A few days ago one of our guild leaders pulled me aside and asked if I was going anywhere any time soon. I assured him that I had no plans to leave either WoW or our guild. I knew absolutely no one when I joined, but I’ve come to look forward to spending time with my new WoW friends. I thought he was just checking in because we had recently failed to hold on to an excellent new healing recruit as our raiding schedule stumbled before 3.1. I figured that he didn’t want to lose another healer.
Then he proceeds to tell me that the officers have decided to distribute the first 30 [Fragment of Val'anyr] to me. I should have seen that coming, I guess, but it was a nice surprise! A few days later Razorscale finally dropped our first fragment.
8D
As I told this officer then, and other officers since, I recognize the implications of their choice. By funneling the first thirty fragments to one player they’re trying to get the raid to benefit from its effect as soon as possible. They’re investing in my ability to show up and receive the rest of the fragments. They’re trusting that, once we form the mace, I’ll continue to attend so that the raid continues to benefit. I don’t take this lightly.
At that point we didn’t know how Val’anyr was going to be itemized. It was a bit of a leap of faith to give it to a pally and hope that the stats worked out. Yesterday the internets found the stats for Val’anyr on the armory and vindicated our guild’s decision.
Unquestionably authentic screenshot.
With the exception of a minor drop in haste, it’s an across-the-board upgrade from [The Turning Tide], which I’d consider best-in-slot for pally healers (and jerky mages).
Now we just have to accumulate the fragments and chuck them at Yoggy while leaving a watcher out of the fight. No big deal! I figure we’ll get this nailed long before the heat-death of the universe. Maybe 2015? In the mean time I won’t be rolling with other guildies on weapons. My current [Hammer of the Astral Plane] will do just fine until every one else has upgraded.