The Madness of Deathwing encounter is unique, and the main focus is on killing adds correctly. It is a two phase fight. In Phase 1, the raid jumps between platforms and kills Deathwing’s tentacles leveraging the assistance of selected buffs provided by the Aspects. In Phase 2, the raid and the Aspects burn down Deathwing. The Icy Veins guide is here.
The most important mechanic is selecting the order in which tentacles are killed in Phase 1. Deathwing has one tentacle for each of his two wings and two front claws. Each tentacle is associated with a platform and a dragon Aspect. Upon killing a tentacle, the raid will lose the buff provided by that aspect for the remainder of Phase 1. The buffs are:
Alexstrasza (far left platform) – 20% max health, destroys Blistering Tentacles
Strategies differ and depend heavily on raid DPS and healing ability. FatBoss offers one strategy, but most forums recommend the following order for a typical 10 man:
Ysera (middle right)
Alexstrasza (far left)
Nozdormu (middle left)
Kalecgos (far right)
Basic raid makeup:
2 tanks
5 DPS
3 healers
Phase 1 – on each platform:
Tanks pick up the Mutated Corruption and face it away – raid should avoid slams
Tanks use cooldown for Impale and swap immediately after.
At the start, DPS the Mutated Corruption. When the Elementium Bolt spawns, ALL DPS much switch to it immediately.
Regenerative Bloods will appear 90s after the tentacles is engaged
Blistering Tentacles will appear on the big tentacle and must be single-target down (AoE will not hit them). If Alexstraza is up, ignore these.
Special note: If Nozdormu is down, the Elementium Bolt will land in a marked spot for high AoE damage. Everyone must be as far from that spot as possible, and raid cooldowns (Aura Mastery, Spirit Link, Tranq) must be used before it hits.
Phase 2
AoE damage will stack as Deathwing drops to 15%, 10% and 5% health
All players must switch to Elementium Terrors and Elementium Fragments as they spawn.
The Spine of Deathwing encounter is likely the result of a Blizzard employee having an itch in the middle of their back that they couldn’t scratch. In this encounter, you are the itch. This fight is solely add execution. The strategy summary below is taken from the Icy Veins strategy guide. The fight is really very simple once the progression of events is familiar.
There are three adds of note:
Corruption – an orange tentacle
Corrupted blood – orange oozies
Hideous Amalgamation – smoldering elementals
Burning Tendons – hold down Deathwing’s plates and only appear after a Hideous Amalgamation detonates
Basic raid makeup:
1 tank + 1 OT
5 DPS
3 healers
Throughout the fight:
Stack on the tank in the middle (horizontally) of Deathwing’s spine
Healers – immediately heal targets afflicted by Searing Plasma
Designated ranged DPS – attack Corruptions channeling Fiery Grip long enough to break the stun (~20% of the Corruption’s health)
MT grabs Hideous Amalgamations and Corrupted Bloods
Strategy:
Kill all but one Corruption.
All raid members stack in one of the holes left after killing a Corruption – Deathwing will do a barrel roll and throw off any Hideous Amalgamations.
Restack in the middle near Deathwing’s plate.
Kill the remaining Corruption to release a Hideous Amalgamation.
DPS the Hideous Amalgation down to ~10%
Kill Corrupted Bloods close to the Hideous Amalgamation until reaching 9 stacks of Absorbed Blood. DO NOT AoE!!!
Kill the Hideous Amalgamation, then RUN AWAY!!!
Nuke the Burning Tendon (ignore all other mechanics, including Fiery Grip)
Warmaster Blackhorn is one of the few powerful Tauren in the game who hasn’t been killed off/maimed/burned. This is a two phase fight: phase 1 is an add encounter, and phase 2 is burning the boss. Also: airships, yay!
Basic raid makeup:
2 tanks
2(3) healers
6(5) DPS, favoring ranged
Keys to the encounter:
Phase 1
Spread out
Twilight Dreadblade and Slayers
tank them facing away from the raid
Tanks switch which add they are tanking on each spawn.
Avoid charges – charge location will show up as a path of circles on the ground
Twilight Sappers – kill them quickly; slow and stun
Twilight Assault Drakes – ranged DPS kill when possible
Ultraxion is a twilight dragon who amounts to a gear check with a little “click the button at the right time” thrown in. LearnToRaid and the Icy Veins strategy guidehave all the detail, but they can be confusing. I suggest watching the FatBoss guide below as it simplifies the discussion substantially.
The main mechanic that everyone needs to be aware of is Heroic Will, which will appear as an extra button in your UI. It can be clicked at any time, or macro’d using: “/click ExtraActionButton1″. You will use this ability to force you out of the twilight realm to save yourself from devastating attacks.
Basic raid makeup:
1 tank + 1 OT
6(5) DPS
2(3) healers
Keys to the encounter:
Everyone stacks in front.
Tank defensive cooldowns extended by 100% and cooldown reduced by 50%. Use them all the time.
Everyone except the tank uses Heroic Will just prior to Hour of Twilight detonating.
Those afflicted by Fading Light need to use Heroic Will before it expires. The duration of Fading Light can vary.
Temporary tank swap on Fading Light.
Strongest AoE healer gets red crystal buff (Gift of Life), next strongest healer gets green crystal buff (Essence of Dreams)
