10 Man Heroic Progression Route

A guild mate of mine (Panis!) recently asked where I would place Heroic Valiona and Theralion in terms of overall progression. This has also been a topic over at the MMO-Champion forums as well. My response to him was this,

Haflus > Chimaeron > Atramedes > Maloriak > Valiona > Magmaw > Omnotron/Conclave > Conclave/Omnotron > Al’akir > Nefarian > Cho’gall

I left out two bosses there (Ascendant Council and Lady Sinestra) because at the point of killing Cho’gall most guilds focus on Sinestra over Ascendant Council, even though AC is likely easier. However, this mindset of prestige over “easy” comes about even earlier. I would put it around the 7 or 8/13 mark. The reason for this is that you can entirely ignore Throne of the Four Winds Heroic, unless you want the Al’Akir server first achievement. If that is not a priority, then the time spent of this “easier” boss would be better spent on Cho’gall or Nefarian, which are only slightly more difficult (Cho’gall supposedly more so than Nefarian). These two end bosses provide substantially better loot though including tier and lack the random nature of stats on Throne loot, which can be entirely demoralizing.

So really the focus here is on the order of the first 7 to 8 bosses you kill on Heroic as a 10 man guild, then choosing your next path. I mentioned in my reply to Panis that group composition can make a subjective difference here though. I’m going to outline the order I’d recommend and why.

1. Haflus. Just do it first. Especially after the nerfs. This fight is easier that normal mode Nefarian for most guilds. It requires one person who can interrupt reliably, average DPS, and sustained burst healing for about 2 minutes maximum. You can even three tank the fight and make it easier. Pretty much any group composition can do this fight, so definitely start here.

2. Chimaeron. You can use two tanks if you want, or have a DPS with taunt act as the “third” tank. This gives you some options. To do the three tank strategy you need a Death Knight, Feral Druid, or Retribution Paladin preferably. Fury and Arms Warriors can do it, but have the requirement of stances to Taunt that will limit their other abilities. While this third tank’s DPS will always be lower than usual, a Warrior in this role will be even more gimped. If you lack one of these classes, you’ll have to go the two tank route. This will increase healing requirements a bit, but you gain another DPS. Either way, this fight should be second. You need to down Nefarian to unlock it on Heroic and any guild that can do that can kill Heroic Chimaeron.

3. Atramedes. Any group composition. This fight requires a good kiter and people to preform one mechanic: dodge sound. You need to dodge sound on normal though, so that doesn’t really change. Kiting can be done by numerous classes (read this for suggestions). Some compositions make it harder, but I’m assuming you’re not running triple Holy Paladin, Death Knight tank, 6 Death Knight DPS so do this third.

4. Maloriak. Some people might have Maloriak earlier in the order. I find there’s more mechanics that the ones I’ve previously listed and therefore more things that people can screw up. That’s why it’s here. Maloriak after nerfs though is not a big DPS race. If you can DPS through the black phase before the next phase starts then you have the DPS for the fight. Not standing in the black puddles is just like dodging sound waves/fire/not standing in void zones/etc. An over used mechanic. Then there’s things to interrupt and you need a decent add tank. Not a high difficulty level on any of this, but it requires multiple people to do their jobs well so I’d put the overall difficulty higher.  Again, pretty much any group composition can do this, but some will have an easier time than others.

5. Valiona and Theralion (with a Subtlety Rogue). If you don’t have a good Rogue, this gets moved down more. I’ve never done it without, but the level of co-ordination goes up. As it stands I put this fight (with a Rogue) here because it’s basically a gear check. Using the Rogue you’re ignoring most of the mechanics in the fight. Healing output is significant and better DPS makes less time for the healers to sustain that output. If attempted earlier, I think raids would lack the DPS/HPS to down this fight.

6. Magmaw. Has turned into a gear check much like Valiona and Theralion after its nerfs and that’s the reason for its position. Many different possible strategies, which lower and raise healing and DPS requirements. Depending on group composition and strengths, do the strategy that best suits your raid.

A sort of metagaming note here on Magmaw and Valiona and Theralion. Both fights give weapons for most classes and specs, along with trinkets for tanks. All of these point to rather large DPS/HPS or survivability increases. Whether it’s coincidence or not that they fall into this sort of middle ground for progression is debatable, but it is a nice fit.

7. Omnotron/Conclave. It’s debatable in my opinion which one is easier. There are NUMEROUS things that can go wrong on Heroic Omnotron. I don’t even want to get into it, but if you’ve attempted this or killed it then you understand. Not having a Shaman to interrupt makes this fight even more annoying. Not having a Mage or Hunter can as well. However, this fight can be done without “key” people, it just makes the fight harder. There’s also harder and easier tron orders that can factor into a kill.

Heroic Conclave requires some high DPS if you’re not using a kite strategy for the adds, and lots of overall co-ordination for switches. Again, some compositions will have an easier time because certain class abilities remove the burden of some mechanics.

Both of these fights were killed very earlier by many guilds before any nerfs went out, so they’re doable early on. They’re just fairly mechanic heavy. Mechanic heavy fights are always the hard wall guilds face though, because the skill factor (or “don’t screw this up” factor) comes into play. Gear checks only block you until you gear/out gear them.

So there you have it. I’m sure some people disagree and I’m definitely biased by the route we took, but overall I think this should give guilds some clear reasons about why to pursue one Heroic fight over another. Most importantly, whether you disagree with this path or not, remember to only focus on one encounter at a time. Splitting your focus will only slow your overall progress. In my experience it’s always better to full ass one thing, then half ass two.

And, finally, thanks to Panis for the inspiration on this post!

Side note about him: Panis is an absolute beast of a Restoration Druid and holds top 200 healing parses for every single fight for his class/spec. He also held world 1st on Maloriak normal for Restoration Druids at one time way back when most people thought Druids sucked for healing and Maloriak normal was progression for people. Finally, he has written a guide for Restoration Druids over at GameFAQs, which details pretty much anything you’d want to know — how to gear, spec, and why, AND how to heal every Heroic dungeon and raid encounter. Even the Elevator Boss. Yeah, give him some props.