Congratulations to Raging Fury of Antonius Bayle on being the first guild to defeat Mayong Mistmoore!

We spoke with Nineveh, the guild leader for Raging Fury of Antonius Bayle, about their recent defeat of Mayong Mistmoore in the Depths of Darkhollow expansion.

Was there anything specific about your strategy for tackling the raid progression in Depths of Darkhollow that allowed you to stay a step ahead of other guilds?
I've often asked myself the same question, though I know little of how other guilds handle their tactical approach to the various encounters out there. However, I think that what might be somewhat unique for Raging Fury is the amount of participation from every single member. Not more than a year back I remember the tactical discussion being severely limited in regards to number of participants, it seemed as if not many were really all that interested in voicing their opinions; though post the release of Omens of War, and especially in the Depths of Darkhollow expansion, close to everyone is more than eager to share their views and experiences on every encounter we have overcome.

Raging Fury suffered severe losses post the "mass exodus" during the fall of 2004, though since the intense period of recruitment that took place after, we have managed to retain more than 90% of the same members throughout the year that has passed. This might not be a trait that applies solely to my guild, but I feel that it has aided us significantly when it comes to teamwork and coordination. We all know each other very well, both positive and negative sides, and based on that knowledge, we adapt to the various environments we face on a daily basis fairly quickly.

I also believe we have a highly organized guild, meaning that despite the fact that we normally do not raid more than 3-4 hours a day (not that this is a small amount!), the time spent is highly coordinated, enabling us to complete content quickly and efficiently. We are all strong believers of making every minute count while we are all present, and as most of the encounters in the Demi-Plane requires 100% focus and attention to be paid from every raid member present, this has also been a major advantage for us in my opinion.

What was the most challenging encounter in the Demi-Plane of Blood leading up to the final fight, and how did you deal with it?
The most challenging encounter for us was Sanguimanus the Redfang in the first tier, and the Performer event in the second. We normally setup for an encounter using a basic standard strategy with a certain amount of offtanks ready for handling adds, while the majority of the raid centers around the main protagonist of the event. The Redfang event was somewhat frustrating for us as we felt we had the needed strategy down at a very early stage, but lack of key classes for specific parts of the encounter halted us on many nights, and by design, we could not attempt any of the other events while the bat abomination was still alive. Unless I am mistaken, this event is possibly the one that we needed the most attempts to overcome.

Without doubt, the performer event is one of the best designed encounters in the history of the game. Raiders nearing this event should most definitely be ready to take part in one of the most intense fights I have ever seen. Several parts of this event challenge your guilds ability to handle several tasks simultaneously, while a slight mistake will tilt the balance, and not in your favor. The latter portion of this endeavor is in lack of other words unbelievable, and most guilds reaching this stage of the event is totally overwhelmed, often left with a feeling of utter defeat.

There were subtle hints embedded into the lore concerning the identity of the Master of the Demi-Plane of Blood. Was your guild surprised that he was Mayong Mistmoore?
If there were subtle hints that hinted at the true identify of the Master, I have to admit that they eluded me. While there were several rumors in regards to his true identity already prior to the date of release, I cannot seem to remember any specific clues that would strengthen these theories. As soon as the vampiric theme of the expansion became evident though, I think those of us who still remember Mayong from before the millennium had an eerie feeling that he might reappear. Progressing through the Demi-Plane continuously offered small bits of lore along the way, but never with enough substance to affirm or dismiss any theories.

Sadly though, I think most of the mystery surrounding his identify was "spoiled" when a sketch from one of the designers made its way to a multitude of forums out there, but in general I think that the secrecy wreathing Mayong's true identify was very well planned.

Your guild was not only the first to kill Mayong, but the first to see him up close and in person. Did you expect to defeat him as quickly as you did?
Most people more than likely expected Mayong Mistmoore to take an equivalent amount of time to kill as Overlord Mata Muram did during the Omens of War era, though I think many are forgetting that the Omens expansion introduced not only 5 new levels, a multitude of highly important class specific alternate advancement points and the introduction of highly powerful epic items. It was also the first time emotes played such a crucial role in several raid encounters. Many probably remember their first few attempts at the trial of foresight, which quickly became a barrier that many guilds still struggle with today.

Obtaining new focus effects, gearing up your guild in general and replacing the major losses that most suffered few months into the expansion, all these factors are quite significant in my opinion when you look back and reflect upon how long it took for a guild to complete an expansion.

It has been mentioned several times on various threads I have read concerning the OMM encounter, but I honestly believe that the guilds that went through the process of learning that specific event are much better prepared both in regards to motivation and execution.

While I did not personally expect us to defeat Mayong Mistmoore at such an early stage, I think that guilds in general are much more accustomed to scripted event today than they were one year ago, which makes designing challenging content close to impossible. Those responsible for designing the encounters in the Demi-Plane had to make them challenging to guilds that already were peaked gear wise and who were ready to immediately start working on the encounters. The fact that it took close to three months for a guild to clear through the endgame zone with no new level cap introduced with the expansion speaks volumes of the amount of work that has been put into making every encounter in the Demi-Plane both challenging and enjoyable, which they all are, in my opinion.

Did any of Mayong's tricks and abilities catch your guild off guard?
Most of Mayong's abilities caught us severely off guard, especially the first few minutes of the encounter which was completely different from how we had expected it to be. Once we managed to overcome the first obstacle though I think most of the unique abilities residing with Mayong Mistmoore caused a swift and relentless wipe, at least one. I could mention a rather contradictory emote which instantly slew the entire raid, though from what I heard that emote has been altered somewhat already, so I will not! :) In addition to emotes there were several mechanics that we had not expected to come across, some familiar and some quite new and original.

Rumor has it that you had to convince the guild to try for "one more attempt" shortly before your victory. Can you tell us about that?
As mentioned earlier, our guild usually plays between 3-4 hours on the days that we actively raid targets, which means that we are normally done between 22.00 and 22.30 GMT, which should roughly be around 4 PM EST. On the night of our kill, we managed to bring Mayong himself down to merely 2% prior to failing, and already the time was nearing midnight , which meant we had exceeded our normal raiding hours by more than an hour. Based on the progress we made on our previous attempt, we pleaded with everyone to stay online for one more attempt, as we could basically guarantee a victory if the majority of the guild found it possible to remain online(a white lie we pull out at the most desperate of times). Amazingly enough not a single member logged off, something I still have a hard time believing, and the result was that Mayong Mistmoore was slain. Any game which has the ability to keep more than 50 people online post midnight to accomplish a goal as a team has something very special, and for many of our members I am sure this was one of their most memorable moments in the game.

How many attempts did it take?
I do not have the exact numbers, but a rough estimate would be somewhere between 20 and 25 attempts, not counting our first night.

How is your guild handling the fame of this server-wide first?
Thankfully our guild mostly consist of very levelheaded mature people, thus in general I do not think a server wide first should change their behavior or attitude in any way. We have always received very positive feedback from our server community in regards to how we interact with other players and guilds, something I hope will not change anytime soon, regardless of where our guild might stand progression wise.

Were you satisfied with how the chapter of Depths of Darkhollow came to a close, lore-wise?
The closure of the expansion lore wise was excellent, especially taking into consideration the hints we received from Mayong Mistmoore himself prior to engaging. It was somewhat unfortunate that the information from the "Prophecy of Ro" expansion was released the same day, which somewhat revealed what would be the aftermath of Mayong's death, though the possibilities it opens for future expansions and deity related content is endless. While my own personal interest of lore remains at a healthy level, an expression I gladly use after having read the lore forums on this site on several occasions, I feel the ending both satiated the need for those wanting to see Mayong Mistmoore back in the game, while at the same time those who were disappointed in the fact that he might be dismissed from the game as such an early stage have gotten an adequate storyline as well.