Secrets of Shadowbolting

Thorim is a somewhat complicated fight that is all about correctly dividing up your raid. After the initial pull, half the group is going to the hallway while half stays in the arena. In 25 man, we took 10 to the hallway, in 10 man we took 4. The hallway group consists of an AOE tank – most pulls are 3 adds, ranged dps – in order of selection: warlocks, hunters, mages, druids. Warlocks due to the fel armor contribution end up ripping aggro in the arena side just by existing due to healing aggro of their dots and armor and are better suited to the hallway. We also took 1-2 healers on 25 man, 1 on 10. The more healers that can be spared for the arena, the easier this is.
Melee dps tends to stay in the arena along with all the leftover ranged. There will be a debuff in the arena that increases cast speed so healers with HOTS are preferable. The Arena group is playing a survival game until the hallway group manages to make it through the gauntlet so while it is important to stack dps in the hallway to expedite the process, too little dps in the arena will result in that group getting overrun. If either the hallway or arena group wipes, the rest of the raid will end up dying shortly afterward.

The initial pull is 1 Jormunger and a bunch of smaller adds. One tank takes the jormunger and faces him away from the raid as he has a frontal poison spray that needs to be avoided by as many people as possible. Once he is down, AOE the adds until they are all gone.

NOTE: We ran into a lot of people disconnecting at the beginning of this fight after the initial pull on 25 man. One thing that seemed to help is those that had a history of DCing would either wait a few seconds for the pull to begin, walk in backwards or a combination of both. The timer does not start until all the adds are down. If you lose people, people DC etc, you can CC one mob until they are back online. We would drag one of the adds out and sheep, seduce, frost trap it until all our members were online and ready to go. When there are only 1-2 adds left, one member of the hallway team needs to go hit the level to open the door to the hallway – this is not active until the last mob is down. We usually had this be the healer for the hallway team. This is a long channeled opening so the sooner this starts the more time you have before the mobs hit the arena and the more time you have for the 5 min gauntlet timer.

Arena:
The way we had the most success was to stack up in the center of the arena on the brown circle. We had 2 tanks in 25 man, 1 in 10 man. Along the upper edge of the arena are the mobs. Once the event has started, mobs will jump down from this upper ledge to join in the arena. Evokers and Champions are the most deadly. They need to be immediately picked up by the tanks and burned down. Evokers heal, champions have a whirlwind. Champions need to be pulled to the far edge of the circle, evokers can stay a little more central. Once the tanks have picked up the mobs, AOE can help burn down the commoners and warbringers after the champions and evokers have been single targeted down. Warbringers can be CC’ed, trapped, rooted if things get too chaotic. Waves will keep coming. Its up to the tanks to try and grab as many of the adds as possible Rogue’s tricks of the trade, hunter’s misdirects can help with this.

Gauntlet:
There are 2 pulls of 3 before you hit the Runic colossus. The healer is always the center of the 3 and his Greater Heals can be interrupted. He can be CCed. We used the warlock succubus and/or fel hunter and a Mage’s counter spell to prevent the heals from the Dark Runed Acolytes.

After he casts the ball of flame he will immediately begin charging a new one. Sometimes this is on the same side, sometimes not. The gauntlet group will be switching sides left and right to avoid these. Once you pull the colossus there is a chance he will still be charging. If he is, stay away from that side, he will still fire off the flame on the side of the original cast. Even though the tank may grab him and swing him to face the door, the flame will go off on the side he was charging before as if he is still facing the raid.

Engaging the colossus is simple – a quick tank and spank. We had the MT face him to the door and everyone stacked behind him on his backside to prevent the charge. As soon as the colussus is down, the door behind him opens, the tank picks up the adds and we sent a pet after the next boss which is up the stairs to the right while the rest of teh dps and tank focus on the adds. A hunter’s cat is ideal as they have a sprint but any pet will do as long as the owner stays within range.

Note: A felhunter’s auto cast tends to be his spell interrupt. The second boss is immune to this and will not engage if this is the attack used. Once the pet has pulled the boss, the dps finishes dpsing down the adds which are the same as the initial pulls. We pulled the boss back into the same room where the first boss was – in the exact same spot. DPS spread out around the room – similar to KT – 10 yds between everyone. Acolytes are targeted first as they will heal up their fellow adds. Once the adds are down the raid burns down the boss. He has a stomp which will stun everyone in a 10 yd range as well as a runic detonation. If boss mods are running this will put a skull on that person and they will be frozen in place. If people are not already 10 yds away, they need to get there quickly to avoid the damage.

Once the boss is down the gauntlet team runs up the stairs and takes the first right.

As you turn right you must stay to either side of the room. There are 2 big circles in the center of the floor which will kill you if you step in them. Stay to the sides.

Once you pass Thorim, jump down and land on the arena floor and help finish off any remaining adds from the arena team. Thorim will shortly join and the tanks need to pick him up and spread out in the center of the room. The tanks need to watch for Unbalancing Strike. This removes 200 defense rating from the tank that was hit and the OT needs to immediately taunt until this debuff wears off (15 seconds).
Keep an eye on the walls – There will be a string of chain sparks that reach out to one of the pillars. This is a sign that the lightning charge is coming.

The lightning charge will hit pillars on both sides of the initial chain of sparks. DPS & heals – melee and ranged – need to move out of this area. It’s roughly 1/4 of the room. Anyone in this area will be hit by chain lightning which increases in damage the more players it hits.

This can occasionally be tough for melee to see so it helps having this called out as to where it is.

Summary:
Arena and gauntlet need to be well balanced so both groups stay alive
Ranged tends to be on gauntlet, melee in arena
Arena – kill evokers and champions first, then aoe rest down
Gauntlet – avoid the fire in the hallway, kill the Runed Dark Acolytes – the healers, first. Avoid circles in the hallway when running to thorim
Spread out, avoid chained lightning
Tanks work out a rotation for taunting when Unbalancing Strike hits

Initially all 3 bosses are central. The kill order we chose is Steelbreaker (center), Molgeim (left), Brundir (right). We had a hunter MD Steelbreaker to the main tank and pulled him towards the door. In 25 man, we had 1 tank for each of the other 2 bosses, in 10 man we only tanked Molgeim and left Brundir alone. Having a tank on Brundir can interrupt his Chain Lightnings. In 25 man we had 1 healer dedicated to both tanks, in 10 man we had one that would be halfway between groups to keep the OT up and occasionally help with raid healing.

Initially, dps stacks up fairly close together. There will be a chain lightning effect hitting members of the raid as well as the debuff from Steelbreaker’s Fusion Punch that will damage everyone in range. Stacking ensures that the healers can keep everyone up with AOE heals.

Molgeim casts runes of power on the ground. These are bright and blue and increase the damage of anyone standing in them. These will appear under the boss so it the job of the tanks to move the bosses out of these power runes. Dps and healers can and should stack in these runes to increase damage done.

Note the locations of the other 2 bosses being tanked. Molgeim’s tank has a healer with them, Brundir is off in the back and Molgeim is about to be moved out of his rune of power. Occasionally Steelbreaker will Fusion Punch – this means the MT will be taking extra damage and the defuff that is placed on the MT needs to be dispelled ASAP.

Once Steelbreaker is down, our MT from Steelbreaker in 10 man will now go get Brundir and the rest of the raid moved onto Molgeim. He now has the ability to cast Runes of Death. They are very large and will kill anyone in them for more than 3 seconds. It is important to spread out in this phase to lessen the distance you will have to run should a rune of power be generated. Runes of power are still generated though they will sometimes be obscured by runes of death. Death is more potent than power, it’s not worth it to stand anywhere close to the death rune.

Brundir now gains Lightning Whirl which will need to be interrupted for the rest of the fight.

Once Molgeim is down, it’s time for Brundir. Ranged DPS needs to stay at max range – 30 yds at least – and melee has to be on the watch for Overcharge. When Overchage is starting up – melee needs to get out – it’s about the size of the circles on the floor so use that as a guide for how far away you need to go.

Brundir’s air phase will cause the tanks to lose threat. He will pick a random target and go after them. This target should stay in place and be healed. The rest of the raid needs to get away from this person. The lightning tendrils have a 10 yd range from the center and more than a few hits of this is enough to kill most members of the raid. He will change targets 2 or 3 times during the air phase – the raid needs to be aware and be ready to move. He is tauntable in this phase though his aggro resets every time he is in the air. DPS needs to be aware of this fact and ensure the tank has him upon landing so not to be one shot.

Ignis, unlike other fights in Ulduar, does not require a lot of movement. The initial pull is either done by the tank or a hunter with a misdirect. Ignis can then be kited over to the water area. This is a healing intensive fight as the raid will take a lot of damage and there will be large damage spikes on the main tank when the adds appear.
The first 12 seconds or so of the fight is a complete dps burn. After the first initial burn Ignis will start Scorching the ground and summoning adds. Ignis is basically turned left or right by the Main Tank to drop the fire on either sides for his add tank. In 25 man we use 2 tanks – one for either side. In 10 man, 1 add tank is sufficient.
When the adds appear, the OT will grab them and stand them in the fire – NOTE – They CAN be CCed! A druid’s roots are perfect for this as after the add tank places the adds, they can be rooted in place for the duration of buff. Druid kiting information. After the adds have a stack of 20 Heat debuffs, they can be moved to the water. This should be a short distance from where they were tanked in the fire and a 1 shot of 5k or more will be enough to shatter them once they are purple and brittle. Hunters, moonkin and mages are all very good at this. Ignis will hit 15% harder for each add that is up. It is possible to heal through a few adds but this turns into a serious dps race the more adds that are up.

Ranged and Melee dps stack behind ignis and have to watch out for the Flame jets which are cast on the raid. Flame jets have a 8 spell interrupt if you are casting when they go off. Watch your boss timers as this can be fatal if a healer is silenced for 8 seconds. Insta casts are fine, casting immediately before and after is fine, but when the jets go off you take immediate damage and then some residual damage for a few seconds afterward.
Note to warlocks – do NOT lifetap before this goes off – it’s just a bad idea.

Occasionally Ignis will select someone for the slag pot – this person will need extra heals while they are in the pot – usually they require the help of at least 2 healers to ensure they will stay alive as this is a lot of damage over a short period of time – Think similar to KT’s ice blocks. You can still cast/melee/heal while in the slag pot.

Checklist:
MT – Watch for scorch, place it on either side for your add tank to bring the constructs into
OT – get the constructs in the fire, CC if possible, coordinate with a dps on when to shatter once they are in the water and brittle
DPS – Go nuts but watch out for flame jets. 8 seconds is a long time to be silenced. Better safe than dorry
Healers – Extra damage on tank when adds are up, AOE heal once flame jets end as all raid has taken damage and will continue to do so for a few more seconds. Extra heals on person in slag pot. You can heal in slag pot! Ot will also be taking flame damage from kiting adds, keep them up so they don’t go after the dps.

Before engaging Auriaya, there are 2 trash pulls that need to be cleared before engaging her. We will pull both the right and left sides. Each of the adds needs to be tanked separately and far from each other. We usually have one at the middle of the stairs, one at the far end of the platform. Things to note – the adds spawn sparks that will travel to the closest giant. Usually this is the second of the pair however if there is only 1 alive it will head towards another group in the circle. If the spark reaches another giant, they will gain (I believe) a 50% damage increase. Therefore it’s important to burn these sparks as fast as possible. They can be CCed in 10 man, they can not be CCed in 25 man.
There’s 2 methods of burning these adds.
1st – Burn 1 add, anytime a spark forms, burn the spark. Burn 2nd add. NOTE: upon killing the first add, the second add gains a debuff that increases damage done by a large amount. Healers have been warned. Also – if sparks are still generated they still need to be first priority for burning as they will go pull adds on either side of the group you just pulled.
2 – kill the giants at the same time. You will have more sparks, but the damage to the second tank will not increase for long after the first dies.

Auriaya, like many fights in Ulduar is very movement intensive. The hardest part about this fight is the pull. Auriaya comes with 2 cats in 10 man, 4 in 25.
We utilize 3 tanks and a DK to pull this off. The boss tank stands out of line of sight on the far side and will eventually pull Auriaya to the center. A pally and warrior add tank will pick up the sentries and we use a DK’s death and decay to start the pull.

As she pats around close to the pull area, the DK drops D&D (can also use snake traps or other ranged pulls) then ducks around the corner. The add tanks pick up the adds and are then AOEed down. While the add tanks hold the cats, the boss tank taunts auriaya off and drags her to the center. Once the adds are down everyone stacks on Auriaya and the add tank but IN FRONT of her due to sonic screech. If you have enough DPS you can kill the cats before the first fear, else burn the cats first and then go after the boss.

The boss is tanked in the center of the circle, after each fear is the sonic screech therefore it is important that people stack back up in front of the tank as soon as the fear is finished. Tremor totems, if available, should be used in groups containing healers and tanks. Anyone with interrupts needs to help interrupt the Sentinel screech which can do a large amount of damage on top of the screech. Auriaya will call a Feral Defender who will pounce anyone outside of an 8 yard range. This needs to be offtanked though it will charge and stun people as well as pounce anyone too far away. Auriaya will also cast a swarm of guardians on a player which will need to be AOEd down and the player they are swarming will need extra heals.

The Feral defender does not need to be killed unless it is causing large amounts of damage to the raid. It will be taking AOE damage from the swarm’s and just needs to be kept an eye on. Once it is down to about 15%, it needs to be dragged out to a corner to be killed. If a fear is incoming, it can be stunned to hold it in place and prevent pouncing during the fear. Once the cat is dead it leaves a void hole on the ground which will stay up for the remainder of the fight. In 10 and 25 man we can usually get by without killing the cat at all or having 1 death.

Auriaya needs to be moved as soon as possible to avoid people running through the void zones during a fear.

Quick recap:
Kill initial adds
Group up in front of tank & dps boss
AoE swarms – extra heals on person being swarmed
Stun feral defender before fears
Tremor totem/Fear ward tanks/healers
After fear stack in front of boss – more people in front of boss = less damage per person
When feral defender is around 15% drag him out, stun him so he doesn’t pounce and burn him down
After defender is down, kite boss down to next level
rinse and repeat

The trickiest thing about Kologarn is thinking you have more space than you really have. One person steps into the room to bring him up and as he rises you will see his right and left arms. His left arm does a sweeping smash that can not be avoided while the right arm will grab people and squeeze them until 150k on 10 man, 450k on 25 is done to the arm. The room is very narrow and you do not have a lot of space.

It is important for ranged DPS to spread out in case the focused eyebeam is on you. Melee dps stacks on the tanks by the right arm. The tank will go in and engage Kologarn, melee stacks up on him as well. There is a stacking debuff applied to the tank that reduces armor – this is felt very hard by druid tanks who can usually only take 2 stacks before they get smushed. Make sure to watch the stacks and taunt as needed.

We’ve found it easiest to focus on the right arm and burn that down first. While burning the right arm, he will still sweep with his left causing raid wide damage, grab people with his right until damage is done, and focus his eye on a player. If the player is focused, they need to run out of the room towards the steps. this gives the rest of the ranged a heads up to know where the beam is going and to get out of the way. All damage done to the arm’s will come off Kologarn’s total health.

Once the right arm is down, he summons rumblers. The tank can pick them up and these can be AOEd down by ranged dps. When the rumblers are down, DPS can focus on Kologarn until the arm respawns. Eye beams will continually go off on the raid and it is up to the ranged to stay out of the way and avoid damage.

The rest of the fight is a rinse and repeat – burn the arm, stay out of the eyebeams, if someone is grabbed dps the arm hard, when adds spawn, aoe them down then focus back on kologarn.

NOTE: You CAN fall off the back of the ledge where Kologarn is. do NOT stand too close to the edge!!!

XT s a nasty little robot with a severe temper. (this picture was taken before a disconnect during the first week of Ulduar when the zone would freeze up. Do not attempt this if the zone is not frozen. It won’t end well).

Since the nerf, XT has gotten less devastating in the amount of damage dealt to the raid. Once engaged and facing away from the raid – we usually take him at the bottom of the steps – the raid focuses on burning XT down to 75% which will activate the heart phase. While burning XT a memeber of the raid will either get Gravity well – glowing purple shadowy – and they need to get away from the rest of the raid of they will suck others into their radius and after a short time explode and deal damage to anyone who was sucked in. 10 yards or so distance is enough to avoid this effect. Lightwells will cause a player to glow white and emit damage to everyone in range of them – again, 10 yards or so. If your raid is spread out enough at the start these people can stay still and not damage anyone. Every 25% XT enters the heart phase in which adds spwn, XT goes immune and exposes his heart.

During this phase, adds will pawn from the corners – scrapbots and boombots are the main ones to watch out for. Pummelers need to be picked up by the OT. The best tactics we used was to have melee concentrate on the heart – ranged AOE were assigned to corners to destroy the scrapbots and boombots that spawned. Any scrapbots that get to XT help him regain health. If you kill the heart – you activate hard mode. Do as much damage to the heart as possible without killing it. This will also detract from XTs overall health and if you burn enough off, you will have a short time on the dps burn before he’s back in a heart phase.

Ensure the adds are down before continuing to DPS XT, stay away from raid members with lightwell and gravity bomb and the fight tends to be fairly simple.

We marked our healers with raid icons so we knew where to stand so that we were in range of heals while being spread out.

Just past Flame Leviathan to the right is razorscale. This is a pretty easy fight if you remember one thing… STAY OUT OF THE FIRE!
The fight starts by talking to the Expedition leader. At this point, mole turrets pop up at the far side of the circle on the ground. There can be anywhere from 1-3 mole turrets so 2 tanks are needed to pick up the adds and group them up for AOEing. Dark Rune watchers have a nasty whirlwind and should be tanked away from the raid to avoid melee damage. Occasionally you will see a message pop up about a harpoon launcher being ready. One member of the raid needs to move to the back of the room to click and activate the turret. This will put a harpoon in razorscale.

While this is ongoing there is 2 types of fire damage to attempt to avoid. Blue fire will land and put an AOE effect on the ground. This must be avoided. Red and blue fire will single target one person but will not cause the AOE on teh ground. The bl;ue fire aoe will kill a player in under 3 seconds if they do not get out in time.
After (2 harpoons in 10 man, 4 harpoons in 25) the harpoons have been launched, razorscale will land. The tanks should bring the adds close to razor scale and DPS her down as much as possible before she launches again. Adds should be dead by the time she launches.

The adds will spawn again from the turrets and this is rinse and repeat until razorscale lands again. Once she is at 50% she will no longer launch in the air. After she has landed, the tanks need to immediately taunt her and drag her around the edges of the circle.

She will occasionally breathe fire which is a conal attack in front of her. Avoid the flames and burn her down.