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Shartuul Guide - Bolty - 10-29-2007
I love the Shartuul event. It's a solo PvE skill test similar to the Priest and Hunter Epic Quests back in the day. It's a complex, multi-phase event that is similar to multi-phase raid encounters in terms of difficulty - but without anyone to back you up if you make a mistake.
The WoWWiki writeup is a great description of every aspect of the fight. However, if you're new to the event, reading all that will likely make your eyes bleed; it's too much at once. So here's a guide to beating it. The short-and-sweet, TL;DR version can be read by just skimming the numbered steps for each phase. In the details area, I've included my own personal notes/observations.
Preparation
1) Make sure your UI is set up such that you have a readily and easily accessible pet bar. Your minions' abilities need to be accessed quickly and efficiently.
2) Make sure you have a highly visible enemy cast bar. You will need to know what your current target is casting in order to react to it, or else get wafflestomped.
3) Make sure you can easily see what your minions' debuffs are. You will need to know when to clear them.
Frankly, it's been so long since I've used a stock Blizzard UI that I don't know how well the base UI takes care of stuff like this. If you're looking for good mods that can meet these three requirements, try Bartender3 for action bar setups, Quartz for casting bars, and either AGUnitFrames or PitBull for unit frames. All are Ace-based mods.
4) Have a good stock of Charged Crystal Focuses on hand.
When you are learning the Shartuul event, you'll be popping these like candy. Staying in the encounter is more important than anything else, because it allows you to get more experience with it and become comfortable with it. Being hesitant to use Charged Crystal Focii only to lose because of it really hurts.
Phase 1: The Felguard
Quick summary:
1) Use Smash Shield every 25 seconds to bring the shield down to 0%.
2) Kill Felhunters with Mortal Strikes and Whirlwinds; kill Imps with Charge and take Felhunters out with it.
3) If necessary, gather Felhunters up via Fear on the first few as the next few spawn.
4) If necessary, use Absorb Life (super ability) when surrounded by many Felhunters to restore life to full.
5) When boss appears, melee it until it uses Fel Flames, then fear it, run away from it, charge it as it gets close. Rinse, repeat.
Details:
Pop your Crystalforged Darkrune on the Felguard and begin. The instant you take control of the Felguard, use his Smash Shield ability (hammer icon) to begin taking the shield down to 0%. This is a 25-second cooldown, and remembering to use Smash Shield every 25 seconds is critical - even more important than handling the mobs well. Phase 1 lasts until the shield goes to 0%, so the slower you are at using Smash Shield, the longer the phase takes and the more damage you'll take because each wave of mobs gets larger and larger.
As felhunters appear, use your Mortal Strike to kill them. When imps arrive, get to the minimum distance from them and charge. The charge will kill the imp and any felhunters around you as well.
Each wave of felhunters increases in number. Start using aoe attacks like Whirlwind to kill them, or else Fear them, wait for them to gather up again, and Charge a nearby mob to kill them all at once. If you get in trouble and start getting low on health, wait for a large number of felhunters to gather around you and pop the special ability Absorb Life. This will consume a Charged Crystal Focus, but it can easily heal you from near-death to full depending on the number of mobs surrounding you.
When the shield falls, the boss appears and kills any remaining mobs. Beating him is straightforward. In melee range, you do more damage to him than he does to you, so just go toe-to-toe. Pound him flat with Mortal Strikes and autoattacks (don't forget autoattacks, right-click on him!). At random times he will cast Fel Flames on you; listen for the sound of flames and immediately hit your Fear button.
When the boss runs away, run in the opposite direction. This gives time for your Fear cooldown to reset, because it is very possible for him to cast Fel Flames again before your Fear is available. Standing in Fel Flames is an instant loss.
Rinse, Repeat, done.
Phase 2: The Doomguard
Quick Summary:
1) Super Jump to start on all new packs. Kill most dangerous target first (bigger = badder); keep it stunned and use Fel Flames too for more DPS. Punishing Blows do triple damage vs stunned targets.
2) Stop little guys from making Fel Cannons (blue beams) by stunning or killing them.
3) If you fall behind (new wave spawning while still cleaning up current wave), use Dive Bomb (super ability) to get ahead again.
4) Use healing ability on ranged little guys whenever you get a chance to keep health up.
5) Rotate stuns (Super Jump and Throw Axe) on boss when she appears and pound her flat.
Details:
Stuns, stuns, stuns. This whole phase revolves around stuns. Your damage when using Punishing Blow is tripled when the target is stunned. Stuns also prevent damage against you from dangerous targets.
You have two stun moves. One is Super Jump - stuns an AoE radius around you when you jump, and stuns an AoE radius around you when you land. The second stun move is Throw Axe, which stuns a single target. Both stun abilities can only be used from a distance. Thus, maneuverability is what wins this phase.
Mobs will appear in groups based on a timer. If you can't kill fast enough, you eventually get overwhelmed and lose. Thus, you're always on the clock. Thankfully, you have a "reset" button with the Doomguard's special ability, Dive Bomb, that uses a Charged Crystal Focus. You'll only get to use it once due to the cooldown, but it basically annihilates everything currently against you. The key is to use it when things start to look bad; don't wait too long to burn it or you'll be too low on health to come back. If you see another pack of mobs spawning and you've still got a bunch left on your current pack, use Dive Bomb, because you're falling fatally behind.
The first 2 packs of mobs are just the little guys. Super Jump on them, kill one with Punishing Blows, back off, Throw Axe on a second, kill it with Punishing Blows. Rinse, repeat. Awareness of when these little pricks are trying to build Fel Cannons is key - you'll see blue beams shooting from their hands. Stun them when you see this. Fel Cannons are irritating and will lead to you falling ever more behind since there's more mobs to kill.
After the first 2 packs, each pack will appear with a "big guy". These are dangerous, high-damage mofos that need to die hard and fast. The fast part is the challenge - take even a bit too long and the little guys start healing the big guys - you'll see this as a red beam emanating from a little guy that makes the big guy invincible. Go after the little guy who's shooting the red beam to break it up, then return to the big guy. Killing the big guys is the #1 priority above all else, including any little guys running off to make Fel Cannons.
So how to kill the big guy so fast that the little guys don't even get a chance to heal him? Start with a Super Jump on the big guy, and immediately on landing cast Fel Flames. Give him two good Punishing Blows combined with autoattacks, then back off enough to Throw Axe and return to administer Punishing Blows until he falls over.
Rinse, Repeat. The waves don't really get harder, it's just that the timer between waves gets shorter, increasing the odds that you'll fall behind. What wipes you in this phase is falling behind. Try to remember to use the Consume Essence ability when its cooldown is up on any little guys who you get some range on (it doesn't work at melee range) just to restore some hit points. You'll find that if you're killing quickly enough and stunning often enough, you won't need to regain hit points much at all. The melee damage from the little guys isn't much at all.
When the boss appears, rotate Super Jump stuns and Throw Axe stuns on her to limit the spellcasts she gets off on you, and whittle her down. She's not particularly dangerous by herself; the difficulty comes in if you still have a bunch of other mobs out when she appears. Protip: if any little guys are still around when the boss comes out, don't kill them off. Keep them around and you can use Consume Essence on them for some heals while fighting the boss.
Phase 3: The Eye of Shartuul
Quick Summary:
1) Keep Siphon Life up to regenerate damage done by fireballs.
2) Kite, kite, kite. Never let it get near you.
3) Move around to stay out of Disruption Ray fields.
4) Use Ice Block to negate any Dark Glares.
5) Keep Flame Buffet stack going and Pyroblast it down.
Details:
The Shivan Assassin has three forms: Shadow, Fire, and Ice. Shadow is for health regeneration, Fire is for damage, debuffing, and clearing debuffs, and Ice is for negating your enemies' super abilities with Ice Block. A lot of the challenge of the next few bosses is recognizing when to use each form and not letting yourself get caught in the wrong form at the wrong time, as the form switches have a cooldown.
You start in Shadow form; this is good. As soon as the Eye of Shartuul is targettable, fire a Death Blast (basically a shadowbolt) at it. This is because for the first 1-2 seconds after a boss becomes active, it's invincible, and firing a Death Blast ensures you're past that. Once the Death Blast hits the Eye, put up a Siphon Life on it and switch to Fire Form. The Siphon Life will feed you 2600 health every tick for the next minute.
Really, the main strategy for the Eye of Shartuul, Shartuul's Doggie, and Shartuul himself doesn't change; the trick is in the details. What you're looking to do is stack Flame Buffets on your target (up to 10) that will greatly increase the fire damage you do to the target, and blow it away with Pyroblasts, all the while maintaining your health by swapping into Shadow Form from time to time, firing Death Blast, and reapplying Siphon Life. Rinse, Repeat.
Ok, so for the Eye, you're looking out for three things: first, don't let it get within melee range of you, since its melee damage is enormous. Second, watch out for its Disruption Rays that will ensnare you in place with these yellow-beamed fields. Third, ZOMG DARK GLARE. This is what you needed an enemy casting bar in place for, so you can see the Eye casting it. It's a long cast time, giving you plenty of time to react to it by switching to Ice Form and hitting Ice Block. The Dark Glare will reflect back at the Eye and whoop it hard.
The Eye doesn't have a lot of hit points. Keep the Flame Buffet stack going, stay out of the Disruption Rays, Ice Block any Dark Glares, keep kiting around, and Pyroblast it down.
As it dies, switch to Shadow Form to prep for the next fight.
Phase 4: The Doggie!
Quick Summary:
1) Never let the dog touch you. Regain hit points to full with Siphon Life, but otherwise stay in Fire Form.
2) Stand at distance from the dog and keep up Flame Buffets while Pyroblasting.
3) When it charges, clear the debuff off of yourself and run at a right angle.
4) Rinse, Repeat. Yes, it's that easy.
Details:
By far the easiest part of the Shartuul encounter, the big Doggie should be used to regenerate any hit points lost when fighting the Eye. Just as before, start off in Shadow Form and shoot a Death Blast to get past the brief invincibility period, then apply a Siphon Life and switch to Fire Form.
The Doggie only has one attack: a melee attack which hurts (a lot). Never let the dog touch you and you will literally not get hurt at all in this stage.
Stack Flame Buffets up on it and fire away with Pyroblasts. Keep your distance from the dog. It moves slowly, so this isn't too difficult.
Eventually the Dog will charge you. When it charges, it places a debuff on you that slows you down. Good thing you're in Fire Form! Cleanse the debuff immediately and run away again to a safe distance. The thing with the charge is that he charges to the position you were in at the start of the charge, so if you run at a right angle, and clear the debuff quickly, you'll escape unharmed every time.
The dog grows over time, which increases his damage. Eventually if he were to get a hit in on you, he'd one-shot you. Too bad he'll never get a hit in on you. Rinse, repeat, easy kill. If you need to apply Siphon Life again to regain some more hit points, wait until right after a charge to switch to Shadow Form so you don't get caught out of Fire Form when you need to clear a debuff.
As it dies, switch to Shadow Form to prep for the next fight.
Phase 4: Shartuul
Quick Summary:
1) Use Shadow Form to keep the tentacles around you cleared.
2) Maintain Flame Buffet stack and clear the debuffs placed on your minion ASAP.
3) Ice Block or outrange Incinerates by running away.
4) Use Chaos Strike/Death Blast/Siphon Life combo to regain huge health if you get behind and put the hurt on him.
Details:
Shartuul himself used to be a joke, back when the tentacles he launched just sat there and did nothing. Now it's a bit more challenging to keep up with him damage-for-damage and not get caught in a Form you don't want to be in depending on the circumstances.
He starts by launching a big green ball into the air that spawns tentacles all over the field. As with the other creatures, these tentacles are invincible for a few seconds after spawning, so if you Shadow Nova right away, it'll do nothing and the tentacles can Mind Flay you until the cooldown comes back up. Make sure you can damage a tentacle before clearing a space around you with a Shadow Nova. Death Blast Shartuul, apply Siphon Life, maybe throw another Shadow Nova on him, and switch to Fire Form.
Get your Flame Buffet stack going. Shartuul has an enormous number of hit points and you want to get that stack up to 10 and keep it there so you can keep pace with his damage.
Keep monitoring your minion's debuffs. Shartuul casts two debuffs on you; the first is Immolate, ticking for fire damage, and the second is a Shadow Vulnerability debuff that boosts his shadowbolts' damage against you. Clear those debuffs whenever you see them. You can win the damage war against him if you keep Flame Buffet stacked up on him while preventing him from keeping debuffs on you. His shadowbolts that he casts on you can barely outpace your Siphon Life healing as long as you don't have the Shadow Vulnerability debuff.
Pound away at him. If he shoots another green ball into the air, he's respawning his missing tentacles. Switch to Shadow Form, Death Blast off a Siphon Life debuff to regain a chunk of hit points, Shadow Nova the tentacles, and reapply Siphon Life. Get back to Fire Form fast to clear debuffs and maintain your Flame Buffet stack.
Shartuul's super move is Incinerate. Like the Eye of Shartuul's Dark Glare, it has a long cast time and you need to Ice Block to keep yourself from getting reamed by it big-time.
Pro-tip #1: he likes to cast Incinerates after Immolates. No idea why; just look for it. Clear the debuff and switch to Ice Form.
Pro-tip #2: If you're caught in a Form change and your potential switch to Ice Form is on cooldown, run! You can outrange Incinerate. Get far enough away and his cast fails. You'll be able to pull this off if you're in Shadow Form, since you can Shadow Nova the tentacles that will try to use Mind Flay to slow you down. Get to the far side of the field from where Shartuul is and you'll be safe.
Ultimately it's likely you'll get caught in a bad situation, needing to switch to a particular Form while your Form change is on cooldown. You'll lose a chunk of health and get behind, where his damage to you is greater than your damage to him. Thankfully, you've got a Get Out of Jail Free card, known as Chaos Strike. Chaos Strike is your super ability that will use Charged Crystal Focii. However, you can use it as much as you need to. Cast it, and for the next half minute or so you become a true force to be reckoned with. Here's the best way to use it:
Step 1: Make sure Siphon Life is on Shartuul.
Step 2: Switch to Shadow Form if not already there.
Step 3: Cast Chaos Strike. Shartuul wets himself.
Step 4: Cast Death Blast. The Blast consumes the Siphon Life and heals you to full, doing astronomical damage.
Step 5: Re-apply Siphon Life.
Step 6: Switch to Fire Form.
Step 7: Keep Flame Buffeting and Pyroblasting away.
Your Pyroblasts will do enormous damage during the duration of Chaos Strike and you'll see Shartuul's life fall rapidly. Also, the Siphon Life you cast before going to Fire Form will heal you for huge amounts per tick, completely negating any damage he does to you. Essentially, it turns the fight completely around and puts you in the lead. Not only that, you can do this as much as you want, since the cooldown on Chaos Strike is so short. As long as you have Charged Crystal Focii to burn, you shouldn't lose to Shartuul, because this move will heal you to full every time.
Rinse, repeat, get lewts (and rep - the whole event nets you almost 1000 Ogri'la rep if you aren't maxed).
-Bolty