Heroic Maloriak 25 Strategies & Tricks

[Novekk]

Hey guys, I made this post hoping others could share their stategies, tips, and tricks involved in killing Heroic Maloriak in a 25 man raid.

My guild is currently 3/13 (Halfus > Chimareon > Atremedes) and now our next heroic is Maloriak (which we've been working on for about.. 4ish weeks).

We seem to be having the most problem in the Black Vial and Green Vial phases. We're lusting as soon as he goes to toss in the Black Vial and the Vile Swills die about 5 seconds before he goes into Red/Blue phase. A lot of people seem to be having a problem taking too much damage from the dark sludge spots on the ground. We have the usual kite path (left side, back down, in front of the stairs, and then back up) and have the ranged spread out (healers in middle) while melee jog along beside the adds/behind them).

Some times we can get through that phase without anyone dying but other times, 1 - 2 people die. What positioning do you use during this phase to minimize damage? Also, is our DPS adequate? Remember, the adds are dying about 5 seconds before the next phase starts, and that's WITH Blood Lust. I'm worried about getting them down when the second Black Vial phase comes around. Without BL, we're surely bump into the Red/Blue Phase on the second Black Vial phase. Should the adds be dying a LOT quicker with BL (15 seconds or so before the Red/Blue Phase) when we have BL?

Red/Blue phase is pretty easy, we have tranquality rotations set up while other 2 tanks (we use 3) stand by where the aberrations pop down at.

Green phase, we all run right in front of the stairs and the DPS kills the adds. Sometimes we get rocked really hard and fast here, and other times we can last about 15 - 20 seconds but I don't think we've made it to the second Black Vial Phase yet. The two tanks are dying very quickly.

I think we let 3 Aberration casts go during the Red/Blue Phases (none in the Black Vial Phase).

What should the DPS be like for the add phases, and are doing aberrations correctly? How can we handle Black/Green Vial Phases more smoothly is mainly what I'm looking for.

We use 3 tanks, and I believe 7 healers. I read something about 2 tanks? I don't see how that'd work though, the aberrations do a lot of damage when there's 4, and the since the DPS requirement is so high it can be difficult to AoE tank them.

Feral Druid
Prot Pally
Prot Warrior

OR

Feral Druid
Prot Warrior
Prot Warrior

I believe we 7-heal.

Thanks.

[Thomasaquina]

As a resto shaman, I can't specifically speak to how melee can avoid taking more damage here, but I can offer a few things that we do in our raids.

1. We let the first aberrations cast go un-interrupted, so our adds tank will have 3 abberrations along with the swills. The dps still focuses on the swills, but you get the benefit of cleave on those aberrations.

2. Our dps will leave about 10 seconds early before the start of the green phase in order to dot up and start dpsing the abberations. If you are waiting until the green phase actually starts in order to start dpsing, you are in the wrong. Tanks do take some savage damage here, so the quicker you get those adds down, the better.

3. Good warlocks and mages are pretty crucial here for dps'ing the adds.

4. I'm not sure how you have your Vile Swill dps organized, but we use one raider as the assist target, and everyone focuses on that target with single-target and cleave abilities, until it reaches about 15%. Then the raider will move to another target, calling out the switch, and everyone will assist him again. Rinse and repeat. This action doesn't apply to classes like demo warlocks who are just spamming hellfire and the like.

Hope this helps.

[Novekk]

Thanks, we'll give that a shot.

How did the tank keep aggro on all of the swills when 1 was being focus-fired and the others were being AoE'd? Did the 3rd OT tank the 3 abbs and the first Vile Swill being focused down?

[Giliandrix]

Instead of 9/9 Try 3+6/3+6.

Meaning let 3 go during the black phase. DPS them down with the Swills.

[kynd]

You need to prove logs to get any help. What you are saying is right, except you will probably struggle greatly if you keep lusting on your first black. You are going to need it for the final phase. Reducing incoming dmg is an individual effort in black phase. For red phase, barrier the first breath, personal CD the 2nd breath. Tranquilities will be more useful in the final phase, they could be back up though in time, not sure of the CD length though.

If you are having problems downing adds in the green phase, its more than likely because you have one or more of the following classes that arent pulling their weight... Lock, mage, and its arguable a boomkin.

To help with black, have one of the tanks mark an add with a skull and focus it so single target dps can go all out on it. The other tank takes care of the remaining adds which arent being focused.

[Thomasaquina]

How did the tank keep aggro on all of the swills when 1 was being focus-fired and the others were being AoE'd? Did the 3rd OT tank the 3 abbs and the first Vile Swill being focused down?

Just one tank for the adds. I can't speak for what he does, but I know he struggled at first, and our dps have to be conscious about their threat. He is also a very good tank. Also, an extra dps in place of that 3rd OT you apparently have will be helpful.

[Zeta333]

How is anyone but the tanks taking damage in green phase? Sounds like you need a better interupter. As for the black phase just have people move as soon as a black pool drops on them, also sounds like your a little low on aoe, grab another hunter mage or lock, make sure people are in aoe specs , ie hunters surv and locks as demo.

Also lose a tank, you only need 2, for the aberations have the 1 tank kite them over frost traps and set up a rotation with Ring of frost. In the green phase i do beleave our healers throw up a cd on each tank

[Aleysia]

I wouldn't worry too much about not killing the vile swills until 5 seconds to the next phase change. When my guild does this (and we've been doing it for weeks) we sometimes find ourselves finishing off the swills after the phase change has already happened. A few extra seconds won't kill anyone -- just make sure no one stacks during red phase until they're all dead.

Not sure why tanks are dying during green phase as they should be the only one taking any damage, plus the aberrations shouldn't be hitting very hard without growth catalysts... unless your interrupters are failing.

3 6 3 6 is the easiest release pattern, it's not the end of the world if you get 9 9 though especially with 2 add tanks. My guild runs with 2 add tanks and 7 healers, but we also have a pretty incredible aoe comp most days (read: 5 hunters, 2 locks, 2 mages). Have your melee dps target whichever vile swill has the most health so they all go down together.