Succeeding at giving way

A rolling mass of stone and earth is loose around the room, devouring anything, living or inanimate, in its path. Turning a corner, you breath a sigh of relief, having gained distance from the voracious being known as Oregorger. You are safe for now.

Unexpectedly, as if in an instant, the unstoppable goren zips to the intersection you just passed. Dazed by the collision against the wooden picket fence, it halts for a bit, although you know it will be mere seconds before it makes off again, almost certainly in your direction.

Run away: Turn to page 87
Try to run behind it: Turn to page 155
Turn the next corner: Turn to page 172

In the second phase of the Oregorger encounter in Blackrock Foundry, the namesake boss drops whatever it is doing and enters a Rolling Fury. At first it may seem random, but the motion observes a few very simple rules:

Succeeding at not getting motion sickness

It is commonly accepted that normal computer use will not physically harm humans. While flashing images for epilepsy sufferers is a well-known exception, another can be found in the Hans'gar and Franzok encounter in the Blackrock Foundry.

This encounter is characteristic in that most of the floor area is moveable conveyor belts, filling much of the screen (and, by extension, the field of view) with apparent motion, even though none is felt sitting at the keyboard. In the more queasy of players, this can result in motion sickness, producing dizziness, nausea and maybe even vomiting. Given how crippling this is to raid performance, how are you supposed to handle it?

The Lightwell method

Look deep into my eyes... if you can find them.

Since nausea can arise when you see movement but do not feel it, the most obvious solution is to look at something on the screen that is not moving. The user interface (UI) elements, such as actionbars and nameplates, are options, although they might be too far into the peripheral field to focus on. Some environmental alternatives include:

WoW Mathematics: Breach of Contract

Ever signed a contract later regretted? Unfortunately, they are all too common during the Blood-Queen Lana'thel encounter, as she regularly binds raid members into Pacts of the Darkfallen. The law in Icecrown Citadel cares not of requirements of intention and genuine consent, so surely it will not mind a breach? What is the most expedient and mathematically sensible way to do so?

Summary:

• To remove Pact of the Darkfallen the quickest way possible in the 10-man Blood-Queen Lana'thel Encounter, the raid members should run to the midpoint of the interval they form.
• To remove Pact of the Darkfallen in the quickest way possible in the 25-man Blood-Queen Lana'thel encounter:
• If the raid members trace an acute triangle, they should run to its circumcentre.
• If the raid members trace a right-angled or obtuse triangle, they should run to the midpoint of the longest side.

Succeeding at not being trampled

FailBot has been retired, but EnsidiaFails has taken over! What remains the same is the humiliation that arises if a boss ability, if avoidable, is not handled properly.

In the Trial of the Crusader, the Northrend Beast Icehowl casts Massive Crash, which can send players scattered throughout the instance. If players do not move out in time to avoid the following Trample, the situation can become very messy (in both senses of the word!).

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.

Succeeding at lava waves

Flame Tsunami (lava wave) is that annoying ability Sartharion uses that can send you spinning in circles. It is very difficult (impossible if Shadron is up) to heal through. Fortunately, there is some predictability you can exploit.

A lava wave will always start at either the north or south side of the island, then sweep across the island to the opposite side. All lava waves originating from the same side will always have the same configuration of gaps. If coming from the north, there will be a gap in the centre of the island, while if coming from the south, there will be gaps in the east and west ends of the island.

Just observing one side when Raid Warning calls out "The lava surrounding Sartharion churns!" is enough to tell where you need to be. Guild convention states that Sartharion be tanked at the south-east corner of the island, thus it will be easiest to turn towards the southern side when needed. There are two courses of action which you will need to choose between:

1. If you see the lava wave's originating there (at the southern end), you need to be at either end of the island. As Sartharion occupies a large portion of the eastern end, the tank should stay in the eastern gap and the rest should be in the western gap. Of course, in this case, you will easily be able to judge where you need to go since you are observing the lava wave directly.
   
2. If you don't see the lava wave's originating there (instead originating at the northern end), the tank should hop onto one of the "stepping stone" islands (off the main island) and the rest of the raid should be in the centre of the main island. However, during any drake phases, the raid may find that the (stagnant) lava off the west end is closer than the centre of the island. Do not be afraid to jump in; it is only slightly over lukewarm.

Doing this, you will not need to use the A and D keys as much.

Originally posted here.