Outline · [ Standard ] · Linear+ Strategies for First Two Instances of 3.3

[Thelin]

I know it's still a ways off, but hey, thought I'd post this so everyone could read it and be ready for when 3.3 is launched.

**Quest(s) for Icecrown Citadel 5mans can be found in Dalaran; the NPC(s) are walking around; look for "Apprentice Nelphi"**

The Forge of Souls

Bronjahm

Bronjahm casts Shadow Bolts at the party and also casts Corrupted Soul, a Drain Soul-like spell that creates a Corrupted Soul Fragment that heals Bronjahm as long as he is within range of it. He can be kited around the room to keep his distance from the fragment while the DPS destroys it. If a player begins getting Corrupted Soul cast on them, it is recommended that he or she run to the side of the platform opposite of the boss in order to maximize the distance the orb will have to travel.

At about 30%, Bronjahm teleports to the center of the room and casts Soulstorm, a swirling magic AoE effect around the edge of the room. All party members are advised to stand in the middle when he teleports to avoid being caught in the Soulstorm. He will also fear members of the party into the Soulstorm, which will cause them to take excessive damage and slow their movement speed; healers should keep an eye on feared targets (in the event there is no shaman with a Tremor Totem) to make sure they live through the Soulstorm long enough to make their way back into the center.

Devourer of Souls

The Devourer of Souls will often cast Mirrored Soul, an ability that causes damage to be done to the afflicted player if any damage is done to the boss. It will also Unleash Souls, much like the Reliquary. On occasion, it will cast an incredibly powerful beam that must be avoided, or you will die.

Pit of Saron

Forgemaster Garfrost

At the beginning of the fight, either by aggroing Garfrost himself or any of the skeletons in the room, all of the non-elite skeletons will aggro and join the fight. Simply AoE them down and focus on Garfrost once they're dead.

Garfrost's main attack outside of basic melee is to throw saronite boulders at ranged players. The boss emote appearing above only is displayed to the player who actually has a boulder heading his/her way. Thrown boulders carry a large amount of kinetic energy and will both knock a player back and deal tremendous damage to anyone foolish enough to stand in its shadow.

Outside of dodging the saronite rocks getting thrown around, the fight is roughly tank-and-spank. DPS/healers should hide behind the thrown saronite boulders if their permafrost stack gets too high to keep from overworking the healer. The tank (and only the tank) should be getting hit by the Chilling Waves.

At 66 and 33%, Garfrost AoE stomps the instance, then jumps over to one of the two forges in his room and reforges his weapon to temporarily increase his frost damage dealt by 100% (200% in Heroic mode). While Garfrost is in his corner the tank should let the debuff wear off.

Once everyone's debuff has worn off and is healed up, feel free to meet
Garfrost in his corner. Garfrost does not lose aggro on the phase transitions, so rinse and repeat from 100% to 0. After the second phase transition, Garfrost will use Deep Freeze on a random player in the party. Make sure the player is at full health (and shielded if possible) when the debuff wears off, as Deep Freeze hits hard.

Krick and Ick

For the most part, this is a fairly simple fight with a lot of movement. Focus on Ick.

First, make sure to clear out the other plague eruptors surrounding Krick and Ick, as they will periodically wander up to the boss area, which can cause a wipe if you pull too many. When you engage Krick and Ick, Ick will stick to basic melee, while Krick will ride atop Ick's back, firing globs of poison that will land and create a field of poison, which continues to deal damage to anyone standing in it and lasts for around fifteen seconds. Thus, the tank must continue to drag Krick and Ick around to avoid the poison patches.

Krick will on occasion target and have Ick attack a specific player other than the tank. Said player must immediately run away, kiting Ick around the area taking care to not get cornered. Ick casts a poison cloud, which is an attack with a fairly massive AoE that also deals extremely high damage (around 19k on Heroic). It only has a 25-30 yard range, so run away while he's winding up, as it's a ten second cast.

Another attack to make note of; Ick remains stationary while Krick continuously summons mines at every player's position for 25-30 seconds. Said mines explode after a few seconds, so keep moving.

Scourgelord Tyrannus

his fight is a bit similar to the master & dragon fight within the Hellfire Ramparts - Vazruden and Nazan. At the start of the fight, Tyrannus will be mounted atop Rimefang, his personal frost wyrm mount. After some dialog (during which it is possible to attack him via range damage), he will hop off of Rimefang and engage the party on the ground. Rimefang will continue to fly overtop of the battle.

Tyrannus deals fairly heavy damage and can spike with Forceful Smash, so keeping the tank constantly at full is very important. You will be warned when he does so. An added complication to this fight is that Rimefang will continually launch bolts of frost at random player targets, with Tyrannus occasionally marking a target for Rimefang to shoot at - these patches deal fairly heavy damage (around 5k frost damage) and so it is imperative to avoid being hit by them.

The party will be warned when Rimefang is about to focus on a player; he'll throw out bolts of frost and when they hit the ground, they'll freeze the area and create an ice patch. Anyone caught in the area will be frozen and incapacitated for a few seconds.

This ice patch is vital because of Tyrannus' Empower ability, which he seems to cast after a Forceful Smash. This will double Tyrannus' damage, making trying to directly tank him all but futile while he is Empowered. To survive this, the tank needs to drag Tyrannus over the frost patches created by Rimefang, which will slow him and allow you to kite him around, despite the fact that his movement speed is doubled. (The range of the patches are generously large for slowing Tyrannus, so it's possible to simply skirt him over the edges to slow him.) Once Empower wears off, you can return to tanking him normally.

The only other major thing to watch for is Overlord's Brand. Any DPS that receives this needs to immediately stop doing damage, as any damage they deal will is reflected to the tank, which is additional work the healer does not need to deal with.

Halls of Reflection

Falric & Marwyn

Falric will begin by unleashing the first four waves of adds, a random assortment of the following:

* Ghostly Priest - casts Shadow Word: Pain, Circle of Destruction, Cower in Fear and Dark Mending.
* Phantom Mage - casts Fireball, Frostbolt, Chains of Ice and Flamestrike. Summons Phantom Hallucinations.
o Phantom Hallucination - same spells as the Phantom Mage.
* Shadowy Mercenary - Rogue that inflicts Deadly Poison and also throws poisoned daggers.
* Spectral Footman - Warrior who can shield bash and enrage.
* Tortured Rifleman - Hunter that can shoot normal projectiles, Ice Shots or Cursed Arrows, and sets Frost Traps.

At wave 5, Falric will become active and attack. Counteract the fear as much as possible (Tremor Totem, Every Man for Himself, Will of the Forsaken, bubble, etc.) and dispel the Impending Despair. Take extra care when Hopelessness is active, and be sure to top off your tank (or anyone who might be taking damage). A few HoTs might also be advisable.

After Falric dies, Marwyn will begin the next waves with the same assortments of mobs, just more of them. At wave 10, he will become active and attack. Dispel the Shared Suffering at your own risk - otherwise, just heal through it, and stay out of the Wells of Corruption. Extra heals to the tank if hit by Obliterate.

The Lich King

In order to reach the Lich King after defeating Falric and Marwyn, players must battle a skeletal Frostsworn General and Spiritual Reflections of the party members. Upon entering the Shadow Throne, they find their faction guide (Jaina Proudmoore or Sylvanas Windrunner) in combat with the Lich King, and near death. The guide makes their way out into the Hidden Passage, and the Lich King - not willing to let his quarry escape - gives chase.

The Lich King raises a series of four ice walls throughout the Hidden Passage to block the escape of the party. At each wall, the Lich King raises groups of undead to attack. The groups consist of the following:

* Raging Ghoul - Upon entering range, the ghouls leap at their targets.
* Lumbering Abomination - The abominations Cleave their targets and also spray vomit on their targets.
* Risen Witch Doctor - vargul spellcasters who cast Shadow Bolt, Shadow Bolt Volley and Curse of Doom.

In order to break through each ice wall, the groups of undead must be destroyed. The Lich King raises the ice wall four times in order to block their exit. Upon reaching the end of the tunnel to the platform outside, the party finds they are trapped - and the Lich King is close on their tails. Suddenly, their faction gunship (The Skybreaker or Orgrim's Hammer) rises up and opens fire, collapsing the tunnel before the Lich King can reach them. The ship's captain (Justin Bartlett or Korm Blackscar) encourages the party to get onboard before the mountainside collapses; a chest with the loot for the encounter is on the deck, as is a portal to Dalaran.

[Thelin]

Bumped for Halls of Reflection update.

[Thelin]

Bumped for easy-access now that patch 3.3 is live