Updated - 19/12/2011.
Mod Edit: Will remain stickied until 4.4 or the content is no longer relevant
It seems that lately, people in this forum are a bit sleepy .
Seeing the Warrior forums, I thought it might be a nice idea to do something similar here to spice things up.
In this thread I'll try to share encounter-specific DPS tips I've either came up with or found on various sites such as Wowhead, EJs, etc, and hopefully others will share their own tips for me to update this main post often.
Hoping for HC encounter tips mainly, but of course any are welcome, even if you think they are obvious, to some they might be helpful.
Please note, I'm not trying to teach anyone how to play, just hoping to get a constructive discussion going (And hopefully learn a thing or two myself). Mainly made this post to host everyone's ideas.
Please state in your post (should it be relevant):
- Unholy or Frost (DW/2H).
- Heroic or Normal.
- 10 or 25.
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General Tips
- [Frost] - Due to "AOE cap" mechanic, the more mobs there are (Starting from 10+) the more HB damage is diminished.
According to a post made by Shiira an AOE-capped HB equals roughly 84 Pestilenced Blood Plague ticks.
Calculate according to how many mobs there are and how long they usually last, for example, for Pestilence to be worth it on 20 mobs you need them to take more than 4 ticks which means they need to live for more than 12 seconds.
After you use Pestilence go back to normal AOE priority.- [Frost] - General AOE - Try to time 2set/4set t13 procs right before AOE phases.
- [Unholy] - [Anti-Magic Zone] - Do not be fooled by the tooltip to think it will only absorb the stated amount of damage. In reality, it will first absorb 75% of the next magical attack, and only THEN, if the amount absorbed exceeded the stated amount, it will vanish. Therefore, it works best when soaking single high damage attacks, and fails miserably soaking multiple low damage attacks. Be a good raider and coordinate using it with your healers/raid leader.
Morchok
- It is possible to stay in his [Black Blood of the Earth] completely, even in HC difficulty, no healing required (to not die - though you will be taking a bit of damage). Wait for 2 stacks then pop AMS (I have read that it is possible to go for 3, when I tried it I died). Would prevent the debuff from further stacking and absorb current damage.
Note - [Black Blood of the Earth] does not have a range limit. Therefore, since both Morchok and Kohcrom are casting it, you need to LOS the other boss you are not DPSing when doing this, otherwise you'll rapidly accumulate many stacks and still die.- [Unholy] - Use AMZ/AMS during [Resonating Crystal] explosion.
Warlord Zon'ozz
- You can steal [Sludge Spew] (For 25m HC. For 10m HC - [Sludge Spew]) using Dark Simulacrum on Flail of Go'rath. Especially important for Unholy as it scales with its Mastery.
- [Unholy] - It is possible to use AMZ for [Void Diffusion] (Shortly before it hits the raid), or perhaps if healers are having hard time during [Black Blood of Go'rath] (Naturally since less players are stacked it would be less efficient).
- As per usual, for RP gain (Unholy) and defensive CD, use AMS during high damage phases ([Void Diffusion], during [Black Blood of Go'rath] or even to soak [Disrupting Shadows] should your guild decide to heal through it).
Yor'sahj the Unsleeping
- [Frost - 25 man] - Due to large number of targets during [Black Blood of Shu'ma] it might be worth casting D&D and spreading both diseases (Mainly HC difficulty as those mobs are up for longer than normal). This depends on how many adds it summons and how long they are usually alive in your raids. Read the General Tips section to decide.
Also try to time double Rime (2-set) and [Runic Mastery] (4-set) procs shortly before/during that phase.- AMS/AMZ during heavy raid damage (Mmm RP!) such as Glowing/Crimson Blood of Shu'ma.
Hagara the Stormbinder
- You can steal [Shattered Ice] using Dark Simulacrum. Hagara usually casts it after a [Focused Assault] so get ready to use DS while she's casting [Shattered Ice] (1.4 seconds cast). Especially important for Frost as it scales with its Mastery.
- Time CDs for after each "transition" phase. She will take increased damage for 15 seconds due to [Feedback]. Obviously don't delay short CDs too long.
- During [Frozen Tempest] phase, it is possible to get inside the bubble without getting slowed (Taking 25% of the damage from [Watery Entrenchment], which is 3.75% of maximum HP every second) using AMS. For higher boss uptime, AMS and get in the bubble a few seconds before the last [Binding Crystal] is down.
Ultraxion
- When you use [Heroic Will] to avoid [Hour of Twilight] or [Fading Light] you get sent to the normal realm, unable to attack, cast spells, or move. It is still possible to use Outbreak to refresh your diseases.
- If you dont want to click your extra button (Personally use my interrupt keybind) Macro:
Code:/click ExtraActionButton1
Warmaster Blackhorn
- AMS for RP gain (Unholy) and defensive CD during [Twilight Onslaught].
- [Unholy] - AMZ [Twilight Onslaught].
Spine of Deathwing
- AMS for RP gain (Unholy) and defensive CD during [Grasping Tendrils] and before the Hideous Amalgamation explosion.
- [Unholy] - Use AMZ when the raid stacks for a roll on [Grasping Tendrils]
- [Frost] Army on the final tendon before the plate is up after potioning or Pillar of Frost for an extra burst of dps
Madness of Deathwing
- AMS for RP gain (Unholy) and defensive CD during heavy damage phases, such as - [Elementium Bolt], [Blistering Tentacle], or during phase 2 - [Corrupted Blood] when Deathwing's HP is low.
- [Unholy] - AMZ [Elementium Bolt] impact, if timed correctly (Shortly before the impact), should absorb a lot more than the usual ~40k.
- [Blistering Tentacle]s are immune to AOE. HB will only effect the [Blistering Tentacle] you're targeting (And of course Deathwing and any other non-AOE-immune mobs in range).
- Dismissing your ghoul pet while in the air will respawn it on landing. Either do so by right click ghoul portrait -> dismiss pet or the use of a simple macro: /script PetDismiss()
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Any feedback is welcome, if I listed something wrong please do correct me so I can update this post. And please do post your own little tricks or things you heard of somewhere else. Let the sharing begin!