Bastion of Twilight Strategies

Notes on raid bosses. Feel free to add to the page.

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Halfus Wyrmbreaker

Overview/Objective

Our first few attempts on this boss would have made much more sense to me if I had read something like this first. Most of the strategy guides don't do a good job explaining the purpose of the mechanics in the encounter.

This encounter incorporates a raid boss (Halfus), an airborne, red proto-drake (Behemoth) and 3 other dragons (drakes or whelps).

The behemoth is not targetable and flies around doing random raid damage. There's not much point in damaging this guy.

The 3 dragons that are active in the encounter rotates weekly from a pool of 5 possible drakes. The other 2 dragons are incapacitated and are totally static and non-interactive for the entire encounter.

Each dragon that is active in the encounter adds a specific, additional harmful mechanic to the encounter that must be dealt with. At the start of the encounter, the 3 dragons appear as 'friendly/green' and can be interacted with. Interacting with the dragon "releases" it.

"Releasing" the dragon adjusts the harmful effect that it was causing in some way, but then the dragon becomes hostile and must be tanked. Each dragon that is killed increases the damage that Halfus takes by 100%.

The core strategy revolves around balancing the need to remove the harmful effects of the dragons as fast as possible with the total amount of tanking that can be performed by the raid. Not all the dragons have to be killed. For example, some strategies recommend taking out the 2 most dangerous dragons, then leaving the 3rd one and focussing on Halfus.

References:

• http://www.wowpedia.org/Halfus_Wyrmbreaker
• http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FPEs9O-Bpa0 (tankspot)
• Drakes: http://www.halfus.info/

Storm Rider, Nether Scion + Emerald Whelps Combination

This is what our most successful attempt (28 Feb 2011) looked like:

1. Tank 1 pulls Halfus, all DPS attack Halfus, Tank 2 releases Storm Rider as soon as possible. This reduces the cast time on Shadow Nova so that it can be interrupted.
2. Storm Rider becomes enslaved/hostile. Tank 2 picks up Storm Rider. All DPS switch to Storm Rider to get it down as fast as possible (Time Warp/Bloodlust good here).
3. When Storm Rider is nearly dead, either Tank 2 or a fast DPS releases the Nether Scion. All DPS switch back to Halfus until Nether Scion is enslaved.
4. Nether Scion is enslaved. Tank 2 picks up Nether Scion. All DPS switch to Nether Scion until it is dead.
5. (This is as far as we got)
6. In theory, we would then release the emerald whelps when Nether Scion is nearly dead and kill the whelps, then pwn the boss.
7. Alternatively, the drakes can be ignored and healed through, while the DPS focusses on burning down the boss... this may not be practical until we have better gear and the healers are capable of healing through the extra raid damage caused by the whelps.
8. Alternatively, one strategy says that the whelps don't do much damage, so they can be released and then tanked, while the DPS ignores the whelps and concentrates on the boss.

Nether Scion, Slate Dragon + Emerald Whelps Combination

• Nether Scion: Pre-fight, applies a frenzy buff to Halfus Wyrmbreaker (+100% attack speed). When freed, reduces his attack speed, hit chance and damage done.
• Slate Dragon: Gives Wyrmbreaker his Malevolent Strikes ability, which causes a stacking healing debuff. When freed periodically stuns Halfus for 12 seconds.
• Emerald Whelps: Give Proto-Behemoth Scorching Breath ability. When freed, lower the damage it does.

lolz: According to wowpedia, we should release Nether Scion first: "If the Slate Dragon and the Nether Scion are active, the Nether Scion has to be released. Otherwise, Malevolent Strikes will stack up very quickly. " I'm guessing that we should release Slate Dragon next, and Emerald Whelps last.

This is what our successful attempt (7 March) looked like:

1. Raid composition: 2 tanks, 2 tank heals, 2 raid heals, 4 dps. Disc. priest always on the Halfus tank to mitigate Mortal Strike with shields
2. Tank 1 (Paladin) pulls Halfus, all DPS attack Halfus, Tank 2 releases Nether Scion as soon as possible (Time Warp/Heroism good here). Tanks take tons of damage here, I'm guessing cooldowns were used.
3. Nether Scion becomes enslaved/hostile. Tank 2 picks up Nether Scion. All DPS switch to Nether Scion to get it down as fast as possible.
4. Tank 1 uses pally bubble to reset mortal strike after first stack of 10. This should mean tanks do not need to swap until just after second drake is freed. Afterwards, tanks swap at 10 stacks.
5. When Nether Scion is nearly dead, Tank 2 releases the Slate Dragon. All DPS switch back to Halfus until Slate Dragon is enslaved.
6. Slate Dragon is enslaved. Tank 2 picks up Slate Dragon. All DPS switch to Slate Dragon until it is dead.
7. When Slate Dragon is nearly dead, Tank 2 releases the whelps. All DPS switch back to Halfus until whelps is enslaved.
8. Tank 2 brings many whelps over to boss. DPS aoe handle them.
9. Burn boss. Loot mail epics.

Nether Scion, Slate Dragon + Time Warden Combination

• Nether Scion: Pre-fight, applies a frenzy buff to Halfus Wyrmbreaker (+100% attack speed). When freed, reduces his attack speed, hit chance and damage done.
• Slate Dragon: Gives Wyrmbreaker his Malevolent Strikes ability, which causes a stacking healing debuff. When freed periodically stuns Halfus for 12 seconds.
• Time Warden: Gives Proto-Behemoth Fireball Barrage ability. When freed slows fireballs' flying speed.

lolz: I think we're in for a world of hurt tonight We should probably free the drakes in this order: Nether Scion, Slate Dragon, Time Warden. We definitely have to release Nether Scion first, to prevent Malevolent Strikes stacking up too quickly. Not sure if Slate or Time Warden should be next. Will depend on how bad the raid damage from Fireball Barrage is.

Note, we ended up doing this successfully by releasing drakes in this order: Nether Scion, Time Warden, Slate Dragon.

Nether Scion, Time Warden + Storm Rider Combination

• Nether Scion: Pre-fight, applies a frenzy buff to Halfus Wyrmbreaker (+100% attack speed). When freed, reduces his attack speed, hit chance and damage done.
• Time Warden: Gives Proto-Behemoth Fireball Barrage ability. When freed slows fireballs' flying speed.
• Storm Rider: Gives Wyrmbreaker a Shadow Nova ability which deals AoE damage and knocks people back. When freed, reduces his cast speed, so it becomes possible to interrupt.

This is what our successful attempt (5 April) looked like:

• We had two tanks, three heals and five dps (three melee, hunter and caster).
• We released Time Warden and Storm Rider at the same time. Furgin picked up both drakes (lolz released one, Furgin the other) and tanked them near boss (for aoe heals). Atlassia picked up boss.
• We dps'd down the Time Warden first, then Storm Rider. lolz/Furgin released last drake.
• Dps'd down drake, kill boss.

Nether Scion, Slate Dragon + Storm Rider Combination

• Nether Scion: Pre-fight, applies a frenzy buff to Halfus Wyrmbreaker (+100% attack speed). When freed, reduces his attack speed, hit chance and damage done.
• Slate Dragon: Gives Wyrmbreaker his Malevolent Strikes ability, which causes a stacking healing debuff. When freed periodically stuns Halfus for 12 seconds.
• Storm Rider: Gives Wyrmbreaker a Shadow Nova ability which deals AoE damage and knocks people back. When freed, reduces his cast speed, so it becomes possible to interrupt.

We did not successfully defeat this combination. The combination of the haste buff accelerating MS stacks, and the additional burden on the Halfus tank to interrupt Shadow Nova was too much for our little brains to handle. I would suggest next time we get this combination we should:

• Free Nether Scion and Storm Rider together at the start
• Assign a DPS (preferably the one doing the least damage otherwise) on Halfus full-time to assist with interrupts

Slate Dragon, Time Warden + Emerald Whelps Combination

• Slate Dragon: Gives Wyrmbreaker his Malevolent Strikes ability, which causes a stacking healing debuff. When freed periodically stuns Halfus for 12 seconds.
• Time Warden: Gives Proto-Behemoth Fireball Barrage ability. When freed slows fireballs' flying speed.
• Emerald Whelps: Give Proto-Behemoth Scorching Breath ability. When freed, lower the damage it does.

This is what our successful attempt (19 April) looked like:

• We freed the Whelps and the Time Warden first to reduce raid damage from the outset
• Furgin tanked Halfus so Atlassia could pick the whelps up with Consecrate before they zerged the healer
• Carlfish BoPped Furgin to drop his first set of Mortal Strike stacks, giving DPS time to AoE down the whelps before the first tank swap
• Once we got past the first tank swap without anyone dying, we were fine

Valiona and Theralion

See http://www.wowpedia.org/Valiona_and_Theralion

Two dragons in a single encounter. There are two phases that alternate between each other. In the first phase, Valiona engages you on the ground and Theralion engages you from the air . In the second phase, their positions are switched. During each phase, the dragon that is on the ground is the one that should be tanked and attacked.

The most important aspect of this encounter is positioning - everyone needs to know where they should be standing and when they need to move - otherwise damage taken will be too great for healers to overcome.

Phase 1

• Everyone stays > 8 yards spread out. Raid members are randomly targeted by Twilight Blast - a powerful AoE that hits everyone within 8 yards. Don't spread out too far, though, or you'll have too far to run when Blackout or Devouring Flames happens.

• Occasionally a random raid member will be targeted by Blackout. When this happens, everyone needs to stack up (we pick the dragon's tail as a meeting point) so the Blackout can be dispelled safely (when dispelled, it deals damage split between all nearby players).
  • Blackout happens twice in the first Phase 1, and three times in subsequent Phase 1's.
  • The entire raid needs to stack up, dispel and then disperse promptly - you need to try and avoid being hit by the Twilight Blast while stacked up.
  • If you have any damage mitigating/healing cooldowns, saving them for Blackout will make your healers happy. It's also a good candidate for Holy Paladin Aura Mastery + resist aura.

• The dragon on the ground will occasionally cast Devouring Flames. This is an identical ability to the one in Grim Batol - either run behind the dragon to avoid the AoE (preferred) or, if that's not possible, run far away from the dragon to minimise the damage you take.

Phase 1 -> Phase 2 Transition

• Pink swirly things will appear on the ground. Don't stand in them.
  • If you do stand in them, you are transported to a "Twilight Zone". You need to find a portal and click on it to re-join the battle, while avoiding pink/purple sparkly things on the ground.
• If this is the second time into Phase 2, watch out for a Blackout happening in the middle of the transition.

Phase 2

• Ranged and healers, stand together in a group, give yourself some distance from the boss to maneuver.

• Melee, stand together in a group within melee range on the boss. Try to avoid moving around too much.

• If you are targeted by Twilight Meteorite (purple arrow over your head), stay stacked up in your group so that the damage from the meteorite is split amongst your group.

• One person at range will occasionally be targeted by Fabulous Flames, which causes damaging purple void zones on the ground. The ranged pile needs to move out of these, while staying together to counter the meteorites. A good strategy is to have the entire group shift to the left when the void zone appears.

• If you are targeted by Engulfing Magic (DBM gives you a red cross), move away from your group. While engulfed, your damage and healing is increased by 100% (a good time to blow cooldowns), but you deal equal damage to anyone near you. The best place to run is back and to the right, just behind the last Fabulous Flames void zone (you can still be targeted by Fabulous Flames).

Phase 2 - Phase 1 Transition

• The dragon in the air will also start casting Deep Breaths over 1/3 of the room towards the end of the phase. These will either target the centre of the room, or the north or south. The entire raid needs to avoid these (it helps to have someone call out the target).

Ascendant Council

The Ascendant Council is an encounter against four ascendant elementals: Feludius (Water), Ignacious (Fire), Arion (Air) and Terrastra (Earth). The encounter progresses over 3 phases

Phase Zero - Trash

• Upon entering the room, there will be packs of trash elementals roaming around.

• The trash needs to be pulled in matching pairs in order to be taken down (ie. always pull 1 fire and 1 water element, or 1 earth and 1 air elemental).

• Each elemental periodically casts an ability that lets you break the damager barriers of the opposite elemental.

• The elementals need to be taken down simultaneously, or else you may lose the buff that lets you damage the remaining elemental.

Phase One - Fire & Water

In the first phase, the fire and water elementals will be active. The phase ends when one of the elementals reaches 25% health.

• It is important to get both elementals as close to 25% health as possible. Any health above 25% on the elementals is added to the hitpoints that must be burned through on the difficult 3rd phase.

• The damage dealers split up into two groups.
  • Ranged DPS attack Feludius
  • Melee DPS attack Ignacious

Feludius

• Feludius will ocassionally target a player with Heart of Ice. The person with the debuff should run to the melee pile, which will give them a damage buff against Ignacious. The Heart of Ice should then be dispelled by a designated healer.

• If you get hit by the Water Bomb, you will get Waterlogged. If you are Waterlogged, you need to run through the flames on the ground to clear it. If you don't, an AoE ability (Glaciate) will kill you.

• Feludius casts Hyrdolance, which can (and should) be interrupted.

Ignacious

• Tank, use your cooldowns against Flame Torrent frontal AoE.

• Ignacious will target player with Burning Blood. The person with the debuff should run to the ranged pile, which will give them a damage buff against Feludius. The Burning Blood should then be dispelled by a designated healer.

• Occasionally, he will shield himself (Aegis of Flames) and start channelling an AoE (Rising Flames). The longer the AoE is channelled, the more damage it will do. The AoE cannot be interrupted until the shield/Aegis is down.

• • When Aegis of Flames is up, all DPS should switch to Ignacious and burn the shield down so that the AoE can be interrupted. After the AoE is done, Ranged swap back to Feludius.

Phase Two - Earth & Air

In the first phase, the air and earth elementals will be active. The phase ends when one of the elementals reaches 25% health. Same as before, it's beneficial to get them both as close to 25% as possible.

• The damage dealers split up into two groups.
  • Ranged DPS attack Arion
  • Melee DPS attack Terrastra

Arion

• If you get debuffed with Lightning Rod, run as far away from everyone as possible, because you are about to be hit by a massive chain lightning attack. Once one attack of chain lightning has been cast, you can move back in.

• Try to interrupt Lightning Blast, or else the tank should pop a cooldown.

• Ocassionally tornadoes will start appearing - everyone needs to touch a tornado once to get a Swirling Winds buff that saves them from Earthquakes caused by Terrastra. Re-apply after every earthquake.

Terrastra

• Avoid Eruption - run out of melee range when spikes appear on the ground to avoid damage.

• Harden Skin will occasionally grant Terrastra 100% extra damage and a 50% damage shield for 30 seconds. It can be interrupted. Alternatively, if you bust through the shield, all the damage will be applied to the boss' HP.

• Ocassionally will cast Gravity Wells on the ground - everyone needs to touch a gravity well once to get a Grounded buff that saves them from the Thundershocks cast by Arion. Re-apply after every thundershock.

Phase Three - Elementium Monstrosity

The Elementium Monstrosity is the final phase, an amalgalm of all 4 Ascendant Lords and their abilities. The Elementium Monstrosity has the remaining HP of all the 4 lords combined, which is why it's good to get them all close to 25%.

• Kite the boss out of Liquid Ice pools on the ground, or they will get bigger and nastier. Like Defile on the Lich King encounter.

• Avoid fireballs around the room.

• Big heals on players randomly targeted by Gravity Crush.

• Some moderate, non-counterable, lightning AoE damage that gets nastier the longer the fight goes - a soft enrage timer.