Ignis Strategies

In 10 man, Ignis can seem like a big cluster*#$! when you're in the middle of the fight.

To make things a little more simple, I've spoken to a few people, and read up on the widely accepted strats for the fight.

Here they are in order of my liking them:

Healer Aggro:

Basically, All Ranged and Heals stand on the ledge of the pool behind the iron constructs. MT will path Ignis' Scorches linearly so he is always in LOS. OT still runs adds through scorch, where they are rooted/snared, and then the OT backs off.

Once molten, aggro drops from the constructs, and will aggro to healers--but because of the deisgn of the layout, the only way to get to them is to run through the pool. Once they hit the pool and turn brittle, ranged can take them out without problem, and the OT is already safe to pick up another.

Nuked:

DPS race. Ignis tanked so that scorches disappear in pools. OT holds adds for duration of fight.

Nuke him down. Only have about 4 minutes.

Rotation:

MT rotates Ignis so that he scorches in a semi circle (counter clockwise). Raid stays behind, then moves to open ground after 3rd scorch hits. OT still scorches adds.

Old Faithful

Deconstructor Down!

After a 2 week hiatus, we decided to head back into Ulduar for another go round...

Leviathan went down as usual, and then out of the blue, we one-shot razorscale  =) WTF??!!

Truth is, we hadn't tried razor since ground zero, patch day. I was very pleased to say the least. Next we headed into Deconstructor, had a few issues on the initial pull, but downed him on the second attempt. At the end of the fight, I can't help but laugh. Early on our MT went down when he ran out of range, so our OT picked up, and I switched to frost pres. to grab the pummelers. Apparently, after the battle rez I forgot to switch back...still managed almost 4k though  =)

Got to Ignis, but that'll have to be friday.

Oh, and grats to all the guys on their loot; Nice mace Stone!

News for 05/27/2009

I am very proud today.
Last night we got a Naxx-25 group going, and I can honestly say it went pretty well =) 14 people got phat loots that they didn't have, and we completed 1.33 wings!
Can't wait until Thurs!!!


The Notes for Patch 3.1.3 just went up, and I don't like it.
DK tanks are getting nerfed in the form of frost presence, as well as the bonus frost rune refresh from PvP gloves...that sucks. I enjoyed the 80% armor bonus. Now down to 60%.
Oh well.

On another note though, I was able to pick up a Nobles Deck so I can get my Darkmoon Card: Greatness when the fair rolls through Azeroth in another week =)

Mammoths!!!

So yesterday I notice a girl is afk on her mammoth...

I had nothing better to do, so I pulled up next to her while my Naxx-25 group was starting to get together. 2 minutes later and voila! Mammoths from all around appeared out of nowhere  =)

DW is Coming Back, Baby!!!

I Like swords.
BIG, masculine, 2 handers with larger than life damage...

But anyone playing pre-patch will tell you that DW was the way to go--insane dps, awesome TPS...
(DRUMROLL)

in a forum post:


2009-05-20 22:41:50
Re: Please dont write off DW DKs
Next major patch.

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Ghostcrawler
Lead Systems Designer

You read that right!
DW is coming back, baby!

What's Next?

My quest for the perfect DPS has lead me to many places.

Currently, I am helping out Biggums and the gang over at [El Veritas] in Naxx-25 (very cool guys btw), and our 10 is trying hard to be successful in Ulduar, but I am also trying to figure out what else I can do.... /sigh

I think I know.

I think its about time for me to suck it up, and finally go for Nobles Deck which is BiS at the moment.

He doesn't know it yet, but my inscription friend is gonna help me make it =)
Muahahahahahaha /evil grin

Raiding

The day I hit 80, I didn't know what to do. 

I jumped into some BG's in my quest blues, and my waraxe from ampitheatre...and got my ass handed to me. For a good part of the morning, all I could do was curse.

Then something cool happened. I started getting invites to Heroics by Gnomes and Di, and suddenly the game took a whole different turn. I loved running heroics. I loved the challenge, and I still do now. We had a solid 10 running Naxx-10, learning to raid together, and gearing up--and on patch day, about 7 pm when the realms started coming back up, we headed into Ulduar, together, for the first time. Epic battles ensued, and I dunno how many wipes later we defeated leviathan after figuring it out on our own. It was a good feeling.

At this point in the game, raiding is all I want to do. It's a challenge. And by my standards, being able to not only finish a raid, but destroy it, is my goal. I don't care about loot. Although it's nice to see new items, and freshen up my character--my aim is to take every single boss down, and prove that I am the best.

There are some others in the guild that share the same sentiments: Kal, Stone, Di, Darth, Vic...I know all of these guys are in it to the end. And even some of the newer faces are making tremendous effort (Chi Chi and Whoa). Anyway, I hope that soon your efforts pay off for you =)

[Naxx25- Razuvious...notice who's on top] 

An Epic Ending: Good Luck SJ

Yet another great source of information has left us, today. SkeletonJack of [Sleepless Knights] and skeletonjack.com has decided to leave the game.

Jack's postings on the DK were epic. From analyzing BiS equipment, to run downs on specs and rotations, Jack was an invaluable resource and he will be missed. You were actually the first to get me more interested in researching all things DK, talking to other players, and testing out unholy...

Good Luck Jack

Naxxramas: Military

Military/Deathknight Quarter

Instructor Razuvious


This is a simple tank and spank with one exception: Tanks will be mind-controlling the understudies around Razuvious to tank. These purple crystals you see here are clicked-on to make an understudy your pet. Once the tanks are holding threat, DPS will nuke away, and heals will keep Understudies up. So let's talk about the tanking rotations.


The understudies have 3 abilities, bone shield, strike, and taunt.
MT: Boneshield, Taunt, Strike and right before taunt runs out,
OT: Boneshield, Taunt, Strike....and then back to MT when OT's taunt starts to run out.


The problem w/ MC is that it only lasts so long. Every other rotation, the Tank not aggro-ing Razuvious must quickly "dismiss" pet, and then click on the crystal to pick it up again. Simple. =)



Gothik the Harvester


There are two rooms: Life and Death. The main room that you enter is life side, and the room to the right is the dead side. Basically, the raid will split into 2- half on life, half on dead-- Adds will first spawn on lifes side, and then once killed, will spawn on dead's.


Generally, they spawn from skeleton piles, so raid is generally against wall opposite of them. Once the gate adjoining the 2 rooms opens, one group runs over to the group that Gothik's at, and nukes away... good times.





4 Horseman

Hmmm...where do I start....

4 Bosses. 1 Boss per Corner of the room. Each giving off a unique debuff. Usually, 2 dps will be in back of the room, "tanking" the back 2, with a healer-- and switching every 2 stacks of the debuff (healer chooses which side to start on, and heals the other dps in passing).

MT and main dps/healer composition start in front left, and Nuke whats-his-nuts to the floor.... OT tanks in front right, and if dps cant down whats-his-nuts, then they switch places w/ OT at 3 stacks. Bosses in front get downed first, then raid runs to back and does the same thing, switching every 2-3 stacks.

Boss Vids:

Razuvious:

Gothik:

4 Horseman:

Epic Leviathan Fight or Stonehoofx /ftw

Heya Guildies!

Saturday we decided to run into Ulduar to farm the Leviathan. This is the 4th consecutive week that we've taken him down! We took about 5 Ulduar nubs with us (hehe), and overall, only took 3 tries to down...not too bad. You guys pick stuff up fairly quick!

What was epic about this fight you ask? the last 10% of Leviathan's health was one manned (or 1-vehicled) I guess you could say.

As his health was pushing into the red, a failed flame-vent suppression got my siege blown to bits, and then the last demolisher was rolled over = instant death. Only one siege survived, pioloted by none other than the infamous guild co-founder, Stonehoofx (crowd goes wild), with Cozzete riding shotgun. After some Steamboost, and some fancy gun work, Stone was able to take Leviathan down /ftw. I just wished I had recorded more footage. /sigh


Anyway, thanks to Stone, i was able to pick up Ironsoul with a roll of 99. =)

Ulduar: X2-002 Deconstructor

New Strategy

Boss Details here

Raid Positioning:

Ranged/Heals should think Kel'Thuzad on this fight. Use [/distance] and stay 10 yds away from everyone, so they don't have to run from debuff...means more dps time on boss.

Naxxramas: Construct

Construct Quarter

Patchwerk:

MT and OT switch roles here...the OT takes hateful strikes, which hit like a mother. So, OT should be high avoidance/mitigation, high in HP. Heals are NON-STOP on tanks. Rest of raid won't need heals...

Grobbulus:

Pay attention on this one-- Grobbulus will be kited around the room, usually counter clockwise, along a metal grate on the floor as a path. Tank will start on left side of the room, the raid on the right. DPS will run long way around to position themselves behind Grob (heals in middle), and will be constantly moving.

NEVER step in front of Grob...it will spawn slime adds that will need to be OT'd and will cause a wipe. Grob targets a random raid member with "Mutating Injection." THIS CAN NOT BE DISPELLED! When you get this debuff, you will run behind the raid to a wall and wait for the debuff to dispel itself. Stay out of poison clouds and you'll be ok.
Gluth:Big Dog.

MT & OT: will both tank Gluth at the back of the room, his ass to the raid. Gluth gives a stacking debuff, so tanks will cycle taunt every 2-3 stacks.

DPS/Heals: will be behind gluth pounding away...dps damages, heals, well heals.

Kiter: skeleton adds will spawn at back...they cant be killed, and if they hit you, gives you a very bad stacking debuff...these need to be kited as far back as possible, and they can be rooted, snared, frost trapped, etc...

All dps will be on boss until Decimate, then all dps will run back and burn down adds as fast as possible...if they reach Gluth, he's healed significantly, so its pretty much a wipe.

Thaddius:

This is a DBM fight all the way...

Raid is broken into 2 halves for the first phase--two adds that must die at the same time. DBM will show health for both, so that both sides can keep track. Tanks will get thrown from one side, to another, and must make sure to taunt after they have switched places.

Once the adds go down, you will jump from the platform, to where Thaddius is located. It is possible to miss and fall down. Make sure you make the jump, and if you don't, just sit back and watch. Trying to get back will likely cause a wipe.

Once in front of Thaddius, he will cast charges on you... (+) and (-).

When you get the charge, you will move either to the Right Side (+) or Left Side (-) ...failing to be in the right spot will do massive damage. He casts Polarity Shift every 30-40 seconds, and your charge will either change or remain the same (DBM will tell you). If your polarity changes, you will run directly through Thaddius to the opposite side.

Boss Vids:

Grobbulus:


Gluth:

Thaddius:

Note: Guild Strat for Thaddius is Right Side Positive (+) and Left Side Negative (-)

Shyste, a Tank??!!

OWNT!!!

So if you remember my fail-tankedness experience from a week ago, this one's really gonna surprise you...

Violet Hold, UK, Nexus....all successfully tanked by yours truly. Yup--you heard that right.
Now I'm not saying I was the most epic tank ever, but I did get the job done =)

And....

Wait for it...

I also tanked OS!

Thats right...1st night tanking, and 3 heroics and a raid. All successful. /sigh
More to come!

Naxxramas: Plague

Plague Quarter

Noth the Plaguebringer

Stack in the corner of the room...spank him down. =)

OT picks up adds, and when Noth teleports, all dps on adds till theyre down...then he teleports back. He does place a curse on the raid, which need to be de-cursed right away, otherwise, after 10 seconds of it, its a wipe.

Heigan the Unclean

The. Dance.
For this one, Tank will tank Heigan in the front right, and all healers and casters will be in the far left to avoid the debuff. Heigan will teleport every 60 sec...and the dance ensues.

Loatheb

Tank and spank with spores. Spores spawn and give dps a crit boost, but gives tank threat reduction if they get it. Tank on one side, dps on other, wait for spores to come by dps, then kill for bonus.

Healers are faced with an aura that only allows them a 3 second window to land heals...meaning that heals can't land while debuff is active, but you can start casting if heal will land after debuff fades. Big heals to top off tanks, and raid heals to go around....all in 3 seconds.



Other than that..easy street.

BOSS Vids:

Noth:

Heigan:

Loatheb:

Naxxramas: Arachnid

Spider Quarter


Anub'Rekhan:

First boss of the arachnid quarter. Typically, Tank will pull Anub back to the entrance, where he will remain for the duration of the fight. All ranged dps and heals will move to center circle in middle of room at max range. Anub will spawn a Locust Swarm, and spawn an add at the back of the room. All melee will run back to center, OT will pick up add, and all dps will take add down. MT will need to be healed during the swarm. Once add is down, all dps will re-focus on Anub.

Grand Widow Faerlina:

Ok. Pay attention on this one =)

Faerlina has 4 adds with her at the beginning. OT will start by pulling them all together, and MT will taunt Faerlina off. but keep her close to adds. All dps will be on faerlina, but adds will be marked with a kill order. When she enrages, all dps will turn to the first add (worshipper) and will kill the add to silence her enrage.

It is important not to use AoE's or cleaves that might accidentally kill the adds prematurely. Faerlina gives off a dispellable poison to 5 closest to her; this needs to be dispelled, and healed through, but doesnt do a whole lot of dmg. Adds do a reign of fire AoE, real easy to step out of.


Maexxna

Now the fun begins...

Big Spider. Wraps everyone up every minute or so, and will randomly shoot-wrap someone across the room. One person will be in charge of breaking the webs, and heals should heal the person inside. At 30% Maexxna does an enrage, to help counter this, dps will back off and allow themselves to be web wrapped right before the 30%, then burn her down as fast as possible.

Key Notes: MT will be taking a decent amount of damage, and will be receiving poison that must be dispelled. Healers will need to top off MT right before webwrap, since they wont be able to cast while webbed. OT will AoE small spiders every 40 seconds they only take 1 or 2 shots.

BOSS Vids:

Anub'Rekhan

Grand Widow Faerlina

Maexxna