User:Thio/Vezarion

Obsidian General Vezarion is the first boss encounter in Grim Batol, found at the end of the Grim Approach. Vezarion spends much of the encounter flying above the battlefield, while the players slay the twilight dragonkin that emerge from the nearby portal. Defeating Vezarion ends the first part of the Assault and leads to the Ebony Encampment.

Hard mode requires players request that Yiristrasz, a red drake, not attempt to destabilize Vezarion's portal.

Information
Before the boss fight, players aid the Ruby Union in assault the Black Dragonflight's position at Grim Batol. To do this, they must battle their way through the Grim Approach, a ravine cutting towards the entrance of the fortress. Along the way, red dragonflight will back the raid up, and black dragonflight will attempt to stop them. At regular intervals, a summoner is found, who must be killed to move on. When all summoners are dead, the battle ends and Vezarion may be engaged.

During this period, a number of red drakonid Broodmasters will remain at the Ruby Union base. Invading black dragonflight troops that reach the base will immediately attack the Broodmasters. If all Broodmasters die, the event is failed.

If hard mode is enabled, the fight will begin immediately.

If hard mode is disabled, Yiristrasz will fly in and attempt to destabilize the portal, after which he will be slain by Vezarion.

Trash info
Between the Ruby Union Base and Vezarion is the Grim Approach, a long winding canyon that cuts through the ground toward Grim Batol. While the players work their way through the ravine, black dragonflight troops will spawn to stop them. All troops spawn at the nearest summoner, much more powerful dragonkin that summon in troops for battle. Killing a summoner destroys their portal and forces the next summoner to open one. Slaying all the summoners ends the event.

Black Dragonflight Troops
Obsidian Whelpling
 * Come in large packs that should be AoE'd down. Weak against dragonspawn, strong against drakes.
 * Spitfire - a weak fireball attack that increases fire damage taken by 1%. Stacks.

Neltharian Spellscale
 * Comes in groups of two that should be burned down individually. Weak against drakes, strong against whelps.
 * Burning Nova - a fire damage PBAoE that leaves a damaging effect on the ground.

Ebonwing Drake
 * Comes alone, and should be burned down quickly. Weak against whelps, strong against dragonspawn.
 * Flame Breath - causes fire damage to all targets in a frontal cone.
 * Wing Buffet - knocks all players not in front of the drake back.

Ruby Union Troops
Ruby Dragonling
 * Come in large packs that are difficult to protect. Weak against dragonspawn, strong against drakes.
 * Spitfire - a weak fireball attack that increases fire damage taken by 1%. Stacks.

Alextraszian Dragonspawn
 * Comes in groups of two that should be protected individually. Weak against drakes, strong against whelps.
 * Burning Nova - a fire damage PBAoE that leaves a damaging effect on the ground.

Flamemaw Drake
 * Comes alone, and should be assigned its own healer. Weak against whelps, strong against dragonspawn.
 * Flame Breath - causes fire damage to all targets in a frontal cone.
 * Wing Buffet - knocks all players not in front of the drake back.

Summoners
Neltharian Summoner
 * Large black dragonspawn, always placed in front of a portal. Troops stop spawning while engaged.
 * Burning Nova - a fire damage PBAoE that leaves a damaging effect on the ground.
 * Meteor - targets a random player and deals high fire damage split between all nearby targets.
 * Living Bomb - sets a player as a living bomb, causing them to deal fatal damage to all nearby after 8 seconds.

Ebonwing Summoner
 * Large black drake, always placed in front of a portal. Troops stop spawning while engaged.
 * Flame Breath - causes fire damage to all targets in a frontal cone.
 * Claw Armor - causes physical damage to all targets in a frontal cone and lowers their armor by 5%. Stacks 4 times.
 * Tail Whip - does high physical damage to all players behind the drake and knocks them far back.
 * Wing Buffet - knocks nearby players not in front of the drake back a short distance.

Drakonid Summoner
 * Large black drakonid, always placed in front of a portal. Troops stop spawning while engaged.
 * Hatch Whelplings - summons half a pack of Obsidian Whelplings.

Vezarion's abilities
Phase 1
 * [[Image:INV_Elemental_Mote_Fire01.png|32px]] Flame Deluge - while flying, Vezarion periodically spits flame at the ground, leaving a deadly patch of fire that should be avoided.
 * [[Image:INV_Misc_Head_Dragon_Black.png|32px]] Power of the Black Flight - if Vezarion remains in flight for more than five minutes at a time, he will cast this on all currently spawned adds, granting them 900% increased damage, wiping the raid.

Phase 2
 * [[Image:Spell Fire Fire.png|32px]] Vezarion's Breath – deals fire damage in a frontal cone.
 * [[Image:Spell_Shaman_LavaFlow.png|32px]] Volcanic Fissure – while landed, Vezarion periodically spawns volcanoes that grow in size until they erupt, dealing fatal fire damage to all players nearby.
 * [[Image:Spell_Fire_Immolation.png|32px]] Fiery Aura – while landed, Vezarion causes minor fire damage to all players engaged in combat every second.

Adds
Twilit Drake
 * [[Image:Spell_Shadow_ShadowandFlame.png|32px]] Shadow Breath - shadow damage in a frontal cone. Twilit Drakes will occasionally drop aggro, turn to one side, and use this ability. Has a four second casting time.
 * [[Image:INV_Misc_MonsterClaw_03.png|32px]] Shred Armor - reduces armor of all targets in a front cone by 10%. Stacks 10 times.
 * [[Image:INV_Elemental_Primal_Air.png|32px]] Wing Buffet - knocks all nearby targets not in front of the drake a small distance away.

Twilit Dragonspawn
 * [[Image:INV_Misc_QirajiCrystal_05.png|32px]] Twilight Blast - deals shadow damage to all nearby targets and leaves a twilit mark on the ground, slowing those standing on it and healing the dragonspawn.
 * [[Image:Spell_Frost_FrozenCore.png|32px]] Devouring Cold - deals heavy frost damage to all active targets and freezes them in place for three seconds.
 * [[Image:Spell_Shadow_ShadowBolt.png|32px]] Shadow Bolt Volley - deals considerable shadow damage to all targets within 40 yards.

Twilit Drakonid
 * [[Image:INV_Weapon_Halbard_01.png|32px]] Sabre Lash - deals 500% weapon damage, split between the current threat holder and their three nearest allies.
 * [[Image:INV_Netherwhelp.png|32px]] Hatch Twilit Whelps - summons a pack of Twilit Whelps with the following abilities:
 * [[Image:Spell_Shadow_LifeDrain02.png|32px]] Lesser Drain Life - drains a small amount of health from the target every second. All health drained goes directly to the Drakonid.
 * [[Image:Spell_Shadow_SoulLeech_3.png|32px]] Atrophic Bite - all of the whelp's melee attacks cause Atrophy, a stacking debuff that lowers movement speed by 1%. Movement has a chance to remove 5 stacks of this debuff. If 100 stacks are reached, the victim dies.

Phase 1
The fight begins with Yiristrasz and several other red drakes flying in and bombarding the portal with fireballs. The reaction will instantly kill the other drakes, and Vezarion will slay Yiristrasz personally. At this point, Vezarion will lift off into the air and Phase 1 will begin. In fifteen seconds, a purple barrier will form around the arena, preventing players from leaving or entering the area mid-battle.

At this point, Vezarion will begin circling the arena, using Flame Deluge to blast the players with fire, which will leave a patch of flame on the ground. These are obvious and should be immediately dodged. Meanwhile, the first add pack will spawn. Strategy on the pack varies by type, but it is universally important that they be killed as quickly as possible. Three add packs will spawn in total for each cycle of Phase 1, and Vezarion will enrage if they are not killed within five minutes. When the final pack is downed, Vezarion will land, beginning Phase 2.

Phase 2
When the final add dies, the sky will fade to a burning red, indicating the arrival of Vezarion. Instantly, volcanoes will begin to spawn, and tiny firebolts will fly into players, dealing small amounts of periodic fire damage.

For DPS, this phase is a simple burn phase with a basic AoE that is easily avoidable. For tanks, little strategy is involved, other than timing mitigating cooldowns in sync with Vezarion's Breath. For healers, however, Fiery Aura will present a great challenge that Phase 1 lacked. The Aura grows in strength each time that Vezarion lands, meaning that mana conservation and regeneration is critical to this fight.

When Vezarion's health has been reduced by 33%, he will take to the air again and Phase 1 will restart, but with larger numbers of adds.

Add Strategies
Twilit Dragonspawn: By far the most dangerous, Twilit Dragonspawn arrive in pairs - but each time Vezarion lands, the amount of Dragonspawn per pack increases by two. Thankfully, Twilit Dragonspawn have the lowest health of any add in this fight, and have fairly poor melee attacks. They do, however, have a devastating array of spells. Devouring Cold will be cast every 25 seconds, freezing everyone in place and stunning them for three seconds. Shadow Bolt Volley does straight up shadow damage, but is thankfully interruptible. Lastly, Twilight Blast will cause shadow damage to all players within 10 yards of the dragonspawn, and leave a AoE effect on the ground that slows players and heals the dragonspawn. Thankfully, it has a long cast time and can be easily avoided.

Twilit Drake: Fairly benign, compared to other adds, the Drake possess a deadly ability in the form of an aggro wipe. Starting out solitary, the amount of drakes per pack increases by one every time Vezarion lands. Shred Armor should be countered with an offtank as needed, and Shadow Breath can usually be safely healed through when it targets the main tank. Wing Buffet is an inconvenience at most. The trouble occurs, however, every thirty seconds, when the drake will drop aggro, target a random player, and begin casting Shadow Breath. Because Shadow Breath has a cast time of five seconds, this is enough time for all players on that side to run to the other side, as the drake will not change direction while casting. This strategy requires that all players stand on one side at a time, ensuring that that side is targeted.

Twilit Drakonid: Though offensively weak, Drakonids command a vast health pool and an insidious method of regenerating it, meaning that Drakonid packs generally have the highest chance to trigger an enrage. Drakonids arrive alone, and will increase in number by one for every time Vezarion lands. Sabre Lash is easily countered by moving hardier DPS and healers as well as the offtank as close to the main tank as possible. Twilit Whelps often cause problems, however. As soon as they spawn, it becomes a number one priority to burn them down with AoE, as they will snare the main tank and restore their master's health very quickly.

Bugs
At launch, Vezarion occasionally despawned during the third landing phase. This was fixed in Patch 4.1.1.

Loot
Normal Mode Rewards

On normal mode, Vezarion drops two Sigils of Exploration, two items from the Normal Mode table, and any quest items for tier set quests raid members might have. On normal mode, Vezarion has a 50% chance to drop a Crystal of the Depths, the Tier 13 crafting material, or a Wyrmrest Artifact, which may be turned in for Sigils, gold, or reputation.

Hard mode
The following achievements are awarded for completing Vezarion's Hard Mode.

Quotes
Pre-battle:
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Battle begins:
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First summoner killed: More summoners killed: Near the Charred Basin: Last summoner killed:
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Pre-fight:
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Yiristrasz's attack:
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Aggro: Summon Adds: Land: Portal Disruption: Take Flight: Slay: Enrage: Death:
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