Mother Beams

[Kirayla]

Mother . . . . it is not the hunters or maybe it is . . .. or maybe we can't stop it?

So i decided to look over the Mother fight, in order to improve our future performances. Thus i wanted to look at whom Mother was targeting for the Beams, which is what we were trying to avoid by clumping up. First it is interesting to note that Mother can target pets and also that she rotated through each beam 3 times, but for us . . . the 1st cycle of Sinfuls was repeated (maybe us moving . . . not sure . . . also i was reading that beam order is possibly random?). So here is a list of the beam targets and the beam Mother used:


1) Sinful Beam Target = Flaaghon
2) Sinful Beam Target = Kari
3) Sinful Beam Target = Defacer


4) Sinful Beam Target = Kari
5) Sinful Beam Target = Silverflail
6) Sinful Beam Target = Faible


7) Sinister Beam Target = Rotguter
8) Sinister Beam Target = Paramol
9) Sinister Beam Target = Xarhud


10) Wicked Beam Target = Rotguter
11) Wicked Beam Target = Nemonic
12) Wicked Beam Target = Hinome


13) Vile Beam Target = Hinome
14) Vile Beam Target = Neelshekor
15) Vile Beam Target = Hinome


16) Sinful Beam Target = Faible

So at first I though . . . maybe people being teleported by the Fatal Attraction were getting beamed before getting back into place. So i looked at who got beamed and when. That is shown in the next chart as follows:

1) Sinful Beam Target = Flaaghon
2) Sinful Beam Target = Kari
3) Sinful Beam Target = Defacer

Fatal Attraction - Rot/Saladar

4) Sinful Beam Target = Kari
5) Sinful Beam Target = Silverflail
6) Sinful Beam Target = Faible

Fatal Attraction - Faible/Azz

7) Sinister Beam Target = Rotguter
8) Sinister Beam Target = Paramol
9) Sinister Beam Target = Xarhud

Fatal Attraction - Hive/Omni/Faible

10) Wicked Beam Target = Rotguter
11) Wicked Beam Target = Nemonic

Fatal Attraction - Necraili/Para/Rot

12) Wicked Beam Target = Hinome
13) Vile Beam Target = Hinome
14) Vile Beam Target = Neelshekor

Fatal Attraction - Nemo/Jawana

15) Vile Beam Target = Hinome
16) Sinful Beam Target = Faible

From this we can see that those whom were ported out were not the toons that were afflicted by the Beams.

So overall i was wondering if anyone has seen any exact distance that you cannot be away from her in order to skip the beams. I tried looking up some reference . . . but most guilds do no use this strat. Also i don't know how it is possible to stop Pets being targeted, seeing as they attack the target in a designated Blizz range.

So anyone have any thoughts or possible reasoning. Also i was curious as if . . .. It doesn't matter who is out of range . . . but she will target someone randomly because of it?. Also i am beginning to doubt that the beams can be stopped. I mean most strategies i am looking at, say the beams happen and that the raid clumps up to reduce the chance that the Fatal attraction people being teleported onto the raid group as a whole.

Well that is my thought on this fight.

-Kira

[Frag]

I tried looking through the WWS to see exactly how the targets were chosen/hit and didn't see any exact pattern, which is reasonable given Blizz's RSTS system. When I was tanking I didn't have a *lot* to do other than keep Demo Shout up and make sure I didn't die from the lash, so I was trying to watch where the beams went. For the most part, visually speaking, I saw the beams going to those in the back of the pack or occasionally those who ran due to FA. That's hardly conclusive however, as the beams simply could have been hitting people underneath her and not displaying through her model.

I was going off of a fairly old strategy that seemed to suit our gearing, but given our experience probably had more negative impact than positive.

On a slightly unrelated sidenote, I'm not so sure we'll see her again. (However that doesn't invalidate the question or research)

Cheers,
~FragB)

[Mordekhuul]

I tried looking through the WWS to see exactly how the targets were chosen/hit and didn't see any exact pattern, which is reasonable given Blizz's RSTS system. When I was tanking I didn't have a *lot* to do other than keep Demo Shout up and make sure I didn't die from the lash, so I was trying to watch where the beams went. For the most part, visually speaking, I saw the beams going to those in the back of the pack or occasionally those who ran due to FA. That's hardly conclusive however, as the beams simply could have been hitting people underneath her and not displaying through her model.

I was going off of a fairly old strategy that seemed to suit our gearing, but given our experience probably had more negative impact than positive.

On a slightly unrelated sidenote, I'm not so sure we'll see her again. (However that doesn't invalidate the question or research)

Cheers,
~FragB)

I had the pleasure of doing something on Mother besides sitting there refreshing holy shield last night, for once. We divide into three groups, to be precise, with the 3 tanks together in front of her (of course), the melee DPS just behind her in one clump, and the ranged DPS and healers at some 30-35 yards range from her in one clump.

As melee DPS I was chosen 3 times in our one-shot of her, and from what I've seen I believe her targeting is random among everyone in the raid, except for the three tanks. I have heard that she can target totems and pets, but am not sure how one would verify that. Either way, quite often she will only end up hitting 1-2 players, whether because of targetting non-players or through a resist mechanic.

It is an interesting fight, though frustratingly so when a randomly placed teleport wipes out the raid on anotherwise snooze-fest of a pull, which has been known to happen to us.

[Frag]

We have her targeting and then hitting pets in the WWS from the 4th, as for totems I don't see them on the list, but we did have multiple instances of FA only affecting two people, so it's reasonable to assume that at least pets can be chosen, possibly totems as well.

Cheers,
~FragB)

[Kirayla]

We have her targeting and then hitting pets in the WWS from the 4th, as for totems I don't see them on the list, but we did have multiple instances of FA only affecting two people, so it's reasonable to assume that at least pets can be chosen, possibly totems as well.

Cheers,
~FragB)

I've read that FA can be resisted by Shadow gear, so i assume the FAs with 2 people are one person resisting.

[Skandranon]

Beams are randomly targeted amongst everyone in the raid. She randomly selects a beam type, does it three times, and then randomly selects another (and can reselect the one she just used). Fatal Attraction and beam targets are completely unrelated.

On a side note, I saw Mother Shahraz again last night after not being in BT for several months. Maybe it was 3.0 which broke it again, but we got a wonderful pre-nerf surprise as she FA'ed three people directly into a couch, causing them to all die and to wipe out the melee. We still won, but it had been a very long time indeed since I'd seen that.

[Kirayla]

Beams are randomly targeted amongst everyone in the raid. She randomly selects a beam type, does it three times, and then randomly selects another (and can reselect the one she just used). Fatal Attraction and beam targets are completely unrelated.

But do the beams stop targeting players if all players are in one bunch, right below Mother (Under her skirt) or do the beams still target no matter what?

-Kira

[Mordekhuul]

Yeah, I've been thinking of Fatal Attraction the whole time here. We had full SR the first time we saw Mother, even, so we never really stressed the specifics of her other abilities. The only thing that gets us are FA targets porting to just the wrong location.

[Frag]

Close-in setup

When the whole raid clusters very close to her ("under her skirt"), nobody can be hit by the beams. The problem is that if only one person does not stand close enough, a wipe is highly probable.

This will cause everyone to be affected by the silence, including healers.

This was the snippet I based my cockeyed strategy around.

Cheers,
~Frag:wacko:

[TheDragoon]

This will cause everyone to be affected by the silence, including healers.

This kept happening to me (and, presumably, the healers) and I had to LoH myself once, but I managed to survive. :)

[Skandranon]

But do the beams stop targeting players if all players are in one bunch, right below Mother (Under her skirt) or do the beams still target no matter what?

They will still fire and hit you. Her beams have no dead-zone.