Succeeding at finding an ice block

FailBot has its uses for troubleshooting a raid wipe. However, due of the wording of its /ra output ("{Player} fails at {boss action}."), I do suspect that this AddOn was devised under a sadistic mentality. However, don't fret, as this series of guides will give help avoid these embarrassments!

Sapphiron's Frost Breath AoEs the entire area for an enormous amount of damage. If you are not careful, you can easily end up a frozen corpse lying on the floor of his cold, cold lair. There are only two ways to avoid this demise:

1. Be frozen in an ice block by Sapphiron's Icebolt.
2. Hide behind someone frozen by Icebolt, breaking line-of-sight of the epicentre.

When doing this encounter, it is a good idea to zoom the camera out, so as to get a wide view of the area. To increase the maximum range of the camera, execute the following slash commands:

/console cameraDistanceMax X
/console cameraDistanceMaxFactor Y

where X and Y are arbitrary numbers. The valid range for X is 0-50 and its default value is 15. The valid range for Y is 0-3.4 and its default value is 1.

You can tell when Frost Breath will soon be cast when Sapphiron flies up into the air (an action conveniently accompanied with a raid warning). When this happens, all players should gather in a common area (though still keeping 10 yds of distance from each other, since Icebolt also AoEs). This will ensure that everyone does not need to run too far to reach an ice block. Also keep in mind the various Chills that may be up; it is a good idea to stay away from these.

With luck, Sapphiron will distribute three ice blocks evenly over the congregation; otherwise, they should still be in technical reach. He will fire them off in succession, so it is best to wait until the second one occurs before running for one. Avoid Chill areas, since they will slow movement speed by half if afflicted.

Once behind an ice block, it is a good idea to check your line-of-sight (or lack thereof). You can do this by attempting to cast a ranged ability at Sapphiron. If you are positioned correctly, you will get an error saying that you are out of line-of-sight; otherwise, adjust your position accordingly. Just wait until the flash of blue, and you will have successfully weathered a frost wyrm's icy breath!

Succeeding at left and right

The Thaddius encounter involves lots of movement, though its principle is very simple. Reviewing the guild's convention:

• Facing the boss from the entrance, positively charged people go to the right.
• Facing the boss from the entrance, negatively charged people go to the left.
• When changing sides, stick to the left side while you are approaching the other side. This will only be necessary for as long as people react slowly to Polarity Shifts.

My mnemonic for the first 2 points is the mathematical convention for number line graphing. The positive direction is right from the origin, while the negative direction is left from the origin. My mnemonic for the 3rd point is Australian road rules. Keep at the left side of the road!

The hardest part of Phase 2 is figuring out which side you are supposed to go to for the first Polarity Shift. Get ready to change sides if you need to. Facing the wall helps, as this helps orient you according to the left and right directions.

Polarity Shift is then cast. You have 4 possible consequences:
1. If you are at the left, and you are positively charged, you switch sides.
2. If you are at the left, and you are negatively charged, you stay.
3. If you are at the right, and you are positively charged, you stay.
4. If you are at the right, and you are negatively charged, you switch sides.

Provided you take the right course of action, it is smooth sailing until the boss down. Simply change sides when your polarity changes. No more worrying about positives and negatives!

Originally posted here.

Don't slack off during the Thaddius encounter!

Aim: To calculate the drop in DPS of a single death in Phase 2 of the Heroic Thaddius encounter, subject to certain assumptions. To observe the change in total raid DPS as additional dps die.

Summary:

• The minimum personal DPS needed to down Thaddius in time is 2186 DPS.
• The total personal DPS is 100% average DPS + 115% bonus DPS from charge buff OR 215% of average DPS.
• A 1-stack of the charge buff grants 218.6 DPS.
• A single death of a healer drops total raid DPS by 1748.8 DPS, while a single death of a dps drops total raid DPS by 6230.2 DPS.
• While DPS continues dropping as additional dps die, its rate of decline is decreasing.

The given:

• Raid composition: 2 tanks, 7 healers, 16 dps.
• Raid positioning: 12.5 players on each side of Thaddius, each side having 8 dps.
• Thaddius' health: 27 600 000 HP.
• Enrage timer: 360 seconds (6 minutes)
• Average size of stacking group: 12.5 players.
• Average stack of charge buff among dps: 11.5 stacks. This gives a damage boost of 115% of average personal DPS.
• Healers do not dps, tanks do minimal damage (in this scenario, VERY minimal).

Detail:

The figure that will be used as the average personal DPS, fully buffed, is the minimum personal DPS needed to down Thaddius before the enrage. The total raid DPS is:

27 600 000/360 = 76 666.6666... DPS

The total personal DPS is:

7666.6666.../16 = 4791.6666... ~ 4700 DPS (attribute the extra 91.6666... DPS to the tanks :))

Total personal DPS is:

100% average DPS + 115% bonus DPS from charge buff (decimal 1.15) = 215% of average personal DPS (decimal 2.15)

The average personal DPS is:

4700/2.15 ~ 2186 DPS

That means the bonus DPS from the charge buff is:

4700 - 2186 = 2514 DPS

A 1-stack of the charge buff grants:

2514/11.5 ~ 218.6 DPS

Consider the death of a healer. That removes a 1-stack of the charge buff off the 8 dps on their side. So, the drop in DPS from that death is:

218.6 x 8 = 1748.8 DPS. That's about 524.6k damage over 5 minutes lost!

Consider the death of a dps. That removes the dps' total personal DPS plus a 1-stack of the charge buff from each of the 7 dps on their side. So, the drop in DPS from that death is:

7 x 218.6 + 4700 = 1530.2 + 4700 = 6230.2 DPS. That's about 1.87M damage over 5 minutes lost!

To observe the change in DPS using calculus, additional deaths will need to be considered in pairs (one dps from each group will drop total raid DPS by equal amounts) and we will assume that only the dps die. The change in total raid DPS from the first pair of deaths is:

-6230.2 x 2 = -12 460.4 DPS

Calculating the incremental changes in DPS from additional pairs of deaths, we get the following progression of values:

-12 460.4, -12 023.2, -11 586, -11 148.8, ...

This is in fact an arithmetic progression with common difference of 437.2 and first term of -12 460.4. Total DPS lost from n pairs of deaths will be the following sum of values:

S(n) = 218.6n^2 - 12 679n

Differentiating S(n) with respect to n:

dS(n)/dn = 437.2n - 12679. Since the first derivative is negative over the domain 0 < n < 8, S(n) will continue dropping.

Differentiating dS(n)/dn with respect to n:

d2S(n)/dn2 = 437.2. Since the second derivative is always positive, S(n) is decreasing at a decreasing rate.

We have the following trend:


Originally posted here.