10/09 Interview: Refuge

The guild Refuge from German realm Taerar was among the first in the world to beat the Lich King on heroic mode. At gamescom 2010 they played live on stage at the Blizzard booth and took the audience to the Frozen Throne at the very heart of Icecrown Citadel. After the action, we took the opportunity to ask them a few questions about their experience in raiding so far and their expectations for the forthcoming release of Cataclysm.

Blizzard: So, you’ve just played live in front of the crowd. How did it feel?
Refuge: This wasn’t our first time playing in front of a live audience, but playing on the Blizzard stage in front of such a huge crowd is still something different. We were thrilled to be there but at the same time somewhat nervous – especially those of us who were really there, physically on stage. Feeling so many eyes watching every single move can be quite uncomfortable. However, most of all we felt honoured to be here and to show how we tackle the content of our favourite game.

Blizzard: You faced the Lich King, who many believe to be the most challenging boss in the game. Can you tell us how you learned to beat this encounter in the first place?
Refuge: The encounter is without doubt the most challenging one in the game so far. It takes up to 15 minutes and at every single moment each of the 25 players has to be fully focussed because any single mistake can cause a wipe. It took us almost two months to beat the encounter. The most difficult part was mastering the Val’kyr stage, where you have to deal with several boss abilities and huge incoming damage. Blizzard’s boss designers certainly created a true masterpiece here. This is the kind of experience that motivates us.

Blizzard: You have been quite successful during Wrath of the Lich King. How do the members of a successful raiding guild pick their gear and decide on their talent specs?
Refuge: Most of us have a lot of experience with World of Warcraft and know our characters very well. We bring a lot of background knowledge about class and game mechanics and add information from theorycrafting sites, best-in-slot-lists and DPS calculators to build optimal characters for raiding. Our lineup also depends on the encounter we’re facing: different encounters require different sets of skills, so our line-up can vary.

Blizzard: Now that the focus on Northrend is coming to an end, what are your goals for Cataclysm and what are you going to do first?
Refuge: First of all, we are really looking forward to the new content. Our goal will be the same as always: beat the content in the best possible way! Cataclysm will have quite a lot to offer right from the beginning and that’s why quickly reaching level 85 will be especially important to us. Then we are going to participate in the race for first kills and hope to do well. To prepare, we’ll keep a close eye on all important WoW news sites and play the beta ourselves. We are also stocking up on energy drinks for the first few nights right after release!