Lich King Phase 2

[Xires]

My guild has been stuck on LK (25 man) for the last 4 weeks now I believe? Its always the same thing that kills us in phase 2. Defile...defile defile defile. It either drops on us when we go to dps the valks so 3+ people are in it when it happens so it expands and we wipe, or the person just isnt fast enough to get out in time. We've made 0 progression because of it. Throughout this expansion we were neck and neck with the horde guild on our server for kills and then the LK stopped us dead cold. Now we're still 11/12 ICC and lst I checked they were 5/12 HICC.
So now we're going through where people just show up on tuesday for the boss kills (35 people or so log in), and then we have around 25-28 for the rest of the week, and unfortunately about 3-5 of them aren't strong players, we've even had 3 of our core raiders quit the game (sold there accounts) and another just up and server transfer to a more progressed guild.
So now that you know the nature of our dilemma, we are trying to recruit more players to fill our gaps so we can press on- my question is.....is there a freakin add-on or ANYTHING that can help make thsi guy retard proof because he isn't hard but because of defile if we have 1 retard or bad rng we're totally screwed....oh god freakin help me I'm losing my god damned mind!!!!!

[Shockk]

Make sure all your raid members have an up-to-date version of a boss mod installed (DBM, DXE). Have everyone enable Chat Bubbles and Party Chat Bubbles. This way, everyone will see a chat bubble with "Defile on me!" pop up the instant the LK chooses his target, and people can react immediately.

Also, try to get a Disc Priest at your hands if you don't already have one. Have him shield the target of the Defile as well as people too close to it; Defile wont grow if it's damage is absorbed.

If you have trouble recruiting, you could try to stage 25man-ICC raids with your alts and check for able players that come along. Chances are it'll take a while before you find someone suited to your group, but if you do you already know of the player's attitude and skill without having to go through an anonymous app and a nasty trial phase.

[Selynia]

Really there's no reason to get caught in it that many times. If it's constantly happening the only choice is to replace the people, it's not hard to move out of and there's no reason to be constantly stacked up. if valks and defile are seconds apart as soon as valks hit spread fast, if it's other way around as soon as defile hits get back in fast.

[Shockk]

What I forgot to add:

Dealing with Defile can basically be reduced to two things:

1) Spreading apart before Defile hits and
2) Collapsing back together before the Valk descends

Even the worst timed combination of Valk+Defile or the other way around will leave you 2-4 seconds to either run together or apart, which should be more than enough time. You'll easily be able to single out players who fail at this because, simply, they won't move, especially not when the Defile's target is near them (usually marked with a skull by your boss mod).

[Fuzzzie]

Every time you bring in new people you have to re-teach the fight, and when 1 person can blow the whole thing its not very good.

[Maxxumus]

Just need something clarified.. When LK finishes his Defile cast and selects a target via "Skull" to cast it on, is it instantaneous to spawn where the person was standing? Meaning it does no good to run out , except to get out of the pool asap.. For some reason, our RL thinks you have 2 secs, to move when he puts a skull on your head to move it before pool spawns. Personally I think he's wrong and people just need to spread out when he is casting Defile not after.

[Sunshine]

Just need something clarified.. When LK finishes his Defile cast and selects a target via "Skull" to cast it on, is it instantaneous to spawn where the person was standing? Meaning it does no good to run out , except to get out of the pool asap.. For some reason, our RL thinks you have 2 secs, to move when he puts a skull on your head to move it before pool spawns. Personally I think he's wrong and people just need to spread out when he is casting Defile not after.

If I recall correctly (please someone correct me if I'm wrong), it spawns where you are when the cast finishes. So yes, moving doesn't change how far from the center you are when it drops.

That said, there still is benefit in running out: First, you can get away from everyone else if you happen to be standing in a crowded location; second, you'll already be moving when it drops, so there's no latency / human reaction delay in starting to move out of it.

[Shockk]

Just need something clarified.. When LK finishes his Defile cast and selects a target via "Skull" to cast it on, is it instantaneous to spawn where the person was standing? Meaning it does no good to run out , except to get out of the pool asap.. For some reason, our RL thinks you have 2 secs, to move when he puts a skull on your head to move it before pool spawns. Personally I think he's wrong and people just need to spread out when he is casting Defile not after.

He selects a target (focus the boss, it works), boss mod marks a player with the skull, he takes 1,5s to cast Defile, which will then appear at the place the player is when the 1,5s are over.

The moment someone becomes the target of a Defile, he/she doesn't stop moving (preferably away from the raid / towards the outer edges) until out of it. Your RL has the timer wrong; everyone should be spread out before Defile hits, so that when it does, everyone has enough free space to position it without hitting additional people.

[Corgrash]

You arent alone with this.
Here are some tips to help your guild progress through the encounter but they wont make it retard proof.

For the normal Lich King 25 encounter, Big Wigs is actualy better than DBM. It has more visable frames to show information and also has a countdown timer before each defile so that your raid knows when its coming (its voice countdown also).
Make sure people have their chat bubbles enabled in Menu/Interface/Social/Chat bubbles.

Now tactics. There are various ways on doing this. The best I have used so far is have the raid stack on the Lich King before the Valkyres come, in a position so that the people grabbed all go in the same direction. Once grabbed, melee follow the valkyre and ranged/healers stay put nuking them down before they reach the ledge.
When defile is cast, get your raid to move clockwise, and your defiled member move anti-clockwise. This should reduce the amount of people in the defile if people react.

Other than that there really isnt anything else that can help you afaik.

Good luck

[Hinalover]

Here is a trick you can use.

1st Valk - wait till they drop then move out. Kill Valks then group up.
2nd Valk - Once you see the first valk drop spread out immediately
3rd and 4th - The timing isn't as crucial but again stack up, wait for valks, then spread out.
5th Valk - Defile will drop RIGHT BEFORE valks so spread out for defile, then group up immediatly.
6th - timing isn't as crucial.

You should get LK to 2nd transistion by this time.

Basically have your range stay in the outer ring when you spread out for defile. And try to run in an area that your are trying not to purposely send the valk towards (they head in the area that your standing in relation to the center of the platform). So as an example, if you are standing more in the 3 o-clock position in the center, they will head more in the 2 - 4 o-clock range. Meaning have everyone spread out between the 5-12 position.

[Xires]

Thanks a lot for all the tips guys. This reset hopefully on wed when its just LK up we'll have 25 strong raiders ready to roll.