Thanks again to JohnD for his LK Strategy find. I'll be posting more on that below...
As you all know, Cataclysm drops on December 7th. I am out on vacation Nov. 27th and 30th. I believe Mike is out the 27th as well. "Technically" this gives us 3 more solid nights to defeat the LK (15th, 20th, and 22nd). There is a possibility of running on the 6th, but that will be dicey.
In other words -
Let's get him down!
Let's take a look at some strategy tips and pretty pictures:
About the Val’kyr: The Valks are half of what makes Phase 3 the most difficult phase of the encounter. They are summoned, target a random player (NOT the tanks), pick them up, carry them towards the nearest edge, and drop the player off and out of the fight. Players dropped are removed from the fight entirely; they cannot be battle rezzed, use a soulstone, or reincarnate. Taken players take damage, a big initial hit then minor damage as the Valks fly; very healable, more to keep the healers on their toes than to kill the players.
Handling the Val’kyr: The Valks can be slowed and stunned, but not rooted or snared. They must be killed before they go beyond the edge of the platform. They continue flying beyond the edge: out a few yards and then up. If one flies past the edge, the person carried is dead. Stop dps’ing and healing, move on. First, assign a rogue to each symbol for stun duty. Nobody—NOBODY—should stun the Valks other than the rogues due to diminishing returns on the stuns.
(Interesting) Rogues should have crippling poison on a third weapon and should weapon-swap at the start of Phase 3. Two stuns—one early, one late—are ideal. One big stun late is acceptable provided that DPS has been working on the Valk already. Don’t stun too close to the edge. You don’t want Valks stunned beyond the edge nor do you want to free players and watch them take an awkward and fatal step backwards.
Positioning the Val’kyr: Almost as important as stunning and slowing the Valks is positioning the Valks. Melee, ranged, and healers (everyone but the tanks) needs to stand in a tight clump just off-center. The Valks fly to the edge closest to the player they pick up. Thus, everyone needs to be as close to the center of the platform as possible, but NOT in the exact center. Stand slightly off-center. If the melee+healer+ranged pile is in the center, the Valks may fly in opposite directions. The main tank should put the Lich King in the center, everyone else stand behind the Lich King and thus off-center. Which direction the Lich King faces depends on where the Defiles are (more on defile below.) Group up so there is a clear, Defile-free path between the clump and the edge. Tricky, yes, but this fight is hard if you hadn’t noticed.
Handling Defile: Everyone must have an updated boss mod. I think I mentioned this before, but it bears repeating. DBM, BigWigs, DXE. Download and install. Not only are the timers crucial for this fight, but the functions are also important. All boss mods have an option to yell when you are targeted with Defile. Turn this on. When targeted with Defile, run away from the group, drop the tar puddle, run back. Do not stop. Defile is not cleansable, dispellable, removable, it’s on a timer, just put it as far from the group as possible. Once you have dropped Defile, keep running until out of the black.
You need to know when and where the Valks are at all times so you can run out of Defile in the correct direction. A general guideline:
IF Valks are out, run to your designated location, either near to them to dps or spread out to heal = Get back into fight.
IF Valks are soon, drop Defile, spin around, and run back to the group = You do not want to be far from the group when the Valks spawn. They could target you and fly beyond the edge before anyone could stun.
Do not keyboard turn. Do not back up. Do not fat-finger your walk key.
Do strafe. Do continue running through the Defile. Do know where you are and where you need to be.
Putting everything together:
1.Lich King stops channeling Remorseless Winter and casts Quake.
2.Everyone runs away from edge while killing any remaining frozen orbs.
3.Main tank picks up the Lich King and tanks him in the middle of the now-smaller platform. Off-tank takes the Raging Spirit(s) over by Tirion. Melee follows off-tank. Ranged and healers clump up behind Lich King, slightly to the right of the center of the platform.
4.DPS on Raging Spirit until there are 3 seconds before Val’kyr are summoned.
5.Melee joins ranged and healers. Off-tank continues to tank Raging Spirit if it’s alive; if not, prepare for Soul Reaper.
6.Lich King summons Val’kyr.
7.Val’kyr appear and select targets.
8.Val’kyr pick up targets and fly towards nearest edge.
9.Lich King casts Infest (same as in Phase 1, I figured I didn’t need to talk about it again).
10.Everyone spreads out as much as possible. Rogues stun Val’kyr.
11.Lich King targets someone and casts Defile.
12.Targeted player has 3 seconds to run away from group and out of the way of the Val’kyr.
13.Defile goes sploosh.
14.Lich King casts Soul Reaper. Off-tank taunts.
(Depends on our Tanks that night.)
15.Player targeted with Defile gets back into position. Continue dps on Val’kyr.
16.Lich King walks towards off-tank. Before the Lich King reaches the off-tank, the main tank taunts the Lich King back.
17.When Val’kyr get close to edge, stun again.
18.Kill Val’kyr. Lich King targets someone and casts Defile.
19.Targeted player has 3 seconds to run away from group and out of the way of the Val’kyr.
20.DPS attacks Lich King.
21.Defile goes sploosh.
22.Player targeted with Defile gets back into position.
23.Repeat steps 6-22 until Lich King reaches 42%.
At about 42%, the main tank drags the Lich King to the edge of the platform. Ranged and healers should spread out along the edge. Ignore Valks, burn the Lich King. Once he hits 40%, he will run to the middle, rebuild the outer edge of the platform, and begin casting Remorseless Winter. Thus ends Phase 3 and begins Phase 4. All players run to the edge to avoid Remorseless Winter. Any Val’kyr alive will drop their passengers down in the same location. However, since the edge of the platform has been rebuilt, the passengers fall to their safety. Nice.
We have all seen this. Yes, there is A LOT going on. We are geared, skilled, and capable. Please review and learn it. This is how the LK goes splat.
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