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All of the latest Mists of Pandaria newsPatch 3.3 PTR: Festergut impressions
by Matt Low 
Oct 22nd 2009 at 3:50AM
I cleared out the tail end of my afternoon in the hopes of getting a glimpse at the latest raid boss to be tested in the patch 3.3 PTR. Festergut was open for testing on North American servers while the European servers had Rotface. There were some issues with Rotface earlier in the day (namely that the 25 man version of Rotface had health that was meant for the 10 man). Anyway, I managed to get in a few attempts on Festergut here while playing on my priest.
First, let's talk trash.
Zoning in, you'll see the Ashen Verdict (which I assume is the new faction pairing the Ebon Blade and Argent Crusade forces together) with a forward command post on the bottom floor of Icecrown. Tirion and his boys are standing by holding down the fort here while your forces are slowly infiltrating Icecrown.
There's a teleporter right at the entrance. Festergut is located in the Plagueworks section of the citadel. After you step off the teleporter and step forward a bit, you'll be greeted by an extremely vast chasm. The whole place feels very Black Temple-esque in size and scope. I couldn't help but take a few seconds to really appreciate just how massive this one area was. There was nothing but fog when I looked down over the bridge.
Anyway, our group didn't move more than a few steps before engaging one of the pesky Val'kyrs. She went down without too much of a fight.
Of course, what's an undead dungeon without a couple of abominations guarding the wings? I think these guys did a knock back. Regardless, the abominations presented no problems for our (mostly) pre-made group of players.
We rounded the bend and stopped short. There were not only one but two Gluth-like dogs patrolling the hallway. What the heck, let's pull one and see what happens, eh? The tank pulls one of these oversized dogs and the raid starts opening up on him. Piece of cake, we think to ourselves.
Nope.
A few seconds later he takes a big chomp out of the raid. Everyone's health drops down to 10% and zombies start streaming in.
Yeah, I'm not kidding.
It's the first wipe of the night to Gluth version 2.0.
We were two healing the trash and I found it tough. You'd think a disc priest and a resto shaman would have that stuff covered. The second time around, I zeroed in on the tanks after he took a bite again (Binding Heal is your friend, priests). We were prepared for the zombies this time.
For future reference though, please don't drop an Earthbind Totem or Frost Nova the zombies when they're next to the healers. We don't like getting beat on when we're near death. Once we shut down the oversized mutt, we snuck by the other dog and took a left towards Festergut.
This guy looks hideous.
Attempt 1
We had no idea what to expect. We were also shorthanded one player resulting in us 9 manning the first try. We didn't know much about the boss and we figured we'd use the time to explore his abilities.
Didn't last very long. The area was permeated with and orange gas. We were caught off-guard and I know I panicked. I was running around the room looking for an off switch of some sorts. Everyone in the raid continued to take damage and the shaman and myself were hard-pressed to keep everyone alive.
My party members fell one by one. I couldn't keep them alive fast enough or Festergut got to them before I could. I felt like I was 2 seconds behind his every move. Eventually, we wiped.
But we did learn several things.
The gimmick
That orange gas in the room is called Gaseous Blight. It deals constant damage to the players within the room. Festergut will periodically inhale this. Gas Spores are going to infect a couple of players (2 on 10 man). After it wears off, it explodes and deals shadow damage to the players around you and increases their resistance to the Blight effect (assuming they get hit by Blighted Spores). It's called Inoculation. Shadow damage taken is decreased by 25%. So the goal is to run into a crowd of players when a player has a gas spore (or have the players run to you if you have it, do whatever works).
Once he finishes inhaling the blight a few times, as you can guess, all the gas has to be released somehow. And ugh, he passes enough wind to effectively wipe the raid if they're not inoculated to that stuff. It's no longer gaseous blight. It's become Pungent Blight.
We found that out on the second try.
Oh, and for you smart guys who are thinking "Why don't we just stack the raid and heal through the Gas Spore damage so that everyone around them gets Inoculated," there's one ability called Vile Gas. If a player gets hit, they start vomiting. This isn't ordinary vomit either. It deals damage to nearby players.
On the last try, I raised the white flag in surrender. We couldn't two heal it just yet. We weren't able to recognize the abilities quick enough nor were the players able to identify when to run in and when to stay out. We needed an extra healer to function as a cushion for us. Our druid tank switched to tree form since it didn't seem like we needed a second tank for this boss. Players stayed alive longer and we were slowly getting the hang of the encounter.
Unfortunately, it was over. Boss testing time was finished and I wasn't able to claim my first PTR boss kill.
All in all, from a healing standpoint, Festergut presents a tough challenge. There's no way a raid group's going to be able to 2 heal Icecrown initially. Most of us were using pre-made characters so we had some pretty sweet hardware. The trash at this level of the instance seemed difficult enough. Sure they recycled a boss mechanics as a trash mob, but it's an interesting spin nonetheless which kept the healers working. Just experiencing this one wing leads me to believe that Icecrown may very well be Blizzard's crowning raid dungeon. All the bosses we've fought in Northrend and the instances we've healed through?
I suspect it's nothing compared to what awaits inside 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: Priest, Analysis / Opinion, Raiding, Wrath of the Lich King
Reader Comments (Page 2 of 3)
Aedilhild Oct 22nd 2009 8:44AM
It reminds me of Tony Diterlizzi's work. I hope it's a sign of things to come.
Stages Oct 22nd 2009 5:22PM
I love it. It's so gross I spent a full five minutes trying to figure out what parts go where.
MusedMoose Oct 22nd 2009 7:27AM
As a casual, I'm very, very glad to see this dungeon is going to be a real challenge for the hardcore raiders. Patch 3.2 catered mostly to us, now 3.3 is going to give them what they want. Excellent.
Cthulu Oct 22nd 2009 7:30AM
We were able to 15 man the 25 man version of this boss although we killed him on the 10 minute enrage with both tanks dead while ping ponging him around. I suspect the fight will be tuned up but we had extra healers so in essentially we were short dps. The key we found was to spread out and group up on people with the debuff to blow up and give you the reduced shadow damage debuff. Tanks get really hit hard and require cooldowns when he gains his damage buff but all in all easy to figure out fight and adapt to.
The other note is ICC really looks great. I compare it to SWP in terms of grandeur in a dark sort of way. Nice to see a lot of great art going into the instance itself. Bravo.
Necrolord_Bob Oct 27th 2009 8:19AM
Yeah, I read there was a bug where his 25man stats were the same as his 10man stats, so we can look forward to full raid wipes when they fix him!
Matticus Oct 27th 2009 11:36AM
Necrlord_Bob: Actually, it was Rotface who had his stats adjusted on 25 to have the 10 man version of his health. Festergut had the right amount of health on 10 and 25.
arcaneterror Oct 22nd 2009 7:47AM
Hey, they have a thread on Festerguuuuuuhhhhh... Uh... OH GOD, IT'S HIDEOUS! ARGH!
Cakey Oct 22nd 2009 7:53AM
That image of Festergut reminded me of a line from a movie.
"You will come out no more!"
"What will come out no more? Huh Egg...what?!"
WoWie Zowie Oct 22nd 2009 9:08AM
wait, so he farts us to death?
WoWie Zowie Oct 22nd 2009 9:11AM
wait, so he farts us to death?
Uly Oct 22nd 2009 9:51AM
Just wait for 4.0 and this instance will be nerfed to the ground like all TBC with 3.0.
Gridneo Oct 22nd 2009 9:57AM
I definitely think the models for Festergut/Rotface are kind of lame. I'm really not interested in a 'boss standing in the middle of a big round room' type of fights. Call me crazy, but I want complex fights that are a challenge to pull off. I had mixed feelings on this fight yesterday, but we'll see how the rest of the wings go... One thing I LOVED was the doorway to Professor. It's got two liquid tank looking cells in it filled with green goo. Kill one, and the goo empties? Sounds cool to me.
t0xic Oct 22nd 2009 10:02AM
"For future reference though, please don't drop an Earthbind Totem or Frost Nova the zombies when they're next to the healers."
I frost nova loose trash all the time. ESPECIALLY if it's beating on a healer. The first priority should be for an off-tank to address the issue, but until that happens you might want to take a step back from the (frozen) mob that's beating on you.
Massa Oct 22nd 2009 11:17AM
I think the priority is always for the off tank to handle it. But most healers have to stand and cast (druids get to keep moving--which is wonderful) and that means if they are getting beat down and have to move, they can't keep healing nearly as fast. Meaning, the group is missing out on a lot of heals, likely dying, and leading to a wipe.
It's a lot easier for healers to not have to heal themselves (I know we should look at our own health, but when I'm looking at 24 other bars, my own is the last thing on my mind). You have no idea how much of a battle you miss out on when you are a healer.
Massa Oct 22nd 2009 11:24AM
To clarify I'm not saying I think what you are doing is wrong. Standing in fire is the same as standing in the middle of a frozen mob.
t0xic Oct 22nd 2009 12:06PM
"You have no idea how much of a battle you miss out on when you are a healer."
Sure I do. I healed raids on my paladin through TBC, and now I heal on my druid.
"...if they are getting beat down and have to move, they can't keep healing nearly as fast."
They can't heal at all if they're dead. DPS is doing a favor to the entire raid by getting loose trash under control. The healing-obsessed raid leader needs to understand that a frozen mob is better than a loose mob and move his butt instead of whining about it. Get the off-tank to help, sure, but don't complain about DPS that is helping you out. They're keeping the raid alive by keeping the healers alive (unless they're too stupid to back up). Nobody is allowed to just "stand and cast" at this level of content. Not even the healers.
Massa Oct 22nd 2009 1:46PM
@ last paragraph
I couldn't agree with you more. I hope you aren't taking these as an attack, I'm trying to add to both sides. A frozen mob is much better than a loose mob. (WTB edit button, clarify wasn't near as long as I meant it to be).
I agree, an off-tank would be the best situation, and CC a close second. I think the original writer was saying to freeze mobs when they are "away" from the healer (not don't freeze mobs). That way, the healer doesn't have to lose time healing. If the mob is already at the healer, then they should be running to a tank anyways so he can pull aggro. I think the meaing was to freeze them before they get to the healer (I could be wrong). (He's also talking about a moment when everyone's at 10% health, and so he's healing like crazy--definitely won't have much time to move and heal, while still expecting everyone to live. Maybe it should read, don't freeze mobs that cirlce a healer with 10% health, when an off-tank is trying to pull aggro from a distance--that =dead healer.)
That's awesome that you have healed (it's nice to know other players at least try to do the other jobs--it's much easier to understand what they are going through). I assumed (sorry) because you said you were a mage that you may not know what it's like.
On an off note: I love druids.
Matticus Oct 22nd 2009 2:06PM
Yeah, there's nothing wrong with CC or off tanking. Unfortunately, remember that these trash mobs are remniscient of Gluth. Two tanks are needed to combat that stacking debuff and they have to taunt off each other.
In other words, there IS no available off tank so it's up to the DPS to somehow control and corral them. After mini-gluth chomps the whole raid and drops everyone down to 10%, we kinda do have to stay still for a few seconds and get everyone out of the red. Not a good idea to freeze zombies with our health that low.
t0xic Oct 22nd 2009 2:09PM
First off, I'll just say no offense is taken. I think we're on the same side of the issue =)
"That's awesome that you have healed (it's nice to know other players at least try to do the other jobs--it's much easier to understand what they are going through). I assumed (sorry) because you said you were a mage that you may not know what it's like."
I agree on this point as well. Playing classes with different roles can really open your eyes. It's very simple, as a healer, to get tunnel vision on "what would make your own job easier". The same could just as easily be said about DPS that just want to hit the boss and make big numbers scroll by instead of moving out of the fire. It's a dynamic raid leader that knows all 3 roles, and understands the synergy between them. To that end my paladin (healadin into TBC) is now main-spec'd as a tank with a ret off-spec. I can play the role that suits my mood without that much effort. I just switch to the appropriate toon and drop myself into LFG.
t0xic Oct 22nd 2009 2:16PM
"After mini-gluth chomps the whole raid and drops everyone down to 10%, we kinda do have to stay still for a few seconds and get everyone out of the red. Not a good idea to freeze zombies with our health that low."
In that situation, I think the mage was TRYING to do the right thing. 99% of the time it would be the right thing. Maybe in that situation it was a bad move. As a druid I would just move back and slap a wild growth on everyone. As a priest your options may be a little more limited =) I still don't think the mage meant to endanger you. He was trying to help.