Filed under: Raid Guides

Patch 5.2 guide to the Throne of Thunder

by Sarah Pine Mar 5th 2013 at 2:00PM

The Thunder King is risen! Today, hordes (and alliances) of characters are flocking to the Isle of Thunder to take part in the hotly-anticipated new content. Many of you will be jumping straight into the new raid as well, and in the spirit of being prepared, WoW Insider has got you covered. Check out our Throne of Thunder write-ups and go in swinging!

The ultimate last boss of 5.2, Ra-den, is locked behind a heroic-mode defeat of Lei Shen and that encounter remains a closely-guarded secret -- for now. Happy patch 5.2 everyone, and happy raiding!

Filed under: Raiding, Raid Guides, Mists of Pandaria

Patch 5.2 PTR: Primordius

by Matt Low Feb 25th 2013 at 7:00PM

Your raid will run into Primordius in the later stage of the Throne of Thunder. Poor Primordius seems to be a saurok of some sort. The Dungeon Journal indicates that this is the chamber where the mogu first created or modified them. Check out the Know Your Lore column that Matt Rossi wrote a while ago about the subject.

I always thought these guys were annoying. Now you've got another chance to put one of the main saurok fellas to rest for good. Expect to be overwhelmed the first few times you try this. It'll end up being a little confusing simply because of all the different abilities, buffs, and debuffs involved.

Filed under: Raid Guides, Mists of Pandaria

Patch 5.2 PTR: Crushing the Council of Elders

by Matt Low Feb 23rd 2013 at 8:00PM

Patch 52 PTR Crushing the Council of Elders

Thought you saw the last of Gara'jal in Mogushan Vaults, did you?

Yeah, so did I. Mogu'shan Vaults was merely a setback!

The Council of Elders is the third encounter in the Throne of Thunder. I surmise it's the whole leadership of the Troll empire right there looking to stop your raid team from progressing any further into the compound.

As you can guess, this encounter is the first council-type encounter of the raid. They'll have to handle the various abilities and spells that the Council is dishing out while slowly whittling them all down. They don't have a shared pool so you do you have your work cut out for you. Now there are going to be a ton of things going on but your raid should be able to pick up on the different abilities without too much of a hassle.

Filed under: Analysis / Opinion, Raid Guides, Mists of Pandaria

Patch 5.2 PTR: Killing Throne of Thunder's Dark Animus

by Olivia Grace Feb 5th 2013 at 2:00PM

Patch 52 PTR Deanimating the Dark Animus

Dark Animus is the ninth boss in the Throne of Thunder, followed by Iron Qon, Twin Consorts, and Lei Shen. It's preceded by some fairly stern trash, and on entering the room players are greeted by the image seen above. It's all a tad confusing to the uninitiated, but what you're essentially fighting against is that red, gloopy substance. The story goes as follows:

During his reign, Lei Shen labored to build a mechanical servant that would defend his citadel without fear. When this experiment failed, rage took hold of the Thunder King. He poured this negative emotion into his next, amd most successful creation: the Dark Animus. To this day, the ornate construct observes its duty, empowered by the mysterious substance at the heart of all the Mogu flesh-shaping experiments.

This fight is definitely one of the most interesting ones I've attended on the PTR. Again, I was privileged to join Lore from TankSpot and his guild Months Behind for testing on my restoration shaman.

The fight begins with the spherical blob you see in the center of the room. It will not aggro onto nearby players until struck, but when aggroed, it will explode, activating a number of the smallest robots visible above by powering them with Anima.

Filed under: Raiding, Raid Guides, Mists of Pandaria

Tankspot takes a look at the Council of Elders

by Anne Stickney Jan 15th 2013 at 7:00PM

The Council of Elders is the third boss in the Throne of Thunder raid, but the first that was open for testing on the PTR. Tankspot took a look at the encounter and put together a video that explains some of the mechanics involved with what looks like an incredibly complex fight. The video above is for the 10-man normal mode version of the encounter, and because this is the PTR, abilities and effects shown in the video may change over time.

Each Elder in the Council has their own set of abilities, and the fight requires three tanks to pull off successfully. But it's not that easy, of course. Also present in the fight is the pesky spirit of Gara'jal, last seen in Mogu'shan Vaults. Gara'jal will possess each Elder in turn, changing the Elder's abilities and making the fight just that much more hectic for players.

This fight has a very heavy emphasis on target swapping between both the various Elders, and the adds that those Elders spawn. Players must attack the Elder that is possessed by Gara'jal -- otherwise a raid-wide AoE will quickly stack to unmanageable heights and overwhelm the raid. In order to force Gara'jal to swap to another Elder, players must DPS the possessed Elder down by 25%.

Keep in mind that this is the first round of PTR testing for this particular encounter. There will doubtless be small changes and tweaks as the PTR moves on. If you'd like to participate in PTR testing, be sure to keep an eye on the official PTR forums for scheduling information regarding the different encounters in Throne of Thunder.

Mists of Pandaria is here! The level cap has been raised to 90, many players have returned to Azeroth, and pet battles are taking the world by storm. Keep an eye out for all of the latest news, and check out our comprehensive guide to Mists of Pandaria for everything you'll ever need to know.

Filed under: Raiding, Raid Guides, Mists of Pandaria

Raid Rx: Healing through Gara'jal and Spirit Kings

by Matt Low Nov 10th 2012 at 2:00PM

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.

A few weeks ago, Joe wrote a piece about personal survivability on my blog. After healing some raid finder and pug runs, I wanted to help echo his sentiment. Whenever there's a new expansion, there's always additional abilities, bosses, and so forth. There's new players picking up the game and old players returning. It bears some reminding that you absolutely should help look after yourself.

Your class has talents that helps you live.

Use them!

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

Raid Rx: Healing through Feng

by Matt Low Oct 19th 2012 at 5:00PM

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.

We'll get into healing tips for Feng momentarily but I wanted to examine the state of raiding healers.

It's been a couple of weeks since Mogu'shan Vaults opened up for raids. We've got another week and a few days to go before Heart of Fear and Terrace of Endless Springs open. A quick cursory glance at the preferred healers show that monks are the class to be right now. They appear to be dominating at the 25 level while in normal 10s, we're seeing additional representation from shaman and paladins. Priests have received some minor hotfixes. Prayer of Healing and Prayer of Mending was buffed by an additional 25% not too long ago.

5.1 is introducing another set of changes to priests:

Chakra: Serenity now increases single target healing by 25% (was 15%).
Chakra: Sanctuary now increases area healing by 25% (was 15%).

No additional healing changes have been announced for the other classes yes, but I'd expect some more tweaks coming down the road.

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

Raid Rx: Getting started with healing Mogu'shan Vaults

by Matt Low Oct 6th 2012 at 6:00PM

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.

Raids are out! If you're anything like me, you spent a good chunk of week 1 powering to 90 as fast as possible. With raids open in the second week of Mists of Pandaria, you are no doubt in the process of preparing to step inside Mogu'shan Vaults! Today we'll cover some of the pre-raid items you should be doing before taking on the Stone Guard.

Yes, we'll be going over Stone Guard healing tips, too!

Reputation grinds: Blizzard has generously nerfed the reputation requirements when it comes to purchasing select gear. Now you only need to be revered to purchase those delicious valor level items. If you managed to cap out your valor last week, you have the ability to pick up a neck piece from the Klaxxi (provided that you have been diligent with their dailies). As a bonus, many of these quests provide those Lesser Charm of Good Fortune which gives you an extra chance at loot in any raid difficulty level.

Consumables: Have you been leveling your cooking and farming abilities with the Tillers? If not, Megan has a great introductory guide. We're looking to become Master of the Steamer due to their spirit food. For potions, arm yourself with stacks of Potion of Focus. Look for the safe periods in a fight where you can use these without getting interrupted. Finally, expect to spend some money on Flask of Falling Leaves. Gold Lotus prices are typically going to be really high. But you'll want that extra regen.

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

Healing Mogu'shan Vaults Part 1 in the raid finder

by Matt Low Aug 13th 2012 at 9:00AM

Raid Rx Healing Mogu'shan Vaults part 1 in LFR ANY

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.

Imagine my delight when I realized that the raid finder in the Mists of Pandaria beta was available for testing. The only instance available at the moment is Mogu'shan Vaults, but heck, who cares? I've been dying to get more practice in. I must've waited around 50 or so minutes before we had enough players to jump in. There were times where we had two tanks, six healers, and 11 DPSers. Other times we had 17 DPSers, 6 healers, and no tanks!

The raid finder for Mogu'shan Vaults has been split into two parts. You can't access the second half of it until you clear out the first three bosses in the first half.

There are some spoilers after the cut. Consider yourself warned!

Filed under: Druid, Paladin, Priest, Shaman, Analysis / Opinion, Raiding, Raid Rx (Raid Healing), Raid Guides, Monk

Arcane Brilliance: How to solo Magtheridon for fun and transmog

by Josh Myers May 5th 2012 at 2:00PM

Every week, WoW Insider brings you Arcane Brilliance for arcane, fire and frost mages. In good news, the most esteemed archmage Christian Belt has escaped from the alternate timeline where he was forced to perpetually watch reruns of Fox Van Allen's appearance on The Price is Right. The bad news is that this means this is Josh Myers' last mage article for a while, but he had fun while it lasted!

My mage wasn't level-capped when Magtheridon was relevant content. I was a resto shaman, content to spam my one PUG raid night a week spamming four ranks of Chain Heal on other people. I still remember those days fondly, as they were my first exposure to "real" raiding. Also, Magtheridon's Lair was considerably easier than tier 4's other 25-man raid, Gruul's Lair, and the only way to get access to your tier four chestpiece.

I first learned Magtheridon's Lair was soloable at level 85 by managing to do it on my hunter, because pet classes are overpowered (though the ones with self-healing are even more so -- I'm looking at you, Megan O'Neill!). Speaking of potent self-healing, I followed with my blood death knight, and then conquered the pit lord with my enhance shaman. The natural next choice would have been to take a warlock or maybe a feral druid, but I wanted a challenge. Also, Magelam was craving a Crystalheart Pulse-Staff, so he was my fourth choice. I ended up spending about two hours last November perfecting my strategy and have since been able to down him consistently whenever I want a quick 50 gold and some level 70 epics to sell.

Filed under: Mage, (Mage) Arcane Brilliance, Cataclysm, Raid Guides

The Light and How to Swing It: The Fall of Deathwing, ret edition, part 2

by Dan Desmond Feb 1st 2012 at 1:00PM

Every week, WoW Insider brings you The Light and How to Swing It for holy, protection and retribution paladins. Seasoned ret paladin Dan Desmond is here to answer your questions and provide you with your biweekly dose of retribution medicine. Contact him at dand@wowinsider.com with any questions, concerns, or suggestions!

This is it, guys and girls. This is the moment we have all been training for while hitting that poor target dummy in Orgrimmar, because only repeatedly bashing a plank of wood will truly prepare you to square off against a dragon as epic as the big DW. So pick up your weapon, your bag of tricks, and your handful of cooldowns -- it's time to kill Deathwing the Destroyer.

Spine of Deathwing

I remember when there was wild speculation on what the Deathwing fight in Dragon Soul would actually look like. The devs announced that we would jump on him for part of the fight, and my strange brain secretly hoped that we would start at his tail and work our way up, maybe chopping off his legs and wings into a giant container of dry rub so the Titans could come on down and throw it on a massive barbecue. Honestly, we should have done that with Onyxia so she couldn't be resurrected 14 times!

Filed under: Paladin, Raiding, (Paladin) The Light and How to Swing It, Cataclysm, Raid Guides

The Light and How to Swing It: The Fall of Deathwing, ret edition part 1

by Dan Desmond Jan 18th 2012 at 4:00PM

Every week, WoW Insider brings you The Light and How to Swing It for holy, protection and retribution paladins. Seasoned ret paladin Dan Desmond is here to answer your questions and provide you with your biweekly dose of retribution medicine. Contact him at dand@wowinsider.com with any questions, concerns, or suggestions!

Well, here we are, the first two of the final four bosses of the expansion. That is, we think Deathwing is the final boss of the expansion -- it is still unclear whether Blizzard will pull another We're not done with the next expansion yet! raid on us like it did in Wrath with Ruby Sanctum. Regardless, we have a raid that needs a conclusion and a guide to go along with it, so let's get started!

Please note that this guide, like many others I have written, is for the normal version of each encounter. Some mechanics, like Fading Light and Twilight Sappers, either work differently or have been removed on the Raid Finder difficulty.

Ultraxion

I really wish I had more to say about this fight, but Blizzard isn't having it. Simply put, Ultraxion is this raid's Patchwerk with the addition of a button. Yes, you really do just stand in one place, run your rotation train on him, and hit a button when the situation calls for it. I honestly wish there were more to this fight, but there it is.

Filed under: Paladin, Raiding, (Paladin) The Light and How to Swing It, Cataclysm, Raid Guides

WoW Insider's guide to Warlord Zon'ozz

by Tyler Caraway Dec 9th 2011 at 5:00PM

Ready Check helps you prepare yourself and your raid for the bosses that simply require killing. Check back with Ready Check each week for the latest pointers on killing adds, not standing in fire, and hoping for loot that won't drop. Questions, comments, or something you would like to see? Email me at tyler@wowinsider or message me on Twitter @murmursofadruid.

Unlike the other encounters in Dragon Soul, Warlord Zon'ozz only requires a single tank. For cooldown purposes, it is possible to bring in a second tank; however, there isn't too much of a need to do so. Per usual, you will want to have around five to six healers. Switch your off tank for an additional healer if you feel that would help. Your DPS should be a solid mix of both ranged and melee; there does need to be a solid balance of both. Healers should be split among the DPS, with tank healers staying with the melee.

Abilities

Zon'ozz doesn't have all that many abilities, but he's still a hands-on encounter. Most of your time will be spent watching the Void of Unmaking and bouncing it back and forth. Healers will focus more on clearing away Disrupting Shadows. For once, tanks probably have the easiest time on this encounter, only really having to watch out for a single ability that occurs about once per phase or so.

Filed under: Raiding, Ready Check (Raiding), Raid Guides

WoW Insider's guide to Morchok

by Tyler Caraway Dec 2nd 2011 at 4:00PM

Ready Check helps you prepare yourself and your raid for the bosses that simply require killing. Check back with Ready Check each week for the latest pointers on killing adds, not standing in fire, and hoping for loot that won't drop. Questions, comments, or something you would like to see? Email me at tyler@wowinsider or message me on Twitter @murmursofadruid.

Greetings raiders, and welcome to WoW Insider's raid boss strategy guides! With the release of 4.3 and the new Dragon Soul raid, we're finally onto the last bastion of evil in this expansion. Finally we are given the chance to face down Deathwing himself and end his destructive madness. Before we can reach this cataclysmic destroyer, though, we'll first have to break the siege upon Wyrmrest Temple and battle our way through the most powerful minions the Destroyer has in his arsenal.

The first of this is Morchok, a giant earth elemental that is assaulting the front gates, as it were, of the Temple itself. Although not challenging for the first encounter of the raid, this pile of rocks isn't going down without a fight. Are you prepared to break yourselves upon his body? (Oh, wait ... that's a different encounter, isn't it?)

Filed under: Raiding, Ready Check (Raiding), Raid Guides

The Light and How to Swing It: Retribution in the Firelands, part 1

by Dan Desmond Aug 31st 2011 at 2:00PM

Every week, WoW Insider brings you The Light and How to Swing It for holy, protection and retribution paladins. This week, Dan Desmond walks you through the Firelands.

Firelands has been out for a couple of months now. Many have gotten their hands dirty fighting against the minions of Ragnaros; a few have even beaten the elemental lord himself. But many more are just rolling up their sleeves, waiting for their friends and guildmates to get bored of playing in the sun (seriously, it's going to be there for another 5 billion years -- I think you can play a little Warcraft here and there and it won't mind). Well then, what better place to start than at the beginning?

Filed under: Paladin, Raiding, (Paladin) The Light and How to Swing It, Raid Guides

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