Fallen Avatar
#1
The Fallen Avatar is the next-to-last boss in the Tomb of Sargeras.  It is a largely single-target fight over two phases.  A lot of the fight revolves around PROLONGING the first phase, as the second phase is a race to the finish during which the arena will slowly be destroyed around the group.  If we aren't fast enough, our platform will be totally eroded and we'll drop into the magma pit below.

This is a "Spread and Stack" style fight:  we're going to need to stack up to split damage, then we'll need to spread out quickly to avoid other mechanics.

PHASE ONE:  A Slumber Disturbed

The Fallen Avatar is totally immobile in this phase.  The boss will generate energy passively over time, and when his energy reaches 100 the fight will enter Phase Two.  So our strategy revolves around SLOWING this energy generation to prolong Phase One as long as possible while we DPS the boss.

We'll also be dealing with one add during this time, called the Maiden of Valor.  She is has a number of abilities and her positioning is critical in slowing the Avatar's energy generation.

There will be five lines stemming from the Avatar that end in glowing yellow circles.  These circles indicate the places in which the boss can spawn Containment Pylons.  One of these pylons will periodically channel a beam to the boss for 40 seconds which will grant him energy.  This beam can be intercepted by the Maiden of Valor.  So, we need to position the Maiden of Valor between the active pylon and the boss.

Positioning:  the area is pretty big, so we're going to have ranged and healers spread across the room, roughly between the pylon spawn locations and the Avatar to make sure healers have range.  The Fallen Avatar can't be moved.  One tank must always be in range of him to prevent his "OMG nobody's in melee" attack (Ripple of Darkness).  The other tank should take the Maiden of Valor.

Whenever a pylon becomes active, the Maiden tank must immediately drag the Maiden into the beam to prevent the Avatar from gaining Energy.  While she's in the beam, she'll get a stacking buff (Matrix Empowerment) and will gain energy herself.

Meanwhile, the Avatar tank will be receiving stacks of Desolate (anti-tank attack) from the Avatar.  The Tanks should swap at every 2 stacks of Desolate.  You may need a defensive cooldown for the second stack.

When the Maiden of Valor reaches 100 energy she'll shield herself (Cleansing Protocol) and start an 18-second cast.  We need to DPS this shield down as fast as possible and interrupt that cast, because if it goes off we'll take massive raid-wide damage.  If we do interrupt it, she'll Malfunction, which means she'll take 25% of her max health in damage, and get stunned for a couple seconds.  There will be four Cleansing Protocols during the fight.

But there's a trick:  the Maiden is our only way to slow the Avatar's energy generation, so we don't want to kill her too soon!!  We WANT her to survive for all four Cleansing Protocols!!  And each Cleansing Protocol's Malfunction takes 25% of her max health!!  So if we DPS her too much, she'll die early, before the fourth Cleansing Protocol, which means we'll enter Phase Two early and probably wipe.

However, it is ALSO important that we don't enter Phase Two while the Maiden is still alive, because if she's alive the Avatar will consume her and heal himself with her remaining health.  Which will ALSO likely lead to a wipe.

So this fight really involves careful control of the Maiden's health and timing of her death:  we want her to last to the last Cleansing Protocol, but then die before the Avatar reaches 100 energy.


Additional Abilities:

* Projectile + void zoneShadowy Blades:  Targets 3 players, looks like purple beam between the boss and the targets.  The boss will shoot a blade along these beams, and on impact they'll deal moderate damage to targets and anyone within 7 yards, AND create a void zone (pool of Lingering Darkness) which persists indefinitely.

--> If you get targeted, go to the back and edges of the room to deposit your void zones.  Everyone else get out of the purple beams.

* Ground effect that needs to be soaked:  Touch of Sargeras.  The boss creates 3 fissures that erupt after 8 seconds.  The damage is split among players in the rifts.  If the rift is EMPTY, then we take heavy raided damage.

--> When these appear, we need to stack in these rifts.  A couple players should do it.  NOT soaking these does a lot of raid-wide damage.  A solo player can also soak these with immunities (e.g. Cloak of Shadows).

* Attack that leaves a trail of explosions + DoT: Unbound Chaos.  Targets a random player.  Every second the target's current location is marked on the ground, then these marked areas explode and the target gets a debuff.

--> If you get targeted, run in a tight circle, minimizing overall movement and collateral damage to others, while still ensuring that you stay out of the eruptions.  Spreading out helps minimize problems here.

* Raid-wide attack that decreases with distance from the boss: Rupture Realities.  Massive fire damage to the whole raid, decreasing with distance from the boss.

--> This ability has a LONG cast time (7.5 seconds) so we've got a lot of time to react to this.  Use this cast time to move as far away as possible, including the Avatar's tank.  Players with immunities can stay in, though they may want to use their immunities on other mechanics.  Once Rupture Realities is done, the current Avatar tank needs to get back into melee range to avoid melee deaths and the "nobody's in melee omg" attack.


PHASE TWO:  An Avatar Awakened

This phase starts when the Avatar reaches 100 energy.  He'll shatter his bonds and drop the raid deep into the Tomb of Sargeras.  The fight will now take place on a destructible platform floating on a pool of lava.  The boss is now mobile and should be dragged to the edge of the platform immediately by the active tank.

The Avatar retains his anti-tank ability (Desolate) and the "run away to reduce damage" attack (Rupture Realities).  We should handle these like before, with the tanks swapping at 2 stacks of Desolate and the raid running away when he casts Rupture Realities.  However, in Phase Two, Rupture Realities now ALSO shatters the floor beneath the Avatar.  Every time Rupture Realities shatters the floor, the boss should be moved back onto solid ground ASAP.  It takes about five Ruptures to completely destroy the floor.

The Avatar will brand a target with Dark Mark, which explodes after 6 seconds and splits damage with everyone within 8 yards, AND knocks them into the air, so we need to stack on the person with Dark Mark.

During this phase we'll also be taking ticking raid-wide damage from Sear.  He'll periodically conjure storms, called Black Winds, which that travel around the platform, doing damage and applying a DoT.  Avoid these at all costs!

Bloodlust:  either on the pull, which shortens the overall fight, or toward the end of Phase Two, to help with final DPS and raid damage from Sear.
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#2
Well done last night, everyone!

I just want to jot down a few things we learned:

This fight is ALL about handling the Maiden of Valor.  Handle her properly and the fight gets way easier: this fight is like a machine with different interlocking parts, and if we operate the machine properly the fight is easy.  Here's what needs to happen:

* The Maiden needs to be dragged to intercept the beam as soon as possible.  Intercepting this beam is key.  The less the beam reaches the boss, the less energy he gains, which means the longer we have to DPS him AND the longer we have before we drop to the magma pool below.

Keeping the Maiden in the beam is critical.  This means that players targeted by the Shadowy Blades (giant knife-shaped arrows emanating from boss) must make sure they don't point their arrows at the Maiden, as these may knock the tanks back.

* DPS the Maiden's shield, but NOT the Maiden.  We need to DPS the Maiden's shield down ASAP to interrupt her cast, BUT as soon as her shield is down we need to IMMEDIATELY STOP DPSing her.  This control is very important.  The Maiden will die without anyone DPSing her, in fact -- she casts four shields during Phase One, and after each shield she takes 25% of her health in damage, so after the fourth shield she'll die naturally.   We need her to survive long enough to cast all four shields and thus be alive long enough to intercept as many beams as possible, which means not DPSing her at all.  It also means not holding her so close to the melee that she gets cleaved too much (a little time next to melee during a tank swap was okay though), and not knocking the tanks back with arrows.

If we don't intercept the beams enough, the boss will gain energy too fast and will reach 100 energy sooner, at which point he'll enter Phase Two.  He'll start by eating the Maiden and adding her percentage of remaining health to his own percentage (if she has 15% health left he'll gain 15% health), and we'll start Phase Two with him at much higher health, and we won't have enough time to kill him before we run out of platform.

If we do this properly, however -- intercept four beams with the Maiden, DPS the Maiden's shield hard but stop when it falls off, and point the Shadowy Blades away from the Maiden -- the boss will gain energy more slowly, which means we'll get a longer Phase One to DPS him, AND the Maiden will die naturally after the fourth shield and won't be consumed by him, which means he won't get healed, so we'll start Phase Two with him at much lower health and we'll have time to kill him before we run out of platform!

Other notes:

*  Honestly?  The little green swirlies weren't much of a problem.  They fade quickly so as long as you take small steps and don't stand in them it's okay.

* Run out a moderate distance when he casts Rupture Realities.  No need to go all the way to the edge of the room.  People with immunities can survive it.

* If we get the Maiden's shield AND Rupture Realities simultaneously, we discovered we can still drag the Maiden while she's doing her channel (yay!).
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#3
We'll be facing the Fallen Avatar on Heroic this week!  Here are the differences between heroic and normal:

PHASE ONE

1.  New void zones that will need to be soaked: "Touch of Sargeras"

This is a new ability on heroic.  Three purple void zones will spawn randomly around the room after a long cast bar.  After 8 seconds these will erupt and will deal massive raid-wide damage unless people stand in them to soak the damage.  The soakers will split a smaller amount of damage and will prevent raid-wide damage.

We'll need to experiment with the number of people needed to soak -- Wowhead suggests 3-4 per void zone should be sufficient, but also notes that the more soakers in each pool the safer it will be.

To be ready for these void zones, the raid needs to be spread out fairly evenly in the room.

Note:  these can be solo-soaked by players with immunities or large damage reductions.


2.  The blades now spawn a void zone instead of knocking people back (Phase 1).

A void zone will drop beneath ANYONE hit by a blade.  These void zones will do high ticking damage and a slow, and last about one minute.

* Targeted players must drop the void zones in a safe place.  Choose a low traffic area, such as the back of the room.
* Everyone else needs to get out of the path of the blades.


PHASE TWO

3. The Fallen Avatar's AoE, Sear, will get permanently buffed when he stands in lava.

In Normal, we could keep the Avatar within the lava for each Rupturing Reality to save platform space.  Now when he stands in lava his raid-wide AoE, Sear, will get stronger.

However, we can drag him into the lava at the the end of the Rupturing Realities cast if we are extremely low on platform space.


4. Winds will sweep across the platform.

These winds (each one looks like a tornado) spawn in groups will travel in a straight line at constant speed.  Players hit by the winds will take burst damage and a heavy ticking DoT.

* Avoid the winds as much as possible.  Players soaking Dark Marks should keep an eye on winds and make sure not to get knocked back into them.

Late in the phase the winds become harder to dodge as the platform area shrinks.

* Use movement speed increases later in the fight to help dodge the winds on the small platform.
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#4
We made great progress on Fallen Avatar last night!  I think we're getting the rhythms of Phase 1 down and we got into Phase 2 a couple times too.  I did some research online and found some tips and hints:

PHASE ONE

1.  DPS goal:  Try to get Fallen Avatar to 30% before the phase changes.

2.  Personal cooldowns:  Phase 1 with four shields is always 5 minutes long.  Plan personal cooldowns accordingly.

3. Green squirrels swirls (Unbound Chaos):  I read one recommendation that the swirls are best handled by running in small circles.  This overlaps more of the floor and keeps you closer to the boss.  However, make sure you don't accidentally clip prior circles or backpedal.  Just something to keep in mind.

4. Be strategic about Touch of Sargeras pools:  (a) solo-soak with mitigation:  we should have people solo-soak these when possible, as this increases everyone else's DPS.  Rogues with cloak, mages with ice block etc. can soak these and thus keep more people on the boss.  (b) figure out a reasonable number of people (two? three?) to soak the other pools so we don't 'oversoak' them by using, say, 6 people, which may be overkill resulting in the sacrifice of too much raid DPS.  Tinker with this.

6. Bloodlust on the pull.  By using it at the beginning, when we're all alive and focused and our cooldowns are ready to go, the Avatar will drop into Phase 2 with less health.  This is more effective than using it in Phase 2 when we're running around more, our cooldowns are misaligned, and some folks may be dead.

Basically, the overall goal of Bloodlust on Avatar is to reduce the amount of health he has in Phase 2, and this can be better accomplished by using Bloodlust in Phase 1, which will get his health to a lower point before he drops.

PHASE TWO

1. Solo-soak Dark Marks in Phase 2 if you have the ability to do so.  Call it out in Discord.  This helps keep other players on the boss doing DPS.  If you're a frost mage, use ice block, which will also keep you from getting bounced in the air.

2. The tornadoes are singletons which run in straight lines down the middle of the grid.  Though it can be difficult to see from ground level, the platform of Phase 2 actually a grid.  The tornadoes run down the middle of the columns and rows (not on the lines between them).

--> If you stay on the intersection of 4 squares you'll only need to take a small step if a tornado is coming at you.
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