The Tactics
Posted: 06 Jan 2011, 13:33
Halfus Wyrmbreaker is the first boss of Bastion of Twilight, a raid instance in the Twilight Highlands. He can be found in the Wyrmbreaker's Rookery, overlooking a lava pit and facing his guardian, the Proto-Behemoth. He is considered a fairly easy fight.
Abilities
Halfus
Malevolent Strikes —(Buff gained from Slate Dragon) Halfus' attacks wound the target, reducing the effectiveness of any healing on it by 5%. Stacks.
Frenzied Assault —(Buff gained from Nether Scion) Increases the caster's attack speed by 100%.
Shadow Nova —(Buff gained from Storm Rider) Dark magic is unleashed, causing 28500 to 31500 Shadow damage and knocking back all enemies within 50000 yds.
Furious Roar —Halfus roars, inflicting 9500 to 10500 Physical damage and knocking his enemies to the ground.
Berserk —(After 6 minutes) Increases the caster's attack and movement speeds by 150% and all damage it deals by 500% for until cancelled. Also grants immunity to Taunt effects.
Proto-Behemoth
Fireball Barrage —(Buff gained from Time Warden) Unleashes a stream of fireballs at random enemy targets.
Scorching Breath —(Buff gained from Orphaned Emerald Whelps) Breathes flame at enemies in front of the caster, inflicting Fire damage.
Drake Debuffs
Dragon's Vengeance —Halfus takes 50% increased damage from all sources. Stacks to 5. Applied by drake when it is released
Time Dilation —Warps the flow of time around the target, causing its hostile actions to occur in slow motion. Applied by Time Warden, slows Proto-Behemoth's fireballs
Cyclone Winds —Envelops the target in a cyclone, slowing its casting speed by 500%. Applied by Storm Rider on Halfus, slows Shadow Nova
Nether Blindness —Nether fog blinds the target, impairing its vision and reducing its chance to hit, its attack speed, and its damage done by 25%. Applied by Nether Scion on Halfus
Stone Touch —Afflicts the target, causing them to occasionally become paralyzed for 12 sec. While paralyzed the target cannot move or attack. Applied by Slate Dragon on Halfus
Atrophic Poison —Poisons the target, reducing its damage done by 750. Applied by each Orphaned Emerald Whelp on Proto-Behemoth. Stacks to 8.
Overview
Halfus Wyrmbreaker is a tank and spank fight with some interesting debuff mechanics added in. He has one add, the Proto-Behemoth, that will spit fireballs raid members and do an AoE flame breath. It is best to ignore this drake and concentrate on killing Halfus, as it has a large health pool and its damage can be either dodged or healed through.
Four friendly drakes and a pack of whelps are imprisoned in the area where Wyrmbreaker is engaged, but only three of them can be engaged. The exact combination of available drakes is randomly selected. When freed, each drake or whelp pack will put a debuff on both the boss and (on heroic mode) the raid. It will initially attack Halfus and give him its debuff, but after a couple seconds, the boss emotes, "Halfus Wyrmbreaker binds the <drake type> to his will!" The drake or pack then becomes mind controlled.
Below 50% he periodically casts unavoidable AoE ability called Furious Roar which is a raid wide aoe and stun which hits for around 10,000 three times.
Drakes
The drake composition of the fight is randomly selected and, like classic Nefarian, getting a difficult combination of adds means you must deal with it until next week.
The Nether Scion
Pre-fight, applies a frenzy buff to Halfus Wyrmbreaker (+100% attack speed). When freed, reduces his attack speed, hit chance and damage done.
The Time Warden
Gives Proto-Behemoth Fireball Barrage ability. When freed slows fireballs' flying speed.
The Slate Dragon
Gives Wyrmbreaker his Malevolent Strikes ability, which causes a stacking healing debuff. When freed periodically stuns Halfus for 12 seconds.
The Orphaned Emerald Whelps
Give Proto-Behemoth Scorching Breath ability. When freed, lower the damage it does.
The Storm Rider
Gives Wyrmbreaker a Shadow Nova ability which deals AoE damage and knocks people back. When freed, reduces his cast speed, so it becomes possible to interrupt.
Strategy
Two tanks are recommended for Halfus Wyrmbreaker, as additional drakes have to be tanked and, if the Slate Dragon is active, his hits apply a debuff that reduces healing received by 5% and stacks up rather quickly. Halfus Wyrmbreaker is tauntable until his enrage.
Halfus Wyrmbreaker has a 6-minute(?) hard enrage timer.
Strategy will depend on the drake combination of the fight. Usually two drakes will be awaken at the same time and then taken down consecutively. Once they are dead, DPS will switch to the boss. Sometimes, the raid will have to deal with two mechanics:
- If the Slate Dragon is active, the boss will get Malevolent Strikes, a Mortal Strike-like ability. Tanks must switch Halfus every N stacks (usually about 15) of Malevolent Strikes: otherwise, the tank will become unhealable. If the off-tank is busy tanking the drakes, it is handy to use a bubble or Hand of Protection on the main tank on the first 15 stacks; then the tank will retaunt Halfus.
- If the Storm Rider is active, Halfus will cast a Shadow Nova that *must* be interrupted (very hard unless the Storm Rider is released, see below). If it is not interrupted, the raid will take about 30k damage per member and suffer a knockback, making the encounter unhealable.
Choosing which drakes to release can be tricky. The raid should take several considerations into account:
- The Storm Rider should always be released if active. The Shadow Nova will then become interruptable as its cast time rises from 0.25 seconds to 1.5 seconds.
- If the Slate Dragon and the Nether Scion are active, the Nether Scion has to be released. Otherwise, Malevolent Strikes will stack up very quickly.
- If the Time Warden is active, it is usually desirable to free him in order to make the Fireball Barrage slower and easier to dodge, thus avoiding a lot of raid damage.
Loot Table:
http://www.wowhead.com/npc=44600
Abilities
Halfus
Malevolent Strikes —(Buff gained from Slate Dragon) Halfus' attacks wound the target, reducing the effectiveness of any healing on it by 5%. Stacks.
Frenzied Assault —(Buff gained from Nether Scion) Increases the caster's attack speed by 100%.
Shadow Nova —(Buff gained from Storm Rider) Dark magic is unleashed, causing 28500 to 31500 Shadow damage and knocking back all enemies within 50000 yds.
Furious Roar —Halfus roars, inflicting 9500 to 10500 Physical damage and knocking his enemies to the ground.
Berserk —(After 6 minutes) Increases the caster's attack and movement speeds by 150% and all damage it deals by 500% for until cancelled. Also grants immunity to Taunt effects.
Proto-Behemoth
Fireball Barrage —(Buff gained from Time Warden) Unleashes a stream of fireballs at random enemy targets.
Scorching Breath —(Buff gained from Orphaned Emerald Whelps) Breathes flame at enemies in front of the caster, inflicting Fire damage.
Drake Debuffs
Dragon's Vengeance —Halfus takes 50% increased damage from all sources. Stacks to 5. Applied by drake when it is released
Time Dilation —Warps the flow of time around the target, causing its hostile actions to occur in slow motion. Applied by Time Warden, slows Proto-Behemoth's fireballs
Cyclone Winds —Envelops the target in a cyclone, slowing its casting speed by 500%. Applied by Storm Rider on Halfus, slows Shadow Nova
Nether Blindness —Nether fog blinds the target, impairing its vision and reducing its chance to hit, its attack speed, and its damage done by 25%. Applied by Nether Scion on Halfus
Stone Touch —Afflicts the target, causing them to occasionally become paralyzed for 12 sec. While paralyzed the target cannot move or attack. Applied by Slate Dragon on Halfus
Atrophic Poison —Poisons the target, reducing its damage done by 750. Applied by each Orphaned Emerald Whelp on Proto-Behemoth. Stacks to 8.
Overview
Halfus Wyrmbreaker is a tank and spank fight with some interesting debuff mechanics added in. He has one add, the Proto-Behemoth, that will spit fireballs raid members and do an AoE flame breath. It is best to ignore this drake and concentrate on killing Halfus, as it has a large health pool and its damage can be either dodged or healed through.
Four friendly drakes and a pack of whelps are imprisoned in the area where Wyrmbreaker is engaged, but only three of them can be engaged. The exact combination of available drakes is randomly selected. When freed, each drake or whelp pack will put a debuff on both the boss and (on heroic mode) the raid. It will initially attack Halfus and give him its debuff, but after a couple seconds, the boss emotes, "Halfus Wyrmbreaker binds the <drake type> to his will!" The drake or pack then becomes mind controlled.
Below 50% he periodically casts unavoidable AoE ability called Furious Roar which is a raid wide aoe and stun which hits for around 10,000 three times.
Drakes
The drake composition of the fight is randomly selected and, like classic Nefarian, getting a difficult combination of adds means you must deal with it until next week.
The Nether Scion
Pre-fight, applies a frenzy buff to Halfus Wyrmbreaker (+100% attack speed). When freed, reduces his attack speed, hit chance and damage done.
The Time Warden
Gives Proto-Behemoth Fireball Barrage ability. When freed slows fireballs' flying speed.
The Slate Dragon
Gives Wyrmbreaker his Malevolent Strikes ability, which causes a stacking healing debuff. When freed periodically stuns Halfus for 12 seconds.
The Orphaned Emerald Whelps
Give Proto-Behemoth Scorching Breath ability. When freed, lower the damage it does.
The Storm Rider
Gives Wyrmbreaker a Shadow Nova ability which deals AoE damage and knocks people back. When freed, reduces his cast speed, so it becomes possible to interrupt.
Strategy
Two tanks are recommended for Halfus Wyrmbreaker, as additional drakes have to be tanked and, if the Slate Dragon is active, his hits apply a debuff that reduces healing received by 5% and stacks up rather quickly. Halfus Wyrmbreaker is tauntable until his enrage.
Halfus Wyrmbreaker has a 6-minute(?) hard enrage timer.
Strategy will depend on the drake combination of the fight. Usually two drakes will be awaken at the same time and then taken down consecutively. Once they are dead, DPS will switch to the boss. Sometimes, the raid will have to deal with two mechanics:
- If the Slate Dragon is active, the boss will get Malevolent Strikes, a Mortal Strike-like ability. Tanks must switch Halfus every N stacks (usually about 15) of Malevolent Strikes: otherwise, the tank will become unhealable. If the off-tank is busy tanking the drakes, it is handy to use a bubble or Hand of Protection on the main tank on the first 15 stacks; then the tank will retaunt Halfus.
- If the Storm Rider is active, Halfus will cast a Shadow Nova that *must* be interrupted (very hard unless the Storm Rider is released, see below). If it is not interrupted, the raid will take about 30k damage per member and suffer a knockback, making the encounter unhealable.
Choosing which drakes to release can be tricky. The raid should take several considerations into account:
- The Storm Rider should always be released if active. The Shadow Nova will then become interruptable as its cast time rises from 0.25 seconds to 1.5 seconds.
- If the Slate Dragon and the Nether Scion are active, the Nether Scion has to be released. Otherwise, Malevolent Strikes will stack up very quickly.
- If the Time Warden is active, it is usually desirable to free him in order to make the Fireball Barrage slower and easier to dodge, thus avoiding a lot of raid damage.
Loot Table:
http://www.wowhead.com/npc=44600