| Name | The Eye: Al'ar, the Phoenix God |
| Category | Dungeon |
You are now currently beating tier 5 content, and you initially focused on Serpentshrine Cavern. After downing several bosses, you found yourself and your guild as well bored of the aquatic scenario in Serpentshrine Cavern. And now, your guild is looking for a change of scenario. Good thing, there's another raid instance that still offers tier 5 content, and its located in Netherstorm!
Tempest Keep: The Eye is the other tier 5 raid instance in the Burning Crusade expansion. It is basically an alternative raid dungeon which offers tier 5 content like the Serpentshrine Cavern dungeon. Post 2.1 patch, getting into The Eye does not require an attunement anymore, so anyone with a 25-man raid can go in there.
Location
The Eye is one of the instances situated at Tempest Keep in Netherstorm. As soon as you arrive at the small goblin town of Cosmowrench at the eastern edge of Netherstorm, you will notice several floating satellites. The largest structure in the center is where The Eye is located. The entrance to the instance can be easily seen at the middle of the structure. Of course, to reach it, you will need the ability to fly or have a flying mount. If you don't have one, you can just probably ask one of the warlocks in your raid for a summon inside the instance.
As soon as you enter the instance, you will see the initial mobs awaiting you along the hallway. The mobs along this hallway are blood elves who serve under Kael'thas Sunstrider. At the end of the long hallway is a very large circular room with a phoenix flying around the room. This phoenix is the first boss of this instance, Al'ar the Phoenix God.
Trash mob information
Astromancer - A fire blood elf mage mob. Has Fireball Volley as its main damaging ability. This Fireball Volley deals about 2125-2875 fire damage to everyone within 45 yard range. Also has Fireblast which deals about 2700-3300 fire damage to a single target within 20 yards. Has the same Molten Armor ability as the mage. Can be crowd controlled.
Bloodwarder Legionnaire - A melee blood elf mob. Hits moderately hard and can cleave. Also has Whirlwind ability and Bloodthirst. Can be crowd controlled.
Bloodwarder Marshal - A heavy melee blood elf mob. Hits harder than Legionnaires and has the Uppercut ability. Also has Whirlwind and Bloodthirst abilities. Cannot be crowd controlled.
Bloodwarder Squire - A healer blood elf mob. Can heal its allies and cleanse as well. Can stun the tank with Hammer of Justice and has a Hammer of Wrath which deals 2844-3656 holy damage on enemies with less than 20% health. Cannot be crowd controlled.
Bloodwarder Vindicator - A healer blood elf mob. Has similar abilities as the Bloodwarder Squire. Also cannot be crowd controlled.
Star Scryer - An caster blood elf mob. Has Arcane Blast as its main damaging ability. This Arcane Blast deals about 3500-4500 arcane damage to its target and knocking it back. Also has Starfall ability which deals 1900-2100 arcane damage every 3 seconds for 9 seconds on an area. Can also cast Domination which mind controls a player for 10 seconds. Can be crowd controlled.
Tempest Falconer - An archer blood elf mob. Has Fire Shield as its self buff which deals 523-577 fire damage every 3 seconds to anyone within melee range. This buff cannot be dispelled or spellstolen by mages. Also has an Immolation Arrow attack which deals heavy fire damage to its target.
Phoenix-Hawk Hatchling - Dragonhawk mob. Comes in groups of 7 with the Tempest Falconer. Has an AoE silence for 6 seconds, and has a Wing Buffet which deals around 1575-2025 damage and knocks everyone affected back for a considerable distance. This Wing Buffet affects a frontal cone area. Can be crowd controlled.
Phoenix-Hawk - Large Dragonhawk mob. Patrols the upper level of Al'ar's room. Has an Mana Burn ability similar to priests. This ability burns around 1900-2100 mana and deals corresponding shadow damage as well. Occasionally charges a distant person, which deals 1850-2150 damage then triggers a wing buffet effect, dealing additional damage and knocking the affected targets back.
**These mobs respawn after 2 hours. Linked to Al'ar, so killing him will stop the respawns.
The first set of mobs you will encounter is the Legionnaire pack. This pack consists of a Legionnaire, 1-2 Vindicators, 1-2 Astromancers and 1-2 Star Scryers. Everything except the Vindicators can be crowd controlled, so crowd control (sheep) as many as you can, and tank the Vindicators. Take note that Vindicators can dispel sheeps, so mages should be aware if their sheep got dispelled. Kill these first so they won't be able to dispel further sheeps. If you are tanking the Legionnaire, make sure to bring it away from anyone because it has a Whirlwind ability.
Let the ranged DPS deal with the Bloodwarder Legionnaire while the melee deal with the Vindicators. Also make sure not to tank anywhere beyond the doorway, or you might aggro the Marshal patrol. Deal with the casters last, taking note of the raid damage these casters can do (Fireball Volley, Starfall). Once this initial pack is killed, wait for the Marshal pack to come near and grab them next. This Bloodwarder Marshal pack consists of the Bloodwarder Marshal and 2 Bloodwarder Squires.
The Bloodwarder Marshal hits hard, and has a Whirlwind ability as well, so have the ranged DPS deal with him and get the melee to deal with the Squires. The Squires are healers, and can stun the tank with Hammer of Justice, so make sure the tank gets dispelled whenever he gets stunned with it. Kill this Marshal pack and proceed down the hallway. Along the hallway are 2 more Legionnaire packs, so deal with them like the first pack. This time, you will have more room to work on.
After dealing with the remaining 2 Legionnaire packs, proceed and stop before the tunnel leading into Al'ar's room. Inside the room are 2 Tempest Falconer packs patrolling each side. They have a large aggro radius, and can come pretty close to the doorway, so make sure the puller stays inside the hallway and wait for them to move away before proceeding to pull. Pull them one pack at a time, misdirecting the Falconers to the tanks, then crowd controlling as much dragonhawks as you can.
If your raid has a protection paladin, it would be better to misdirect the pack to the paladin tank and have the tank positioned at the back of the raid, with his back to the wall so he won't get thrown away every time they do Wing Buffet. As they come in the hallway, the tanks can just grab the Falconers, while the dragonhawks work their way in towards the paladin tank. Melee can go kill the Falconers, while AoE can wait for a bit until the paladin has enough aggro for them to commence AoE on the dragonhawks. Do this with the other pack as well. Once both packs are dead, move into the room and pick a side.
Let’s say, we picked left side. Have the raid clump up on the corner wall beside the door with a tank staying near the center of the room, about maybe 20 yards or so from others. Once ready, pull a Phoenix-Hawk from the level above one at a time, to the main tank and tank it within the raid. The raid needs to clump up to prevent players getting dived on and dying. The lone tank is there to catch the dives, so make sure there are healers assigned to this tank as well. Burn the dragonhawk down fast, before the Mana Burns drain all of the healers' mana. Do this with 2 more Phoenix-Hawks on this side.
There should be 2 Phoenix-Hawks patrolling each side, and one circling around the whole upper level. So for this side, grab the 2 side patrollers and the one circling around one at a time. Once they are dead, move to the other side corner and do the same. As soon as all Phoenix-Hawks are dead, move to the center of the room, rebuff and get ready for the boss fight.
Al'ar, the Phoenix God
Al'ar is the first boss you will see in The Eye. Not particularly the first boss in the instance, because you can go skip him and go to the other 2 bosses first by going up the ramp and through one of the doors leading to another hallway. For this guide, we'll deal with this first, so you won't have to worry about respawns from the beginning when you are working on the other 2 bosses. This boss fight has 2 phases and will require you to kill him twice. Yes, twice. And contrary to popular belief, this fight does not need any fire resist gear, so don't worry about it.
Raid Composition
At least 4 Tanks (3 Main tanks, at least 2 offtanks)
7-8 Healers
Other slots for DPS (with more ranged than melee)
Key Abilities
Flame Buffet - A stackable undispellable debuff which deals 1750-2250 fire damage and increases fire damage taken by 10% every stack. Al'ar casts this every 2 seconds and everyone within the instance is affected. To prevent Al'ar from casting this, there should be someone within melee range from him all the time. This ability can basically wipe the raid in seconds if there's no one within melee range when he's on a platform or in phase 2.
Flame Quills - Al'ar's fire nuke that he casts occasionally while in phase 1. You will know that Al'ar will do a Flame Quills if he starts to fly high up the air and going to the center of the room. As soon as he reaches the center, he will continually rotate for 10 seconds, while bombarding the upper levels (including the ramp and the patterned floor outside the outer glass floor circle) with Flame Quills. Anyone caught within the bombardment will suffer heavy fire damage, and basically dies immediately. Tanks should jump down from the platforms to avoid death from it.
Flame Patch - Al'ar's offensive ability. Al'ar will only use this during phase 2. Occasionally, Al'ar will summon a patch of flame on the ground that looks like a Flame Wreath from the Shade of Aran encounter in Karazhan. This time, anyone inside this flame patch will suffer 2188-2812 fire damage per second while they are in the patch. Also, you will get a debuff similar to a Flame Buffet which increases fire damage taken by 10% for every tick, so basically staying inside this patch for more than 2-3 seconds will most likely kill you. Move out of the patch immediately to avoid damage.
Dive Bomb - Al'ar's main ability. Al'ar will only use this during phase 2. For every 30 seconds, Al'ar will fly up the air and curl up to form a huge ball of molten rock. After a few seconds, Al'ar, in this form, will dive down to a random person and deal around 5700-6300 fire damage to anyone in the area of impact. The damage is divided evenly to those affected. After crashing, Al'ar will summon 2 Embers of Al'ar, and after several seconds, Al'ar will reappear and engage. The crash is unavoidable, so the person who got hit will just have to move away immediately before Al'ar reappears or he will get thrown away.
Melt Armor - Al'ar's ability that he uses on the tank. He will only use this during phase 2. For every 60 seconds, Al'ar will melt its target's armor, reducing its armor by 80%. Another tank should taunt Al'ar off the current tank or that tank will die due to very low armor. The debuff is not dispellable and will last for 60 seconds. While the affected tank has the debuff, he should not try to tank Al'ar or he will just die immediately.
Summon Phoenix - During phase 1, Al'ar will summon a small phoenix called Ember of Al'ar whenever he switches platforms. During phase 2, Al'ar will summon 2 Embers every time he does a Dive Bomb. The Embers will appear under him and will start aggroing on anybody, most likely a healer. Offtanks should grab these immediately.
Charge - During phase 2, Al'ar will occasionally charge at someone within range.
Ember Blast - Whenever an Ember of Al'ar dies, it will explode and deal 8750-11250 fire damage to anyone caught within the explosion and knocks them back very far and high enough for them to suffer around 1k additional fall damage. Al'ar apparently does this as well (without the dying part) whenever he reappears after a Dive Bomb. So basically, anyone within Al'ar's spawning area will get damaged and thrown out, or will just die due to the initial damage.
Enrage - From the start of phase 2, Al'ar will enrage after 10 minutes have passed.
Phase 1
From observing the upper level, you will notice there are about 4 circular platforms jutting out towards the middle of the room, 1 each right above the ramp, and 2 in between. These are the platforms for tanking Al'ar during phase 1. During this first phase, Al'ar will be staying on the upper level, flying from platform to platform every 30-45 seconds. Al'ar's platform transition goes clockwise, so tanks can know where to go next and wait for Al'ar at that platform.
To engage Al'ar, someone must shoot him from the upper level. Once Al'ar is engaged, he will fly down to the first platform, the one right above the left ramp. From here, Al'ar will switch platforms every 30-45 seconds, moving to the next adjacent platform clockwise. During this phase, all ranged DPS should be on Al'ar and they should be going all out. They cannot pull aggro during phase 1, other than melee. Melee during phase 1 should be assigned to handling the Embers, since they can't run above and chase Al'ar whenever he changes platforms.
All damage to Al'ar should come from ranged DPS and from the ember deaths. Every Ember of Al'ar that dies takes away 3% of Al'ar's health, so killing these babies are important as well, and so that you won't get overwhelmed by them especially during phase 2. Phase 1 lasts until Al'ar dies.
Phase 2
A few seconds later after Al'ar initially dies, he will reincarnate and spawn at the center of the lower level. This starts phase 2. As soon as he spawns, anyone beside his spawn point will get thrown out and take considerable damage from his "spawning", and he will go for a particular person and engage him / her, most likely based on the final aggro table from the previous phase. Paladins should ready their Blessing of Protection on this person if he's not a tank. Once the tank has taken her, DPS should commence and everyone should spread out all across the room.
Tanks should be on their toes and watch out for the Melt Armor ability. When that happens, the other tank should taunt Al'ar immediately and tank Al'ar until the Melt Armor disappears. Every 30 seconds, Al'ar will disengage and fly up to the center of the room and form a 'meteor'. After a few seconds, he will crash onto a random person. As soon as he crashes, 2 embers will appear on the crash site and Al'ar will reappear on that area.
Similarly, and every time he reappears, Al'ar flaps out his wings and knocks everybody within the area far away. This movement is pretty similar to a Wing Buffet, except that it affects everyone within around 15 yards around his spawn spot. Because of this, every time he does a Dive Bomb, everyone should vacate the area and continue spreading out. This applies to the tanks as well, that they need to wait until Al'ar fully reappears before entering the crash area or they will just get thrown out and won't be able to tank for several seconds until they come back to Al'ar. That is all of phase 2, Dive Bombs every 30 seconds, Melt Armor every 60 seconds, and continuous spawns of Embers every after Dive Bomb.
During this phase, you will need to kill Al'ar one more time, and this time, Al'ar truly dies and will not resurrect another time. Also, in phase 2, DPS will switch, with the melee on Al'ar this time, and the ranged on the Embers. Also, since Embers appear 2 at a time, the 3rd tank from phase 1 should go into offtanking duty and grab an Ember. Remember, dying Embers remove 3% of Al'ar's health, so make sure to kill all those Embers and don't let it overwhelm the tanks. Consistent DPS on Al'ar and on the Embers as well and Al'ar will die.
Phase 1 Main Tanking Notes
Main tanks for phase 1 requires 3 tanks that rotate from platform to platform. Initially, a tank should be positioned at the first platform (above the left ramp). This is where Al'ar will fly upon engaging. for 30-45 seconds, Al'ar will be tanked on this platform. While this is going on, the second tank should be waiting on the next adjacent platform, clockwise from the previous one. So at this point, it is the 10 o'clock platform. The third tank, however, stays on the other side opposite of the first platform (above the right ramp).
This way, if Al'ar decides to do a Flame Quill right away, there will be a tank waiting on the other side, and the raid won't suffer Flame Buffets due to a tank not present on a platform. Every Flame Quill, Al'ar will choose a ramp platform to land on after the quill, so it is important that there is always a nearby tank waiting on either side platforms. Continuing from earlier, lets say Al'ar flies over to the 2nd platform now (10:00 platform), the third tank, which is now on the 4th platform (3:00 platform), should start running towards the 3rd platform (2:00 platform).
This way, when Al'ar moves to the next platform, there will be a tank waiting. At this point, 1st tank on the 1st platform (9:00 platform) should go and start running towards the 4th platform and wait for the transition, and the 2nd tank on the 2nd platform should 1 platform back, to the 1st platform. As you can see here, tanks are rotation counterclockwise as opposed to Al'ar's clockwise motion. Tanks should always anticipate the next platform and assume he will move there, so that a Flame Buffet will never happen since a tank is always within melee range.
For Flame Quills, all 3 tanks should watch Al'ar's motion for it. When Al'ar is flying higher and moving towards the center, Al'ar will do a Flame Quill. When you start noticing that he's flying higher, all 3 tanks should jump down immediately to avoid getting bombarded and dying from Flame Quills. This is the main reason for tank deaths usually on phase 1. As soon as you jumped down, start running towards the ramp and start climbing back up to catch Al'ar from either side. Remember that Al'ar may choose any of the ramp platforms as its landing spot after a Quill, so tanks should be fast on getting up there to avoid Flame Buffets. Feral Charge / Intercept if needed.
Phase 1 Offtank Notes
Phase 1 offtank/s are assigned on catching the Embers that spawn whenever Al'ar switches platforms. One ember spawns every platform switch, so ember spawns should be light during phase 1. Depending on which side platform it came from, it will go down the ramp on that side and try to go to some random person, but most probably to a healer down below. The offtanks' duty is to grab the ember immediately as it reaches the base of the ramp and bring it to the wall beside the ramp. This area should be safe from Flame Quills since its on the glass floor. Tank should have its back to the wall so that when the ember dies, he won't get thrown far. Paladin tanks are useful for this task, since they have Avenger's Shield that can grab the Ember from afar, and they could grab multiple embers easily when it starts to get overwhelming. Another tank is recommended to cover the other side's ember, but if the DPS is fast, the offtank can be freed from tanking duty fast, and can grab the other side's ember on time.
Phase 2 Main Tanking Notes
For phase 2, only 2 tanks are required for main tanking Al'ar. This is to make sure a tank is there to grab Al'ar when the other tank has Melt Armor. Communication and awareness is important on this phase as well, since the other tank should taunt Al'ar as soon as the first tank gets Melt Armor. Every second passing with the first tank still tanking Al'ar could spell death to that tank because of the reduced armor. Also, whenever Dive Bomb happens, the tanks should spread out so anyone can go to Al'ar easily. It is also important to wait for Al'ar to fully reappear before going in there and grabbing Al'ar because they might just get knocked back from Al'ar's reappearance, preventing them to grab Al'ar immediately. Of course, the tank without Melt Armor should be the one grabbing Al'ar and not the one with Melt Armor. If both doesn't have Melt armor, anyone should be fine tanking.
Phase 2 Offtank Notes
Similar to phase 1 duties, they are there to catch Ember spawns every after Dive Bomb. Take note that the embers spawn on the crash spot. Also, 2 embers spawn this time, so another tank is really needed for this. While everybody is spread out, you can pick any corner / wall to situate yourself on tanking these as long as you are far from anybody. Embers explode when they die, so remember to face your back to the wall.
Phase 1 DPS Notes
Ranged DPS are on Al'ar, while melee are on the Embers. Ranged can go all out right from the start since they cannot pull aggro (they are down below). Since Al'ar is moving from platform to platform, they need to move as well and follow Al'ar around. Melee DPS on the other hand are on the embers. Since embers explode on death, melee shouldn't be staying within melee range just to be exploded upon when they are about to die. At around 10% ember health or so, melee should start running out. If there are multiple rogues, have them rotate with Cloak of Shadows to avoid the explosion. Also, if Al'ar is about to die and there's still ember alive, don't kill the ember yet. Save it for phase 2, it will still take away 3% from Al'ar.
Phase 2 DPS Notes
Melee DPS are on Al'ar, while ranged are on the Embers. Of course, shadow priests are better off on Al'ar to maintain consistent DPS / mana return from Al'ar.
Phase Transition
Upon initial death, Al'ar will resurrect on the ground at the middle of the room. Before this happens, let everyone clump up on one corner of the room, so that when Al'ar becomes active and goes to someone, the tanks can easily pick up Al'ar instead of if the raid was scattered around the room already, the tanks would still guess where Al'ar will go.
Flame Patches
These are deadly, very deadly. Everyone should avoid these at all costs, including tanks. If you can't see the patches, try setting your spell detail setting to high. Also, with the glass texture of the floor, some people might not notice them immediately. Just be aware and rotate your camera accordingly to see the flames. Staying inside them for a couple of seconds can spell immediate death to anyone.
Flame Quills
Al'ar can sporadically use this skill on phase 1, so tanks should be on full alert and watch where Al'ar flies. Every time Al'ar goes higher and goes to the center of the room, he's doing a Flame Quill. Tanks should vacate the upper level and jump down immediately, and everyone down below should avoid going out of the outer circle or you will get killed by the Flame Quills. Flame Quills last for around 10 seconds, so within that timeframe, avoid going to the gray-patterned floor or you will die.
Healing Notes
Healers should be divided accordingly on the tanks. On phase 1 there are at least 1 main tank tanking, and the offtank/s tanking the embers. During this phase, you can have 1-2 healers on the offtank/s, and maybe 3-4 healers on the main tank. The rest of the healers can float and heal the raid. On platform transitions, a main tank healer should anticipate the move and move ahead of the others to heal the next tank. On Flame Quills, split the main tank healers to have at least one on each ramp platform, so when Al'ar lands on a ramp platform, there's at least 1 healer over there, and everyone can just go and catch up if they're far. On phase 2, healing should stay the same, but this time, the raid healers should work more than on the previous phase since there will be more raid damage.
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