| Name | Serpentshrine Cavern: Morogrim Tidewalker Guide |
| Category | Raid |
There are 2 ways to reach the next boss, Morogrim Tidewalker. If you decided to go from the front, you will be facing the initial trash mobs similar to the ones when going to Leotheras the Blind first. These include Coilfang Serpentguards and the Greyheart mobs, as well as the patrolling Underbog Colossus. If you decided to go from Fathom-Lord Karathress' room, you will only encounter 2 naga packs until the murloc packs inside Morogrim's room. Basically, going through the back from Fathom-Lord Karathress' room is faster, so we'll go with it. After killing Fathom-Lord Karathress (or passing him), proceed to the other side of his room, to the other hallway leading to Morogrim Tidewalker's room. Don't go too near the entrance of the hallway as there is a naga pack patrolling the hallway.
Trash mob information
From the back (Fathom-Lord Karathress' room)
Coilfang Serpentguard - Melee naga mob. They hit moderately hard and can cleave. Also, they have a Corrupt Devotion Aura which reduces armor by 25%. Occasionally they will put up a Spell Reflect so casters should be aware of this. Cannot be crowd controlled.
Coilfang Shatterer - Melee naga mob. Hits hard and has Shatter Armor ability. This ability is a 2 second cast, which reduces armor by 50%, and melee damage by 35%. The debuff lasts for 15 seconds, and it can be spell reflected. Warrior tanks should try and spell reflect this ability every time Coilfang Shatterers use it.
Coilfang Fathom-Witch - Caster naga mob. Occasionally uses Shadow Bolt which hits for around 3k shadow damage. Also has Shadow Nova which hits for around the same shadow damage but also knocks back anyone hit by it. If you are not careful, you or other raid members might get knocked back (possibly towards Fathom-Lord Karathress on the first pack if you passed him), so better face your back to a wall while tanking her. Also casts Domination to a raid member with second aggro which mind controls him / her for a few seconds. Cannot be crowd controlled. Comes in pairs.
From the front (The Lurker Below's bridge / console)
Coilfang Serpentguard - Melee naga mob. They hit moderately hard and can cleave. Also, they have a Corrupt Devotion Aura which reduces armor by 25%. Occasionally they will put up a Spell Reflect so casters should be aware of this. Cannot be crowd controlled. Comes in pairs.
Greyheart Tidecaller - Broken shaman mob. Can attack with Frostbrand attacks that hit for around 2k damage and occasionally cast a Poison Shield that works similar to Lightning Shield. This shield has a chance to apply Virulent Poison to anyone hitting him, which deals 4000 nature damage per tick of the poison. The Poison Shield can be removed / dispelled or spellstolen, and the Virulent Poison can be depoisoned. Also, they can cast a Water Elemental Totem which summons a Water Elemental. The elemental can be very dangerous for the raid, so it needs to be banished immediately. Alternatively, the totem can be destroyed much easier and this will despawn the Water Elemental. Can be crowd controlled.
Greyheart Skulker - Broken rogue mob. Has a kick ability similar to rogues. Can be crowd controlled except for traps.
Greyheart Nether-Mage - Broken mage mob. Has 3 different self-buffs that increases its spell damage depending on the element. Mages can spellsteal these to gain around 350 spell damage increase depending on the element buff. The 3 self-buffs are Arcane Destruction, Frost Destruction and Fire Destruction. Also can cast several AoE spells like Arcane Volley, Rain of Fire, and some single target spells too like Frostbolt, Fireball. Its dangerous AoE spell is the Arcane Lightning spell which acts like chain lightning, and silences those people hit by this lightning for a few seconds. Can and should be crowd controlled. Usually comes in pairs.
Coilfang Fathom-Witch - Caster naga mob. Occasionally uses Shadow Bolt which hits for around 3k shadow damage. Also has Shadow Nova which hits for around the same shadow damage but also knocks back anyone hit by it. If you are not careful, you might get knocked back and fall into the water, so better face your back to a wall while tanking her. Also casts Domination to a raid member with second aggro which mind controls him / her for a few seconds. Cannot be crowd controlled. Comes in pairs.
Underbog Colossus - These are large bog lord-type mobs which comes in single pulls. These mobs are fairly similar to the Anubisath Sentinels in Ahn'Qiraj, in which they have a random main ability, weakness, and death ability everytime.
Underbog Colossus' Random Abilities
Main Ability 1: Rampant Infection and Spore Quake - Occasionally, the Underbog Colossus does a Spore Quake ability which deals 1291-1499 nature damage per tick to anyone within 30 yard range. This generally hurts especially to the melee people, since they can't get out of it immediately without taking several ticks in. It also has a knockdown effect so melee people should be careful. In addition, the Underbog Colossus will cast a Rampant Infection on a random person. This disease acts like Prayer of Mending, which jumps from one person to another every after 1.5 seconds. It deals nature damage every time it jumps, and the damage stacks every time it jumps. If people can be fast enough, they can cure disease the person before it can jump to another person.
Main Ability 2: Acid Geyser and Serpentshrine Parasite - Occasionally, the Underbog colossus will shoot sprays of acid to a random person. This will make the Underbog Colossus face the random person, and anyone within a frontal cone range of the Colossus will be affected. If this happens, just have the targetted person move out off the raid so they won't be affected by the Acid Geyser. In addition to the Acid Geyser, the Underbog Colossus summons a 1 hp parasite to a random person in the raid. This parasite will crawl out and attempt to enter its target. If the person gets the parasite, s/he will get a debuff which deals 2000 nature damage every 2 seconds for 10 seconds. Once the effect wears off, or the person dies from the damage, the parasite will move out and attempt to infect a new person. Also, if the person died from the parasite, it will spawn several more parasites. Just heal the person who has the parasite, and kill the parasite when it’s out.
Main Ability 3: Frenzy and Atrophic Blow - This is the easiest of the Underbog Colossus' abilities, and it can just be easily dispelled by a Tranquilizing Shot from a hunter, or just healed through by the healers. The Atrophic Blow ability of the Underbog Colossus deals 1313-2187 nature damage to the tank, and applies a stackable debuff which reduces strength and stamina by 30 per stack. The debuff can stack up to 30, and lasts for 20 seconds.
Death Ability 1: Toxic Pool - As soon as the Underbog Colossus dies, a green pool will appear under the Underbog Colossus. Anyone standing on it will receive 2138-2362 nature damage per second. This ability is pretty much deadly for the melee people. Just run out immediately from it.
Death Ability 2: Colossus Lurker spawn - As soon as the Underbog Colossus dies, 2-3 Colossus Lurkers will spawn. Just have the tanks catch them and kill them one at a time. They have around 140k health.
Death Ability 3: Colossus Rager spawn - As soon as the Underbog Colossus dies, several Colossus Ragers will spawn. Just have the tanks gather them up, then AoE them all. They only have around 34k health.
Death Ability 4: Refreshing Mist - As soon as the Underbog Colossus dies, several blue mushrooms will appear under the Underbog Colossus which lasts for 20 seconds. Anyone standing within the mushrooms will receive a beneficial buff called Refreshing Mist which regenerates their health and mana. You can get multiple Refreshing Mist buffs on you since every mushroom emits this mist.
Death Ability 5: Nothing - When the Underbog Colossus dies, it just dies and won't trigger any death ability.
Inside Morogrim Tidewalker's room
Tidewalker Depth-Seer - One of the murloc mobs patrolling inside Morogrim Tidewalker's room. Basically the 'healer' of the group. Can cast Healing Touch and Rejuvenation on the other murlocs, and when they reach low health, they will cast an uninterruptible Tranquility. Cannot be crowd controlled.
Tidewalker Harpooner - One of the murloc mobs patrolling inside Morogrim Tidewalker's room. Can immobilize players with their "Net" ability, primarily targeting the tank. Also can drop aggro, so tanks need to taunt them back. Cannot be crowd controlled.
Tidewalker Hydromancer - One of the murloc mobs patrolling inside Morogrim Tidewalker's room. Basically the 'caster' of the group, which oftentimes melees. Can cast Frostbolts and Frost Shocks. Can also do Frost Novas. These mobs are vulnerable to stuns, interrupts and silences.
Tidewalker Shaman - One of the murloc mobs patrolling inside Morogrim Tidewalker's room. Similar to elemental shamans, as they can cast Lightning Bolts, Chain Lightnings and also has Lightning Shield. Cannot be crowd controlled, but their spells can be interrupted.
Tidewalker Warrior - One of the murloc mobs patrolling inside Morogrim Tidewalker's room. Basically the 'melee' mob of the group. Similar to warriors, as they can do Bloodthirsts. Also can do Uppercuts and occasionally gains Frenzy. They are vulnerable to Tranquilizing Shots, so it is imperative to shoot them with it when they go into Frenzy. Can also drop aggro occasionally, so tanks should be aware of it and grab them immediately when they do this and target someone else. They are vulnerable to Disarm, but cannot be stunned. Can be crowd controlled except when under the effects of Frenzy. Comes in pairs.
**These mobs respawn after 2 hours. Linked to Morogrim Tidewalker, so killing him will stop the respawns.
Coming from Fathom-Lord Karathress' room, you will encounter 2 packs of 5 naga mobs patrolling along the hallway going to Morogrim Tidewalker's room. These packs consist of a pair of Coilfang Fathom-Witches, a pair of Coilfang Shatterers and a Coilfang Serpentguard. They are all immune to crowd control effects, so all of them should be tanked. The only thing to take note of on these packs is to bring the 2 Coilfang Fathom-Witches away from the raid to a safe corner, to prevent accidental knockbacks to other mobs (assuming you skipped Fathom-Lord Karathress, or just clearing this first set of patrol before engaging Fathom-Lord Karathress).
Kill the Coilfang Fathom-Witches first, then proceed to the melee mobs. Do the same with the next patrol, but this time, you'll have enough room to work on and you don't have to worry about knockbacks into other mobs. Bring them away from the raid still, since they have AoE abilities. After killing the 2 naga patrols, you will now arrive at Morogrim Tidewalker's room. Don't enter yet though, since there are tons of murloc patrols in the room. These murloc packs consist of one of each type of murloc mob (Depth-Seer, Harpooner, Hydromancer, Shaman) and 2 Warriors. The packs come in 5-6 murlocs, with 2 Warriors definitely in each of them.
There are several ways to handle these packs. One is to tank them all, and sheep the 2 Warriors, or AoE them all and tank the 2 Warriors with your main tanks. If you decided to sheep the 2 Warriors, make sure to focus and kill the other murlocs first and then kill the Warriors last. There's no real kill order on the murlocs since they're all pretty squishy, but you can try killing the Depth-Seers first if there are any, then Shamans, then Hydromancers, then Harpooners. Get the Warriors last and don't forget to Tranquilizing Shot them when they go into Frenzy (if your raid has hunters, disregard otherwise).
To use the other way of handling these murlocs, you will probably need a protection specced Paladin unless your tanks are pretty confident that they can grab all of the murlocs and maintain aggro on them while the raid is AoEing them all. The only thing to note here is that the Tidewalker Warriors will not be crowd controlled and should be tanked the whole time. The raid should focus fire on one Warrior first and kill it so the tanks can have enough aggro on all the murlocs before AoE commences. There should be around 4 packs patrolling inside Morogrim Tidewalker's room that you should be clearing before engaging him.
Once all of these murloc patrols inside the room are killed, there is still one more pack remaining but this pack patrols the hallway on the other side. If you are coming from Fathom-Lord Karathress' room, you won't get to kill them, but they need to disappear or they can interfere in the boss fight. To make them 'disappear', have someone 'sacrifice' himself and engage Morogrim Tidewalker while the rest of the raid stays away so he resets after prematurely engaging. Its best if the raid has a hunter in the group to be the sacrifice, since they can Feign Death. By engaging Morogrim Tidewalker, the remaining mobs patrolling close to his room will despawn, taking them out of your way.
This also works when you come in front instead, but this time the naga pack patrolling on the other end of the room despawns. When you are done with the premature engaging of Morogrim Tidewalker, buff up and get ready to engage him for real this time.
Morogrim Tidewalker
He is a giant boss inside Serpentshrine Cavern and one of the 3 final bosses before encountering Lady Vashj. His encounter is basically a tank-and-spank but with some twist.
Raid Composition
1 Main Tank
1 Protection Paladin (optional)
At least 5-6 AoE including a Warlock for Life Tapping
7-8 Healers
Remaining slots for other DPS
Key Abilities
Tidal Wave - Morogrim Tidewalker's offensive ability. He does this ability occasionally which deals 3938-5062 frost damage to anyone within a frontal arc with Morogrim Tidewalker, and also applies a debuff on the affected players which reduces attack speed by 400%. This spell has a 35 yard range, and the debuff part lasts for 15 seconds. No one should be affected by this ability except the main tank, unless someone pulls aggro and he casts this when he turns to him / her. This spell can also be resisted completely (binary resistance).
Watery Grave - Morogrim Tidewalker's main ability. For every 30 seconds, he will cast this which teleports up to 4 random raid members within 45 yards with Morogrim Tidewalker to the bottom of the waterfalls in his room and encases them in a water bubble, stunning them and preventing any kind of action (except druid Barkskin). After 6 seconds of being stunned inside a water bubble, the bubble will burst, dealing 3200 frost damage to himself / herself and anyone around him / her, and also throws himself / herself up the air. This person will receive fall damage when he drops back down (about 1k+ fall damage).
Earthquake - Morogrim Tidewalker's secondary ability. For every 45 seconds, he will cast this which deals 4000-4200 physical damage to everyone within 50 yards of Morogrim Tidewalker. This effect also interrupts affected players' casting and stuns them briefly.
Summon Murlocs - After each Earthquake, 2 packs of 6 Tidewalker Lurkers will come running inside Morogrim Tidewalker's room from each exit of the room (one pack each from the north and south). These murlocs add has about 19000 health and hits for about 400 on plate wearers. They also have a Carnivorous Bite ability which is basically a bleed effect that deals around 628 physical damage every 3 seconds. These murlocs should be AoE'd down as fast as possible.
Summon Water Globule - When Morogrim Tidewalker reaches 25% health, he will summon Watery Globules from the waterfalls instead of sending players to their Watery Graves. These Watery Globules will travel very slowly to a random person in the raid. When the Watery Globules reach its intended player, it will explode for 4000-6000 frost damage. After 35 seconds of travelling, however, the globules will disappear, so everyone should move away from them till they disappear.
This fight requires only 1 main tank for Morogrim Tidewalker. If the raid has a protection paladin, this fight will be easier since the paladin can tank all of the murloc adds easily without worrying about aggro on the AoE. It is still doable without an offtank for the murlocs, it will require a holy paladin though to acquire healing aggro and kite them to a mage and Frost Nova them in place, then the others proceed to AoE them all down. This will require multiple mages to have a Frost Nova rotation though, to keep all murlocs in place.
Tank Positioning
Since Morogrim Tidewalker has a frontal cone ability, which is the Tidal Wave, it is imperative that the tank positions him such that he will be the only one who will be hit by this ability. The most suitable position for this is by any of the corners by the north of the room (above the ramp). With this tanking position, Morogrim Tidewalker will only face the corner of the room and only hit the main tank with its Tidal Wave ability. Also, since he's tucked away to a corner, his Earthquake and Watery Grave abilities won't reach the people at the center of the room, specifically those people sent to the Watery Graves, as well as the paladin tank for the murlocs (if any) and the assigned warlock to Life Tap.
Tank Notes
Morogrim Tidewalker has a tendency to oftentimes deliver burst damage to the tank. Although he has a fairly slow attack speed, his attacks are quite hard, together with his Tidal Wave ability if the tank did not resist it. If a warrior is tanking Morogrim Tidewalker, just make sure Shield Block is always up to prevent crushing blows, which may lead to having the tank getting very high burst damage. If a feral druid is tanking, however, he can just rely on his dodge ability for his mitigation, as well as his very high amounts of armor to mitigate crushing blows (feral druid tanks WILL always get crushed, and having such very high armor values compensate for receiving crushing blows).
Morogrim Tidewalker can parry attacks too, and when he does, he basically gains 50% increased attack speed on his next swing, possibly bursting the tank on his next attacks. If the tank is low on health, stop attacking for a bit until your healers have topped you off. An unlucky parry will get you bursted, or may eat all of your Shield Block charges, leading to your eventual death which you don't really want to happen.
Raid Positioning
Melee DPS should be definitely behind Morogrim Tidewalker to avoid getting hit by Tidal Wave. Ranged DPS should also stay several yards behind the melee group but not near any of the waterfalls. Staying near the waterfalls can get you exploded on by Watery Graved people.
Dealing with the Murlocs - Protection Paladin
If there is a properly geared paladin tank on the raid, murloc duty will be very easy since he can acquire them all and tank them easily without worrying about AoE pulling aggro while doing their stuff. This paladin tank should position himself immediately at the bottom of the ramp away from Morogrim Tidewalker. This way, he won't be affected by the Earthquake and he can safely tank the murlocs away from the raid.
He will acquire murloc aggro through healing aggro (Righteous Fury + Holy Light spam), and this is better done by having an assigned warlock to Lifetap outside of Earthquake's range (essentially having him / her not DPSing on Morogrim Tidewalker since he / she is far away). This warlock SHOULD NOT be healed by anyone except by the murloc tank. When Morogrim Tidewalker does his Earthquake ability, the murloc tank paladin should start spamming heals on the lifetapping warlock. With Righteous Fury on, he will definitely acquire tons of healing aggro from healing the lifetapped warlock and the murlocs will go to him definitely.
Once the murlocs reaches the paladin, the AoE people should wait for a few seconds so the paladin can acquire enough aggro on the murlocs before starting AoE on the murlocs. This routine is to be repeated every time Morogrim Tidewalker does his Earthquake to summon his murlocs. Free warriors can go to the murloc pack and do a Demoralizing Shout and Thunderclap on them to reduce their damage on the paladin, therefore reducing the burden on the paladin's healer.
Dealing with the Murlocs - Other Offtanks
If there are no protection paladins present, Warrior / Druid offtanks can fill up the murloc tanking duty, but this can be hard since they don't have an upfront aggro (healing aggro on the paladin). These offtanks should try to grab the murlocs as fast as possible and bring them away from the raid. The murlocs will most likely go for a healer immediately (due to healing aggro). Shamans should be dropping down Earthbind totems, and hunters should help by laying down Frost traps to slow down the murlocs. Warriors can do Piercing Howl (if they have it) to help on slowing down murlocs. While they are slowed down, offtanks should grab them immediately and bring them away from the raid. AoE people should wait for several seconds before commencing AoE on the murlocs.
Dealing with the Murlocs - Kiting / Frost Nova Rotations
If warrior / druid offtanking does not work for you, it will still be doable with a holy paladin kiting and Frost Nova rotations. To do this, have the mages set up a Frost Nova rotation amongst themselves and assign a paladin to acquire healing aggro on the murlocs. When Morogrim Tidewalker does his Earthquake ability, the assigned paladin turns on his Righteous Fury and spams heals on the raid. If you can, assign a warlock to Life Tap outside of Morogrim Tidewalker's Earthquake range and have no one except the assigned paladin to heal this warlock (similar to the Protection Paladin strategy).
This paladin should definitely acquire healing aggro on the murlocs by healing this warlock. When the murlocs are incoming, make sure they are slowed down (Earthbind totems, Frost Traps, Piercing Howls) and once they are about to reach the paladin, he should move away from that place and have the mages do their Frost Nova rotations there. Warlocks should be spamming Seed of Corruption as soon as they see the murlocs approaching so that by the time the murlocs reach the middle, the Seeds of Corruption would have started to explode on the murlocs. Continue doing the Frost Nova rotations on the murlocs until they are dead.
Healing Assignments
Assign one healer to deal with the Watery Grave victims. This healer should stay at the middle of the room where he can basically reach anyone on any of the waterfalls, but not too close to any of it or he / she will get exploded on by the Watery Graved person. His only task is to keep all of the graved people topped off before they go back to DPSing / healing. The main priority for healing would be those people going back up the ramp within range of Morogrim Tidewalker's Earthquake.
As for the paladin tank (if there's any), assigning 1 healer should be enough. This healer should stay near the paladin by the ramp and help heal the other Watery Grave victims while there are no murlocs around. If you used multiple offtanks, pull out another healer to heal them while they are tanking murlocs. He / she should return to healing the main tank when the murlocs are dead. The rest of the healers should focus on healing the main tank since Morogrim Tidewalker tends to do burst damages.
For healing the raid Earthquake damage, just assign the resto shamans for it every time Morogrim Tidewalker does Earthquake. Once everyone is topped off, they should return to healing the main tank. Watery Graved healers should also inform the raid when they get graved, so that other healers can temporarily take their spots until they are back into position.
Murlocs, Warlocks and Life Tap
Healers are the favorite targets of the murlocs. The raid takes heavy damage every time Morogrim Tidewalker does his Earthquake. Of course, the healers' task is to top everyone off immediately, especially if Morogrim Tidewalker uses Watery Grave immediately after an Earthquake, basically killing off those players not healed up immediately after the Earthquake. Every Earthquake, the murlocs spawn, and since there's massive raid healing happening, their primary target would be healers due to their healing aggro.
If you are using a paladin tank / kiter, it is essential that this paladin gets the healing aggro from the murlocs. To do this, a warlock can basically Life Tap to a very low health and that paladin can turn on his Righteous Fury buff and spam max rank Holy Lights on this warlock. Due to having Righteous Fury on, the paladin can gain large healing aggro from his heals on the warlock, and with the warlock's Fel Armor (increases healing received) it will definitely give the paladin the healing aggro he needs to gather all murloc aggro onto him.
Giving the warlock Blessing of Light and Amplify Magic will increase the healing aggro gained by the paladin too. The warlock shouldn't stop Life Tapping until the murlocs reach the paladin. Once he has the murlocs' aggro, he can then proceed on tanking them all, or kiting them to the mages' Frost Novas depending on the strategy you used. There's one problem on this though, what if the warlock gets Watery Graved? If the warlock is within 45 yard range to Morogrim Tidewalker, the warlock CAN get Watery Grave, but if he's beyond that range, he won't get graved or get hit by Earthquake and he can safely Life Tap all his health to provide the paladin the healing buffer he needs for gaining healing aggro on the murlocs.
Although this would mean zero DPS for the warlock to Morogrim Tidewalker, he will definitely help the whole raid by having the murlocs' aggro stick to the paladin. After Life Tapping for the paladin, the warlock can then help on AoEing the murlocs with Seeds of Corruption.
Watery Grave Notes
If you got unlucky and Morogrim Tidewalker gets to pick you for Watery Grave, you will be teleported to the base of any of the waterfalls in Morogrim Tidewalker's room. When you get teleported, you will get stunned with a water bubble enclosing you, and after 6 seconds it will explode for 3200 frost damage. There's nothing you can do while stunned by the bubble, so if you got less than 3200 health while graved, you will definitely die. But if you got above 3200 health, but below 4000 health, you will survive the explosion, but the fall damage may kill you.
For you to definitely survive this, as soon as you get thrown up the air, drink a healing potion or use a healthstone immediately so that the fall damage won't kill you. As soon as you land, bandage up / heal up before returning up the ramp. If you return immediately without healing yourself properly, the incoming Earthquake may kill you, so make sure you have enough health to survive an Earthquake before returning to Morogrim Tidewalker. As for druids, they can ease up the damage of Watery Grave on them by casting Barkskin. Barkskin can be used while stunned, so when they get teleported and stunned by the water bubble, they should use it to lessen the explosion damage.
25% and Watery Globules
When Morogrim Tidewalker reaches 25% health, instead of sending players to Watery Graves, Morogrim Tidewalker will summon Watery Globules from the waterfalls. At this point, the Watery Grave healer should return to healing the main tank since there is no one to heal any more. At this point, it is plainly tank-and-spank now with the occasional moving around by the raid members to avoid slow moving globules.
Note however, Morogrim Tidewalker still can do Earthquakes, so the murloc tank and AoE's duty isn't done yet. Since they are positioned by the ramp and near the waterfalls, they are pretty vulnerable to Watery Globules if these globules decided to target them. At this point, just have the paladin and the warlock move to the other corner of the room so that when a globule decides to visit them, it will be a while before it reaches them and would just despawn. AoE should adjust and move accordingly to where the paladin repositioned himself.
Once you have killed Morogrim Tidewalker, his console should now be clickable. If you got all other consoles, Lady Vashj's console can now be activated to raise up a gigantic bridge going to her lair. There's no more trash going to her, so if you want, you can go ahead and go visit her. Lady Vashj's console is located at the east side of the Lurker Below's platforms (where his trash mobs are located).
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