Patch 4.2 PTR Firelands Impressions: Alysrazor
by Matt Low 
May 18th 2011 at 1:00PM
That was the first thing that came to mind when I was up close. One of the bosses we're tackling in Firelands is a giant, flaming bird. Actually, it looks more like a phoenix; the Encounter Journal says it's actually a dragon. Either way, it's a multi-phase encounter with some fast player movement, controlled DPS and a phase where we can just sit there and burn the boss.
That being said, do you prefer your former dragons original recipe or extra-crispy?
Also, spoilers after the jump. Don't say I didn't warn you.
Unlike previous Firelands encounters, Alysrazor actually has some trash that has to be dealt with. My raid grouped wiped the first time we engaged it, until someone was observant enough to notice that the phoenixes on the ground were interactive.
After that, we see Majordomo Staghelm, and a short RP scene begins. I'll spare you the details of that bit. (It's just him going on about how awesome he is and how terrible the rest of us are.)
Phase 1
Once the encounter engages, the raid starts taking some quick raid damage. I wish more fights would start like this. It's a great way to wake up healers and to see who's paying attention and who isn't.
Eventually, some eggs will drop out of the sky. Give it a few seconds, and the eggs will hatch! Don't be close to them at all, unless you're the tank. They have a funky mechanic called Imprint where they'll immediately lock onto the closest target. You won't be able to pull threat off of them or anything. We ended up using our tanks to simply kite them around the room. We were looking for worms; if they eat the worms, they become Satiated. If they're not Satiated, they throw a Tantrum. We learned early on to get out of the way of the Voracious Hatchlings. The Gushing Wound hits they deal aren't fun.
I had most of the DPS players focus on one Hatchling at the time. Despite the buffs we gained from using Molten Feathers, we weren't sure whether to divide up DPS between Hatchlings or on Alysrazor, who was flying over us in the air. One player was assigned strictly to take care of the Blazing Talon Initiates that do nothing but shoot Brushfire at us. They move fairly slowly and are easy to dodge. The danger is that if the Initiates aren't taken down and controlled, more of them will continue to spawn, eventually overwhelming the entire area.
I wish I had a chance to experience the air phase. There are these rings that Alysrazor emits in the air. If you fly through them, you gain extra flight time along with restored energy (or mana or rage or whatever). It's like playing Starfox 64 all over again.
Then it was on to phase 2.
I had most of the DPS players focus on one Hatchling at the time. Despite the buffs we gained from using Molten Feathers, we weren't sure whether to divide up DPS between Hatchlings or on Alysrazor, who was flying over us in the air. One player was assigned strictly to take care of the Blazing Talon Initiates that do nothing but shoot Brushfire at us. They move fairly slowly and are easy to dodge. The danger is that if the Initiates aren't taken down and controlled, more of them will continue to spawn, eventually overwhelming the entire area.
I wish I had a chance to experience the air phase. There are these rings that Alysrazor emits in the air. If you fly through them, you gain extra flight time along with restored energy (or mana or rage or whatever). It's like playing Starfox 64 all over again.
Then it was on to phase 2.
This is the skill check phase. We got here once, and we were completely caught off guard and out of position. Using the Encounter Journal, we realized what we actually needed to do. The first thing is stay away from the middle. The second thing is to keep moving. If you see any fiery Fruit Loop rings on the ground, you can run through them.
If I numbered fire tornadoes from 1 to 6, with 1 being the closest tornado and 6 being the furthest, you'd have tornadoes at positions 1, 3 and 5 going one direction and 2, 4 and 6 going the other direction. Reminds me a little bit of Al'akir. The best way to adapt to it, I found, was to point your camera straight down, strafe through them accordingly and dodge.
Survive that? Then say hello to phase 3!
Phase 3
This is the burn part of the encounter. Alysrazor crash lands into the center of the room. She doesn't move. This part of the encounter lasts until her energy reaches 50. Start focusing your DPS efforts on her, as she takes 100% extra damage. If you hit her with a spell, she returns mana. Her energy is restored by a few Druids of the Flame. I'm not sure if we should have taken them out or just worked on Alysrazor herself. The call was made just to burn as much health off the boss as possible.
We didn't get very far after this phase, unfortunately.
Phase 4
From what I could gather in the Encounter Journal and from watching livestreams earlier in the day, Alysrazor starts burning again and pulses fire to everyone, just as in the initial part of the fight. She's also got a conical cleave effect. Don't get hit by it, as it increases your damage taken by 10% per hit (fire and physical).
When her energy reaches 100, the encounter shifts back to phase 1 mechanics with the Voracious Hatchlings and eggs.
I wish I'd had some more time with this boss. I genuinely felt we could have defeated it. It does feel a little undertuned in some aspects. I switched from three-healing to two-healing largely because I couldn't find any other healers on such short notice and the one I had bailed. It's a lot of fun, and of the three bosses I've previewed so far, this is my personal favorite. It's another test of coordination and skills. That second phase could very well crush 25-player raids.
The news is already rolling out for the upcoming WoW Patch 4.2! Preview the new Firelands raid, marvel at the new legendary staff, and get the inside scoop on new quest hubs -- plus new Tier 12 armor!Filed under: Analysis / Opinion, Raiding
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 2)
Ilmyrn May 18th 2011 1:08PM
I hear she's one of the raid mounts too. Man, I want that for my BE pally.
Shinae May 18th 2011 3:07PM
Yeah, screw Alar's Ashes. I want a firebird mount that has feet (and can therefore land)!
llcjay2003 May 18th 2011 1:08PM
This encounter seems fun. Isn't there a mount that looks like this boss?
llcjay2003 May 18th 2011 1:09PM
First poster kind of answered my question.
(cutaia) May 18th 2011 1:55PM
Spoilers, I guess:
~~~~~~~~~~~~
Yup...Glory of the Firelands Raider rewards you with the Corrupted Egg of Millagazor.
http://ptr.wowhead.com/achievement=5828
Millagazor is a firehawk that you summon in one of the daily quests, so definitely will be the mount:
http://ptr.wowhead.com/quest=29148
There's some decent speculation that the raid achievement version of this mount will be purple. It looks like there will be different colors, just like there was with the drakes of the [x] wind. I would venture that the yellow colored one may end up being a rare drop from this boss.
Task May 18th 2011 1:24PM
@Matt Low
"There are these rings that Alysrazor emits in the air. If you fly through them, you gain extra flight time along with restored energy (or mana or rage or whatever). It's like playing Starfox 64 all over again."
If there is an achievement in that, I can see the banner saying something about barrel rolls, or a reference to Starfox 64 like you mentioned.
(cutaia) May 18th 2011 1:33PM
http://ptr.wowhead.com/achievement=5813/do-a-barrel-roll
You're pretty good at detecting these things. ;)
Task May 18th 2011 2:13PM
@(cutaia)
Hehe well how about that?
I was taught by the best.. =]
+20 barrel rolls to you, (cutaia).
Guy May 19th 2011 1:00PM
The best part of that achievement is the icon.
bullingdon May 18th 2011 1:34PM
What Unit Frame addon is that in the second screenshot? It's quite unusual and I like the look of it.
bldavis59 May 18th 2011 1:54PM
i think it is tidyplates, possibly the graphite version, but imnot sure.
i use neon myself
i cant wait to get my hands on this fight
it looks like one where i will be tearing my hair out yet loving every minute
i might be convinced to raid on my lock again just to try the air phase!
Matticus May 18th 2011 1:59PM
I believe it's Pitbull 4. It's part of an addon suite I use called Real UI. (Look it up on WoW Interface)
bullingdon May 18th 2011 2:20PM
Awesome, thanks!!
Shrike May 19th 2011 2:25PM
It's not RealUI, unless TidyPlates is part of that UI package. What you're seeing is very definitely TidyPlates, and it looks like the ThreatPlates theme to me.
Necromann May 18th 2011 2:00PM
I missed a boss. Ive seen the spider and this one. Can someone link me that other one's article please?
Matticus May 18th 2011 2:25PM
Lord Rhyolith impressions will be up shortly.
Rai May 18th 2011 2:22PM
inb4 "Imma firin' Alysrazor"
themightysven May 18th 2011 2:35PM
the article's a little unclear on the air phase
grab three molten feathers and you take off, you can cast while flying, but you also fly slightly faster than the boss, so look out for that (there's a possiblity that the faster flying may be a result of the speed enhance guild perk) hit more rings for more time as stated and from the video I watched all the fire rings may be giving super damage buffs, the ground ones are definitely. Also, when she's about to switch to phase 2 you will be kicked out of the sky, so either fly low, or use a mage (blink/slowfall) a shadow priest (levitate) or a warlock ('port). Sadly Rawrbombing the ground is not feasible for the chickens due to being locked out of feral charge.
Thanks Totalbiscuit for the video I saw these things from
incoming00 May 18th 2011 2:44PM
warlock class-only flying mount... just saying...
incoming00 May 18th 2011 2:44PM
and by just saying, i mean wishful thinking lol....