I managed to rush myself to level 80 just in time to join some folks in my guild and other friends for a 25 man run in Naxxramas. We cleared out the Arachnid Quarter and the Plague Quarter, six bosses, and took a couple of shots at Patchwerk. It was fun to get back in a big raid, but boy is it different from before.
Trash clearing was fast and sloppy, all AoE tanking and AoE damage. Honestly it felt a lot more like post-3.0 nerf raiding than the old careful precise pulls of before. The spider quarter was nothing, really too easy. Plague quarter was a bit trickier, we may have even wiped on trash once or twice, but still no great challenge. Bosses weren%26#39;t much harder trash. One-shotted most of them, only wiped on a couple when we had the wrong strategy. (Note: Grand Widow Faerlina is quite different in 25 man.) We wiped twice on Patchwerk before calling it for time.
All in all I was a bit disappointed. We have strong players, and some folks have already accumulated significant gear at level 80. But I was hoping for more of the intricate, complex stuff of earlier raiding. Like managing Moroes and his adds, or dealing with the ogre trash in Gruul%26#39;s Lair, or cube clicking in Magtheridon. We mostly outmuscled the first two parts of Naxx, Heigan was the only really complex fight. Then again this is all entry level raiding now, I%26#39;m sure it will get more interesting as we move deeper.
I had a great time, and there%26#39;s a lot to learn about being a level 80 feral. I hate the AoE tanking, but if we%26#39;re going to do a lot of it then it%26#39;s clear the Feral Instinct talent will be essential. My cat DPS was crappy too: 1800 on Anub%26#39;Rekhan vs. 2600 for our best (a hunter), 2660 on Noth vs. 4000 for our best guys). There%26#39;s so much to manage with cat DPS now, I feel like a DoTlock. I%26#39;m confident I need a custom addon to help manage the rotation.