Monday, February 15, 2010

Tanking Crib Sheet – Sindragosa Rough Draft


Finally killed her, so hopefully this will help some folks trying the old girl out. One thing I really loved about this fight, it actually penalizes you for just mashing your buttons. I thought it was brilliant, though our mage doesn’t agree (of course he argues that the sun isn’t even real).

The Setup

This is, for probably anyone not rocking full 264 gear, a two tank fight. Phase 1 requires one tank (though 2 can be used), and Phase 2 is a tankless phase (think Ony/Sapph air phase). Phase 3 is where it really gets interesting though, so you’ll have to be on your toes.

We’re using three healers for this right now, as there is a pretty nasty debuff that they can get – but more on that after I cover the important parts.

Key Abilities – for Tanks

· Cleave – it’s huge. Don’t point her towards the raid.

· Tail Swipe – Forget the slackness we got with Malygos, not only does she have a tail swipe, she’ll also randomly smack someone who’s not actually behind her.

· Ice Breath – Think Ony, but frost. On steroids. Stacks a chilling debuff that reduces movement speed and attack speed. Can be temporarily offset by Hand of Freedom, but it doesn’t fully remove the debuff (no clue on druid shapeshifting).

· Pulse AoE – Every 45 seconds or so she will pull everyone into melee range. Start moonwalking to get about 15-25yds away from her. You can eat one in P1, but in P3 you can’t afford to eat the damage.

· Melee DoT – There’s a 20% chance on every swing to apply a DoT to yourself. If you have enough threat, just stop attacking for a few seconds. This is VERY important in P3 when you get the debuff that will increase magic damage taken.

· Arcane Buffet – Applied in P3, this increases the amount of magical damage taken. You will need to swap with your OT at around 5 or so stacks. With the speed that this is applied, you will be in constant motion between ice-blocks to drop your stacks, and tanking Sin.

The Pull

Sindragosa will pull immediately after the 2nd of her two Frostwyrm buddies is killed. They’re fairly straight-forward, and you’ll recognize Rimefang from PoS. Rimefang has a frost ability similar to PoS, the other drake fears. Kill whichever one you want first.

When Sindragosa lands you’ll want to point her North, away from the stairs you just came down. If you use the center floor diagram as a marker (I’ll try and get some screenshots tonight), hold her right in the center of the compass rose. If you just backpedal on her first pull/AoE, she should come right to the top of the circle. Hold her here for the duration of the phases (most important in P3).

Once she takes off into the air, P2 starts. Your biggest challenge will be getting to the frozen players since you’re slowed. Tips on positioning them is down below.

The Crux – Phase 3

Once you get her to 35%, P3 begins. This is the crux of the encounter. Players will be getting frost tombed, so make sure you have two areas designated for them to run to that is at least 10yds away from anyone else. Tanks will be taunt swapping, and running behind the ice blocks to help break them, and to drop their Arcane Buffet debuffs. As soon as your stacks are gone, start the tank swap dance again. You should be able to time it so you don’t both eat a frost breath.

It’s important to keep your head in this phase and just focus on your role. Hold the boss long enough for the OT to drop their stacks, then drop yours. Be ready with cooldowns if you get above 6 or 7 stacks, as you can easily be one shot at that point. Ardent Defender and our 4pc T9 bonuses are our friends here. Save your HoF for moving away to drop your Buffet stacks, as you can easily moonwalk to avoid the AoE.

Everyone else

Phase 1 – DPS like you mean it. There is a chance to get a stacking DoT every time you melee or cast a spell. It hits for 2k per tick, and it can add up pretty fast. Watch the tail swipe, and the cleave. Run away when you get pulled into her (really – it’s a dragon, and you’re tasty).

Phase 2 – This is her air phase. Two people will be ice blocked. Stand with the block between you and her breath animation, while breaking them out. 2 breaths per block.

Phase 3 – Pick two points 10yds away from everyone else to stand when you get chosen for the ice block. LoS her to drop your Arcane Buffet stacks, and break the ice blocks. Healers will have to take turns LoSing and healing.

2 comments:

  1. Congrats on the kill, I think this is probably the first stumbling block we hit in our 10 man. After 1 shotting Prof. & Blood Queen last week we had our full 20 attempts on Sindragosa and used all but 7. Definitely a challenging fight.

    I'm guessing you guys have looked at Lich King a bit now? This fight, in my opinion, is one of the best fights since Vash and Kael'thas. There is no room for error and we normally don't run a druid in our 10s =\ After quite a few very close attempts (one wipe at 12%) we swapped out our ele shammy, who loves to die to everything for a resto druid. Our ele was healing in place of our MIA priest anyway. We finally got him tonight, a server first. I don't think Hell and Fortis where amused but we got quite a kick out of it as they where porting back into Dal from there raids and right past the new monument in the central fountain. Not bad for a bunch of scrubs lol.

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  2. Grats on the Arthas kill - talked about your strat with Frog last night. Good stuff.

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