WoE attempts 1 and 2

Last Thursday we gave WoE our first attempt as a linkshell. Based on info from wiki and BG I devised a rather straightforward strategy. Killing the first crab and running away seemed simple enough. However, not accounting for random DC's got the better of us. One person in alliance DC'd while the runners got close and we weren't able to dissolve and disband before they aggro'd. I tried to salvage it by getting melees to kill the new 3 crabs simultaneously. If we managed to do that we could avoid aggro from the next wave of runners by getting out of the way. It was a bit too chaotic to explain this at the time so it didn't happen. After one crab died a boss came in the wave of runners and I told everyone to wipe asap.

After getting back up we proceeded with the rest of the plan. Tillaert and Muze did an excellent job of sac pulling the Caldera Crabs. Muze, on PLD had to survive with 8+ crabs beating on her while we got a Caldera Crab off the train. The Caldera stopped to cast a spell on the person pulling off the train and so it wasn't entirely foolproof. If the sac'er dies before that time, they're able to re-link immediately according to what I've read.

We started off with a pair of MNK DD tanks on the boss but the BLM's pulled hate pretty much immediately and one of the MNK's went down pretty fast. Not sure what it was though I suspect it was Mega Scissors. I should have recorded it. Anyway, Argonar said he was hitting for 0's. Probably the result of the 1k Stoneskin it can get from the Metallic Body ability. Again, I really should have recorded it... The BLM's went down and Argo couldn't keep hate while not doing any reasonable damage so the attempt ended prematurely.

I treated it a bit like the VNM Krabkatoa, but these seem tougher to deal with to a certain extent. We brought PLD's for the second attempt. The first crab kill went according to plan this time. I suppose in the future we could do this while everyone is solo and form alliance while the sac'ers take up position. This, just in case someone's too late running away from deathspot. They can then die without it requiring a full wipe. The Caldera was pulled in the same way and we started off well. Hate was much more stable after asking BLM's to hold back for a while. However, the hate reduction from Mega Scissors is very strong. Even with PLD's, the BLM's pulled hate off them even after letting them build up hate beforehand. I realise a BLM could do this regardless, but it happened sooner than expected. Argonar mentioned it did Mega Scissors several times in a row at one point. Man... I really should have recorded it...

Around 50% the tank party took some casualties (RDM + WHM) due to the Caldera being out of position and taking damage from Mega Scissors as a result. We weren't able to recover and lost. In addition to hate not being manageable, it has a lot of HP and takes reduced damage from melee. BLM's seemed to do well, but they're very fragile.

Several people have suggested to me that using a skillchain and magic bursting would let us take it down faster. I agree the damage would be much better and there's the chance we could expose a weakness and make it easier. The second alternative is to take it down with melee, but with a lot more power and numbers. You could treat it like a zerg that you have to repeat 3 times. The challenge for both is staying alive long enough to kill it. A stun rotation would help but a Venom Shower is sure to get through. If you rotate bards like it were Einherjar you can buff melee with Carol, Barwater and Paeon, and still get some damage enhancing songs. Water resist seems to work well even without any additional resist from gear. The accuracy of Venom Shower isn't floored, but it's enough not to worry about it and focus on damage taken from Mega Scissors. There are bound to be deaths, which would cut it pretty close if you take more than 3 mintues to kill a Caldera Crab.