Every week, Raid Rx will help you quarterback your healers to victory! Your host is Matt Low, the grand poohbah of World of Matticus and a founder of Plus Heal, a discussion community for healers of all experience levels and interests. Catch his weekly podcast on healing, raiding and leading, the Matticast.

Anyone else excited about transmogrification? I'll be shooting for tier 2, tier 5 and tier 6 looks. I'd rank those three as the greatest-looking priest sets of all time. But we're not here to talk about things like cosmetic looks, because no one cares about that stuff, right?!

This week, we duck back into Firelands and take a look at Majordomo Staghelm. Among encounters that emphasize the use of cooldowns, the heroic phase of Halfus would be the Superbowl of all healing cooldown encounters. But the 25-man version of Majordomo, I would classify as the Olympics. There is a ton of preparation that needs to happen before throwing the entire raid in there. Before we devise a strategy that's going to work for you, there are a few questions you'll want to ask.

• How many healers do you want to take in?
• How many overall defensive raid cooldowns are available?
• Is your DPS amazingly high?

Answering those questions will determine things like how long you can stretch out a scorpion phase and a cat phase. Typically, I've found that kills occur with six healers. However, if your 25-player raid is starting Majordomo for the first time, I recommend starting with seven to gain an understanding of all the mechanics.

Scorpion phase

When Majordomo is in his scorpion form, you'll want to really focus on the overall healing. This form is extremely dangerous, and your raid will falter if you're not prepared for it. Flame Scythe is the threat here, as it'll blast your entire raid equally. The duration between Flame Scythe gradually gets smaller the longer Majordomo stays in scorpion form. Your raid will want to transition him at some point between six to eight Adrenaline stacks. The trick to managing the potency of Flame Scythe is effective cooldown usage.

Have a plan for each stack of Adrenaline and which player will use what cooldown. I'll list a few examples from my setup.

• Flame Scythe 1-3 Nothing
• Flame Scythe 4 Heroism (extra speed healing)
• Flame Scythe 5 Tranquility A
• Flame Scythe 6 Aura Mastery
• Flame Scythe 7 Power Word: Barrier and Spirit Link Totem A

Once the players see the Spirit Link Totem, they immediately split up for the cat phases.

Cat phase

Divide the healers evenly around the room, three on each side. You can treat this as a mana regeneration phase. Your shaman can throw Lightning Bolts to take advantage of Telluric Currents if they feel it is safe or if it is necessary. It's a great time to fire off mana Hymns. But make sure to wait until after Majordomo leaps to take advantage of the gap between jumps.

Despite the relative ease of this phase, instruct your healers not to take it too lightly. There are some attacks and abilities to watch out for (Leaping Flames, for instance). We like to stack up on the sixth Adrenaline, but your mileage may vary. With higher DPS, you might be able to take on another cat.

Second scorpion phase

• Flame Scythe 1 Nothing
• Flame Scythe 2 Divine Hymn A and Tranquility B (boomkin)
• Flame Scythe 3 Divine Hymn B and Tranquility C (feral druid)
• Flame Scythe 4 Aura Mastery, Rallying Cry and Divine Guardian
• Flame Scythe 5 Power Word: Barrier and Spirit Link Totem B

Then it's time to split up again once the next totem lands. Generally, this phase is really tricky because of all the players who have to run in and out to handle the various Searing Seeds. Have an out available in case a specific player isn't able to bust his cooldown. This is a really hard phase to get through, and it takes a little luck. But with enough practice and discipline, you should be able to get through it.

Second cat phase

Same thing as the first cat phase. Feel free to take it easy here. Nothing special to worry about. Use any mana potions or other regen tricks if you think you need to. Otherwise, just carry on and collapse the raid for the next scorpion phase when you feel ready.

Third scorpion phase

Treat this like the initial scorpion phase. The cooldowns used during the first scorpion phase should then be available. Use them in the same order here. Heroism won't be available, so you may want to layer another cooldown just in case or take one less Flame Scythe.

Third cat phase

This phase sucks. I'm not even going to try to sugarcoat it. Your ranged players will need to scatter and adapt to the different spores that exist. Each spore should have a rotating team of two DPS players to soak the beams. Once the closest player isn't able to take anymore, he should run out and his partner can then take on the beam. As healers, you need to adjust and head over to ensure that each pair can stay alive.


Last scorpion phase

This is the do-or-die phase. Majordomo should be under 25% health by now. If you're fresh out of cooldowns, you can send a DPS player with a taunt to stand on the other side of Majordomo and taunt right before a Flame Scythe, to eat one completely. You might be able to do it one more time after that. If you're really desperate and have absolutely nothing else left, you can split off again early and force a cat phase. You should be able to ignore the extra cats and just straight-up focus Majordown down.

Feel free to add or subtract a Flame Scythe at any scorpion phase, depending on your raid composition and how you feel. If you have an extra healer or extra cooldowns at your disposal, you can probably add one.

Enjoy your tier shoulders! Good luck, and good hunting!

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Need advice on working with the healers in your guild? Raid Rx has you covered. Send your questions about raid healing to mattl@wowinsider.com. For less healer-centric raiding advice, visit Ready Check for advanced tactics and advice for the endgame raider.

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Filed under: Raid Rx (Raid Healing), Raid Guides