For the first time our guild completed a raid before a power-ramp patch, defeating Aberrus in record time and with record low attempts per boss. The raid took only 1 month of weekly raids, 32 total boss fights, at an average of 4 attempts per boss. That’s quite something when compared to our Vault of the Incarnates run which was 3 months, 121 fights, and 15 attempts per boss.

---

There are two prevailing theories about the difficulty, or lack thereof, of Aberrus. One is that the encounter team didn’t talk to the gear team who implemented the (very good) gear upgrade system, resulting in player power being way higher than expected. This seems to be borne out somewhat when you see the World First race being completed in only three days.

The other theory is that Aberrus was made intentionally easier than previous tiers to encourage raiding and allow more causal players the opportunity to do more than just LFR. The Normal raid was a cakewalk when compared to previous efforts—so much so that we accidentally cruised through the first seven bosses one night, often on our first attempts, when I’d been hoping that at best we could get through three.

As with most things, it’s probably a combination of both: more lenient gear and DPS/HPS checks combined with very well geared players even amongst the casual once-a-weekers like us.

---

Either way I think it turned out well. We loved beating the raid early, enjoyed a lot of the bosses (personal favourites were Rashok and Neltharion), and we’ve even started working in earnest on Heroic for the first time. In fact Heroic feels like it ramps up the difficulty to what we were used to on Normal in previous tiers.

One thing I loved about this raid was how the cut scene following Sarkareth’s defeat showed our actual characters as the camera pulled back on the arena—a subtle reward¹ to celebrate the team.

---

Our once-weekly raid finished Vault of the Incarnates this week with what turned out to be an easy first-run-of-the-night kill of Raszageth (after 56 prior attempts!).

Vault was our best raid yet in terms of boss progress — averaging 15 attempts per boss after being around 20 for Sepulcher, Sanctum, and Nathria. We probably had about 20 two-hour sessions spread over three months to get the clear. It’s the first time we’ve cleared a raid before becoming overpowered with catch-up gear, which was a nice bonus (in lieu of any recognition from Blizzard for us Normal raiders!).

Only Raszageth gave us some pause, but it was a fight which slowly revealed itself as you understood what was required. Each phase initially appears impossible until suddenly it isn’t and the next one takes its place. The first time we had the full team working in synch the boss fell with barely a whimper.

---

It was a good raid with a mix of fights, though nothing that matched Halondrus and Raszageth was far easier than Anduin. We surprised ourselves by one-shotting Kurog and only needed five tries at Broodkeeper (I was expecting weeks on both), whilst Dathea and (unexpectedly) Terros proved more of a struggle.

I do wish Warcraft raids had some of the more imaginative arenas seen in FFXIV, but even there round platforms are often all we get.

Dragonflight continues to be an excellent expansion and I’m looking forward to Aberrus — early indications are that it’s going to be fun.

The new meta in Overwatch is tanks in the backline. It’s a nightmare playing support now, so much so that it’s the meme-of-the-moment, because it’s near impossible to stay alive unless your team understands the threat. Which in quickplay is rare, for obvious reasons (everyone’s a solo hero).

The most common thing now is finding an Orisa hunting the healers, which is so peculiar. Orisa has gone from a shield building defender (ideal to partner with Bastion) to a rampaging spear-throwing damage dealer, despite still being categorised as a tank. New tank Junkerqueen is also a brutal support slayer, rounding out a trio of Australian archetypes that make me cringe with their gruesome finishers and naked bloodlust.

About the only tank who’s still a tank is dear old Reinhardt, thank goodness. Getting a game with him is a small relief as you can stick close and keep him alive - unless he’s also playing offensively in which case he’s charged away defenceless to the other side of the map.

The one-tank change seems to have also freed up other DPS to go support hunting. Sombra in particular is a one-shot Mercy killer now, even more so than Tracer ever was. Symmetra and Junkrat are equally lethal - being killed by Junkrat spam is still one of the most frustrating ways to die. Even Moira and new healer Kiriko, both support, seem to spend a lot of time now murdering their compatriots rather than healing their team.

I still feel like I can swing a match with Mercy, but only if I’m not being hunted by tanks. There’s always been barely any way to get away from a Winston, but now the other tanks are involved it feels like a losing battle. Maybe some kind of defensive buffs are required, but I suspect it will be the opposite - making Mercy et al into attacking machines too so there is no backline to dive into.

Other than OW2, New World is the other game that has leapt into the Dragonflight gap. Like everyone I was keen to jump into the Brimstone Sands patch and see what was new and apparently better. I enjoyed my short time in the game (especially the gathering) until it became a ghost town.

I have one friend who stuck with it through thick and thin (and now thick again). I asked him why and he has a great answer: it’s the first MMO where he was there at the start and feels comfortable that he ‘knows’ the game. That’s no small thing and I envy that feeling: being a master-crafter, knowing the world and players, part of a server strong guild, etc.

He’s playing Warcraft too, but only joined shortly before Shadowlands so it’s impossible to feel properly on top of the billion systems and weight of history. Even I feel that in Warcraft, the overwhelmingness of it, despite having played it for so long. It took a few deep breaths to knuckle down and start working out the new/old Talent Trees for example.

Compare that to New World where because my friend has stuck with it he can adapt to changes and new features quickly due to the deep - or at least experienced - understanding. It’s one reason I’m really looking forward to the Riot MMO - a chance to get in at the ground level with a bound-to-be-polished new game. Just like New World was meant to be, but with a team that perhaps understands the MMO genre better from day one.

So I am and was ready to dive in again, even if briefly. But I’d forgotten the fundamental flaw with New World: you can’t play with friends if the server is full (naturally Belghast has covered this topic well). I needed to reroll on his server, but it’s locked for new characters. It’s soooo frustrating. I launch the game once each day to see if I can create a character, before closing it and going back to Warcraft UI fiddling or alt levelling. Even when the ‘fresh start’ servers are launched there’s no guarantee the OG servers will be unlocked.

Oh well. Maybe it will be fixed in time for the new WoW expansion!

Overwatch 2 has launched neatly into the post-Shadowlands pre-Dragonflight dwaal, filling the gap perfectly. But it’s really only a sequel in name - the gameplay is very similar, the heroes too - so the only really new things are a fine-but-not-amazing new game mode and the (admittedly rather consequential) removal of a tank from each team.

Despite being so familiar it’s still a riot to play once you settle in. And because it’s a refresh there are short queues for every role, even DPS, meaning it’s easy to squeeze plenty of games in. There’s enough of the joy still there to make it worth playing, although the new monetisation system and shooter over quirky focus means the game is walking a fine line.

Removing a tank has made the entire game far more offensively focused. Unfortunately that also means there seems to be even less teamwork (in Quickplay) than there was a week ago in OW1. This is exacerbated by the changes made to many tank skills and abilities to make them less tanky and more frontline wreckers - each match now feels like the dive compilations of yore are the only way to play. Orisa has gone from being a defensive shield bringer to being a hard-to-kill offensive juggernaut. OW2 puts a lot more pressure on the solo-tank, and because of the increased emphasis on offence most tanks aren’t bothering to tank: instead, they just get into the fight and wreak havoc - just like a DPS.

The game feels faster as a consequence, more chaotic, and getting a non-team team makes it almost impossible to win with any confidence. I cannot imagine what it would be like coming in as a new player - I find it more difficult now to predict what anyone is going to do and I’ve played since launch. No consolidating behind the tanks, far fewer safe zones, and a lot less structure. There seems to be more of an emphasis on solo heroics rather than team play, despite the fact that when you do play as a team the wins are far more achievable. I guess playing Competitive would solve some of that, but I don’t like the pressure that mode brings.

Blizzard also removed the scorecard commendations at the end of a match, which is a shame. Those felt like a fun way to reward good team players, and it was nice to be on the receiving end occasionally. Now it’s a personal rather than shared recognition. And I really miss the ability to give kudos to the enemy team - sometimes you want to congratulate the enemy for superior play. Perhaps the system was being gamed, or it felt too punishing?

I really don’t like the new unlock/xp Battlepass system, which keeps reminding you that you haven’t paid for a season pass. Levelling up and being ‘rewarded’ with a notification that you can’t use the reward without the pass is demoralising. Despite loot boxes being cursed, getting one each time you levelled up in OW1 was generally a fun thing. Blizzard have a right to earn ongoing fees for service, but it’s being pushed too hard. Let it be there, but don’t rub our faces in it.

I’ve played almost exclusively Mercy so far (my DPS and Tank skills having atrophied almost completely), and she plays just the same - reliable, not spectacular, but able to keep a team going in a bad situation. And quietly fun. Unlike showboat Moira whose ultimate still seems crazily overpowered, but maybe that’s just healer-jealousy!

It feels much more like a (significant) patch than a new game. The big unknown is how the promised PvE modes will play. Hopefully they won’t be dropped (it’s been very quiet on that front), and given the intensity of the PvP player base it’s hard to imagine PvE drawing in new players in large numbers. Then again it could turn out to be dipped in the same magic sauce OW1 was when it launched. Here’s hoping.

OW2 is still a fun game, still has some stellar moments of hero interaction (combo-ults or last second saves), but I still miss the OG version where stacked teams of Symmetra or all-tank madness meant each game was totally different, and would adapt majorly during the fight to counter the enemy team. Those days have gone (despite the arcade mode variant) and it really feels like balance is the be-all-and-end-all. Instead of heroes with incredibly diverse skills and crazy specials, it’s now a more traditional shooter where everyone is balanced to a competitive ideal.

And just like OW1, it’s still impossible (for me at least) to get a Play of the Game as Mercy. Reinforcing an under-threat point with a well-timed ultimate whilst downing two of the opposition team isn’t enough - a Bastion that plonked down and mowed down two people got Play instead. Sigh.