main character (that will be the druid in this expansion). After that i'll choose what to do. I got 1 week off from work just to play pandaria, so i can see accurately how much time is involved in leveling 85-90.

If i leveled pretty fast 85-90 (like 2 days or so) i'll rush other characters that i prefer from the other 9 - just to have some interesting options in case my guild will need me. If the leveling will be slow, i'll start the gear up of the first.

I think 1 month it's enough time to take practice with the new mechanics and the new party / raid setups. This should be a nice goal to every core player (softcore 1 month, maybe hardcore 2 weeks from MoP release).

For the casual, dunno... my suggestion is just to enjoy the discovery the new world and NOT rush. After all, you don't have to. Play smooth :)

Edited August 2, 2012 by Panzer

[Alierya 94]

Well going in undergeared a week after the release and failing muchly on tactics sounds like the most likely way forward. By the second week after the dungeon opening I'd expect we'll know a bit more about what we are doing and potentially kill something more than trash.

I am looking forward to a week of working out the 5-man tactics...