ICC Primer – Ret, Holy, and Prot
Alright, so many of your have already been into Icecrown so far. My guild made is up to Deathbringer this week. However, there are many peeps out there (Tamarind) that have yet to really experience it. So here is your primer for the first wing of ICC. Full, Detailed bossfight strats will follow later.
Trash
As with Ulduar, you will soon learn that trash is no joke. They will slaughter you if you let them. This is really going to be a test of how well your two tanks pull, more than dps or heals.
Also, surprise! The walls move… No, really. You will find 4 big, HUGE skeletons throughout the trash leading up to Morrowgar. They are “deactivated” and unattackable. Throughout your fight through the trash, there are traps that will trigger them. Your OT should be ready and on the taunt button to make sure that he is picked up right away. They have an interrupt, as well as a cleave. Make sure you immediately get them turned from the raid.
The trash is undeniably going to be your gearcheck. You cant handle the trash? Go back to ulduar/heroics and farm a few more pieces.
Lord Morrowgar
Ret
Mr. Ret, you are going to be stuck to the bosses rear the whole time. I wont lie, your DPS is going to feel sluggish on this boss. Thats OK. This boss is an endurance test, not a dps check. Depending on how your group is set up, you should probably be the only one that does not dps those spikes. Running back and forth, you will get nothing done.
Make sure you are the first to peel off of the boss when he does his whirlwind. Remember, damage prevention is much better than healed damage… You will not have any mana issues during this fight, unelss you are doing it wrong. During the whirlwind, when everyone scatters, make sure to sacred shield yourself. And toss a few heals out to those around you. You can regen mana better than the healers… Use that advantage.
Ohh yeah – Don’t stand in the fire either.
Prot
This fight is pretty simple for you. Just make sure that as he comes out of the bone storm, you taunt hard. His aggro resets, and he can easily one shot half the raid if you dont pick him up. Other than that, just park right up next to your cuddly off tank. Sabre Lash (Cleave) will split between the two of you, and your healer will love you.
Holy
I won’t lie. ICC is hell for healers. This fight in particular, this is the one of those fights where you need to have tunnel vision. The tanks, both of them, MUST stay alive. Beacon one, heal them both through the other. Dont worry about the raid. Let your other healers do their job. The tanks will be taking MASSIVE damage, especially because of the reduced dodge. Just make sure that your raid healers know, YOU are part of the raid. You may not be able to heal yourself, espeically if you have bad luck to get a Cleave right before a storm.
Lady Deathwhisper
Ret
SoC on this fight, as you will be on add duty. Remember, spell reflect does effect your holy spells, so be careful not to Exorcism yourself to death. Make sure you are careful on aggro too. These things hit like a truck.
Prot
ADDS ADDS and MORE ADDS is this whole entire fight. Make sure you identify (i.e. BIG ONE) the one that is not supposed to hit you. It will really be close, if not, one shot you.
Be mindful of the transition to phase two. If there are adds out, it may be a bit chaotic. Reign it in, and know who is going to pick up the boss, and who is going to stay on adds. Don’t let the boss wander around and one shot the raid.
Holy
Your job is entirely going to be dependent on how your raid is set up, and your spec. You are going to be tank healing, that is for sure, but beacon will take care of that. Occassionally Deathwhisper will shadowbolt someone for a rediculous amount, like 40k (reduced by resistance, of course). You will probably be the one sniping them with big heals to get them right back up.
Gunship Battle
Ret
I have to say, this is probably the most fun I have had in a raid since… Forever. It feels like being a pirate.
There are three potential sites for you to be at, and you can do all three well. The first is the cannon, but I would assign someone else to that. You would be much more beneficial somewhere else.
The second is on the home ship, the add duty. This is where you will shine, as you are an AOE Juggernaught.
The third is on the jump-jet team to kill the enemy mage. I did this with our ele shaman, and it took us no time to get him down. Just remember to be careful on your targeting – dont fall off the end of the boat, or just miss the edge.
Prot
You will probably be assigned to the adds on the home ship, but you can do either or just fine.
If you are on the Jump Jet team, the big boss does not need to be killed, and the mage does not need to be tanked. So move the guy away from the mage and let your team do its job. He cleaves, and it can get nasty for melee with you.
Holy
You should really be assigned to the Home ship, healing them. If you are assigned to the jump jet team, however, make sure SS and your HS hot are up on him. The boss hits like a truck, and by the time you land and get a heal off, the tank is going to be REALLY low.
Deathbringer Saurfang
Ret
Deathbringer is a pain in the but. He is going to be nominated for “Most DBM SPAM on the screen.”
DO NOT attempt to kill any of the adds, you will just tick up his energy like the energizer bunny. Stay on the boss exclusively, and time your AoE spells so that you do not grab any of the adds. Properly timed, you can get 2 consecrates in between each wave, and since you are using SoV, the DS shouldnt hit them hard enough to aggro them.
Prot
You have the toughest job of all. Get those blood rune swaps off and down to an art. If he enrages at 30% and you miss a swap, he will easily pop right back up to 45-50%. They have got to be an exact science. Also, taunts and single target only. You dont want to pick up any of the adds, for once.
Holy
Because of the rediculous dps requirements, you will be one of only 2 healers. One for raid, and you for tanks. Resist the urge to heal the raid, let the raid healer do their job. It shouldnt be too bad anyway, since you are all going to be spread out. The tank damage, though, depends on how well the deeps are doing their job. The closer to 100% energy he has, the harder and faster he hits. So your healing is going to get progressively harder and harder until he dumps his energy and then you can go into mana regen mode. In fact, especially near the enrage, you may ask the dps to dump that power (i.e. let it reach 100) just to reduce the healing you have to do – enraged with 99% power = dead tanks no matter what.
There you are, a little primer for the first wing of ICC. Hopefully this gets your guild up and running in there, without being totally blind. And, yes.. I hope you get to the gunship. I am not joking when I say its probably the most fun fight I have ever done. Its like Pirates.. In wow. Everyone was cracking up and having a good time – I think we actually had an intentional wipe because everyone wanted to do it again before downing it, LOL.
Light's Fury 