Monday, November 9, 2009

Heroic Faction Champions

OK so I am biting the bullet and attempting to write up the Heroic Faction Chapions fight.

Like normal, faction champions is a bunch of guidelines.  There are a couple of concrete changes though:

Shopping list:
As few tanks as possible (hopefully they have DPS off specs, if not, then they need to be good at some kind of CC - DKs are great)
6 healers
CCing DPS in PvP spec (ie hunters, mages as frost, locks, rogues in mace spec if necessary etc)
DPS to hit stuff gooood

They have PvP trinkets
Yeah.  Painful huh?  One way to deal with this is get them all to blow them straightup.  Generally, pulling with some kind of fear bomb (and then bopping the lock that did it) is a good way to start.  After that, you just gotta keep those trinkets on CD.

They hit like freight trains
We make sure the heavy hitters' targets are called out in vent.  If you are targetted, you move, your job is to kite that mob.  Basically, if you are like me, a holy pally standing in the middle of the room desperately trying to heal anything that is getting hit, you need to keep an eye out for any mob near you and move away.  They have aoe, interrupts, silences all kinds of things that stuff you around if you stand too close.  So, the only way to avoid is it stay mobile and stay away.  Anything less than plate, and the damage will probably 1-2 shot you.  If that damage is a whirlwind, you are screwed.

They like to use bloodlust/heroism
MASS DISPELL!!

The kill order
Again, this is a guideline, and you are going to have to change your strat each and every time you do this fight. But the idea is similar to normal, with one important change: Take out the damage dealers first.  This is due to the fact that in Heroic, you cant heal through their damage anymore.  You just cant.   So, you need to identify the mobs that cause your team the most grief, that can't be CCed and kill them straight up.

Our kill order is something along these lines:
Rogue/Spriest/hunter (CC everything else)
Pick the next most annoying target (sometimes a healer, sometimes a melee DPSer)
Healers
The ones 100% under control with CC/kiting

What CC can you use?
Not alot on the rogue, SPriest and hunter.  Which is one of the reasons they need to die first.
Healers can be interrupted, and trees can be chain feared, slept, cycloned or stunlocked.
The DK/warrior/enh shamans can be slowed (by DKs and hunters and mages) and kited.  Call out their target on vent and make sure people know to move.
Mages and locks can be chain CCed.

Killing them
Blowing a fear bomb straight up will disperse the enemy and make them blow their trinkets.  This means that CC can hopefully get their mobs away from the main section and away from any kiting melee.  Make sure you dont allocate everyone to be CCing, you still need do burst down that first mob as soon as possible.  Blow BL/Hero as soon as your DPS are ramped up.  50% of the fight is getting that first mob down as soona s you can.

The most crucial job is making sure that the healers are locked down.  They cannot get a heal off (within reason).

Don't be a hero: Do your job and ignore what everyone else is doing.

Not Dying
Make sure you don't stand near any mobs except the one you are allocated to be currently targetting.  If you are interrupting heals, use your judgement on whether to move away from a kited melee.  Perhaps call out on vent for extra heals.

This is an arena match - if you have never done arena before, I recommend you go do a few 3v3 or 5v5 skirmishes to get the idea.  Everyone moves.  Everyone kites.  Everyone has to watch their screen to see what is around them, and behind them.  I recommend a topish down view with
/console CameraDistanceMaxFactor 4
as this lets your see behind you as well as in front of you.  Find an angle that suits you and allows you the most visibility of everything going on.

Healers need to stay on top of dispels, as DoTs are killers.  Also, keeping your team un-cced is vital.  Fast heals are the key.  Healers need to watch who is getting targetted by the heavy hitters and keep them alive.  Also, try to allocate a healer to just keeping the healer CC alive (as soon as one of the healers becomes free that is an almost guaranteed wipe).  Keep the raid topped up, keep moving, keep each other alive.  That is the best strategy there is.  Having a disc priest bubble everyone is extremely helpful in this fight.  I highly recommend it.

Don't forget you can bop, Freedom, GS, all those good PvP things to do to keep people up and mobile.

What is going on if I am wiping?
Are you controlling the healers?
Are the heavy hitters oneshotting clothies?
Are you mass dispelling their BL/Hero?
Is that damn warlock pet interrupting/silencing healers?
Do you have enough DPS on the DPS target?
Are the dispels on your team being removed in a timely manner?
Are people not moving and kiting when targetted?
Are healers forgetting to heal themselves (it happens)?
Have I got the right people on the right job? (don't be afraid to change your strat and people's jobs)

This is the most collaborative fight out there in the game right now.  You have to communicate to your team, and you have to watch and identify your strengths and weaknesses.  Vent and good communication and leadership is vital to the success of this fight.