02 - Gruul's Lair - Gruul

[Agiel]

No attunement is neccessary for Gruul

Killing Gruul is part of the attunement quest to Serpentshrine Cavern, the 25 man raid zone in Coilfang Reservoir. This quest can be picked up from Skar'this the Heretic in the Heroic Slave Pens of Coilfang Reservoir. I suggest you mark a day on your calander to get this quest done.

Raid Setup
- carry limited invulnerability potions
- Have KTM threatmeter installed
- No more than 5-6 melee dps should be found in the raid, this includes the tanks.
- 7-8 healers is good, the rest on dps.
- Give every player Amplify Magic
- No pets apart from phase shifted imps are to be used
- Mark the center of the room with a cenarion beacon / Phase Shifted imp.

The ideal Raid setup is to maximise DPS
Group 1 = Prot Warrior(MT) / Druid (OT) / Druid(Heal) / Healadin / Warlock(impr imp)
Group 2 = Paladin/Paladin/Druid/Priest(Holy)/Paladin
Group 3 = Shaman/Warrior(dps)/Rogue/Rogue/Hunter
Group 4 = Mage/Mage/Mage/Priest(Shadow)/Warlock
Group 5 = Mage/Warlock/Hunter/Hunter/Priest(Shadow)

The Fight
Gruul must be burned down as fast as possible. Until our gear is better this means consumables that increase dps are paramount.

Everyone move in past the gate as the encounter begins. Gruul is tanked in the middle of the room.

Group 1 North
Group 2 North West
Group 3 South West
Group 4 South East
Group 5 North East

Spread out within your groups allocated zone



Phase 1 - Pew Pew
The main and offtanks should be at the top of the threatmeter at all times, besides that, DPS it like you mean it!

This is an 8 minute fight so warlocks use soulshatter 2 minutes in so you can use it again later. Other dps with aggro dumps behave similarly

Melee don't dps until the offtank takes the first hurtful strike (watch their health bar, he'll lose around 14k hp)

EVery 30 seconds Gruuls damage increases by 15% via self buff 'Growth'. Gruul should be killed within 8 minutes else you can't heal through it.

2nd Highest on the aggro list gets hit for ~13k every 15 seconds (can't crit or crush) so ensure the offtank is always at 100% health.

Random areas of the cave are pelted with rocks, there's a graphic for it so avoid it.

Gruul randomly silences the whole room for 4 seconds so keep HoT's up on the tanks at all times

Don't stand near other players. Much like the Ragnaros & Murmur fights if you're standing too close to someone else you'll get smashed if they are hit by the targetted 'cave-in' effect.


Phase 2 - Shatter

You can tell this phase has begun by Gruul Performing his first Ground Slam. I'm trusting you're not a noob head and have an enemy cast bar displayed. When you see Ground Slam being cast move behind your assigned hiding spot (if you have one). If you get punted during the fight move away from other people immediately, and head back to your original position.

If you get Ground Slamm puntet and find yourself slowed and stuck next to another player, hoe down a limited invulnerability potion to avoid getting killed.


_________________Further hints etc from other strats____________________

Tanks
After a Ground Slam, the MT must reposition Gruul to the center of the room. It is also crucial that the OT runs back into melee range before any other melee classes. Failure to do so results in other melee classes becoming potential targets for Hurtful Strike. Having tanks use Intercept usually ensures they will be the first to go back into Gruul's Melee range. In the early minutes of the encounter, damage taken is manageable, so consumable use such as Ironshield Potions is not necessary. Only start using them in the second half of the encounter. In the later stages where Hurtful Strike starts hitting the OT for most of his total HP, pre-emptive use of Shield Wall or Last Stand can extend the encounter by as much as 40 seconds. If the off-tank knows that the next Hurtful Strike will hit for more than his maximum HP, using Last Stand and Shield Wall will enable him to survive 2 extra hits.

Healers
As a healer, try keeping the two tanks as close to full HP as possible. This is particularly relevant for the OT in late stages of the encounter. There are two moments during the encounter when the two tanks are at their most vulnerable: immediately after a "Reverberation", as described above, and after a Shatter. After a Shatter, tanks may have taken damage from other players, while many healers could be out of position, or out of range of the tanks. If you are in range of the tanks after a Shatter, heal them, even if they are not in your group. In the late stages of the encounter, prioritize the tanks at all costs. A Renew or Regrowth is enough for a DPS class to get back to full HP before the next Shatter or Cave In.

Melee DPS
It is important for melee DPS to spread out to avoid multiple players being hit by the same Cave In. Gruul has a very large hitbox that allows for 5 melee classes to spread out around him when standing at maximum melee range. Raid groups with more melee are still viable, but Cave Ins in melee range become more frequent, and require readjusting as well as more healing. Remember that, as a melee class, your aggro should not exceed that of the OT, and you should never run ahead of the off-tank either during the initial pull, or after a Shatter.

Ranged DPS
As a ranged DPS class your aggro can exceed that of the OT, as Hurtful Strike will only target a class in melee range. Especially for players with talents that allow them to stand at 41 yards from the target, picking an obstacle to stand behind during the Ground Slam, and announcing it at the beginning of the raid, is very important.
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Is this that War of Worldcraft game?