Bastion of Twilight: Halfus Wyrmbreaker

Bastion of Twilight: Halfus Wyrmbreaker
King of the If-Thens
or Omnomitron, with Dragons

“Amber,” you’re probably wondering, “What is with the ‘King of the If-Thens’ thing?” 

He’s the King of the If-Thens because while reading strats my head started to hurt.  So much so that I doubt this will be as funny as usual, I don’t have cheap opportunities for penis jokes.

Like Nef of old, every week is different due to the random combination of drakes that can be freed.  This means a lot of headdesking for everyone involved at first.  I have only attempted this boss a few times, so if there’s errors, just let me know and I’ll try to fix them.  Expect a lot of repeated info from section to section because, OMG, so much shit.

General Overview

This is a two tank fight.  The proto drake that is present does not need to tanked, it’ll just sometimes chuck things at you (Thanks buddy!).  Instead you’ll have one tank on Halfus and one on the released drake(s).

When you walk into the room, two drakes will have cartoon-like seeing stars effects over their heads.  These will be the drakes that are NOT active that week.  You can walk over to the drakes you plan on releasing without aggroing the boss.  How many drakes you release depends on who is up–we were releasing two, thanks to the fucked up combo we got (Nether + Slate + Storm, FUUUUUCK), but the video I watched showed only one.  YMMV.

Berserk timer: 6 minutes.

I just wanted to draw a dragon. This one may be considering eating you.

Tanks
If the Slate Dragon is up, Halfus will gain Malevolent Strikes.  This applies a stacking healing debuff, and will require the tanks to swap to drop the stacks.  When this drake is released, the boss will periodically be stunned for 12 seconds (I presume this is long enough for the debuff to drop, perhaps negating the need to swap tanks once Slate is released).

If the Nether Scion is up, Halfus’ attack speed will double.  When released, he will cast a debuff that will reduce his chance to hit, attack speed, and damage done by 25%. 
Note: when we had both Nether and Slate up at once, the MS stacked absurdly fast, so releasing the Scion seemed to make a huge difference. 

If the Storm Rider is up, Halfus gains a shadow nova.  It does roughly 30k shadow damage and knocks everyone back.  Needless to say this ability is an ABSOLUTE BITCH, because until you release the drake, interrupting the nova is well nigh impossible.  Once the Storm Rider is released, however, the cast time is slowed and you can (and need to!) interrupt.   The tank may need to pitch in with interrupts here and there.
When we attempted this fight, two of us (DPS DK and warrior) stayed on Halfus to cover interrupts, because our interrupts were on too long of a CD to handle it with only one.  The first shadow nova seems to make it off regardless, so be aware of that and use what cooldowns you can.

If the Emerald Whelps are up, then the proto drake gains scorching breath.  I have a hunch this means you should not stand in front of him.  If you release the whelps, then they case a stacking poision that reduces the proto drake’s damage done.   You should probably still not stand in front of him, though. 
Note: I watched a video and this may well be unavoidable damage.  Fuck if I know for sure. 

If the Time Warden is up, then the proto drake will spit random fireballs at people.  Thanks, asshole!  At least if you release him he slows down the cast rate. 

Other things: Below 50% Halfus will periodically cast Furious Roar, which will deal ~10k damage and knock everyone down.

Healer
If the Slate Dragon is up, Halfus will gain Malevolent Strikes.  This applies a stacking healing debuff, and will require the tanks to swap to drop the stacks.  When this drake is released, the boss will periodically be stunned for 12 seconds (I presume this is long enough for the debuff to drop, perhaps negating the need to swap tanks once Slate is released).

This will probably make you cry, so prepare to kiss your mana goodbye and be ready to cover switching tanks.

If the Nether Scion is up, Halfus’ attack speed will double.  When released, he will cast a debuff that will reduce his chance to hit, attack speed, and damage done by 25%. 
Note: when we had both Nether and Slate up at once, the MS stacked absurdly fast, so releasing the Scion seemed to make a huge difference. 

Just more ow for your tanks.

If the Storm Rider is up, Halfus gains a shadow nova.  It does roughly 30k shadow damage and knocks everyone back.  Although the drake should be released shortly so that it can be interrupted, it seems like the first shadow goes off regardless, so be aware of that and use what cooldowns you can.

If the Emerald Whelps are up, then the proto drake gains scorching breath.  I have a hunch this means you should not stand in front of him.  If you release the whelps, then they case a stacking poision that reduces the proto drake’s damage done.   (Note: having watched a video with this active, it may be unavoidable damage)

Oh look more shit for you to heal through!

If the Time Warden is up, then the proto drake will spit random fireballs at people.  Thanks, asshole!  At least if you release him he slows down the cast rate. 

…even MORE shit to heal through!

Other things: Below 50% Halfus will periodically cast Furious Roar, which will deal ~10k damage and knock everyone down.  Do I need to say it?

DPS
If the Slate Dragon is up, Halfus will gain Malevolent Strikes.  This MS-like ability will mean that your tanks will be switching, so you might want to watch your aggro a litle more closely.
When this drake is released, the boss will periodically be stunned for 12 seconds\ (I presume this is long enough for the debuff to drop, perhaps negating the need to swap tanks once Slate is released).  Enjoy the easy DPS time!

If the Nether Scion is up, things will happen that you don’t really care about.  Next!

If the Storm Rider is up, Halfus gains a shadow nova.  It does roughly 30k shadow damage and knocks everyone back.  Needless to say this ability is an ABSOLUTE BITCH, because until you release the drake, interrupting the nova is well nigh impossible.  Once the Storm Rider is released, however, the cast time is slowed and you can (and need to!) interrupt.  
When we attempted this fight, two of us (DPS DK and warrior) stayed on Halfus to cover interrupts, because our interrupts were on too long of a CD to handle it with only one.  The first shadow nova seems to make it off regardless, so be aware of that and use what cooldowns you can.  If you’re an interrupt bitch do not leave Halfus ever OMG.

If the Emerald Whelps are up, then you will have fire breathed on you.  Damn.

If the Time Warden is up, then you will have random fireballs spit at you.  Ow.

Other things: Below 50% Halfus will periodically cast Furious Roar, which will deal ~10k damage and knock everyone down.  Fuck being knocked down oh my god.

Blackwing Descent: Omnomnomitron

Basic Concepts:

• Council boss
• Don’t stand in bad things
• Stand in good things
• Don’t confuse the two above things

Tanks
Two of the four golems will be active at any given time.  The active golems can be stacked for making the most of splash/cleave/AoE damage.  They do not cleave themselves, thank the Light.   A stream from the back wall to the golems will show you which ones are about to activate.

Arcanotron:
Pull him out of the “cyan-magenta*” whirlpool, but not so far away that your melee can’t stand in it.  You wouldn’t want to make their epeens smaller.
Arcane Annihilator: your healers will thank you for interrupting this.
Power Conversion: IS NOT FOR HITTINGS.

Electron:
If you get Lightning Conductor, laugh at all the melee DPS who are not paying enough attention to run away from you.
For electrical discharge, you…do nothing again.  You’re the tank, it’s the DPS’s job to suck it up and deal.  You probably like this robot a lot, don’t you.
Unstable Shield: IS NOT FOR HITTINGS.

Magmatron:
Incineration Security Measure – MANY FIRES, HANDLE THEM.  Tanks, stay put.  No really.  Don’t move the boss for this.  This will move the fires, and make everyone sad.
Aquiring Target – A red beam will point out the target of incoming flaming buttfuckery.  You do not want to be near this target–and yes, it can be one of you, tanks!
Barrier – IS NOT FOR HITTINGS.

Toxitron:
Poison Cloud – This is the reverse of the whirlpools.  You and your melee buddies want to GTFO, but standing the boss in it = win.
Poison Protocol – Summons friends for your ranged DPS to play with.  They are not tauntable.
Poison Soaked Shell – IS NOT FOR–wait.  When you hit Toxitron with shell up, it does put a stacking dot on you.  Buuuuut when you attack with said dot, you deal nature damage.   Oh wait, you’re a tank.  Just make your healers happy and don’t hit it (unless your DPS are really pressing their luck and threat becomes an issue).

Heals
Arcanotron:
His whirlpool boosts mana regen. Omnomnom.
Power Conversion: IS NOT FOR HITTINGS.  Want to know why I’m telling the healers this?  Look at your pallys.  Yes you, judging pallys.  You.  NOT FOR HITTINGS.

Electron:
You’ll want to spread out for this golem because of electrical discharge.
Lightning Conductor: yell at anyone who has this and stands around near other people stroking their epeen.  If you get it, run the fuck away.
Unstable Shield: IS NOT FOR HITTINGS.

Magmatron:
Incineration Security Measure – Many fires, not for standing in. 
Aquiring Target – A red beam will point out the target of incoming flaming buttfuckery.  You do not want to be near this target.  You do, however, want to heal this target.  A lot.
Barrier – IS NOT FOR HITTINGS.

Toxitron:
Poison Cloud – Not for standing in.  Yell at anyone who does.
Poison Protocol – If they target you, run the fuck away.
Poison Soaked Shell – Just don’t, pallys.  Just don’t.

DPS
When another golem is activated, the previous one will aquire a shield.  Hint: swap targets.

Arcanotron:
The tank will pull him out of his whirlpool thingy, but you should go stand in it.  It has cookies.
Arcane Annihilator: your healers will thank you for interrupting this. 
Power Conversion: When he has this, you don’t want to hit him.  No, really, you don’t.  Mages can steal this buff.

Electron:
You’ll want to spread out for this golem because of electrical discharge.  Unless, of course, you’re standing in Arc’s whirlpool.  OMNOM MORE DPS.
If you get Lightning Conductor, run away from everyone else.  They do not want your staticy hugs.  If the tank gets it, also run away!
Unstable Shield: IS NOT FOR HITTINGS.

Magmatron:
Incineration Security Measure – Fires are not for standing in.  They are not whirlpools, they do not do kind things for your meter standings.
Aquiring Target – A red beam will point out the target of incoming flaming buttfuckery.  You do not want to be near this target.  If it is you, well, I hope you bribe your healers well.  Use damage reducing cooldowns, etc.
Barrier – IS NOT FOR HITTINGS.

Toxitron:
Poison Cloud – The tank will try to stand the boss in this.  You should try not to stand in it yourself.  If this means scooting around to the sides, I really suggest you do that.
Poison Protocol – Summons slime friends for your ranged DPS to play with.  They are not tauntable, but they are slowable.  If they target you, kite them.  If any target the tank, those slimes are your first priority.  Dear melee: do not play with slimes.  Not your own slime, not anyone elses slimes.  We thought that attacking another’s slimes might be fine, but this resulted in me and our DPS warrior eating the floor a lot when they exploded into puddles of death. 
Poison Soaked Shell – IS NOT FOR–wait.  When you hit Toxitron with shell up, it does put a stacking dot on you.  Buuuuut when you attack with said dot, you deal nature damage.   Until you know how much “spare” mana your healers will have, however, you probably don’t want to risk their ire fucking around with this mechanic.  I’ve yet to be able to experiment with this myself becuase my healers cleanse ALL the things. 

*Cyan-magenta, wowwikki?  Really?  WTF.

BWD: Magmaw

Blackwing “Wait Didn’t I Kill Nef Already?” Descent: Magmaw

Note:
I have now done this fight!  We have even killed him!  You can check out my “lol instructional video” here.  Done with captions because I am a nub with a  broken mic.  ETA: Apparently that vid spazzes out at one point, showing a still until the kiting segment.  I have no idea why, as all I did to make our plain kill video was remove the captions and the kiting part and kill video works fine, but I’ll see about fixing it.  In the meantime, the link to the less fubar’d, but non-captioned, video is here.

Basic Concepts:

• Don’t stand in bad (pst, fire is bad)
• GROUP HUG
• Multiple phases
• AAADDS!  AAADDS!

Tank
Guess what!  The boss doesn’t move.  Stand there and mock your kiter during the first part.   Of course, during the transition, the boss is eating you, so…yeah.  After a few stacks of mangle you might want to pop a cool down.  And not mock the kiter so much.

At the end of phase 2, threat is wiped, so you want to reestablish that quickly before your melee does something stupid like tank it for you.

Healer
Hug your ranged DPS and fill green bars.  Move with the group away from pillar of fire.  Weep at the AoE damage.   When the tank is being OMNOMNOM’d during the transition, toss him some extra heals.

DPS
One of you is going to be the kite bitch.  Hunters are naturally pro at this, but DKs with Chillblains are a popular choice right now as well.  Any class that can slow/knock back/teleport/get really fucking creative can pull this off as well.  See: kite bitch section below.

The rest of you (sans melee) will be basically shuffling from one designated spot to another as the boss tosses down a pillar of burning badness every 30 seconds.  If you’re slow you’ll get knocked in the air by the pilalr so don’t be fucking slow.

Killing the adds seems to be the preferred method, so ranged DPS should burn those down.  Just make sure all DPS (and cooldowns are blown) are on the boss when he’s impaled, which is phase 2.

There is a boss ability named ignition.  It covers half the room and looks like steam jets, so don’t stand in it.  Duh.

Two DPS will have to chain the poss during the transition phase.  Jump on his head and use Constricting Chains.  Don’t have your best add burners do this as they’ll still need to be killing those damn worms.  If you’re breaking the chains you’re fucking it up so…uh…don’t do…whatever you’re doing.

At the end of phase two the boss drops threat.  Don’t be stupid.

Kite Bitch
Worms spawn from the pillar of flame.  Grab them and run around like a headless chicken.   MANY WORMS, HANDLE THEM.  No I don’t know why this really got its own section either.  I felt like it, okay?