Totem Talk: Cataclysm raiding as a restoration shaman, part 5 page 2

By Joe Perez


Nefarian
The encounter This is another three phase fight. The first phase opens up with you having to fight a recently resurrected Onyxia. Ony is full of undead goodness and electricity. If she isn't killed fast enough she explodes, killing the raid. She also has your standard dragon breath and Tail Lash, so be mindful of that. She will also occasionally cast Lightning Discharge to anyone within 60 yards of her sides. When she does this, make sure you're behind the dragon. Now not only do you have to deal with a resurrected, angry dragoness, but you will also have to handle her maniac of a brother as well. Before Nef lands in phase one, he will summon six skeletal adds with Hail of Bones. Nefarian also has his own Shadowflame Breath and Tail Lash. Now Nef also has a little trick that he likes to pull throughout the fight. For every 10% of health you knock off of him, the angry dragon will cast Electrocute dealing nature damage to the entire raid. There's a lot of raid damage going out in this phase. Make use of HR, CH and rolling Riptides. Also, make sure that your Healing Stream Totem is glyphed. It can actually help cut down on some of the damage, and HST is a real champ in this phase. Just use every tool you have at your disposal and you'll make it through the phase. Phase 1 ends when Onyxia dies, and the transition time between phase 1 and phase 2 is the perfect time to use Mana Tide Totem.

Phase 2 things start to heat up, quite literally! As you were fighting Nef and Ony you may have noticed three pillars around the room. During this phase, Nef fills the room with lava and spawns three Chromatic Prototypes. In order to get on top of the platform you will have to swim through the lava so everyone will be at lower health when they first get to the top of the platform. This phase has some heavy raid damage as well, and it is all about keep keeping your platform stable through all the raid damage. Before the lava comes, make sure to reset your totems at the base of the pillar to make sure that your glyphed HST is in range of your platform. When you get to the top, use HR, Ch and Riptide to get everyone topped off as soon as possible. Use Nature's Swiftness for that fast snap heal to start things off. The kicker for this phase, is that even through all the raid damage, Nef will still continually Electrocute the raid every 10%. Make use of SLT during one of the crackles of electricity to help even out the healing load for you and to give your pillar a little extra damage reduction. The phase persists until all of the Chromatic Prototypes are dead. Once the last one falls, the lava shrinks away and Nefarian lands again and you can begin phase 3.

In phase 3, and I bet you didn't see this coming, there is even more raid wide damage! The bone adds from phase 1 will make a return and an off tank will have to pick them all up. Even after they die, they will continue to respawn throughout the phase. Nefarian will continue to do his dragon things with flame breath and tail swipes, and of course the electrocutes will continue. If that wasn't enough, there will be plenty of flames to dodge. Normally it will follow the adds and add tank, but it can creep up to the raid group. Make sure you're utilizing HR and CH and use Unleash Life as much as possible. If you used your MTT in the phase 1 transition, it should almost be off of cooldown. Make sure to use it to help not only yourself but the other healers in the raid as well. If you need to, and it's off cooldown, be sure to use SLT. Throughout all of the phases make certain to keep Earth Shield on whoever is tanking Nef.

The hardest phase really is phase 2, where you're going to be constantly casting and managing your heals. If you can make it past that phase you're pretty much good to go. It's certainly a rough fight for healers, especially when you first start working on it, but keeping your cool and using all your tools at your disposal will see you through the day.

The reward What good is killing a dragon if you don't get to raid their hoard?

So that's it for tier 11 normal raid bosses. Next week we will begin our preparations for patch 4.2 and Firelands. Afterall, it will be up to us to knock good old Ragnaros down a few pegs.

Totem Talk: Restoration will show you the basics of endgame resto shaman play as well as how to find the expansion's best reputation gear for resto shaman and tips for easier leveling. Happy healing, and may your mana be plentiful!

Recommended