My own notes for explaining the General Vezax fight in Ulduar.
This is a single phase fight. Most mana regen doesn't function in this fight, so healers and casters need to be careful. Ranged should spread out but should all stay in roughly the same area.
Vezax will sometimes debuff someone with Mark of the Faceless - this person will transfer health from nearby players to Vezax, so run away! This means you can never bunch up too much.
Vezax will cast Searing Flames every 5-10 seconds (2 sec cast time, large spinning effects around him). This must be interrupted, or the tank will die.
Vezax will cast Surge of Darkness every minute - he will need to be kited until it wears off.
Every 10 seconds Vezax will cast Shadow Crash at a ranged player - move before it hits you. It will leave behind a dark pool that ranged DPS (not healers) should stand in.
Every 30 seconds Vezax will spawn a Saronite Crystal. Kill them. When they pop they will leave behind a green pool. Standing in this will regen your mana but will also deal damage. Stand in it until you get 5 or 6 stacks then get out!
August 29, 2009
Mimiron
My own notes for explaining the Mimiron fight in Ulduar.
This is a 4 phase fight. It's complex.
Phase 1: Leviathan MK II (tank)
Avoid mines. Big healing on the tank when he Plasma Blasts. Ranged spread out - he'll sometimes put a fire dot on ranged people. Melee run from Shock Blast (lightning animation).
Phase 2: VX-001 (robot)
Not tanked, lots of raid damage. Stay near the boss, in a circle around him. Move away from red circles on the ground. When he casts Winding Up, group up behind the boss, and move to stay behind him as he turns.
Phase 3: Aerial Command Unit (flyer)
Boss is tanked by a ranged DPS. Lots of adds.
Bomb bots spawn under the boss, lock them down and ranged DPS kill them.
Junk bots spawn from green lights. Ignore them.
Assault bots spawn at yellow lights. They are tanked and killed quickly.
One person will loot Magnetic Cores from the dead Assault bots and use them in the middle of the room to pull the boss down. Then we all dps the boss.
Phase 4: V0-L7R-0N
Combination of previous phases. Spread out around the boss. Stay away from mines. Stay away from red circles on the ground. Melee run from Shock Blast (lightning animation). When he casts Winding Up, group up behind the boss, and move to stay behind him as he turns.
All three parts need to die at the same time! Ranged on the head, melee on the tank. Both on the chest.
This is a 4 phase fight. It's complex.
Phase 1: Leviathan MK II (tank)
Avoid mines. Big healing on the tank when he Plasma Blasts. Ranged spread out - he'll sometimes put a fire dot on ranged people. Melee run from Shock Blast (lightning animation).
Phase 2: VX-001 (robot)
Not tanked, lots of raid damage. Stay near the boss, in a circle around him. Move away from red circles on the ground. When he casts Winding Up, group up behind the boss, and move to stay behind him as he turns.
Phase 3: Aerial Command Unit (flyer)
Boss is tanked by a ranged DPS. Lots of adds.
Bomb bots spawn under the boss, lock them down and ranged DPS kill them.
Junk bots spawn from green lights. Ignore them.
Assault bots spawn at yellow lights. They are tanked and killed quickly.
One person will loot Magnetic Cores from the dead Assault bots and use them in the middle of the room to pull the boss down. Then we all dps the boss.
Phase 4: V0-L7R-0N
Combination of previous phases. Spread out around the boss. Stay away from mines. Stay away from red circles on the ground. Melee run from Shock Blast (lightning animation). When he casts Winding Up, group up behind the boss, and move to stay behind him as he turns.
All three parts need to die at the same time! Ranged on the head, melee on the tank. Both on the chest.
Assembly of Iron
My own notes for explaining the Assembly of Iron fight in Ulduar.
Kill order: Steelbreaker > Runemaster Molgeim > Stormcaller Brundir.
Steelbreaker:
Tank Runemaster and Stormcaller away from raid. Tank Steelbreaker near entrance.
Blue runes can appear under bosses. Move the boss off. Players stand on the rune for a damage buff.
Fusion punch: very high damage on tank, leaves a dot which must be dispelled immediately. Melee will also take AOE damage.
Runemaster Molgeim:
Steelbreaker tank tanks him. DPS spread out. Stand in blue runes again, but move out of large green runes immediately.
Runemaster can buff himself with with Shield of Runes, which increases his damage. Dispel or spellsteal it.
Stormcaller Brundir:
DPS spread out around him. This phase needs lots of interrupts.
He casts a Chain Lightning which is interruptible.
He also casts Lightning Whirl (whirlwind) which is interruptible.
He also casts Overload, an AOE which is NOT interruptible. Melee run out!
He will sometimes fly into the air and follow a random person, dealing AOE damage. Move away from the followed person.
Kill order: Steelbreaker > Runemaster Molgeim > Stormcaller Brundir.
Steelbreaker:
Tank Runemaster and Stormcaller away from raid. Tank Steelbreaker near entrance.
Blue runes can appear under bosses. Move the boss off. Players stand on the rune for a damage buff.
Fusion punch: very high damage on tank, leaves a dot which must be dispelled immediately. Melee will also take AOE damage.
Runemaster Molgeim:
Steelbreaker tank tanks him. DPS spread out. Stand in blue runes again, but move out of large green runes immediately.
Runemaster can buff himself with with Shield of Runes, which increases his damage. Dispel or spellsteal it.
Stormcaller Brundir:
DPS spread out around him. This phase needs lots of interrupts.
He casts a Chain Lightning which is interruptible.
He also casts Lightning Whirl (whirlwind) which is interruptible.
He also casts Overload, an AOE which is NOT interruptible. Melee run out!
He will sometimes fly into the air and follow a random person, dealing AOE damage. Move away from the followed person.
Hodir
My own notes for explaining the Hodir fight in Ulduar.
Please wear frost resist gear - at least 2 pieces, 3 would be better.
After the pull we need to free the 4 NPCs, then we attack Hodir.
You'll continually get a nasty dot called biting cold throughout the fight - you'll need to move or jump every few seconds to clear it.
Hodir will sometimes freeze groups of people in place - this needs to be cleansed quickly. Spread out to avoid it!
When blue circles appear on the ground, move off them immediately.
Every 30 seconds or so Hodir will make some larger blue circles appear on the ground and he will start casting Flash Freeze. Stand near the circles, and when they turn into patches of snow, move onto the snow. That way Flash Freeze won't hit you.
Players and NPCs who are hit by Flash Freeze will be ice blocked, and everyone will need to attack the ice blocks immediately to free them.
Hodir will sometimes gain Frozen Blows and will do lots of AOE frost damage.
Stand in light beams to gain 100% haste.
Stand in storm clouds to gain extra damage on crits.
Stand near fires to be protected from cold and to debuff the boss.
Please wear frost resist gear - at least 2 pieces, 3 would be better.
After the pull we need to free the 4 NPCs, then we attack Hodir.
You'll continually get a nasty dot called biting cold throughout the fight - you'll need to move or jump every few seconds to clear it.
Hodir will sometimes freeze groups of people in place - this needs to be cleansed quickly. Spread out to avoid it!
When blue circles appear on the ground, move off them immediately.
Every 30 seconds or so Hodir will make some larger blue circles appear on the ground and he will start casting Flash Freeze. Stand near the circles, and when they turn into patches of snow, move onto the snow. That way Flash Freeze won't hit you.
Players and NPCs who are hit by Flash Freeze will be ice blocked, and everyone will need to attack the ice blocks immediately to free them.
Hodir will sometimes gain Frozen Blows and will do lots of AOE frost damage.
Stand in light beams to gain 100% haste.
Stand in storm clouds to gain extra damage on crits.
Stand near fires to be protected from cold and to debuff the boss.
June 18, 2009
Freya
My own notes for explaining the Freya fight in Ulduar. Tank 1 on Ancient Water Spirit and Storm Lasher, Tank 2 tank/kite the Snaplasher.
Freya will summon trees called 'Lifebinder's Gift'. Ranged dps must kill them before they are fully grown, or they heal enemies.
There will be 6 waves of adds. There are 3 different waves, that will come twice each. The order is random.
One of the waves is a large group of Detonating Lashers - can't be tanked, blow up when they die. Group up to aoe them to 10% health, then single target kill them.
One of the waves is a single Ancient Conservator - while he is alive, stand under mushrooms or you are silenced. Can make someone a bomb.
One of the waves is an Ancient Water Spirit, Storm Lasher, and Snap Lasher - need to die at the same time. Chain lightning, so spread out.
Melee burn the Ancient Water Spirit to 10% health first. Ranged burn the Storm Lasher to 10% health first. Syleste will kite the Ancient Water Spirit. Ranged and melee burn it to 10% health. Then, gather up and aoe down.
After six of these waves, all dps on the boss. Move away from the seeds she throws. Keep killing the trees before they heal her.
Freya will summon trees called 'Lifebinder's Gift'. Ranged dps must kill them before they are fully grown, or they heal enemies.
There will be 6 waves of adds. There are 3 different waves, that will come twice each. The order is random.
One of the waves is a large group of Detonating Lashers - can't be tanked, blow up when they die. Group up to aoe them to 10% health, then single target kill them.
One of the waves is a single Ancient Conservator - while he is alive, stand under mushrooms or you are silenced. Can make someone a bomb.
One of the waves is an Ancient Water Spirit, Storm Lasher, and Snap Lasher - need to die at the same time. Chain lightning, so spread out.
Melee burn the Ancient Water Spirit to 10% health first. Ranged burn the Storm Lasher to 10% health first. Syleste will kite the Ancient Water Spirit. Ranged and melee burn it to 10% health. Then, gather up and aoe down.
After six of these waves, all dps on the boss. Move away from the seeds she throws. Keep killing the trees before they heal her.
Thorim
My own notes for explaining the Thorim fight in Ulduar. Group 1: melee and aoe, stays in the arena. Group 2: ranged, takes the hallway.
Phase 1: Acolyte > everything else in the arena.
Phase 2: the Arena group (group 1) will stay in the arena and fight waves of enemies. The Hallway group (group 2) will move through the hallway on the left, killing trash and 2 bosses before reaching Thorim.
Phase 2: Arena group. Kill order is: Evokers (they heal) > Champions (Vrykul, they whirlwind) > Warbringers (they buff) > Commoners. Single target dps and aoe please. Interrupt heals, dispel hots.
Pylons around the room can be charged, and will then aoe people. Spread out, we can also aoe each other.
Phase 2: Hallway group - gauntlet with 2 bosses.
Trash: Acolytes (they heal) > Guards (they whirlwind and apply a bleed that can only be removed by healing the player to full).
Boss 1: he charges up one of his hands, move away from that side of the room. Has a damage reflect shield, can randomly charge players.
Boss 2: adds spawn until he is pulled, so be quick. He does a short range aoe, and can stun someone and make them a bomb - move away from them.
The hallway group then needs to RUN AROUND THE CIRCLES ON THE FLOOR to hit Thorim, then jump down into the arena.
Phase 3: Thorim. Arena group, finish adds. Hallway group, pick up boss.
Thorim will charge pylons - don't stand between him and a charged pylon.
Chain lightning - spread out. Tank debuff - tank swap.
Phase 1: Acolyte > everything else in the arena.
Phase 2: the Arena group (group 1) will stay in the arena and fight waves of enemies. The Hallway group (group 2) will move through the hallway on the left, killing trash and 2 bosses before reaching Thorim.
Phase 2: Arena group. Kill order is: Evokers (they heal) > Champions (Vrykul, they whirlwind) > Warbringers (they buff) > Commoners. Single target dps and aoe please. Interrupt heals, dispel hots.
Pylons around the room can be charged, and will then aoe people. Spread out, we can also aoe each other.
Phase 2: Hallway group - gauntlet with 2 bosses.
Trash: Acolytes (they heal) > Guards (they whirlwind and apply a bleed that can only be removed by healing the player to full).
Boss 1: he charges up one of his hands, move away from that side of the room. Has a damage reflect shield, can randomly charge players.
Boss 2: adds spawn until he is pulled, so be quick. He does a short range aoe, and can stun someone and make them a bomb - move away from them.
The hallway group then needs to RUN AROUND THE CIRCLES ON THE FLOOR to hit Thorim, then jump down into the arena.
Phase 3: Thorim. Arena group, finish adds. Hallway group, pick up boss.
Thorim will charge pylons - don't stand between him and a charged pylon.
Chain lightning - spread out. Tank debuff - tank swap.
August 2, 2008
Touched by the Light
At first glance, the upcoming paladin talent Touched by the Light looks incredible. Increasing health and threat by stacking just one stat? Yes please.
Unfortunately, I think this talent is not doing what it is supposed to do. I think it is meant to just be a healing talent, and that it will be changed to reflect this.
Tanking classes have had their threat talents rolled into basic class abilities. This means that tanking classes are able to tank, regardless of spec, which seems to be what Blizzard wants. So why give paladins another threat talent that only one spec could take?
I think this is just supposed to be a talent that will allow prot paladins to do some healing while in tank gear, and that the threat component is unintended. I expect it to be nerfed - that the talent will be changed to specify healing spellpower, or that paladins will only receive +spelldamage from their spellpower or their attack power (whichever is higher) but not both.
I hope I'm wrong, because I intend to take this talent regardless, and I'd like it to be the best it can be... but I can't shake the feeling that, at 80, it will just give us more threat than intended. It will be interesting to see what lvl 80 gear does for this talent...
Unfortunately, I think this talent is not doing what it is supposed to do. I think it is meant to just be a healing talent, and that it will be changed to reflect this.
Tanking classes have had their threat talents rolled into basic class abilities. This means that tanking classes are able to tank, regardless of spec, which seems to be what Blizzard wants. So why give paladins another threat talent that only one spec could take?
I think this is just supposed to be a talent that will allow prot paladins to do some healing while in tank gear, and that the threat component is unintended. I expect it to be nerfed - that the talent will be changed to specify healing spellpower, or that paladins will only receive +spelldamage from their spellpower or their attack power (whichever is higher) but not both.
I hope I'm wrong, because I intend to take this talent regardless, and I'd like it to be the best it can be... but I can't shake the feeling that, at 80, it will just give us more threat than intended. It will be interesting to see what lvl 80 gear does for this talent...
July 25, 2008
One stat to rule them all
My prot paladin is my main, but my second character to 70 was my priest. Shadowpriest gearing is quite unusual, but gearing her up changed my way of thinking when looking at gear for my other characters... for better or for worse.
All characters depend on a variety of stats. A certain amount of stamina is needed for every character, since so many fights feature party- or raid-wide damage. Intellect is important for any caster. Hit, crit and spellhit are usually important, although the weight you give them will depend on your class.
Shadowpriests are a bit different. All of a shadowpriest's dps and utility are dependant on one thing - the amount of damage the priest does. So, once you are hit capped (which is particularly easy for a Draenei with talents, although this is changing in Wrath), the most important stat to stack is spelldamage (although haste can be better at high gear levels).
This led to my shadowpriest buying up level 70 'of shadow wrath' greens on the AH... and wearing them for quite a while. They may have no other stats... but the sheer volume of shadow damage on a green boe belt (+60) or bracers (+45) is hard to ignore. I certainly don't have any epic items for the same slots that rival those. I don't usually wear them, since it really is nice to actually have some health... but I still carry them with me.
This way of thinking carried over to my other characters too. When gemming and enchanting for my paladin, I'm a bit of an effective health nut - I'm one of those paladins with stamina gems in every socket. I know the differing schools of thought on gearing for effective health or avoidance (and I do have a backup avoidance set), but... I tend to trust in Murphy's Law a bit, and assume that my avoidance just won't cut it when I need it most, regardless of what my dodge chance is.
Besides, prot paladins have better stamina -> health scaling than anyone else in the game (well, Taurens aside), so why not play to my strength?
All characters depend on a variety of stats. A certain amount of stamina is needed for every character, since so many fights feature party- or raid-wide damage. Intellect is important for any caster. Hit, crit and spellhit are usually important, although the weight you give them will depend on your class.
Shadowpriests are a bit different. All of a shadowpriest's dps and utility are dependant on one thing - the amount of damage the priest does. So, once you are hit capped (which is particularly easy for a Draenei with talents, although this is changing in Wrath), the most important stat to stack is spelldamage (although haste can be better at high gear levels).
This led to my shadowpriest buying up level 70 'of shadow wrath' greens on the AH... and wearing them for quite a while. They may have no other stats... but the sheer volume of shadow damage on a green boe belt (+60) or bracers (+45) is hard to ignore. I certainly don't have any epic items for the same slots that rival those. I don't usually wear them, since it really is nice to actually have some health... but I still carry them with me.
This way of thinking carried over to my other characters too. When gemming and enchanting for my paladin, I'm a bit of an effective health nut - I'm one of those paladins with stamina gems in every socket. I know the differing schools of thought on gearing for effective health or avoidance (and I do have a backup avoidance set), but... I tend to trust in Murphy's Law a bit, and assume that my avoidance just won't cut it when I need it most, regardless of what my dodge chance is.
Besides, prot paladins have better stamina -> health scaling than anyone else in the game (well, Taurens aside), so why not play to my strength?
July 3, 2008
Wrath Beta opt-in
Apart from the people who win beta passes in competitions or get them by attending conventions, all the people who participate in Blizzard betas are picked randomly. For the next expansion, though, they aren't just picking randomly from anyone who has an account - they only want to pick people who are really interested in beta testing, so they are making a list that they will pick randomly from.
You can opt in to this list here.
This doesn't mean that you'll definitely get to beta test the expansion - only that you are on the list they are picking from. I guess your likelihood of being picked depends on how many people opt in.
As for whether you want to beta test the expansion or not, that's another issue entirely. I'm not sure that I do, but I'll opt in just in case!
You can opt in to this list here.
This doesn't mean that you'll definitely get to beta test the expansion - only that you are on the list they are picking from. I guess your likelihood of being picked depends on how many people opt in.
As for whether you want to beta test the expansion or not, that's another issue entirely. I'm not sure that I do, but I'll opt in just in case!
June 22, 2008
Midsummer Fire Festival
The Midsummer Festival is here again, and it's a bit more interesting than in previous years. There are a bunch of quests in the capital cities, and at bonfires outside every town, that give a decent amount of gold. The most interesting thing, though, is the summonable boss Lord Ahune, in the Slave Pens.
He's like the Headless Horseman in that he can be summoned once per day per character, so a 5 player group can kill him 5 times a day. In normal mode he drops 4 different epic capes, one each for attack power, spell damage, tanking and healing. They are the same as old cloaks that can be bought for 25 badges. He also can drop an epic spelldamage staff, a non-combat fire elemental pet and the new deathfrost enchant (the effect is similar to thunderclap). In heroic mode he drops the same items, plus 4 neckpieces.
The fight sounds similar to Ragnaros - he submerges after a while, and there are waves of adds. It sounds like a lot of fun, and it might be worth farming him...
The Festival goes until July 4th.
EDIT: bad pugs are bad
EDIT 2: Turns out it's more like Curator than Ragnaros. Kill waves of adds and ignore the boss, then kill the boss when he retreats into his shell, repeat. Also, the first time you kill him you get a tabard as a reward.
He's like the Headless Horseman in that he can be summoned once per day per character, so a 5 player group can kill him 5 times a day. In normal mode he drops 4 different epic capes, one each for attack power, spell damage, tanking and healing. They are the same as old cloaks that can be bought for 25 badges. He also can drop an epic spelldamage staff, a non-combat fire elemental pet and the new deathfrost enchant (the effect is similar to thunderclap). In heroic mode he drops the same items, plus 4 neckpieces.
The fight sounds similar to Ragnaros - he submerges after a while, and there are waves of adds. It sounds like a lot of fun, and it might be worth farming him...
The Festival goes until July 4th.
EDIT: bad pugs are bad
EDIT 2: Turns out it's more like Curator than Ragnaros. Kill waves of adds and ignore the boss, then kill the boss when he retreats into his shell, repeat. Also, the first time you kill him you get a tabard as a reward.
January 18, 2008
Cartographer
Cartographer is my favourite wow mod. Well, it's right up there with Omen, Recount, xPerl... anyhow, I know a few people have installed it lately and are loving it too.
For those who don't know, Cartographer does a bunch of things (as long as you download the appropriate modules) - it shows instance maps and boss loot, it tracks the location of other guild members running Cartographer on your world map, and it shows the location of all the mining, herbing and fishing nodes. With the Cartographer_routes module, it will draw a path between nodes to show you the fastest route to take while farming - and it has seriously cut my farming time in half. It is amazing.
The whole thing is a bit tricky to set up though, and I've been meaning to write up some instructions for a while, but hadn't got around to it. Fortunately, someone else has done it for me! So, if you ever mine or herb, go grab this mod, it is awesome.
For those who don't know, Cartographer does a bunch of things (as long as you download the appropriate modules) - it shows instance maps and boss loot, it tracks the location of other guild members running Cartographer on your world map, and it shows the location of all the mining, herbing and fishing nodes. With the Cartographer_routes module, it will draw a path between nodes to show you the fastest route to take while farming - and it has seriously cut my farming time in half. It is amazing.
The whole thing is a bit tricky to set up though, and I've been meaning to write up some instructions for a while, but hadn't got around to it. Fortunately, someone else has done it for me! So, if you ever mine or herb, go grab this mod, it is awesome.
September 23, 2007
Melee DPS, parry and tank insta-death
I’m sure most people are aware that, after damage reduction by armour and resistances, there are 4 ways that we can avoid incoming damage – the attack can miss, or we can dodge or parry, or block some or all of the damage with a shield. Enemies in the game do the same.
I guess people also realise that it’s impossible to block or parry attacks coming from behind. That is why melee DPS always attack from behind an enemy – the enemy can still dodge attacks, and can still be missed, but they can’t parry or block. Since most bosses have a 10.8% combined parry and block chance (although this can be reduced by your weapon skill), standing behind an enemy should give melee an improvement in DPS of about 10%.
If you play a melee character you probably know all that. What you might not know is that there is another reason to stand behind the enemy, and it has to do with a special property of the parry ability.
A lot of people aren’t aware that, when you parry an attack, your swing timer is reset. Imagine that you are running around with a massive slow two-handed weapon with a 4 second attack speed. Usually, you will hit things every 4 seconds. However, if you attack, and then 1 second later you parry an enemy’s attack, your swing timer is reset and you can attack again immediately. Sounds pretty good, right?
The trouble is… mobs in the game can do this too.
Imagine Gruul, under the effect of 15 growths, hitting the tank for about 10000 damage every 4 seconds or so. Those are big hits, but that’s quite healable, especially on a tank with 17000 or more health. Now imagine there are 10 melee DPSers standing in front of Gruul. Even worse, imagine they are all dual-wielding rogues who are attacking the boss about once every second. Gruul is receiving a lot of hits from in front, and he has a 5.4ish% chance to parry each of them… and each parry would reset his swing timer.
Gruul could be receiving up to 20 melee attacks per second from our rogues, with a 5.4% chance to parry each of them. Statistically, Gruul is going to parry an attack every second…
Suddenly Gruul could deal multiple 10000 hits to the tank in the space of a second, if he had a string of parries.
I think we all know what happens next!
So melee DPS, make sure you stand behind the boss… not only will it increase your DPS, but on tough content - especially slow, hard-hitting bosses - it will greatly increase the chance that the tank will live!
Obviously, there is also a chance that the tank's attacks will be parried. Not much that can be done about that - except using a slower weapon, or stacking weapon skill, which is hard to come by.
One last thought… bosses can parry pet attacks too. Even shadowfiends. So if you really want to take this to an extreme, I guess the tank would always need to turn the boss away from the raid, so that released pets arrive at the back of the boss. And yes, I know this doesn’t work for all fights… like Gruul, since we are standing all around him. Just a thought!
P.S. There is a little bit of conjecture in here. The jury is still out on exactly what effect parrying has on the swing timer. It definitely reduces the swing timer, and it looks likely that it completely resets the timer, although that is kinda anecdotal - lag makes it hard to be sure. Even if it’s just a swing timer reduction, and not a complete reset, the point still stands.
I guess people also realise that it’s impossible to block or parry attacks coming from behind. That is why melee DPS always attack from behind an enemy – the enemy can still dodge attacks, and can still be missed, but they can’t parry or block. Since most bosses have a 10.8% combined parry and block chance (although this can be reduced by your weapon skill), standing behind an enemy should give melee an improvement in DPS of about 10%.
If you play a melee character you probably know all that. What you might not know is that there is another reason to stand behind the enemy, and it has to do with a special property of the parry ability.
A lot of people aren’t aware that, when you parry an attack, your swing timer is reset. Imagine that you are running around with a massive slow two-handed weapon with a 4 second attack speed. Usually, you will hit things every 4 seconds. However, if you attack, and then 1 second later you parry an enemy’s attack, your swing timer is reset and you can attack again immediately. Sounds pretty good, right?
The trouble is… mobs in the game can do this too.
Imagine Gruul, under the effect of 15 growths, hitting the tank for about 10000 damage every 4 seconds or so. Those are big hits, but that’s quite healable, especially on a tank with 17000 or more health. Now imagine there are 10 melee DPSers standing in front of Gruul. Even worse, imagine they are all dual-wielding rogues who are attacking the boss about once every second. Gruul is receiving a lot of hits from in front, and he has a 5.4ish% chance to parry each of them… and each parry would reset his swing timer.
Gruul could be receiving up to 20 melee attacks per second from our rogues, with a 5.4% chance to parry each of them. Statistically, Gruul is going to parry an attack every second…
Suddenly Gruul could deal multiple 10000 hits to the tank in the space of a second, if he had a string of parries.
I think we all know what happens next!
So melee DPS, make sure you stand behind the boss… not only will it increase your DPS, but on tough content - especially slow, hard-hitting bosses - it will greatly increase the chance that the tank will live!
Obviously, there is also a chance that the tank's attacks will be parried. Not much that can be done about that - except using a slower weapon, or stacking weapon skill, which is hard to come by.
One last thought… bosses can parry pet attacks too. Even shadowfiends. So if you really want to take this to an extreme, I guess the tank would always need to turn the boss away from the raid, so that released pets arrive at the back of the boss. And yes, I know this doesn’t work for all fights… like Gruul, since we are standing all around him. Just a thought!
P.S. There is a little bit of conjecture in here. The jury is still out on exactly what effect parrying has on the swing timer. It definitely reduces the swing timer, and it looks likely that it completely resets the timer, although that is kinda anecdotal - lag makes it hard to be sure. Even if it’s just a swing timer reduction, and not a complete reset, the point still stands.
August 9, 2007
Molten Core at 70
A few tips for those who never saw the place at 60.
The first molten giant pair gain buffs at the same time that the players do, so pulling them early is a good idea. In fact, it's probably a good idea to run to them as soon as you zone in.
There are numerous other double giant pulls in MC. Generally, we deal with those as we would deal with double pulls anywhere else - CC one, burn down the other. Sapping one is usually easiest.
Typically, bosses in MC don't become hostile until you speak to them. Also, they usually give a special buff to the first person to approach them. There is often a lot of competition in the raid group to see who can approach a boss first... act fast and it could be you!
There are locked chests in the bottom of some lava lakes. It's usually a good idea for a rogue to drop down to get them - don't worry, a lock will summon you back up.
Lucifron, the first boss, comes with 2 adds - Lucifron enrages when the adds die, so he must be killed first. Behind him are several Core hound packs - they don't hit too hard, can probably be tanked by a warlock.
Magmadar, the second boss, is a giant dog, and responds well to /pat, /rollover and /playdead emotes. Areas of firey goodness appear around him during the fight - stand in them for a special fire damage buff.
Gehennas is another boss who must die before his adds. Also, he is susceptible to fire damage, so it's a good idea for the tank to walk backwards into the lava river.
Garr is surrounded by 8 smaller versions of himself - it's a good idea to pull them separately and kill them before engaging Garr himself. Buff up as much as you can for this fight - food, elixirs, flasks, whatever you have. Be careful when you kill the small copies of Garr, as they explode on death - well, except the last one.
Baron Geddon and Shazzrah - these 2 bosses are located in the same area, and so they should be pulled together. The best idea is to bunch up on both of them. If Geddon gives you a special debuff, then congratulations, you are 'da bomb'. Woot! Quick, run towards your friends and /highfive them.
Golemagg is another boss who won't aggro until you speak to him. Drop down to the left when you see him and stand behind him.
Sulfuron - his adds must be killed first. It's best to keep Sulfuron out of action while you do that. Sapping him is probably best.
Majordomo Executus comes with 8 adds, all of whom can be dealt with in different ways. The warrior adds should be seduced, while the casters should be frost nova'd and aoe'd down. Domo himself is usually evasion tanked by a rogue, a hunter pet, or a repair bot. Occasionally Domo will pick a special player and attempt to woo them. He'll probably pick you, as you are hot. Better get that armour off before you go into combat, as he will port his intended straight into his hot spa in the middle of the area.
Ragnaros - The more armour you have, the easier it is to tank this guy. Priests can use their Inner Fire hax very effectively here. When Ragnaros summons his sons, all hunters in the raid have 60 seconds to tame as many as they can before Rags resurfaces. The sons make excellent pets.
There you have it, enjoy your wicked loots. When in doubt, remember - it's a level 60 raid instance and most of us are now 70, so this is trivial content. If you pull aggro, don't worry about feigning, vanishing or trying to lose aggro in any other way... just dps harder and kill fast fast fast.
The first molten giant pair gain buffs at the same time that the players do, so pulling them early is a good idea. In fact, it's probably a good idea to run to them as soon as you zone in.
There are numerous other double giant pulls in MC. Generally, we deal with those as we would deal with double pulls anywhere else - CC one, burn down the other. Sapping one is usually easiest.
Typically, bosses in MC don't become hostile until you speak to them. Also, they usually give a special buff to the first person to approach them. There is often a lot of competition in the raid group to see who can approach a boss first... act fast and it could be you!
There are locked chests in the bottom of some lava lakes. It's usually a good idea for a rogue to drop down to get them - don't worry, a lock will summon you back up.
Lucifron, the first boss, comes with 2 adds - Lucifron enrages when the adds die, so he must be killed first. Behind him are several Core hound packs - they don't hit too hard, can probably be tanked by a warlock.
Magmadar, the second boss, is a giant dog, and responds well to /pat, /rollover and /playdead emotes. Areas of firey goodness appear around him during the fight - stand in them for a special fire damage buff.
Gehennas is another boss who must die before his adds. Also, he is susceptible to fire damage, so it's a good idea for the tank to walk backwards into the lava river.
Garr is surrounded by 8 smaller versions of himself - it's a good idea to pull them separately and kill them before engaging Garr himself. Buff up as much as you can for this fight - food, elixirs, flasks, whatever you have. Be careful when you kill the small copies of Garr, as they explode on death - well, except the last one.
Baron Geddon and Shazzrah - these 2 bosses are located in the same area, and so they should be pulled together. The best idea is to bunch up on both of them. If Geddon gives you a special debuff, then congratulations, you are 'da bomb'. Woot! Quick, run towards your friends and /highfive them.
Golemagg is another boss who won't aggro until you speak to him. Drop down to the left when you see him and stand behind him.
Sulfuron - his adds must be killed first. It's best to keep Sulfuron out of action while you do that. Sapping him is probably best.
Majordomo Executus comes with 8 adds, all of whom can be dealt with in different ways. The warrior adds should be seduced, while the casters should be frost nova'd and aoe'd down. Domo himself is usually evasion tanked by a rogue, a hunter pet, or a repair bot. Occasionally Domo will pick a special player and attempt to woo them. He'll probably pick you, as you are hot. Better get that armour off before you go into combat, as he will port his intended straight into his hot spa in the middle of the area.
Ragnaros - The more armour you have, the easier it is to tank this guy. Priests can use their Inner Fire hax very effectively here. When Ragnaros summons his sons, all hunters in the raid have 60 seconds to tame as many as they can before Rags resurfaces. The sons make excellent pets.
There you have it, enjoy your wicked loots. When in doubt, remember - it's a level 60 raid instance and most of us are now 70, so this is trivial content. If you pull aggro, don't worry about feigning, vanishing or trying to lose aggro in any other way... just dps harder and kill fast fast fast.
July 1, 2007
Raid target symbols
Here is the macro I use for marking raid targets. It checks to see whether you are in a party or raid, and announces your target in party chat or as a raidwarning.
This is the 'kill the skull' macro:
/script if (GetNumRaidMembers() > 0) then PR = "Raid_Warning"; else PR = "Party"; end;
/script SetRaidTarget("target",8)
/script SendChatMessage ("-- Kill the skull (%t) --",PR)
The number in the second line determines which symbol is put up:
1=star
2=circle
3=diamond
4=triangle
5=moon
6=square
7=cross
8=skull
I also have macros made for a few different CCs that we use, so I can throw symbols up on them too.
This is the 'kill the skull' macro:
/script if (GetNumRaidMembers() > 0) then PR = "Raid_Warning"; else PR = "Party"; end;
/script SetRaidTarget("target",8)
/script SendChatMessage ("-- Kill the skull (%t) --",PR)
The number in the second line determines which symbol is put up:
1=star
2=circle
3=diamond
4=triangle
5=moon
6=square
7=cross
8=skull
I also have macros made for a few different CCs that we use, so I can throw symbols up on them too.
May 10, 2007
/focus
I've realised a few people don't know about the /focus command that was implemented into wow a while back, so I've dug up an old post on it. It's particularly useful for healers, or for anyone with a single-target CC ability that needs to be refreshed midfight. This command is most useful if used in conjunction with an addon like xperl (my favourite) or perl_unitframes. I'll explain why below.
It is now possible, either in a macro or as a simple typed command, to /focus on a target. This 'saves' that target as your focus. The command /target focus will change your target to your current focus. For example, the following macro will set your current target as your focus if you click it while holding the Alt key, or will target your focus if you click it without holding the Alt key.
/focus [modifier:alt]
/stopmacro [modifier:alt]
/target focus
Kinda useful for saving a target and being able to recall it later. Not the most useful macro in the world though. Here is a more useful one... Alt-clicking the macro will save your current friendly target as MA, and clicking without Alt will assist your preset MA.
/focus [modifier:alt]
/stopmacro [modifier:alt]
/assist focus
Not bad. But it gets more useful. 'focus' can be used in a macro as a valid target for a spell - so you can cast a spell on a preset focus without actually needing to target it. For instance, this spell for mages will set your current target as your sheep target if Alt-clicked. If clicked normally it will sheep your focus, even if you don't have your focus targetted - so you can keep your current dps target.
/focus [modifier:alt]
/stopmacro [modifier:alt]
/cast [target=focus,exists] Polymorph
You could tweak this with the appropriate spell if you were a warlock wanting to keep something banished or seduced, or a priest wanting to keep something shackled... or...
Anyhow, if you are a healer it is useful to keep your primary heal target focussed, so that you can keep an eye on their health even when you have something else targetted. This is mostly used to keep an eye on the MT's health, but it can also be useful in fights where you need to keep an eye on the health of an NPC, such as the last fight in Arcatraz.
Sadly, however, default WoW doesn't show a target box for your focus target, so I recommend using a good addon like xperl that will do that for you. In fact, I can't recommend xperl enough, it's great. This was my UI at level 60 using the perl_unitframes addon, which is pretty similar (I should probably make a picture of my current UI). Across the top, from left to right, are me, my current target, target of target, target of target of target, and focus target. I love it.
Anyhow, hope that helps some people. Check out the UI & Mods official forum or the Most Used Macros on WoWwiki for more info.
It is now possible, either in a macro or as a simple typed command, to /focus on a target. This 'saves' that target as your focus. The command /target focus will change your target to your current focus. For example, the following macro will set your current target as your focus if you click it while holding the Alt key, or will target your focus if you click it without holding the Alt key.
/focus [modifier:alt]
/stopmacro [modifier:alt]
/target focus
Kinda useful for saving a target and being able to recall it later. Not the most useful macro in the world though. Here is a more useful one... Alt-clicking the macro will save your current friendly target as MA, and clicking without Alt will assist your preset MA.
/focus [modifier:alt]
/stopmacro [modifier:alt]
/assist focus
Not bad. But it gets more useful. 'focus' can be used in a macro as a valid target for a spell - so you can cast a spell on a preset focus without actually needing to target it. For instance, this spell for mages will set your current target as your sheep target if Alt-clicked. If clicked normally it will sheep your focus, even if you don't have your focus targetted - so you can keep your current dps target.
/focus [modifier:alt]
/stopmacro [modifier:alt]
/cast [target=focus,exists] Polymorph
You could tweak this with the appropriate spell if you were a warlock wanting to keep something banished or seduced, or a priest wanting to keep something shackled... or...
Anyhow, if you are a healer it is useful to keep your primary heal target focussed, so that you can keep an eye on their health even when you have something else targetted. This is mostly used to keep an eye on the MT's health, but it can also be useful in fights where you need to keep an eye on the health of an NPC, such as the last fight in Arcatraz.
Sadly, however, default WoW doesn't show a target box for your focus target, so I recommend using a good addon like xperl that will do that for you. In fact, I can't recommend xperl enough, it's great. This was my UI at level 60 using the perl_unitframes addon, which is pretty similar (I should probably make a picture of my current UI). Across the top, from left to right, are me, my current target, target of target, target of target of target, and focus target. I love it.
Anyhow, hope that helps some people. Check out the UI & Mods official forum or the Most Used Macros on WoWwiki for more info.
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