|
 |
 |
| Permalink to this page |
Sartharion (25 Man) Strategy Guide |
| by Nellorae |
| This is the main guide for this boss. We will attempt to keep it up to date, so feedback is appreciated. This is copyright material. Please respect the work of the author and ourselves and do not copy it. |
|
 Introduction
Sartharion is the main boss inside of the Obsidian Sanctum raid dungeon, which is found underneath Wyrmrest Temple in Dragonblight, Northrend. He is charged with guarding the egg clutches of the Twilight Dragonflight, and is aided in this task by three Drakes. Raiders entering the Obsidian Sanctum will also encounter assorted dragonkin trash packs, and the entire instance is one big cave. The trash must be killed before engaging Sartharion, but whether to kill the Drakes themselves before or during the main boss encounter is left up to the raiders. If they are engaged and killed separately before the encounter, each yields an Emblem (of Heroism for a 10-man raid; of Valor for a 25-man) for each raider. If they are left alive and Sartharion himself is engaged, they become scripted into the main boss fight, and each improves the loot table for the kill*. Below you will find the strategy for downing this boss, both with and without his Drake underlings.
This dungeon can be tackled as either a normal (10-man) or heroic (25-man) raid. Unlike some of the raid bosses in Naxxramas, all the mechanics in this fight are the same, regardless of raid size. However, some of the strategies used to cope with them are quite different between the two raid sizes. As you add Drakes into the main encounter, the difficulty ramps up in both the 10- and 25-man versions, but the incline of that ramp is a good deal steeper for the 10-man version, due to the logistics of tanking a mixture of mobs, having enough healing to cover a great amount of damage, and still needing a very high level of DPS. There just aren't the same number of options as are available to a 25-man raid.
In practice, this is somewhat balanced out by the greater levels of cohesiveness and communication that are usually possible in a serious achievement-oriented 10-man raid group. Also, the fact that this encounter really requires that no one messes up too horribly means that, in 25-man, sometimes all you gain is 15 more people who have a chance to make mistakes.
Twilight Realm
This fight has a special twilight realm that you can only enter through special portals created by the three drakes. If you are inside this realm, you can only leave it by killing all mobs in the realm, or by being ejected by a mob special ability (see Tenebron).
General Raid Composition and Roles
 10-man
2-3 tanks (2 for just Sartharion, 3 if any drakes will be helping him).
-1 main tank who will tank Sartharion (or the drakes if they are being done as separate encounters). This role is usually best filled by a very high HP druid, or a blood Death Knight with excellent control over his/her survival cooldowns. Any tank spec will suffice, but those two tend to make things smoother.
-1 Lava Blaze/Twilight Whelps tank who will tank the groups of smaller adds as needed.
-1 drake tank who will tank each of the drakes as they are called down by Sartharion to aid him in the main encounter.
No tanks should ever need to take portals to the Twilight Realm; everything there is weak enough to be 'tanked' by a sturdy DPS. However, if you are killing any of the drakes as separate encounters, you may as well have one of the off tanks go through if either Acolyte will be there (see drake abilities below).
2-3 healers
-1 tank healer who will dedicate most of his/her time to healing the main tank, but will also be watching the rest of the raid to top them up when needed. This person will stay with the main tank at all times, never taking portals.
-1 raid healer who will concentrate mainly on healing the drake and Twilight Whelp/Lava Blaze tanks, while watching the rest of the raid to top them off when needed.
-The third healer should be another raid/off tank healer, if needed.
Whether the raid healer goes into portals with DPS or not is up to your raid, but in general the Acolytes should die fast enough that the DPS can be topped up when they come out of the portal, and having both healers stay in the normal realm is safer for the Tanks.
When going after Sartharion alone, or with just one drake, bringing 3 healers makes learning easier. As your guild gets to the point where you are attempting to conquer +2 and +3 drakes, the DPS needed to get them down in time will probably mean you only
have room for 2 healers.
4-6 DPS
-No specific class is absolutely required, but do make sure to get as many good raid buffs as possible, and at least 2-3 classes with significant AoE capability.
-Slows/stuns can help with the adds, but no hard CC (Polymorph, Banish, etc) is necessary.
-Heroism/Blood Lust and Misdirection are, as usual, very good to have available (with +3 drakes, Heroism/Blood Lust borders on essential).
If attempting +3 drakes, it is also extremely beneficial to stack DPS within one set of buffs. i.e. bring all physical or all magical DPS, so that they can have close to all raid buffs available even though there are only a few of them. Some guilds find it easier to bring a third healer all the time, and only use 2 tanks. If you have an off tank that can handle a drake and still pick up and manage all the other adds (a very good Protection paladin is probably best suited), this is certainly a valid option. But most guilds will find 3 tanks necessary, and then two good healers can manage just fine.
Likely all your DPS will be taking portals as called for with each sub-strategy, but in some situations you might want a couple of AoE classes to stay out and work on thinning out the smaller adds. See each section for details.
 25-man
2 tanks (3 if any drakes will be helping Sartharion; off tanking both a drake and the other adds just doesn't work in 25-man: they all hit much too hard).
-1 main tank who will handle Sartharion (or any drakes who are being fought as separate encounters). For +3 drakes, this role is usually best filled by a blood Death Knight with excellent control over his/her survival cooldowns.
-1 drake tank who will handle each drake as Sartharion calls them to land and help him fight.
-1 Lava Blaze/Twilight Whelp tank who will pick up and tank the smaller adds as necessary.
As with the 10-man, there is no real need for a tank to take any portal; a sturdy DPS will be able to tank the Acolytes just fine because, although they hit harder in the larger raid, more people also means that a healer can (and should) go through each portal with the DPS.
5-7 healers (6-7 to make learning +1 and +2 drakes easier, back down to 5-6 in order to have enough DPS for +3 drakes)
- 1-2 main tank healers, who will dedicate the majority of their attention to the main tank, while still watching to top off other raid members in emergencies.
- 2-3 off tank healers, who will concentrate on keeping the drake off tank and Twilight Whelp/Lave Blaze off tank healed while still watching to top off others in emergencies.
- 2-3 raid healers, who will keep the raid topped off and help cover any extra healing that is needed on the tanks. 1-2 of these should be designated to go into portals with the DPS.
15-17 DPS
As with 10-man, no specific class is an absolute necessity. Just make sure to balance your composition to get the necessary buffs, and try not to overload with melee if you are attempting +2 or +3 drakes; it can get difficult for them to see the Shadow Fissures if there are too many of them packed in around a target.
Also, bring at least 4-5 raiders with significant AoE capability.
Again, slows/stuns can help with controlling the adds, but no hard CC (Polymorph, Banish, etc) is necessary.
A balanced mix of physical and magical DPS will serve best in the 25-man version, even for +3 drakes, as there are enough spots to get everyone the buffs they need. And of course, Heroism/Blood Lust and Misdirection continue to be very useful.
In any situation where DPS is supposed to go into a portal (see various strategy sections), it is up to your raid to determine how many need to go in. Sometimes having them all go, and burning the Acolyte(s) as fast as possible is the best option. Sometimes, if lots of the smaller adds have accumulated, you may want to have 3-4 AoE heavy raiders stay and thin them out, while the rest kill the Acolyte(s).
If your raid has progressed to the point of working on +3 drakes, you will want to also make sure your DPS includes someone capable of tanking temporarily, in case you are faced with the situation where your raid is battling both Tenebron and Shadron at once. See the +2 and +3 strategies for details.
Mobs and Strategies
It is highly advisable to first kill the drakes separately, and then add them back in one at a time to the main encounter after your raid is familiar with the mechanics each one brings to the fight. Therefore, first we will go over each drake as if fighting them alone, then go through fighting Sartharion with different numbers of drakes helping him.
 Vesperon
~780,800 health in 10-man, ~2.2 million health in 25-man (25% more when engaged with Sartharion)
Taunt-able. Not Leash-able.
Melee: ~ 5k in 25man, ~2k in 10man.
Abilities
Shadow Breath - This is a 15 yard range, frontal cone attack that deals shadow damage (~6,900-8,000 in 10-man, ~8,500-10,000 in 25-man). There is no set cooldown on this ability, but it generally occurs every 10-30 seconds. In a sample of combat logs, the smallest gap seen between two Shadow Breaths was 8 seconds and the largest was 42. The tank must always be kept topped off enough to take the next hit of this.
Shadow Fissure - This is a void-zone type attack, targeted on a single raider, that deals a very large amount of shadow damage (~6,100-8,800 in 10-man, ~9,500-13,500 in 25-man) to anyone still standing in it after 5 seconds. There is a clear and obvious animation on the ground; raiders simply need to move out of it before the 5 seconds is up. This ability has a 5 second cooldown, but the drake doesn't always cast it immediately when the cooldown period is up. Generally, one will appear on average every 8-10 seconds.
Twilight Revenge - If the drake is killed as a part of the main Sartharion encounter then, once it dies, Sartharion gains 25% melee haste and 25% increased physical damage. This effect stacks up to 3 times.
Power of Vesperon - This aura reduces the health of all raid members, both inside any portals and out of them, by 25% as long as Vesperon is alive.
Adds
An Acolyte of Vesperon appears inside of the portals Vesperon casts.
Acolyte of Vesperon's Abilities
~100,000 health in 10-man; ~325,000 health in 25-man.
Melee Swing - This hits every ~2.5 seconds, dealing physical damage (~1000 in 10-man; ~3000 in 25-man).
Twilight Torment - This aura, applied to every raid member both inside and outside the Twilight Realm, increases fire and shadow damage taken by 75% and places a debuff on anyone who deals damage that causes them to take shadow damage (~1700-1900 in 10-man, ~3000-5000 in 25-man) each time they hit (the debuff effect has a 1 second cool down). On the multiple drake fights, DPS can't afford to hold back because of this ability, so healers should expect to be healing close to the full damage (in practice the total damage spread is about half that, since most casters won't be landing spells every second).
Strategy:
After making sure that all patrolling trash that might interfere is dead, have the tank run in and face pull Vesperon. The tank should position the drake so that his head is facing out over the cliff where he's found; this assures he is facing away from all DPS/healers, and they won't get Shadow Breathed on.
Roughly every 30 seconds while he is engaged, Vesperon will summon a portal to the twilight realm. Inside of this portal will be an Acolyte that must be killed as soon as possible as its Twilight Torment aura is quite dangerous to the raid. When the portal appears, everyone but the main tank and his healer should immediately enter it and take down the Acolyte. In both 10-man and 25-man, the Acolyte doesn't hit particularly hard, and should die very fast, so any sturdy DPS can be used to tank it as long as healers stay aware. This isn't particularly important when engaging the drake solo since you will have an off tank available, but is good to know once Vesperon is being added into the Sartharion encounter.
The healers also need to be especially vigilant on raid healing, as the DPS will be taking significant damage from Twilight Torment; watch especially fast-swinging melee, or casters with many DoTs ticking. Once the Acolyte is killed, anyone inside the portal immediately 'surfaces' back in the normal realm**, and DPS can continue on Vesperon himself.
For the duration of the encounter, everyone needs to be watching for and avoiding the Shadow Fissures which appear; even the main tank is a valid target for these.
 Shadron
~780,800 health in 10-man, ~2.2 million health in 25-man (25% more when engaged with Sartharion)
Taunt-able. Not Leash-able.
Melee: ~ 5k in 25man, ~2k in 10man.
Abilities
Shadow Breath - This is a 15 yard range, frontal cone attack that deals shadow damage (~6,900-8,000 in 10-man, ~8,500-10,000 in 25-man). There is no set cooldown on this ability, but it generally occurs every 10-30 seconds. In a sample of combat logs, the smallest gap seen between two Shadow Breaths was 8 seconds and the largest was 42. The tank must always be kept topped off enough to take the next hit of this.
Shadow Fissure - This is a void-zone type attack, targeted on a single raider, that deals a very large amount of shadow damage (~6,100-8,800 in 10-man, ~9,500-13,500 in 25-man) to anyone still standing in it after 5 seconds. There is a clear and obvious animation on the ground; raiders simply need to move out of it before the 5 seconds is up. This ability has a 5 second cooldown, but the drake doesn't always cast it immediately when the cooldown period is up. Generally, one will appear on average every 8-10 seconds.
Twilight Revenge - If the drake is killed as a part of the main Sartharion encounter then, once it dies, Sartharion gains 25% melee haste and 25% increased physical damage. This effect stacks up to 3 times.
Power of Shadron - This aura increases raid members' fire damage taken by 100%. This affects all raiders, both inside any portals and outside them, but since there are no sources of fire damage inside portals, it doesn't matter there. This lasts as long as Shadron is alive.
Adds
An Acolyte of Shadron appears inside the portals Shadron casts.
Acolyte of Shadron's Abilities
~100,000 health in 10-man; ~325,000 health in 25-man
Melee Swing - He hits every ~2.5 seconds, dealing physical damage (~1000 in 10-man; ~3000 in 25-man).
Gift of Twilight - This buff is cast on either Shadron (when engaging him alone) or Sartharion (when engaging Shadron as part of the Sartharion fight) and reduces the mob's damage taken by 100% and increases the mob's target's (the main tank's) fire damage taken by 50%.
Strategy
After making sure that all patrolling trash that might interfere is dead, have the tank run in and face pull Vesperon. The tank should Shadron is essentially the same as Vesperon, just with a less dangerous Acolyte ability. Again, if engaging him alone, make sure all patrolling trash that might interfere is dead, then have the main tank pull Shadron and position him so that his Shadow Breaths go safely out over the edge of the cliff, to keep the raid safe.
Roughly every 30 seconds while engaged, Shadron will periodically summon a portal to the twilight realm. Inside of this portal will be an Acolyte that must be killed before DPS can continue on Shadron, as the Acolyte's Gift of Twilight makes him essentially immune to damage.
Like Vesperon's Acolyte, it doesn't hit particularly hard, and can be tanked by a sturdy DPS when Shadron is added into the Sartharion encounter. When engaging Shadron alone, your off tank may as well do it, or you can have DPS do it for the practice. Once the Acolyte is killed, anyone inside the portal immediately 'surfaces' back into the normal realm, and can continue fighting Shadron himself.
For the duration of the encounter, everyone needs to be watching for and avoiding the Shadow Fissures; even the main tank is a valid target for these.
 Tenebron
~780,800 health in 10-man, ~2.2 million health in 25-man (25% more when engaged with Sartharion)
Taunt-able. Not Leash-able.
Melee: ~ 5k in 25man, ~2k in 10man.
Abilities
Shadow Breath - This is a 15 yard range, frontal cone attack that deals shadow damage (~6,900-8,000 in 10-man, ~8,500-10,000 in 25-man). There is no set cooldown on this ability, but it generally occurs every 10-30 seconds. In a sample of combat logs, the smallest gap seen between two Shadow Breaths was 8 seconds and the largest was 42. The tank must always be kept topped off enough to take the next hit of this.
Shadow Fissure - This is a void-zone type attack, targeted on a single raider, that deals a very large amount of shadow damage (~6,100-8,800 in 10-man, ~9,500-13,500 in 25-man) to anyone still standing in it after 5 seconds. There is a clear and obvious animation on the ground; raiders simply need to move out of it before the 5 seconds is up. This ability has a 5 second cooldown, but the drake doesn't always cast it immediately when the cooldown period is up. Generally, one will appear on average every 8-10 seconds.
Twilight Revenge - If the drake is killed as a part of the main Sartharion encounter then, once it dies, Sartharion gains 25% melee haste and 25% increased physical damage. This effect stacks up to 3 times.
Power of Tenebron - This aura increases the shadow damage taken by all raid members by 100%, for all sources of shadow damage both inside of any portals or outside them, for as long as Tenebron is alive.
Hatch Eggs - This ability hatches all eggs left alive in the twilight realm. It has a 2.5 second casting time in 10-man, a 5 second casting time in 25-man.
Adds
Twilight Eggs - These appear inside the twilight realm when Tenebron casts a portal, 6 each time. Each Twilight Egg has ~27,000 health in 10-man and ~81,000 health in 25-man. They are susceptible to all normal damage, including AoE. Each Twilight Egg that isn't killed by the time Tenebron finishes his Hatch Egg cast becomes a...
Twilight Whelps 'surface' out of the portals Tenebron casts, one for each Twilight Egg that was left alive when Tenebron finished casting Hatch Eggs. Each Twilight Whelp has ~53,000 health in 10-man and ~156,000 health in 25-man. These Twilight Whelps each apply an instant cast ability called Fade Armor to their target; this is a stacking debuff that reduces armor by 1500. There is no cooldown on this ability, and they all apply it, so it stacks very quickly on their current target. It stacks up to 10 times and lasts 15 seconds if not refreshed.
Strategy
Just like with Vesperon and Shadron, when this drake is being fought alone, make sure all patrolling trash is dead, and then have the main tank pull the drake and face Tenebron out over the edge of the nearby cliff, so she can't Shadow Breathe on the rest of the raid.
Roughly every 30 seconds while she's engaged, Tenebron will summon a portal to the twilight realm. Inside of this portal will be a clutch of 6 Twilight Eggs. If these Twilight Eggs are not killed by the time Tenebron finishes her Hatch Eggs cast, they hatch en masse into Twilight Whelps, which 'surface' and attack the raid.
It is the raid's choice whether to have DPS go through the portal and kill the Twilight Eggs or to simply ignore the portal and have an off tank pick up the Twilight Whelps when they come out. The Twilight Eggs have about half as much health, and don't apply any debuffs, so are obviously easier to kill. However, it is excellent practice for your Twilight Whelp/Lava Blaze tank if your raid lets them all hatch into Twilight Whelps; even when fighting Tenebron alone. This is because doing so is essential to maintaining enough DPS uptime once your raid is fighting Tenebron as a part of the Sartharion encounter.
The off tank should note that the Twilight Whelps always 'surface' at the location where the portal spawned. They pretty much always head straight for a healer, so a paladin healing with Righteous Fury up can also be used to draw the Twilight Whelps together. Once the off tank has control of the Twilight Whelps, they should be positioned on top of Tenebron so that the DPS can AoE them and still hit the drake.
Healers should be aware of the Fade Armor stack the off tank will have, and make sure to provide extra heals accordingly.
For the duration of the encounter, everyone needs to be watching for and avoiding the Shadow Fissures; even the main tank is a valid target for these.
 Sartharion the Onyx Guardian
2.5 million health in 10-man; 7.6 million health in 25-man (25% more when engaged with any of his Drakes helping).
He is Leash-able, but see the Pyrobuffet ability below.
He is Taunt-able.
Melee: ~ 7,500 in 25man, ~3500 in 10man. ()
Abilities
Cleave - This ability is a frontal sweep in front of the boss with a 5 yard range. It hits the target and the target's closest allies (up to 10 people) for 35% weapon damage.
Flame Breath - This is a 45 yard range frontal cone attack that deals fire damage (~8,700-11,000 in 10-man, ~10k-14k in 25-man). It has a 2 second casting time.
Tail Lash - Sartharion's tail can hit people who stand near it. It has a 30 yard range. This Tail Lash is an instant cast, wide (close to 180 degrees behind him) rear cone that deals damage (~3000-4000 in 10-man, ~4200-5500 in 25-man) and stuns affected targets for 2 seconds.
Will of Sartharion - Whilst any of the drakes are still alive, this increases both Sartharion and the drakes' health by 25%.
Pyrobuffet - This isn't an ability Sartharion normally casts during the encounter, but instead is in place to prevent him being fought somewhere other than the allowable engagement zone (basically the big island he is standing on and a bit around each of its edges, including the smaller islands to the east). Once Sartharion is engaged, any raider outside of this zone is hit with a giant ball of fire (hits for ~3-4000, and stacks a debuff that makes the next hit do 1000 more damage) every 10 seconds or so. Two, or at most three, of these fireballs will kill the majority of players. As long as your raid isn't trying to cheat, it isn't an issue. Do be aware, however, that this means that, when trying to run out and Leash Sartharion on a wipe, most people without Sprint or Blink or something similar are at risk of dying before they reach the zone out portal.
Flame Cyclone Enrage - When Sartharion reaches ~10% health, he will call on all the Fire Cyclones at once, leading to a massive pack of Lava Blazes (see below for descriptions of these mobs).
Berserk - Sartharion has a 10 minute enrage timer. He deals 150% faster attacks and 500% harder hits after it has run out.
Adds
 Lava Blaze
~26k health in 10man; ~65k health in 25-man
These are fire elementals periodically summoned by means of Sartharion calling upon a Flame Cyclone(see below). They have no special abilities, just a melee swing that deals fire damage (~1000 in 10-man; ~3000 in 25-man), and need to be off-tanked. DPS should note that these are not immune to fire damage, and can be rooted/slowed/etc. If a Lava Blaze is hit by the Flame Tsunami, it enrages and does 400% damage from that point on. This enrage is removable by Tranquillizing Shot and Anaesthetic Poison. Having a Rogue use Anaesthetic Poison is far superior, because they can use it in conjunction with Fan of Knives to remove all enrages very quickly.
Terrain Dangers
Lava Moat - Trenches of lava surround Sartharion. Standing in this lava hurts, as one might expect. It ticks for ~1k, and is affected by the drakes' auras just like all other fire damage. Brief movement into these trenches is not too serious; it is better than being hit by a Shadow Fissure or Flame Tsunami, but don't go too far out or you will start getting Pyrobuffeted.
Flame Cyclones - These are pillars of swirling fire similar in appearance to a mage's Evocate or a druid's Cyclone, positioned in the lava trenches surrounding Sartharion's island. They are not a danger themselves, but are what Sartharion calls on to produce Lava Strikes/Lava Blazes. When he calls on one, it will enlarge and shoot 4-5 Lava Strike meteors up into the air. These Strikes arc from the Cyclone and land randomly in the engagement zone, dealing a 4 yard burst of fire damage (~1500 in 10-man; ~3500 in 25-man) on impact. These Lava Strikes also have a ~25% chance to become a Lava Blaze when they land. Some reports indicate that this chance appears to go up significantly if the Lava Strike actually damages a player, but this is not certain. These meteor Lava Strikes are also what you must avoid being hit by to earn the 'Gotta Go When the Volcano Blows' Achievement(s).
Flame Tsunami - This is a periodic terrain effect on an approximately 30 second timer. A wall of lava slowly rises out of one of the two long trenches of the engagement zone (randomly each time, from either the north or the south), passes over the entire engagement area, and then dissipates into the opposite end's long trench. When a Flame Tsunami is about to form, you will see a raid announcement that says "The lava surrounding Sartharion churns!". It takes about 2-3 seconds for the Flame Tsunami to rise to full height. Once at full height, it sweeps over the engagement zone, getting all the way across in another 2-3 seconds. There are gaps in either possible wall where raiders must position themselves and any Lava Blazes in order to avoid being hit (see diagrams).
 Any raider hit by the Flame Tsunami while it is passing across the main island is knocked back, slowed and left with a 10 second fire damage DoT. The Flame Tsunami hits for (~1500 in 10man, ~3k in 25man) fire damage, and leaves a 10 second DoT debuff that ticks each second for another (~1500 in 10man, ~3k in 25man) fire damage. The knockback is roughly 15 yards or so, and the slow effect only lasts 2-3 seconds. The main danger is that, because it's fire damage, Flame Tsunami is affected by Shadron's and the Acolytes' auras.
Sartharion Strategy
No matter which, if any, drakes are left alive to join the encounter, in general the following kill priority should be followed. Simply have DPS hit the highest target on this list any time it becomes available, until either something of higher priority becomes available or the target dies:
1. Vesperon's Acolyte
2. Any drake that has landed (lower HP drakes first)
3. Twilight Whelps and Lava Blazes (these should be tanked so that they are taking incidental AoE (see below) while the Drakes are being killed, and AoE focused during any downtime between drakes)
4. Shadron's Acolyte (if you've taken a portal to kill Vesperon's Acolyte, and Shadron's is there as well, obviously you will need to kill them both to be able to surface)
5. Sartharion
Doing it this way will get you used to the proper kill order for later drake additions. More specific instructions as to timing and who goes where are included for each scenario below.
Note: This is actually a simplification, and different guilds will find that slightly altering the kill order at certain times will work better for them. See the bottom of the +3 drakes strategy for notes about this.
No Drakes Strategy
From the perspective of the harder modes of this fight, this version really only exists as a means of getting a bit of gear and learning the first bits of the more challenging +drake versions of the fight. Progression oriented guilds might find it better to skip straight to trying to learn +2 or +3 versions, and only killing enough drakes to assure a successful Sartharion kill after working a bit each week.
Starting Positions
Arrange the raid in one corner of the island with the Sartharion tank in the adjacent corner, as shown in the diagram above, and begin the pull, moving in the directions shown by the arrows on the diagram. Once Sartharion has moved forward (east on the minimap) toward your raid, the main tank should slowly swing north, causing Sartharion to rotate sideways. While this rotation is happening, DPS and healers should take care to stick near the side of Sartharion's belly, so that they don't get hit by his Tail Swipe or his Flame Breath. The raid should end up in the Position 1 setup, shown in this next diagram.
Position 1
Once positioning is settled, DPS can begin in earnest. Make sure everyone remembers that, without his drakes, fighting Sartharion is not a race, but a fight dependent on smart movement and control. They should be concentrating on getting used to where they need to move and when, so that when you add the drakes back in later, such movement is a matter of habit.
North Flame Tsunami (drakes shown for +drakes versions only)
About 30 seconds into the fight, the first Flame Tsunami will form. Everyone needs to note whether it is coming from the north or from the south, and (if needed) move accordingly to make sure they are standing in a gap. By using Position 1, the main tank will not have to move for the north Flame Tsunamis that come from behind him/her, and will only have to swing a short distance in, hopping onto the main island, to get into a safety gap for the South Flame Tsunamis.
South Flame Tsunami (drakes shown for +drakes versions only)
If there is a South Flame Tsunami and the main tank has to move, he/she needs to be sure to return to their previous position after the wave passes, to be in place for the next potential Flame Tsunami. DPS and healers might need to move to reach a safety gap for either Flame Tsunami, so they need to be paying attention to their positioning at all times. Without drakes, it is perfectly possible for players to live through being hit by a Flame Tsunami, but it's better to practice avoidance, since being hit is deadly when facing +2/3 drakes.
The healers and DPS must also be careful not to get themselves in range of either Sartharion's Flame Breath or his Tail Swipe, even while moving to avoid Flame Tsunami damage.
Every 10-20 seconds or so, you will hear Sartharion make one of several emotes***, all of which signal that he is calling on one of the Fire Cyclones to rain Lava Strikes onto your raid. Avoiding them all successfully throughout the fight will earn you the 'Gonna Go When the Volcano Blows' achievement, but otherwise they don't hit hard at all and are certainly not worth avoiding if its going to put you in range of a Flame Tsunami, Flame Breath, or Tail Swipe. Some of these Lava Strikes will turn into fire elementals on impact, called Lava Blazes. When any Lava Blazes spawn, they should be picked up by or Misdirected to the off tank, and the off tank should position them such that AoE can hit the Lava Blazes and Sartharion simultaneously. At that point, any DPS with an AoE should concentrate on getting the Lava Blazes down before returning to Sartharion full time. DPS should note that, although the Lava Blazes are fire elementals, they aren't immune to fire damage.
When Sartharion reaches ~10% health, he will call on all the Fire Cyclones at once, leading to a mass pack of Lava Blazes that the off tank needs to be ready to pick up. DPS should stick to burning Sartharion himself though, ignoring this final bunch of adds in favour of getting the boss dead ASAP, as the Cyclones just keep spawning more Lava Strikes until he dies. This is the best time to utilize Heroism/Blood Lust if your raid has it.
+1 Drake Strategy
This section assumes you know the no drakes strategy. All the diagrams above apply to this section too.
Assess your raid to determine which drake's abilities will be most easily handled by your members. Tenebron is probably the easiest, but for some raids, getting used to each of the others as just a +1 is advisable as well, to smooth out the learning curve once you are adding them together. For other guilds, it might work best to just skip this stage all together and move straight to working on +2 or even +3 drakes.
Any of the three will likely necessitate a third tank (one for Sartharion, one for the Lava Blazes, and one for the drake), and any of the three will add Shadow Fissures back into the fight. They will also all activate Sartharion's Will, giving both him and the drake 25% more health. Depending on the drake left alive to join the fight, you will have different amounts of time before Sartharion will call for its help. He calls Tenebron 30 seconds after the encounter starts, Shadron 75 seconds after the encounter starts, and Vesperon 120 seconds after the encounter starts.
Position 2
On the pull, use the same Start Position -> Position 1 movement setup as is used with no drakes, and move to the Position 2 setup once a drake is close to landing.
Position 3
If a Flame Tsunami is going to coincide with the drake landing (as is likely to happen with Tenebron or Vesperon), then the drake off tank should move the drake into whichever of the two tank spots in Position 3 is safe, and the raid should adjust accordingly. This assures that neither the main tank nor the Drake off tank will need to move for the Flame Tsunami that originates behind them, and will only have short distances to move when a Flame Tsunami comes at them from the front. The Lava Blaze off tank should make sure to tank the Lava Blazes next to whichever drake is alive, so that incidental AoE can hit them, which means s/he won't need to move unless the drake off tank does. DPS and healers will continue to have to move for either Flame Tsunami.
If Shadron is left alive, DPS should burn him down ASAP when he lands, and only after he is dead, go into his portal and kill his Acolyte, so they don't build habits that will need to be broken once your raid starts working on +3 drakes. When Shadron dies, Sartharion will gain Twilight Revenge, and his physical attacks will be 25% faster and harder, so his healer(s) need to adjust accordingly. Additionally, once he dies his Power of Shadron will fade from the raid, removing the extra 100% fire damage. Will of Sartharion will also be removed from the boss, lowering his max HP by 25%. Once the Acolyte dies, the Gift of Twilight will fade, and the main tank will no longer take an that extra 50% fire damage and Sartharion will again be attackable.
 If Vesperon is left alive, DPS and their healer(s) should go through every portal the moment that it appears and kill the Acolyte ASAP, simply to get them used to paying attention to the urgency of removing Twilight Torment, and also to get used to maximizing DPS uptime while still moving as needed. In between portals, finish off the drake. When Vesperon dies, Sartharion will gain Twilight Revenge, and his physical attacks will be 25% faster and harder. At the same time, Power of Vesperon will fade from the raid, giving all players 25% larger health pools, and Will of Sartharion will drop off of the boss, lowering his max HP by 25%.
If Tenebron is left up, no one goes through the portals at all. The Lava Blaze off tank simply notes their position in order to pick up the Twilight Whelps when they hatch and 'surface'. Healers must remember the debuff Twilight Whelps stack on this off tank will cause him/her to need some extra healing. Once the Lava Blaze off tank has hold of a group of Twilight Whelps, he/she should move them next to Tenebron, so that incidental AoE such as Whirlwind hits them, but DPS should be focused on Tenebron alone until she dies. Once Tenebron is dead, Power of Tenebron will fade from the raid, but since there are no more sources of shadow damage in a +1 fight, it doesn't matter. However, just like with the other drakes, the boss will lose his Will of Sartharion too, lowering his max HP by 25%.
Once the drake is dead, the raid should move back to Position 1, and continue on fighting Sartharion. This is the point where DPS should take a few moments to AoE down all the Lava Blazes/Twilight Whelps that are up, before focusing on Sartharion. Remember, at 10% the raid must still react to the excessive Lava Strikes Sartharion calls down, and to the Lava Blazes that they spawn.
Things to Remember
-Everyone in the raid must remember to watch for both Shadow Fissures and Flame Tsunamis. Shadow Fissures will stop once the drake is dead.
-The drake off tank must remember to keep the drake faced away from the raid.
-The Lava Blaze off tank must remember to keep Lava Blazes out of the Flame Tsunami, pick up Twilight Whelps promptly if they are involved, and move these smaller adds to where incidental AoE can hit both them and whatever DPS is currently single-target focusing.
-The main tank healer(s) must remember that, when the drake dies, Sartharion's physical attacks start to hit 25% harder and faster due to Twilight Revenge.
-All healers must remember to account for the different drake and Acolyte auras in planning out assignments and anticipating damage.
Note: Incidental AoE
Incidental AoE are the spells/abilities that are part of normal DPS rotations for some classes, even when focused on a single target: Whirlwind, Unholy Blight, Multi-shot, etc, and also things like Typhoon that are great single target damage but will hit multiple targets. These abilities will not be enough to make moments of focused AoE unnecessary, but DPS is stretched so tight that every bit helps. Having Twilight Whelps and Lava Blazes already at reduced health when a drake dies and the raid can spare a few moments for focused AoE means getting to the next drake that much faster.
Another reason for this positioning is that the positioning facilitates easy application of Anaesthetizing Poison/Tranquillizing Shot if they are needed.
 +2 Drakes Strategy
This section assumes you know the no drakes strategy. All the diagrams above apply to this section too.
It is highly recommended to use Vesperon and Tenebron as your +2. The reason is three-fold: it removes the need for DPS to go through any portals until after everything but Sartharion himself is dead, it removes the most dangerous Acolyte/aura combo, and it gives the most time in between drakes joining the fight. Tenebron is called down 30 seconds in, and Vesperon isn't called down until 90 seconds later. This is important because, to have a reasonable hope of success, the first drake and all adds must be dead before the next lands. Use Heroism/Blood Lust as soon as Tenebron lands, and any other cooldowns necessary, to see that this happens. If your raid is far behind this benchmark, you will wipe due to the combination of the Powers of the drakes and Twilight Torment. Wiping like this is a good indication your players just need to gear up a bit more, or you might need to synergize your raid buffs a bit better. Once your DPS is killing Tenebron within ~45-50 seconds (the time given between Tenebron and Shadron being called) with some cooldowns still in place, it's a good indication that you are ready to try all three drakes.
Much like the earlier iterations of this fight, the raid will still arrange themselves according to the Start Position, moving into Position 1 as Sartharion comes at them, and then moving to Position 2 once Tenebron is close to landing.
As Tenebron lands, your raid will be met with the first Flame Tsunami of the fight. The drake off tank should move Tenebron to whichever Position 3 tank spot is safe, get threat as fast as possible, and then DPS should blow any and all cooldowns necessary to get Tenebron to die.
If Tenebron isn't quite dead when Vesperon lands, which might happen the first few times through this encounter, it will be necessary to know how to react:
In the 10-man version, the drake off tank can tank both drakes, or the Twilight Whelp/Lava Blaze tank can pick up Vesperon and hold him for a bit, as long as the situation doesn't last very long. If you are running with 2 tanks, and still not killing Tenebron before Shadron descends, you need better DPS, or fewer healers.
In the 25-man version, the drakes' Shadow Breath, combined with Power of Tenebron, hits hard enough that it isn't possible for a single tank to take two of them while Power of Tenebron is active. Therefore, it will be necessary to have a temporary off tank prepared to grab and hang on to Vesperon. This temp tank should move Vesperon into whichever of the two off tank spots shown in Position 3 that Tenebron didn't end up in. Any plate wearing DPS or feral druid will suffice as this temp tank. There will also need to be a healer prepared to dedicate to the temp tank. This should only ever be a very short term arrangement, just long enough for Tenebron to be finished off and the drake off tank to move over and Taunt Vesperon. Then the temp tank should go back to DPSing.
If Vesperon manages to summon a portal before Tenebron dies, the 175% shadow damage is likely going to cause the next Shadow Breath to kill your off tanks. You will need to determine on the fly whether it would be faster to burn Tenebron the rest of the way, or to get into the portal and take out the Acolyte. In general, if Tenebron is at more than ~20% health, killing the Acolyte will be faster so long as your DPS gets in the portal fast. At that point, Twilight Torment combining with Power of Tenebron up is going to mean LOTS of extra healing is needed, and one of the two needs to be removed ASAP or you will wipe. If this drake overlap situation happens, the whole raid is going to need to stay alert and use any means needed to keep themselves alive, while still performing their roles.
Once Tenebron is dead, DPS can move on to Vesperon, but should still be in the habit of taking his portals and killing that Acolyte every time its summoned.
Things to Remember
-Everyone in the raid must remember to watch for both Shadow Fissures and Flame Tsunamis throughout the fight. Shadow Fissures will stop once both drakes are dead.
-The drake off tank must remember to keep the drake(s) faced away from the raid. If a temp off tank is necessary, s/he must remember this as well.
-The Lava Blaze off tank must remember to keep Lava Blazes out of the Flame Tsunami, pick up Twilight Whelps promptly (if they are involved), and move these smaller adds to where incidental AoE can hit both them and whatever DPS is currently focusing on.
-The main tank healer(s) must remember that, when Tenebron dies, Sartharion's physical attacks will become 25% harder and faster. When Vesperon dies, they will become yet again harder and faster, as the Twilight Revenge bonus stacks and will total 50%.
-The DPS must remember to stay true to the kill priority.
-All healers must remember to account for the different drake and Acolyte auras in planning out assignments and anticipating damage.
Once the two drakes are dead, move back to Position 1, and continue DPS as normal, with AoE taking a few moments to kill off all the Twilight Whelps remaining before moving on to Sartharion himself. Also, everyone will still be watching for Flame Tsunamis. The soft enrage and extra Lava Blazes still come at 10%, so be ready.
 +3 Drakes Strategy
This section assumes you know the no drakes strategy. All the diagrams above apply to this section too.
Sartharion will call down Tenebron 30 seconds after the encounter starts, Shadron 45 seconds after Tenebron, and Vesperon 45 seconds after Shadron. This is where the kill priority becomes the most important. DPS must always be ready to adjust to new targets entering the engagement, and must know when swapping targets is needed. Because kill speed is so important, you will want to take the minimum of healing that you can get away with. Likely this will be 2 healers on 10-man, and 5-6 on 25-man.
The raid assumes Position 1. About 25 seconds into the fight, move to Position 2, and, as Tenebron lands, the drake off tank picks him up and moves him to whichever of the Position 3 tank spots is safe from the first Flame Tsunami, which will be happening at the same time. The raid adjusts positioning accordingly, and DPS begins in earnest as soon as the drake off tank confirms solid threat. DPS should use any cooldowns needed to make sure Tenebron dies ASAP. DPS and healers can ignore the portal, but still must watch for Shadow Fissures and Flame Tsunamis. The Lava Blaze/Twilight Whelp off tank will need to position himself where the portal spawns in order to pick up the Twilight Whelps when they 'surface', and then should try to bring the pack of them in range of any incidental AoE such as Whirlwind or Unholy Blight that might help kill a few of them off, or at least reduce their HP. The goal is for the raid to kill Tenebron before Shadron is called into the fight. If this happens, the drake off tank can move toward where Shadron will land while DPS use AoE attacks to thin out the smaller Twilight Whelps and Lava Blazes, until Sartharion calls on Shadron. Remember, once Tenebron dies, Sartharion will gain Twilight Revenge, and all of his physical attacks will be coming 25% faster and hitting 25% harder. Main tank healing will need to be stepped up accordingly.
If Tenebron is still alive as Shadron descends, the raid needs to know how to react:
In the 10-man version, the drake off tank can tank both, as long as the situation doesn't last very long. If you are running with 2 tanks, this is going to be a very rocky situation as it puts your raid at a much higher risk of either getting hit by loose Twilight Whelps/Lava Blazes, or getting hit by a Shadow Breath as the off tank tries to maintain aggro on them all. The damage on the off tank will also stretch the limits of what 2 healers can cover along with the heightened raid damage and the main tank still getting hit hard. If there is a DPS that has healing spells, they might even need to help heal for a moment until Tenebron can be finished off. Assess your composition; the extra DPS slot should be enough that this doesn't occur, or else you would be better served by bringing in a 3rd tank.
In the 25-man version, the drake tank can often hold Shadron and Vesperon together, but not Tenebron and Shadron because Power of Tenebron makes the damage from a simultaneous Shadow Breath too high to survive. Therefore, a temporary off tank must be prepared to grab and hang on to Shadron, picking him up and moving him into whichever of the two off tank spots Tenebron didn't end up in. Any plate wearing DPS or feral druid will suffice as this temp tank, as long as there is a healer prepared to dedicate to them. This should only ever be a very short term arrangement, just long enough for Tenebron to be finished off and the drake off tank to move over and Taunt Shadron. Then the temp tank should go back to DPSing, and all DPS should burn their hardest on Shadron to keep from getting further behind.
Note: If Tenebron is particularly close to dying when Shadron starts to land, you might consider having the Twilight Whelp/Lava Blaze off tank move in and Taunt Tenebron, and have all DPS with an AoE switch to using it to finish off Tenebron and simultaneously thin out the Twilight Whelps/Lava Blazes, while single-target oriented DPS move with the drake off tank to begin burning Shadron. This won't work if Tenebron doesn't die nearly immediately, because the Twilight Whelp/Lava Blaze off tank can't move to pick up new little adds without risking a Shadow Breath hitting the raid. It takes a bit of judgment to decide on the fly what will work best for your raid.
Similarly, you may have to pause to AoE the Twilight Whelps and Lava Blazes down when Shadron lands, even if this means not switching to Shadron right away. This depends on your tanks' relative strengths. If your Sartharion tank can survive the Fire Breaths with the extra 225% damage (see below), then kill the adds to keep them manageable. Otherwise, you will need to switch to Shadron the moment he lands.
Everyone can ignore Shadron's portals all together. DPS need to concentrate everything they've got into burning Shadron.
Shadron should be dead, or very close to it, when Vesperon begins to descend. Vesperon's descent will also occur at about the same time as a Flame Tsunami, so everyone needs to continue to be vigilant. Regardless of whether Shadron has died or not, the drake off tank needs to pick up Vesperon (or have Vesperon Misdirected to him), and get set in whichever off tank safe spot is currently safe. All the DPS and healers need to be careful not to get caught in a Shadow Breath during this movement, especially if Shadron isn't dead and is moving with the drake off tank. DPS needs to continue concentrating fully on Shadron until they finish him off.
If Shadron doesn't die within a few seconds of Vesperon landing, things are going to get very difficult, as the raid has to start coping with Gift of Twilight, Power of Shadron, and Twilight Torment simultaneously. If you have the DPS to take Shadron down before Vesperon lands, that's great, but on early attempts it is unlikely. This is the hardest part of the fight. Healing is going to be very intense as damage on both the raid and all three tanks will be much higher, and the main tank will be taking inflated 225% fire damage Flame Breaths. Although this is the time that the main tank will need the most healing, the challenge is really to survive the massive damage from the Fire Breaths which can easily one shot the tank on full health.
The tank will need to use their survival cooldowns for every Fire Breath at this point (Death Knights have a lot of suitable abilities for this). Once he has run out, others in the raid will need to step in and do the same. Paladins can use Divine Guardian or Blessing of Sacrifice to cover two Fire Breaths. Priests can use Pain Suppression or Guardian Spirit. There are various other abilities on other classes too, such as the Hunters pet sacrifice. Whilst Shadron, Vesperon and both Acolytes are up, you will need to use this survival rotation to keep your main tank alive.
 Whilst this stage is difficult for everyone, usually it is main tank deaths that lead to wipes.
When Shadron dies, Sartharion will gain another 25% melee haste and damage buff, but the whole raid, including the main tank, will stop taking 100% extra fire damage as Power of Shadron disappears. If Vesperon has already opened a portal, healing will still be heavy as everyone is still affected by Twilight Torment's 75% extra fire and shadow damage, and the main tank is still affected by 50% more fire damage from Gift of Twilight. If this is the case, all DPS and 1-2 healers should immediately enter the portal and kill the two Acolytes. If Vesperon hasn't yet opened a portal, single target DPS should move their focus to Vesperon, while classes with significant AoE spend a moment thinning out the smaller Twilight Whelps/Lava Blazes that have accumulated. This is because, in a few more seconds, that portal is going to spawn, and all the DPS and a couple of healers must actually enter. Since healing needs will become greater at the same time that fewer healers will be available to cover the drake and Twilight Whelp/Lava Blaze off tanks, lightening the load is beneficial.
The moment that portal spawns, all DPS and 1-2 healers need to take the portal and kill the Acolytes within, starting with the Acolyte of Vesperon. The urgency here is due to Twilight Torment; the extra fire and shadow damage, on top of the other auras and the damage tick of Twilight Torment itself will quickly overwhelm healers if it's not dealt with ASAP. Once the Acolytes are dead, everyone will 'surface', and all DPS should focus on Vesperon until the next portal spawns. Each time a portal opens, healing will be strained as Twilight Torment and Gift of Twilight again affect the raid. Tanks and healers both need to be prepared each time to use whatever cooldowns are necessary to see that the raid survives until DPS can take out those Acolytes. The cycle repeats itself until Vesperon is defeated, usually somewhere between the 2nd and 3rd portal he opens.
When this last drake dies, Shadow Fissures will stop appearing and Power of Vesperon will fade, granting all raid members 25% more max HP. Also, Sartharion will lose 25% of his max HP as his Will of Sartharion buff fades, but he will also gain a third and final stack of Twilight Revenge, bringing his physical attacks up to 75% extra haste and damage. Since the main tank is likely to be low on survival cooldowns, and raid damage will be much lighter for the remainder of the fight, at least 1 of the raid healers should switch to healing the main tank full time.
After all three drakes are dead, the raid can move back to Position 1 in order to finish out the fight with Sartharion, using AoE to kill off all the remaining Twilight Whelps and the current Lava Blazes before concentrating on single target efforts. The drake/Twilight Whelp off tanks will need to continue picking up new Lava Blazes as they spawn, and bringing them back to Sartharion's side. These can usually be killed just by standing near Sartharion, as a result of incidental AoE. At 10%, Sartharion will call on all of his Fire Cyclones to throw their worst at your raid, so make sure off tanks and raid healers are ready for the incoming Lava Blazes. DPS should use any remaining cool downs to burn that final bit of health on Sartharion.
Throughout all of this, all of the mechanics from previous steps need to be followed as well:
-Everyone in the raid must remember to watch for both Shadow Fissures and Flame Tsunamis throughout the fight.
-The drake off tank must remember to keep the drakes faced away from the raid.
-The Lava Blaze off tank must remember to keep Lava Blazes out of the Flame Tsunami, pick up Twilight Whelps promptly while they are spawning, and move these smaller adds to where incidental AoE can hit both them and whatever DPS is currently killing.
-The main tank healer(s) must remember that each time a drake dies, a new stack of Twilight Torment means Sartharion starts to hit the main tank harder and faster.
-The DPS must remember to stay true to the kill priority list.
-All healers must remember to account for the different drake and Acolyte auras in planning out assignments and anticipating damage.
Leaving The Acolytes Till Last
The perfect strategy will depend on your guild and what works best for your particular strengths. There are certainly many variations on kill order and priorities. One major alternative is to kill all the drakes before killing the Acolytes. This would mean a kill order like this:
1. Pull, DPS Sartharion.
2. Tenebron comes down (30 seconds, first Flame Tsunami). Use Blood Lust/Heroism and other cooldowns to kill her fast.
3. AoE the Twilight Whelps and Lava Blazes to get them under control.
4. Shadron comes down (45 seconds after Tenebron). Kill him after finishing point 3.
5. Vesperon comes down (45 seconds after Shadron). Keep DPSing Shadron until he dies.
6. Kill Vesperon.
7. Kill both Acolytes in the twilight realm (this will return you to the real realm).
8. Kill Sartharion.
Whilst many guilds consider Vesperon's Acolyte a top priority because of its aura, with good survival cooldown rotation on your Sartharion tank it is actually sustainable, and there is an argument to be made that constantly running into the twilight realm to kill Acolytes greatly prolongs the fight and actually makes mistakes more likely.
* Adding one drake will allow an additional (ilvl200 in 10-man, ilvl213 in 25-man) piece of loot from Sartharion's loot table to drop. Adding a second drake will allow another additional (ilvl213 in 10-man, ilvl226 in 25-man) piece of loot from the table to drop. Adding the third will cause the Reins of the Black drake to drop in 10-man and Reins of the Twilight drake in 25-man. Additionally, killing Sartharion with all three of his drakes up grants each raider a title: 'X of the nightfall' in 10-man and 'Twilight Vanquisher X' in 25-man.
** Raiders are now given a buff upon 'surfacing' from any of the portals that makes them immune to shadow damage for 2-3 seconds (the tooltip claims it protects from fire damage, but this is an error). This means you are protected from drake breaths, but not from Flame Tsunamis, so be careful where you surface and get to safety immediately.
*** The four emotes are, "Such flammable little insects...", "Your charred bones will litter the floor!", "How much heat can you take?", and "All will be reduced to ash!"
|
|
|
|
|
|
<- Back to Hex Lord Malacrass Guide By Species5618
|
