by JR Cook - 11 years ago     show comments

Patch 5.4 is bringing with it a host of new features, from in-game excitement such as the Proving Grounds and the Timeless Isle, to larger structural changes such as Connected Realms and the removal of Arena teams. But if you’re anything like me then there’s only one thing on your radar (or is that raid-ar) for the next patch – the Siege of Orgrimmar. Not only do we finally get to put a stop to Garrosh, but we get to do it (mostly) inside the iconic Horde city. This is shaping up as one of the most exciting raid encounters yet, as Alliance and Horde join forces to bring an end to the crazed Warchief, and (perhaps) install somebody new.

Siege will encompass 14 boss fights (separated across four wings for Flex and LFR) beginning in the Vale of Eternal Blossoms, which has been corrupted by Sha energy and drained to reveal the entrance to the lower sections of Mogu’shan Palace. Once dealing with the threat in the Vale, raiders are then transported to Durotar where they will lead the assault on Garrosh’s forces in – and under – Orgrimmar.

Check out what you’ll be up against below. Note that any references to strategy, basic as they are, could be outdated as it is based on PTR testing only.

First wing: Vale of Eternal Sorrows (4 bosses)

Immerseus

The ancient inhabitants of Pandaria recognized the vital importance of the lifegiving Pools of Power, building an underground system of aqueducts to safeguard the waters and nurture life in the Vale of Eternal Blossoms. The touch of corruption has animated and twisted these waters, and Immerseus stands as an unnatural embodiment of the Vale’s sorrow.

The first encounter in Siege will task you with cleansing Immersues, the Pandaren spirit of water, in a fight reminiscent of a few earlier encounters including Tsulong and all the way back to The Luker Below. The fight itself is not very complicated, which is always welcome for the first boss of a tier, as it allows at least some gear to be gained each week. Immerseus has two phases: his normal phase, and the corruption phase. The normal phase is fairly simple – tank and spank, and move out of the void zones on the ground. Occasionally Immersues will create a large water torrent that slowly spins around the room – keep moving to avoid it. When his health is depleted, the corruption phase begins and adds appear. Some are damageable, and DPS must kill them as fast as possible, while some are healable, and healers must heal this to full as fast as possible. Killing/healing adds will deplete his Corruption bar, which must be emptied to complete the fight. The two phases alternate until this happens.

The Fallen Protectors

The Golden Lotus and Shado-Pan guardians of the Vale of Eternal Blossoms were caught in the epicenter of the devastating blast that scarred the Vale, and torn apart by the dark energies. Their spirits linger in the place they once protected, confused and tormented by their failure.

In the second encounter, raiders will face their first council-type fight of Siege of Orgrimmar. This time you will face three pandaren – the brewmaster Rook Stonetoe, the rogue He Softfoot, and the priest Sun Tenderheart. Council fights this early in the progression path can always be cause for concern, as there’s always many abilities to learn and deal with, which some guilds can find overwhelming. In addition to the three abilities each enemy has, at 66% and 33% health, they will cast Desperate Measures, which brings new adds into the fight that also must be dealt with. These adds have abilities of their own: some can be tanked, some can’t, and one even fixates on certain players. These are the phases of the fight that really test raid co-ordination, so it’s important to only ever have one of the three pandas using their Desperate Measures at a time. Other than that, you will want to rotate DPS on the targets as they must all be finished within 15 seconds of each other.

Norushen

Some say that the mogu race was created in the image of this titanic construct, left deep beneath Pandaria to watch over and guard the continent’s darkest and most dangerous secret.

Despite the encounter being titled Norushen, you don’t actually fight him. Instead, the raid will face the Amalgam of Corruption. This encounter has a fairly strict enrage timer at 7 minutes, so doing maximum DPS is important, and is somewhat reminiscent of Garajal in T14 and the Halion in the Ruby Sanctum. Additionally, this fight employs a similar mechanic to Primordius in that unless the player has been purified, he will do substantially less DPS to the boss. To get purified, players enter a separate reality by clicking orbs in the room, where they will face a spec-appropriate challenge to remove their corruption. Meanwhile in the main phase, the raid will have to deal with adds that spawn, which not only deal damage but also increase the damage of the Amalgam. In addition, the Amalgam has plenty of abilities of his own, including another spinning beam, as well as a tank-swap ability and some raid-wide AoE. This fight seems like it will pose a significant challenge for undergeared groups as they contend with the DPS check of not only the Amalgam but also his adds.

Sha of Pride

The seventh sha, the Sha of Pride, was the final burden to which Emperor Shaohao clung, shrouding the land in mist and biding its time for millennia. When Garrosh awakened the Heart of Y’shaarj, the force of his arrogance caused this dark energy to coalesce in the chamber where the Heart was unearthed.

Finally, the seventh Sha is revealed and he takes pride of place as the final boss of the first wing in Siege of Orgrimmar. The Sha of Pride is somewhat similar to Cho’gall from Bastion of Twilight: the main challenge is managing your “Pride” counter by successfully avoiding attacks, as any damage taken is generally going to increase it. Similar to the Cho’gall encounter, hitting 25, 50, 75 and 100 pride has various effects, but instead of activating immediately most take effect during the Sha’s Swelling Pride attack, which occurs each time he hits 100 energy. Needless to say, things get worse as you gain Pride, however Norushen is here to help out, providing players periodically with immunity to Pride, as well as a hefty damage and healing buff. When the Sha hits 30% all Pride is reset and the Sha will become more powerful, turning the fight into a DPS race against how quickly the raid will gain Pride.

Second wing: Gates of Retribution (4 bosses)

Galakras

Warlord Zaela formed a close bond with Garrosh during events in the Twilight Highlands, and she and her Dragonmaw orcs have pledged loyalty to Garrosh’s cause. Riding atop the fearsome Galakras, a direct descendant of the cataclysmic progenitor of all dragonkind, Zaela oversees the naval defense of Orgrimmar.

The second stanza of Siege of Orgrimmar opens with a typical add-wave fight, in which the raid must defeat waves of adds, followed by mini bosses, in order to open up access to cannons which you must then use to hit the boss, who is flying around above the battle, and properly engage her. There are many different add types that need to be dealt with in differing ways, such as adds that will charge random people, adds that will leave pools of bad on the ground, and adds that will heal others. On top of that there are four different mini-bosses that will need to be handled as well, and raiders will need to pay lots of attention to their positioning, as many abilities are quite deadly and one particular attack will be a one-shot. Once the boss has been brought down to the ground, there will be intense healing necessary as Galakras does increasing amounts of AoE damage to the raid. Based on PTR testing, Galakras is going to be a particularly difficult encounter for a lot of groups, as the damage dealt by Galakras seems to be overwhelming most groups.

Iron Juggernaut

This mechanical terror, designed nearly as much for intimidation as destruction, is the centerpiece of Garrosh’s siege weaponry. Crafted in the image of the mighty Kor’kron war scorpion, the Iron Juggernaut guards the gates of Orgrimmar, crushing any who would rise up to challenge Garrosh’s True Horde.

The Iron Juggernaut – aka mechanical scorpion of death and laser beams – is a repeating two-phase encounter at the front of Orgrimmar. His two phases are the Assault phase and the Siege phase. Assault is the more traditional phase, in which he must be tanked, and there are numerous interesting abilities to deal with in order to lessen raid damage. Rupture lines will spread out from his body and must be avoided, as to does the large red circle of death that will appear on the ground. There will also be Crawler Mines to deal with, which can inflict 500,000 damage to the raid or 850k to one person (before any damage reduction) if they “disarm” it. In Siege mode, the Iron Juggernaut will no longer be tanked, instead gaining new abilities. The most dangerous of these new abilities are his Explosive Tar and Cutter Laser. Explosive Tar will place a pool of tar on the ground that will deal damage and slow anybody in it, however the real danger is from the Cutter Laser, which will focus on and chase a player. If a Cutter Laser ever passes through the Explosive Tar, the raid will take 500k damage. Ouch.

 Kor’kron Dark Shaman

Haromm and Kardris trained thousands of shaman to whisper reverently to the elements to requisition their aid. The army of Garrosh, however, does not ask – they take what they desire in the name of the True Horde. Dark Shamanism forces the elements into servitude, twisting them into burned-out ash, corrupted waters, and toxic air.

Finally we get to kill some orcs! The Dark Shaman (there’s two) begin the encounter inside Garrosh’s room, though it’s beneficial to pull them out of there so that the raid has enough space to move. The shaman encounter winds up over the course of the fight, as the shaman drop new totems to gain new abilities at 90%, 80%, and 70%, before finally popping their own bloodlust at 30%. Raiders will have to be wary of tornadoes, walls of green bad, and a particularly nasty ability called Falling Ash, which will drop a great ball from the sky and hit anybody within ten yards for 999,999 damage (possibly a reference to the Final Fantasy ability, which always did 9999 damage). One of the most important abilities to deal with, however, will be the Foul Slimes, which deal 100k per second to anybody with 3 yards, and will need to be kited. There are no new abilities after 70%, however the Frenzy at 30% will increase their damage and haste by 30%, making it a very dangerous period to get through.

General Nazgrim

Once a grunt in service of the former warchief, Thrall, General Nazgrim rose quickly through the ranks after overwhelming victories in Grizzly Hills and sunken city of Vashj’ir. Fiercly loyal to the Horde and bound by a rigorous code of honor and duty, Nazgrim will hold the line for his warchief until his dying breath.

The final boss in the Gates of Retribution wing is the warrior, General Nazgrim, whose encounter uses an interesting rage mechanic to determine which abilities he will be able to use. It is important that you manage how much rage he gains, in order to lock him into his less damaging abilities, which cost less rage. The rage abilities are also on something of a slippery slope, as the higher-cost rage abilities will all help him to gain more rage, thus getting into a very dangerous cycle that could prove very difficult to break. Nazgrim will also be assisted by Kor’kron forces, which will include four different add types (five on heroic): warrior, mage, rogue, shaman and hunter (heroic only), which will be summoned throughout the fight. Each has a couple of abilities, including the shaman having the ability to heal, and so must be dealt with accordingly.

Third wing: The Underhold (3 bosses)

Malkorok

Malkorok has been Garrosh’s most loyal and trusted lieutenant throughout the Pandaria campaign. When the Warchief needed a volunteer to infuse with the power of Y’Shaarj, it was only natural that Malkorok would offer without hesitation.

The orc slaughter continues into the third wing, as this time we face Malkorok, who has been infused with the power of Y’Shaarj. Malkorok is the healer gimmick fight of the tier, as Malkorok’s room is filled with an Ancient Miasma, which turns all healing into an absorb shield up to 100% of the player’s health. As such, healers should be keeping the absorb shields topped off as best they can, as damage to a player’s health cannot be immediately healed back. Malkorok also has a rage bar, similar to Nazgrim, and when it hits 100 he enters a Blood Rage by absorbing the Ancient Miasma. As you’d expect, he does a lot more damage during this phase, and completing each Blood Rage will increase his overall damage by 25% each time. Malkorok also has a strict six-minute enrage timer, meaning it’s going to be one of the more hectic fights of the tier.

Spoils of Pandaria

When Garrosh gazed across Pandaria, he saw untapped power. During the course of his campaign, Garrosh has plundered weapons, treasures, and artifacts of the pandaren, the mogu, and the mantid. They are kept in a warehouse deep within his underground base, guarded by a mysterious security system that appears to be of Titan origins.

Time for another add battle! This time, however, there’s not even a boss at the end. Instead, the raid takes place within a warehouse, filled with boxes of mogu and mantid adds. The goal is to complete each quadrant of the warehouse by killing enough adds to power the lever at the end of the room and deactivate the Titan defense system. In order to do so, the raid will have to split into two groups to start opening crates in the two quadrants that are available at the start of the encounter. The groups then move on to the quadrant that they open up, so each group only has to deal with two quadrants. In addition to the adds, there are also Pandaren spirits which will give buffs out to tanks, healers or DPS, which will likely by essential in completing the encounter within the time limit.

Thok the Bloodthirsty

When the Isle of Giants was discovered off the coast of Pandaria, teeming with primal devilsaurs, Garrosh sent men to capture some of the most fearsome specimens, hoping to subjugate them and use them as beasts of war. Countless orcish beastmasters have fallen to Thok’s jaws as they struggle to trap and cage him, yet the creature’s thirst for blood remains unslaked.

If you thought Horridon was big, you ain’t seen nothing yet! Thok the Bloodthirsty is a huge devilsaur that has been captured by Garrosh, and he lives up to his name. Another repeating two-phase fight similar to Iron Juggernaut, Thok transitions from his normal phase to his second phase when he senses the raid dropping into low health. If 5 players in 10 man (15 in 25 man) drop below 50% health, Thok will sense blood and engage his second phase where he will fixate on a raid member and chase them around his room. At the same time, an add will spawn, who will drop a key to one of the cages around the room. These cages unlock an NPC, upon whom Thok will fixate, and then devour. He gains their abilities and returns to phase 1. There’s only three NPCs, so it’s expected that Thok will be dead by the third time you need to go through the second phase. Thok rounds out the third wing.

Fourth Wing: Downfall (3 bosses)

Siegecrafter Blackfuse

Helix Blackfuse was the only goblin with the combination of engineering prowess, professionalism and ruthlessness to satisfy Garrosh in his search for the engineer of the True Horde. His love for his creations (and for the gold they fetch) blinds him to the fate that his fellow goblins are likely to face should Garrosh’s plans come to fruition.

Kicking off the final wing is the goblin engineer named Helix Blackfuse. Blackfuse pilots a shredder, which gives him a heap of vehicle-based abilities. In addition, he’ll summon more shredder adds, which must be tanked away from Blackfuse. The main gimmick of the fight is the large conveyor belt area behind the main area, which is only accessible by traveling through some Mario-like pipes. Entering the pipe drops you on the conveyor belt where some of Blackfuse’s weapons travel along to attack the raid. You’ll have the ability to take out only one each time, so decisions must be made about which ability you would like to block, and he has quite a few to choose from, including some crawler mines, an electromagnet, and laser turrets. The belt is protected by lines of fire that must be dodged. Returning to the main platform is achieved by travelling back through the pipes.

Paragons of the Klaxxi

The nine surviving Klaxxi’va Paragons are ancient champions of the mantid who fought alongside the Wakener against the madness of Empress Shek’zeer. But the paragons, as do all mantid, hold a far deeper loyalty. When Garrosh unearthed the heart of Y’Shaarj, the paragons followed the whispers of their ancient creator to the iron halls beneath Orgrimmar.

The penultimate fight in Siege of Orgrimmar is against the nine Klaxxi Paragons you spent hours awakening in the Dread Wastes at the start of the expansion. We sure look silly now! Thankfully you don’t have to fight all nine at once, as only three will be active at any time, and each time you defeat one another will join the fight. The order of activation, including the initial three is different each week, which will mean raids will need to adapt each week to which Paragon is active at each time. As well as bringing in the next Klaxxi, once each Klaxxi is defeated they can be interacted with to pass on one of their abilities to a raid member. The challenge in the fight is remembering all nine Paragons’ abilities and how to deal with them. Once you can do that, it’ll be a simple council fight.

Garrosh Hellscream

Garrosh, son of Grom, first laid eyes upon Azeroth when Thrall, who saw in him the potential for greatness, plucked him from the fields of Nagrand to spearhead the Horde’s Northrend campaign. Garrosh too sees greatness as his destiny, and his actions have brought the armies of the world crashing down upon Orgrimmar for a final reckoning that Garrosh himself awaits with brutal relish.

This is it! The final fight of the expansion is against Garrosh Hellscream, wielding the power of Y’Shaarj. Another multi-phase fight, Garrosh begins by summoning waves of adds to deal with, and throwing down a Desecrated Weapon creating a large void zone to avoid. Once Garrosh is brought to 10%, he’ll enter his first transition, where the raid is pulled up into a secondary zone. Here you must kill adds and make your way to Garrosh as quickly as possible to interrupt him while he’s absorbing energy from the dark heart. The more energy he absorbs, the more of his abilities will become empowered, doing so at 25, 50, 75 and 100. This will happen multiple times over the course of the fight, and the goal will be to keep him below 50 until the final phase (so you only have to deal with one empowered ability), which occurs at  10% health again. Garrosh will heal to 25% and gain full energy, empowering all his abilities. At this point it becomes a DPS race to kill him before the entire room is covered in void zones (or he kills you in other ways).

Hopefully this preview has provided some insight to what awaits you in Siege of Orgrimmar. Remember, as always, that anything on the PTR can and probably will change, so don’t expect all mechanics to work exactly as above on live. Good luck, have fun, and happy raiding!