Patch 3.3 PTR: Lord Marrowgar abilities and achievements
by Alex Ziebart 
Oct 15th 2009 at 9:00PM
Even if he's not perfectly tuned yet, the testing has given us some idea of how his fight will go. His notable abilities are...
- Whirlwind - Just what you would expect, a physical damage AOE. When it lands, it also applies a DoT. Lord Marrowgar will announce the ability before he uses it, so your melee will want to get out of the way so they don't get hit with the bleed.
- Saber Lash - Seasoned raiders will know this ability well. It's an incredibly powerful melee strike that splits its damage across three targets (on 25-man, two targets on 10-man) so you'll want all of your tanks standing together. That way, nobody gets 1-shot by it.
- Coldflame - A line of (cold) fire spawns, and you must not stand in it. Do not stand in the fire. Seriously, people.
- Bone Spike Graveyard - Lord Marrowgar throws a bone spike in a chosen direction, and anybody directly in the line of fire will be impaled. The rest of the raid will need to DPS down the spike to free impaled players. It can be avoided, and it will not hit targets being hit with Saber Lash.
The fight (which is basically a Black Temple flashback) is mostly keep the tanks alive, move out of the Whirlwind, don't get impaled, and then loot the boss. Considering there will need to be two or three tanks in front of him at all times, it's very likely this boss will not parry haste. Parry hasting or not, I suspect this will be the gear check gate of Icecrown Citadel. If your three tanks can weather the Saber Lash, you're ready to do Icecrown. If they can't, you need to take a step back and farm the Coliseum a little more. This could be another reason why we're seeing a lot of kills on the PTR. Premades decked out in Best in Slot gear.
The achievement specific to Lord Marrowgar is Unboned, and he's also one of the bosses necessary for Storming the Citadel.
Patch 3.3 is the last major patch of Wrath of the Lich King. With the new Icecrown Citadel 5-man dungeons and 10/25-man raid arriving soon, patch 3.3 will deal the final blow to the Arthas. WoW.com's Guide to Patch 3.3 will keep you updated with all the latest patch news.Filed under: Patches, Analysis / Opinion, Raiding
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 2)
usmcbradley2003 Oct 15th 2009 9:08PM
All right lets here it, Icecrown is easymode......I know someones really thinking it and not being sarcastic
Valt Oct 15th 2009 9:11PM
Normal modes are for experience and fun. Heroic modes are for progress.
Their words, not mine.
And just to add that this is FIRST day of PTR raid and its FIRST boss(?) so yeah. I hope they buff him tho.
usmcbradley2003 Oct 15th 2009 10:02PM
Im not disagreeing with you one bit. I know personally this guy will wipe the floor with my face when I see him
kabshiel Oct 15th 2009 9:49PM
a) This content is still being tested, so you don't know how easy it'll be on live.
b) The first few bosses of a raid are usually pretty simple (see: the first half of Ulduar). I expect that the "powerful Death Knight" will be the first tricky boss.
c) You don't get to complain about how easy a raid is until you've completed the hard modes.
usmcbradley2003 Oct 15th 2009 10:03PM
I'm not disagreeing. I mean can't people tell from the second sentence that I am being sarcastic and waiting for someone to be serious. Jeez
jam Oct 15th 2009 11:01PM
Don't worry, people here get offended about the tiniest things and then vote your post down.
Suggesting something might be a bit too easy is probably the best way to anger the bad players. :-P
Yeah, I'm being sarcastic too. Or am I?
Roflpanda Oct 15th 2009 11:53PM
Yeah, that's the problem with a comment rating system for blog posts... they're opinion based. If someone THINKS you might have an opposite opinion to theirs, you'll be downrated to oblivion. You may even have a valid point, it doesn't matter though.
PROTIP: saying "...know I'll get downranked for this..." is an autowin to 3+ stars. Happens ALL THE TIME on digg. Makes you look like a martyr, and them hipsters love the underdogs!
Hansbo Oct 16th 2009 12:36AM
@roflpanda
I have actually not noticed that. Well-formulated and thoughtful posts seem to get upranked, independent of the opinion stated in it. I have, several times actually, seen arguments with all people being upranked. The problem is that some opinions (like people being elitist) is being held by people who just use it to be offensive. And then they get downranked.
Alex Oct 15th 2009 9:08PM
Can't wait to fight this guy. Doesn't sound bad for healers though (or super interesting for that matter).
Muse Oct 16th 2009 5:08AM
Melee otoh get the short end of the stick, as usual. How am I supposed to be keeping stacks/dots/combos/whatevers on em if I have to keep running OUT every couple of seconds? Why can't it ever be ranged who have to move 20+ yards instead of just sidestepping out of the fire? (if they get targetted at all, we have one particular guildy who never gets a skull on his head because bosses just don't want to put debuffs on em. he was awesome to have at Grobbulus, sure, but by the time you're at Jaraxxus, envy starts setting in)
Untainted Oct 16th 2009 8:29AM
It's true that many fights involve melee running out, but there are many fights that are just as bad for ranged. If you want examples, just look at fights with raid wide interrupts that force us to stop casting like Ignis, whereas melee just keep whacking away, fights with random interrupts like Auriaya which are just plain aggravating and others like Gormok which will totally shut down a caster if we get unlucky (Snobolds). Also don't forget that having to move, even if it's just sidestepping fire can cause ranged to lose up to 2-3 seconds of cast time unlike melee who can DPS steadily till they have to run out, and restart as soon as they get back.
Monica Dickey Oct 15th 2009 9:08PM
he sounds like Alex Mercer. Bonespike graveyard?
Rubella Oct 15th 2009 9:58PM
For a moment I thought you meant Mick Mercer. And then I was sad and sat in a corner with my black long, black veil and a single candle.
:(
Darren Oct 16th 2009 4:53AM
What a great game by the way =]
zetathran Oct 15th 2009 9:20PM
I'm...a little underwhelmed and disappointed, not gonna lie.
Meethan Oct 15th 2009 9:49PM
You forget to mention the ever constant frost DoT that is applied to you.
Lemons Oct 16th 2009 1:44AM
"The chilling presence of the Frozen Throne deals Frost damage to all nearby enemies. Removes 1% of your health every 3 sec."
So...do you get this debuff as soon as you walk in the door? Or is it only on Lord Marrowgar?
Seems like it would be pretty damn annoying if it's the latter.
Lemons Oct 16th 2009 1:48AM
er...former*
Terethall Oct 16th 2009 5:06AM
For your average DPS with 25k HP, this works out to an astonishing 83 dps, or 250 damage every 3 seconds, assuming it calculates off of total health and not remaining health. This should be almost imperceptible to the average raid. Healing Stream Totem unglyphed should heal for more than this damage.
Khellusonline Oct 15th 2009 9:55PM
No loot yet.
Frost debuff only ticks for 1% of total health.
At this stage on 10 man it looks like saber lash is not being split between the tanks at all.