Bloodlust

The third fight in ToC, this is a PvP-style encounter, similar to the fight in the 5-man version, where you fight three Champions of the opposing faction. This, however, will have you killing six Champions, with two healers, and four DPS. This is the fight that people will love or hate. In my experience, it’s mostly hate, with what seems like a cool concept devolving into a chaotic battle.

Short version: Pop cooldowns to kill the healers quickly, CC DPS while burning healers, pray.

Long version: If you just read the above, this fight seems pretty simple. It’s not. This ends up being a tough fight, because your enemies will change on a week-to-week basis. It also necessitates the use of CCs (crowd controls), and a cross between PvE and PvP mentalities. With a lot of PvE guilds having members that have never set foot into an arena, or even a battleground… well, this becomes a problem. The first, and most important thing to note, is that you should not wear PvP gear for this fight. This includes trinkets. Remember, even though it’s styled after a PvP fight, you’re still fighting computer-controlled enemies at the end of the day, and the fight should be treated as such. The entire fight will probably be won or lost in the first thirty seconds; you’ll need to CC (crowd control) most of the Champions, using spells like Cyclone, Hex, Polymorph, and Fear. Concentrate on one healer, and try to kill him as quickly as possible. This is really the only constant in this fight; afterward, you may find it better to move on to a DPS if your healers are getting smashed, or you can try to switch to the other healer, typically at the expense of CCs on the DPS that will be attacking part of the raid. Keep in mind that, while all of this is going on, you’ll be getting CC’d as well. Yes, just like an actual player, they can use CCs, and they’ll use them frequently. Because you’ll face different opposition each week, you should also keep in mind you’ll be facing different CCs as well. For all of the weekly changes, though, there are a few things I’ve picked up about the fight:

• Mark and plan before the fight. Sit down, and figure out who you’ll be killing first, second, and third; if you can get three down, the fight should be in the bag as long as your healers don’t die, and you can figure out the next target on the fly. Mark every Champion, so that it’s easy to keep track of each of the Champions, since this fight can and will get chaotic.
• The first 30 seconds are make-or-break. Seriously. That first healer needs to die, and yours need to live; if you start taking deaths early in the fight, it’ll just make everything that much harder. I don’t recommend saving Bloodlust until the second champion; you want as much as DPS as possible, and you should be popping Blust right along with every trinket or cooldown you have.
• Lock down the Champions you aren’t fighting. Use druids with cyclone, warlocks with banish, rogues with any one of their stuns, and more. Have these players assigned to just CC’ing certain Champions, while your other DPS focuses on taking down others one at a time.
• Interrupt heals. Seriously, this is a big one. If their healers are allowed to heal themselves, it makes killing them a much lengthier affair. For the druid, if you miss the interrupt, try to dispel the heal immediately. For the priest or Shaman, you’re out of luck. Keep in mind that, if fighting the Shaman, you might also have to deal with a Healing Stream totem as well, and that the Earth Shields he’ll cast on himself are dispellable.
• CC as much as necesssary; not as much as possible. If you aren’t assigned to lock down a specific champion, then don’t worry about them. You need to focus on keeping the raid alive if you’re a healer, or on killing the assigned NPC if you’re a DPS. You might be uncomfortable with not CC’ing, but just try not to be. You’ll need to rely on your raid-mates if you want to succeed here.
• Your healers need to live. While it’s more simple in a typical boss fight (don’t stand in fire, don’t pull aggro, etc), with this fight it’s an entirely different ballgame. This means keeping them away from the healers as much as possible. If the Warrior is able to get in among your casters and use Bladestorm, then it’s almost a guaranteed wipe. As an Shaman (assuming you’re Elemental), Thunderstorm is a great ability to get the melee DPS off of the heals; the few seconds it buys can make all of the difference.
• Communicate. In most fights, there’s little need to talk; everyone knows what to do, and outside of a few reminders, or chatter between tanks and healers, there won’t be too much talking.  For this fight, change that. All players need to call out if they’re being targeted by melee DPS, when they use CC’s, and if they’re the target of CCs. There’s a lot going on in this fight, and if no one notices you get polymorphed, then no one will dispel it. You need to know what’s happening as it’s happening, and you won’t if no one says a word. This goes doubly for healers; if there’s a melee DPS killing the casters, then they need to be taken care of, ASAP.

With any luck (and trust me, you’ll need a lot of luck for this fight), you’ll get these guys down without too much trouble. Just be prepared for several wipes, and don’t be afraid to change around your strategy if it isn’t working. An important thing to remember is that everyone, essentially, has one task in this fight, and there’s minimal movement unless you’re going from Champion to the next. Focus on your task, be it DPS, CC’ing, or healing, and get it done. Once you’ve finished with the Champions, you’ll be over the hump, and done with what’s arguably the most annoying fight in ToC.

This is a somewhat hectic fight; Jaraxxus summons adds and has several abilities that end up meaning there will be a lot of movement throughout the raid, even as he is tanked with almost no movement. This is a fight where players need to be on their toes, to avoid incoming damage, switch to adds, and more. Once you get it down, though, this fight will be a breeze.

Short version: Tank in middle, kill the adds quickly, spell-steal/dispel Nether Power, interrupt his casts, spread out, and don’t stand in fire. Fire resistance aura/totem at all times. Easy once learned.

Long version: Lord Jaraxxus is a fight with a lot going on, and a lot of damage; it can be tough on healers if the raid isn’t avoiding damage, and killing adds quickly. However, once you get the basics down, it’s pretty easy, and shouldn’t give you too much trouble. He has several abilities which can make life very difficult for healers if the raid isn’t trying to avoid damage. To help with damage reduction, use a fire resistance aura/totem at all times. His ability is Fel Fireball, which is an interruptable spell that he’ll cast against the MT; keep a rogue, or another melee class with interrupts on Jaraxxus, and be prepared for a bit of extra healing if it isn’t interrupted. The second spell to watch for is Legion Flame, in which he’ll place patches of fire on a random player. They have to run away to avoid the patches (and damage); if they stand in the fire long enough, they’ll be instantly killed. The really dangerous spell that he casts is Incinerate Flesh, which works like a Priest’s shields, only in reverse; rather than absorb damage, it absorbs heals. If your healers can’t do enough healing before it expires, the entire raid will start taking around 4000 damage every second. This is a dangerous ability that can wipe the raid very, very quickly.

The other part of the Jaraxxus fight are the adds he spawns. There will be two types: He’ll either summon a Mistress of Pain, or a group of Infernals. The Mistress it the more dangerous of the two adds, as she will hit almost about as hard as Jaraxxus himself. Periodically, she’ll also target a random player and use a move called Spinning Pain Spike, which basically amounts to a giant pile driver that will do a moderate amount of damage. Ranged DPS need to focus fire on the Mistress to bring her down quickly; have a melee or two switch as well if you need the extra bit of damage. As for the infernals, try to have the off tank group them up so they can be AOE’d down quickly. This can be tough, as they’ll periodically choose a random player, charge them, and begin channeling an un-interruptable spell that will do AOE damage in a small radius around the infernal. Players need to stay away from this AOE, and the MT/melee DPS need to be on their toes in case an infernal attacks them. The important thing about the infernals is this: they can be stunned. Your tank should try to keep them stunned as much as possible to help out the ranged DPS. Once the adds are killed, ranged DPS can switch back to Jaraxxus, and continue attacking him until the next adds spawn. If you can kill the adds quickly and avoid taking raid damage, Jaraxxus will be a cakewalk.

This is a three phase fight, where you’ll be fighting three different bosses: Gormok the Impaler, Acidmaw and Dreadscale, and Icehowl. The fights themself are actually relatively easy; they’re definitely a step below Ulduar in terms of difficulty. The fights aren’t too healing intensive, and they’re relatively easy on DPS since there’s very little movement involved in each phase.

Phase 1: Gormok
Short version: Tanks taunt off Gormok every three stacks of his debuff, ranged DPS and heals avoid fire, and kill Snobolds as they appear. Easy fight overall.

Long version: You’ll need two tanks; Gormok will begin stacking a debuff on the tanks, and the tanks will need to taunt off one another every time the debuff reaches three stacks; if it gets any higher, it will place a ton more strain on the healers. While the tanks are keeping Gormok under control, all DPS should be on the boss. Ranged DPS and healers need to spread out and keep their heads up, as Gormok will throw down fire patches periodicially, which will hit for several thousand damage per tick; DPS and heals need to move out of them immediately. Gormok will also throw out Snobolds, that will jump on random players’ backs. While not bad for melee, they’re nightmares for casters, as they stun and prevent spell casts. This can be dangerous if it gets on a healer; all ranged DPS need to switch from Gormok to the Snobolds whenever they appear, and it’s helpful if raiders call out who has the Snobold on them. If a raid is heavy on melee DPS, consider having a few of them switch as well. He’ll eventually stop throwing out Snobolds, and you can finish up the rest of the fight, no problem.

Phase 2: Acidmaw and Dreadscale
Short version:  Start with Acidmaw, keep him pointed away from the raid, and spread out ranged DPS and heals. Kite Dreadscale around the room. When raiders get a poison debuff on them, they need to run to someone with a fire debuff. Pop Bloodlust and cooldowns when Acidmaw dies, and switch to Dreadscale. Toughest of the three fights.

Long version: Initially, the raid should start out spread out at least ten yards away from one-another, and should focus fire on Acidmaw, who is immobile and needs to be pointed away from the raid. Dreadscale is movable, and needs to be kited around the room, as he’ll drop poison clouds, similar to Grobulus in Naxx. Every so often, Acidmaw will give players a poison debuff, and Dreadscale a fire debuff. The poison debuff can be cleansed by running to the OT, who should have the fire debuff; the fire debuff cannot be cleansed, and must be healed through. Partway through the fight, both Jormungar will burrow into the ground; when they come up, Acidmaw will be mobile, and Dreadscale will be immoveable. Continue to focus fire on Acidmaw until he dies, and then switch to Dreadscale. At this point, Dreadscale will enrage, and the tanks should pop their cooldowns, and the healers should be ready for intensive healing as DPS burns the boss down. If you don’t think you’re capable of a quick burn, then have a ranged DPS or two assigned to Dreadscale instead of Acidmaw throughout the fight; when Acidmaw dies, Dreadscale will be at partial health. Warlocks are especially ideal for this strategy, because they can place DoTs and switch back to Acidmaw.

Phase 3: Icehowl
Short version: Tank Icehowl facing the wall, with melee DPS stacking on the tank so that his whirl won’t knock them back. Ranged DPS need to spread out to avoid Arctic Breath. When he knocks everyone back, make sure you’re not standing in front of him, and take advantage of the double damage you can do when he is stunned. Relatively simple fight.

Long version: Tank Icehowl facing the wall, with melee dps by the tank so they aren’t knocked back by Icehowl’s whirl atttack. Icehowl will also periodically use an attack called Arctic Breath that acts as an AOE on the ranged DPS and healers, freezing them in place, inflicting a large amount of damage; to minimize its effects, all ranged DPS need to spread out. Healers will need to be prepared for large amounts of raid healing whenever this happens. The other unique aspect of the Icehowl fight is a move called Massive Crash, when he will go to the middle of the room, and knock back the raid against the wall, dealing 10,000 physical damage. He will then look at someone; if you’re in the area of where he’s looking, you need to move, ASAP, as Icehowl will charge forwards. You’ll have a debuff that will allow you to move 150% faster, which should make avoiding this attack relatively easy. Assuming he doesn’t hit someone, he’ll crash into the wall, and become stunned for fifteen seconds. During this time, he’ll take 100% damage, so DPS need to pick it up. Once he’s no longer stunned, he needs to be picked up, and you’ll repeat the process. Once you kill him, congrats, you’ve just defeated the Beasts of Northrend.