Welcome to Metro’s 25 man Heroic Healing guides for the Siege of Orgrimmar! It is important to understand that these guides are first aimed at helping healers understand their role, and then helping them maximize their play. Each will feature a general overview of the mechanics that matter to the healers, and conclude with a class-specific discussion. Let’s begin!
Understanding the encounter –
The third encounter of the raid is where we begin to see more devastating numbers come in to play, as well as the first real enrage of the tier. The healer’s job is simple, yet incredibly demanding in terms of raw numbers and mana usage so it’s important that you are prepared for all sources of damage.
The damage itself will come almost exclusively from the ability “Icy Fear” which deals Frost damage every 3 seconds for the entirety of the encounter, increasing as the Amalgam gets lower health. The tanks will be swapping and handling their mechanics, but will see large spikes of damage distributed via Self Doubt stacks + Unleashed Anger, all while attempting to pick up the Manifestations that will be spawning as DPS complete the trial.
The Essence of Corruption, the smaller floating adds, will use Expel Corruption, a projectile that can be intercepted, but likely won’t be very often, as the only way to beat the enrage is to continuously have adds spawning. It’s important that you understand this mechanic, and pay attention if the boss has taken multiple, as this will make everything more potent.
As a raid, we have opted for selecting one person to stack the entirety of the group on. This will allow for easy AOE healing, as well as give a tank an easy funnel for the Manifestation adds. I find entering the test as a healer more of a bother than a boon, and in our progression kill we have decided to send 4/6 healers down once throughout the fight. From here on out, it’s their job to keep the buff and not get any corruption, otherwise it was a near-wasted effort. Regardless, this buff does little to impact the strategy, so the only thing you need be aware of is the fact that you have it.
The only other factor then is the ball of corruption, but as long as the leadership has a plan for picking them up, damage from it should not come into play. If it’s out for more than 2-3 seconds you will likely struggle to survive and have to take measures to recover.
Understanding the Healer’s Role –
This fight offers one of the more basic healing roles in the instance, and can easily be summed up into: AOE heal every global. Of course, it’s more complicated than that, but if you walk into this fight expecting insane AOE damage for its entirety you won’t be surprised.
The only real advice I can give healers in general is use CDs as often as possible, especially at the start. If you do choose to send healers down, expect times with only 4 healers out to be quite difficult to complete. I take the liberty here to immediately use Devo Aura about 15-20 seconds into the fight and whichever other healer is staying out permanently (if applicable) should use a throughput cd afterwards. Once the healers return with the buff, things will be easier, but still hectic. I would recommend those returning healers discuss a CD being used immediately as well, if only to make sure everyone stays topped off, especially with the now constant stream of small and large adds joining. Once all 6 healers have rejoined the fight, use what CDs you have remaining and continue to AOE heal.
It’s extremely important to be vocal about positioning as well, so whenever the group moves due to the beam or perhaps other reasons, make sure the ENTIRE raid team is aware. This gives a chance to drop ground AOE heals preemptively, but if the DPS are not cognizant of this, it’s a wasted effort.
The damage will continue to grow, but with 6 varied healers and other DPS cds like smokebomb or AMZ, you should have something up steadily throughout the encounter.
The real challenge is of course meeting the healing demand while staying in mana, so be conscious of the length of the fight. It’s a very strict enrage timer so plan use of ZZZ pots and personal CDs or conservation methods with it in mind.
I find the best time for a ZZZ pot in this encounter is right after the cutter beam dissipates, as you should have a large enough window before the next. Any other time is unpredictable, as the beam may spawn on your face, cutting either your potion or life short.
Class Specific Tips –
Holy Paladin: Devo aura is amazing here, as everyone should be stacked. Use liberally, and around other throughput CDs. A great tip as a Hpally is RF anchoring the adds like we did on Immerseus. This way, you can be sure a hunter or other healer won’t have threat, assuring they get to the tank. If the tank is slacking, you can also salv or bubble. Use Fist of Justice for this, and stun every Manifestation possible off CD to prevent as much damage as possible. Small adds can be stunned as well, but shouldn’t be high priority. Sac on tank when 2-3 adds + boss on him.
Resto Shaman: Healing Rain and Chain heal dominate this fight. Be sure to know exactly where and how your group will move, and never miss a global rain tick. Use Spirtwalkers Grace liberally, ideally when Ascendance popped, or the group is taking high damage yet moving from the beam. Capacitor totem is unreliable for the large adds with other on-demand stuns from other classes, but can be huge for the small Essences. Drop in a pack of 4-5 to really relieve the pressure. Avoid Spirit Link when beam timer is up! Healing Stream will be 100 percent efficient here, use as much as possible.
Resto Druid: Efflorescent mushrooms will be nearly as potent as Rain, so be sure you know the group’s intentions of movement. Wild Growth and Rejuv spread should dominate as well. Ironbark tank if 2-3 adds out as well as boss. Spiritwalker grace from Sym on shaman is great for this fight, to assure Traq doesn’t get clipped by the beam.
Holy/Disp Priest: Disp truly shines on this fight, as small constant damage can be eaten up by absorbs. Smite double dips from low corruption as well, so consider going down. Holy can carry with well-placed Holy Word: Sanctuary, PoM, and CoH. Lifegrip can save a person from the beam or help get someone back to the stack point after returning from trial.
Misty Monk: (Do not currently have a monk healer in our progression.) Another good AOE fight that allows the monk to double dip. Would imagine the buff applies to them as well 2x, so make sure you go down and keep it. Life Cocoon tank with 2-3 adds and boss on him. Roll through hitbox to easily navigate the circular room.
What’s up guys, I’ll I think I’ll just watch…
TLDR Recap –
Straightforward mechanically, insane number requirement. Stack up, and AOE heal your brains out. Consider the trial especially if your healing double dips from damage. Important to know where the group will be at all times to maximize AOE ground heals. Discuss usage of CDs beforehand, allowing you to have a cd every 20-30 seconds. Caution with ZZZ pots, use after you know the beam will not be an issue. Conserve mana early, and pray you coin HWF Shield!!
As always, this guide is from the perspective of a Holy Paladin in 25 man heroic raid leadership perspective. Experience is limited when it comes to priest and monk healers, so if you have input feel free to join the conversation! Otherwise, if you have any questions feel free to ask! Enjoy SoO!