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Throne of Thunder: Forgotten Depths Raid Finder bosses in 5 seconds
The second wing of Throne of Thunder Raid Finder was just unlocked this week, so get ready to queue. After our last 5-second guide to the first wing, we couldn't just leave you hanging without a second! After being thrown down to the Forgotten Depths, you'll be introduced to a few beastly bosses -- be prepared. Here's a quick rundown perfect for sharing with your Raid Finder comrades (thanks for the help Thugmuffins!). Tortos One tank on Tortos, the other on Vampiric Cave Bat duty. Don't stand in Rockfall. Healers be ready to top the raid after Quake Stomp. Kill priority is bats, Whirl Turtles, then boss. Be sure to kick one of the turtles into Tortos to interrupt his Furious Stone Breath. Although you can mostly survive the breath on Raid Finder difficulty, make your healer's life easier by interrupting. Megaera Note: You will have to kill the three Eternal Guardians around the cave and ring their bells to spawn the boss. Tank the two active heads facing away from the center, and don't tank the same head twice in a row to avoid debuffs stacking too high. The raid should stack in the center during Rampage for AoE heals. Kite the beam out of the raid if you're targeted with Torrent of Ice. Run out of the raid for a Cinders dispel. Run away from the Acid Rain. Kill order of the heads in this difficulty isn't too important, just rotate -- green, red, blue will work fine. See Ji-Kun's quick strategy after the break!
Blood Pact: A pewpewer's notes from tanking and healing
Every week, WoW Insider brings you Blood Pact for affliction, demonology, and destruction warlocks. This week, Megan O'Neill muses about tanking, healing, and why she really does play a DPS. I have a confession: I was once a tank. Technically I could have been half a tank, because I think I healed just as often, but once upon a time I rolled a druid with the intent of getting a melee DPS perspective. One night in Wrath of the Lich King, my first guild had some trouble with kiting the adds on Gluth. So we upped the tank count to 3: the paladin tank moved to the back for holy tag with the undead while the former-bear warrior walked me through my feral spellbook as I sat in bear form on that pipe. I think it was the extra Mauls that hooked me. I became a bear tank with a branch-waving offspec. I have fond memories of alt or PUG raids where I had cooldown-busting health pools and hero-bear resurrections between Gormok's death and the arena entrance of Acidmaw and Dreadscale. But as my guild tore apart in the beginnings of Icecrown Citadel, I've been back to pewpewing from the back as a warlock. My bear is merely an alt. But my bear has made my warlock a little stronger.
Blood Pact: Thundering on and on about raid gear in patch 5.2
Every week, WoW Insider brings you Blood Pact for affliction, demonology, and destruction warlocks. This week, Megan O'Neill maybe decides that commenter-suggested Zul'duar is the better name than Thund'uar for the troll-like Ulduar raid instance, Throne of Thunder. I mentioned last week that I'd discuss the changes for warlocks while listing out loot in the new raid instance. I may have fibbed a little. I tried to slide in patch change discussion without it reading like I shoved two posts into the space of one, and I miserably failed. You can read the latest patch notes for yourself, but the PvE DPS gist is that affliction's petless power days are diminished if not over and demonology might be the new top dog. PvP warlocks might be more interested in Blood Fear's metamorphosis from an offensive fear to the Nature's Grasp-like Blood Horror and Soul Leech's change from a trickle heal to a stacking shield. Regarding of whether you chase Conquest or Valor Points, we warlocks will have a major problem in patch 5.2. I'm not talking about the endless debates of whether fire should be green or whether warlocks should always have a minion at their side. I'm talking about the removal of the imp ability Blood Pact, due to Dark Intent gaining the 10% Stamina buff to its effect. Future warlocks will wonder what this column is named for!
Lichborne: More death knight loot from patch 5.2's Throne of Thunder
Every week, WoW Insider brings you Lichborne for blood, frost, and unholy death knights. In the post-Cataclysm era, death knights are no longer the new kids on the block. Let's show the other classes how a hero class gets things done. We continue our loot preview this week by delving into the Forgotten Depths and Halls of Flesh-Shaping in the Throne of Thunder. The same disclaimers apply as did last week. Since this is based on PTR information, drops can change. In addition, this preview focuses on normal gear, so your gearing priorities may change if you get Thunderforged gear or heroic gear. With that in mind, lets dig in and see what the next six bosses of Patch 5.2's Throne of Thunder raid have to offer.
Patch 5.2 PTR: Meeting Megaera
Megaera is the fifth boss in the the new patch 5.2 raid instance Throne of Thunder. Some of the players who have witnessed this boss have deemed it "Magmaw 2.0". The story of Megaera is a tragic one. Lei Shen took a young cloud serpent, turned it into a multi-headed hydra, then stuffed it somewhere in the depths of Lei Shen's throne. She's actually not that far off from Tortos. Those two should hang out more often. Anyway, have you ever heard of the Lernaean Hydra that Hercules killed as a part of his 12 Labors? Like the hydra in that story, when one of Megaera's head is destroyed, two more heads will then spawn in it's place. Her body takes damage that's equal to the head's maximum health. Bad news? You can't seal off the heads when you kill one.
Patch 5.2 PTR: Further raid testing for Throne of Thunder
The raid testing for Throne of Thunder is coming fast. 10 player raid tests will be held on back-to-back dates for Thursday, January 31st and Friday, February 1st. Tests will be conducted at the usual 10:30 AM PST and 4:00 PM PST slots. If this is your first time testing, your gear will automatically be scaled up. I strongly recommend logging in before the test is scheduled to occur in order to look for any testing groups that are in need your role or class. Here's how you can get into the Throne of Thunder. WoW Insider Throne of Thunder boss impressions Jin'rokh, the Breaker Horridon (Olivia's take) Iron Qon Lei Shen, the Thunder King Raid Testing Schedule - January 31/February 1 On Thursday, January 31, and Friday, February 1, we will be testing more raid encounters in the Throne of Thunder. Each encounter should be available at approximately the listed times below for all Public Test Realms. Thursday, January 31 Tortos - 10 Player Normal 10:30 PST (13:30 EST, 19:30 CET) Megaera - 10 Player Normal 16:00 PST (19:00 EST, 01:00 CET) Friday, February 1 Dark Animus - 10 Player Normal 10:30 PST (13:30 EST, 19:30 CET) Twin Consorts - 10 Player Normal 16:00 PST (19:00 EST, 01:00 CET) As always, this testing schedule is very fluid and subject to the realities of a beta environment. We might have to change the time of a testing session, change the boss being tested, or cancel a test entirely, due to bugs, server hardware issues, etc. This is particularly true for these early tests as we are still nailing down overall patch stability. Keep an eye on this forum for the latest information, and thank you in advance for testing and providing feedback. Important Testing Notes Q: How do I get into the raid zone? A: At the northeastern edge of the swamp on the Thunder King's island, there is a Shado-Pan camp in a small cave. A sewer grate in this cave will take you directly to the zone-in point for the raid zone. (As more of the island unlocks, players will be able to access the main gate directly.) Q: What gear do I use to test the raid? A: As we did for Beta raid testing, we will be scaling players' gear inside the raid in order to facilitate testing. Gear will be scaled (up or down, as appropriate) for the purposes of testing the encounters, depending on difficulty and their location within the zone. source
