Saturday, January 23, 2010

Deathbringer 10-man

Raid Comp:  2 Tanks, 2 Healers, 6 DPS
Lucky Numbers:  Stand 12 yards apart and kill the blood beasts as fast as possible

This fight is deceptively simple.  If you have a skill discipline priest, it's actually not deceptive...it's simple and fun.  We have a skilled discipline priest.  Still took us three weeks to realize he should switch from holy though...

The entire trick with this fight is managing the Deathbringer's blood power.  He gets power by dealing damage with special attacks, or whenever his blood beasts deal damage.  When he reaches 100 blood power, he casts Mark of the Fallen Champion on a random raid member.  That person starts taking roughly as much damage as the tank every time the tank is hit.  This persists through death, so don't battle res anyone.  If that person dies, the Deathbringer regains 5% of his max health.  As an added bonus, he gets blood power each time that person takes damage, so he gets back to 100 faster.

How does the Deathbringer get blood power?  There are five total ways.
  1. He has a special attack he can use on the tank.  If it deals damage, he gets a point of blood power.
  2. He casts Boiling Blood on random raid members.  It's a DoT, and if it deals damage, he gets a point.
  3. He casts Blood Nova on random raid members, sucking life from them and anyone within 12 yards of them and converting it into blood power.
  4. He summons two blood beasts that go after raid members.  Each time they hit someone and deal damage, he gets a point.  
  5. After he has cast his first Mark, he gets a point each time the Mark deal damage.  
The Tanks:  Switch Whenever He Uses Rune of Blood

Rune of Blood...Blood Beasts..Blood Nova...Blood Blood Blood.  Do you see a pattern?  Yes, that's right, he's a vampire...  Anyways, the tank (or whoever is highest on the aggro table...it had better be the tank!) will sometimes get hit with Rune of Blood.  The other tank should taunt immediately.  The Deathbringer will deal 5-6k extra damage with each hit and regain 50-60k health at the same time.  This is why two tanks are needed.  Also, note that the Deathbringer will do 1% more damage for each blood power point he has (he'll look bigger too), so tanks should be ready to start cycling cooldowns if necessary.  Tanks should also avoid AoE damage or threat moves whenever the blood beasts are about to spawn.  If they stick to the tanks and can't be properly kited, blood power just goes up faster.

The Healers:  Discipline is Key

We have tended to use a paladin to heal the tanks and a discipline priest to shield as many people as possible.  The trick is, the Deathbringer only gains blood power when he or his beasts actually deal damage.  By shielding the current tank, anyone affected by Boiling Blood, and anyone getting munched on by a blood beast, you can drastically reduce the rate at which he gains blood power and hopefully take him out with a single Mark up.

Healers should stand as close to directly in front of the Deathbringer's platform as possible.  One will be a little to the right, one a little to the left (essentially where the ramp to the gunship meets the Deathbringer's Rise).  This keeps you in range of everyone and means that the blood beasts, who often aggro the healers first, will start moving predictably straight down the middle (towards the ramp to the gunship) and stay in range of all of the ranged DPS.

Ranged DPS:  Kite Those Beasts!  Fly Like the Wind!

Ranged DPS should stay at least 12 yards apart from each other and fan out in a semi circle (with the healers in the center) around the platform where the Deathbringer appears.  Stay on the Deathbringer whenever the blood beasts are down, and be ready to blow all your survival and damage cooldowns if you get Marked.  We have hunters place frost traps between the Deathbringer and the healers on a rotation, so that there is always one up when blood beasts spawn.

When the beasts spawn, the ranged needs to pull them, kite them, and take them down before they manage to reach anyone.  We use frost traps, then root one and concentrate on the other first.  We generally have two or three hunters, so they trade off taunting with distracting shot and let the beast run back and forth until it dies.  Boomkin can also use typhoon, and mages and shamans can slow them with frost.  If they hit anyone, the Deathbringer will gain more blood power, so do you best to kite.

Melee DPS:  Hit Him With Sticks

Or whatever you use...  Stay up with the tanks and slam the Deathbringer as hard as you can.  I've heard that some groups have melee switch to the blood beasts as well to take them down fast.  That could work well.  Just remember that if they turn on the melee, they can start hitting them right away, so have a shield ready.  We just have them stay on the Deathbringer.

That's all there is to it.  It's a simple fight.  You just need to stay fanned out, kite the beasts, heal anyone who gets Marked like crazy, and blow cooldowns once he enrages to try and get him down before you screw up and lose a tank or let a Marked raid member die and watch his health shoot up.

After that, you can go through his door and head towards any of the three remaining wings of the Citadel...

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