The Antechamber of Ulduar
The Iron Council
"The Assembly of Iron guards the knowledge and power of Ulduar - they bar passage to the titan city's nerve centre and repository of knowledge, the Archivum. The iron armies are led by three fearsome generals, each representing a different race. These leaders are known as Stormcaller Brundir, Runemaster Molgeim and Steelbreaker."
This boss encounter consists of 3 individual bosses that must be fought simultaneously and each kill strengthens the remaining bosses. In the 25man version all 3 bosses have 10mil hp each, while in the 10man version they all have 3mil hp each. As each boss dies, the others will gain strength as well as a new ability; 1 new ability for killing the first boss and a 2nd final ability when they are alone.
Abilities:
Supercharge - Each defeated boss will boost the others +25% damage, with the final boss gaining +50%.
Steelbreaker: A powerful melee attacking boss that is easily distinguishable by his massive size compared to the others. Will generally want the best geared tank to handle this one. This is the boss that will generally be killed first in 2 strats and only killed last if going for hard mode.
High Voltage - An aura that cannot be outranged and deals 3,000 (1,500) damage every 3secs to the entire raid. (Must be healed through)
Fusion Punch - Every 30secs Steelbreaker will use this ability, which deals 30,000 (20,000) Nature damage to the MT as well as applying a debuff that does an additional 12,000 (15,000) damage/sec to the tank. (Must be dispelled/cleansed immediately)
Static Disruption - (1 boss down) Steelbreaker will fire a bolt of energy at a player that is at least 8yds away which deals 8,000 (5,000) Nature damage to the player and anyone within 8yds; this attack also adds an undispellable debuff which increases Nature damage taken by 75% for 15secs. (If no one is outside the 8yd range it can be used on melee and even the tank, so ranged must stay at a distance and stay spread out)
Overwhelming Power - (Ultimate attack) This is cast on Steelbreaker's tank. It is a buff that causes the tank to deal +200% damage but after 25secs (60secs) they will explode, dying and dealing 30,000 damage to anyone within 15yds. (Tanks must be rotated)
Electrical Charge - (Ultimate attack) This ability becomes active when Steelbreaker is the final boss alive. Anytime a raid member dies he will gain an additional +25% damage boost which continues to stack with his +50% boost from Supercharge, as well as gain 15% of his health back. (This can be lowered with Wound Poison/Mortal Strike/Aimed Shot)
Runemaster Molgeim: As the name implies, this 2nd tallest boss is a master of runes that uses many different kinds throughout the fight to hinder the group and buff himself and others.
Shield of Runes - About every 30secs, this ability will be cast on himself. The shield absorbs about 40,000 (20,000) damage, and if the shield is destroyed by damage it will give Molgeim a +50% damage boost for 30secs. (This should be dispelled and not destroyed)
Rune of Power - Cast about every 30-40secs, this ability will summon a blue rune on the ground underneath of the 3 bosses. It lasts 35secs and has a range of 5yds and boosts damage done by 50% while standing on it; can be used by the raid to boost their own damage. (Bosses should be moved out of these as soon as they are cast)
Rune of Death - (1 boss down) Cast about every 30-40secs, this ability summons a large green rune on the ground, targeted onto one of the raid members at random. It has a 13yd radius so is quite large and will deal 3500 (2700) Shadow damage every 1/2sec while remaining within the rune. (Everyone needs to stay spread out and move immediately when these land, people will also need a heal tossed out because of how far they need to run when it lands)
Rune of Summoning - (Ultimate attack) This ability will be seen as a purple shadow fissure effect and will summon 6-8 storm elementals before it dissipates. They must be dealt with immediately so that they do not wipe the raid with their explosion damage. (See "adds" for details)
Stormcaller Brundir: The smallest of the 3 bosses, Brundir uses a lot of lightning spells and abilities to tear the raid apart. He needs to be tanked away from the raid and stunned/interrupted throughout the entire fight, which makes a warrior tank ideal for him.
Chain Lightning - Used roughly every 5-10secs on a random raid member within 100yds, this spell deals about 8,000 (5,000) Nature damage to it's target and will chain to another person within 10yds, increasing in damage by 20% with each jump. (The raid needs to stay spread out and this spell should be interrupted/stunned as much as possible)
Overload - Once a minute Brundir will begin casting this spell and become immune to stuns. After its 5sec cast time, anyone within 20yds will be hit for 25,000 (20,000) Nature damage. (Immediately move away when this begins casting)
Lightning Whirl - (1 boss down) Used about every 30secs, this ability causes Brundir to spin in a circle like a whirlwind attack and he tosses lightning bolts randomly into the raid. The ability lasts 5secs and he will fire off roughly 3-4 bolts/sec while spinning, dealing ~6,000 (~4,000) Nature damage on each impact. (This ability should be stunned as much as possible)
Lightning Tendrils - (Ultimate attack) Tendrils of lightning lift Brundir off of the ground and he will float towards a random raid member. Anyone standing in the area of effect in the frontal cone of his path will take 5,000 (3,000) damage/sec. (Tanks can still taunt during this and should cycle taunts if he heads towards the raid)
Soft Enrage: The Supercharge ability is a somewhat soft enrage if the raid cannot handle the extra damage.
Hard Enrage: 10min into the encounter the remaining boss(es) will enrage and wipe the raid.
Adds:
Lightning Elementals: The only adds are the elementals summoned when leaving Molgeim as the final boss. 6-8 of these will come out of the rune when used and begin moving towards random raid members. They only have about 25k (12k) health and should be AoEd down.
Lightning Blast - When they reach and attack someone in melee range they will explode, dealing 15k (12k) damage to all players within 30yds.
Strategy:
Easiest: Kill order is Steelbreaker > Runemaster > Stormcaller
Begin the fight by pulling Steelbreaker close to the door, Runemaster to the left and Stormcaller to the back of the room (in 10man one tank can hold both Runemaster and Stormcaller in the back). Each of the other tanks will need a healer while the rest of the raid focuses on bringing Steelbreaker down quickly.
Throughout phase 1 (each phase being 3 alive, 2 alive, 1 alive) Runemaster will drop Runes of Power under bosses at random, the tanks should always move their respective boss out from these immediately. The tank on Steelbreaker will need to be cleansed/dispelled immediately whenever Fusion Punch is used, other than that Steelbreaker should go down without issue.
As phase 2 begins, the raid will transfer to Runemaster and dps him down. The entire raid will need to keep an eye on Runes of Death throughout this phase and quickly move out from them whenever they are used. The extra tank (in 25man) or a rogue/warrior should move to Stormcaller and help keep him interrupted/stunned in order to keep the raid damage low from his Chain Lightning and Lightning Whirl attacks. Whenever Runemaster uses his Shield of Runes self buff, it needs to be spell-stolen, purged, etc right away and should NOT be destroyed through dps.
Once Runemaster falls, phase 3 begins and Stormcaller will now be fully buffed and gain his final attack: Lightning Tendrils. All melee dps will need to use stuns and interrupts against every spell possible and be sure to run out during Overloads. In phase 3 he gains another self buff that is supposed to make him immune to stuns, but this seems to be more like a high resistance than a full immunity. Whenever he uses Lightning Tendrils, everyone should immediately move away from him as these can deal massive damage quickly. A tank can stay under him and try to hold him through taunts and be healed through the damage, however he has no real aggro table in p3 and will randomly choose someone new to chase after. Melee will need to stay far away during this, but ranged dps can keep going as long as they move away when he comes close. Repeat until dead.
Moderate: Kill order is Steelbreaker > Stormcaller > Runemaster
The fight is basically the exact same as above up until p3. After Stormcaller dies, Runemaster will gain his final attack: Rune of Summoning. When cast, this "rune" looks just like a void zone explosion (the secondary effect from void zones such as on Sarth and KT fights). Whenever he uses this ability everyone should quickly move away from the rune if they are close it. All ranged dps should immediately begin using AoE attacks on top of the rune as it will begin spawning tiny storm elementals. Between 6-8 total will spawn from the rune a few seconds apart. They have fairly low health but they will lock on to a random person and start running towards them right away. When they reach their target they explode in moderate damage, hitting everyone within 30yds. The best way to deal with them is to spam the AoE abilities on top of the run and hope to take most of them out as they are spawned, and then returning to the boss. Remember to keep an eye on Runes of Death during p3 as well as removing his Shield of Runes.
Hardest: Kill order is Runemaster > Stormcaller > Steelbreaker
This order requires a slight modification to the original strats. Start by killing off Runemaster so that you don't have to deal with his Rune of Death in the middle of the fight, as raid healing will be high enough with Steelbreaker up the whole time. As soon as Runemaster goes down, the tanks will need to bring both Stormcaller and Steelbreaker together to the left of the room (i.e. meet in the middle so neither tank is dragging their boss across the room). In 10man you should have someone dedicated to interrupting Stormcaller and calling out Overload so that everyone can move away from him since the Runemaster tank will be holding both bosses through p1.
In p2 Steelbreaker gains his new attack: Static Disruption. This attack will target a ranged person at least 8yds away and hit them for decent Nature damage and anyone else within 8yds of that person, also adding a debuff that makes the person take another 75% Nature damage for 15secs. The best way to handle this phase is to have 2-3 (1-2) dedicated "soakers" that will always stand at range and eat this attack, that way the healers can focus on just a few possible targets instead of a bunch at random. Everyone else should be within 8yds of Steelbreaker for the rest of the encounter. The biggest danger in p2 is going to be Stormcaller's Overload ability, since the raid will all be stacked close together. Have one person dedicated to calling out Overload and when this occurs, everyone (including Stormcaller's tank) will need to move as a unit away from Stormcaller and immediately back to him afterwards.
After Stormcaller falls, p3 begins and Steelbreaker gains his final attacks: Overwhelming Power and Electrical Charge. From here out the fight becomes a massive dps race as the raid must finish Steelbreaker off before you run out of tanks or take too long and hit the enrage timer. A few seconds after p3 begins Steelbreaker will use Overwhelming Power on the current MT which will boost their dps by 200%, but after 30secs (60secs in 10man) the tank will explode, instantly killing the tank and dealing 30,000 damage to anyone within 15yds. If this isn't bad enough, the death also activates his secondary final ability, Electrical Charge. Whenever someone dies in p3 (which isn't avoidable with tanks exploding), Steelbreaker gains a +25% damage buff which is additive to his already 50% damage buff from Supercharge. He will also be healed for 15% of his health, but this can be reduced through abilities like Mortal Strike, Aimed Shot and Wound Poison.
Tanks will need to be cycled for this phase as each one dies, and any incidental deaths other than the tanks will almost guarantee a wipe. After the first tank gains the damage boost, heroism should be used and everyone should blow cool downs to get the boss as low as possible quickly. With roughly 5-8secs left before a tank explosion, everyone should quickly move away from the tank if they are in range, with the next tank in line grabbing aggro as soon as the previous tank dies and dps continues. Raid composition will dictate how you decide to cycle tanks, such as using battle rez or soul stones on tanks or not. The first tank to die should save their cooldowns, but after that each tank should begin blowing their cool downs to help the healers keep them up through the boosted damage until they explode. Rinse and repeat until over.
Hard Mode:
Kill Steelbreaker last. With his additional abilities as the last boss standing however, this can be incredibly difficult and a single extra death during the final phase can lead to a wipe.Achievements:
I Choose You, Stormcaller Brundir - Defeat the Assembly of Iron with Stormcaller Brundir as the last member alive.
I Choose You, Runemaster Mulgeim - Defeat the Assembly of Iron with Runemaster Molgeim as the last member alive.
I Choose You, Steelbreaker - Defeat the Assembly of Iron with Steelbreaker as the last member alive.
But I'm On Your Side - Defeat the Assembly of Iron while under the effect of an Iron Boot Flask.
Can't Do That While Stunned - Defeat the Assembly of Iron without allowing Stormcaller Brundir to damage anyone with Chain Lightning or Lightning Whirl.
Video:
Tankspot VideoKologarn
"Loken requisitioned Ignis the Furnace Master to create this towering giant as a guard for the Shattered Walkway. His oversized proportions, including a pair of massive arms, allow Kologarn to easily crush any intruders who attempt to reach the inner sanctum." Kologarn not only guards the bridge past the Shattered Walkway into the heart of Ulduar, but he IS the bridge into Ulduar once defeated.
In 25man Kologarn has 15.3mil hp and each arm has ~2.3mil hp as well. In 10man he has 5.2mil hp and each arm has ~544k hp. After 1min the destroyed arms will regrow, but losing an arm costs Kologarn his own health, so killing the arms also = killing the boss. His standard melee attacks can do upwards of 20k a hit against decently geared tanks as well.
Abilities:
Overhead Smash - Used every 15-20secs, this ability is where Kologarn swings both arms at the tank and deals 125% of normal melee damage as well as applying a debuff that lowers the tank's armor by 20% for 25secs. When only 1 arm is up, the ability still causes 125% melee damage, but lowers the tank's armor by 25% for 45secs instead (only 6secs in 10man). The ability also deals ~6,500 AoE damage to all targets in melee range of the MT when used. (Tanks should rotate every 2 debuffs)
Focused Eye Beam - Used every 25-30secs, Kologarn will fire laser beams from his eyes within 2yds of the targeted player outside melee range of his body. After 2secs of focusing the beam, the beam will begin damaging/chasing the targeted person for 10secs, dealing ~3,500 (~2,500) damage/sec to anyone within 3yds of the beam's focus point. (If targetted, immediately move to the side of the room and run along the back of the room near the entrance to avoid hitting other players)
Arm Sweep - (Left Arm Attack) Sweeping the entire raid, this ability does ~12,500 (9,000) damage to everyone. Has a 10sec cool down and will not be used while the Left Arm is destroyed. (Should be healed through and causes most of the raid-wide damage for the whole fight)
Stone Grip - (Right Arm Attack) Reaching out with his Right Arm, Kologarn will randomly grab 3 players (1 in 10man) other than the MT and begin squeezing them to death. This deals ~3,500 (~3,000) damage/sec until the player(s) are freed or 20secs pass. In order to free the trapped player(s), the raid must do 380,000 (80,000) damage to the arm, or destroy it in order to break the grip. If neither happens after 20secs, Kologarn will sling the player into the wall for 100,000 damage, killing them instantly. (Heal the players grabbed and dps the arm)
Petrifying Breath - This is a 4sec channeled cast that deals ~20,000 (~15,000) damage/sec to everyone in the raid and applies a Brittle Skin debuff that increases damage taken by 20% for 8secs. This is only used if no player is in melee range of the boss. (Someone must always be tanking or in melee range and this will never happen)
Soft Enrage: None
Hard Enrage: None
Adds:
Rubble: About 5 of these adds appear each time an arm is destroyed. The look like various sized earth elementals and need to be off-tanked. They can be taunted but they can also attack people standing close by, so melee should take care to move away from them and ranged need to keep their distance.
Stone Nova - Each Rubble can use this ability every 5-10secs and it is a physical attack that also applies a debuff. The attack itself deals ~7k damage to anyone within 10yds and the debuff increases physical damage taken by 5% for 10secs, stacking up to 100x. (The adds need to be tanked and burned down quickly because of this)
Strategy:
This should be one of the easiest fights in Ulduar as long as people don't wipe the raid with Eye Beams. The basic strategy is to go in and destroy the right arm, dps the body, destroy the right arm, dps the body and repeat until dead. The left arm can be an annoyance with the moderate raid damage, but is much easier to heal through than dealing with a ton of adds the whole fight.
In 10man the Overhead Smash debuff will wear off rather quickly, so only 1 dedicated tank will be needed on the body while one deals with adds. In 25man you will need two tanks on the body, trading off tanking when one tank gains a 2nd debuff stack, and another tank dedicated to grabbing the adds when an arm is destroyed. When the right arm is destroyed, the add tank will need to be standing underneath it and grab all of the adds spawned. Stay in that location away from the melee camp and all ranged dps should AoE the adds down right away. Once the adds are down switch focus to the body and continue to dps the body until the right arm regrows. Continue this cycle until Kologarn is destroyed.
All ranged members will need to keep an eye out for Eye Beams. When targeted you will see 2 beams of light come from his eyes and land about 3yds away from you on both sides. After about 2secs they will begin to focus in and start chasing you around. While the beams are focused on you, you need to move away from the raid to the side of the room and around to the back end. Be sure not to drag the beam through anyone else as they will cause a lot of damage to anyone they touch. Continue running from the beams until they stop chasing and then return to your spot.
Besides healing the tanks and the raid from arm sweeps, the healers will need to watch for people grabbed by the right arm. Three people will be grabbed at once (1 in 10man) and squeezed to death unless the raid does enough damage to the arm in time to save them. If the raid does not put out enough damage within 20secs, Kologarn will slam the gripped people into the wall, killing them instantly.
Hard Mode:
None.Achievements:
With Open Arms - Defeat Kologarn without destroying either of his arms.
Disarmed - Destroy both of Kologarn's arms within 10 seconds and then defeat Kologarn.
If Looks Could Kill - Defeat Kologarn without any raid member being hit by Focused Eyebeams.
Rubble and Roll - Defeat Kologarn with 25 Rubble creatures alive.
Video:
Tankspot VideoAuraiya
"Ulduar's archivist patrols the Observation Ring accompanied by ferocious cats. Years of solitude have weighed heavily on Aurayai, and the Old God's growing power seems to have destroyed the last shreds of her sanity."
Auraiya guards the inner sanctum of Ulduar and roams the Observation Ring in a long patrol. She can be skipped if a group chooses to let her patrol past a Keeper's area before ducking in, but killing her will unlock the teleporter to the Conservatory of Life area. Auraiya is accompanied by her Sanctum Sentry pets (4 on heroic, 2 on normal).
In the 25man version Auraiya has 16.7mil hp and each of her 4 Sanctum Sentries have ~550k health as well. In the 10man version Auraiya has 3.2mil hp and only 2 Sanctum Sentries, which have ~335k hp. A lot of this fight hinges on the initial pull because of how devastating the sentries can be while in a pack.
Abilities:
Terrifying Screech - This ability is a standard fear that hits the entire raid and causes everyone to run from Auraiya for 3secs.
Sentinel Blast - This attack usually always follows a fear and is a channeled attack against the raid. The ability causes ~5,500 Shadow damage and increases Shadow damage taken by 100% for 5secs, stacking up to 5x. (Usually not horrible but can kill people if left alone, best to rush back after fear and interrupt the casting)
Sonic Screech - This ability is a shockwave attack that hits everyone in front of Auraiya and deals massive damage. The attack deals ~200,000 (~65,000) physical damage to everyone in front of Auraiya, but the damage is split between each person hit. Because of this everyone needs to stay in front of her during this attack in order to keep the damage lower. (Always fight in front of the boss so that the damage can be split enough to be manageable)
Summon Swarming Guardian - This summons a wave of small panthers (~10) that are more a nuisance than a danger. They have low health and can easily be AoE'd down in a matter of seconds. (Low threat)
Soft Enrage: None
Hard Enrage: None
Adds:
Sanctum Sentry: 4 of these (2 in 10man) will accompany Auraiya at the start of the fight and the initial pull is where the biggest chance to wipe occurs. The crux of the fight is in keeping these adds from pouncing people since it can easily 1-shot most people, even tanks. They have about 550,000hp in 25man and 335,000hp in 10man.
Savage Pounce - Used when at a ranged distance, this ability does ~15,000 (~10,000) damage and applies a bleed that does an additional ~8,000 (~5,000) damage/sec for 5secs. The stacked damage from Strength of the Pack is what makes this deadly on the pull. (Keep the mobs LoS'd and in melee range after the pull)
Strength of the Pack - This is a buff that is applied to all other Sentries within 20yds and increases damage done by 30%. Not a huge deal in 10man but makes the pull much more dangerous in 25man. (The Sentries need to be pulled apart in 25man and in both versions they MUST be focus-fired down and not AoE'd)
Feral Defender: This add is spawned by Auraiya about 1min into the fight and revives itself about once every minute after being killed. Must be OT'd and focus-fired down each time it spawns. Has about 600,000hp in 25man and 200,000hp in 10man.
Feral Essence - Each essence the Defender has increases his damage by 50% and he can revive himself for the cost of 1 stack; this starts out stacked at 9 essence. (Becomes increasingly weak with each spawn and must be killed 9x to be rid of the add altogether)
Feral Pounce - This ability pounces the target, stunning them for 5secs and does ~650 (~450) Shadow damage/sec. The range on this attack is 5-45yds, so everyone needs to stack up on top of the Defender when he spawns and until he dies so that he doesn't pounce and stun people like healers and tanks.
Feral Rush - This attack rushes a target and deals ~1600 (~950) damage and interrupts casting for 6secs. Seeping Feral Essence - When killed, the Defender's essence pools on the ground and causes 9,000 (6,000) Shadow damage/sec to anyone standing in it. (basically a void zone; persists throughout the fight)
Strategy:
The difficulty of this fight ramps up considerably from the 10man to the 25man version. The main difference is that 10man only has 2 Sentries while 25man has 4 to deal with, and in 10man her Sentinel Blast is a non-issue while in 25man it's a raid wiper. The strat will be describing the 25man version, so for 10man follow the same basic principles but realize that it's just easier overall. Before engaging Auraiya it is best to clear the trash from the left and right sides so that a fear won't send a raider into aggro range of either pack.
The pull is probably the most dangerous part of the entire fight, especially in 25man. There are number of ways to initiate the pull, whether you choose to have a tank aggro and blow all cool downs, have a DK drop DnD at the bottom of the stairs, drop a hunter trap or use a shaman totem, use what works best for your group. Everyone else should be stacked up next to the stairs and out of LoS of the adds. The tank on Auraiya will be standing out of LoS across the circle by the stairs and against the wall. As the boss and her adds come up the stairs one tank will pull two adds into the raid group, another will pull 2 adds and move towards the middle of the landing with a dedicated healer or two and the MT will pull Auraiya towards them and make sure to turn her so she faces the raid.
Everyone should be stacked on top of the first tank at this point and begin burning down the first two adds. Once they are killed the raid will move as a group towards the next tank and the tank should head towards the raid. Burn down the last two adds and then the boss fight itself begins. The reason the raid stays stacked on top of each other throughout the fight is to avoid being pounced. The Sanctum Sentries and the Feral Defender all have pounce attacks that deal considerable damage, but the attack has a minimum range to it, so as long as everyone's grouped up they can't be pounced. The MT should take care to always keep Auraiya facing the raid as well, since her Sonic Screech attack does massive damage that is reduced by each person it hits.
A warrior tank works very well for Auraiya, and lacking that you should keep a dps warrior or rogue on the boss full time and cycle Fear Wards on them if possible. The reason for this is whenever she uses her Terrifying Screech attack the entire raid will run in fear while she begins using Sentinel Blast. If this ability is not interrupted immediately it will start causing massive damage and wipe the raid. Shamans should keep a Tremor Totem down at all times and Priests should use Mass Dispel as soon as they come out of fear. Quickly stack back up in front of Auraiya as soon as you come out of fear.
The next thing to watch for is the Feral Defender. About a minute into the fight Auraiya will summon this guardian into the fight and he should be picked up by one of the extra tanks and held within the stacked raid. He doesn't hold his aggro table so constant taunts and stuns should be used. The best bet here is to hold the add and keep working on Auraiya. During the fight she will cast Summon Swarming Guardians and these small adds will need to be AoE'd down quickly so that they don't pick off healers. A Rogue using tricks + FoK is ideal for this, but no matter what AoE you utilize, keep in mind this will keep working down the Defender's health. When the Defender is close to death you have two options: a tank can try to pull him out of the group and move him around the corner out of LoS and finish him off there, or you can stun him and have the entire raid move away while he's finished off at range. Moving him away is best, but with his random aggro drops this can be tricky. When killed, the Defender will drop a large void zone that causes massive damage/sec when stood in. These voids should be avoided as best as possible as they will remain up until Auraiya is killed or the raid wipes. After another minute passes, the Defender will resurrect and head back to the raid. Repeat this until Auraiya is defeated.
Hard Mode:
None.Achievements:
Crazy Cat Lady - Defeat Auriaya without destroying her Sanctum Sentries.
Nine Lives - Defeat the Feral Defender while defeating Auriaya.