Blood Pact: Warlock tips for Naxx-10 part 2
by Nick Whelan 
Apr 13th 2009 at 3:00PM
It's time again for Blood Pact, your weekly Warlock column, detailing the dastardly deeds of Warcraft's demonologists! Nick Whelan returns once again this week, to finish what he started. And this time, it's personal!
Last week, I wrote a column filled with tips for Naxx-10. Specifically, tips for Warlocks, because that's who Blood Pact is written for. But my list ended up being so long that I was only able to write about the Spider and Plague wings of Naxx before the article started to feel a little bloated. So I chopped it in half, and now it's time to conclude our tour of the dread citadel with the more difficult sections of the instance: the Construct, Military, and Frost wings!
Last week, I wrote a column filled with tips for Naxx-10. Specifically, tips for Warlocks, because that's who Blood Pact is written for. But my list ended up being so long that I was only able to write about the Spider and Plague wings of Naxx before the article started to feel a little bloated. So I chopped it in half, and now it's time to conclude our tour of the dread citadel with the more difficult sections of the instance: the Construct, Military, and Frost wings!
Construct Wing
Patchwerk
Grobbulus
Gluth
Thaddius
- Meta / Ruin Warlocks should be wary of their Intercept > Immolation Aura move, if they choose to use it here. Patchwerk does nasty things to melee who stand in front of him. So be sure to have a Demonic Circle ready, so you can teleport back out again.
- Affliction Warlocks, if you never bothered to get Ritual of Doom, then you fail. The doomguard adds at least 500 DPS to this fight. Closer to 800 if you have a good selection of buffs in your group.
- If you take any damage in this fight, that damage would one-shot you no matter how much HP you have. So Life Tap without restraint, because it won't matter anyway.
- The first time I did Patchwerk, I remember thinking how strenuous it was keeping up my rotation constantly, without interruption, for the five minutes it took my group to kill him. Don't know that I necessarily have any advice for this, but it's something to be aware of.
- Using a Soulstone on yourself is a handy way to fool your friends into thinking you're good at frogger. However, you should probably save that 30-minute cooldown for a healer.
Grobbulus
- As a quick aside to the Warlock hints, this is the most difficult boss in Naxxramas in my opinion. Which doesn't mean it's difficult at all for the individual player. However, one player's mistake can double the difficulty of the fight, and make it more likely that other players will make similar mistakes. Be patient, and attentive if your group is inexperienced.
- Controlling the Mutating Injection is absolutely top priority. All other considerations are secondary.
- Ensure that your spell detail is at 50% at the very least, so you can see the acid clouds.
- Make sure everybody has a healthstone for this fight. There's a lot of damage going around, and everything which can be done to mitigate it should be done.
- Most raids I've been in are well aware that Affliction Warlocks shouldn't be attacking the slime adds when they appear. However, if your raid isn't aware of that, inform them. Alternatively, if you're not an Affliction Warlock, inform them that you're perfectly capable of helping out with the adds, and do so.
- If you get Mutating Injection, dropping a Demonic Circle before you run to wherever your group wants you to drop acid can help you get back into the action more quickly once you're free of disease.
Gluth
- After you jump down into the boss fight arena, summoning and dismissing Eye of Kilrogg real quick will teleport your pet to you.
- Reader Viper007Bond offers an alternative to summoning Eye of Kilrogg. And while I've yet to test it myself, supposedly all you need do toforce your pet to your side is hit the follow button, after casting at least one spell at the boss. Thanks Viper!
- Decimate is a percentage based ability, so don't worry about Life Tap. In fact, you should Life Tap all your mana back before Decimate is cast, since you're about to lose all that health anyway.
- Whether or not you Life Tap prior to Decimate, make sure you have enough mana to cast several AoE spells in a row right after Decimate. You don't want to let those zombies get all the way to Gluth.
- Healthstones can help the raid deal with recovering from Decimate.
- Don't forget! Casting Detect Invisibility on everybody in the raid will keep you from suffering a lot of problems in the brief stretch of ground between Gluth and Thaddius.
Thaddius
- Before jumping the gap, throw down a Demonic Circle. That way, if you miss, you can try again real quick.
- The same tricks that work for getting your pet back on Gluth should work here as well.
- Putting a Demonic Circle down where the raid wants the negatively / positively charged players to stand can help serve as a marker for the raid, as well as giving you a quick way to teleport to that side when your polarity shifts.
Military Wing
Instructor Razuvious
Gothik the Harvester
The Four Horsemen
- Like Patchwerk, this is a good time for Affliction Warlocks to bring out their Doomguard for a nice little chunk of free DPS. If the cooldown still isn't up from Patchwerk, then your raid probably doesn't need the extra DPS anyway.
- A lot of tanks struggle the first time they use the Orbs of Domination. Periodically releasing and re-enslaving the understudies is a particularly difficult sticking point. I don't know if it's even possible, but if you happen to have the Doomguard (or another high-threat pet) out, and the tanks lose control of the situation, you might just be able to save the day by grabbing aggro on the Instructor. You'll lose your pet, but you may just buy your tanks the few seconds they need to get back on the ball.
- This fight can be reset by getting to the top of the stairs. So if you're worried about repair bills, dropping a Demonic Circle somewhere will give you a bit of an edge when the Instructor decides to start taking his ruler to random members of the raid.
Gothik the Harvester
- Just an FYI: your group is going to put you on dead side. So enjoy that. I've never even SEEN live side.
- Phase 1 is full of adds coming from every which way, and sometimes the tank might not be able to pick everything up right away. Because of that, everybody should have a healthstone before this fight begins.
- I find Rain of Fire works better here than Seed of Corruption does. Easier to control.
- Make sure not to hit anything with your AoE before the tank has a chance to grab aggro on it. The ghosts at the start of the fight are no problem, but once the riders start coming over you'll be toast if you grab one.
- Most of the mobs in this fight come from one corner of the room, but their spirits can travel to several different places in the room before spawning. Stay close to the tank, because there's nowhere you can really stand so as to keep him between you and the mobs.
- Make sure you cast Detect Invisibility on everybody in the group after the fight is over.
The Four Horsemen
- The group will be very much split up during this fight, so make sure everybody has a healthstone on them, in case a healer can't get to them in time.
- Many groups will have the Warlock "pet-pull" so that the tanks can stay in their respective corners of the room and simply let the bosses come to them. To do this, send your pet in to attack the horseman which will be coming to your corner of the room -- but be sure to pull him back before he actually hits the boss, lest your pet be forced into a very short tanking career.
- Affliction Warlocks make excellent caster tanks. You should volunteer your services if there is nobody better available. Simply use your normal rotation, including Haunt and Siphon Life, and replace Shadow Bolts with Drain Life. Also, remember to use Shadow Ward when tanking Lady Blaumeux!
Frostwyrm Lair
Sapphiron
- Sapph's Blizzard has a way of sneaking up on you, and once it has you it can be hard to run out of it. Creating a 'safe spot' with Demonic Circle which you can teleport to when you're slowed can save the healers a bit of a headache.
- This is one of the easiest fights in the instance for DPS, so long as you remember to put your life ahead of your position on the damage meter. When Sapph creates ice blocks, stop casting and stand behind them!
Kel'Thuzad
- For DPS, this fight is largely about positioning. Stay away from people, but close enough that you can be healed. As a Warlock, however, it's important to be aware that this is a very intense fight for healers. Don't expect Life Tap heals right as somebody gets hit with Frost Blast.
- Frost Blast only ticks for a total of 104% of your health, which means even 5% of your maximum health should keep you alive. And while your healers are (hopefully) up to the task of keeping you safe, keeping Fel Armor, Siphon Life, and Haunt active certainly can't hurt. (Haunt in particular saved me once. But it's impossible to plan that kind of thing.)
- I've never had the opportunity to try this myself, but if need be, the felhunter's Spell Lock should be able to interrupt KT's Frostbolt. So if your group is low on classes with an interrupt, be sure to volunteer! The extra task might nerf your DPS a bit if you're not used to it, but the needs of the raid always outweigh the needs of the raider.
Blood Pact is a weekly column detailing dots, demons, and all the dastardly deeds done by Warlocks. Interested in implementing these tips, but not yet geared enough to do it? Check out our guide to gearing your Warlock for Naxx-10. Or if your group has not yet graduated from the Spider and Plague Wings, check out last week's tips, and see if you can't speed things along!Filed under: Warlock, (Warlock) Blood Pact
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 2)
Lynara Apr 13th 2009 3:18PM
Great read as always!
Just a couple things:
1) be sure you get your life taps in before the decimate timer runs out. There is usually a bit of a delay, but I have spent the rest of Gluth on the floor from tapping exactly as decimate was cast because I wasn't watching the timer when I went to tap.
2) Demo/Destro hybrids also make great tanks for 4hm. We're not as stong on the self heals but take a lot less damage thanks to soul link and the fel hounds master demo talent.
Nick W. Apr 13th 2009 3:45PM
Thanks, those are both great tips! =D
Falcrist Apr 13th 2009 4:36PM
"Patchwerk:
If you take any damage in this fight, that damage would one-shot you no matter how much HP you have. So Life Tap without restraint, because it won't matter anyway."
I disagree. Lifetap when you need, but do the healers a favor and only Lifetap once at a time. You really don't want to cop a heal on this fight.
***Also: Does anyone have any idea if the Doomguard ability "Cripple" actually works on Patch? I see the doomguard use it and I see it get applied, but I'm not sure if it actually has an effect.***
Gothik the Harvester:
I see a lot of comments on this thread about warlocks who have never seen dead side.
There's no spell immunity on dead side,
the trainees need to be killed at range, and
the other mobs have enough health that you can actually cast a few shadowbolts before they die.
Oh and, whatever side you're on, be sure to put down a circle on the other side of the gate. YOU CAN DEMONIC TELEPORT TO THE OTHER SIDE. Not a bad way to pad out your DPS or avert a crisis if one side is short.
Four Horsemen:
If you're tanking in the back cast something on your horseman immediately. Sometimes if you're not on the threat list, you don't count as "in range" and an AOE wipe will ensue.
Put your pet on passive if you're in the back. And make sure it switches with you or you'll end up with a dead pet.
Kel'Thusad:
For God's sake put your pet on passive. You do NOT want it running off to bite a banshee before it even leaves it's room.
AyaJulia Apr 13th 2009 7:25PM
"Kel'Thusad:
For God's sake put your pet on passive."
This.
Chiinigg Apr 13th 2009 3:23PM
For the 4-horsemen fight, i enjoy letting my voidwalker soak up the damage while i heal with health funnel. It has great hps so if you keep it constantly on it, it should stay alive for the whole fight. I'm not sure if they do melee damage but if they do, let your voidwalker establish agro and pull him back to make healing easier. pools of darkness is not a problem for the VW as they have a passive ability that reduces aoe spell damage but you can pull them out if you feel bored.
kojobo Apr 13th 2009 3:30PM
On KT....
use your drain mana spell, saves taxing your healers and you'll get 6-12% of your mana back due to KT's HUGE mana pool.
Andy Apr 13th 2009 3:33PM
I've actually never been on the dead side in the Gothik fight. I was under the impression that most of the guys on that side had spell immunities. Is that only on 25 man or is it completely wrong?
gd1107 Apr 13th 2009 3:35PM
never seen the live side? i've never seen a lock on the dead side...
Sylargrey Apr 13th 2009 3:38PM
"Gothik the Harvester
* Just an FYI: your group is going to put you on dead side. So enjoy that. I've never even SEEN live side."
I've always done live side with no problems.
Scott Apr 13th 2009 3:39PM
On Gothik:
In terms of survival, having only plate and mail wearers on the dead side work best. Like many other locks here, I too have never seen the dead side.
Murky Apr 13th 2009 3:42PM
"Most raids I've been in are well aware that Affliction Warlocks shouldn't be attacking the slime adds when they appear."
There's no reason an affliction warlock can't help kill slimes, especially in 10-man groups without overgeared DPS. The best time to throw dots on a slime is right after refreshing haunt on Grobbulus - that way you don't have to worry about haunt or shadow embrace falling off for a few seconds. I'd recommend prioritizing corruption, curse of agony, nightfall procs, unstable affliction, and immolate, in that order. Drop abilities the more DPS the group has, obviously.
Tott Apr 13th 2009 7:21PM
On Gluth:
Decimate CAN kill you if you life tap the moment he casts decimate. This is because he will do whatever amount of damage to reduce you to 5% right before it triggers, and if you life tap in between that set amount you will die.
Nick W. Apr 13th 2009 4:06PM
@Scott, Sylargery, gd1107, and Andy.
It seems like every time I write one of these, something I've always taken for granted is proven to be false. Thanks for informing me guys!
Gorig Apr 13th 2009 4:39PM
Locks have to be careful when life tapping or doing any ability that damages oneself on Gluth as I have seen plenty of spriests and locks killing themselves on Decimate.
On Gothik having done both sides the main difference is the randomness of Dead Side. The Live Side mobs spawn at set times and locations whilst Dead Side is dictated by how fast Live Side kills the mobs and is more chaotic.
But the most important part of Gothik is hopefully at least one Lock on Live Side because COT on Gothik is crucial for his speech. >.>
zanieblyar Apr 13th 2009 4:23PM
You can use the Eye of Kilrogg to pop the frogger bubbles.
I started doing that after getting fed up with the inconsistency of the area between the bubbles that killed me (getting killed in the same place I have been surviving).
Nick W. Apr 13th 2009 9:09PM
*blink*
I can't believe I never thought of that! I always used to use Eye of Kilrogg to pop the bombs in Blood Furnace.
DreGGs Apr 13th 2009 4:28PM
Personally I save the doomguard for Gluth rather than waste him on patchwerk (he has a rain of fire that helps against zombies) ... Im still top DPS on the fight against patch without it (affliction), and also use him for KT (he is a great help for killing abominations during phase 1).
Make sure your pet is on passive for phase 1 of KT..more than once have I seen a demon pull mobs from the outside of the room..
I'm really shocked to see NO mention of the infernal! He's got more punch than the doomguard, is an instant cast, AND stuns upon being unleashed..so pop him at the tail end of ANY battle you can (20 minute cooldown is no sweat). He doesn't last long, but the damage he does in that little time is insane.
For Gothik...pop a portal near the gate when the fight starts so that you're able to run to the opposite side when it opens (if applicable of course).
Void tank works great on the back of4hm. I've done it several times by myself. Void tanking one side, me on the other..switching while the healer (usually resto druid) keeps us up. Allows for more DPS in the front and thus a faster fight overall.
Hope these tips help!
Matchu Apr 13th 2009 4:38PM
I never life tap on KT, drain mana is much better.
Somethin Apr 13th 2009 5:03PM
Felhunters Spellock does NOT work on KT. Says he's immune against it.
Insurgence Apr 13th 2009 6:21PM
To somethin's comment about spell lock not working. When you see that you have to rememer that there are two elements to spell lock, either one of which will show it as being immune, but not necessarily meaning the other aspect won't work. There is a counterspell aspect, and a silence aspect. Now I have not tried it, so I don't know if KT is immune to both aspects, but I have a feeling that KT was immune to the silence aspect and not the counter aspect.