Alysrazor Detailed Strategy Guide (Heroic Mode included)

Last updated on Oct 08, 2012 at 12:19 by Damien

Table of Contents

Other Alysrazor guides on Icy Veins:

Introduction

This guide is intended to provide a comprehensive description of the encounter with Alysrazor in Firelands. It is targeted at anyone who desires to understand the fight mechanics.

This guide is updated for World of Warcraft WoD 6.1.2.

The encounter with Alysrazor, one of the first five bosses of Firelands, is broken down in four stages. Each stage has its own unique (but not very complicated) mechanics that will test a few abilities of the raid.

1.

General Information

1.1.

Health Pools

Alysrazor has the following health pool:

  • in 10-man normal difficulty: 38.6M;
  • in 10-man heroic difficulty: 65M;
  • in 25-man normal difficulty: 132M;
  • in 25-man heroic difficulty: 197M.

During the first stage of the fight, you will need to fight 2 types of adds. Their health pools are as follows:

  • in normal mode, Blazing Talon Initiates have 481 health in 10-man difficulty and 1.4M health in 25-man difficulty;
  • in heroic mode, Blazing Talon Initiates have 818k health in 10-man difficulty and 2.5M health in 25-man difficulty;
  • in normal mode, Voracious Hatchlings have 15M health in 10-man difficulty and 23.6M in 25-man difficulty.
  • in heroic mode, Voracious Hatchlings have 6.3M health in 10-man difficulty and 8.5M in 25-man difficulty.

A third add, called Molten Meteor, spawns in heroic mode. It has 141k health in 10-man difficulty and 425k health in 25-man difficulty.

1.2.

Enrage Timer

Alysrazor has a 15 minute enrage timer.

1.3.

Raid Composition

The following raid compositions are advised:

  • in 10-man normal difficulty: 2 tanks, 3 healers and 5 DPS;
  • in 25-man normal difficulty: 2 tanks, 5/6 healers, 17/18 DPS.
1.4.

Loot

  • Flametalon of Alysrazor Icon Flametalon of Alysrazor, a rare epic mount
  • Leggings of Billowing Fire Icon Leggings of Billowing Fire (heroic: Leggings of Billowing Fire Icon Leggings of Billowing Fire), Cloth Legs
  • Phoenix-Down Treads Icon Phoenix-Down Treads (heroic: Phoenix-Down Treads Icon Phoenix-Down Treads), Balance/Restoration Druid
  • Flickering Wristbands Icon Flickering Wristbands (heroic: Flickering Wristbands Icon Flickering Wristbands), Leather Random Wrists
  • Craterflame Spaulders Icon Craterflame Spaulders (heroic: Craterflame Spaulders Icon Craterflame Spaulders), Elemental/Restoration Shaman Shoulders
  • Moltenfeather Leggings Icon Moltenfeather Leggings (heroic: Moltenfeather Leggings Icon Moltenfeather Leggings), Mail Agility Legs
  • Spaulders of Recurring Flame Icon Spaulders of Recurring Flame (heroic: Spaulders of Recurring Flame Icon Spaulders of Recurring Flame), Tanking Shoulders
  • Clutch of the Firemother Icon Clutch of the Firemother (heroic: Clutch of the Firemother Icon Clutch of the Firemother), Holy Paladin Chest
  • Clawshaper Gauntlets Icon Clawshaper Gauntlets (heroic: Clawshaper Gauntlets Icon Clawshaper Gauntlets), Holy Paladin Hands
  • Greathelm of the Voracious Maw Icon Greathelm of the Voracious Maw (heroic: Greathelm of the Voracious Maw Icon Greathelm of the Voracious Maw), Plate Head
  • Lavaworm Legplates Icon Lavaworm Legplates (heroic: Lavaworm Legplates Icon Lavaworm Legplates), Plate Legs
  • Wings of Flame Icon Wings of Flame (heroic: Wings of Flame Icon Wings of Flame), Intellect Back
  • Alysrazor's Band Icon Alysrazor's Band (heroic: Alysrazor's Band Icon Alysrazor's Band), Strength Ring
  • Eye of Blazing Power Icon Eye of Blazing Power (heroic: Eye of Blazing Power Icon Eye of Blazing Power), Healing Trinket
  • Alysra's Razor Icon Alysra's Razor (heroic: Alysra's Razor Icon Alysra's Razor), Agility Dagger (1.4 speed)
  • Chest of the Fiery Conqueror Icon Chest of the Fiery Conqueror, Chest of the Fiery Protector Icon Chest of the Fiery Protector, and Chest of the Fiery Vanquisher Icon Chest of the Fiery Vanquisher in heroic difficulty (Tier 12 Heroic Chest)
  • Rare Boss Drops:
    • Eye of Purification Icon Eye of Purification (heroic: Eye of Purification Icon Eye of Purification), Healing Axe
    • Smoldering Censer of Purity Icon Smoldering Censer of Purity (heroic: Smoldering Censer of Purity Icon Smoldering Censer of Purity), Healing Staff
    • Firethorn Mindslicer Icon Firethorn Mindslicer (heroic: Firethorn Mindslicer Icon Firethorn Mindslicer), DPS Caster Sword
    • Entrail Disgorger Icon Entrail Disgorger (heroic: Entrail Disgorger Icon Entrail Disgorger), 1.4 Speed Agility Dagger
    • Avool's Incendiary Shanker Icon Avool's Incendiary Shanker (heroic: Avool's Incendiary Shanker Icon Avool's Incendiary Shanker), 1.8 Speed Agility Dagger
    • Shatterskull Bonecrusher Icon Shatterskull Bonecrusher (heroic: Shatterskull Bonecrusher Icon Shatterskull Bonecrusher), Agility Mace
    • Zoid's Firelit Greatsword Icon Zoid's Firelit Greatsword (heroic: Zoid's Firelit Greatsword Icon Zoid's Firelit Greatsword), Strength Two-handed Sword
2.

Overview of the Fight

The encounter with Alysrazor is fought in a round arena and is made up of 4 stages:

  • Stage One lasts 3 minutes and sees a few raid members fly after Alysrazor to attack her while the rest of the raid deals with 2 types of adds in the arena.
  • Stage Two lasts 30 seconds and requires the raid to regroup in the arena and avoid Alysrazor's damaging abilities.
  • Stage Three lasts between 20 and 34 seconds (depending on your raid ability to handle some adds) during which an immobilised Alysrazor takes 50% more damage and DPS caster have mana-free casts.
  • Stage Four lasts 25 seconds during which Alysrazor is freed from her bonds and does very damaging attacks on the raid.

Once Stage Four has finished, Stage One simply starts over. The fight goes on until Alysrazor is dead.

3.

Prelude

When engaged, before Stage One starts, Alysrazor will cast Firestorm, which knocks back everyone, dealing 22,500 Fire damage initially and 7,500 Fire damage every second for 10 seconds.

At the same time, Volcanic Fire will create patches of Fire to prevent players from leaving the arena. If the raid is standing too close to the entrance, some players might get knocked into it and take 100,000 Fire damage every second (i.e., they will most likely die).

There is plenty of time to heal the damage from Firestorm, as Stage One begins with about 15 seconds of easily avoidable damage.

4.

Stage One

During this stage, which lasts 3 minutes, Alysrazor will mostly be in the air but she will sometimes fly low over the arena and do a conic attack. Some players will be granted the ability to fly so that they can follow Alysrazor and damage her while the rest of the raid will remain on the ground to deal with 2 types of adds.

This stage presents a lot of abilities, which can seem daunting at first. Fortunately, many of these abilities are independent from each other and will only concern a small part of the raid members.

We first present the ground-related abilities and the adds that will spawn at ground level. Then we present the air-related abilities (those that flying players will be faced with) before detailing the strategy the raid needs to adopt during this stage, both on the ground and in the air.

4.1.

Even though Alysrazor is flying for the entire duration of Stage One, she will still use abilities that are of concern for players on the ground:

  • Blazing Claw is an ability which Alysrazor uses every time she flies over the arena (see positions at the end of this section). For the entire duration of her flyover, she deals high Physical damage every 1.5 second to players standing in a 25 yard long 90 degree cone in front of her. Additionally, anyone damaged by the ability receives a stacking debuff which increases Fire and Physical damage dealt by Alysrazor by 10% per stack, and lasts 15 seconds.
  • Whenever Alysrazor is flying over the arena, casting Blazing Claw, she will drop Molten Feathers. Picking them up (by clicking them, which takes no time and can be done while running) gives a 30% speed increase and grants the ability to cast spells while moving. Obtaining 3 such feathers eventually grants the ability to fly for 30 seconds (Wings of Flame). In a single pass, she drops 7 to 8 feathers in 10-man difficulty and about 20 feathers (it might be less, but enough to send 6 players flying) in 25-man difficulty. Players that are designated to fly after Alysrazor will only be faced with the abilities that we present in the next section.

Approximately 35 seconds after Alysrazor finishes her first pass over the arena, 4 Plump Lava Worms spawn (see positions at the end of this section). They remain stationary, cannot be attacked and continuously spew lava (Lava Spew) in an 18 yard, 35 degree cone in front of them, dealing 30,000 Fire damage in 10-man difficulty, 37,500 Fire damage in 25-man difficulty, to anyone standing in the cone. They can be killed by the Voracious Hatchlings, the adds that we present next. Another set of worms spawn after the first set is dead (but a third set will not spawn after the worms from the second set die).

Approximately 20 seconds after Alysrazor finishes her first pass over the arena, two Blazing Broodmothers will drop off two Molten Eggs (see positions at the end of this section). After 10 seconds, the eggs will hatch into Voracious Hatchlings (15M health in 10-man difficulty and 23.6M in 25-man difficulty). They have the following abilities:

  • Their melee attack hits for every 1.5 seconds for approximately 15-20k in 10-man difficulty and 30-35k in 25-man difficulty.
  • Imprinted is a buff applied on the player closest to the hatchling when it spawns. It causes the hatchling to only attack this player and the player to do 11 times more damage on the hatchling.
  • Satiated is a self-buff initially applied on the hatchling that lasts 15 seconds and that prevents him from throwing a tantrum (see below). The only way to re-apply or refresh the buff is by getting a hatchling to eat a Plump Lava Worm (simply move the hatchling next to a worm).
  • Hungry is a self-buff applied on the hatchling when Satiated wears out. This give the hatchling a 20% chance to throw a tantrum when doing a melee attacking.
  • Tantrum causes the hatchling to do 50% more damage and attack 50% faster for 10 seconds. This state can be interrupted by the hatchling becoming Satiated again (after feeding it a worm).
  • Gushing Wound seems to have a percentage chance of being cast after every attack made by the hatchling. The percentage is rather low, as the space between two subsequent Gushing Wounds seems to be 30 seconds in average. This ability simply leaves a DoT (that ticks every 0.2 second) on anyone standing in a 10 yard 60 degree cone in front of the hatchling. The effect lasts 1 minute and is removed when the health of an afflicted player drops below 50%.

Last but not least, every 40 seconds, approximately, two Blazing Talon Initiates fly into the arena. One will land on the west side of the arena while the other will land on the east side. Over time, they will desynchronise and will come separately. The initiates are stationary, they can be attacked (481k health in 10-man difficulty and 1.4M in 25-man difficulty), they do not require a tank (no melee attacks and no aggro table), and they use the following abilities:

  • Brushfire is continuously cast by the initiates. This ability, the cast of which cannot be interrupted, summons a fiery ball that moves across the arena for 1 minute before disappearing. Anyone standing within 3 yards of a fiery ball takes Fire damage (30,000 in 10-man difficulty and 37,500 in 25-man difficulty) every second.
  • Fieroblast is cast after every cast of Brushfire and must be interrupted. Every time it is successfully cast, the initiate is buffed with a stack of Fire it Up!, increasing its casting speed and damage done by 10%. Additionally, a successful cast causes a random player to be hit for 30,000 Fire damage initially (in both difficulties). The random player further takes Fire damage every 3 seconds for 12 seconds: 7,500 in 10-man difficulty, and 11,250 in 25-man difficulty.

The diagram below shows how everything is positioned:

Alysrazor Stage One Positions
4.2.

In the air, Alysrazor creates, every 4 seconds, a Ring of Fire and an increasing number of Incendiary Clouds behind her:

  • A Ring of Fire lasts for 3 seconds and is a few yards large (slightly bigger than a Draenei or a Tauren). Anyone passing through it before it disappears receives a stack of Blazing Power. Each stack brings an 8% haste increase, restores a fraction of mana, rage, energy, runic power, and holy power, and resets the duration of Wings of Flame to 30 seconds. Blazing Power stacks a maximum of 25 times. Anyone reaching that limit is buffed with Alysra's Razor which increases critical strike chance by 75% for 40 seconds.
  • An Incendiary Cloud lasts 3 seconds, is a few yards large (slightly bigger than a Draenei or a Tauren), and deals 37,500 Fire damage in 10-man difficulty, and 45,000 Fire damage in 25-man difficulty, every 1.5 seconds to anyone standing in it.
4.3.

Ground Strategy

Everyone remaining at the ground level must be wary of a few abilities which we present first. With the exception of the damage the tanks take from the Voracious Hatchlings, every damaging ability is avoidable. Then we explain the roles that tanks, DPS, and healers need to fulfill.

4.3.1.

Abilities to Avoid

There are 4 sources of damage that can be avoided with proper positioning:

  • Blazing Claw only occurs once a minute and should be watched out for when players are crossing the arena.
  • Lava Spew is cast by the Plump Lava Worms and should be avoided by always staying more than 18 yards away from the worms.
  • Gushing Wound is cast by the Voracious Hatchlings, simply never stand in front of them.
  • Blazing Talon Initiates will spawn fiery balls that travel throughout the arena. Do not stand within 3 yards of these balls.
4.3.2.

Tank duties

Before the Voracious Hatchlings have spawned, the tanks should help with the first wave of Blazing Talon Initiates. As soon as the eggs have been dropped off in the middle of the arena, each tank should stand as close as they can to their egg so that no one else gets Imprinted. It is crucial that the tanks do not die, otherwise, the hatchlings will imprint on someone else, forcing the raid to sacrifice that player so that the tank can be imprinted again.

After the hatchlings have spawned, they need to be tanked until they die. Since there are only 4 worms to use per hatchling, the ideal times to feed them (by bringing them next to a worm) are at 80%, 60%, 40%, and 20% health. When a hatchling throws a Tantrum (he then becomes significantly bigger), it can be interrupted by feeding it a worm, otherwise, it will go back to a normal state after 10 seconds. By feeding the hatchling at regular intervals, the number of tantrums in a row are decreased and the damage from this ability is more spread out in time, making it easier to heal. Once a hatchling has been fed, it becomes Satiated again and the tank has between 15 and 20 seconds before another tantrum.

Heavy damage only occurs when Gushing Wound is cast during a hatchling's tantrum. The tank should simply use cooldowns to survive and bring the hatchling to a worm as soon as possible. While the hatchling is eating the worm, the tank should be topped off (only if the tank's health has gone below 50%, causing the bleeding debuff to wear out).

The two tanks should know in advance which two worms they will each use. The 4 additional worms only spawn after the first 4 have been eaten. Therefore, it is important that the tanks be somewhat synchronised so that no hatchling remains in a tantrum state for an extended period of time because the other hatchling has not yet eaten its second worm.

Tanks will do most of the damage on the hatchlings (because Imprinted grants them 1000% increased damage on their hatchling). Tanks will receive occasional help from the DPS when they are not busy with the Blazing Talon Initiates.

4.3.3.

DPS Duties

The first priority of the DPS is to bring down the Blazing Talon Initiates. The DPS at ground level should be split equally in an East and a West group. The East group takes care of all the initiates that spawn on the east side of the arena while the West group takes care of all the initiates that spawn on the west side of the arena.

It is imperative to interrupt Fieroblast so that no one takes damage from it (interrupting capabilities need to be taken into account when forming the East and West group). Also the Fire it Up! stacking buff this ability gives to the initiate makes it increasingly harder to interrupt it.

Note that while initiates cannot be interrupted when they cast Brushfire, they can and should be stunned, to reduce the number of fiery balls travelling around the arena.

Whenever there are no initiates up, the DPS should help on the Voracious Hatchlings or should attack Alysrazor when she flies over the arena for Blazing Claw.

4.3.4.

Healers Duties

The healers' only focus during this phase should be the tanks who deal with the only source of unavoidable damage in this stage. When the tanks get the bleeding debuff from Gushing Wound, their health should be allowed to drop below 50%, so that the debuff wear out, before they can be topped off.

Anyone hit by Fieroblast will receive a DoT that can and should be dispelled.

The healers should be evenly split between the East and the West group. From these locations, they should be able to heal the tanks while occasionally topping off a DPS (or a healer) that failed to avoid a given ability.

Each healer should try to eventually pick up a feather that Alysrazor drops every time she flies over the arena. This will give them the ability to cast spells while moving, as well as a speed increase, for the entire duration of the fight.

4.4.

Air Strategy

The first time Alysrazor flies over the arena for Blazing Claw, the designated DPS (2 in 10-man difficulty and 6 in 25-man difficulty) should gather 3 Molten Feathers to be granted the ability to fly. Should one of these players lose the ability to fly, they can always gather another 3 feathers the next time Alysrazor flies over the arena for Blazing Claw.

If the adds at ground level are dying fast, additional players can be sent in the air after Alysrazor flies over the arena for the second and third time.

In the air, all the players need to do is to follow Alysrazor and avoid the Incendiary Clouds while passing through the Rings of Fire (to increase stacks of Blazing Power). If in need of healing, players can simply fly down to enter the range of a healer (flying players are out of range of the healers for most of the time).

The best classes to send flying up are those that would do the most damage with an increased haste, critical strike chance, and mana, rage, energy, runic power, and holy power regeneration (because of Blazing Power stacking up to 25 times and Alysra's Razor). Also, as it is necessary to follow Alysrazor from a safe distance to avoid the clouds and pass through the rings, caster classes are best suited for the job (remember that when flying, all abilities can be cast while moving). The best choices are Fire Mages, Shadow Priests, and Affliction Warlocks.

At the end of the stage, the Wings of Flame buff will wear out, so everyone needs to get back to the ground level before this happens (as soon as Stage Two starts) to avoid taking fall damage.

5.

Stage Two

Stage Two is a 30 second event, at ground level, during which players need to avoid Alysrazor abilities. We first present these abilities before briefly explaining how to deal with them.

5.1.

Abilities

At the beginning of Stage Two, Alysrazor creates a Fiery Vortex in the center of the arena. It kills anyone (37,500 Fire damage every 0.5 second) within 15 yards. She also casts Harsh Winds, which fills the outer part of the arena (60 yards and more from the center) with deadly winds (37,500 Fire damage every second for 5 seconds to anyone entering the area).

The remaining space is filled with Fiery Tornadoes. Every second, They deal 30,000 Fire damage in 10-man difficulty, 37,500 Fire damage in 25-man difficulty to whoever stands within 10 yards of them.

During this stage, Alysrazor continues to spawn Rings of Fire (but on the ground this time). They last for 3 seconds and grant a stack of Blazing Power.

Here is a diagram to give an idea of what the arena will look like:

Alysrazor Stage Two
5.2.

Strategy

The strategy for Stage Two is very simple. Everyone needs to run around in the permitted area (between 15 and 60 yards from the center of the arena), avoiding the Fiery Tornadoes while trying to pass through Rings of Fire to get an increased speed buff. Speed-enhancing abilities should be used as much as possible.

The tornadoes have a set travelling pattern. A method that works very well is to simply follow a tornado until you see another tornado, coming from the opposite direction, pass on your right or on your left. Then simply turn around and switch lane to follow this new tornado. Rinse and repeat.

Healers will have to occasionally heal anyone who takes damage from the tornadoes. If they have previously picked up a Molten Feather, they will have the ability to cast while moving and can continue healing normally. If they have not, they should preferably make use of spells with an instant cast time, though Restoration Shamans can continue their usual healing rotation temporarily, thanks to Spiritwalker's Grace Icon Spiritwalker's Grace.

At the beginning of Stage Two, there will be, on the ground, a few fiery balls left from Stage One. They need to be avoided.

6.

Stage Three

After the intense Stage Two, Alysrazor burns out and crashes in the middle of the arena. She gets an energy bar of Molten Power. Initially it starts empty and gradually increases. When the energy bar reaches 50, Stage Three ends.

We first present the few abilities that the raid needs to deal with during this phase before briefly presenting the strategy to employ.

6.1.

Abilities

Alysrazor is debuffed with Burnout and takes 50% increased damage. In addition, casters recover 10% of their mana every time they damage her with a spell (Essence of the Green). This basically gives DPS casters infinite mana, while it enables the healers to regenerate their mana.

Molten Power regenerates at an innate rate of 3 Molten Power every 2 seconds.

Approximately 10 seconds into the Stage, two Blazing Talon Clawshapers fly in to help Alysrazor. A few seconds after landing, they will start channeling Ignition, each channel restoring 1 additional Molten Power per second.

With proper execution, Stage Three can last for a maximum of 34 seconds.

6.2.

Strategy

The raid needs to burn down Alysrazor. Every DPS cooldown should be used. Healers can regenerate mana by casting harmful spells on the boss.

The Blazing Talon Clawshapers land North and South of the boss' position. They have so much health that DPS players should ignore them and remain on the boss. They should be stunned as soon as they land to delay their channeling of Ignition. Then, they should be interrupted as often as possible to reduce the amount of Molten Power they give Alysrazor.

7.

Stage Four

As soon as she reaches 50 Molten Power, Alysrazor starts flying again but she remains low until she reaches 100 Molten Power (that takes exactly 25 seconds). Just like Stage Three, there are only a handful of abilities to deal with. We present them first before explaining the strategy.

7.1.

Abilities

Alysrazor is buffed with Ignited and recovers 2 Molten Power every second. While ignited, Alysrazor emits bursts of flame (Blazing Buffet), dealing 7,500 Fire damage in 10-man difficulty, 11,250 in 25-man difficulty, every second to all players.

Additionally, she uses Blazing Claw for the entire duration of the stage. Unlike in Stage One, the ability is now directed at her target. Therefore, she needs to be tanked. This will do a massive amount of damage on the tank every 1.5 seconds while also applying a stacking debuff on the tank that increases damage taken by 10% for 15 seconds.

When she reaches 100 Molten Power, Alysrazor will cast Full Power. Then, Stage One starts over. This ability deals 37,500 Fire damage in 10-man difficulty, and 45,000 Fire damage in 25-man difficulty, to all players and knocks them back.

7.2.

Strategy

Everyone except the current tank should avoid standing in front of Alysrazor. Besides this, the strategy for this phase is straightforward:

  • DPS should focus on the boss.
  • Tanks need to taunt off of each other when she reaches 75 Molten Power (so half-way through the stage). They also need to use all their defensive cooldowns to survive.
  • Healers need to use all their defensive cooldowns to keep the tanks up while also healing the rest of the raid.
8.

Achievement: Do a Barrel Roll

The achievement Do a Barrel Roll is part of the Glory of the Firelands Raider meta-achievement and is a requirement for obtaining the Corrupted Egg of Millagazor mount.

The achievement is extremely straightforward and needs no real explanation: it requires you to kill Alysrazor without anyone in the raid getting hit by the following attacks:

  • Brushfire (the fire patches which travel slowly on the ground, during Stage One);
  • Incendiary Cloud (the fire clouds which must be avoided by players flying in the air, during Stage One);
  • Lava Spew (the fire breath attacks performed by the Plump Lava Worms, during Stage One);
  • Fiery Tornadoes (the fiery... torandeos which cover the arena during Stage Two).

There is no strategy involved in completing this achievement, and it essentially requires your raiders to perform excellently in terms of awareness and positioning. Neither of these abilities provide any kind of benefit, so there is no reason that anyone in the raid should ever be hit by any of them.

One final noteworthy thing must be mentioned regarding this achievement: each of the four criteria for the achievement can be completed independently from the rest. That is to say, your raid can kill Alysrazor without anyone being hit by Brushfire, but fail all the other criteria, and the credit for Brushfire will be counted on the achievement page. As such, the achievement can be completed over the course of multiple kills of Alysrazor.

9.

Heroic Mode

The heroic version of the Alysrazor encounter does not differ very much from the normal version. In fact, Stages Two, Three and Four remain unchanged, and only Stage One presents a few additional challenges. Overall, the heroic mode of this encounter is an awareness check.

9.1.

Differences from Normal Mode

While the fight does not differ during its second, third and fourth stages, Stage One is quite different from normal mode. The changes may seem daunting at first, so before detailing them, we will sum up the relevant difference.

Phase One presents a new "deep breath" style ability, which causes Alysrazor to deal heavy (85,000 per second) fire damage to anyone who is not hiding behind a line of sight object, called Molten Meteor. Meteors spawn at a rate of two (in succession) before each breath (they are mobs with low health). Killing a meteor will cause it to offer line of sight protection. Furthermore, instead of a single spawn of Voracious Hatchlings per Stage One, there are now three, though their health values are lowered to compensate for this fact.

The differences, in full, are as follows:

  • Stage One lasts 4 minutes and 10 seconds, up from 3 minutes on normal mode. During this time, 6 Voracious Hatchlings will spawn (in pairs of two, at 1 minute and 25 second intervals), though they have considerably less health than in normal mode. There are two Plump Lava Worms available for each Voracious Hatchling, allowing tanks to amply cover the time before the Hatchlings die (due to their reduced health).
  • 40 seconds after the start of the fight, and 1 minute and 40 seconds after that, Alysrazor will cast Firestorm. This ability is different from the Prelude ability with the same name, and it covers the entire platform in what is essentially a fiery wind. This inflicts 85,000 Fire damage per second for 5 seconds to anyone not hiding behind a Molten Meteor (covered below).
  • A new add (which has no gameplay purposes whatsoever, so can be totally ignored), called Herald of the Burning End will spawn twice before each Firestorm, and summon a Molten Meteor. The Meteor will land on the Herald, killing him.
  • Molten Meteors land in the center of the arena, dealing massive damage in a small radius. There are two Meteors (about 30 seconds apart) before each Firestorm cast. They have low health and begin rolling towards one of the arena's edges. They must be killed before reaching it, and doing so will cause the Meteor to stop moving and provide cover from Firestorm. They deal large amounts of damage in their melee range, so they should be killed by ranged DPS players. If a Meteor reaches an edge, it will split into 3 smaller and unkillable Meteors which will also travel around the arena, damaging players in their path. On reaching an edge, the small Meteors despawn.

In addition to these changes, everything deals more damage than on normal mode.

9.2.

Strategy Changes

Despite these rather substiantial changes to Stage One, the fight remains mostly unchanged in its execution. Everyone will still perform the same tasks that they do on normal mode, and have the same assignments. The only difference comes from avoiding Firestorm and handling Molten Meteors.

As Molten Meteors can only really be damaged by ranged DPS players, it should be the job of these players to kill the Meteors as soon as they appear. The closer to the center of the arena that the Meteors die, the better it is. The Meteors have extremely low health, so killing them quickly should not be problematic.

Note that you only need to kill one meteor to deal with Firestorm. Therefore, you can let the other meteor break onto the walls of the arena, to save DPS. In this case, ignore the first meteor and kill the second. Doing it the other way around would cause the smaller meteor from the second meteor to be still present in the arena during Firestorm.

Also, the third pair of meteors in Phase One are useless as there are only two Firestorms. Therefore, the raid can choose to simply ignore them.

When Firestorm is about to be cast, everyone (including players in the air) should take cover behind a Molten Meteor, ensuring that Alysrazor (who will be flying) is on the opposite side of it. The fiery winds covering the ground also indicate the direction from which the Firestorm is coming, and allow for a few seconds to take cover.

Once the 5 second Firestorm is over, everyone should resume their add-killing or healing roles.

One slight difference from normal mode is that DPS players who are on the ground will find themselves having to focus more on the Blazing Talon Initiates than on normal mode (due to their health), leaving the Voracious Hatchlings almost entirely to the tanks.

Note that after the third pair of hatchlings have spawned in Phase One, there will be no more initiates, enabling DPS players to entirely focus on helping the tanks with the hatchlings.

Because most abilities deal a lot more damage, you will quickly find that failing to avoid damage (including from Fiery Tornadoes during Stage Two) is not acceptable.

A note should be made regarding the Air strategy in 10-man difficulty. As the enrage timer is quite lenient (15 minutes), it is advised to start progressing on the fight with only 1 player flying. On subsequent kills, you can send 2, even 3, players in the Air, depending on how well your raid is doing.

10.

Learning the Fight

Stage One is probably the only part of the fight that the raid will be required to practice extensively. Unfortunately, the only way to progress through it is by doing it properly. To make this easier, it is possible to send fewer people in the air so that there are more players at ground level to kill the adds. Later on, when Stage One is no longer a problem, more players can be sent in the air after Alysrazor.

11.

Final Considerations

The fight can seem daunting at first, with the amount of abilities it proposes, but in fact, each player is only concerned by a fraction of these abilities, making the fight considerably easier from a single player's point of view. As with most fights in Firelands, the encounter against Alysrazor has unique mechanics which, we hope, your raid will find pleasant and interesting.