| Boss: | Sartharion |
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| Zone: | Chamber of Aspects |
| Modes: | 25H |
| Type: | Normal boss kill |
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| Kyth <Fusion> |
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| 49 guides |
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| Created: 05 Nov 2009 Updated: 2 weeks ago |
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Overview
Sartharion with three Drakes up is the "optional difficulty" version of the extremely simple Sartharion fight.
Not only do the drakes add more mobs to the equation (or in some cases, lots of mobs, like Tenebron), they also add in void zones and huge damage multipliers that change Sartharion from a simple "don't stand in the fire" fight into a complex DPS race involving a wide range of abilities and a complex strategy.
Sartharion with three drakes up emphasizes heavy healing and DPS both.
While the fight starts fairly simple for the healers, with just Tenebron up, it quickly heats up in to the heaviest healing load Wrath has seen to date (it's particularly bad on 10-man.) Raid damage is incredibly high once Vesperon, the third drake, lands, and tank healing can only be managed via cooldowns and aggressive tank health top-offs.
The meat of the fight is over if you can get Shadron dead, so DPS must push extremely hard during Tenebron and Shadron. Make sure your raid has all the buffs and debuffs appropriate, and that people are in their highest DPS specs possible.
Strategy
Positioning
Your Sartharion tank needs to learn where to go for both kinds of lava waves. It's possible to dodge them without getting out of range of your healers but it takes some practice. Figure out what is the smallest distance you need to move -- the edges of the lava wave actually extend a bit beyond the effect range, so you can live dangerously.
Healers need to be in range of the Sartharion tank but also aware of the add/whelp tank, since blazes will head towards the healers.
Your whelp tank needs to be on top of the portal when the whelps will spawn, with AE already in place to pick them up. A DK is especially well-suited to the task, but paladins are good also.
Your drake tank needs to know when and where the three drakes spawn so he is always at the new spawn point before the drake is targetable.
All of your ranged DPS needs to move as little as possible. Unlike melee, you can't DPS while running for the most part, and DPS is very critical until Shadron is dead.
Your drake tank and melee need to know that it's okay for them to briefly step into the magma. Often the best way for them to handle a "middle" wave (the middle is clear) when only Tenebron is down is actually to just strafe into the magma while the wave passes and then go back on land. The health loss is minimal and easily healed, while the DPS gain is substantial.
Drake and Acolytes: Their Effects
This is pretty much the key to understanding the fight: knowing what effects the three drakes have on the fight.
First there are the three auras. These are present from the start and disappear when the drakes die.
* Power of Tenebron: +100% shadow damage taken
* Power of Shadron: +100% fire damage taken
* Power of Vesperon: -25% health
Note that the video is incorrect: the mobs do not gain 25% overall HP from Vesperon, it's an effect from Will of Sartharion.
There are also disciples spawned, one each for Shadron and Vesperon. While they are up, they have specific effects as well:
* Disciple of Shadron: +50% fire damage
* Disciple of Vesperon: Twilight Torment: 2-3k damage taken when you deal damage; +75% damage from Sartharion's breath
As you kill drakes, you reduce the damage the raid, and most importantly your tank, is taking.
Tenebron is the least dangerous, but he's also the one who lands first, so there's no point in not killing him. It's important that you kill him before the second round of whelps, because if you don't, you'll likely get overwhelmed.
The pressure of the fight comes when Shadron and Vesperon are both alive due to how the abilities multiple Sartharion's Flame Breath on your tank, combined with the fact that your tank has 25% less health until Vesperon dies:
* Base damage: 11k-14k
* Power of Shadron: 22k-28k
* Acolyte of Shadron: 33k-42k
* Twilight Torment: 57k-74k
You have two options: cooldowns and the Twilight Torment Dance.
Cooldowns
Your tanks and your healers have multiple cooldowns available to them to help survive those big breaths while Shadron is alive. Don't forget about what your healers bring, even if it means respecing: keeping a tank alive is worth the respecing cost your first few kills of Sartharion 3D.
Cooldowns are the most reliable way to handle those breaths, but you're a bit at the mercy of the RNG (breaths can come very quickly or very slowly) and you need to kill Shadron quickly before you run out of options.
One cooldown I forgot to mention on the movie is a Fire Resist pot. This combined with Warrior/Druid Last Stand is enough to survive a breath.
Another is hunter tenacity pets (e.g. Scorpion) can get Roar of Sacrifice that can be used as a defensive cooldown for your tank.
General Tips
Do we need to clear the trash around Sartharion?
Oh yes, it will add. It will very definitely add. You have to clear everything but the drakes and Sartharion himself.
When do we take portals?
Tenebron: Never ever. It's easier to just deal with the whelps up top than try to DPS the eggs.
Shadron: I'd recommend against it. While our first two kills were done that way, it's a *much* longer fight (almost twice as long) with far more chances for tank gibs in the windows that the acolytes are alive. Just grit your teeth and heal through the pain.
Vesperon: While you can skip his portals, we like to take them. The DPS race is over at that point, so you might as well kill Vesperon's acolyte so your raid isn't taking Twilight Torment damage as you kill Vesperon. If you choose not to take the portals during Vesperon, then at least take the one right after Shadron dies, since Shadron's acolyte will still be up and a be danger to your tank.
Important note about the Twilight Realm (3.0.3 patch)
In the current patch, if you pop up from the twilight realm after killing a drake, you can die immediately to a lava wave or a void zone.
While void zone deaths are impossible to avoid, you can, if you are alert, never die to a lava wave when coming up. Do this by communicating on vent and either:
* Not killing the mob down below until the wave has fully cleared ,or
* Moving into position down below so you'll be safe when you pop back up. i.e. moving to the middle if it's a "middle clear" wave, or the side if it's a "sides clear" wave
We can't do 3 Drakes, which two are the easiest?
It's no contest: kill Shadron.
That not only removes the biggest damage multipliers from the fight, it also gives you a long space between Tenebron and Vesperon.
I want us to first kill him with one drake up, then two, then three
Well, there's really no reason for that. Unless you really can't keep the fight under control long enough to learn it, it's best to just start learning the strategy for three drakes and then, at the end of the week, back off to two and kill him that way for loot if you weren't able to kill him earlier.
One drake (Tenebron) teaches you very little about the real strategy to the fight and actually can encourage bad habits like taking portals or not pushing hard enough on DPS.
That said, if you're going to:
* To do one drake, kill Shadron and Vesperon
* To do two drakes (easy): kill Shadron
* To do two drakes (hard): kill any other drake
The raid keeps dying
(assuming this isn't due to lava waves/void zones)
While you don't want your raid to constantly clump/spread/clump/spread, since it lowers dps, if you have a lot of DPS dying due to lava strikes during the Shadron/Vesperon time period, encourage them to use void zone/lava wave time to adjust so they're not standing on each other.
Lava strikes hit for 13k in that period, and a hit on a large clump may not get topped up before the next one hits them.
Also, see if it's due to loose adds: you may either have an issue with your add tank, or with your DPS attacking them too soon. If it is, and you can't solve it, consider having another person help pick them up (and then have them tank the drakes in the portals) if your DPS is good enough.
Common Problems
Too many healers?
First off, how many healers are you taking? This is a DPS-race fight and will be a dps challenge until Ulduar gear. And like many DPS challenges, they turn into healing challenges because you need to take as few healers as possible so you have the DPS.
We did 7 healers on our first two Sartharion kills, but on our subsequent kills we've taken 6 and found it easier because the extra DPS gets the fight done more quickly and reduces the risk. Extra healers don't really help you, since the damage is overwhelming if you don't meet the dps requirements
The MT keeps going out of range
Your MT healers and tank need to learn (yes, via potential wipes) how close they can cut those lava waves.
MT healers can stand just on the edge of the wave and start a heal: it will complete even if the tank goes a bit OOR due to the wave. This way you can guarantee heals continuing to land during the wave.
Our raid sucks, people die to void zones/lava waves
Void Zones
If it's void zones, make sure your raiders are turning their spell effects to low: they will be able to see the void zone but won't see DK/Paladin AE and other spell effects that will cover it up.
If it's ranged, just emphasize that they *need* to live. Suggesting they spread out is unfortunately a bad idea: extra movement to spread back out after a wave or when someone moves into their space will just lower your raid dps too much.
If it's melee, the melee and the tanks need to be aware of void zones spawning near them and they may want to call on vent to alert others.
If it's healers, they may need to adjust their UI so they can heal and see the environment at the same time. That will be required for all later content, so now's a good time for them to spend some time thinking about how they need to arrange things so they can function effectively.
Lava Waves
Your MT and healers may need some time to learn how close they can cut corners so they can handle the fight effectively. Outside of that though, neither should ever be eating waves.
We found it useful to have someone up top calling "center" or "sides" depending on which was safe. Is it necessary? Of course not. But it's a small thing to do and saves a few wipes a night, so why not?
Our whelp tank sucks, people keep dying
Are your AE'er just jumping in without regard to life or limb? Then it's their own fault, not the strategy. They need to give the tank time to establish aggro.
Is your tank actually standing by the portal ahead of time? If not, then it's his fault, not the strategy. A DK/Paladin should have their AE down already, and a warrior should be ready to shockwave immediately. (Druids are a poorer choice for whelp tank than the other three options.)
Tips for warriors: have your vigilance on someone getting hit often (e.g. the drake tank), as the refreshed taunts make it far easier. Save shockwave for whelps, freely use combat charge and intervene. Warriors are actually very awesome add tanks.