I’m on 74 pulls now. I think I should be able to down him and get lucky at around 100-150 pulls. Even if I do then I probably won’t have enough time to learn Tindral and Fyrakk unless I extend the raid lockout to get my AOTC which I may do if there is such thing now.
All this is assuming I have what it takes to defeat heroic Smolderon. This boss reminds me a lot of heroic Fallen Avatar in Legion raid “Tomb of Sargeras”. Heroic fallen avatar was so bad that it took me 102 pulls to defeat and it was just pure luck. I had to have a guild kill last boss kil’jaden for the AOTC because I didn’t have time to learn Kil’jaden since I was un able to defeat Fallen Avatar again. It was just that once that I got lucky with the rng gods with cheer luck from his attacks.
Every attack from this boss is random I mean EVERYTHING. One exception is the 4 fire rings in P2s and his attacks to the tanks. That is it. Other than that name one attack that he does to the raid that is not random just one.
In the end I don’t really care anymore. Boss is fine and balanced and everything is just perfect. That’s what you wanna hear back there right?
maybe you can go to wago dot io and search for “Smolderon Bait” if you want your group to bait all the pools to the same place. also, in each phase 1, every player should know which tank soak they are getting as soon as the first set of red circles goes out. players without a circle can immediately move to the tank, before the tank soak even happens. players who had circles in the first set can stand on the tank starting as soon as the first tank soak is over, until the second tank soak.
I have a macro for when players soak and I cast it as soon as half the raid get targeted with overheated (small exploding circle). I tell them to stack on tank but few don’t soak still (welcome to pug) and 3 or 4 players such as myself end up with 10% life or less. I tell raid to be spread counter clockwise and follow the tank who moves clockwise to bait lava but someone always stays ahead of tanks.
It’s just that there is too much going on and no matter what I do no matter how hard I try there is always something. This boss should be renamed to " Chaos Sanctuary"
One issue is asking 9 players to spread for explosion then they each generate 4 fire tornadoes which is 36 fire tornadoes that knock you back. Another issue is 9 soakers each will generate a circle that explodes after 3 seconds once healing shield is healed.
Everything about this boss is random. Typically in boss encounters there is a pattern when he/she attacks. Some bosses are harder than others it may take 20 to 30 pulls tops to figure out, but this one has zero pattern of attacks and defeating him is going to be pure luck just like Fallen Avatar in Legion raid Tomb of Sergears.
I get one group get to soak while another gets to spread for overheated, but the attack itself is random. Even the 5 orbs we soak in p2 are random, I mean they spawn where we get knockback but they are random in that area. Only thing that is fixed is the 4 patterns of the fire belts in p2’s but that is it. If there is another attack that is none random please let me know.
No I’m on 74 pulls according to method raiding tool. That is my progression. Not sure what you mean by 4 pulls. I’ll keep trying today despite the fact I think I’m going no where.
I don’t like to raid on a set time it feels like a job then. I like to raid whenever I feel like it. And yes I know that Tindral and Fyrakk are way easier than Smolderon I just can’t pass this mountain and defeat Smolderon. I mean it is clear to me the only way I can beat this boss is to hire a guild to use my lockout every week to kill smolderon so I can move on and practice Tindral and Fyrakk. Otherwise, it’s just not gonna happen
I tried 3 pulls this morning with a raid of 2 4 12 all were 6/9 heroic experience and still it was a total disaster. I did see one improvement that players who are targeted with “overheated” the circle that explodes you know now spawns 3 fire tornadoes instead of 4 and now there is an indication where the fire tornadoes are going. This means we now have 27 fire tornadoes instead of 36 which is A. a lot and B. they move fast still.
Every attack this boss does to the raid (not including the tanks) is random. I can’t name one attack that is not random. Just 1 attack I’m actually looking for an answer if there is one attack that he does that is not random.
I have done a lot of raiding over the past 10 years in wow, and typically there is pattern for the boss that players need to figure out in order to beat him/her. everything about this boss is just random just like Falling Avatar in Legion raid " Tomb of Sergears" . Fallen Avatar was so bad that my realm had its realm first Mythic Kil’Jaden kill after the release of BFA look that up. Having said that, This boss I got no shot at it none. and pretty soon pug raiders will say something due to the fact they’ll be stuck too.
When I raid I do few pulls until I figure out the pattern and fix any issue in the raid until I see my way to a kill, then I explain the game plan to the raid and we win. With this boss after 77 pulls I just don’t see it because everything is random. You can’t put random and pattern together. There is no pattern in random. <<<<<<<<that is a period at the end.
The mechanics require coordination, or having players experienced in the fight. Reteaching a handful of PUG players who haven’t successfully done the fight together is a tall order; you seem to understand that for the most part.
You’re gonna be rolling the PUG dice for quite some time. Honestly there are guilds that do one raid day and are also potentially very flexible, I think it worth it. Having been in several CE/serious guilds over the past two years, a one raid day a week AOTC guild is not “job status” effort.
Or you could hunt down guild reclears on reset day and hope you get in.
No other avenue except beating your head against the wall or paying your way through the boss. Neither of those options seems very fulfilling.
Honestly I’m just upset that this boss is nothing but random and is a one off form the standard of raid bosses which is a “pattern”. I lead the raid and see issues and fix things as we go until I see the way to a kill. I then explain that to the raid and we get a kill. With this boss everything is random, which is not typical except with Fallen Avatar, I can’t fix issues because all is random. There is no pattern. And no I don’t want to join a guild because irl stuff can happen and I may take a break here and there also. There is an entire pug community in the same boat as I am.
Half the raid gets selected at random and start exploding. This half will then each emit 3 fire tornadoes (used to be 4 without any indication of where the fire tornadoes are going) at random location because the 9 players are at random location. That is 27 fire tornadoes in a party of 20 now. It used to be 36 fire tornadoes.
The other 9 players that soaked the tank hit will each have 705k healing shield that needs to be healed. That is 6.3 millions total healing rounded down, and once healed each shield will spawn a puddle under each player that got healed which is random by nature. The explosion does about 500k rounded up
Baiting the lava pools is random because players are all over the place in a pug group. Even the 5 orbs we get to soak in p2’s are random there is no pattern there. I mean they spawn in the knockback area, but the way they spawn is random.
I’ll give you one thing that I can think of that is fixed which is the fire belts in each intermission. Other than that, I really can’t think of any pattern that the boss does to raid (not including tanks).
Anyways I’m a problem solver and this fight is such a disaster with so much unpredictability going on, I managed to defeat the boss with a 2 2 6 combo raid. This limited the number of fire tornadoes to 12 which made them easier to dodge (fyi players still got hit by them myself included). Also it limited the explosions caused by soaking healing shield to 4 or 5 I don’t know.
A combo of 2 2 6 was less messy but still very hard. I know the secret sauce now for this boss 2 2 6 otherwise it’s a bust. If you wanna try 20 man have at it all I can say is good luck in a pug. 30 man raid is for the pros like Method or Ready Check Pull I know that because I tried it and it was a disaster of epic proportion. Go pull 82 team 2 2 6.
Who gets selected for soak vs tornado is random, but aside from that once everyone understands the mechanics theres nothing that’s really random.
You’re working against yourself by trying to pug this in small amounts of pulls with different players. Join guild, join a guild heroic reclear, pay for a run, or beat your head against a wall.
I personally don’t think anything about this fight on heroic needs to be nerfed. If anything heroic tindral and fyrakk needed buffs (or more buffs).
Don’t panic when the tornadoes spawn. You won’t immediately get mowed down by them. Carefully dodge the one or two that actually come your way and then bait lava geyser on top of the boss, then move.