User:Nebesk/Tadkins (tactics)

Location: The Viper Sacellum, a dark, elegant room of grey stone. Candles, bookshelves and tables are scattered around the edge, while the interior appears to be an arena of sorts.

Phase 1 Abilities
Tadkins has no hard enrage timer.
 * Reported to be able to hit for up to 15k physical on plate. Her melee attacks deal a portion of Shadow Damage as well.
 * [[Image:Spell_Shadow_AntiShadow.png|32px]] [Unholy Runecircle] - A black runecircle that appears at the feet of random raid members and explodes for 8k Shadow Damage after 3 seconds.
 * [[Image:Spell_Frost_WizardMark.png|32px]] [Frost Runecircle] - Reduces Tadkins' damage taken by 35% as long as she's standing on it. Players standing on the runecircle have their damage reduced by 10%. The reduction bonus is divided amongst all players standing inside it.
 * [[Image:Spell_Shadow_SoulLeech_3.png|32px]] [Choking Runecircle] - A mobile red runecircle that appears at the feet of random raid members (usually casters and healers). Explodes after 3 seconds, silencing anyone standing on it for 5 seconds.
 * [[Image:Spell_Shadow_Shadowfiend.png|32px]] [Death Grip] - Draws a random raid member toward melee range of Tadkins. Tadkins strikes her target once following a death grip. Uses this extremely frequently on Heroic Mode.
 * [[Image:Ability_Creature_Disease_05.png|32px]] [Infection Strike] - A vicious strike that deals 50% weapon damage plus 189 and infects the target with a random number of different diseases.
 * [[Image:Ability_Creature_Disease_03.png|32px]] [Pestilence] - Spreads existing disease infections from your target to all other enemies within 20 yards.

Phase 2 Abilities

 * [[Image:Spell_Nature_RemoveCurse.png|32px]] [Glyph of Mind Twisting] - A powerful rune that bends the minds of raid members, transforming them into slaves to Tadkins' will. Affects up to 5 players on Normal Mode, and 13 players on Heroic Mode. Those afflicted have their damage increased by 50%. This debuff is only removed when those afflicted are brought to 1% health. Glyphed players cannot be killed.

Phase 3 Abilities
Tadkins uses the same abilities that she did in Phase 1.


 * [[Image:Spell_Nature_StoneSkinTotem.png|32px]] [Rune of Infusion] - A stationary rune of power that increases Tadkins' damage done by 5%, and her melee haste by 10%. Stacks up to four times. Tadkins summons four of these on each side of the room at the beginning of the phase. Runes of Infusion are vulnerable for only a few seconds at a time.
 * [[Image:Ability_Hunter_SnakeTrap.png|32px]] [Summon Serpents] - Summons multiple snakes at the feet of the caster.
 * [[Image:Spell_Shadow_DeathCoil.png|32px]] [Death Coil Volley] - Deals 5k Shadow Damage to multiple targets.

Phase 1
Hits for about 17k total on plate, including Shadow Damage. Glowing black runecircles occasionally appear under the feet of raid members, exploding after 3 seconds for 8k Shadow Damage. Larger red runecircles also randomly appear more frequently under the feet of the raid, disappearing after 3 seconds, silencing them for five seconds if they remain on it. A blue runecircle will appear underneath Tadkins every so often, reducing all damage taken by her by 35% as long as she stands on it. Tanks are advised to move her out of the blue circle and onto it themselves, as it reduces their own damage taken by 10%.

Tadkins will inflict her tank with a multitude of deadly diseases, and occasionally spread it to the majority of the raid. Players further than 20 yards of her are not affected.

Every 15 seconds (5 seconds on Heroic), Tadkins will Death Grip a random member of the raid, and sting that player with a weapon strike. This can be extremely deadly for certain types of characters. It is recommended that raid members consider going in to the fight with a little more stamina than normal. With proper positioning, Tadkins will end up Death Gripping her target into a blue runecircle, almost ensuring that the weapon strike will not immediately kill them.

During the battle, Nebesk, a black and red robed Gnome Warlock, will enter through the main entrance and begin construction of a tool that will aid you in Phase 2. Nebesk can be Death Gripped by Tadkins, and be damaged by the black runecircles, so be prepared to heal him if necessary. Tadkins will despawn and the fight will end in failure if Nebesk is killed. He will also give incoming warnings to the raid as to who will be Death Gripped next.



Phase 2: The Glyphed Minions
Begins at 50%. The room turns completely black. Great, shimmering white runes appear on the walls of the chamber, surrounding the raid. Only Tadkins' blue eyes are visible, disappearing after a few seconds. The lights come back on shortly after. Tadkins is gone, and half the raid is doused in a glimmering white light, their bodies completely frozen, afflicted with a debuff called "Glyphed", mind-controlling them and increasing their damage done by 50%. Those who are not affected are knocked back on the other side by an unseen force as the Glyphed raid members assemble in formation against their will, facing the rest of the raid.

Nebesk has also vanished, but in his place is an assault cannon (similar to the cannons in the PvP battlegrounds Strand of the Ancients and Wintergrasp).

Half the raid is now your enemy, and the other half must fight them. The Glyphed debuff is removed by reducing the afflicted's health to 1%, stunning them for the duration of the phase once it's removed. Nebesk's cannon can be used to deal massive damage to the enemy, but must be aimed carefully, as it has limited shots. A small laser is also mounted on it's side, which can be used one time to automatically remove the Glyphed debuff without the stun, allowing them to get back into the fight. Ignoring use of the cannon activates Tadkins' Hard Mode. Phase 2 is ended by removing Glyphed from the entire raid.

Phase 3
Tadkins rushes into the center of the room, this time atop her undead warhorse (Blacksky). Phase 3 is similar to phase 1; the glowing multicolored runecircles come back into action, but in greater frequencies. Unlike phase 1, Tadkins is stationary and cannot be moved out of her blue rune circle, though the rune circle is now bigger and the tank can gain the same benefit as well. If there are no targets within melee range of her, she will repeatedly cast Death Coil Volley at multiple members of the raid. Tadkins and Blacksky both attack their current targets independently of each other. In addition, she will occasionally cast Death Coil Volley, as well as continue to randomly Death Grip members of the raid.

If the failsafe cannon was left untouched during Phase 2, Tadkins' hard mode is activated. The cannon now moves on it's own, firing napalm shells erratically into the air, dealing fire damage to anyone caught in a blast. The blasts also leave piles of oil-fueled flames, dealing heavy fire damage to anyone running into them. These flames will last throughout the entire fight, severely limiting the amount of room the raid has to maneuver (similar to Prince Malchezzar and his Infernals). In between flames and runecircles, the raid must be very alert.

At the start of phase 3, four glowing white runes appear on each side of the room, each increasing Tadkins' damage by 5% and haste by 10%. The runes each have a reasonable amount of HP, and only one rune at a time will be vulnerable. The vulnerability of each rune switches randomly from rune to rune every 3 seconds, making it nearly impossible for melee DPS to target them. It is advisable to have your ranged DPS focus on the runes and to maintain a fair amount of situational awareness. With plenty of focus fire, the runes will be destroyed quickly, allowing your DPS to remain fully focused on bringing down Tadkins.

In addition, multiple Enraged Cobra, Spitting Pitviper (ranged), and Seething Rattler will continuously spawn in the area around Tadkins. Cobras and Rattlers will randomly target a raid member and attack, stacking a poison DoT effect. Pitvipers attack with Poison Bolts at ranged, dealing 3k Nature Damage. In small amounts, the damage is almost negligible, but can quickly prove to be a problem if allowed to stack. Abolish Poison and a Cleansing Totem are extremely useful here. The snakes will spawn quickly in large groups, but have low HP. A few good AoE spells are usually enough to destroy the snakes. Nebesk also returns to aid of the raid and helps with the snake problem with Seed of Corruption, Hellfire and Rain of Fire.

At 10% health, Tadkins goes into a frenzy, increasing her melee damage by 60% and melee haste by 25%. Unholy and Choking Runecircles will also spawn faster and in greater numbers. It is imperative that the white wall runes are destroyed by this point, as her damage bonuses can add up. Nebesk flees around this time as well. It is recommended that the raid saves it's Heroism/Bloodlust, and burst cooldowns for the last 10% of the encounter.

Quotes
Introduction: Aggro: Death Grip: Death Coil Volley: Killing a player (Phases 1 and 3): Killing a player (Phase 2): Killing a gnome player (Phases 1 and 3): Killing Nebesk (this ends the encounter in failure): Frenzy: Death:
 * yell
 * yell
 * yell
 * yell
 * yell
 * emote
 * yell
 * yell
 * yell
 * yell
 * yell
 * yell
 * yell
 * yell

Phase 1 Dialogue:
 * yell
 * yell
 * emote
 * yell

Phase 2 Opening Dialogue:
 * yell
 * yell
 * yell

Phase 2 Ending Dialogue: Phase 3 Begins:
 * emote
 * emote
 * yell
 * emote
 * emote
 * emote
 * emote
 * yell
 * emote
 * yell
 * yell

Hard mode
The following achievements are for the encounter's hard mode.

Special Thanks
Article originally presented on the WoW Official Forums. The thread is found here.

Special thanks to Corriban of Cho'gall, for our in-depth discussion on raid mechanics regarding this particular article on the forums. We both ended up learning quite a bit when it comes to trying to balance a raid. Blizzard's designers have a pretty interesting, if not challenging job making fun and fair encounters.