Prettytree's Complete Guide to Cataclysm Heroic 5-Man Dungeons

[dubbz]

Prettytree's Complete Guide to Cataclysm Heroic 5-Man Dungeons

Hello and welcome to my guide to successfully complete the 5man instances found in the newest expansion to the World of Warcraft universe, World of Warcraft: Cataclysm. Unlike the heroic dungeons previously encountered in Wrath of the Lich King, the instances found here require a strong bit of teamwork, the use of Crowd Control (CC), and a strong use of focused fire. Each dungeon has it's own challenges that a group MUST work through to complete. In this guide, I will be explaining the general ideas of Heroics in Cataclysm, a list of ALL cc's available on a class-by-class basis, special tips and tricks to certain mobs in trash pulls (yes, trash pulls are more challenging in Cataclysm than Bosses were in WotLK!), and of course boss strategies on all bosses in every instance!



Part I. General Ideas in Heroics

• Teamwork - In a Cataclysm Dungeon, teamwork and communication is a KEY factor that will ultimately determine if you will down or wipe on a boss. CC's must be well timed, and on the proper targets. A healer must inform the tank when mana is becoming an issue and when to pop cooldowns. Lust, if needed, should be synchronized with the cooldowns of other dps to guarantee maximum dps. Interrupts need to be called out as well! I strongly recommend using Ventrilo for this. Most guilds have, and use, a ventrilo, as it VASTLY improves the ability to communicate while in a heroic.

• Crowd Control- Crowd Control (Abbreviated "CC") is a HUGE part of the way Blizzard intends for Heroics in Cataclysm to be run. "CC"-ing refers to spells and abilities which cause an opponent to lose the ability to attack. Due to the fact that most groups with even the most geared tank and healer cannot handle more than a certain number of elite mobs at a time, crowd control is often essential to prevent a group from being overwhelmed. I will get into all the CC abilities of all classes in the next section of this guide.

• Focus Fire- Focusing fire is a key element of a heroic. In many cases, a certain mob may cause more damage to either the tank or raid, so it must be brought down the quickest. This is best accomplished by all DPS focusing on this mob first. If a stray DPS is on another mob, the hard-hitting creature may not die fast enough and cause a wipe, or the DPSer may pull off of the tank as the tank is most likely concentrated on the attacking mob intended to be focused down. This would cause the healer's life to instantly become 10x more stressful with the multiple aggro.

Part II. In-Depth CC Abilities
Crowd Control (CC's): CC's will cause complete control over the targeted mob, and not just slow/decrease attack abilities of the creature. These cc abilities should be used whenever possible. All instance bosses are immune to crowd control. Assuming a target is not completely immune, Elite mobs may or may not have high resistance to specific CC that would normally work quite well on their non-elite counterparts.

Mage -

• Polymorph - Turns humanoid or beast enemies (and Critters), into sheep, pigs, turtles ect. for up to 50 seconds. Any damage afflicted upon the target will break the polymorph. While polymorphed, enemies regenerate health quickly, at a rate of 20% HP per tick. Only one enemy can be polymorphed by a single mage at a time.

Hunter -

• Freezing Trap - A trap that freezes the first enemy to walk over it, preventing all action for up to 60 seconds, and can be extended by up to 18 seconds with the "Trap Mastery" talent. This is effective on virtually every type of mob, including most minor bosses. A skillful hunter can chain-trap at least 4 to 5 times no matter what spec or gear he has, assuming the mob does not resist. The aforementioned Survival talent, "Trap Mastery", lessens this resist chance by up to 10% and makes the freezing trap a nearly always successful CC option except against mobs immune to the effect.

• Wayvern Sting - A ranged ability that puts a mob to sleep for 30 seconds. When the mob awakens, it will get a DoT that does Nature damage over the next 6 seconds. This skill is only obtainable with a minimum of 20 points spent in the Survival Talent Tree. Due to the fact the subsequent DoT can break other CC's, this should only be used as a last-ditch CC ability.

Warlock -

• Fear (with Glyph of Fear) - Causes an enemy to cower in fear for up to 20 seconds. Fear has a damage limit. If the damage limit is reached, the Fear spell will break, regardless of the length of the spell. Glyph of Fear increases the amount of damage a target can take before the Fear spell breaks by 20%.

• Banish - Removes a Demon or Elemental from a fight for 30 seconds. The mob will be immune to damage and other effects while banished so it can not be broken and it can not be re-banished. However, there is a chance that the banish breaks by itself. A warlock can only banish one demon or elemental target at a time.

• Enslave Demon - Charms one demon for up to five minutes, although doing so will cause any summoned pet the warlock has out to be dismissed.

Priest -

• Shackle Undead - As the name implies, this CC works on Undead targets ONLY!

Druid -

• Hibernate - Used to put beasts or dragonkin to sleep. If anyone causes damage to the mob, it'll wake up. One of the only CC's that effects Dragonkin.

• Entangling Roots - Keeps any mob rooted in place for up to 30 seconds. External damage sources (excluding the DoT from Entangling Roots itself) will break the spell.

Paladin -

• Repentance - Only available to Retribution paladins, it is a 1 minute incapacitate, has a 20 yard range and a 1 minute cooldown. Works on Demons, Dragonkin, Giants, Humanoids and Undead.

Shaman -

• Hex - Transforms the enemy into a frog. While hexed, the target cannot attack or cast spells. Damage caused may cancel the effect. Lasts 1 min and has a 45 second cooldown. Only one target can be hexed at a time. Only works on Humanoids and Beasts.

Rogue -

• Sap - Incapacitates a Humanoid, Beast, Demon or Dragonkin target for up to 60 seconds. The Rogue has to be Stealthed to use this ability. The target will awaken if it receives any damage. Cannot be Reapplied during combat.

Part III. Instance By Instance, Boss By Boss

Blackrock Caverns
Overview - A series of tunnels created by Deathwing from the Twilight Highlands to Blackrock Mountain. Here the twisted Twilight's Hammer clan is transporting their supplies back and forth from the highlands and practicing the mysterious dark arts that transform the zealots into dragonspawn. The forces in Blackrock Caverns are led by the Ascendant Lord Obsidius.

Boss 1: Rom'ogg Bonecrusher - 4,564,670 Health
Abilities

• Quake - Slams the ground, causing an earthquake that inflicts damage to all nearby enemies over 3 seconds. After Quake is done, 5 adds with 80k hp will spawn.

• Chains of Woe- Pulls all party members into melee range and forces them to damage the chains in preparation for his next attack...

• Skullcracker - Instantly kills any player within melee range, including the adds spawned by Quake.

• Wounding Strike -Inflicts 125% weapon damage and leaves the target wounded, reducing the effectiveness of any healing by 25% for 6 sec.

Strategy
The strategy for Rom'ogg Bonecrusher is simple. When quake is cast, move away from the tiny dust cloud that spawns underneath you. The tank needs to pick up these adds while DPS quickly kills them unless the group is going for the achievement, but I will not be explaining how to complete achievements in this guide. Rom'ogg will cast Chains of Woe, then immediately start casting Skullcracker. DPS should nuke the chains and all party members need to move out of melee range. Rinse and Repeat for the rest of the boss fight.

Boss 2: Corla, Herald of Twilight - 5,394,610 Health
Abilities

• Aura of Acceleration - Friendly creatures near Corla are accelerated, increasing their movement by 50% and attack speed by 100%.

• Dark Command- Issues a dark command, causing the targeted enemy to flee in terror for 4 sec and inflicting 28000 Shadow damage over the duration.

Strategy
The strategy for Corla requires concentration on your debuffs, at least by 3 players. When the fight starts, the zealots will be inactive, but will begin gaining stacks of Evolution. If a zealot reaches 100 stacks, it will transform into an Evolved Twilight Zealot, which attacks normally and deals high damage. Each zealot has a purple beam connected to it. If a player stands in that beam, he will 'steal' its effect; the zealot will stop gaining Evolution, and the player will get it instead. If a player reaches 100 stacks, he will transform and become mind-controlled, likely wiping the group. Keeping this in mind, players need to be in the beam, getting their stack of Evolution to 80~, get out of the beam, let the stack drop off, and IMMEDIATELY hop directly back into the beam. With this rotation of players in and out of the beam, the boss becomes completely tank and spank. The only other thing that needs to be watched for is Dark Command, but the lengthy cast time (4.0sec~) can be easily interrupted by the tank or melee dps.

Boss 3: Karsh Steelbender - 4,979,640 Health
Abilities

• Burning Metal - Occurs when Karsh has the "Superheated Obsidian Armor" debuff and inflicts Fire damage to the target increasing with each stack.

• Heat Wave- Inflicts 1000 Fire damage to nearby enemies, increasing per stack of Superheated Obsidian Armor on Karsh Steelbender. (Only occurs while Karsh is inside the Lava in the center).

• Obsidian Armor- Obsidian alloy is nearly impervious to damage at normal temperatures. Reduces damage taken by 99%.

• Superheated Obsidian Armor- Obsidian loses its damage mitigation properties when heated, but inflicts damage to nearby enemies and causes attacks to deal additional fire damage. Increases damage taken by Karsh by 10% and causes his attacks to deal 1000 Fire damage per stack. Stacks to 100.

Strategy
Karsh is nearly unkillable while his Obsidian Armor isn't affected with the debuff "Superheated Obsidian Armor", so the biggest thing is to get that buff on him. This is accomplished by pulling Karsh through the lava in the center of his area. The tank should pull him through the extreme edge, only allowing 1 or 2 stacks of the debuff to pile on to him per run through. This will help keep the healer's mana handy for later on when the stacks start reaching extreme levels. Right before the stacks fall off, the tank should repeat this process to add another 1 or 2 stacks and refresh the debuff. Depending on the DPS in your group, it is possible to kill Karsh around the time the stacks hit 8-10. If the DPS is low, and Karsh is at 8 stacks, the healer is afraid to let more aoe damage come go out when he is pulled back through, the tank should allow the stacks to fall off. This will cause an instant-killing fire wall to come up through the grates on the outside of the area. Also, add's will spawn. These adds should be killed, then Karsh pulled back through the fire to reapply the debuff. Even with the WORST DPS, Karsh should be killed during this reapplication of the stacks.

Boss 4(Optional): Beauty - 4,149,000 Health
Abilities

• Beserker Charge - Charges at an enemy, knocking it back and inflicting damage.

• Flamebreak- Inflicts damage to nearby enemies, knocking them back.

• Magma Spit - Inflicts initial damage to an enemy and sets them on fire, causing an additional 4000 Fire damage every 3 sec. Explodes when removed.

• Terrifying Roar - Causes nearby enemies to flee in fear for 4 sec.

Strategy
Unlike the normal version of the Beauty encounter, the puppies in front of Beauty can not be pulled prior to starting the boss fight. With this in mind, it is imperative you use ANY cc abilities that work on them. Kill any puppies (1,162,000~ health each) that aren't CC'd before starting damage on Beauty. Keeping all CC'd puppies CC'd, with the non-CC'd puppies killed, this boss becomes Tank and Spank at it's finest. Oh, and one more thing...DO NOT UNDER ANY CIRCUMSTANCES kill Runty, if you wish to find out why I say this, go ahead and do it. It'll be the last thing you ever do...(until you run back into the instance in ghost form that is!)

[Side Note: For this boss, it is completely skippable, so if a group just "isn't able to kill it", don't fret, skip it, and get the Justice Points and Loot from the last boss.]

Boss 5 (Final Boss): Ascendant Lord Obsidius - 4,564,000 Health
Abilities

• Stone Blow - A strong attack that increases melee damage by 50% and knocks the target down.

• Thunderclap- Inflicts damage to nearby enemies, slowing their movement, attack and casting speeds by 35% for 8 sec.

• Transformation - Switches place with one of his Shadow adds.

• Twilight Corruption - Corrupts an enemy target, inflicting Shadow damage every 2 sec. for 12 sec.

Strategy
Obsidius' three assistants are of more importance than Obsidius himself as they aggro the most recent threat instead of using the usual threat tables, and when they get close to their current target they channel a debuff (while on the run!) that prevents all healing on their victim. If the assistants are allowed to aggro onto the tank, and if a kiter stops for more than the briefest of moments, the targeted player is likely to die. Keeping this in mind, the adds MUST be kited. Aside from the channeled debuff, they actually don't do much damage so it's reasonably safe for a even a cloth-wearer to kite them. The assistants can be slowed/rooted, but not stunned. Also, the shadow assistants will throw out frost bombs (similar to a hunter's Frost Trap.) If you have a class capable of safely kiting ALL three adds (i.e. hunter or frost mage), it is recommended you do this, but if a lack of capable multi-kiters is your problem, two dps (and possibly a healer) can concentrate on kiting the adds. During all this kiting, heals only have to worry about healing the tank and whoever is inflicted with the "Twilight Corruption" DoT, and the fight becomes relatively tank and spank. The only switch up is when Obsidius "switches places" with one of his assistants using his "Transform" ability. The tank should reaggro wherever Obsidius switches to, and the person kiting the add should focus on picking up the shadow assistant. Rinse and Repeat until dead!

Congratulations on completing "Heroic: Blackrock Caverns"!

[Melisarius]

where is the rest of this??? it's so well written! I only see Blackrock

[The Chad]

Should mention Priest's mind control. Used that in Heroic Tides during the first boss with the adds and it worked good.

Also forgetting Shaman's Bind Elemental and some other emergency CC's that can be used (Warrior's Intimidating Shout, Druid's Cyclone, Rogue's Blind Gouge + Kidney Shot, etc etc)

[dubbz]

Thanks Melisarius, I really appreciate your input! Unfortunately, real life caught up to me and I got completely behind on finishing all the heroics by the time this deadline was up.

And Thank Chad, I just reread it and thought to myself, I skipped a LOT of cc's.