Chromaggus

[Bastet]

Past The Drakes

Once Flamegor has been killed, only one trash mob pull remains between the raid and Chromaggus: overgrown two-headed draco-puppy, and second to last boss in Blackwing Lair. In front of the doorway leading out of the "Torture Chamber" where Ebonroc and Flamegor spawn, you will encounter another group of 3 Death Talon Wyrmguards. This pull is dealt with in exactly the same way as the last pull before Ebonroc, except that Master Elemental Shaper Krixix (naturally) plays no part.

After this group of Wyrmguards has been dispatched, only a flimsy set of gates and a HUGE lever to operate them stands between you and Chromaggus. To the south of the Torture Chamber lies a room with two exits. The exit to the east leads to Nefarian's balcony, and its gate opens up only once Chromaggus is dead. Chromaggus himself lies in wait locked behind the gated exit to the west. To open this gate and release Chromaggus, you must throw an enormous lever set into the ground at the southern side of the room.

When Chromaggus is first released, the encounter begins immediately. Everyone inside the instance will be put directly into combat and he will aggro onto the raid, generally starting with whomever threw the lever. This encounter is a test of the raid's adaptability, its focus, and its stamina. The battle is a long one, but learning the many elements and finally executing your roles to completion is exceedingly rewarding!
The Basics
Chromaggus himself is a large two-headed dragonkin sharing features in common with The Beast, the various types of Core Hounds, dragonkin in general, *and* the draconid minions of Nefarian unique to Blackwing Lair. He has a significant store of health, boasting approximately 1.7 million HP. His melee attacks are single-target across the board, and thus should affect the current MT exclusively. In addition, Chromaggus is untauntable. What sets Chromaggus truly apart is the "random element".
Let's Rollllllll The Dice!

Many aspects of the Chromaggus encounter are random, and learning to adjust to that random element is a big part of mastering this encounter. The fight evolves and changes, both from instance to instance and in real-time during the encounter. Each member of the group must maintain their wits and master all the aspects of the encounter in order to deal with each variation.
Magic Vulnerability

At all times during the encounter, Chromaggus will be highly vulnerable to a single school of magic (Arcane, Nature, Fire, Frost, or Shadow) and highly resistant to the other 4 schools, in a similar way to the Death Talon Overseers and Wyrmguards previously encountered. Chromaggus' magic vulnerability is not fixed, however; instead, it changes multiple times during the encounter. Each time it shifts, it is accompanied by an emote indicating that Chromaggus' skin "glistens". Each change is randomly determined, so that whenever his vulnerability changes, it must be re-determined and -announced.

Casters should beware the possibility of unintentionally pulling aggro from the MT as a result of their heightened DPS when using magic attacks against which Chromaggus is currently vulnerable. As with previous occasions where extreme vulnerabilities were encountered, appropriate selection of gear, talents, and spells are beneficial in avoiding that danger.
Brood Afflictions

Periodically, Chromaggus will apply a randomly-determined Brood Affliction to all those within range. LoS is irrelevant for these Afflictions.

There are 5 Afflictions, corresponding to the colors of the 5 dragonflights and the 5 schools of magic. Each Brood Affliction is a debuff that may be removed via some form of player action, but otherwise lasts for 10 minutes. Each player may individually resist the application of these Afflictions as well.

Chromaggus always has access to all 5 Brood Afflictions; they do not vary from instance to instance, only by the random order in which they are applied. The Afflictions are as follows:

    * Brood Affliction: Black - Shadow (Curse) - Increases fire damage taken by 100%.

    * Brood Affliction: Blue - Frost (Magic) - Burns 50 mana per sec (causing damage), reduces casting speed by 50%, and reduces movement speed to 70% of normal.

    * Brood Affliction: Bronze - Arcane (N/A) - Periodically stuns the affected player for 4 sec. This stun effect may occur as often as once every 5 seconds. The only means by which a member of *ANY* class can remove this Affliction from themself is by using Hourglass Sand, which is primarily dropped by Blackwing Technicians. Due to the limited supply of this Sand, it will be conserved as necessary. Apart from the use of Hourglass Sand, certain classes may remove this Affliction via special abilities that clear a broad range of debuffs: paladin may use Divine Shield and mages may use Ice Block.

      Hourglass Sand cannot be used when you are actually stunned by this Affliction. Instead, it works only when you can act and use items normally. In addition, removing this Affliction does NOT prevent you from being re-afflicted the next time that Chromaggus applies the Affliction, possibly after only a very short delay. It should be treated as a temporary, not permanent, solution to dealing with this Affliction.

      Who should be equipped with Hourglass Sand, and how often it should be used, depend upon the amount available and the importance of each individual's role. The MT and MT healers are highest priority. OTs (especially in an instance with Time Lapse - see below) are next. Hunters follow, due to the importance of keeping Chromaggus tranquilized. After that, Sand should be distributed as supply allows, but only used when absolutely necessary. The lowest priority candidates are those who can remove the Affliction via a class-specific special ability. Ideally, a few pieces of Sand should be enough to deal with all the emergencies that might occur during a full encounter.

    * Brood Affliction: Green - Nature (Poison) - Inflicts 250 damage every 5 sec, and reduces all healing effects applied to the target by 50%.

    * Brood Affliction: Red - Fire (Disease) - Inflicts 50 damage every 3 sec, stacking up to 50 times. Also, whenever a player with this Affliction dies, Chromaggus will be healed for 150k HP.

Any player that has all 5 Afflictions applied simultaneously will be affected by the debuff "Chromatic Mutation". This debuff transforms you into the form of a Chromatic Draconid, mind controls you to attack the raid, and massively increases your resistances to all forms of magic so that you become highly resistant to them all. It lasts for 5 minutes, and cannot be removed.

Dealing with these Afflictions will require a combination of constant dispelling to remove Black/Blue/Green/Red (by paladins, druids, mages, and priests), and judicious use of Hourglass Sand (or the class-specific abilities mentioned above) to remove Bronze.
"Breath" Weapons

Additionally, in each instance Chromaggus will be equipped with 2 randomly-determined "breath" weapons. There are a total of 5 possible weapons.

Although they are called "breath" weapons, they operate on the basis of LoS rather than as a frontal cone AoE, the traditional norm for breath weapons. The 2 weapons Chromaggus will have in a given instance are determined when the instance is first saved, and vary from instance to instance. Different pairings of breath weapons will provide variation in the difficulty of this encounter from one instance to the next.

Every 30 sec after he is first engaged, Chromaggus uses one of these weapons, alternating between them as the encounter continues. The first weapon used will always be the same each time he is engaged for a given instance. The list of possible breath weapons, and their effects, are as follows:

    * Corrosive Acid - Nature - Applies a debuff that inflicts ~1000 pts of nature damage every 3 sec, and reduces the AC of the affected target by ~4500. Lasts 15 sec.

    * Frost Burn - Frost - Inflicts ~2000 pts of frost damage and burns ~2000 pts of mana (causing additional damage). Also applies a debuff that reduces attack speed by 80% for 15 sec.

    * Ignite Flesh - Fire - Applies a debuff that inflicts ~775 pts of fire damage every 3 sec. Lasts 60 sec, and stacks up to 10 times.

    * Incinerate - Fire - Inflicts ~4200 pts of fire damage.

    * Time Lapse - Arcane - Applies a debuff that stuns the target and reduces his health by 50% for 8 sec. Chromaggus will temporarily ignore any targets that are stunned by this effect, as their current threat levels will be reduced to 0 until it wears off. The threat levels of any targets that resist this effect or avoid it entirely will not be changed at all.

      NOTE: In addition, it *appears* that any player that is affected by Time Lapse a certain number of times (possibly 6?) will have his threat level reset to 0 even after the effect wears off. For now, this is UNCONFIRMED but suspected, based upon anecdotal evidence.

Note that none of the debuffs applied by Chromaggus' breath weapons are dispellable.

As Chromaggus prepares to use each breath weapon in turn, there will be an announcement and the majority of the raid must seek cover out of LoS with Chromaggus, to avoid its effects. Each weapon has a casting time of 2 sec, after which it is safe to be within LoS until the next time a breath weapon is used.

NOTE: As this is being written, the current version of CT_RaidAssist (v1.501) incorrectly announces the first two breath weapons about 10 seconds EARLIER than they are actually used. The timing of the third and subsequent weapons appears to be correct; it is only the first two that are off. As a result, manually timing and announcing the first two breath attacks is advised, at least until such time as CT_RaidAssist's internal timer for these events is adjusted.
Frenzy and Enrage

Finally, Chromaggus will periodically frenzy, doubling his melee DPS. When this occurs, it is accompanied by an emote as well as an increase in size and a glowing red aura effect above and in front of each of his two heads. In general, Chromaggus will frenzy a few seconds before, and a few seconds after, each time he uses a breath weapon.

Hunters must employ a tranq shot rotation, as with Magmadar and Flamegor, to mitigate the effects of his frenzy.

When Chromaggus is reduced to 20% health, he will Enrage, increasing his melee DPS by ~50%. Naturally, this DPS increase will be multiplied even further each time he enters a frenzied state while he is already enraged. While Chromaggus is enraged, it is even more important to keep him tranquilized as consistently as possible, and healers must be even more on the ball with respect to healing the current MT.
The Environment

The environment in which Chromaggus is fought has already been mentioned in general terms, but it is important to describe it in greater detail due to the importance of fully utilizing its features to manage LoS during the encounter.

Chromaggus is fought at the boundary between the room he releases into and Torture Chamber where flamegor spawns.

This location offers unique opportunities to take advantage of LoS obstructions allowing the entire raid to escape Chromaggus' breath weapons with a minimum of time lost moving to do so, described more fully in the next section.
The LoS "Dead Zones"

With Chromaggus in the tanking spot, there are 3 main LoS "dead zones" where members of the raid may stand to avoid the effects of his breath weapons. The following diagram displays the vicinity, indicating where Chromaggus should be positioned along with the numbered dead zones:



The three dead zones are more fully described as follows:

   1. The column in the center of the ramp blocks LoS to a large wedge of both chambers north of the tanking spot. This dead zone is subdivided by the ledge separating the rooms. The eastern (upper, Torture Chamber) half of this dead zone provides superior visibility into large portions of both chambers.

      The MT healers will be positioned in the upper half of this dead zone, adjacent to the ledge. When far enough away from the central column, it is possible to see both the top and bottom sections of the circular ramp, without seeing the middle section.

      This zone is also used by rogues and OT warriors, along with their support groups (healers, dispellers, etc.).

   2. The corner just to the southeast of the tanking spot blocks LoS to approximately the southern third of the Torture Chamber. Any healers positioned in this dead zone may see the entire length of the ramp, from top to bottom, simply by moving a few steps so as to see around this corner.

      This zone is used by casters and hunters, along with their support groups. It is also used by healers assigned to cover OTs during temporary or permanent aggro transitions, which will occur if Time Lapse is one of the active breath weapons in the current instance.

   3. The outer lip near the bottom of the semi-circular ramp blocks LoS to a modest section of the Laboratory. In general, this dead zone is not used, but it can provide temporary cover from Chromaggus' breath weapons in an emergency.

The most important benefit of these specific dead zones is that MT healers positioned as described within dead zone #1 can draw LoS to both the MT *AND* OTs during aggro transitions that occur when Time Lapse is involved. Other locations may be equally suitable when Chromaggus cannot use this breath weapon, but not nearly as suitable when he can.

For the sake of consistency and simplicity, the raid fights this encounter in the same location from instance to instance, rather than trying to "customize" the location based upon the active breath weapons. As such, it will be used even for instances that do not involve Time Lapse.
The (Naked?) Pull

In a fresh instance, Chromaggus must be released from his cell by triggering the lever described previously. This is done by a stealthed rogue, who may be able to sprint or vanish to survive the pull. Because of the danger involved in this first pull (successfully avoiding Chromaggus' wrath is...tricky, shall we say), the pulling rogue will generally receive a Soul Stone if one is available, to ensure that he is not entirely eliminated from the encounter because he triggered the lever. After recovering from a wipe, Chromaggus will return to the center of the room with the lever, and is then pulled by a hunter's pet controlled via Eyes of the Beast.

When first learning all the possible breath combinations, it is beneficial to determine which ones are active by performing a "naked pull" the first time Chromaggus is engaged for a given instance. All members of the raid unequip their gear to avoid losing durability, then release and engage Chromaggus. Both active weapons may be determined by straightforward observation once 60 seconds have elapsed, after which the raid voluntarily suicides, rezzes, and prepares for a "proper" pull. A naked pull isn't required more than once per instance, since the active breath weapons will not vary until a new one is saved; nor is it required once you have sufficiently mastered the various breath combinations.

To prepare for a "proper" pull, the MT starts near the top end of the ramp, in the Torture Chamber. No other players (except a rogue to operate the lever, if needed) start between the MT and Chromaggus. Other members of the raid must be out of the way of Chromaggus' path, and ideally outside his LoS. Those who take cover in dead zone #1 begin in their "refuge positions" (see below), whereas those who take cover in dead zone #2 begin partway down the ramp, out of sight. If the pull is performed using a hunter pet, the puller should start near the bottom of the ramp.

As Chromaggus rushes out of the room with the lever after being pulled, the MT must attack him to gain aggro control then immediately move to the tanking spot at the bottom of the ramp, taking care that the boss ends up in the proper position. Chromaggus will use his first breath weapon 30 seconds after he is engaged; the remainder of the raid has this long to move into "refuge positions" to avoid being affected by it. Generally speaking, the raid will not begin attacking in earnest until after Chromaggus uses his second breath; this allows sufficient time for the MT and OTs to build aggro regardless of which breaths are active in the current instance, and ensures that subsequent breath announcement times are accurate.

The pattern of moving out of LoS to avoid each subsequent breath weapon attack will form the basis for handling the entire rest of the encounter, and is addressed in greater detail in the next section.
The Encounter Itself

Once the pull has been performed, the entire Chromaggus encounter consists of a cyclical progression of action. Every member of the raid must perform their specific role in order to gradually burn down his massive stockpiles of health, while minimizing the damage done both to themselves and the rest of the raid. Functionally, this means that a large portion of the raid group must repeatedly move from the aforementioned "refuge positions" outside the giant scaled-puppy-thing's LoS, to "attack positions" where they can output the DPS needed to bring him down, then back into safety again.

The only ones that need not move between refuge and attack positions are the MT, along with the healers and dispellers assigned to support him. All other players must, frequently or at least occasionally, move into and out of LoS as the encounter progresses.

MT healers and support, along with melee classes (including OTs) and their support, take refuge within dead zone #1. Ranged classes and their support take refuge within dead zone #2. Melee classes must be far enough away from Chromaggus that their auto-attacks no longer land; it is occasionally possible to continue attacking even though your LoS is technically obscured, and in such situations you can also be hit by a breath weapon in return! The general distribution of the raid during each successive breath is indicated in the following diagram:



Each time Chromaggus has finished using a breath weapon, it is safe for ranged and melee DPS classes, as well as off-tanks, to emerge from cover and attack. When entering and leaving LoS, care should be taken to remain focused on the task of consistently and continuously whittling away at Chromaggus; each second spent actively attacking is valuable. However, safety is the paramount goal; it is better to waste time, by leaving LoS early or entering it late, than to die as a result of being within LoS when he breathes. The general distribution of the raid during each attack period between successive breaths is indicated in the following diagram:



The individual roles that each member of the raid must undertake are as follows:

    * Healers - The MT healers should not need to move much, if at all, once the encounter has begun. MT healers may need to use Hourglass Sand to remove the Bronze Affliction if it is disrupting their ability to keep the MT up.

      Spot/OT healers will typically not need to move once the encounter begins, unless Time Lapse is one of the active breath weapons for the current instance. When this occurs, the OT healers will need to move as necessary during each Time Lapse to ensure that they have LoS to the OTs for the duration of the breath (see below for more on Time Lapse). Otherwise, these healers can generally remain stationary for the duration.

      In addition to healing, druids must remove Black and Green Afflictions (curse and poison, respectively), as needed. Similarly, priests must remove Blue and Red Afflictions (magic and disease, respectively).

    * Hunters - Alternate between attack positions and refuge positions (in dead zone #2), all the while playing their part in the Tranq Shot rotation. Although hunters should strive to avoid being breathed upon, keeping Chromaggus tranquilized is an even higher priority. It is preferable to remain within LoS during a breath attack to ensure his Frenzy is removed, rather than avoiding the breath and letting Chromaggus ravage the MT for long as a result. Because of the importance of their role, hunters may need to use Hourglass Sand to remove the Bronze Affliction, if it is disrupting their ability to keep Chromaggus tranquilized.

      NOTE: It *IS* possible for a hunter to exit combat via Feign Death in order to eat or drink during the encounter. However, each time a Brood Affliction is applied, the affected player is forced back into combat. The DoT effects of Blue/Green/Red and the stun effect of Bronze also force you into combat. Thus, FD has very limited utility in this encounter, except in its traditional way: as a means to limit threat.

    * Mages - Alternate between attack and refuge positions (in dead zone #2). Additionally, mages must remove Brood Affliction: Black (a curse effect) from members of the raid, as needed. Depending upon the situation, mages may need to focus on their own party, upon the entire raid, or upon assigned individuals.

    * Paladins - Provide the primarly line of defense against Chromaggus' Brood Afflictions. Cleanse can dispel 3 of the 5 varieties of Brood Afflictions (Blue, Red, and Green), and can remove up to 3 individual debuffs via a single casting. Paladins will be assigned to focus their attention upon various groups or individuals within the raid, as needed.

      Keeping these Afflictions dispelled is vital to the success of the raid, and takes precedence over blessings, judgements, and spot-healing if a choice must be made between the two. Naturally, if these additional tasks are manageable as well, they should be undertaken with vigor also.

    * Rogues - Must alternate between attack and refuge positions (in dead zone #1).

    * Warlocks - Alternate between attack and refuge positions (in dead zone #2).

    * Warriors - Once the pull is complete and Chromaggus is tanked properly, the MT need not move much, if at all. The MT is the one member of the raid that remains in the open during each and every breath attack for the duration of the encounter.

      OTs should generally perform in a DPS role similar to rogues, exiting LoS and taking refuge during each breath (in dead zone #1). They should still maintain a high level of threat, of course, as a precaution. This is especially important whenever Time Lapse is one of the active breath weapons for the current instance, or the active breath weapons are not yet known (see below for more on Time Lapse).

Assuming that everyone executes their tasks properly, Chromaggus will slowly but surely be worn down, until the cute li'l thing lies dead. Guess what?!? You gots shouldahs!


An Addendum: Dealing With Time Lapse

One breath weapon, in particular, adds an additional wrinkle to this encounter: Time Lapse. With sufficiently well-geared tanks, good healing support and tranq usage, etc., any combination of the remaining 4 breath weapons can be ideally reduced to a one-tank fight. In contrast, the unique effects of Time Lapse ensure that more than one warrior MUST be able to control Chromaggus' aggro over the course of any encounter where this breath weapon is active.

Chromaggus ignores anyone stunned by the effects of Time Lapse for its 8-second duration. Since the MT will (unless he resists it) be stunned every time Chromaggus uses this breath, he will naturally aggro onto some other member of this raid who was unaffected by Time Lapse for that period of time. To ensure that Chromaggus does not aggro onto and quickly one-shot healers or DPS classes, it is vital that one or more off-tanks be out of LoS each time Time Lapse is cast, with sufficient threat that they will be the targets of Chromaggus' attention while he is ignoring the MT. Thus, each time Time Lapse is cast there will be a temporary transition of aggro from the active MT to one of the OTs, lasting until the debuff fades from the original MT.

NOTE: Also, as mentioned above, it appears (based upon unconfirmed, anecdotal evidence) as though any MT that is afflicted by Time Lapse a certain number of times will have his threat level reset to 0. If this is (in fact) the case, it means there may be one or more PERMANENT transitions of aggro from the active MT to one of the OTs over the course of the encounter, in addition to the TEMPORARY transitions of aggro which always occur when Time Lapse is used.

In practice, this means the following:

   1. It is imperative for off-tank warriors to continuously build aggro whenever they can during an instance where Time Lapse is active, or in an instance where the breaths are not yet known (in case one turns out to be Time Lapse).

   2. The OTs take refuge each time Time Lapse is about to be cast, by moving up the ramp into dead zone #1, out of LoS from Chromaggus behind the column.

   3. When the active MT is stunned by Time Lapse, Chromaggus should aggro onto one of the OTs. At this point, he rushes to his new target, away from the "tanking spot".

   4. Whichever OT has Chromaggus' aggro then moves slowly down the curve of the ramp, dragging the boss back into position at the "tanking spot". To ensure the best possible lines of sight from his healers, the OT should stay midway between the inner and outer edges of the ramp as he moves down.

   5. The OT healers continuously heal whichever OT has aggro. OT healers in dead zone #2 step out from behind the corner to guarantee that they have LoS to the entire length of the ramp, from top to bottom, while the OT moves down.

   6. After the 8-second duration of Time Lapse has worn off, Chromaggus' aggro should switch back to the active MT. If the boss is properly positioned at the tanking spot, he will turn to face the MT without moving at all. If he is far from the tanking spot, he will rush to the MT, which may result in the boss being out of position.

   7. If Chromaggus' aggro does not switch back to the original MT after the effects of Time Lapse have worn off, then the aggro transition is a permanent one. The active target OT now becomes the new MT, and the previous MT takes on the role of OT for the remainder of the encounter.

   8. If Chromaggus is out of position for whatever reason after the effects of Time Lapse have worn off, the MT must reposition him back to the proper tanking spot, in order to ensure that the correct lines of sight and dead zones are preserved.

Although Time Lapse adds another layer of difficulty to the Chromaggus encounter, any breath combination involving this breath remains well within the raid's capabilities, so long as the OTs and OT healers are constantly aware of the additional care that must be taken to handle its unique effects.