Star Augur Etraeus is a 4 phase fight that emphasizes coordination. Most of the fight is a single-gtarget encounter, though he will occasionally summon powerful adds to assist him.
Each phase has an anti-tank attack, a comet attack, a sphere attack, and a raid-wide damaging attack. These come in frost, fel, and arcane flavors.
PHASE ONE
Starburst (anti-tank attack).
Coronal Ejection: spawns a pair of energy sphere that detonate after a short delay, dealing moderate fire damage to 4 nearby players then pelting them with more damage for 8 seconds.
STRATEGY: stack for the extra healing during Coronal Ejection, or position early for the next phase. We may get only one Coronal Ejection. It's the only raid damage during this phase and it lasts 8 seconds. Healers should have no trouble keeping these players alive -- no need for personal cooldowns. No tank swaps are necessary during this phase, though it is recommended that whichever tank is sturdier take the boss during this phase.
PHASE TWO (90% health): Frost phase
Iceburst (anti-tank attack). deals moderate frost damage that also hits anyone within a 6 yard radius.
Gravitational Pull (anti-tank attack): cast on the current tank every 30 seconds. Applies a 10-sec debuff, when it expires a Comet Impact will occur, striking the tank and anyone within 5 yards for significant damage. Also applies the Absolute Zero debuff to anyone hit, and re-apply the Gravitational Pull debuff until this cycle has occurred 3 times.
Absolute Zero looks like a blue circle surrounding affected players. It deals heavy ticking damage, and can be removed by stacking in a group of 3+ players. Players who assist in the removal of Absolute Zero will be afflicted by Chilled, which causes them to be Frozen Solid if they come into contact with Absolute Zero in the next 12 seconds.
Icy Ejection: icy sphere that spawns near a random player before detonating. This applies a debuff to 3 nearby players that does periodic damage and progressively slowing the affected players until they are frozen in place. At this point, all affected players will Shatter, dealing heavy frost damage to themselves and any players within 8 yards.
[Heroic only: Frigid Nova deals high raid-wide Frost damage that is reduced for each player standing within 5 yards, up to a maximum of 4 additional players.]
STRATEGY: Ranged and healers spread out across the room. Keep the area behind the boss clear, as melee and tanks will need this space to deal with the Absolute Zero debuff.
Anyone affected by Icy Ejection should get at least 8 yards away from other players before stopping and waiting for Shatter. Ranged and healers avoid crowding melee so melee only has to step out a few yards.
Melee and main tank should form an equilateral triangle, with two groups of melee on either side and behind the boss. Nobody, including current off-tank, should be within 6 yards of the main tank, due to the splash damage of Iceburst. When Etraeus applies Gravitational Pull, tanks should swap.
Gravitational Pull and Comet Impact: The tank with Gravitational Pull should stand behind the 2 melee stacks, ensuring they are not within a 5 yard radius of any other players. Once the comet hits, the tank will get Gravitational Pull re-applied along with Absolute Zero. Tank should quickly dip into one of the melee stacks, which will clear the Absolute Zero debuff. Then step out of the melee group and wait for the next comet. Clear the next debuff in the other melee stack. Continue to alternate between the melee stacks for the 3 cycles of Gravitational Pull.
[Heroic only: The raid should collapse on the melee for Frigid Nova.]
PHASE THREE (60% health): Fel phase
Felburst (anti-tank attack): periodically applied to the current tank. Deals moderate fel damage and leaves a stacking periodic effect.
Gravitational Pull (anti-tank attack): similar to Phase One, except that it summons a Fel Impact comet instead of an icy one. It will also destroy any pools of Felflame it comes into contact with. Fel Impact also re-applies Gravitational Pull until this cycle has occurred three times.
Fel Ejection: sphere of fel that spawns near a random player and detonates after a short delay, applying a debuff to 3 nearby players which does periodic damage and drops a void zone every tick, for a total of 4 void zones per player. The pools can overlap.
[Heroic Only: Fel Nova deals significant raid-wide Fire damage that is reduced based on distance from the boss.]
STRATEGY: The melee don't have to be in separate stacks for the phase. Tanks should swap at every 4 stacks of Felburst.
We'll still get Gravitational Pull, however, which summons a comet on the debuffed tank. Use Fel Impact to clear patches of Felflame dropped by the rest of the raid. Keep the area around the melee clear in particular.
The boss will cast Fel Ejection more and more frequently through this phase. Players with Fel Ejection should drop their puddles to cover as small an area as possivle. Can take micro steps in a square pattern to leave all 4 patches close together, which makes them easy to clear by the tanks.
[Heroic Only: When the boss cases Fel Nova, players get to the edge of the room to avoid taking fatal damage.]
Toward the end of this phase space in the room will get really tight. Take special care to tile void zones on top of each other.
PHASE FOUR (39% health)
Voidburst (anti-tank attack): stacking DoT that deals Shadow damage. When it expires, the stack splits and leaps to 2 new targets (each new target receives half the total stacks). It will gradually proliferate through the raid.
Gravitational Pull (anti-tank attack): Every 65 seconds applies a 10 second debuff. When it expires a Void Impact will land and deal heavy shadow damage to the tank and any players within 5 yards. The impact will also spawn a Thing that Should Not Be add at the impact point.
The Thing that Should Not Be will envelope itself and the boss with a Void Shift shield if it is too close to the boss. It will also periodically cast Witness the Void, which fill fear any players facing the add.
Void Ejection is a sphere of shadow that spawns near a random player then detonates after a short delay. The debuff will be applied to 2 nearby players, dealing moderate damage immediately and more when it expires. When it expires it will also spawn 2-3 Voidlings, which apply a stack of Voidburst upon their melee targets via Bursting Void. When Bursting Void expires, it will jump to two more players
[Heroic only: Void Nova deals raid-wide Shadow damage and applies a stack of Voidburst to all players.]
Strategy: This is a race to the finish. Void burst will start to proliferate through the raid. Eventually the entire raid will be afflicted and the stacks will continue to increase over time. At a certain point the damage will become overwhelming. Enter this phase with all cooldowns available.
When no other mechanics (like Gravitational Pull) impair taunt swaps, tanks should swap at around 5-7 stacks of Void burst. If you raid stacks at lower numbers the debuff will propagate faster, but at higher number of stacks the damage might be dangerous to non-tanks.
Void Ejection will cause Voidlings to spawn regularly. These are trivial. Cleave them down with incidental damage. They can be picked up by the tanks (and their melee swings apply stacks of Voidburst).
Taunt at Gravitational Pull. The tank with the debuff should get to the edge of the room to spawn the Thing that Should Not Be, otherwise it will shield itself and the boss with Void Shift. This add is the highest priority. Use Bloodlust on the first add, then switch back to the boss.
Raid should turn its back to the add during Witness the Void or get feared for 8 seconds. We should have only 2 or 3 of these things. If the boss is at 5% or less health when a fresh Thing spawns, ignore it and kill the boss.
Each phase has an anti-tank attack, a comet attack, a sphere attack, and a raid-wide damaging attack. These come in frost, fel, and arcane flavors.
PHASE ONE
Starburst (anti-tank attack).
Coronal Ejection: spawns a pair of energy sphere that detonate after a short delay, dealing moderate fire damage to 4 nearby players then pelting them with more damage for 8 seconds.
STRATEGY: stack for the extra healing during Coronal Ejection, or position early for the next phase. We may get only one Coronal Ejection. It's the only raid damage during this phase and it lasts 8 seconds. Healers should have no trouble keeping these players alive -- no need for personal cooldowns. No tank swaps are necessary during this phase, though it is recommended that whichever tank is sturdier take the boss during this phase.
PHASE TWO (90% health): Frost phase
Iceburst (anti-tank attack). deals moderate frost damage that also hits anyone within a 6 yard radius.
Gravitational Pull (anti-tank attack): cast on the current tank every 30 seconds. Applies a 10-sec debuff, when it expires a Comet Impact will occur, striking the tank and anyone within 5 yards for significant damage. Also applies the Absolute Zero debuff to anyone hit, and re-apply the Gravitational Pull debuff until this cycle has occurred 3 times.
Absolute Zero looks like a blue circle surrounding affected players. It deals heavy ticking damage, and can be removed by stacking in a group of 3+ players. Players who assist in the removal of Absolute Zero will be afflicted by Chilled, which causes them to be Frozen Solid if they come into contact with Absolute Zero in the next 12 seconds.
Icy Ejection: icy sphere that spawns near a random player before detonating. This applies a debuff to 3 nearby players that does periodic damage and progressively slowing the affected players until they are frozen in place. At this point, all affected players will Shatter, dealing heavy frost damage to themselves and any players within 8 yards.
[Heroic only: Frigid Nova deals high raid-wide Frost damage that is reduced for each player standing within 5 yards, up to a maximum of 4 additional players.]
STRATEGY: Ranged and healers spread out across the room. Keep the area behind the boss clear, as melee and tanks will need this space to deal with the Absolute Zero debuff.
Anyone affected by Icy Ejection should get at least 8 yards away from other players before stopping and waiting for Shatter. Ranged and healers avoid crowding melee so melee only has to step out a few yards.
Melee and main tank should form an equilateral triangle, with two groups of melee on either side and behind the boss. Nobody, including current off-tank, should be within 6 yards of the main tank, due to the splash damage of Iceburst. When Etraeus applies Gravitational Pull, tanks should swap.
Gravitational Pull and Comet Impact: The tank with Gravitational Pull should stand behind the 2 melee stacks, ensuring they are not within a 5 yard radius of any other players. Once the comet hits, the tank will get Gravitational Pull re-applied along with Absolute Zero. Tank should quickly dip into one of the melee stacks, which will clear the Absolute Zero debuff. Then step out of the melee group and wait for the next comet. Clear the next debuff in the other melee stack. Continue to alternate between the melee stacks for the 3 cycles of Gravitational Pull.
[Heroic only: The raid should collapse on the melee for Frigid Nova.]
PHASE THREE (60% health): Fel phase
Felburst (anti-tank attack): periodically applied to the current tank. Deals moderate fel damage and leaves a stacking periodic effect.
Gravitational Pull (anti-tank attack): similar to Phase One, except that it summons a Fel Impact comet instead of an icy one. It will also destroy any pools of Felflame it comes into contact with. Fel Impact also re-applies Gravitational Pull until this cycle has occurred three times.
Fel Ejection: sphere of fel that spawns near a random player and detonates after a short delay, applying a debuff to 3 nearby players which does periodic damage and drops a void zone every tick, for a total of 4 void zones per player. The pools can overlap.
[Heroic Only: Fel Nova deals significant raid-wide Fire damage that is reduced based on distance from the boss.]
STRATEGY: The melee don't have to be in separate stacks for the phase. Tanks should swap at every 4 stacks of Felburst.
We'll still get Gravitational Pull, however, which summons a comet on the debuffed tank. Use Fel Impact to clear patches of Felflame dropped by the rest of the raid. Keep the area around the melee clear in particular.
The boss will cast Fel Ejection more and more frequently through this phase. Players with Fel Ejection should drop their puddles to cover as small an area as possivle. Can take micro steps in a square pattern to leave all 4 patches close together, which makes them easy to clear by the tanks.
[Heroic Only: When the boss cases Fel Nova, players get to the edge of the room to avoid taking fatal damage.]
Toward the end of this phase space in the room will get really tight. Take special care to tile void zones on top of each other.
PHASE FOUR (39% health)
Voidburst (anti-tank attack): stacking DoT that deals Shadow damage. When it expires, the stack splits and leaps to 2 new targets (each new target receives half the total stacks). It will gradually proliferate through the raid.
Gravitational Pull (anti-tank attack): Every 65 seconds applies a 10 second debuff. When it expires a Void Impact will land and deal heavy shadow damage to the tank and any players within 5 yards. The impact will also spawn a Thing that Should Not Be add at the impact point.
The Thing that Should Not Be will envelope itself and the boss with a Void Shift shield if it is too close to the boss. It will also periodically cast Witness the Void, which fill fear any players facing the add.
Void Ejection is a sphere of shadow that spawns near a random player then detonates after a short delay. The debuff will be applied to 2 nearby players, dealing moderate damage immediately and more when it expires. When it expires it will also spawn 2-3 Voidlings, which apply a stack of Voidburst upon their melee targets via Bursting Void. When Bursting Void expires, it will jump to two more players
[Heroic only: Void Nova deals raid-wide Shadow damage and applies a stack of Voidburst to all players.]
Strategy: This is a race to the finish. Void burst will start to proliferate through the raid. Eventually the entire raid will be afflicted and the stacks will continue to increase over time. At a certain point the damage will become overwhelming. Enter this phase with all cooldowns available.
When no other mechanics (like Gravitational Pull) impair taunt swaps, tanks should swap at around 5-7 stacks of Void burst. If you raid stacks at lower numbers the debuff will propagate faster, but at higher number of stacks the damage might be dangerous to non-tanks.
Void Ejection will cause Voidlings to spawn regularly. These are trivial. Cleave them down with incidental damage. They can be picked up by the tanks (and their melee swings apply stacks of Voidburst).
Taunt at Gravitational Pull. The tank with the debuff should get to the edge of the room to spawn the Thing that Should Not Be, otherwise it will shield itself and the boss with Void Shift. This add is the highest priority. Use Bloodlust on the first add, then switch back to the boss.
Raid should turn its back to the add during Witness the Void or get feared for 8 seconds. We should have only 2 or 3 of these things. If the boss is at 5% or less health when a fresh Thing spawns, ignore it and kill the boss.