Magtheridon Strategy Guide

[Snitch]

Introduction

Firstly, a word of warning. Despite Blizzard's intention to balance Magtheridon as an entry level, 25 man Burning Crusade raid encounter on par with Gruul's Lair, the difficulty of the encounter overshot that target by a significant amount.

Just like with Gruul's Lair, there is no attunement quest, the only requirement being level 65+. Just as in Gruul's Lair the loot is tier 4 and equivalent non-set pieces. While Gruul is part of the attunement quest for Serpentshrine Cavern, Magtheridon is the objective of the final "Trial of the Naaru" quest. Once completed, raid members are rewarded with the key to "The Eye", the 25-man Tempest Keep raid zone. However, Magtheridon is on a completely different tier of difficulty when compared to Gruul.

Furthermore, he is slightly harder than Hydross the Unstable, the first encounter is Serpentshrine Cavern, and significantly harder when compared to other Serpentshrine encounters, which mostly result in higher quality loot.

Therefore, a raid should only realistically consider Magtheridon if their progress includes the following elements:

Karazhan is completely on farm status, with several groups clearing it every week. Most members already have full Karazhan level gear or better.
Gruul's Lair is completed every week without major difficulties.
Unless the guild is seeking fast attunement for "The Eye", Hydross the Unstable as well as Fathom Lord Karathress should be killed before Magtheridon.

Consider yourself warned.

Overview & Preparation

Magtheridon is a 3 stage encounter with the first stage being arguably the hardest, with the following 2 stages only requiring the simple execution of a plan. Upon entering Magtheridon's room, players will notice Magtheridon in the middle of the room, kept "Banished" under the bonds of 5 Hellfire Channelers, positioned in a circle, at the S, SW, SE, NW and NE positions in the circular lair. Players can enter the room and position themselves anywhere in the lair, as the Channelers will not proximity aggro, but will only react to offensive abilities and spells. Once the Channelers are engaged, players have 2 minutes before Magtheridon breaks free of his bonds, starting stage 2. Stage 3 begins when Magtheridon is at 30% HP.

Tanking consummables are highly recommended, and even if kills are possible without them, especially during the learning process, a full set of potions on every tank will greatly increase their survivability. Bring Flasks of Fortification, Elixirs of Greater Defense, Elixirs of Major Agility and Ironshield Potions.

As far as the rest of the raid is concerned, consumables are not required, but as is the case with most encounters, they do make things much easier; particularly for early kills. Stage 1 can be mana intensive for healers, but mana potions should be sufficient. DPS consummables will help mostly during the first stage and only a little once the Channelers have been dealt with.

Group Composition

With 5 hard-hitting adds, any raid needs a number of very well geared tanks. 5 are recommended for early progress, but this number can be reduced as the raid gains more experience with the encounter. After tanking, warlocks are the second most important class for this encounter. 5 are ideal, but few guilds can probably afford to bring that many. Kills with 3-4 warlocks are also possible, but any less will make the encounter more challenging.

All DPS classes can perform well during this encounter, but classes that can interrupt spells are required, therefore rogues and mages are preferred over hunters. 10-12 DPS classes and 8-10 healers are a good breakdown.

Hellfire Channeler Abilities


Shadow Bolt Volley

A volley of shadow bolts inflicting 1400-1800 shadow damage to targets in a 30 yard range.

Dark Mending

A powerful healing spell with which Channelers can heal themselves, or other Channelers. It heals for 69375-80625 and has a 30 yard range. Channelers will only attempt to heal themselves or other Channelers if they are under 50% HP.

Summon Burning Abyssal

Periodically Channelers will summon Burning Abyssals on top of a player selected at random. The impact of the Abyssal spawning does 2625-3375 fire damage in a 10 yard radius around the targeted player. Abyssals can Fire Blast targets in a 20 yard range for 2700-3300 fire damage, as well as hit players with their melee attack, dealing physical damage. A Channeler cannot have more than two Abyssals summoned at the same time. Abyssals despawn after 1 minute.


Magtheridon's Abilities


Knockback

Knocks every player in the lair around for 5 seconds. Players will be thrown around a small distance (about 2 yards) 5 times over the 5 seconds. This will interrupt channeled spells. This ability is on a 50-60 second cooldown; also the ground will shake when Magtheridon is about to knock players around.

Blast Nova

A channeled fire damage spell that does 2188-2812 fire damage every 2 seconds for 10 seconds to every player in the lair.

Conflagration

Magtheridon will occasionally shoot a fireball at a random spot on the ground in his lair. That spot will be engulfed in flames for several minutes. Players hit by the flames will be afflicted by Conflagration and take periodic fire damage, be disoriented and inflict 300 fire damage to nearby players.

Cleave

A frontal melee cleave attack.


Strategy


Buffs

Apart from the obvious Fortitude/MOTW/AI, a raid will benefit greatly from Shadow Protection as it will reduce the Shadow Bolt Volley damage. In a raid with only 2 paladins, endurance and damage are more important than threat reduction, therefore use Kings/Might for the physical damage classes and Kings/Wisdom for casters. The raid should be set up to provide enhanced survivability for the tanks with warlock imps and paladin Devotion Aura, particularly for the tanks on those Channelers that will be killed last.

The Pull

The raid can run in and position itself anywhere in the lair, since the encounter will only begin once a player performs an offensive action on a Channeler. Every Channeler platform must be manned by a tank with his healers nearby. All DPS classes can position themselves around the south platform. Note: The encounter can also be done with less than 5 tanks. For a 4-tank raid, a hunter will Misdirect either the SW or the SE Channeler to the tank already tanking the S Channeler.

Positioning

For initial positioning use this diagram:

Tanks must keep their Channelers as far from each other as possible. Initially, the best spots are the platforms on which they spawn, but after the first Channeler has died, the SW and SE Channeler can be pulled further south and away from the NE and NW Channelers. Maximizing distance minimizes Shadow Bolt Volley damage, as well as makes Channelers unable to heal each other, they will however still attempt to heal themselves.


Once Magtheridon becomes active he is best tanked near the wall of the lair, on the south side which by now must be clear of Channelers.


He can be kept in that position until the end of the encounter, which reduces the risk of targets other than the MT being Cleaved and ensures that the MT is only slightly affected by the knockback.


A general positioning tip during stage 1 is for all ranged classes to try and maintain a 10 yard distance between each other in order to minimize splash damage taken from Burning Abyssal spawns.


Fight Progression


Stage 1

As the encounter is engaged, DPS must start killing Channelers as soon as possible. Start with all the DPS on the Channeler in the S position, while the other Channelers are just being offtanked for now. Tanks on the Channelers that are being offtanked must try and interrupt the Shadow Bolt Volley as often as possible using Shield Bash, in order to reduce damage taken by themselves and their healers.

On the S Channeler that is being burned down rogues and mages can interrupt the Shadow Bolt Volley, as well as the Dark Mending that Channelers start casting when they are below 50% HP. It is very important to keep Curse of Tongues up on every Channeler to slow down the casting time of these spells, which makes it much easier to interrupt them.

All through stage 1, the primary responsibility of warlocks is to keep the Burning Abyssals under control. Always Banish the first spawn, then DPS the Channeler that is being killed. When the second Abyssal spawns, keep it chain feared until the first Banished Abyssal despawns. Then banish the feared target and continue DPS-ing. Repeat until all Channelers are dead and all Abyssals have despawned.

Killing the first Channeler within the first minute is expected from a raid with well geared DPS. Once the first Channeler has died, DPS can shift to the Channeler in the SW position. The SW and SE tanks can adjust their position by moving slightly southwards. The second Channeler should easily die before the two minute mark. DPS classes can then move north, to the NW Channeler, and start DPS.

Stage 2

At the 2 minute mark Magtheridon breaks free and must be picked up by an available tank, one that has tanked the first or second Channeler. The tank can position Magtheridon in the empty SW corner, with his back to the wall.

About 40 seconds after he breaks free, Magtheridon will perform his first knockback. Knockbacks are a very sensitive moment, since the healers will be unable to channel spells, and rogues may be knocked out of kick range and be unable to interrupt spells. During a knockback, healers should use instant heals if needed (such as Nature's Swiftness), priests can also shield their tank. Interrupts during knockbacks are best handled by mages, since they can Counterspell even while being knocked back. While a knockback is imminent, have a look at your surroundings and position yourself away from any flames on the ground, to avoid being knocked back into them and taking Conflagration damage.

With Magtheridon released and 2-3 Channelers dead, this is now the critical moment of the encounter. As each Channeler dies, all the other Channelers receive a buff that increases their damage by 30% and their casting speed by 30%. Interrupts become harder, but are still possible with Curse of Tongues on the Channelers. Healers that become available from the first and second tank must go help heal the tanks that are now taking increased damage.

Dealing with Blast Nova

One minute after Magtheridon has broken free, he will begin to channel his first Blast Nova. Blast Nova essentially does 10.000 damage over 10 seconds to everyone in the raid, and with Channelers up it is completely unhealable. However the spell can be interrupted by players using the Manticron Cubes on the platforms where the Channelers initially spawned.

In order to interrupt Blast Nova, all 5 cubes need to be clicked at the same time. Clicking a cube starts a 10 second channeling beam that will hit Magtheridon. If the 5 beams are all active at the same time, Magtheridon will become bound again, which interrupts his Blast Nova. While he is bound, Magtheridon takes 300% damage from player spells and abilities. Channeling the beam however damages the players clicking the cube. They take 800 damage every second while they are channeling. A player can interrupt the channeling anytime by moving away from the cube, and Magtheridon will break free once again. Interrupting the channeling before all 5 cubes have been clicked is fatal for the raid, since Magtheridon's Blast Nova will not be interrupted. After they stop channeling, players will be affected by Mind Exhaustion which makes them unable to use a Manticron Cube for 3 minutes.

Since Blast Nova is on a 1 minute cooldown, a rotation must be established, where 4 players are assigned to each cube. Once the 4th Blast Nova has been interrupted, Mind Exhaustion will have faded from the first player in the rotation, and he can interrupt the 5th Blast Nova. This rotation must be repeated until Magtheridon is dead, throughout stages 2 and 3. A simple calculation shows that 20 people are needed for the rotation, 4 players for each of the 5 cubes. With the main tank kept busy by Magtheridon, this only leaves 4 people that are not assigned to a cube. These players can of course act as "backups" and replace players that die. If 5 or more players die, it will eventually become impossible to interrupt the Blast Nova, resulting in a wipe unless Magtheridon is very low and can be killed first. Use combat resurrections and Soulstones on people who are more likey to die.

Even though the 300% damage buff certainly helps the DPS, it is never worth risking the life of a player clicking a cube. They should always break channeling immediately after Blast Nova has been interrupted, which only requires everyone clicking together for the briefest amount of time. It is very important that players only click the cube once Magtheridon begins casting his Blast Nova, and only when it is their assigned turn to click it. Randomly clicking the cube will result in players being affected by Mind Exhaustion, which will prevent them from clicking the cube when it is their turn.

Stage 3

At 30%, stage 3 will begin. Magtheridon will shatter the walls of his lair and debris will hit every player in the lair for 5250-6750 physical damage, knocking them down. Heal the main tank first, then the rest of the raid. Using Healthstones or healing potions is recommended at this point. Timing is important: it may be worth it for a raid to stop damage on Magtheridon at 31%, wait for his next Blast Nova, interrupt it, heal everyone to full HP, and then push him over 30%, triggering stage 3.

For the rest of stage 3, fragments of the ceiling will continue to drop inside the lair. Players can anticipate where they will land by looking at the falling dust from the ceiling. Players that fail to move from the areas where dust is falling will be hit by debris, for 87,500-112,500 damage. If debris is going to fall next to a cube, it is possible for the player assigned to click it next to rotate to a new position, as cubes can be clicked from any direction.

Apart from the initial AoE debris damage, and the falling ceiling debris, stage 3 is identical to stage 2.


Class Comments


Tank Comments

In a 5-tank scenario, the tank on the S Channeler must build good threat as fast as possible, as DPS will be going all out trying to kill it as soon as they can.

All other tanks can play more defensively, their priorities being Shield Bashing to interrupt Shadow Bolt Volleys and shield block to reduce damage taken. Once the first 2 Channelers have died, it's time for the 3 remaining tanks to use Ironshield Potions to compensate for the 60% increase in damage. Be ready to use a cooldown (Last Stand / Shield Wall), a Healthstone or a Nightmare Seed, especially during knockbacks when healing is limited.

The best geared tanks should be tanking the last 2 Channelers, which deal the most damage. One of the weaker tanks can easily handle Magtheridon, as his melee damage isn't very hard to heal through. Consummables help significantly during stage 1, which is arguably the hardest stage, therefore come prepared with Ironshield Potions, Elixirs of Greater Defense, Elixirs of Major Agility and Elixirs of Mastery.

Once you no longer need to tank, remain in tank gear until all Channelers are dead and all Abyssals have despawned. You can Taunt a Channeler and tank it if the assigned tank dies, or you can Taunt a recently spawned burning Abyssal off a healer until warlocks Banish or fear it. Once the Channelers have been defeated and the Abyssals have despawned, switch to your best DPS weapon and start DPS-ing Magtheridon.

For a 4-tank raid group, a hunter must Misdirect an additional Channeler to the tank already assigned to the S Channeler. Feral druid tanks are particularly well equipped for this task as they can build aggro on two targets easier than warriors. Kill these 2 Channelers first, and have this initial tank go on Magtheridon while the other 3 Channelers are being killed.

Healer Comments

While 5 Channelers are alive, one healer is enough for every tank. Try to conserve mana for when Channelers die, and the remaining ones start doing additional damage. A second healer is required to keep tanks alive after 2 Channelers have died. After 3 Channelers die, you can assign 3 healers to each of the remaining 2 tanks, which leaves 1 healer for the main tank on Magtheridon, and 2 available healers for the DPS taking occasional Shadow Bolt Volleys.

Therefore, if your assigned tank has been released from tanking, reposition yourself and heal another tank, and remember that one healer is enough to keep the tank on Magtheridon alive. During stage 1, healers are particularly at risk from Burning Abyssal spawns, as their heals will pull aggro onto them. As a priest, fear them away from you and ask a warlock for assistance.

Once the Channelers have been defeated and the Abyssals have despawned, there are very few targets that need healing, but you can for example heal the players that are clicking the Manticron Cubes. This will allow them to easily channel for the full 10 seconds and maximize Magtheridon's 300% vulnerability phase.

DPS Comments

DPS as hard as you can, to kill as many Channelers as soon as possible, to reduce the duration of the critical stage where the raid has to deal with both Magtheridon and the Channelers. Aggro is only an issue with the first Channeler, but once you switch to the other Channelers, tanks will have been building aggro for a long time, and you can therefore use all your cooldowns at will. The same goes for Magtheridon.

As a rogue killing Channelers, try to save enough energy to Kick the Shadow Bolt Volley and Dark Mending.

As a mage, make sure your Counterspell cooldown is up, especially during knockbacks after Magtheridon has broken free, as rogues may be knocked back out of Kick range.

As a warlock, always deal with Abyssals first, then worry about DPS.

Hunters cannot interrupt spells, and Channelers are immune to Silencing Shot, but they can contribute by helping control the Abyssals, with Freezing Traps and Concussive Shot. Pets can be used freely to DPS Magtheridon.
By Ramaladni at Bosskillers.com

Snitch

[Tromball]

NICE!!! +Rep

[issacobra]

lmfao look at the pictures... copy and paste ftw? nice share/find i wouldn't have found it +rep

[Snitch]

Most guides here are used in a copy/paste format. Also I'm a fan of Bosskillers.com and always read what I'm pasting before I copy it. Also thanks for giving me a chance to give you an answer which will also bump my post up.
Cheers for the rep

Snitch