Druid News

I know, I know: No one cares about ICC any more ... Everything is all about Cataclysm ... So why bother talking about it? That's far from the truth, though. ICC still matters to many people. However, if you happen to be of the more pragmatic sort, then hear me out for a little bit. Most of the server-first and world-first kills may have already been claimed, but there is always loot to be had, gear that can be helpful for either soloing things now or leveling in the expansion. Beyond simple gear, heroic ICC is simply fun. People have argued that hard modes aren't quite the same as a truly difficult raid encounter because they are the same as the standard encounters -- perhaps true to a point, but heroic modes are really fun when they are done correctly. Heroic Putricide feels like a completely different encounter when done on heroic mode and is extremely fun.

Perhaps this issue is a little bit late in coming, and for that I apologize -- but it's better late than never, aye? To start with, the first order of business is to ensure that your guild is prepared to go against heroic encounters. The ICC buff can be very intoxicating to some players, and it may make you feel more prepared than you really are for these encounters. Perhaps, in some cases, you are, and perhaps in others, you are not. Not all heroic encounters are created equal; some are far more difficult than others. Since this issue will deal with the opening Lower Spire and the Blood wing, the three encounters you'd want to start with would be Marrowgar, Gunship and Blood Princes; Deathwhisper, Saurfang and Blood Queen Lana'thel would be the three more difficult encounters in these two sectors.

Lord Marrowgar

Heroic Marrowgar isn't all that difficult of an encounter, nor is it all that different from the standard encounter. There is actually only one difference between the standard encounter and the hard-mode encounter -- that being that Marrowgar will now use Bone Spike Graveyard during Bonestorm. Other than that (and increased damage and health), the encounter is exactly the same as what you've been doing all along.

General tactics

• The entire raid, barring hunters and obviously tanks, should group up directly behind Marrowgar, right inside of the hitbox. This will prevent Marrowgar from using Coldflame on the raid. Marrowgar will still use it on the hunters, who cannot stand inside the hitbox due to their minimum range, and the tanks.
• The raid should spread out a few seconds before Bonestorm starts in order to mitigate the initial damage. Marrowgar's Bonestorm will then follow one of the farthest people from his current location. Having the raid spread out will assist with mitigating damage against the raid.
• Predominantly, ranged DPS will be best choice to deal with Bone Spikes during Bonestorm, due to Coldflame's being spread during this time, which will either cut off melee players from the victims or put them on the spikes themselves.

• Even though Starfall is a great single-target damage boost, you should try and save it for Bone Spikes whenever possible, particularly during phases when the raid is clustered behind Marrowgar. Two stars per second and splash damage will significantly assist in bringing them down.
• At times, it is best to use Wrath as opposed to Starfire when dealing with Bone Spikes, even at the cost of Eclipse. Although this does result in lower overall DPS, Starfire still has a prohibitive cast time and, particularly during Bonestorm, you will have little time to stand and nuke straight out.
• If you find yourself cut off from the raid and taking damage, which can occur during Bonestorm, it is often best to throw a couple of HoTs on yourself as you run back into range of the rest of the group. This will help keep you alive in instances where your healers often cannot.

Deathwhisper is one of the hardest heroic encounters within this sector and one of the harder ones within ICC in general. The key differences between standard and heroic is merely a matter of numbers, as she doesn't gain any new abilities. Instead of Mind Controlling a single target, Deathwhisper will choose three victims each time; more ghosts will spawn during phase 2; and three adds will spawn on the standard time frame from either the left or right side during phase 2, as well. The difficulty of this encounter comes more from the chaos that can occur during phase 2; thus, defeating the encounter is more a matter of keeping everything under control.

General tactics

• During phase 1, the raid should be split evenly on either side of Deathwhisper, with the adds being allowed to run up onto the stage. All of the melee adds should be tanked right next to Deathwhisper, with ranged players killing them off while the caster adds are taken down by the melee players and generally not tanked at all.
• During phase 2, ranged DPS will be the primary source of damage against Deathwhisper. The only melee DPS that should be attacking her should be those responsible for interrupts; all other melee need to be dealing with the additional adds that spawn.
• You only need to use a single tank on Deathwhisper during phase 2, as she is untauntable, making tank-swapping difficult. All Misdirects and Tricks of the Trade should be focused on this tank, since their threat generation is going to be diminished. If ranged DPS gets close to pulling threat, they can peel off and assist with adds to allow time for the tank to get a larger threat lead.

• Crowd-controlling the mind-controlled characters is extremely important, and as a balance druid, you have the best method of doing so. Cyclone lasts just about as long as the effect does, and it prevents cleave or other AoE effects from hitting the players or breaking the CC. Personally, I use VuhDo and have it set up to where I can simply right click the MCed player's name in order to cast Cyclone on them; this allows for a fast response.
• Starfall is very tricky to use at any period during phase 1, and usually, it's best to just forgo the ability completely. Although its damage is high, since the adds take time to travel to the tanks and there are MCed players running around, it can be fairly risky to use. During phase 2, it's easier to use; just watch for the MC timer.
• Threat on Deathwhisper should never be an issue for a balance druid, provided you have enough hunters and rogues. If you do have threat issues, your only option is to assist with adds for a while.

There is no difference between the standard and heroic version of this encounter beyond additional health for the other gunship. This is the easiest encounter in the entire instance and frankly is something of a joke in...