Arcanum

Wanted to post some of the strategies we have used, and some details that have helped us so far with the fight. I thought it would be good to have somewhere we can discuss the things our groups have all tried, and what worked well and what didn't! Sorry if I ramble a bit, or post the obvious

Keep in mind this is coming from a Tanks point of view, so all you dpsers and healers feel free to add detail, or correct information I have put up!

Strategy pro's and con's (from our experience)
2 tanks / 3 heals
Pro: Stability, 2 tanks and 2 sets of tank CDs for impales. 3 healers, additional raid CDs for speed-bolts, external CDs for impales / tetanus and capacity to heal through high raid damage.
Cons: Lower damage potential meaning you are likely to have 2 impales per platform from the corruption and also make the dps burn on the arm / wing to prevent cataclysm, more difficult for your 5 dps. Also more raid damage as each platform takes longer to complete, eg. blistering tentacles are up for longer.

1 tank / 3 heals
Pro: Stability with higher dps. With 6 dps it was obtainable to dps the mutated corruption before its second impale, and also reduced raid damage taken on each platform due to killing arm & tentacles faster. Retaining 3 healers means additional raid CDs for speed-bolts, external CDs for impales and tetanus and capacity to heal through high raid damage.
Cons: 1 tank required to tank both Elementium Terrors in phase 2. This will require coordinated tank and external cooldowns due to the very high shadow damage, or use of abilities to remove debuff if you have / are a pally.

1 tank / 2 heals
Pro: 7 dps means that things die fast. 1 impale per platform, mutated corruption dead before bolt, reduced raid damage from blistering tentacles etc. Phase 2 burn will be very fast.
Cons: Same as previous - 1 tank on both Elementium Terrors in phase 2 and very heavy healing with only 2 healers. Also with the raid wide damage increases at 10% and 5% will be hard for the healers to keep up with, so dps will be required to burn fast before the healers run oom, or are not able to keep people up anymore.

We have spent most time using the 1st and 2nd strategies, but have not yet tried the 3rd, so those are just my expectations of the pro's & cons. Also we use the colour order G - R - Y - B. This is to limit the number of hasted elementium bolts.

My thoughts on DPS for the fight:
- Fast switching. As soon as the mutated corruption is available, all dps should be burning it, aiming to kill it before the 2nd impale or the bolt arrives.
- Dont waste time on the bloods by letting them regenerate. Have someone call out when to aoe as a group so they all die at once, and dps can get back to the arm / wing.
- Blistering tentacles. On the second set of tentacles, consider leaving the majority of the dps on the wing / arm. Having the tentacles die slower, or even leaving 1-2 alive puts some strain on the healers, but doing this makes beating the cataclysm cast MUCH easier. (Thanks to Gwen for this suggestion! Helped us consistantly get into phase 2)
- Elementium Bolts. If they are slowed, make sure you are attacking them as soon as they are in range. Try not to waste dps time though. If you have trouble targetting them, make a macro. If they are not slowed, get as far from the landing position as possible, and use any self DR cds you have (feint, deterrance, barkskin, AMS etc), then dps as quickly as possible after it lands.
- Phase 2. DPS the boss, then DPS him harder. When the 3 tentacle adds spawn, focus fire them one by one (unless they are in cleave range) but more importantly WATCH OUT FOR WHO GETS TARGETTED BY SHRAPNEL. If it is you, watch the shrapnel cast and use your Dream ability when there is less than 3 seconds left. At the same time, run to the edge of the platform away from the bulk of the group, because when shrapnel hits you, it aoes people nearby, even when you use dream. As soon as its hit, back onto the tentacles. If the tentacles are dead...DPS the boss. When the 2 elementium terrors spawn, your tank/s will pick them up. Mark one for focus fire, then kill the other. Back onto the boss for moar dps. Stop all dps at 11% (when you push past 10%, raid damage increases quite a bit...same at 5%). Wait for the second set of tentacles and terrors, deal with them in the same way. Then pop what cds you have left, and potions to burn the last 11% for the kill.

My thoughts on tanking for the fight:
- Work out what defensive CDs you will use for each platform impale. For example I use:
- P1: Dream + barkskin (20% DR)
- P2: Survival Instincts (50% DR) + Barkskin (20% DR)
- P3: Frenzied Regen + Barkskin (20% DR)
- P4: Surv Instincts (50% DR) + Barkskin (20% DR)

If you have a pally in your group, you can get them to put Hand of Protection on you to take no damage from impale, or to remove your tetanus debuffs. It's good to have a macro to turn it off immediately though. Also a holy pally can use hand of sacrifice once per platform for additional help with impale damage.

Phase 2 - Make sure you tank the terrors in the yellow circle buff...it makes them attack 50% slower. Cycle through any defensive cooldowns you have, including dream. Dont waste dream on shrapnel...just cop it. If you have the mirror of broken images from TB, consider using it for this, the damage is all shadow, so the on use is awesome (as is aura mastery). You can also get someone to taunt your add off you if you need to drop the tetanus debuff, or use hand of protection.

That's about all I can think of right now...Feel free to add detail below for your roles in the fight!

If only you were this talkative about non-wow related things (AFL doesn't count)

A few things I can add -

P1

• A holy priest with glyphed Guardian Spirit can use it on each platform to soak the tanks impale. Really good if you single tank.
• Hand of Sacrifice is good to use on one impale each platform just to take the edge off. No reason not to - anything that helps healers conserve mana is awesome by me.
• Time your raid CDs well! Tank 4 piece bonus' make a huge difference, and getting it for them via early fights should be prioritised.

P2

• Spirit link totem is awesome for when the adds are out - tanks are taking big dmg but raidwide not as much.
• If the add debuffs are getting to high on the tank, Hand of Protection will drop them off immediately - but tanks need to macro the cancel aura or the adds will jump onto a dps instead.

#5497703 Cheyu wrote:

• Spirit link totem is awesome for when the adds are out - tanks are taking big dmg but raidwide not as much.

This is a *huge* help, getting two tanks to share the damage. I'd preferably get the shaman healer to save Spirit link for shortly before the yellow zone disappears - that way if dps is slow on the either the first or second set of adds it will give the tanks those extra few seconds of life.