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Hodir: Icicles Keep Falling on My Head!The quick and dirty strategy for this fight involves four elements.
1. Spread out to avoid AoE Freeze damage.
2. Keep moving to avoid Biting Cold damage.
3. Don't let Icicles fall on you (especially during Frozen Blows).
4. Climb on the really big snowdrifts to avoid Flash Freeze.
In short, this is a tank and spank fight that puts a premium on avoiding damage and staying alive. Say it with me: this is not a dps race. For a complete list and description of boss abilities, WoWwiki is an excellent resource. The list below will deal only with the key elements across the raid.
The Pull
Hodir starts off in the back of the room with eight (8) NPCs spread out in front of him. The MT will grab Hodir (either directly or via hunter MD) and begin tanking the boss near the center of the room.
Healers will spread out throughout the room in a full circle around the boss. This fight basically is a healer test.
Before moving to the boss, all dps will free the eight frozen NPCs. Ranged dps will take the left four NPCs, moving from left to right. Melee dps will take the right four NPCs, moving from right to left.
Biting Cold
As soon as the boss engages, Hodir begins to apply a stacking debuff called Biting Cold. You've seen a similar mechanic at the last boss in Nexus. Biting Cold is decreased (not removed!) by movement. Biting cold stacks exponentially every two seconds. However, keep this in mind: movement on the Nexus boss removes all stacks of the debuff: that is, you could go from four stacks to zero with one step. On Hodir, however, movement removes one stack -- that is, you would go from four stacks to three stacks.
Managing biting cold on your own reduces the strain on the healers, which in turn makes this fight fairly simple. There are two ways to do that. First, keep moving, and control the debuff (duh). Second, stand near an NPC mage fire. More on that below.
Freeze
Occasionally, Hodir will cast Freeze on a random target. It is unavoidable if you are that target. However, it has a 10-yard radius -- making it very important that the raid be spread out. If it only hits one player, its a lot easier to heal through that if its hits multiple. So, don't stand on top of each other.
Freeze does 6000 damage to its target. However, it also freezes you in place for 10 seconds, which means at the end of it you have at LEAST three stacks of biting cold when you get out, which is nearly impossible to live through. Freeze can be dispelled/mass dispelled, and so classes that have that ability (particularly mass dispel): that's your highest priorty. Supposedly rogues can Cloak of Shadows and mages can Blink out of this effect.
Icicle
Hodir is constantly spawning Icicles to fall throughout the room. They hit for 14k. However, before they fall, there is a snowfall animation and a blue rune on the ground. When you are standing in snowfall and/or a blue rune, move. Note: you'll need to enable "projected textures" in your video settings in order to see the runes.
Flash Freeze
Hodir's final ability is Flash Freeze. It is cast every 50 seconds. The mechanic is simple:
- Hodir begins to cast Flash Freeze. Three giant blue runes appear on the ground. You must move out of, but right next to, those runes, and wait for the icicles to fall.
- The icicles fall within the blue runes. Since you're not standing in the blue rune (RIGHT?), it doesnt hit you. Once the icicles fall, they create a snowdrift.
- As soon as the snowdrift spawns, all raid members must immediately move on top of the snowdrifts, which protects you from Flash Freeze. If you are not on top of the snowdrift, you will be frozen and most likely die.
After each flash freeze, all of the NPCs are again frozen in blocks of ice. Just like on the pull, they first get released by all DPS.
Rinse and repeat to kill the boss.
Your Allies
The NPCs come in four flavors:
- Fire mages. They shoot fireballs at Hodir, which is nice. They also create these little fires on the ground that look like cooking fires. Standing within 10 yards of that fire prevents Biting Cold from affecting you. However, dont stand TOO close, because icicles destroy the fires (and icicles are targeted on players). Players standing near a fire cause a stacking debuff to be placed on Hodir. These guys are our first priority for breaking loose after a freeze.
- Boomkins. These guys create little moonbeams randomly throughout the room. Standing in that moonbeam grants a massive haste buff (both range and melee).
- Holy Priests. These guys dispel and heal.
- Elemental Shamans. They randomly buff a raid member with a stormcloud, which in turn, allows that player to buff up to six other players (just by walking near them) with "Storm Power." Storm Power is a 135% crit buff for 30 seconds.
Healer Strategy
Periodically throughout the fight, Hodir gains a buff called Frozen Blows. Unless the tank is wearing significant Frost Resist gear, this will increase the damage on the MT as well as deal 4000 damage to the raid every 2 seconds. The effect lasts 20 seconds.
MOMiT assigns four raid healers to deal with this effect. Raid healers each have a different strategy for dealing with the damage, but the Toasty Fire buff (removes Biting Cold) and the Starlight buff (haste effect) can both be helpful for coping. The three tank healers need to resist the temptation to help out too much on raid healing, as the damage can be quite spikey on the MT.
Tips and Tricks
The names of the two mage NPCs, who create fires, are Sissy Flamecuffs and Missy Flamecuffs. Healers may wish to make a macro to target and find them before Frozen Blows.
PowerAuras can be set up to monitor your Biting Cold debuffs. You will need at least three different indicators, though; one for each stack amount. Below are the shortcut strings:
Main Indicator:
gcd:bofalse; soundfile:st; owntex:bofalse; b:nu0; anim1:nu4; duration:nu0; g:nu1; thresholdinvert:bofalse; ignoremaj:botrue; opt2:nu0; speed:nu2; multiids:st; icon:st; size:nu0.39999997615814; torsion:nu1; stance:nu10; stacksOperator:st=; realaura:nu1; combat:nu0; customname:st; timer:bofalse; mine:bofalse; begin:nu0; off:bofalse; optunitn:bofalse; anim2:nu0; textaura:bofalse; party:bofalse; isdebuff:bofalse; wowtex:bofalse; groupany:bofalse; customsound:st; timerduration:nu0; target:bofalse; exact:bofalse; unitn:stOnly for raid/group.; bufftype:nu2; threshold:nu50; aurastextfont:nu1; stacks:nu0; isenchant:bofalse; focus:bofalse; customtex:bofalse; raid:bofalse; isdebufftype:bofalse; texture:nu12; buffname:stBiting Cold; inverse:bofalse; opt1:nu0; r:nu0.37254901960784; randomcolor:bofalse; y:nu63; alpha:nu0.75; aurastext:st; x:nu0; texmode:nu1; symetrie:nu0; ismounted:bofalse; targetfriend:bofalse; sound:nu0; isinraid:bofalse; finish:nulOne Stack:
gcd:bofalse; soundfile:st; owntex:bofalse; b:nu0.058823529411765; anim1:nu4; duration:nu0; mine:bofalse; optunitn:bofalse; multiids:st; opt2:nu0; speed:nu2; combat:nu0; anim2:nu0; size:nu1.6399999856949; torsion:nu1; off:bofalse; stacksOperator:st=; realaura:nu1; g:nu0; r:nu1; opt1:nu0; randomcolor:bofalse; begin:nu0; x:nu-3; ignoremaj:botrue; inverse:bofalse; textaura:botrue; isenchant:bofalse; timer:bofalse; wowtex:bofalse; groupany:bofalse; customsound:st; timerduration:nu0; target:bofalse; customname:st; unitn:stOnly for raid/group.; bufftype:nu2; stacks:nu1; aurastextfont:nu1; party:bofalse; stance:nu10; focus:bofalse; customtex:bofalse; raid:bofalse; isdebufftype:bofalse; texture:nu12; sound:nu0; thresholdinvert:bofalse; threshold:nu50; exact:bofalse; buffname:stBiting Cold; isdebuff:bofalse; alpha:nu0.75; aurastext:st1; icon:st; texmode:nu1; symetrie:nu0; ismounted:bofalse; targetfriend:bofalse; y:nu63; isinraid:bofalse; finish:nu1Two Stacks:
gcd:bofalse; soundfile:st; b:nu0.058823529411765; anim1:nu4; duration:nu0; mine:bofalse; optunitn:bofalse; multiids:st; opt2:nu0; speed:nu2; combat:nu0; anim2:nu0; size:nu1.6399999856949; torsion:nu1; off:bofalse; stacksOperator:st=; realaura:nu1; g:nu0; r:nu1; opt1:nu0; randomcolor:bofalse; begin:nu0; x:nu-1; ignoremaj:botrue; inverse:bofalse; textaura:botrue; isenchant:bofalse; timer:bofalse; wowtex:bofalse; groupany:bofalse; customsound:st; timerduration:nu0; target:bofalse; customname:st; unitn:stOnly for raid/group.; bufftype:nu2; stacks:nu2; aurastextfont:nu1; party:bofalse; stance:nu10; focus:bofalse; customtex:bofalse; raid:bofalse; isdebufftype:bofalse; texture:nu12; sound:nu0; thresholdinvert:bofalse; threshold:nu50; exact:bofalse; buffname:stBiting Cold; isdebuff:bofalse; alpha:nu0.75; aurastext:st2; icon:st; texmode:nu1; symetrie:nu0; ismounted:bofalse; targetfriend:bofalse; y:nu63; isinraid:bofalse; finish:nu1Three Stacks:
gcd:bofalse; soundfile:st; b:nu0.058823529411765; anim1:nu4; duration:nu0; mine:bofalse; optunitn:bofalse; multiids:st; opt2:nu0; speed:nu2; combat:nu0; anim2:nu0; size:nu1.6399999856949; torsion:nu1; off:bofalse; stacksOperator:st=; realaura:nu1; g:nu0; r:nu1; opt1:nu0; randomcolor:bofalse; begin:nu0; x:nu-1; ignoremaj:botrue; inverse:bofalse; textaura:botrue; isenchant:bofalse; timer:bofalse; wowtex:bofalse; groupany:bofalse; customsound:st; timerduration:nu0; target:bofalse; customname:st; unitn:stOnly for raid/group.; bufftype:nu2; stacks:nu3; aurastextfont:nu1; party:bofalse; stance:nu10; focus:bofalse; customtex:bofalse; raid:bofalse; isdebufftype:bofalse; texture:nu12; sound:nu0; thresholdinvert:bofalse; threshold:nu50; exact:bofalse; buffname:stBiting Cold; isdebuff:bofalse; alpha:nu0.75; aurastext:st3; icon:st; texmode:nu1; symetrie:nu0; ismounted:bofalse; targetfriend:bofalse; y:nu63; isinraid:bofalse; finish:nu1
Power Auras can also be used to indicate whenever you're near a Toasty Fire. The code string is below:
gcd:bofalse; soundfile:st; owntex:bofalse; b:nu0; anim1:nu4; duration:nu0; g:nu0.45098039215686; thresholdinvert:bofalse; ignoremaj:botrue; opt2:nu0; speed:nu1; multiids:st; icon:st; size:nu0.75999999046326; torsion:nu1; stance:nu10; stacksOperator:st=; realaura:nu1; combat:nu0; customname:st; timer:bofalse; mine:bofalse; begin:nu0; off:bofalse; optunitn:bofalse; anim2:nu0; textaura:bofalse; party:bofalse; isdebuff:bofalse; wowtex:bofalse; groupany:bofalse; customsound:st; timerduration:nu0; target:bofalse; exact:bofalse; unitn:stOnly for raid/group.; bufftype:nu1; threshold:nu50; aurastextfont:nu1; stacks:nu0; isenchant:bofalse; focus:bofalse; customtex:bofalse; raid:bofalse; isdebufftype:bofalse; texture:nu13; buffname:stToasty Fire; inverse:bofalse; opt1:nu0; r:nu1; randomcolor:bofalse; y:nu-30; alpha:nu0.75000005960464; aurastext:st; x:nu-233; texmode:nu1; symetrie:nu0; ismounted:bofalse; targetfriend:bofalse; sound:nu0; isinraid:bofalse; finish:nu1
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