We now have enough level 80's in the guild to consider starting up our 10-man raids again. Unfortunately, we are not geared well enough yet to just jump in there and have a chance to be successful. We started doing some heroics last week and we'll just say that there are some tough bosses out there to down without adequate gear.

For the next few weeks I would urge every level 80 in SL to take advantage of the frequent level 80 instance and heroic runs offered to learn the new instances, gear up for raiding, earn reputation, and learn how to work as a team with your SL brothers and sisters. We have some very good people in the guild, so take some time to learn from them to get better at grouping and working well as a team. The level 80 instances include:

• Utgarde Pinnacle
• Oculus
• Halls of Lightning
• Culling of Stratholme

At a minimum I'd suggest everyone work to get their individual DPS output to 1200 dps/healing to successfully run heroics. Higher if you can. It only takes one person in the group running the add-on Recount to let you know where you stand during an instance run. We're not talking burst damage or healing, but sustained dps/healing throughout the entire instance run, trash and bosses included. Once we get most of the heroics on farm status, then we can think about raiding again.

To be successful at raiding everyone needs a minimum of 1600 dps/healing for us to have a chance in Naxxramas, so the sooner we get everyone geared to that level of output the sooner we can jump into a new 10-man raid group and continue to defeat WotLK content. The current 10-man raids include:

• Vault of Archavon
• Obsidian Sanctum
• Naxxramas

Before we start Naxxramas we'll be jumping into a couple of other 10-man raids that are short and good places to gear up and practice 10-man raiding. The first is Vault of Archavon in Winterspring. A short single boss with only 3 trash pulls before the boss. Think Onyxia short.

The second is the Obsidian Sanctum underneath Wyrmrest Temple. This has three mini-bosses and the final boss, Sartharion to defeat.

Finally, we'll jump into Naxxramas with its 12-15 bosses. w00t!

We now have enough level 80 toons to start doing some heroic dungeons, with more leveling every day. At todays roster list I note a total of 8 level 80's ready to rumble. This is good.

Over the last few days several of us have been whittling away at the level 80 dungeons one by one, starting to gear up for the heroics, beginning with Halls of Stone, followed quickly by The Oculus then the fun Culling of Strathholme in Caverns of Time, and Halls of Lightning. The only one left undefeated is Utgarde Pinnacle which will definitely fall this weekend (It did).

If you want to join us, please let any officer know. We'd love for everyone in SL to come along for the enjoyment, the gear, but most of all the adventure of defeating every boss in WotLK with your guild mates. What's not to like? Blizzard has definitely improved the dungeon runs for the better, each one is short (less than an hour once you know the instance), fun, and each has enough variety to keep you coming back again and again. Great times!

Also, an update, we now have plenty of tanks and healers to keep us going for a good while. Not all have reached level 80 yet but they are working on it. Don't let the stop you from starting one if you desire. The more the merrier. The flexibility of being able to join ANY group to complete content never leaves you out. I'd urge everyone to have a toon for each of the three required roles: tank, healer, and dps.

Meanwhile, happy holidays to all. SL is looking forward to a very successful year starting in January of defeating as much 10-man raid content as possible. Please join us in the adventure.

If you see Pakawhat in game be sure to congratulate him on being the first SL member to reach level 80. Lot's of work was needed to get there so fast so give him an in-game wave, cheer, or rude gesture to let him know you appreciate it.

If you've done the Borean Tundra quests it's likely you ran across the quest depicted below:

Doing it as a group of three was pretty darn funny and I just had to share. LOL

In addition, Pakawhat is pulling away from the pack and is probably darn close to 80 as I type this on Sunday night. Congratulations, I know it wasn't easy.

The race to reach level 80 in the guild continues. Hildanu seems to have taken an early lead being already at 75 as of Friday, with several 74's and a herd of 73's close behind.

As always, keep up the great work but remember to see the sights and enjoy the new content as well.

UPDATE Pakawhat is closing in on Hildanu and may pass him soon. Both are at level 77 as of Wednesday and racing towards 80. Exciting to see not one, but two priests actually leading the charge here. What happened to our DPS classes?