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Imperator Mar’gok strategy guide

This is the last boss in highmaul! This is a long, 4-phase encounter (actually 4 phases and 2 transition phases) during which we fight the boss and several types of adds. He uses the same abilities through the entire fight but they’re slightly modified in each phase. The transitions are also similar (the second transition has one more type of add). The fight has a hard enrage timer of 15 minutes. There are no soft enrage mechanics, but the final phase is intense so we won’t be able to survive it for long.


Overview

Phase One: from 100% to 85% health
Phase Two: from 85% to 55% health
First Transition Phase: lasts for 1 minute after phase two
Phase Three: from 55% to 25% health
Second Transition Phase: lasts for 1 minutes after phase three
Phase Four: From 25% to his death


Phase One: Might of the Crown

This phase goes from 100% to 85% and establishes the basic forms of his abilities.

Abilities

Accelerated Assault: anti-tank attack: Stacking self-buff he applies each time he performs consecutive attacks against the same target. Each stack increases his attack speed by 8%. This ability requires a tank swap. It remains the same in phases two, three and four.

Mark of Chaos: anti-tank attack: Eight second debuff he applies to his tank. While active it does nothing, but when it expires it causes the affected tank to deal a high amount of arcane damage to all allies within 35 yards. This ability requires a tank swap.

Arcane Wrath: jumping debuff: Used throughout the fight. Targets a random raid member, placing a 4-second debuff on them. When it expires, the affected player takes a high amount of arcane damage, AND the debuff jumps to their closest ally within 200 yards. On this new player, the debuff is reset and gains a stack, lasting 4 seconds again and dealing damage when it expires. With each jump the damage of Arcane Wrath increases by 25%, but the range over which it will jump to a new player decreases by 50%. The number of jumps is indicated in the number of stacks on the affected player (the second player will have 2 stacks, the third player 3 stacks etc.).

Destructive Resonance: a land mine: He uses this throughout the fight. He places an arcane mine at the location of a random player, which persists for one minute. Ad the end of the one minute, the mine despawns harmlessly. However, IF a player comes into contact with it, it will explode, dealing high raid-wide damage and very high damage to the player who set it off. Moreover, the player who triggers it is debuffed for 1 minute to receive 45% increased arcane damage and stunned for 1.5 seconds each time they take arcane damage.

Force Nova: a ground effect: He uses this throughout the fight. A ground effect radiates outward from the boss. The edge of the nova damages players who are in contact with it for a moderate amount of damage every 0.5 seconds.

Adds

Arcane Abberations: Throughout this phase Mar’gok will summon these adds, one at a time. This add can be tanked normally. Its only ability is Collapsing Entity, which causes the add to pulse raid-wide arcane damage every second while the add is alive. Throughout phases two, three and four, aberrations gain a new ability or property but they’ll always retain Collapsing Entity.


Strategy for phase one

Each player should know how to handle the different abilities. We’ll be seeing these abilities in later phases so it’s important to learn how to handle them.

* Tank swap: Tanks will perform a tank swap. The ideal moment is when the tank is debuffed with Mark of Chaos (which explodes after 8 seconds). The second tank should taunt and the affected tank should get 35 yards away from all other raid members. This will also reset the boss’ stacks of his self-buff, Accelerated Assault.

* Pick up and kill the add. Healers be aware of increased damage at this time.

* AVOID the Destructive Resonance mines.

* Avoid the edge of the expanding ground effect, Force Nova. This frequently means running forward INTO it, so they only take one or two tics. Some classes can do even better, like Mages who can Blink.

* Force Arcane Wrath, the jumping debuff, to drop off after several jumps by not having a player within range. This gets easier after the 4th jump, when the debuff can only jump 25 yards to another player. Here are the steps:

a. As soon as the debuff is applied, that player should move out of the raid and another player should accompany them.

b. Let the debuff jump three times between the two players.

c. After the third jump, the player with the debuff should be topped off, because the debuff deals a lot of damage, and should move away from the raid even more, while the other player should return to the raid.

d. The debuff will drop because there will be nobody within 25 yards of the afflicted player.


Phase Two: Runes of Displacement

Phase two lasts until Mar’gok reaches 55 health. When this happens, he becomes immune and the raid enters the first transition phase.

Abilities

He has the same abilities as in Phase One, but each one is slightly modified. The theme of the modifications in this phase is displacement.

* Arcane Wrath: Displacement (the jumping debuff) When a player gets rebuffed, a 10-yard radius is marked around that player that this player is not allowed to leave while the debuff is on. Attempting to leave will cause them to be teleported back inside.

* Destructive Resonance: Displacement (the mines): The mines increase in size over 30 seconds, eventually becoming twice the size of normal mines.

* Force Nova: Displacement (the ground effect): the ground effect now pushes players back when it comes into contact with them. Running forward still allows you to get through it, but at a slower pace.

* Mark of Chaos: Displacement (the tank’s 8-second exploding debuff): Now teleports the affected tank to a random location when it is applied.

Adds

* The Arcane Aberrations, in addition to casting Collapsing Entity (raid-wide arcane damage(, they now also cast Impactful Pulse when they die, knocking back all nearby players.


Strategy for Phase two

Overall, the strategy for phase two is similar to that of phase one, with some modifications.

* The tank swap will happen as usual, but the tank who is affected by the debuff will get teleported to a random location, which may be close to other raid members. This tank must be very careful to run 35 yards away from all raid members before the debuff expires.

* The adds: Players must be careful NOT to get knocked back into the mines.

* The mines: don’t run into them or get knocked back into them.

* Force Nova: Displacement: You MUST run towards the ground effect now to get through it. If you don’t it will continue pushing you back and you’ll always be at the edge, taking damage. Any abilities that increase speed are good here.

* Arcane Wrath: Displacement: This is the hardest ability to deal with. The affected players can’t run away from other raid members any more, so it’s not up to OTHER raid members to get away from the affected member in time. The same strategy applies as before. Have someone stay near the affected player, and let the debuff jumped three times. After the third jump the unaffected player should run back to the raid, increasing distance enough that the debuff drops off. The affected player will be unable to move very far so it’s all on the unaffected one to move away quickly.


First transition phase

This is a 1-minute transition phase after Mar’gok reaches 55% health. He becomes unattackable, and two Gorian Warmages and several Volatile Anomalies spawn.

Abilities

The Gorian Warmages have the following abilities:

* Dominance Aura: passive ability that buffs all allies within 25 yards, increasing their damage done by 50% and casting speed by 50%.

* Nether Blast: targets a random raid member, dealing high Arcane damage and anyone else within 5 yards. This spell can be interrupted.

* Slow: applied to a random raid member, reducing movement, attack, and casting speed by 50% for 45 seconds. This effect can be dispelled.

* Fixate: they fixate on a random player for 15 seconds, casting Nether Blast only on that person.

The Volatile Anomalies spawn thorough the phase, about every 12 seconds. They have a single ability, Destabilize, which causes them to deal a moderate amount of damage to all players when they die.


Strategy for the first transition phase

Goal: Clear out all the adds by the time Mar’gok enters phase three. The main targets are the Gorian Warmages. They’ll spend most of the phase casting Nether Blast. We should interrupt as many of these as we can though it won’t be possible to get them all. Best way to handle them is to stack, and have the fixated raid member move out of the stacked group. The Slow debuff should be dispelled whenever possible.

Tanks will need to pick up the Volatile Anomalies and the raid should kill them, though they have a lower priority than the Warmages. However, it’s important not to kill them all at once or the damage they do when they die could be very high (or we could kill them at once and use healing cooldowns to survive). Do not kill an anomaly if anyone has very low health.


Phase Three: Rune of Fortification

This phase lasts down to 25% health. Then Mar’gok becomes immune again and the raid enters the second transition phase.

Abilities

The theme of this phase is fortification.

* The jumping debuff: The range reduction upon each jump is now only 25%, down from 50%.

* The mines now last TWO minutes, up from one minute.

* Instead of a single Force Nova (the ground effect), there are now three novas, each cast 8 seconds apart.

* Mark of Chaos now roots the affected tank in place when it is applied.

Adds

The Arcane Aberrations are now Fortified, having 75% more health and being immune to crowd control.


Phase Three: Strategy

Finish off any adds left over from the first transition phase.

The strategy is largely the same as before. The tanks will still do a tank swap, but now when the tank is affected by Mark of Chaos: Fortification, the OTHER tank must PULL the boss 35 yards or more away and the raid must move as well.

DPS must focus on the adds more as they have more health.

Continue running forward into the ground effect. There will be more raid damage.

The Mines are back to their usual size, but they last twice as long now. This will restrict the raid’s movement more, but nothing else changes in how they must be handled: avoid them.

The greatest difficulty comes from the jumping debuff. The reduction in jump range makes it more difficult to get rid of, which means that 6 or 7 jumps may be needed to get the range down until it can fall off. The player taking that last tick will take very high damage. That player should have a damage reduction cooldown ready (either their own or an external one.)


Second Transition Phase

There will be Gorian Warmages and Volatile Anomalies as before, with the same abilities, but there will also be one Gorian Reaver in this phase.

Abilities

* Devastating Shockwave: 20-yard frontal cone

* Crush Armor: stacking debuff on the tank that increases damage taken by 15% for 25 seconds.

* Kick to the Face: deals very high damage to tank, knocking the tank back and resetting threat.


Strategy for the Second Transition Phase

Almost the same as before. The main priority is the Warmages, followed by the Reaver. The Anomalies should be killed throughout the fight so that their detonations are staggered, or killed all at the end with defensive cooldowns.

If we have a lot of ranged interrupts we can focus on killing the Reaver keeping the Warmages interrupted. Base this decision on whichever part of the raid is most strained. If the tank is having a hard time surviving, focus on the Reaver first. If the raid is dying, focus on the Warmages.

Tanks must face the Reaver away from the raid. When a tank receives Kick to the Face the other tank should taunt the Reaver and tank him in the same spot.


Phase Four: Rune of Replication

This phase lasts until Mar’gok dies. The theme of this phase is replication.

Abilities

* The jumping debuff. The first time that Arcane Wrath: Replication jumps, TWO players will receive the deubuff, instead of just one.

* When a mine expires or is detonated, two new mines will appear next to it. These mines work just like the initial one.

* Force Nova: Replication, the ground effect: when players are damaged by the ground effect, they deal the same damage that they take to any allies within 4 yards.

* Mark of Chaos, the tank explosion debuff: this debuff causes eight orbs of chaos to spawn from the location of the tank affected by mark of chaos when the mark expires. They more through the room in straight lines, dealing damage to anyone to comes into contact with them before finally disappearing.

Adds

When the Arcane Aberrations die, they split into SEVEN new adds each, called Arcane Remnants. These have no abilities of their own.


Strategy for Phase Four

This is a VERY INTENSE phase. It is impossible to survive for long in this phase because we will not be able to cope with the large number of adds that spawn when an arcane aberration dies, or with the reduced space caused by the many mines.

Tanks will still have to perform a tank swap. The tank affected by the debuff will have to get 35 yards away from everyone else.

Avoid the orbs that spawn from the location of the marked tank. They don’t fixate on anyone, but some of them will probably cross through the raid. They are slow enough to be avoided in most circumstances. They deal high damage, but this is not fatal on its own. As long as healers are careful it should be possible to survive this.

The Arcane Aberrations should be picked up by the tanks, and DPS will have to kill them. The resulting remnants don’t do much damage, so they can be safely off-tanked, allowing the raid to focus on Mar’gok.

The mines should be handled as before: ignore and avoid. This will be more difficult as each one that despawns will create two new ones nearby, so the raid will start to have serious issues with space.

The ground effect, Force Nova: Replication, which now causes players to damage their neighbors, will need special handling. Players must spread at least 4 yards apart, and not be in a group. Note that splash damage from this effect is not high, so a few mistakes can be handled. Melee DPS will typically take a lot of damage here as the nova appears at their location making it hard to avoid, so healers should be prepared for a damage spike.

The jumping debuff now affects two players after the first jump, instead of just one. This increases the number of raid members who will take damage from this, and also means that more people than before will be needed to handle it properly and get it out of the raid.

Save cooldowns and Bloodlust for Phase Four.