Heroic Blackrock Caverns – Retribution Paladin Guide


Heroic Blackrock Caverns is the what we will be covering here, specifically for Retribution Paladins. Some of the information here may be applicable to other classes of well, but my overall objective is to create this for Ret Paladins.

Tips: There are 5 Heroic videos on this site.  You may view them in HD by visiting their pages at YouTube.  Also, playing more than one video at once, or leaving a few running without pausing may slow this page down.  Just an fyi! (Hint: Just play one at a time!) There are 5 boss encounters in Blackrock Caverns:

Rom'ogg Bonecrusher

Strat – Make sure to clear adds in the front half of the room you plan on fighting Rom'ogg in.  He will call any nearby mobs to help at the beginning of the fight, pretty much guaranteeing a wipe if you do not.  Throughout the fight he will cast Quake, which deals damage to players in the immediate vicinity.  You can move aside to help avoid this.  After Quake, elementals will spawn where players are/were standing.  These elementals should be picked up by the tank and not focused on by DPS. 

At 66% and 33%, he will cast Chains of Woe, which will pull all players into a group, locked in place by a large, central "chain".  DPS must kill this chain, then run away from the boss immediately, as he will then cast Skullcracker, which deals upwards of 100k damage to anyone caught in Rom'ogg's vicinity.  Any remaining elementals should be killed by this.  Rinse and repeat the above, and this fight should be no problem.

Ret Paladin Specific – DPS on boss and avoid Quake if possible.  When adds spawn, ignore them and let tank pick up.  Once Chains of Woe appear, DPS it down quick, then run away from boss.  Once he has finished Skullcracker, run back in and continue DPS.  Rinse and repeat.

Paladin Loot:

Rom'ogg Bonecrusher Heroic Video

 


Corla, Herald of Twilight

Strat – Easiest fight in this dungeon...if done correctly.  There are 3 Twilight Zealots that will have a beam connected to them.  This beam causes Evolution, and when Evolution reaches 100 stacks, the Zealots transform into much larger, nastier mobs.  Chances are, if this happens, a wipe is coming. 

To make sure the Zealots do not transform, players must stand in front of the beams and absorb around 75 to 80 stacks of Evolution before stepping out.  The beam will then transfer back to the Zealot, refreshing the stacks and starting over at zero.  During this time, the player is waiting their own Evolution stacks to fall off. Once they do, they must immediately jump back into their Zealot's beam.  Rinse and repeat until Corla is killed. 

Corla will additionally cast Dark Command throughout the fight, which causes a player to run in fear, and deals damage as well.  This can and should be interrupted.

Ideal beam disruptors are casters and healers.  Melee can stand in one, and ideally this would be the middle Zealot, where the tank can easily tank Corla in an area the melee can hit the boss while still in the beam.  If a melee is not within range of Corla, they must only DPS when waiting for their stacks to fall off.  This isn't a DPS race, it's all about control.

Ret Paladin Specific – If you are lucky, there will be two casters and a healer to absorb beams.  This will allow you to freely DPS boss and help with interupts (Rebuke).  Don't hesitate to Word of Glory or Holy Radiance if needed.  Sometimes healers can lose focus when concentrating on Evolution stacks.

If you are on the middle beam, and the tank has the boss right on top of you, simply manage your stacks and side-step out of the beam to remove Evolution.  Jump back into the beam, and this should cause little interruption in terms of DPS.

If you are on a beam with the boss out of attack range, simply sit and take your stacks to 80 or so, then jump out and run to the boss to DPS.  Be careful not to cross in front of any other beams.  Make sure you allow yourself time to run back and jump into your beam, lest your Zealot transform.

Racial abilities and Divine Shield can help remove Fear, if needed.

Paladin Loot:

Corla, Herald of Twilight Heroic Video


Karsh Steelbender

Strat – This fight seems to be the one that gives players all sorts of trouble.  This fight is all dependant on how good/bad your tank is.  If the tank does his or her job, and DPS is good, this fight can be very, very easy.  Karsh Steelbender starts with a buff called Quicksilver Armor, which reduces damage taken by 99%.  The tank must drag the boss into the pillar of fire in the middle of the room so that he gains a debuff called Superheated Quicksilver Armor, which lasts for 12 seconds.  This debuff stacks to increase his damage taken by 5% for every 2 seconds he is the fire.  It also deals 1000 damage per stack on every melee swing.  Needless to say, these stacks can add up quick and put tons of stress on the healer.  If DPS doesn't have boss down by 16 to 18 stacks, let SQA fall off, deal with the resulting adds, and rinse and repeat.

If the tank lets Superheated Quicksilver Armor fall off, he regains full Quicksilver Armor, and spawns a bunch of fire elemental adds that must be AoE'd down. These adds also leave molten pools on the ground that deal big chunks of damage.  The adds themselves don't hit very hard, but not addressing them can really make a mess of the fight.  If adds do spawn, AoE them down as quickly as possible, then resume combat on boss.

Karsh also does a Cleave, so make sure and stay behind him to attack.

Ret Paladin Specific – I switch to Resistance Aura for this.  DPS boss from behind, and wait to burn cooldowns.  Once he gets around 10-12 stacks or so, pop AW, Guardian, Inquisition, and Zealotry.  Continue onslaught until boss is dead.  Be prepared to Lay on Hands the tank if he starts taking a ton of damage.

If adds do happen to spawn, jump on them quickly and AoE down.  Make sure they do not get aggro on the healer, and if they do, taunt off.  Once adds are dead, continue DPS on Karsh.

Paladin Loot:

Karsh Steelbender Heroic Video

Beauty

Strat – Beauty is an optional fight in Blackrock Caverns.  The real trick isn't beauty herself, but her 3 pup adds.  CC as many of the adds as you can with Hex, Hibernate, Polymorph (Sheep), and Freezing Trap.  The other must be killed very quickly, as they drop little lava drools that deal damge, in addition Little Big Flame Breath, which deals mild damage as well.

Beauty herself deasl a variety of damage, but nothing too serious.  She does cast a fear that affects all nearby enemies.  Make sure to NOT kill Runty in the back, as that will enrage Beauty, causing her to rip your group into a bloody little wipe!

One trick that has worked well for me was do this fight AFTER  Obsidius, when no other mobs are around.  We CC'ed as many adds as possible in Beauty's room, then dragged her out into the open cavern. When the CC's popped, they had quite a ways to run to us, and the tank had plenty of room to maneuver without fear of smashing poor lil' Runty.

Ret Paladin Specific – This is a straight DPS fight.  Avoid fears with racial abilities or bubble.  Help heal if needed via Word of Glory and Holy Radiance.  Otherwise, DPS your little Ret heart out.  Oh yeah, try and stay behind her, too.  If adds need to be killed, make sure they are brought down quickly.  Optimal set-up for this fight is to have 3 available CC's that can affect Beasts (Hunter, Mage, Shaman, Druid).

Paladin Loot:

Beauty Heroic Video

Ascendant Lord Obsidius

Strat – Ascendant Lord Obsidius is a pretty easy encounter.  He will pull with 3 adds that take no damage.  These adds need to be kited away from the group, preferrably by a ranged DPS with high mobility and several slowing mechanics.  These adds channel a healing debuff, but otherwise do not pose a large threat.  THe remaining DPS focus on Obsidius, who, at 66% and 33%, switches place with one of the kited adds.  The tank then switches to the new target, and DPS continues, while the kiting DPS grabs the leftover mob.  Rinse and repeat until boss is dead.

Obsidius will frequently cast Thunderclap, which deals around 11k damage and slows movement by 50%.  This can be dispelled, and should particularly be removed from the player kiting the adds.  Also, Obsidius places a DoT on players that deals 8000 damage every 2 seconds for a 12 second duration.  Around 48k damage total.  THis can either be dispelled by the healer, or healed through.

Ret Paladin Specific – Ret Paladins usually will be assigned the task of straight DPS.  You won't worry about much else in this fight except getting the boss down.  If you need to throw the random Hand of Freedom to the kiting player, or possible hand out heals as needed with Word of Glory and Holy Radiance, don't hesitate to do so.

Paladin Loot:

Ascendant Lord Obsidius Heroic Video