Totem Talk: Restoration in The Frostwing Halls Page 2
Sindragosa, formerly the prime-consort of Malygos, was raised by the Lich King himself at Sindragosa's Fall in Icecrown. She is the very same dragon that greets you at the game's log-in screen and is the same dragon you see in the opening cinematic to Wrath of the Lich King.
The Queen of the Frostbrood waits for you on her terrace overlooking Icecrown. She has with her two of her brood that you must face before her. Spinestalker and Rimefang must be defeated before the queen will attempt to deal with you herself. Sindragosa is a three-phase fight. The first two phases alternate periodically, until phase three begins at 35% health.
Positioning and abilities
Phase 1
Sindragosa's phase 1 is pretty straightforward. She has everything you would expect of a dragon at this point: a cleave, a tail smash and a breath attack. The front and the back of the dragon are not very good gathering locations for those players looking to damage the boss or heal the raid. Similar to Sapphiron, Sindragosa also generates a Frost Aura that cannot be avoided but can be partially mitigated by your Frost Resistance Totem.
On top of this, Sindragosa uses two debuffs which must be managed on an individual player basis, Chilled to the Bone and Unchained Magic. Chilled to the Bone has a 20% chance to be applied by physical attacks against the dragon, deals 1,000 frost damage every two seconds, lasts eight seconds and can stack with itself. Players who receive this will have to throttle their attacks. As a healer, you will need to stay on your toes and watch for this, as those physical DPS may need a fast top-off, and a hastened Chain Heal will be your best bet.
Unchained Magic stacks a debuff called Instability. Every time you cast a spell, this will add a stack of this debuff. When I say every spell, I literally mean every spell. Any totem drops, Nature's Swiftness and if you are Alliance, even Gift of the Naaru will apply a stack of Instability. Eight seconds after the last spell is finished, the Instability will deal 2,000 damage per spellcast. If you get the debuff, be very mindful of this as you heal and place totems. Chain Heal is your best bet when you have the debuff, if for no other reason than that you can heal up to four targets with one spellcast when glyphed. How many stacks you can take is largely dependent on your health pool, but some strategies will call for you to stop around seven to eight stacks, while others will call for you to stop as early as two to three. Find a total that works well for your group, but above all else, make sure to be mindful of the stack. Frost Aura will still be pulsing, so you will still be taking damage. As a shaman through using Chain Heal, I've personally found four to five stacks is a good spot to stop.
In phase 1, Sindragosa will also cast Icy Grip. This will summon the raid to her, like a giant Death Grip. She will then begin a five-second cast of Blistering Cold, which will deal heavy damage to all players within 25 yards. For the most part, anyone caught inside of this will not be able to be saved. Just make sure you run directly away from her after you land from the grip. While running, if you have Nature's Swiftness off cooldown, a fast chain heal can help top some people off as other healers are moving.
Make sure to stand with the ranged group at one of her sides, behind the melee. This should give you best positioning for healing not only the raid, but should let you keep the tanks in range as well.
Phase 2
In 25-man, five players will be marked with Frost Beacon to be imprisoned in Ice Tombs. In 10-man, this will only be two players. They have roughly seven seconds to find a position clear of the raid and each other. If they are too close to any non-marked raid member, then the non-marked player will be frozen as well. If they are too close to each other, then splash damage from being frozen can kill the ice tombed players. Positioning for this will vary based on raid preference and by strategy. My guild has found that having the first three people targeted line up on the bottom of the stairs away from each other, followed by the next two halfway up the stairs with the raid behind them, works really well.
After all the tomb victims are picked, Sindragosa will cast four Frost Bombs. The ground where the bomb is targeted will glow swirling white. Be sure to put an Ice Tomb between you and the target location to block the damage from the bombs. If you don't, you will take a sizable amount of damage. Have Chain Heal ready for anyone who is unfortunate enough to take some damage while moving between tombs, since it will chain to other people who might have taken damage. Have Riptide and Healing Wave ready to top people off as they are broken out of the tombs. After all four bombs are down and the tombs broken, phase 1 resumes.
Phase 3
This begins when the dragon hits 35% health. In phase 3, Sindragosa will no longer take to the air. All of her abilities from phase 1 repeat here with a new addition. Mystic Buffet joins the the fight and is cast every six seconds. This debuff increases magic damage taken by 10%, lasts eight seconds and stacks just like Unchained Magic. It will affect everyone within line of sight of Sindragosa.
She will also summon an Ice Tomb on a single player about every 15 seconds. This tomb can be used as a line-of-sight block for you to let the stacks of Mystic Buffet stacks drop. Anyone caught within roughly 10 yards of the marked person will also be tombed. Popular strategies will call for the tomb to have two placements, one right position and one left position. Have a big heal ready for them when they get broken out of the tomb. I cannot stress how important it is here to watch not only your stacks of Mystic Buffet, but as a healer, Instability as well. The debuff will increase the amount of damage you take from Instability, just like all magic damage, so you will take more with less. Chain Heal, Riptide and Tidal Force should be your mainstays here unless you are on the tanks, where Healing Wave should be put to work.
When to Bloodlust/Heroism
As always, refer to your raid leader here. The general consensus is to use it between 35% and 30%, as well as any cooldowns you may have. Since the last phase is an endurance phase, it will give you the most bang for your buck.
The fight is not a hard fight; in fact, you should be used to much of it from Sapphiron. Keep Earth Shield up on the tanks, and just make sure to move appropriately and watch your debuff stacks. Be mindful of those taking the most damage and place your heals intelligently. The fight is all about players mitigating their own damage, but that doesn't mean you shouldn't stay focused. Take your time, pay attention and you will be healing through the Lich King in no time flat.
Show your totemic mastery by reading Totem Talk. Whether you read Mike Sacco's elemental edition, Joe Perez's coverage of restoration or Rich Maloy's enhancement edition, we have you covered.
