Lowered Expectations takes down Cho'gall after 2 nights of attempts!

 

This won’t be as in-depth as previous ones, but to more or less give some information about the fight that helped us finally drop the big, two headed jerkwad that coughed up the 2-handed axe (went to the Death Knight), some mail kilt (went to a Shaman), and the T11 shoulders (that went to yours truly)!

Lowered Expectation’s raid composition…

  • Protection Warrior
  • Protection Paladin
  • 2 x Restoration Shaman
  • Restoration Druid
  • Unholy Death Knight
  • Combat Rogue
  • Feral DPS Druid
  • Destruction Warlock
  • Shadow Priest

Here are some tips for each of the archetypes of raiders:

For everyone…

  • Conversion is bad, do something about it! No matter your role, you can have a huge impact on the fight if you can interrupt/stun/fear/anything to prevent stacks of “Twisted Devotion”. Each stack increases damage by 10% for Cho’gall. This sucks when combined with moving around to kill adds of the oozing and corrupted variety, and especially if it’s interrupters or healers.
  • Conversion After-Effects: What you do to break conversion will affect the raider after the MC is broken. A stun will keep them stunned, a fear will still follow through… Desecration can still slow you, an Earthbind will too. Be careful about what can happen when a specific person gets Converted.
  • Conversion affects pets and totems! Be careful. You may want to make sure you are not getting the wrong target with the conversion.
  • Two types of orders: Flame’s Orders will cause Cho’gall to deal additional fire damage and spawn fire circles on the ground. Shadow’s Orders will make him use three pulses of AoE shadow damage to the raid. Both are extremely healing intensive.
  • What are Corrupted Adherents? Cho’gall will summon them after/before every Fury of Cho’gall cast. They have an AoE shadow damage attack called “Depravity” that must be interrupted, or the raid takes damage and Corruption.. These adherents will also use a Shadow Crash-like ability where a shadowy vortex will appear and a missile will hit there soon after. They cause Corruption. When killed, Cho’gall will use their dead bodies to spawn oozes that must be killed by raiders.
  • Maintain corruption levels… more corruption means more attention and more damage taken in general. Every point of corruption increases damage taken by 3%. This means during “Festering Blood”, where oozes spawn, you must avoid being hit as much as possible to make the Burn phase (at 25%) much easier.
  • What does corruption do? At 25%, you get a debuff that can be dispelled. 50%, you start barfing on raiders… healers can just turn away to avoid hitting people with it. Melee should be the most careful, followed by tanks— communication is key to staying alive. 75%, you grow a tentacle— this can be outranged. 100%, you do double damage and spell casts are all instant! This is a soft enrage mechanic that really impacts your raid during the burn phase.
  • The burn phase, what is it? A t 25%, Cho’gall starts spawning eye stalks from the ground called “Darkened Creations”. They can be stunned, interrupted, and killed… which they should be, as they channel an ability called “Debilitating Beam” which reduces healing and damage done by 75%. It is paramount that your raiders take care of these… we had the most mobile (e.g. less affected by moving in terms of DPS) damage dealers take care of them fast. In 10-man, there are 4. Recognize that during this phase, Fury of Cho’gall still happens— tanks need to keep swapping!

For the Tanks…

  • Fury of Cho’gall: A debuff that increases fire and shadow damage taken. You should rotate your tanks. Keep in mind during around this time, he will spawn an add the other tank will need to pick up quickly and prepare to interrupt.
  • Rotate cooldowns while you have Fury of Cho’gall! When the tanks have to swap after the first Fury, each tank will end up taking a bit of overlap from the previous Fury. If you are able to, make sure to rotate cooldowns to help your healers, who will be healing a lot of damage in this fight.
  • Positioning is key. Note that the adds you find in this fight, the Corrupted Adherents, should be moved to the back of the room at the base of the stairs to give your ranged and melee the chance to DPS those oozes efficiently and quickly. Cho’gall, himself, is best placed in the outer-most pattern (you see it in the center of the room, two patterns of different shades). Know that you will need to move the boss if a flame circle appears during “Flame’s Orders”.
  • Use abilities to interrupt Conversion! I would save my Shockwave for this purpose only— to stun our raiders as we were all clumped up at Cho’gall’s feet. This made keeping those nasty stacks of damage-increasing debuffs low.
  • During the burn phase, take care of some of those Darkened Creations! Warriors can keep one locked down completely via stuns and interrupts and silences… and kill one almost, too!

For the Healers…

  • There’s a lot of damage to be healed. With two tanked mobs at once, a raid spread out, massive AoE damage, massive tank damage… yes, you have to make sure you are picking the right heals for the job. Everyone has to do their job very well! Be aware of the tank that has Cho’gall and that swapping occurs perfect… and not to stand in fire, or face the raid during the burn phase to keep damage low.
  • Yes, you can too help on Conversion. Shaman have Wind Shear. Priests have Psychic Scream. Paladin have Hammer of Justice (which can be dispelled soon after). Druids have… well, at least Horde, have War Stomp. Blood Elves have Arcane Torrent.
  • Shaman, help out with slowing the slimes down with your Earthbind Totem! We had one in the back by all of the dead Corrupted Adherents.
  • Mana cooldowns— rotate them! If you have multiple Shaman, have them alternative their Mana Tide totems. Druids of all flavors, priests of all flavors can help from a little to a lot with their own mana cooldowns. Make sure to communicate when to use them.

For the DPS…

  • Cooldown usage is key! Use your personal cooldowns early to use them during the burn phase later. The fight is long, roughly 8-9 minutes or so if you do it properly, so most classes can use their cooldowns 2-3 times in a fight.
  • Conversion! Interrupt, stun, fear, do something. Silence is good too. Know that once the MC is gone, they will be hampered by those same effects. So if you stun a friend, they stay stunned the entire time until it runs out. Think carefully!
  • Melee… be aware of your surroundings at all times. If your corruption level is past 50%, you are going to vomit on others and hurt them if they are in front of you. At 75%, your new-found tentacle buddy will shoot bolts at people close enough to get hit. With slimes/oozes up, don’t get hit if you are helping the ranged drop them. Also make sure you interrupt on the Corrupted Adherent to prevent AoE damage and corruption!
  • Ranged… those oozes are a huge priority. Huge. Your positioning can also prevent a lot of damage taken by the raid, if you are in the right spots.

—

This fight is extremely fun, and by fun, I mean requires a lot out of your raiders. So enjoy it. Take it in. And kick his ass.

Have any comments, questions, concerns, additions? Comment! Shazaaaaaaam!