General Vezax Strategy

[_kylista]

So many easy but crucial things about this fight. It's a joke when everyone knows there job, so this is what the post is about. All of the various dps jobs, how to do them, when to do them, and what happens if you fail.

First, a quick explanation of the fight.

The major thing of this fight is there is 0 mana regen for casters and healers. Meaning, spirit regen, int regen (replenishment), and mp5 have no effect, although melee dps and hunters who require mana to dps but dont generally cast spells have something that restores mana.

Next, is he does an enrage of sorts every so often, causing him to hit the tank for around 45-50k normally. This needs to be countered with cd's, or kiting. When vezax gets this, he becomes extremely slow so its possible to out run him. This enrage lasts 10 seconds.

He also targets random players 15 yards away from him and casts something called Shadow Crash. Soon after, a purple bolt thing will fall where that targeted player was standing, dealing around 10000 damage to anyone in about a 15 yard radius and leaving a black puddle on teh ground (similar in looks to the tar used on flame leviathan). This puddle increases spelldamage by 75% (i think, or its haste) and reduces the mana cost of spells by 75%. It also reduces healing done by 75% so healers cannot stand in it. This is mainly for caster dps to stand in and dps.

Occasionally throughout the fight he will cast Mark of the Faceless on a random person 15 or more yards away from him. Its essentially a life leach to anyone within 15-20 yards of you, leeching 5000 of their health a second and transferring extreme amounts of health back to vezax.

The main thing melee have to worry about is Searing Flames. It deals about 15k damage to everybody in the room, and reduces their armor by 75%. Can be interrupted.

And finally, occasionally neutral mobs called Saronite Vapors will spawn throughout the room. Killing these will leave a bright green puddle on the ground that restores mana, but at the cost of health. Every second or 2 that you are in the green puddle, you get a stack of saronite vapors, with every increasing stack, the amount of mana you get back with each new stack doubles, but so does damage taken.

1 stack - 100 mana - 200 damage to you
2 stack - 200 mana - 400 damage to you
3 stack - 400 mana - 800 damage to you
4 stack - 800 mana - 1,600 damage to you
5 stack - 1600 mana - 3,200 damage to you
6 stack - 3200 mana - 6,400 damage to you
7 stack - 6400 mana - 12,800 damage to you
8 stack - 12800 mana - 25,600 damage to you - ONE SHOT



Pre Pull and setup:

Before getting to vezax, quite a bit of trash needs to be cleared. You need to know that if you break any cc you aren't supposed to, it will be difficult to recover, especially if that cc is a rogue or whirlwinding guy.

Before pulling, a few things need to be worked out. First and foremost there needs to be an interrupt rotation for Searing flames amongst the melee. He will do this very often, so its ideal to have 3-4 groups rotating interrupts to allow for cooldowns.

So, for example. you have a rogue, 2 dps warriors, 2 enhancement shamans, and a death knight. Groups are the following

Group 1:
Rogue 1, Warrior 1
Group 2:
Warrior 2, Shaman 1
group 3:
Shaman 2, DK 1

Assign 1 person from each group to announce over vent, or in /yell or /raidwarning that they used their interrupt, and for the next group to go.

Assign a designated healer or ranged dps to mark and call out Saronite Vapors.

Assign cooldown rotations for aproximately 12 cooldowns, assuming 1 is used every minute, and plan cooldowns accordingly for the tank. Have someone announce who is next on cooldowns (either the tank, or a tank healer)


During the Encounter - Healers

Just because you have no mana regen does not mean you should slack on the healing. There should be 3-4 main tank healers in this fight, healing almost like they do any other fight, with the other 2-3 focused on healing the stupid dps getting hit by shadow crash or life leach, as well as the people going into saronite vapors. This is a fight where you want to minimize overhealing and waisted mana.

Main tank healers, be aware that vezax hits hard but slow. Meaining you can generally time your heals to land when he's supposed to hit the tank. Big heals are your friend on this fight.

Remember your cooldown rotations for the tank during enrage, and be prepared to cast them. During this enrage is when you want to be spamming your tank.

Dont be afraid to call out that you are running low on mana. you should never actually go oom, but its ok to hit 5-10% before calling out that you want a vapor killed.

Also note that it is a very bad idea for you to heal in a shadow crash, as it reduces your healing done by 75%.


During the Encounter - DPS

Interrupts for Searing flames are the most imporntant aspect of this fight. if 1 slips, its a wipe, so get this down and dont fuck it up. Dont be shy when calling out who's next.

So, group 1 interrupts and rogue raid warnings Group 2 UP NEXT
Group 2 would get the next and raid warning Group 3 UP NEXT
then group 3 would get it and raid warning that group 1 was up again. so on and so forth. The reason we have multiple people in a group is to counterbalance something bad happening. Say the rogue ran out of energy and can't interrupt. The warrior would be there as backup. each group member should always fight for that interrupt.

Ranged dps:
it is VERY VERY VERY imporntant that you stay at max range from the boss. This allows maximum travel time for Shadow Crash. The longer it has to travel, the more time you have to run to safety.

While in shadow crash, you deal more damage, so watch your threat. When dealing with shadow crashes, DBM will announce who it's targeting and put a skull on their head. If you see one near you, run out of harms way, wait till it has landed, and then run in the puddle to dps. The more you dps in the puddles, the longer you will go without having to kill a vapor, and the more damage you will do.

You are also susceptible to Mark of the Faceless. If you get this on you, DBM will mark you with an X . You need to stop what you are doing immediately and run towards the outer walls of the room and stay there until the debuff is gone. If you are a dps and find yourself with a green line coming out of your body and connecting with the boss, you need to run SIDEWAYS away from the X. the faster you do this, the less health he gains, and he gains a LOT if you mess up (i've seen it up to 6 million health regained)

Healers always get priority on green puddles to regen mana. Never run across the map to get to a green puddle, just wait patiently. There should be no more than 5 people on each green puddle, to reduce the likelihood of shadow crash and mark of the faceless happening while in/around the saronite vapors. Also note, that staying in past 7 stacks is almost a guaranteed death. Absorption effects, such as bubble, shadow ward, or iceblock stop the damage, but dont stop you from getting mana back.


During the Encounter - Tank

It is very very important that you can hold aggro through the caster's increased dps on this fight, but its more imporntant to pay attention to your cooldowns when he enrages. Some strategies make the tanks kite around the boss when he enrages. If that's the case you really need to be on your toes, and make sure the healers know which way you are running so they can be prepared. Its also possible for you to get a black/green puddle under your feet. Generally you want to move out of those, even if they would benefit you.


Overview

If you get mark of the faceless, run to the outer walls.
Melee, make sure you know when and what to interrupt, and be VOCAL ABOUT IT.
Shadow crash is good for caster dps, but not healers.
Watch your saronite vapors stacks, as more than 6 or 7 at most will kill you.
Caster dps, try to always stay at max range to maximize travel time on the Shadow Crash. Its very easy to avoid, and you should never get hit.