To tank Archavon's buttocks
by Matthew Rossi 
Jan 20th 2009 at 2:00PM
As a DPS warrior, I've come to hate the very sight of Archavon, especially his hindquarters. You see, Archavon has a terrible tendency to... how do I put this delicately... he tends to fart on the melee DPS.
Okay, that wasn't very delicate, but it was accurate enough: Archavon expels a cloud of noxious fumes that does AoE damage and radically reduces the chance to hit for anyone standing in it. Since us melee types tend to try and stab, claw, pummel and otherwise do damage to his posterior I can understand why he might view us with disdain. However, it does lead to an issue. Many tanks when fighting Archavon, especially in PuG's where you might not be used to the mechanic, only pull him so far out of the cloud so that they escape its effects, but leave his butt hanging out in the gas. This means the melee DPS has to choose between standing in the death cloud and taking damage while missing with almost every attack or coming around to give the boss a greater chance to parry.
We got a tip today from Jaxtrasi saying that he'd written a visual guide to the fight. While it does lack in stuffed animals, he does a good job of demonstrating to the tank new to this fight how to move the boss out of his nacho-laden death gas. Well, I just assume Archie eats a lot of nachos, he has that kind of look. The only thing it fails to mention is that Archie also likes to lunge the tanks and if the offtank is in that gas cloud his taunt has a huge chance of being resisted, leading to a DPS warrior ending up tanking because he was just outside of it, not that I know anyone who's ever screamed like a 50's sitcom wife seeing a mouse upon realizing that he just lost 18k health in two seconds or anything.
I hate you, Archie, because you are dangerously flatulent.
Okay, that wasn't very delicate, but it was accurate enough: Archavon expels a cloud of noxious fumes that does AoE damage and radically reduces the chance to hit for anyone standing in it. Since us melee types tend to try and stab, claw, pummel and otherwise do damage to his posterior I can understand why he might view us with disdain. However, it does lead to an issue. Many tanks when fighting Archavon, especially in PuG's where you might not be used to the mechanic, only pull him so far out of the cloud so that they escape its effects, but leave his butt hanging out in the gas. This means the melee DPS has to choose between standing in the death cloud and taking damage while missing with almost every attack or coming around to give the boss a greater chance to parry.
We got a tip today from Jaxtrasi saying that he'd written a visual guide to the fight. While it does lack in stuffed animals, he does a good job of demonstrating to the tank new to this fight how to move the boss out of his nacho-laden death gas. Well, I just assume Archie eats a lot of nachos, he has that kind of look. The only thing it fails to mention is that Archie also likes to lunge the tanks and if the offtank is in that gas cloud his taunt has a huge chance of being resisted, leading to a DPS warrior ending up tanking because he was just outside of it, not that I know anyone who's ever screamed like a 50's sitcom wife seeing a mouse upon realizing that he just lost 18k health in two seconds or anything.
I hate you, Archie, because you are dangerously flatulent.
Filed under: Analysis / Opinion, How-tos, Fan stuff, Odds and ends, Instances, Bosses, Guides
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 3)
Kurdon Jan 20th 2009 2:11PM
I am a tank that has tanked this fight properly, and I approve of this mesage.
Flatulance be damned! We must prevail!
BillDoor Jan 20th 2009 3:13PM
I also tank him properly. What's the big deal here? As a tank, it's your job to keep the boss in such a way where he won't wtfpwn your healers, and so that the DPS can do their job.
bad tanks are bad, i guess.
kidandroid Jan 20th 2009 2:10PM
silent but deadly.
Drakor Jan 20th 2009 2:15PM
Im a Prot Warrior in Venture CO. ..the worst alliance server haha but any who, to be honest all you need is 2 protection warriors for your tanks. Have MT tank him in middle and every time Archavon charges a side and lays his gas.. they just taunt him back in middle. It NEVER Resists if you wait till right after he starts his gas aoe. then when the MT gets Lunged the OT picks up and tanks him in middle and does same things as the MT. therefore the cloud is always on the side somewhere and the melee dps is far from it. What always works for me, have done 6 heroic runs with maybe 1 casualty
Zalvi Jan 20th 2009 2:22PM
Im from Venture Co. too (alliance)
Ariz Jan 23rd 2009 7:58PM
yep, cause as we all know, only warriors have taunts? o.O
as for the "1/25 chance of farting by the tank", that would be a 0/25 chance.
http://www.wowhead.com/?spell=60895
Crushing Leap
10 - 80 yd range
BigFire Jan 20th 2009 2:11PM
Odd. Don't know why you have that issue. You see, Arhavon will only do his AoE cloud bursting when he leaps to a random target. In 10 man version, that's 9/10 chance of not landing on the tank. In 25 man version, that's 24/25 chance of him not staying on the tank.
In all my experience tanking him in bothversion, I have to put out my threat moves and try to move him as close to the center of the room as I can make it, as he tends to have the soft spot for the clothies standing at the edge of the room. So, when I'm tanking him, the last thing melee have to worry about is his poison cloud. But that's only been my experience, your tanks might exceed me in technique on how to kill their melee for fun and profit.
nbcaffeine Jan 20th 2009 2:26PM
I'm not sure of Rossi's problems, but as a melee dpser, I've never had the gas cloud be an issue. He's tanked in the center of the room and it seems to me that his only targets for the lunge/cloud routine are ones that are far away (so, the heals and casters in the back). The only things I have to worry about are the stone shards and losing dps time while he runs back to the tank. So, why is this an article? This is by far the easiest 10 man fight in the game. I've done this fight every week since I hit 80, and in those 7 or so weeks, never wiped on him, in either guild runs and facerolling pugs. I'm not one of those super HCs who claim the game is so easy (yet to clear naxx), but seriously, this article is not needed. This fight is an idiot check only the bottom 1% can fail.
Jargen Jan 20th 2009 2:12PM
Expertise ftw.
Something else weird.. I've noticed some of my yellows miss on this boss even though I'm soft capped..
Any special reason for this on this boss?
My momma always Jan 20th 2009 2:13PM
It's pretty easy to leave him in the middle. After he lunges, tank taunts him back...Archie doesnt make you follow him. That's what has worked in all of my PuGs.
Daisil Jan 20th 2009 2:13PM
I know you must be bored w. the maintenance and all; but is it that hard to make a post worth reading? OLD NEWS
Nodaba Jan 20th 2009 2:19PM
I'm going to go on a limb here and say he'll never jump at the tank. Thank being said, I've never seen him jump at anyone in melee range (I've run Vault 10 and 25 every week since about 2 weeks after launch).
When he jumps away, he doesn't wipe aggro...he'll run right back to the tank. The only time he won't run straight back o the tank is when he starts channeling his rock shards. Even then, once he's done with that, he goes straight to the tank, no taunts required. It's a very simple mechanic.
Harlequinne Jan 20th 2009 2:25PM
Doesn't stop tanks from going TO him and tanking him there.
Nodaba Jan 20th 2009 2:44PM
I'm just saying it's very easy to tell the tank "When he jumps at the ranged, wait for him to come back to you. Don't go grab him."
VSUReaper Jan 20th 2009 2:21PM
The fact people dont know to stay out of the gas (melee!) for a few seconds while the tank taunts back to the middle of the room makes me die a little inside.
The fact that some tanks dont pull him out enough for the DPS to stand behind him all the way makes me die a little more inside.
GG scrubby tanks.
Ozymandias Jan 20th 2009 2:25PM
Not having tanked this guy yet, I will remember this when I do get to him. Although leaving DPS in the cloud might be a funny mistake to try once.
Satn Jan 20th 2009 2:26PM
easiest boss fight in game, easier than most heroic 5man bosses even.
doesn't require a guide, period
VSUReaper Jan 20th 2009 2:32PM
No, it does require a guide for those that have never even heard of this fight. Its as simple as this:
Ranged: stay off the stairs, stay out of the poison
Healers: stay off the stairs, stay out of the poison, heal the person that gets rock sharded, or at least shield them you lazy priest.
Melee: stay out of the poison
Tank: Hes going to grab the MT and shake him like a rag dolland then throw him into the corner - OT has to taunt. He will sometimes charge a ranged person and fart, taunt him back or just stand where you are: he will come right back as soon as hes done wiping his ass or throwing rock shards on folks. Make sure there is room for the DPS to stand.
Rinse and Repeat.
Angus Jan 20th 2009 3:11PM
VSReaper:
Tank: Hes going to grab the MT and shake him like a rag dolland then throw him into the corner - OT has to taunt. He will sometimes charge a ranged person and fart, taunt him back or just stand where you are: he will come right back as soon as hes done wiping his ass or throwing rock shards on folks. Make sure there is room for the DPS to stand.
You are mostly right.
OT does not have to taunt if they are #2 on aggro as he will go for that person. I've managed this a few times.
OT can actually save the tank some annoyance and set things up if they are nearby and taunt a few seconds before the lunge. The 3 second window allows you to be the one grabbed, you take a ton of damage, the main tank gets healed up and can reposition, you get pitched and the MT has him again.
MT can slowly move him around the room in a circle like Grobbulus. It is a lot easier on the melee as they will likely not be sitting in a cloud the entire time.
Dagonis Jan 20th 2009 2:28PM
I feel you on all that brother! One question though, why did you dub this article "To tank"? Souldn't it be like "To spank Archavon's buttocks and the dangers involved". Much more accurate IMHO.