Halls of Reflection Walkthrough

The third 5-man instance in the Icecrown Citadel area is Halls of Reflection. There are technically three bosses in the Halls of Reflection, although the third one is less of a fight and more of a case of running away like a little girl. The first two boss fights in Halls of Reflection are very similar.

Halls of Reflection Walkthrough: Falric

As soon as you get into the first room of Halls of Reflection, run and hide in the corner behind Falric. You’ll be able to see him, although he’s not activated just yet. He starts by throwing five rounds of adds at you. All the adds are undead, so paladins can cut through them like butter. The key to fighting Falric is to stay in the corner behind him. DPS and the healer must bunch in the corner in between rounds of adds, with the tank out front. It’s vital that all DPS and the tank stay in the line of sight of the healer. Since the battle takes place in a corner, it’s easy to get out of the healer’s line of sight, but if you do that, you probably won’t get healed. The nice things about these mobs is that they come straight to you, so don’t chase after them too much. Let the tank draw them to him before you pounce on em’.

Falric starts attacking after the fifth round of adds. Just kill him off like you would in any tank and spank fight.

Halls of Reflection Walkthrough: Marwyn

The battle against Marwyn is the same as the one against Falric. You can stay in the corner behind where Falric was. It’s not necessary to run over to his corner. Marwyn activates after five rounds of the same undead adds you just killed before you fought Falric. Healers should watch for which party member gets hit by Shared Suffering. Just heal that party through it, or you’ll kill everyone. All party members should also remember to stay out of the circles on the floor. Other than those two things, the battle against Marwyn is your basic tank and spank once again.

Halls of Reflection Walkthrough: The Lich King

When you meet up with the Lich King, just remember to keep your distance from him, and when it’s time to run, run. As you’re fleeing, he’ll throw up several walls and toss mobs at you each time. Just kill them and keep running when the wall comes down. Eventually your gunship will come up and rescue you.

Pit of Saron Walkthrough

After you defeat the bosses in Forge of Souls, you can move on to the Pit of Saron. You’ll have to beat three bosses in this area. The Pit of Saron is a large open area with mobs scattered around. A good tank will know the right path to follow through the mobs, so run it a few times on your DPS spec before you try to tank it.

Pit of Saron Walkthrough: Forgemaster Garfrost

The first boss you’ll come across in the Pit of Saron is Forgemaster Garfrost. The battle is made up of three phases. Each time Forgemaster Garfrost runs over to his forge briefly, you know you’re heading into the next phase. At the beginning of the second phase, he forges a frozen bade, which doubles his frost damage. The third phase begins when he forges the frostborn mace, which again doubles his frost damage (or triples it in heroic mode).

During all phases of the fight, Forgemaster Garfrost tosses out chunks of saronite. Just be ready to dodge them. Otherwise the battle is pretty much a tank and spank. All party members must hide behind the saronite boulders every time he forges a new weapon or anytime your Permafrost stack gets too high. Permafrost causes 200 frost damage and stacks up to 30 times. It will easily kill you if you’re not paying attention. Running behind the boulders cuts off Forgemaster Garfrost’s line of sight and allows the Permafrost stacks to fall off so he’s got to start from zero again when he comes back out.

Pit of Saron Walkthrough: Krick and Ick

After you beat Forgemaster Garfrost, get ready for Krick and Ick. Krick is a little guy who rides on Ick’s back, so don’t worry too much about him. You can only target Ick. Tanks need to keep kiting Ick out of the green circles, and party members must stay out of those green circles. They’re poison areas which will kill you if you stand in them. Also watch for the purple mines which start popping up. Again, stay out of them and you’ll be fine. Also watch for the toxic poison cloud. Basically just knock Krick and Ick around, keeping out of the colored areas they create.

Pit of Saron Walkthrough: Scourgelord Tyrannus

The third boss in the Pit of Saron is Scourgelord Tyrannus. Once again a basic tank and spank approach is perfect for this encounter. Just stay out of the icy patches created by Scourgelord Tyrannus’ mount, which flies overhead during the battle. Also watch out for Overlord’s Brand. This spell is particularly nasty because it either kills the tank or heals Scourgelord Tyrannus, depending on whether he cast it on a DPS member or the healer. If Overlord Brand is cast on a DPS member, simply stop fighting until it’s over. If it’s cast on the healer, you’ll have to take a break from healing until it falls off.

Forge of Souls Walkthrough

Forge of Souls Strategy Guide

There are three instances in Icecrown Citadel, which was part of patch 3.3, the last major piece of the Lich King expansion. Forge of Souls includes two new bosses. You’ve got to beat both of them before you can go on to the next Icecrown Citadel instance. Forge of Souls is a 5-man instance available in both normal and heroic modes. You have to beat the bosses in normal mode before you can attempt heroic mode.

Bronjahm Strategy Guide

The first boss you’ll encounter in the Forge of Souls is Bronjahm. Phase one of the battle is simply a tank and spank fight. The key to phase one of the fight against Bronjahm is the corrupted Soul Fragments. They show up as purple portal looking things, after Bronjahm casts Corrupt Soul on a party member. All party members must watch for this spell to be cast on them and run as far away as possible because the purple Corrupt Soul Fragment spawns from their position and heals Bronjahm when it reaches him. The greater distance the soul fragment has to travel to reach Bronjahm, the more time DPS will have to take it out before it reaches him. DPS MUST remember to switch to these soul fragments every time they appear.

Phase two of the battle against Bronjahm begins when he casts Soulstorm. It’s a whirling attack which will kill any party member that’s standing in it. Just stay in the middle and you’ll be fine. Bronjahm also fears party members during Soulstorm, so healers should watch for this and try to heal through it if the party member doesn’t have an ability to free himself from it.

The Devourer of Souls Strategy Guide

The Devourer of Souls is the second boss encounter in the Forge of Souls. Healers will be especially tied up healing the tank in this fight because his ability Phantom Blast does a lot of damage straight on the tank. This ability can interrupt it, so use all interrupting abilities you have on the Devourer of Souls.

The main thing to watch out for during the battle against the Devourer of Souls is when he casts Mirrored Soul. It’s pretty obvious right before he does it because the game tells you. Mirrored Soul kills the tank if your DPS doesn’t let up, so all DPS Must stop whenever he casts this spell.

He also casts a bunch of adds which can’t be targeted, so don’t worry too much about those. Just don’t stay in one place and let them kill you.

Icecrown Citadel The 1st boss

Icecrown Citadel Dungeon

The first wing of the new Icecrown Citadel dungeon is open! This 10- and 25-man instance is being rolled out piece by piece, so for right now you’ve got just the first four bosses to chew on. After the entire instance is rolled out, there will be 12 bosses total.

All throughout the Icecrown Citadel dungeon you’ll automatically have the de-buff Chill of the throne, which cuts your dodge rating by 20 percent. But on the plus side, you can change difficulties from boss to boss within the Icecrown Citadel dunegeon.

Icecrown Citadel: Lord Marrowgar

Boss #1 in the first wing of Icecrown Citadel is Lord Marrowgar. He deals physical and frost damage. Use three tanks in the fight against Lord Marrowgar. He’s got one power that hits your melee party members very hard, so having three tanks for the 10-man version is simply to help soak up some of that damage. Every party member should watch for this power, which is Bone Storm. It’s pretty obvious right before he casts it because he screams, “Bone Storm!” and then starts spinning really fast. Those closest to him take the most damage, so tanks and melee DPS should stay as far away as they can from him while still hitting him.

The other major spell to watch out for is Coldflame. It shows ups as bluish flames shooting across the floor. Just get out of the way when it’s heading toward you and don’t stand in it.

Sometimes Lord Marrowgar will cast a spell which impales a party member. Ranged DPS need to help take those spikes out and free their follow party members.

Icecrown Citadel: Lady Deathwhisper

After you defeat Lord Marrowgar you’ll meet up with Lady Deathwhisper. The biggest pain in the butt about this battle is all the adds she spawns continuously. You can’t tank Lady Deathwhisper fpr the first phase of the battle because she’s got Mana Shield up, so tanks temporarily become DPS.

Split your party into two groups and have one group focus on the adds Lady Deathwhisper spawns every 60 seconds. The other group stays on Lady Deathwhisper. You might consider splitting into ranged and melee and letting the melee group take the adds, but this may not be possible if you don’ t have an adequate number of melee DPS. Just remember the adds spawn in groups on the edges of the rooms, alternating sides each minute.

Avoid the green circles on the floor. That’s Lady Deathwhisper’s Death and Decay spell. If you stand in it, you’ll die, so run away from it. If you’re in 25-man mode, Lady Deathwhisper will cast a mind control spell on one or three party members. Whoever’s got crowd control abilities should use them on those party members.

After Lady Deathwhisper’s Mana Shield is down, the fight reverts to a traditional tank and spank. Tanks need to taunt off each other through this phase because Lady Deathwhisper has an ability which reduces threat levels. The adds in phase two can’t be killed. Just stay away from them because they do a lot of damage.

Icecrown Gunship Battle

The third encounter in Icecrown Citadel is fun and quite different from any other part of the game. It’s a gunship battle between the Horde and Alliance. Before the battle begins, divide your party into three groups. You’ll need three gunners, a boarding party, and a protective party. Assign your main tank to your boarding party and your secondary tank to your protective party. The members of the boarding party must grab a rocket pack and equip it before the battle begins.

Whenever the guns are frozen, gunners should switch over to regular DPS. This is one reason to choose ranged DPS for your gunners. This way they don’t even have to leave the gun when it’s frozen. They can easily switch over to their ranged weapons.

Your protective party takes out the enemy boarding party, and at times in the fight your boarding party will rocket over to the other ship to do damage there. In addition to damaging the enemy ship, your DPS also must take out the enemy guys as quickly as possible. The longer they’re in the battle, the stronger they get, so take them out while they’re slightly easier to kill. Also dodge the enemy fire from the cannons. It’s pretty easy to do if you’re paying attention.

Icecrown Citadel: Deathbringer Saurfang

The final boss in the first wing of Icecrown Citadel is Deathbringer Saurfang. He’s a blood death knight, so right there you already know a little bit about how to beat him. He spawns adds every 39 seconds, and his power increases by how much blood power he collects.

Ranged DPS need to spread out because of a power called Blood Nova. There’s no reason to let him damage more than one of your party members by allowing ranged DPS to bunch up. Blood Nova targets one party member and also hits anyone standing near him. Ranged DPS are also responsible for picking up Deathbringer Saurfang’s adds. Make sure your melee DPS doesn’t go after those adds because they give Deahtbringer Saurfang blood energy if they hit anyone. All party members should keep their distance and let ranged DPS kill them from afar.

A ways into the fight Deathbringer Saurfang will cast Mark of the Fallen Champion. Healers must heal the party member through it. If the player who gets hit by this ability dies, Deathbringer Saurfang gets healed a bit, so this should be a priority for healers in addition to keeping tanks alive.

Patch 3.3 has finally arrived!

It has been some time coming, but we are on the road to wrapping up the Lich King expansion. While there are still some major bugs to be worked through, it is a major step forward.

One of the highlights of patch 3.3 is the new dungeon finder system. Most people will know the old eye on the task bar that managed the “Looking for Group” feature. The old system used to put you in a special chat channel and listed what you wanted to be, but getting the group together was largely up to you. The new dungeon finder system that has replaced it in patch 3.3 will put together the group for you. As an added bonus, it will use players from all active realms.

Why do I want a group from all realms? Well, the more players you sort from, the better your odds will be of finding other players.

What about travel time? Glad you asked. There is no travel time for any instance through the dungeon finder. The mini map located in the upper right has a matching green eye when you are in queue. The eye teleports you to the instance when your group is ready, and afterward it sends you back to where you originally left from.

The first dungeon you run per day awards a special gift. The lower level dungeons provide a bag of useful items, and higher level dungeons give emblems you can use to buy gear gear.

For my gameplay money, the dungeon finder was the best addition WoW has had since the auction house.

Great gaming!

Arthas Will Have To Wait

In order to keep things going until Azeroth is shaken to the ground blizzard will be releasing the content for patch 3.3 in short burst. The article and the link to the rest are below happy reading.

Blizzard has delivered the 3.3 patch for its World of Warcraft MMO and its biggest addition to the game has been the Icecrown Citadel, the place where the Lich King resides. A lot of players have been wondering what the developers are planning to do to keep the experience fresh until the next expansion, Cataclysm, arrives and the answer seems to be rather simple: Blizzard will keep players from getting access to much of the Icecrown areas for quite some time. The rest of the story.