Wintrow

Relevant Strategies
Wowwiki – Gurtogg Bloodboil
Bosskillers – Gurtogg Bloodboil
Bloodboil Video

There seems to be a dearth of Bloodboil videos available so I had to look a bit to find this one. It differs substantially with the layout we used on our first attempts and I actually would like to adapt our strategy to reflect some things seen in this video. First of all, you can see that they set up in Bloodboil’s room rather than on the ramp as we did. This is a viable alternative position that I now prefer given the amount of open terrain we’d have to move around without fighting camera issues. Second, the Bloodboil groups are much more spread out than ours were. While this means that the groups may have to move farther back to take BB, it also means that when Fel Rage hits and Geyser is thrown, people are already quite spread out to minimize the splash damage and limit repositioning.

This video is also nice in that the POV gets hit with Fel Rage 3 times (and dies twice). I realize that everything is in Chinese, but watch the scrolling combat text on the right side of the screen when this mage has Fel Rage. You can see tons of heals from all different classes scrolling by, showing just how much heal spamming needs to happen to keep the FR tank alive. Realize, too, that the FR tank will periodically have a mortal strike effect on him, hurting heals that much more.

Strategy Breakdown

Boss

As we saw, this fight is extremely intensive on the healers. As such, the entire raid needs to help to minimize unnecessary damage taken so that healing can be focused where it is needed most. The biggest challenge, as we saw, was the transition into phase 2. As I see it, mastery of Fel Rage tanking will directly translate to mastery of this fight. Specific instructions by class follow for each phase.

Phase 1

• Tanks need to manage their debuffs, trade MT duties and keep threat high.
• DPS needs to stay at all times below ALL 3 TANKS on threat.
• Bloodboil needs to be taken by the three designated groups at the appropriate times.

Main Tanks: There will be 2-3 of you building threat on Bloodboil throughout Phase 1. The boss should always be tanked facing away from the raid to keep his cleave and frontal cone abilities off the raid. You will need to manage the Acidic Wound stacks that you have on you; once they stack too high, another tank will need to take over as MT (I’ve read that 10-12 stacks is a good point to switch, but we may be able to handle more). If and when you are waiting for the stacks to drop off, you should rotate away from his front, as the Arcing Smash cleave will refresh the debuff. You should also watch for his knockback (which reduces your threat) and a Disorient; other tanks should be prepared to assume MT duties when this happens.

Tank Healers: The MT will be taking substantial damage, as will the Off Tanks if they have Acidic Wound ticking on them. Tank Healers will need to constantly be aware of the current MT and adjust their healing accordingly.

Raid Healers: The only raid damage during phase 1 should be to the designated Bloodboil targets. Heal up these groups of 5 as the BB debuff ticks off of them.

All DPS (melee and ranged): DPS the boss, keeping your other responsibilities at the forefront of your mind. DO NOT out-aggro any of the tanks at any point during phase 1.

***Ranged DPS & Healers – Bloodboil***: Three groups of 5 people will be designated to take the Bloodboil debuff. BB is thrown every 10 seconds, so each group of 5 will have to step back in succession to take the hit and then immediately step up back into position. We should be spread out as three groups so all can be certain that the 5 designated targets are truly the furthest 5 from the boss. Be prepared to spread out a bit after the 4th BB to prepare for phase 2 and minimize the Geyser damage.


Phase 2

• The Fel Rage tank must survive, meaning strong heals throughout this phase and anything the Fel Rage tank can do to mitigate damage on his own.
• Everyone must avoid being near the Fel Rage tank and stay out from in front of the boss.
• DPS should ensure they get the Insignificance debuff before popping all cooldowns and going all out DPS.
• Tanks must be ready to pick up Bloodboil once phase 1 resumes.

***Everyone - Fel Rage Tank***: Anyone in the raid can be targeted as the Fel Rage Tank, meaning you will be tanking the boss for 30 seconds or until you die. You must NOT die during this phase. Each class should plan ahead to determine the fastest way to mitigate the most damage using your class abilities. If you are a healer, spam heal yourself (healing effects are doubled). If you are DPS, use whatever mitigation abilities you have and nuke the boss (damage effects are quadrupled). Specific class instructions can be found here; if you can think of something better for your class, please propose it. Keep the boss facing away from the rest of the raid.

Healers: All healing must immediately switch to the Fel Rage tank. The only exception will be the raid healers who need to finish healing up the BB debuffs that are still ticking. The Main Tanks will also need some attention as Acidic Wound ticks off, but priority is to keep the Fel Rage tank alive. Spam your largest and fastest heals until phase 2 is over.

***All DPS – Insignificance***: At the beginning of phase 2, everyone should get affected by the Insignificance debuff, though it can be resisted. While active, this debuff causes you to generate no threat. If you have it, blow all cooldowns and nuke the boss for the 30 seconds that phase 2 lasts. If you don’t have Insignificance, be sure you keep your threat below that of the 3 Main Tanks. Stay away from the Fel Rage tank.

***EVERYONE – Movement Between Phases***: Movement in anticipation of phase 2 beginning and when phase 1 resumes again is also of critical importance. From phase 1 to phase 2, the Bloodboil groups must be sufficiently spread out, without jeopardizing their ability to get the debuff when desired. When phase 2 begins, the boss will Geyser the Fel Rage Tank, causing splash damage to all those around him. We MUST minimize this.

From phase 2 back to phase 1, Main Tanks must be back in position for when Fel Rage expires and the 3 BB groups must quickly get back into position and resume their cycle of taking BB. Priority is to get back into position before doing anything else.

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70 Priest

Elminnster

Tanking does not look pleasant for the mage on that video...

Are we going to use Amplify Magic for this fight?

Tarenth

5000 Arcane blast crits and 15000 with enrage. Oy.

I like how they split the 3 groups into 3 different sides. A bit more running to stay 'furthest back' but it at least ensures that the entire DPS section doesn't get nuked by the 5k nature geyser when it hits the enrage tank.

Personal observation during the fight is that the bloodboil will hit the groups in this order:
1->2->3->1->2-> Enrage

You should probably stack group 2 (our group 4) with high hp people so that a combination of bloodboil, geyser, and enrage damage doesn't drop people too suddenly. That's what happened on a few our attempts actually. Group 4 had bloodboil and got smacked in the face with a geyser which dropped them all 5k health and the DoT damage killed a mess of people before heals could catch up. On the flip side you could keep your healers/low HP peeps in group 3 since they only take bloodboil once and its already fading off by the time enrage and the geyser hits. Group 1 is the bastard group since they still have half their bloodboil when enrage takes place, but they do have the benefit of 10 extra seconds to scatter to avoid the geyser if a group member is enraged.

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My sanity is not in question...
It was a confirmed casualty some time ago.

orion808

Good observation.

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Wintrow

Some strats also suggest that mages iceblock to remove the last bloodboil. So Group 4 should include all of our mages.

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70 Priest

Elminnster

Ice Block has a 5 minute cooldown, so it will not cover the next 4 enrages after the first one.

Aestryd

bumping for review

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Aestryd 80 Prot Pally / Epimetheus 70 Feral Druid / Yuusei 71 Enhancement Shaman
Camsmule 70 Fury/Prot Warrior / Tamrissa 70 Affliction Warlock / Aegyn 70 Holy Priest
Shyff 70 Arcane Mage / Indrus 54 Combat Rogue

Argeoff

i looked for class specific ways for fel rage tank, i didn't see any thing for paladins. what would be the best way incase i get the fel rage?

BigSlick

http://www.wowwiki.com/Gurtogg_Blood...s_for_Fel_Rage

Class instructions for Fel Rage

Generally, FR targets must immediately use all damage-reducing or health enhancing abilities they have. Damage dealers and tanks should switch to their most defensive setup. Classes able to use a shield should equip one. Pure healing builds should exclusively spam heal themselves (this allows the other healers to regain some mana). DPS hybrids able to heal should start out spam healing themselves. If the raid healers have covered up and the situation feels comfortable, hybrids may start do DPS, but must be ready to immediately resume self healing if their health drops below 50%.

• Druid: First, Barkskin. After that, go Bear Form immediately. Frenzied Regeneration heals for double the usual amount, use it wisely. Keep Demoralizing Roar up
• Hunter: Hit Aspect of the Monkey as soon as possible, since it's impossible to move away from him, deal melee damage. Use Deterrence if available
• Mage: Use Ice Armor and Ice Barrier as often as possible. Switch on Mana Shield while the Mortal Strike debuff is in effect. Nuke with instant or uninterruptible attacks (like Fire Blast or Ice Lance). Never use Iceblock
• Priest: Use Power Word: Shield on every CD. Keep Renew up and spam Flash Heal on self. Be prepared to use Desperate Prayer (if available)
• Rogue: Use all DPS enhancing cooldowns. Hit Cloak of Shadows when he uses Fel Acid. Save Evasion for the Mortal Strike debuff. Do not Vanish
• Shaman: Enhancement Shamans should use Shamanistic Rage. Resto shamans must not forget to Earth Shield themselves. If the shaman has a two handed weapon equipped, it is recommend to equip a shield for extra armor until the FR is gone.
• Warlock: Spam Drain Life, ignoring interrupts. Keep up Siphon Life if available, use Death Coil when low on HP
• Warrior: It seems that warriors never get FR, but just in case: Switch to Defensive Stance and equip 1H + shield. Do not use Death Wish

I would argue that shadow priests should not shift out of form to self-heal. With no pushback protection, the only 'heals' we'll likely get off are renew and shield. We can still get off a shield in shadow, but even amplified, our renew and other heals will be no stronger than a holy-spec priest due to lack of talents, and the 15% damage reduction provided by shadow form is too great a benefit to overcome (plus we can still effectively self-heal a good amount through VE).

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Bigslick - 80 Human Priest (Discipline)
Cab - 74 Night Elf Druid (Moonkin)

Tarsurion

Do we know if the dmg taken during FR tanking is all physical dmg or a combination of physical and magic? I'm thinking about bringing some extra potions for this fight...just want to be sure which ones to bring. Also, does resilience help to mitigate dmg at all?

Tars

Wintrow

The bulk is physical, but there is nature damage in there as well. Resilience likely helps, though as long as our healers are on the ball, there's no significant need to stack resilience. Plus, keeping your DPS stats high would be more important here in my opinion.

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70 Priest