Blackhand Progress - Time is Running Out

With the patch looming we have now locked out our raids to focus solely on Blackhand!

The decision has come a couple of weeks too late in my opinion - I think we should have been spending 2 out of our 3 nights on Blackhand with the best available team and farming the other bosses with everyone on the 3rd night.

It's never an easy decision to make, particularly with new recruits in the guild that need gearing up, but a balance has to be found that is inclusive but maintains guild progress.

Blizzard handed us the tools to find that balance, flex raids and loot lockouts, but we have erred on the inclusion side and it has come at a cost with a couple of our 'better' players not signing up any more.

I gave up my officer role though so it's out of my hands these days, and I am left to complain about it in my own little backwater of the internet.

Anyway... on to Blackhand!
I'm really enjoying this fight so far!

Phase 1 is about surviving the Demolitions but keeping the dps up to make sure you only have 2. 
The randomness of where the big Demolitions come down makes a huge difference to the amount of movement needed and therefore my dps - If I get lucky it's all covered by Fox or SWG and my dps soars, often it isn't though so my numbers can be quite erratic.

Phase 2 brings in Siege Engines to cover the floor in lovely fire.  Our kiting hunter (or siege engine slave as she likes to be called) does a great job with these so the rest of us can focus on the killing.

Phase 3 seems like a regular burn phase but we have not reached this phase much yet.

Our biggest issue seems to be the Impaling Shot... Either people not making it behind a Debris Pile/Siege Engine or getting in the way when someone else is targeted.

It's the usual tale of personal responsibility which is the lynchpin of raiding these days and everyone has to be able to deal with the mechanic. 
You can explain the mechanics and how to deal with them over and over but, in the end, it relies on each player seeing it for themselves and learning to react appropriately.

So many of the failures are not from people not knowing what to do but from their focus being on their dps or the health bars so they miss the cues. 
I have some sympathy for the healers but the dps need to sort their priorities out. Dead dps does no dps, after all.

It's looking like Monday could be our last raid night before the patch and we will be without our raid leader and a couple of healers.  While we will definitely miss the leadership, the lack of healers will force us to restrict the team to only the players most likely to get the kill which could work in our favour.

Wish us luck!