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All of the latest Mists of Pandaria newsDatamined Ulduar boss information, with analysis
by Michael Sacco 
Feb 25th 2009 at 3:40PM
Yes, yes, we know you're curious about what the Ulduar boss encounters will be like, loyal readers. With 14 bosses, 11 hard modes, and an optional heroic boss, we wonder, too! We'll be able to test some of these encounters on the 3.1 PTR soon, but there are, of course, those of us who just can't wait to know anything about what's going on in Ulduar.
Luckily, ever-resourceful players and dataminers have acquired information about spells and abilities related to bosses in Ulduar from the 3.1 PTR files. There's a lot of of stuff in here -- some of it may make it into the live game, some may not, and some may be related to vehicles or other sundries involved with encounters. I'm going to go into detailed analysis of those encounters for which detailed spells exist.
It goes without saying that these will be huge spoilers to anyone who doesn't want their Ulduar experience to be anything but pure, so don't read past the jump if you don't want to know!
The datamined information comes from this thread on the official forums, with links to the appropriate spells on Thottbot.
Yogg-Saron
Dominate Mind - Mind controls a target temporarily and reduces Sanity by 20.
Low Sanity Screen Effect - Just a visual.
Psychosis - 20000 Shadow damage and reduces 20 Sanity.
Sanity - 100 stacked buff, if it reaches 0 you are permanently mind controlled. One Sanity regenerates per 3 seconds.
Touch of Dominion - Subjugates the target to the will of Yogg-Saron, weakening it (-10% HP and damage), yet "conferring a subtle control". Appears to stack every 180 sec.
Preliminary analysis:
Yogg-Saron's fight appears to be a sanity-based encounter, and if you're not already thinking of Eternal Darkness, we're not friends. There's a sanity meter, a mind control/reduced effectiveness debuff, even a low sanity visual effect. Your sanity regenerates by one point every three seconds, and it ticks down as you engage him, take damage from him, or are temporarily mind-controlled. If it reaches zero, you're permanently under the thrall of Ol' Yoggy.
Hodir
Flash Freeze - Freezes the target in a block of ice. Other spells mention that a frozen target hit by flash freeze dies instantly, and that it is in fact Hodir's ability.
Hodir's Fury - 15000 Frost damage and a 9 second stun to all enemies.
Shatter Chest - Most likely Hodir's loot mechanic.
Toasty Fire - Likely a player ability. Creates a fire which prevents the effects of Freeze and Biting Cold. Extinguished by "falling ice shards" or "powerful frost magic" - most likely Blizzard and Flash Freeze.
Blizzard - 1.5k (10), 3k (25) frost every 2 sec for 10 sec.
Biting Cold - A la Keristraza, only only "diminished" by movement, not removed.
Winter's Embrace - Absorbs 185k damage, and while active increases physical damage dealt by 100%.
Preliminary analysis:
Unsurprisingly, the Watcher of Winter encounter appears to be based on cold! In order to survive, you have to light fires to prevent your raid from succumbing to the Biting Cold debuff and freezing. Blizzard and Flash Freeze appear to put the fires out if they contact them. If you do end up getting frozen, Flash Freeze will instantly kill you.
Freya
"Reduces Freya's Attuned to Nature stacks by 25" (spells also exist for other amounts)
"The presence of Elder Brightleaf increases magic damage dealt by Freya and her Allies of Nature by 50%"
Freya Summon Chest - it would appear that we do not kill her. There are eight spells of the same name, presumably for various difficulties.
Ironbranch's Essence - Increases damage dealt by Allies of Nature by 50%.
Lifebinder's Gift - Summons an "Extraplanar Spore"
Stonebark's Essence - Increases physical damage dealt by Freya by 50%.
Summon Allies of Nature
Touch of Eonar - Heals Freya for 6000/s (10) or 24000/s (25).
Preliminary analysis:
It looks like Freya's fight is a straight-up Sartharion-style encounter. There are three Elders -- Brightleaf, Stonebark, and Ironbranch -- who will grant Freya powers if they're alive. The existence of 8 summoned chests confirms this, with each chest corresponding to a difficulty level on normal or Heroic. She likely summons in Allies of Nature a la Twilight Whelps, and the Attuned to Nature stack she has likely has to do with how we damage her.
Most of the other encounters only have bits and pieces of their spells so far. For those wondering about this -- I was! -- it looks like even though you fight him, Thorim might still help you after all.
Patch 3.1 brings us Ulduar, dual specs, significant changes to all the classes, and more! We've got you covered from top to bottom with our Guide to Patch 3.1.Filed under: Patches, Analysis / Opinion, Wrath of the Lich King
Reader Comments (Page 3 of 3)
Kanubis Feb 25th 2009 5:26PM
Total, utter, unsubstantiated speculation incoming:
The sanity mechanic on Yogg-saron got me thinking.
I'm working on the following assumptions:
- The next expansion will include the Emerald Dream (combined with Mealstrom, it seems to be a popular bet.)
- The next hero class is likely to be a healer-hybrid, since a tank hybrid was used this time and a straight dps class is unlikely.
- The similarity of many classes mechanics is a concern for the devs.
Is it possible, maybe, that this sanity mechanic is a test for a more in depth mechanic they're toying with the next expansion. A third 'bar' for characters even. This would give another thing to be healed, and allow for more variety in healing. It could even effect DPS/tanks - powerful abilities could be introduced at the cost of sanity. Or whatever.
The reason this crossed my mind is that the emerald 'nightmare' inflicting the Emerald Dream would seem like a perfect and logical place to introduce it.
Just a fun idea, please don't think I'm seriously expecting it or anything :p
TheChao Feb 25th 2009 6:03PM
Im thinking the Sanity is not so much a meter as a stacking debuff/buff.
Think of the Wyrm Spearing Hodir daily that has stacks of "Grip," with spells that use up grip and regain grip.
miked Feb 25th 2009 6:07PM
that's pretty much what I was thinking too. maybe being out of his range for a period of time to let your sanity recharge faster (similar to 4H where you need to let their debuff fall off).
David Chao Feb 25th 2009 6:16PM
The Sanity buff in the article says that you gain 1 Sanity for every 3 seconds constantly.
However, that seems pretty slow. it would take a full minute to recover from a Psychosis attack which takes off 20 Sanity.
There must be another mechanic to help you regain sanity, such as doing a certain amount of damage, or perhaps the Psychosis and Mind Control dont happen often.
Still seems like that would be pretty brutal to people that are not favored by the RNG gods.
Codexx Feb 25th 2009 6:05PM
I expected to be spoiled about a few boss fights.
The first words I read were "Yogg Saron".
Thanks. This is why I hate spoiler territory. It can't just be partial spoilers, it has to be all or nothing.
RyuHakubi Feb 25th 2009 6:54PM
For Frank's Sake, man, what part of HUGE SPOILERS was hard to comprehend? Not "Possible spoiler" or "Light spoiler," HUGE SPOILERS. Did he need to hire a freakin' band to warn you?
...or as the trolls say, "QQ moar, your tears are delicious."
lightning4 Feb 26th 2009 1:56AM
Blizzard has already given quite a few hints that old Yogg was in Uludar. The whole Thorim vs Loken thing was a good hint, especailly so when you fight Loken "closer to the master's power". He even says who his master is in HoL.
And the official Uludar preview? Well, that was about as subtle as a baseball bat to the forehead.
Plastic Rat Feb 25th 2009 9:45PM
Uhm, why are we fighting Hodir in Ulduar? I thought we liked Hodir?
At least I've been polishing his helm, blowing his horn and thrusting his spear for months now...
ketsugi Feb 26th 2009 3:34AM
You like Hodir. BUT HODIR NOT LIKE YOU. HODIR SMASH YOUR PUNY FACE IN, STUPID HOT BLOOD. YOU NOT WANT FIGHT HODIR, RUN AWAY LIKE ELF COWARD, YOU NOT GET SHINY PURPLES.
Shinji Feb 27th 2009 12:30AM
Just a calcification, ED is not the frist or major game to use Sanity Points, Shadow Hearts Used them as part of the game play and these set of games pre-date ED and SH as well uses HP Lovecraft books as inpseration (You even meet him in the 4th game. )
Now wheres my judgment ring!