MOMiTs Gone Wild!

Deathbringer Saurfang - Fourth Boss in ICC

HP

Enrage/ expected length of fight

estimated raid DPS, if applicable

What to expect:

This is a fairly technical fight that require a lot of precision from everyone. This is one of those fights where one little mistake truly can wipe the raid.

The idea behind the fight is to kill Saurfang before he gains too much Blood Power. He will gain blood power from a number of different sources (which I will expand on below), and when he reaches 100, he will  place a mark on a random raid member. This mark causes that raid member to take damage from any attack Saurfang makes on the tanks. If the raid member dies while the mark is applied to them, Saurfang is healed by 5%.

Saurfang will also Frenzy at 30%, attacking much more quickly, and putting a much larger strain on the healers trying to keep marked targets alive. This is essentially the burn phase, and the part of the fight to blow any cooldowns you have.

To complicate matters, throughout the fight Saurfang will summon 4 Bloodbeasts which need to be kited and killed. Anytime they deal melee damage, Saurfang gains blood power, so it is important to keep them away from melee and tanks. Also through the encounter, Saurfang will cast Boiling Blood on 3 random raid members which is a dot that transfers blood power every time it deals damage. He will also cast Blood Nova which is an AoE targetted on one player that will hit anyone within 12 yards. This transfers blood power for every person it hits.

Key Abilities:

• Boiling Blood - Places a DoT on the target that does damage and transfers blood power to Saurfang. 
• Blood Nova - Targets one player and hits anyone within 12 yards, Saurfang gains 1 blood power for every player damaged.
• Call of the Blood Beasts - Summons 4 Blood Beasts
• Mark of the Fallen Champion - Places a mark on the target that inflicts damage every time Saurfang does melee damage. If the target dies, it heals Saurfang for 5%. This persists through death.
• Rune of Blood - He will intermittently place a mark on the tank that allows him to gain blood power every time he hits that target, as well as healing himself for many time the damage done.

So What Do We Do?

Before this fight starts, we will have ranged DPS and healers spread out around the room (using /range 12). Space is limited enough that you will most likely have to stack up with a buddy, but never be in range of more than 1 other person. Tanks and melee will ignore the range rule, and for this most part, this is a tank and spank fight for them.

When Saurfang is engaged the raid gets a little while to just burn him down as much as possible. If you class has 2-3 minute cooldowns it is usually safe to use them right off the bat, as they should be back up for the burn phase. A little while in the first Boiling Blood will go out. This is just healed through. A little while after that the first blood beasts will be spawned right next to him... this is where it starts to get tricky.

The Blood Beasts start with an empty aggro table, so anything that generates aggro on them will get their attention. Because of this, it is vitally important that Tanks and Melee DPS are not using any sort of AoE ability when the beasts spawn. Divine Storm, DK Diseases, Consecration, Sweeping Strikes, and any other ability that hits more than just Saurfang need to be avoided at all costs. The most common cause of wipes on this boss is a Blood Beast getting sucked in to Melee and swinging away.

Once the beasts spawn ranged will begin targetting them in a pre-arranged order and burning them down while kiting if necessary. Any type of snare, stun, or root will work on them, so things like frost traps, earthbind totem, roots, chains of ice, etc. are all very helpful.

Once all the beasts are dead, Ranged DPS goes back to focusing on the boss until the next set are spawned, then they repeat the previous step. At some point, Saurfang will reach 100 Blood Power and will place a Mark of the Fallen Champion on a random raid member. This raid member will now take damage every time Saurfang deals melee damage, so heals need to be on their toes when these start going out. Generally we run light on healers on this fight, so anything beyond 4 marks at the frenzy becomes a very touchy ordeal.

At 30%, Saurfang will frenzy and we will pop heroism. Now is the time for DPS to burn all their cooldowns. At this point it becomes a race to see if we can kill him before any of the marked targets die. Be aware though, all of the tricky parts of the encounter still take place, Saurfang is just hitting fast and placing a lot more pressure on the healers.

DPS Specific Tips

• Melee, I don’t care how tempting it is, or how much it would help your DPS, no NOT use any AoE abilities if there is even a remote chance it will tag a blood beast.
• Ranged, make sure you understand your targeting assignments as far as the beasts go. Targeting the wrong one could be a bad idea.
• Keep an eye on the Blood Beast spawn timer and place any traps or totems accordingly.

Healer Specific Tips

• Be very careful when the Blood Beasts spawn. Your heals will immediately grab aggro on any untapped ones, so stay on your toes and be ready to move.
• The damage in this fight is generally very light until 2-3 marks go out, then it starts to get a little scary. Once Saurfang frenzies, look out!
• The Marks deal physical damage, so it will hit a lot harder on a mage than it will on a warrior.
• Prioritize your heals. Tanks of course are your first priority, Marked DPS are second, other healers are third, and anyone else is a distant fourth.

Tank Specific Tips

• As soon as you get the Rune of Blood, call for a taunt. The longer you are still tanking with that on, the more healing Saurfang gets.
• Be very careful about using AoE abilities near a Blood Beast spawn (I am looking at you pallies). Generally ranged DPS can pull a Blood Beast off of a Melee DPS, but if it is on you, it is pretty much stuck there.
• Save your CDs for the burn phase. Depending on the number of marks out there, your healers may be stretched very thin, and may be a tad cranky.