12-11-2014, 02:54 PM
Okay, here’s the nutshell guide on the first boss of Highmaul.
Kargath Bladefist is the first boss of Highmaul. After him, we can choose to kill The Butcher, Tectus, or Brackenspore in any order we wish, or skip them and go straight to Twin Ogron. This will be helpful down the line when we no longer want to farm the middle bosses but want to dig deeper into the dungeon. After Twin Ogron, we move on to Ko’ragh and Imperator Mar’gok in that order.
Overview: Kargath Bladefist summons a bunch of adds, and some raid members are regularly sent “into the stands of the arena.” This fight will put a strain on the DPS, and acts as an initial gear check for the raid.
Overview
Kargath Bladefist is a single-phase right. We’ll engage him in a circular arena:
* There are FOUR PITS in the ground in this arena, each one containing a deadly, stationary mob called a Ravenous Bloodmaw. Players who fall in the pit, or get in range, are instantly killed. These mobs can’t be targeted or killed.
* There are FOUR SKULLS on the ground. Each one starts as a skull on the ground, but every 20 seconds, Kargath will activate one, raising it and turning it into a Fire Pillar. It will deal fire damage to everyone in an 8-yard radius. When Kargath is brought into the radius of a Fire Pillar it will interrupt his current cast (most relevant for "Berserker Rush” see below) and he will smash the Pillar, disabling it, and knocking back any players within 8 yards of the pillar. This technique is integral to the fight.
* In the stands around the arena, adds will spawn throughout the fight. These adds can’t be attacked from within the arena, but they’ll cast spells at the raid. At certain times during the encounter, Kargath will throw the five raid members who are closest to him up into the stands. These raid members can reduce the number of adds up there.
Kargath’s Abilities
* Impale: anti-tank attack, which inflicts high damage every second + a stun for 8 seconds. If the tank survives, the tank receives the Open Wounds debuff, which causes the tank to take more damage from future Impales. This ability is cast every 30 seconds, and requires a TANK SWAP.
* Blade Dance: “Charge” attack. Kargath uses this throughout the fight. For 10 seconds, he’ll enter a state where he charges a random raid member every 2 seconds, dealing damage to that person and anyone else within 7 yards. The charge is instant and unavoidable. Kargath prefers ranged raid members.
* Berserker Rush: “Fixate” attack. He’ll fixate on a random raid member and walks toward them for 20 seconds, damaging everyone in front of him. During these 20 seconds his movement speed and damage done increase every 2 seconds.
* Chain Hurl: “throw raid members in the stands” ability. Every 1 minute and 30 seconds he’ll jump to the center of the rom and channel Chain Hurl for 6.5 seconds. At the end of the channel the closest 5 players will be thrown up into the stands of the arena. These players can jump back down whenever they wish, but at 45 seconds if they’re still up there they’ll be thrown back down.
Adds
There are three types of adds that appear in the STANDS of the arena:
* Drunken Bileslingers: these throw Mauling Brew into the arena which does damage on impact and leaves a 30-sec void zone. They also cast Vile Breath, a frontal cone that stuns players in the stands.
* Iron Bombers: these throw Iron Bombs in the arena which deal moderate fire damage and apply a fire DoT. When Iron Bombers die, they leave a Fire Bomb behind them which deals a lot of damage to nearby players in the stands.
* Iron Grunts: these attack players in the stands. They Grapple players in the stands, which deals moderate physical damage and reduces movement speed.
Strategy
Tanks
Tanks will need to perform a tank swap due to the impale. Switch after every impale. It is possible to survive two, and maybe three, with defense cooldowns, but there is no need to do so.
Positioning
* Tank Kargath out of range of any fire pillars or Ravenous Bloodmaws in the pits.
* Ranged and Healers stand away from Kargath, loosely spread out. This will minimize damage from Blade Dance (the “charge” attack)
* Everyone stay away from the Fire Pillars after they are activated.
* Everyone stay away from the pits. Watch out for knock-backs (e.g. Chain Hurl, the “throw players to the stands” mechanic; and the knock-back from when he deactivates a Fire Pillar.
* Fixated players run away from Kargath and try to KITE Kargath into a Fire Pillar. He targets Ranged or Healers. Melee move away from him a bit when he casts this to avoid being slashed when he turns.
* Avoid the Void Zones from Mauling Brew
* Heal through the damage from Iron Bombs
The stands
Who to send up: It’s best to try to send a team of 5 players up into the stands to deal with some of the adds. The idea se-tup depends on the raid. One tank (the one debuffed with Open Wounds) + 1 healer + 3 DPS is a good choice, but this can vary, e.g. with DPS that can off-heal. Chain Hurl will throw the FIVE CLOSEST people to him up into the stands. Melee not on the stands team needs to move away before the end of the cast.
Up in the stands: No set strategy. Kill the adds. Drunken Bileslingers pose the greatest threat so kill those first. The tank should pick up the adds and face them away. The tank will often be stunned by Vile Breath. Stand away from any dying Iron Bombers to avoid damage from their Fire Bombs.
When to jump down: strategies vary here. A conservative strategy is to stay up the full 45 seconds to reduce the add numbers. Raids with high DPS can have players jump down to put more DPS on Kargath. Raids with strong healing may have people jump down right away and just kill the adds after the second or third Chain Hurl, allowing them to pile up so they can be AoE’d down. This will put more strain on the healers though as the raid will take more damage in the arena, but it’s more efficient.
Using Bloodlust
Use it at the start.
SUMMARY
Tanks
* Tank Kargath away from Fire Pillars and Ravenous Bloodmaws
* Perform a Tank Switch for every other Impale Cast. Make sure to have an active defensive codlin for each Impale.
* If in the stands, pick up adds and face Drunken Bileslingers away.
Healers
* Beware of intense tank damage whenever Impale is cast. Be prepared to use a defensive codlin on the tank.
* Be prepared to heal damage on random raid members during Blade Dance (the “Charge” attack), and increasing raid damage as Iron Bombers increase in the stands.
* Stand away from Kargath, and somewhat spread out.
* If in the stands, be prepared for unpredictable damage, especially on tanks who will sometimes be stunned.
DPS
* Ranged should stand away from Kargath, and somewhat spread out.
* If in the stands, kill as many adds as possible, ideally prioritizing Drunken Bileslingers.
Everyone
* Stay away from Fire Pillars.
* If you are fixated (Berserker Rush), kite him into a Fire Pillar to stop the chase. Tanks don’t need to worry about this.
* Move out of Kargath’s at when he is fixated on someone (Berserker Rush).
* Don’t be close to Kargath at the end of Chain Hurl unless you are assigned to being sent up into the stands, in which case, stand as close to him as you can.
* Don’t get knocked back into the Ravenous Bloodmaws (particularly by Chain Hurl)
Kargath Bladefist is the first boss of Highmaul. After him, we can choose to kill The Butcher, Tectus, or Brackenspore in any order we wish, or skip them and go straight to Twin Ogron. This will be helpful down the line when we no longer want to farm the middle bosses but want to dig deeper into the dungeon. After Twin Ogron, we move on to Ko’ragh and Imperator Mar’gok in that order.
Overview: Kargath Bladefist summons a bunch of adds, and some raid members are regularly sent “into the stands of the arena.” This fight will put a strain on the DPS, and acts as an initial gear check for the raid.
Overview
Kargath Bladefist is a single-phase right. We’ll engage him in a circular arena:
* There are FOUR PITS in the ground in this arena, each one containing a deadly, stationary mob called a Ravenous Bloodmaw. Players who fall in the pit, or get in range, are instantly killed. These mobs can’t be targeted or killed.
* There are FOUR SKULLS on the ground. Each one starts as a skull on the ground, but every 20 seconds, Kargath will activate one, raising it and turning it into a Fire Pillar. It will deal fire damage to everyone in an 8-yard radius. When Kargath is brought into the radius of a Fire Pillar it will interrupt his current cast (most relevant for "Berserker Rush” see below) and he will smash the Pillar, disabling it, and knocking back any players within 8 yards of the pillar. This technique is integral to the fight.
* In the stands around the arena, adds will spawn throughout the fight. These adds can’t be attacked from within the arena, but they’ll cast spells at the raid. At certain times during the encounter, Kargath will throw the five raid members who are closest to him up into the stands. These raid members can reduce the number of adds up there.
Kargath’s Abilities
* Impale: anti-tank attack, which inflicts high damage every second + a stun for 8 seconds. If the tank survives, the tank receives the Open Wounds debuff, which causes the tank to take more damage from future Impales. This ability is cast every 30 seconds, and requires a TANK SWAP.
* Blade Dance: “Charge” attack. Kargath uses this throughout the fight. For 10 seconds, he’ll enter a state where he charges a random raid member every 2 seconds, dealing damage to that person and anyone else within 7 yards. The charge is instant and unavoidable. Kargath prefers ranged raid members.
* Berserker Rush: “Fixate” attack. He’ll fixate on a random raid member and walks toward them for 20 seconds, damaging everyone in front of him. During these 20 seconds his movement speed and damage done increase every 2 seconds.
* Chain Hurl: “throw raid members in the stands” ability. Every 1 minute and 30 seconds he’ll jump to the center of the rom and channel Chain Hurl for 6.5 seconds. At the end of the channel the closest 5 players will be thrown up into the stands of the arena. These players can jump back down whenever they wish, but at 45 seconds if they’re still up there they’ll be thrown back down.
Adds
There are three types of adds that appear in the STANDS of the arena:
* Drunken Bileslingers: these throw Mauling Brew into the arena which does damage on impact and leaves a 30-sec void zone. They also cast Vile Breath, a frontal cone that stuns players in the stands.
* Iron Bombers: these throw Iron Bombs in the arena which deal moderate fire damage and apply a fire DoT. When Iron Bombers die, they leave a Fire Bomb behind them which deals a lot of damage to nearby players in the stands.
* Iron Grunts: these attack players in the stands. They Grapple players in the stands, which deals moderate physical damage and reduces movement speed.
Strategy
Tanks
Tanks will need to perform a tank swap due to the impale. Switch after every impale. It is possible to survive two, and maybe three, with defense cooldowns, but there is no need to do so.
Positioning
* Tank Kargath out of range of any fire pillars or Ravenous Bloodmaws in the pits.
* Ranged and Healers stand away from Kargath, loosely spread out. This will minimize damage from Blade Dance (the “charge” attack)
* Everyone stay away from the Fire Pillars after they are activated.
* Everyone stay away from the pits. Watch out for knock-backs (e.g. Chain Hurl, the “throw players to the stands” mechanic; and the knock-back from when he deactivates a Fire Pillar.
* Fixated players run away from Kargath and try to KITE Kargath into a Fire Pillar. He targets Ranged or Healers. Melee move away from him a bit when he casts this to avoid being slashed when he turns.
* Avoid the Void Zones from Mauling Brew
* Heal through the damage from Iron Bombs
The stands
Who to send up: It’s best to try to send a team of 5 players up into the stands to deal with some of the adds. The idea se-tup depends on the raid. One tank (the one debuffed with Open Wounds) + 1 healer + 3 DPS is a good choice, but this can vary, e.g. with DPS that can off-heal. Chain Hurl will throw the FIVE CLOSEST people to him up into the stands. Melee not on the stands team needs to move away before the end of the cast.
Up in the stands: No set strategy. Kill the adds. Drunken Bileslingers pose the greatest threat so kill those first. The tank should pick up the adds and face them away. The tank will often be stunned by Vile Breath. Stand away from any dying Iron Bombers to avoid damage from their Fire Bombs.
When to jump down: strategies vary here. A conservative strategy is to stay up the full 45 seconds to reduce the add numbers. Raids with high DPS can have players jump down to put more DPS on Kargath. Raids with strong healing may have people jump down right away and just kill the adds after the second or third Chain Hurl, allowing them to pile up so they can be AoE’d down. This will put more strain on the healers though as the raid will take more damage in the arena, but it’s more efficient.
Using Bloodlust
Use it at the start.
SUMMARY
Tanks
* Tank Kargath away from Fire Pillars and Ravenous Bloodmaws
* Perform a Tank Switch for every other Impale Cast. Make sure to have an active defensive codlin for each Impale.
* If in the stands, pick up adds and face Drunken Bileslingers away.
Healers
* Beware of intense tank damage whenever Impale is cast. Be prepared to use a defensive codlin on the tank.
* Be prepared to heal damage on random raid members during Blade Dance (the “Charge” attack), and increasing raid damage as Iron Bombers increase in the stands.
* Stand away from Kargath, and somewhat spread out.
* If in the stands, be prepared for unpredictable damage, especially on tanks who will sometimes be stunned.
DPS
* Ranged should stand away from Kargath, and somewhat spread out.
* If in the stands, kill as many adds as possible, ideally prioritizing Drunken Bileslingers.
Everyone
* Stay away from Fire Pillars.
* If you are fixated (Berserker Rush), kite him into a Fire Pillar to stop the chase. Tanks don’t need to worry about this.
* Move out of Kargath’s at when he is fixated on someone (Berserker Rush).
* Don’t be close to Kargath at the end of Chain Hurl unless you are assigned to being sent up into the stands, in which case, stand as close to him as you can.
* Don’t get knocked back into the Ravenous Bloodmaws (particularly by Chain Hurl)