Teron Gorefiend Strategy Guide
Raid Setup
1 tank Bringing more than 1 is a waste of DPS time you dont have, at least until you master the fight. He will need around 20,000 HP.
8 healers You will need Paladins/Priests, would reccomend at least 2 of each.
Any DPS class can fill the rest of the raid.
Buffs, Potions and Gear
Prayer of Shadow Protection is needed on the whole raid. All standard buffs, elixirs, flasks.
Shadow and Fire resistance potions aren't a necessity but can help to mitigate damage.
Boss Abilities
Melee hit: about 5,000 to 6,000 on plate, perfectly capable of landing critical hits of 15,000
HP: 4,100,000
Doom Blossom
Dark clouds form above him which will randomly shoot shadow bolts into the raid. Bolts hit for roughly 1500 damage.
Shadow of Death
Will target a random raid member every 30 seconds with a debuff of death. Targeted player will die after 55 seconds and turn into a ghost for 60 seconds(explained later). Will not target highest on aggro list.
Crushing Shadows
Will target 5 random people in the raid with a debuff that increases their shadow damage taken by 50% for 15 seconds. Can be removed with Iceblock, Divine Shield and Cloak of Shadows (though they might be better saved for Incinerate).
Incinerate
Randomly targeted ability that deals 2775 to 3225 fire damage on impact and every second for 3 seconds. It must be dispelled immediately. He uses this ability every 20 seconds or so.
Shadowy Construct Abilities
Melee hit: about 800 on plate, up to 2000 on cloth
HP: 60,000
Immune to all attacks except from ghosts
Atrophy
Each time a Construct melee strikes a player, it applies this debuff which slows attack speed/casting speed on a raid member by 5%, and can stack up to 10 times. It cannot be dispelled.
Strategy
The Pull
The main tank engages by simply running towards Teron Gorefiend.
The raid will engage the boss and move directly to the furthest possible point away from the entrance. He will be tanked facing away from the raid, at the bottom of his stairs. As soon as the main tank has run to the boss, the entire raid should quickly run down where shown below. Healers may well wish to keep HoTs on the tank as he pulls, to guard against nasty crushing blows.
The Fight
He only has one phase in which many things will occur. The first and foremost to note is that he hits quite hard on plate so healers will need to be assigned to keep the main tank alive.
After 10 seconds he will target a random raid member and place a debuff on them called 'Shadow of Death'. This debuff will cause the raid member to turn into a ghost when it has ended, and in doing so the player will spawn 4 Shadowy Constructs (similar to the mobs in Rattlegore's room, Scholomance).
The main priority of the affected player will be to then kill these Constructs before they reach the raid and kill the healers. It is of the utmost importance that this job is performed quickly and efficiently; for a loose Construct in the raid is almost certainly a wipe.
Ghost tactics will be discussed further on in the strategy.
As Gorefiend is DPSed down he will mark another player for death every 30 seconds. It is advisable that warlocks place soulstones upon these people so that when they have finished their ghost phase they can rejoin the fight; or druids can be assigned to res them.
Doom Blossoms will form above him and begin to fire shadowbolts into the raid. As the fight progresses more of these will spawn and the raid will require more and more healing to compensate. As an added twist he will randomly debuff raid members with an increased shadow damage buff named Crushing Shadows, which lasts 15 seconds. Shadow bolts hitting players with this debuff hit for noticeably more (up to 2500).
Gorefiend will also target random raid members with Incinerate during the fight which deals significant fire damage over time (roughly 3000 damage a second). This must be cleansed by a priest or paladin immediately, as combined with the Shadow Bolts, it can lead to a quick death.
Once the raid has mastered these different abilities it is invariably a race against time. You must kill Gorefiend before too many Doom Blossoms spawn, or before too many people have become ghosts. His health is not great (4,100,000), but DPSing him down before his abilities kill the raid will take time and practice.
Ghost Strategy
Upon receiving the Shadow of Death players will have 55 seconds to continue fighting Teron before they die and transform into a ghost. It is imperative that these people do not die in the raid, as they will spawn Constructs on top of the raid. The Constructs themselves are immune to attacks from any alive players, making it vitally important that they are killed swiftly.
If you get the debuff you should run out of the fight when it has about 20 seconds left, back to the main entrance.
If any Constructs reach the raid, they will hit for about 3000 on cloth and will give people a debuff called Atrophy, reducing their attack speed by 5% for 60 seconds. This can stack up to 10 times. The Constructs themselves are immune to attacks from any alive players
As soon as you die you will become a ghost for 60 seconds. Controlled by your pet bar (like the bar used in Karazhan's Chess Event), this ghost has 5 abilities:
1 - Spirit Strike: deals ~700 dmg to the target and decreases the damage they do by 10% for 5 seconds. Must be performed in melee range of target.
2 - Spirit Lance: deals ~6000 dmg to the target and decreases the target's movement speed by 30%. Can stack up to 3 times.
3 - Spirit Volley: deals ~10000 dmg to all nearby targets. 15 second cooldown. 12 yard range.
4 - Spirit Chains: locks all nearby targets in place for 5 seconds. 15 second cooldown. 12 yard range.
5 - Spirit Shield: absorbs up to 12000 shadow damage on a friendly target. 90 second cooldown.
Note that the Ghost is invulnerable to the Construct's attacks, and therefore will not ever get aggro from them.
Also note that Gorefiend is invulnerable to each Ghost ability, with the exception of Spirit Strike.
As soon as you become a ghost you should shackle the Constructs around you. This will stop them running to the raid and give you time to manoeuver around in front of them. Your objective should be to hit each Construct with the Spirit Lance at least once every 10 seconds. This will slow them down, giving you time to kill them. Use the AoE as much as possible but be aware it will break the Chains, so try to use Spirit Volley immediately before you cast Spirit Chains.
If performed correctly, the Constructs should die within 40 seconds, giving you 20 seconds to perform a few more tasks.
Once your Constructs are dead it is advisable to float to the raid and hit Gorefiend with Spirit Strike. Once this is done, target a healer with Spirit Shield and give them the buff. If you still have time left after this, you can help fellow Ghosts with their Constructs.
Please note that the Shadow of Death ability has nothing to do with aggro. It is completely random. What it means however is that each raid member needs to know exactly what to do if they should get targeted by it. The only person who will not get it is the main tank, or the highest on aggro at the time it is cast.
Class Roles
Tank
Simply keep Teron on you for the entire fight. You will not get the Shadow of Death debuff as long as you stay top of his aggro list. Face him away from the raid, towards the entrance; the same way he's facing as you engage. Make sure to move him forward slightly so that hunters can DPS from the far side.
Melee
Stay behind him and dont overaggro. Be aware of your debuffs.
Ranged
Stay at the far wall and dont overaggro. Be aware of your debuffs.
Pets may be used in this fight as they do not gain any of his debuffs. They can be targeted by the Shadowy Constructs but are very unlikely to generate more aggro than the healers. Warlocks should use their imps to maximise their party's hitpoints. Hunters can leave their pets on the boss to boost DPS as much as possible.
Warlocks
Once your raid feels comfortable with the fight, organising soulstones on those that get Shadow of Death is advisable. Some discussion with the druids regarding combat resses may be needed.
Healers
Assign healers to specific roles; the tank will need 4 dedicated healers at all times, possibly more. One paladin/priest should be assigned to cleanse Incinerate. Some healers will be needed to heal the raid later on in the fight - druids or shamans are good choices for this. Watch the raid's debuffs, prioritse those with Crushing Shadows. Be aware of your own debuffs.
Druids
See warlock comment above.
