Vian the Volatile is the second Brawler's Guild Rank 1 opponent. The fight against him is all about precise movement. You will need to step aside to deal with a damaging Fire ability he often casts and you will need to avoid an increasing number of fireballs that move freely around the arena. The fight against Vian is a lot more forgiving than your previous fight against Bruce, but the strategy is slightly more complicated.

Before we delve further into the explanations, we advise you to first watch this very short video, which shows how the fight with Vian the Volatile goes.

1. Abilities and Strategy↑top

Vian the Volatile has three abilities.

• Fire Line deals heavy Fire damage in a line in front of him.
• Volatile Flames summons a fireball that will move freely around the arena. If you touch them, they deal heavy Fire damage. If you let Vian touch them, they will increase his spell casting speed.
• Lava Burst damages you with Fire damage.

Your main priority is to avoid Fire Line when Vian casts it. Simply stepping aside a few yards does the trick.

In addition to this, you need to avoid all the fireballs created by Volatile Flames. As the fight drags on, there will be more and more of these fireballs. Vian will always run after you (so that he is close to you for Fire Line). This means that you can control his position and should make him avoid the fireballs as well, as otherwise, his spell casting speed will be increased.

Regarding Lava Burst, you should generally not try to interrupt it. If you do interrupt it, Vian will start using melee attacks, which are more damaging that lava Burst, so you are better off letting him cast. The only exception to that is when you play a class with high mitigation against physical damage (Rogues or Plate wearers, for example).

2. Generic Advice↑top

• Do not panic. It does not matter if you mess up your rotation, but you need to stick to the strategy.
• If you are in for a long Brawler's Guild session, you may want to use a flask.
• Prepot! Use a Potion of Brawler's Might, a Potion of Brawler's Cunning, or a Potion of Brawler's Deftness right before Vian the Volatile appears, depending on what your main statistic is.
• When the 60-second cooldown on your potion is over, you can use the same potion again or you can use a Brawler's Healing Potion if you need healing.
• Group up with other players so that you benefit from each other's buffs.

3. This Article is a Collaborative Work!↑top

Most of the class-specific tips come from comments on our forums. So, please, if you have something to share or correct, make sure that you post in this thread (no need to register, guest posting is allowed)! The entire Icy Veins community will be grateful to you.

4. Death Knight↑top

Some of our readers shared their experience of the fight, as a Death Knight, in our forums, and we decided to reproduce their contribution(s) here.

NightShade said: Stood toe to toe and interrupted any cast I could. With Fire Line just move out of the way. If health gets low move away and pop a potion or bandage to get it up enough to continue. Try to position the boss so he does not get hit by the orbs he has bouncing around the room and they miss you as well.

5. Druid↑top

Some of our readers shared their experience of the fight, as a Druid, in our forums, and we decided to reproduce their contribution(s) here.

Shyenne said for Balance Druids: On this boss just cast and strafe to the side when he casts. I also interupted him which gave me a bit of time to pop a heal when I could. Hope this helps.

6. Hunter↑top

Some of our readers shared their experience of the fight, as a Hunter, in our forums, and we decided to reproduce their contribution(s) here.

KiyeLB did it as a Beast Mastery Hunter and said: This one is silly easy for hunters. Pet tanks. Avoid fire lines. Avoid fire falls. I only had to move twice during the fight. Interrupting Lava Burst is moot — it doesn't hurt the pet badly, and neither does his melee (ferocity spirit beast here).

shadowhawque said: Turn on growl, let the pet tank. If you do by chance take aggro and get Fire Line in your direction there are few easy options: Deterrence and strafe, turn to the side and Disengage, or Feign Death before he starts his cast to return aggro to your pet. Though, the fight went really quickly so I am only speculating on strategies. I just kited and spanked the guy using Disengage once.

7. Mage↑top

To deal with Vian the Volatile, we advise you to make use of the following Mage-specific abilities/talents/glyphs.

• If you play Fire, you may want to use Scorch as your Tier 1 talent. You will be able to use it while moving and it can proc Heating Up or transform it into Pyroblast!.
• Use Ice Barrier as your Tier 2 talents and always keep it up. Remember that Ice Barrier has a 1-minute duration, but only a 25-second cooldown. So, try to cast it before being teleported into the arena. This way, the cooldown will be over by the time Ice Barrier drops from the damage you take, and you will be able to recast it immediately.
• Use Frostjaw as your Tier 3 talent. You will be able to use it, in conjunction with Frost Nova (and Freeze from your Water Elemental, if you play Frost), to keep Vian the Volatile rooted, allowing you to get away and heal yourself with Evocation.
• Use Cauterize as your Tier 4 talent. This will save your life on many occasions. As soon as it procs, use Ice Block to remove the DoT effect it leaves on you. If you are using Glyph of Ice Block, removing Ice Block will cast an instant free Frost Nova and render you immune to spells for 3 seconds, which can be extremely useful.
• For your Tier 5 talent, prefer Nether Tempest or Living Bomb. Given that you have to move a lot, their instant cast time will be very beneficial. Since you do not need to keep Vian the Volatile away from you, the movement-reducing effect of Frost Bomb is not really needed.
• Use Invocation as your Tier 6 talent, in conjunction with Glyph of Evocation. This will enable you to heal yourself for 40% of your life, on a 10-second cooldown.
• In addition to Glyph of Evocation, which is nigh-mandatory, and Glyph of Ice Block, which we have already mentioned, you may find the glyphs listed below useful.
  • If you play Arcane, then Glyph of Arcane Power can be very useful for your initial burn phase (in conjunction with your trinkets procs/uses and your potion).
  • If you play Fire, then Glyph of Combustion can be very useful for your initial burn phase (in conjunction with your trinkets procs/uses and your potion).
  • Glyph of Frost Nova reduces the cooldown of Frost Nova, which can be very beneficial if you often find yourself in need of healing and need to root your opponent to cast Evocation.
  • If you play Arcane, then Glyph of Slow will cause the boss to be almost always slowed, giving you previous seconds to cast Evocation or damage your opponent without getting hit.
  • If you play Frost, then Glyph of Water Elemental will be very beneficial because it will allow your Water Elemental to cast while moving.

For a Mage, the keys aspects of defeating Vian are absorbing damage with Ice Barrier and using Frost Nova/ Blink/ Evocation to root him, get away, and heal yourself.

Do not hesitate to use all your cooldowns at the pull (including Mirror Image and Time Warp).

8. Monk↑top

Sorry, but we currently have no Monk specific information. We will do our best to update this section in a timely manner, but if you have done this fight, we would be delighted to hear about your strategy in the thread dedicated to Vian the Volatile in our forum (you can post without having to register first). Thank you!

9. Paladin↑top

Some of our readers shared their experience of the fight, as a Paladin, in our forums, and we decided to reproduce their contribution(s) here.

Tanek said for Retribution Paladins: I recommend a build of 211223. Most of the talent options can be interchanged but this is my preferred method and makes good use of the burst that Rets have available. Remember that with a 2 minute enrage timer the T14 4 set bonus will not help, so if you have other pieces that have better itemization, use them instead. The 2 set bonus is still beneficial if you have it. Keep Rebuke handy on your toolbar to interrupt what Lava Bursts you can. To burst I build up three HP and then use the following macro:

• #showtooltip Avenging Wrath
• /cast Inquistion
• /cast Avenging Wrath
• /cast Guardian of Ancient Kings
• /use Potion of Brawlers Might
• /use 10
• /use 14

This macro starts your Inquisition (provided you built up 3 HP), pops your major CDs, uses the Brawlers guild potion of choice, uses your glove enhancement if you are an engineer and uses any on use trinket in the bottom trinket slot.

As is the case with most fights in the brawlers guild you will be attacking the boss from the front a majority of the time which means being hit capped and expertise capped (up to the hard cap) is the best way to improve DPS.

10. Priest↑top

Sorry, but we currently have no Priest specific information. We will do our best to update this section in a timely manner, but if you have done this fight, we would be delighted to hear about your strategy in the thread dedicated to Vian the Volatile in our forum (you can post without having to register first). Thank you!

11. Rogue↑top

To deal with Vian the Volatile, we advise you to make use of the following Rogue-specific abilities/talents/glyphs.

• Note that using Vanish will cause the fight to stop and you will be teleported out of the arena.
• Maintaining Slice and Dice and Recuperate up is your priority. Because you will be relying on Recuperate for self-healing, Glyph of Recuperate is advised. When you do not need to refresh these two buffs, you can spend your Combo Points on Eviscerate/ Envenom (depending on your specialisation) or on Kidney Shot (if you feel the boss is killing you too fast).
• Use Combat Readiness as your Tier 2 talent and use this ability to prevent melee attacks from reaching you. Also make extensive use of Evasion (with Glyph of Evasion) and Cloak of Shadows (with Glyph of Cloak of Shadows).
• Leeching Poison should be your Tier 3 talent and you should use it as your Non-Lethal poison (together with Deadly Poison as your Lethal Poison).
• Choose Anticipation as your Tier 6 talent. You will make undoubtedly make mistakes in your rotation, so being able to store Combo Points will come in handy.
• The three major glyphs that we have already mentioned ( Glyph of Cloak of Shadows, Glyph of Evasion, Glyph of Recuperate) should be preferred.

Provided that you avoid Fire Line properly, Soul Leech and Recuperate should allow you to finish the fight at full health.

If you get hit by Fire Line, you can interrupt a few casts of Lava Burst and mitigate the subsequent melee attacks with Evasion and Combat Readiness.

We do not advise to use Subtlety for the Brawler's Guild, as you will not be able to use Backstab, your main damaging ability.

12. Shaman↑top

To deal with Vian the Volatile, we advise you to make use of the following Shaman-specific abilities/talents/glyphs.

• When using your cooldowns (abilities, trinkets, consumables, etc.), you need to make sure that you do not use Bloodlust/ Heroism and Elemental Mastery at the same time. Use Elemental Mastery after Bloodust/Heroism runs out.
• Use Astral Shift as your Tier 1 talent. It will enable you to sometimes reduce the damage you take. Enhancement Shamans can also use Shamanistic Rage for the same purpose.
• Totemic Projection, as your Tier 3 talent, will enable you to easily relocate your totems as you move around.
• Use Elemental Mastery as your Tier 4 talent. Cast it at the beginning of the fight to increase your initial burst damage.
• Use Ancestral Guidance as your Tier 5 talent. Cast it whenever you are in need of healing.
• Use Primal Elementalist as your Tier 6 talent to further increase your initial damage burst.
• If you play Elemental, Glyph of Unleashed Lightning will be useful for casting Lightning Bolt as you move out of the way of Fire Line.
• If you play Enhancement, you may find the glyphs below to be useful.
  • Glyph of Feral Spirit increases the healing you get from your Feral Spirit wolves. This makes Feral Spirit a very good healing cooldown.
  • Glyph of Healing Storm increases your healing for each stack of Maelstrom Weapon that you have, which is very beneficial if you want to spend your stacks on Healing Surge.
• Glyph of Capacitor Totem can be useful for stunning Vian the Volatile more easily with Capacitor Totem.

As an Elemental Shaman, perform your normal Elemental rotation. Thanks to Glyph of Unleashed Lightning, you can keep casting when you move to avoid Fire Line. To heal yourself, cast Healing Stream Totem, Ancestral Guidance, or Healing Surge.

As an Enhancement Shaman, perform your Enhancement Shaman rotation. If you want to heal yourself, cast Healing Stream Totem or Ancestral Guidance, spend your stacks of Maelstrom Weapon on Healing Surge or call forth your Feral Spirit wolves.

13. Warlock↑top

To deal with Vian the Volatile, we advise you to make use of the following Warlock-specific abilities/talents/glyphs.

• For self-healing and survival purposes, you should use Soul Leech as your Tier 2 talent and Glyph of Siphon Life. Soul Leech will cause your main spells to give you large shields for a fraction of the damage they deal, while Glyph of Siphon Life will cause Corruption (Affliction/Demonology) or Immolate (Destruction) to heal you for a percentage of the damage it deals.
• Use Mortal Coil as your Tier 2 talent. Every 45 seconds, you can use it so heal yourself for 15% of your maximum health and to fear your opponent for 3 seconds.
• Dark Bargain is an extremely useful ability and your best option for your Tier 4 talent. Always try to use it at the end of the fight, if you need a few extra seconds to kill your opponent. Note that when Dark Bargain runs out, you will often die from the damage that it has prevented you from taking.
• Use Grimoire of Supremacy as your Tier 5 talent. This way, you can use your Voidlord to make the fight trivial.
• Kil'jaeden's Cunning will prove invaluable as a Tier 6 talent, as it allows you to use all your spells while moving.
• In addition to Glyph of Siphon Life, which is mandatory, you may find the glyphs listed below useful.
  • Glyph of Healthstone increases the healing from your Healthstone, but this increased healing is done over 10 seconds. You should try to use your improved Healthstone when you have taken about 30% of your health as damage. This will help you make the fight last longer, giving you more time to kill your opponent.

To easily defeat Vian, use your Voidlord. It will tank Vian for the entire duration of the fight. Fire Line and the fireballs from Volatile Flames deal AoE damage, so your pet will not suffer from these attacks. The only source of damage will be Lava Burst, which your pet will easily survive, thanks to the healing provided by Soul Leech.

Note that Fire Line will sometimes target you and not your pet (this is because it targets a random enemy). When this happens, Vian will turn to face you, so you should pay attention to that and move aside while he is casting.

14. Warrior↑top

Some of our readers shared their experience of the fight, as a Warrior, in our forums, and we decided to reproduce their contribution(s) here.

NightShade said: Stood toe to toe and interrupted any cast I could. With Fire Line just move out of the way. If health gets low move away and pop a potion or bandage to get it up enough to continue. Try to position the boss so he does not get hit by the orbs he has bouncing around the room and they miss you as well.

Wheeler said This fight is only marginally more difficult than Bruce, it's again about movement and observation, however.

The main threats in this fight are his Fire Line ability, and the Flame Orbs you will see bouncing around the room (Their numbers will increase throughout the fight).

All you have to do whenever you see Vian casting the Fire Line ability, is move around him a little to a point where the Fire Line isn't, and if you can't kill him fast enough, perhaps to a new location to ensure you're nowhere near them when he summons more.

As for the Flame Orbs, you need to avoid both you and the boss being hit by them, as they increase his casting speed and spell damage by 5% per orb that hits anyone. - The best way to avoid them is to fight the boss where he appears, as no orbs start heading towards that point for a while during the fight, however if your damage output isn't high enough, as with Fire Line, you may have to relocate.

If health becomes an issue, Die by the Sword can reduce your incoming damage by 20%, giving your Second Wind a chance to catch up.