Tuesday, July 14, 2009

Healing on the run: Freya




If you've been pulled into an Ulduar group, but you haven't had the time to watch the vids or read the blogs, here's a quick reference guide on what you *should* know about the Freya fight. Good luck!


Freya:


Phase 1:

Where to stand - Where you stand depends on which adds you're fighting...

Elementals - Stay away from Storm Lasher's AoE and always in range of your assigned tank.

Lashers - You'll be stacking on the main tank to AoE them down.

Ancients - You will need to run from mushroom to mushroom as they spawn and despawn or else you'll be unable to cast.


What to watch for -

1. Adds! Freya begins phase 1 basically invulnerable because of the 150 stacks of Attuned to Nature buff that she has. The buff increases healing done to her by 4% per stack and can only be removed by killing the 6 waves of the adds that she spawns. Understanding the three types of adds and killing them in the 60 seconds allowed (before the next wave of adds arrives) is the key to completing phase 1.

- Type 1 - Elemental adds - These three elementals each hit very hard and must die Romeo and Juliet style (within 12 seconds of each other) or else they will respawn the others. See below...

-- Snaplasher - If you're healing the snaplasher group, beware it's stacking buff. As it is attacked it will increase its damage output by 10% for each stack it gains, so the damage spikes will get bigger and bigger on the tank until all dps stops to let the buff wear off.

-- Storm Lasher - If you're healing the storm lasher group, you'll be healing against AoE damage. Only a tank should be near this add while your ranged classes dps it down. Roll your HoTs and then help out the rest of the raid.

-- Ancient Water Spirit - If you're healing the Water Spirit group, give your tank plenty of overheals. This thing hits hard and hits often. It will also randomly charge at someone in your raid. You'll be in the best position to see when and where this happens, so healing that target is also your responsibility.

- Type 2 - Exploding Lashers - These little nasties have an aggro wipe which makes them very difficult for the tanks to pick up. For that reason, the party usually stacks in one spot while they're AoE'd down. Individually they don't hit very hard, but when they die they do a fairly strong AoE attack which can get out of hand if too many are dying at once. Get those HoTs rolling and prioritize your healing targets while you fight to stay ahead of damage spikes.

- Type 3 - Ancient Conservator - This add has an aura that prevents all casting and attacks unless you're standing under one of the mushrooms that spawn while he's up. The mushrooms start small, grow and then disappear in a short amount of time. Do your best to stay in range of your assignments as you move from one mushroom to another. Also, the Ancient will place a debuff on one character (called Nature's Fury). This debuff causes AoE damage to anyone near the player affected. Keep an eye out for the player affected.

2. Lifebinder's Gifts - Throughout the fight, trees called "Lifebinder's Gift" will grown around Freya. When they're fully grown they will heal Freya and any adds that are up until it is destroyed. Who ever is assigned to down these trees will often be running out of healing range to do so. Keep an eye on them and prepare to run to their rescue if they should pick up an add while they work.

Should I freak? Hell yes! Phase 1 of the Freya fight is an ability check on everyone in your raid... including healers. You'll be changing gears with each set of adds, and there will likely be some carry over from one wave to another, making your job that much more challenging. Pay attention and heal your branches off!


Phase 2:

Where to stand - Stand with the ranged group so you all can move as a unit when seed bombs come out. (~Tip courtesy of Averna)


What to watch for -

1. Seed bombs! - Freya's main attack ability is throwing seed bombs at the raid. They're easy to spot and should be avoided at all costs because they hit very hard. If someone gets hit, they will need huge heals... if they survive.

2. Lifebinder's Gifts. - These trees continue to grow during phase 2 and will still need to be destroyed immediately. Keep an eye on the toons who run out of range to down these and pray that enough dps survived to this point to beat the enrage timer.

Should I freak? Nope. The hard part is over. Watch where you're standing and throw whatever heals you have left on the raid. The enrage timer is pretty easy to beat even with a battered and broken raid group.

Stay focused and enjoy your tier gear!

4 comments:

  1. For phase two, with the seeds: "Where to stand - Where ever you like." I gotta disagree with this. Our guild has found that it's really helpful for all the ranged to group up together, and then once the seeds spawn, everyone all runs together about 20 yards to the right. Then when seeds spawn again, everyone moves 20 yards to the left - and so on, back and forth, so everyone is avoiding the seeds that explode. It helps to put a lucky charm on someone's head, and everyone can follow that one person.

    Other than that tiny bit there, you've got a great, concise guide here. =) I likey!

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  2. Hey, PS: you have a fantastic blog here. I'm gonna put you on my blog list!

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  3. Hey Averna! We've kind of taken an "every toon for themself" approach (and usually have so few players left that we're hard to hit with seeds anyway), but your way sounds much more organized and raid friendly.

    Thanks for the tip! And the add! :-D

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  4. Hehe, I hear that. It is definitely a lot easier to avoid the seeds when you only have like, 5 ranged dps and 2 healers left standing or something =P We have definitely had raids like that before!

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