Raid Rx: Healing heroic Northrend Beasts
by Matt Low 
Oct 12th 2009 at 6:00PM
Welcome to the NBE encounter. And no, I'm not referring to Megatron. NBE is shorthand for the Northrend Beasts Encounter. It's a straightforward engagement on normal. Once the switch is toggled to heroic, the fight goes into over drive. There's a few changes that us healers need to grasp. For one, there's a strict time limit on each set of beasts. Can't kill Gormok quick enough? Too bad! Ready or not, here's the twin snakes!Setting up
If you're starting out the first time, I strongly advise bringing in 6 healers. As your raid continues acquiring more gear, you'll be able to slowly drop down to five. But even that might be a tough stretch. Coming in with three strong single-target healers and three raid healers should be enough to withstand the demands of the fight.
Phase 1 - Gormok the Impaler
The damage has increased substantially. The debuff on the tanks have had their duration lengthened slightly.
Setting up
If you're starting out the first time, I strongly advise bringing in six healers. As your raid continues acquiring more gear, you'll be able to slowly drop down to five. But even that might be a tough stretch. Coming in with three strong single-target healers and three raid healers should be enough to withstand the demands of the fight.
Flasks - This is a relatively short fight. I would suggest Frost Wyrm for increased throughput. If you want to give yourself an advantage, down a Stoneblood for some extra health. This will help buy some time if you happen to get caught in a fire or a poison or something. It just increases the survival buffer.
Important:If you're having disconnecting problems during the encounter (particularly due to the fires), see this thread on some possible solutions to resolve it. The issue seems to occur when fires are tossed out. There doesn't seem to be a permanent fix for it yet. It's happened to my main tank and some of the DPS a few times. If it happens repeatedly, there's nothing more you can do other than call someone up from the bench and sit the player with the disconnect issues.
Phase 1 - Gormok the Impaler
The damage has increased substantially. The Impale debuff on the tanks will stay on slightly longer. So when one tank taunts Gormok, the previous tank is still going to suffer and is still going to need heals.
Fires that get thrown around hurt a bit more. This is especially dangerous for healers. If you're not paying attention, you can die really fast. A Discipline Priest who is in the "zone" may be able to squeeze off a Shield on a player who is on fire. It should be enough to absorb at least one tick.
Two Paladins with beacons on different tanks will shine. Resto Shamans will wish to to target players within melee range and dishing out Chain Heal. Other than fires, ranged DPS and healers won't be taking any damage.
Snobolds are an even bigger threat than before. Make sure you're spread out. Just being near a player with a Snobold will trigger the occasional interrupt. If you're lucky enough to have one o these gremlins on you, run within melee range of Gormok. The point is to allow incidental AoE attacks (a la Chain Lightning or Divine Storm) to strike the Snobold and Gormok.
Remember, you guys are on the clock.
Phase 2 - Acidmaw and Dreadscale
Unless you're a super guild, odds are good Gormok will still be alive when the snakes enter. Leave one or two healers on the tank who is finishing off Gormok as the rest of the healers get set up for the snake tanks. I suggest two on each.
Tip: Heroism or Bloodlust used when Acidmaw is stationary might result in a DPS loss for melee if they get hit with poison. If you're having DPS difficulties, call for a hero after the first submerge when Acidmaw becomes mobile and Dreadscale is stationary. Acidmaw's tank should be the only player getting hit with poison allowing free reign to your melee.
The tricky part here is if multiple players (like seven) get nailed with Burning Bile. It's up to them to get clear of everyone else. It's up to you to keep them alive long enough for that chance. Run to the edges of the arena if you get it. If you see a player with it running in your direction, get out of their way.
If your group is fortunate, Acidmaw will fall over while both snakes are submerged which won't trigger Dreadscale's enrage. In most cases, he will enrage. This is a good time to pop some defensive cooldowns.
There may be a slight overlap at this point. Icehowl could debut while you're finishing off Dreadscale. Coordinate with the tanks on this one and find out who will be grabbing the oversized yeti. Take two or three healers up by the boss entryway and stick them on Icehowl's tank.
Phase 3 - Icehowl
Congratulations! If you've made it this far, you've reached the home stretch! Something to watch out for is Icehowl's Arctic Breath as it deals more damage and there is a very real possibly that it can kill a few players! You may wish to divide healers into two groups. Each group should stand well apart from the other to ensure that there's at least three healers that won't be locked down and frozen.
When Icehowl leaps in the air and crashes down, players will not have the benefit of a run speed buff. Where you stand when Icehowl crashes could save you. Try not to position yourself in such a way that you get thrown into a doorway. You might not be able to make it out alive.
If he gets stunned, pile on some DoTs or other offensive spells if you have them. Weave them in after your raid is healed up. Get him stunned two or more times and the DPS will have the encounter in the bag.
Want some more advice for working with the healers in your guild? Raid Rx has you covered with all there is to know! Looking for less healer-centric raiding advice? Take a look at our raiding column Ready Check. Filed under: Druid, Paladin, Priest, Shaman, Raiding, Raid Rx (Raid Healing)
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 2)
t0xic Oct 12th 2009 6:08PM
This looks like a cut/paste went awry =)
Krsnik Oct 12th 2009 6:10PM
Are these suggestions for 10man or 25man ToC? Heroic or non-heroic? I am confused. :(
devilsei Oct 12th 2009 6:16PM
Suggestions for 25man H-ToC, and only 25man it seems.
t0xic Oct 12th 2009 6:17PM
"It's a straightforward engagement on normal. Once the switch is toggled to heroic, the fight goes into over drive."
Looks like heroic mode based on the content of the article.
"If you're starting out the first time, I strongly advise bringing in six healers. As your raid continues acquiring more gear, you'll be able to slowly drop down to five."
6 healers in a 10-man would probably take awhile.
Charlie Oct 12th 2009 8:52PM
Look at the title ;)
Don't worry, I missed it the first time as well.
impurezero Oct 12th 2009 6:13PM
"Welcome to the NBE encounter. [...] NBE is shorthand for the Northrend Beasts Encounter."
So then...welcome to the Northrend Beasts Encounter encounter?
It's like the ATM Machine of WoW! :D
Agelamer Oct 12th 2009 6:16PM
A tip that has gone unmentioned:
Levitate all the ranged. If a person who is levitated gets targeted by the fire, the fire will not spawn.
Also, Incidental AoE (DS, WW, blade flurry) will not strike the snobolds. The only AoE that will affect them are ground based AoEs (DnD and Conc.)
Charlie Oct 12th 2009 9:00PM
Holy shit, thats awsome.
Wraithanne Oct 12th 2009 6:19PM
Considering he's bringing 6 healers and 4 tanks, I would certainly hope it's 25.
Nick S Oct 12th 2009 6:22PM
I was under the impression that incidental AoE cannot hit the Snobolds on Heroic mode. Is this not true?
gurgle Oct 12th 2009 6:27PM
Some more advice:
For phase one, it's helpful to have lifesaver cooldowns assigned near then end when all four snobolds are out and his damage is maxed. An unlucky melee/impale combo can kill the tank. If you have 3 lifesavers available, assign them to impale stacks at the end that aren't being otherwise removed (such as with a pally bubble). Speaking of, using pally bubbles to wipe the impales on the two tanks after they are done rotating on him can really save some stress transitioning into p2.
p2 is really more about movement and positioning than stressing the healers, but if you're a shaman having nature's swiftness available for the inevitable red on melee moment for an insta-chain heal can save the day.
Reps Oct 12th 2009 6:35PM
I wanted to start crying by the fourth paragraph.
I few things that I noticed to be quite different than what you wrote:
You can't simply bring more healers in order to keep everybody alive. The loss of just one dps can be the difference between beating the enrage timer and not.
It is advisable to use Bloodlust/Heroism during Icehowl's stun time for maximum dps increase.
Dreadscale can be tanked by a dps. When he enrages, he can be easily handled by a tank.
If Icehowl enrages due to hitting somebody, the tank will most likely die. If the tank doesn't die, you probably won't make the enrage timer anyway due to the lack of a 200% damage dealt period.
Charlie Oct 12th 2009 8:59PM
We use Heroism during Dreadscale's Enrage
If we used a DPS tank he would surely die if he tried to tank Dreadscale
We have beaten the encounter with Icehowl hitting someone.
Point is that different stratagies are for different groups comps. In my guild our DPS is stupid good, while are tanks are ok and our healers are subpar (granted a bunch of our main heals are MIA atm). We strategize around having suppar tanks/heals and great DPS, you obviously prioritize the other way.
Velta Oct 13th 2009 3:20PM
I'm not sure why you wanted to cry at the suggestion of using 6 healers. My guild uses the following 6-heal set-up for this encounter and have no trouble downing each boss before the next one arrives (or before the enrage in the case of icehowl): 3x disc priest, 1x holy paladin, 2x resto druid.
We even use heroism on the worms (GASP!) as our melee-heavy raid setup makes them the most dangerous phase for us--poison and bile on melee can be quite hellish.
Also to the people concerned about incidental AOE and snobolds. If you target Gormokk your incidental damage will not hit the snobold, this is true. But if the snobold is in melee range and you target it, the incidental damage *will* hit Gormokk.
Dysmorphia Oct 12th 2009 6:37PM
Based on very broad anecdotal evidence, it appears that druids in form do not get snobolds thrown at them from Gormok, although a snobold can get tossed at a druid from another player.
i not vewy smat Oct 12th 2009 9:59PM
As a druid healer, I can attest, I have never gotten a snobold while I was in form. I got one once, when I popped out of tree for some reason, but never while in form.
Noscy Oct 12th 2009 7:23PM
The Gormok the Impaler encounter, does not highlight the importance of the incoming tank damage. Cooldowns (healing and tank) need to be at the ready especially if your utilising the 3 tank method, as one of the tanks (likely dps mainspec) will most likely be oneshot if not prepared.
breaklance Oct 12th 2009 10:08PM
Other Notes on the NBE encounter:
If gormok is not down by the time the worms actually engage you will not have the dps to kill icemaw before he enrages. Chances are you will be slow to kill worms too.
Gormok: the fire puts a debuff on the player that stacks, so even if you do save a person from dieing immediately then need continuous heals. Tanks will need cooldowns, Gormok's melee is trivial but the application of Impale is what is the real killer. The 3rd Impale on your tanks can hit for 40k or more without a cool down.
Worms: The whirls do about 14k to melee, and silly melee can get sent right into a poison. There are a few things that can go wrong for your softer players. I kid you not I have been hit with poison spray 16k, poison tick 6k, whirl 14k and then landed in poison(though i was dead before i actually landed).
Icemaw: His ground slam does about 14-19k damage, so raid needs to be topped off before it happens.
Blakkeyez Oct 13th 2009 1:11AM
The mobile jorumgar in phase 2, starting with Acidmaw, can also be range tanked by f ex a warlock. This can be of use since you want to go with two tanks for the extra dps slots not having three tanks gives. have the warlock pick up Acidmaw if Gormok the Impaler isn't down yet when the jorumgar enters. This buys you time to let one of the tanks impale debuff wear off even if paldins have their bubbles on cooldown - just make sure someone is there to heal them. Of course if your dps is so low that the first beast is still there for an extended period of time then you won't make it on time anyway but if it'sa matter of some 10-15% left then this can work out well for you.
Also be very communicative about the debuffs on this fight, both in phase one where you need to know if tanks need external cooldowns if Rising Anger stacks are high at the same times as many Impales are on the tank and in phase two where you need to know if there is anyone with the opposite debuff available.
Spread out!
Blakkeyez Oct 13th 2009 1:15AM
Edit: stationary worm
I blame it on being very early in the morning