Sha of Fear

[Damien 1,514]

This thread is for comments about our Sha of Fear encounter guide.

[Fel 42]

Disclaimer: Haven't down this yet.

Some notes from limited attempts thus far...

1) When you down the Crossbowman, contrary to what the guide implies, you are not 'sent' back to the main platform, there is a small yellow glowing orb in the middle of the corpse which you must right-click to then be sent back.

2) Personal opinion regarding the double-tap fears from the crossbowman. His arrow-spray is sporadic and unpredictable, making dodging nearly impossible (unless someone's found a way I couldnt think of). Dispelling is posssibly not worth it, since the fear has such short duration. I heal for my group and stopped bothering to dispel after the 4th attempt, finding myself more than preoccupied with healing and collecting orbs. I do however recommend Tremor Totems and Fear Wards, very useful.

3) Regarding Dread Blossom, the guide isnt joking, this hits like a truck. However, since DPS on these platforms is sensitive and getting back fast is good (getting back before the next Ominous Cackle is pretty much mandatory), I strongly recommend all raiders with non-stasis immunities to save them/plan them for this ability to boost overall DPS. Hand of Protection is also very helpful, so pallies with clemency can help out squishies. With care and planning healers CAN heal through this ability, but a misstep can be very costly so I think LoSing as the guide recommends is wise for players who have no CD.

4) Overall impression of the encounter is that the better you do on the Crossbowman's platform, the simpler the rest of the fight becomes. So spreading out to collect orbs, minimizing fears with whatever you can, ensuring no deaths to Death Blossom, and maxing your DPS via whatever means you have.

Thanks for the guide! Will follow up with any further thoughts once we get this down :D

[Krazyito 521]

This fight hurts.

[Vlad 411]

Disclaimer: Haven't down this yet.

Some notes from limited attempts thus far...

1) When you down the Crossbowman, contrary to what the guide implies, you are not 'sent' back to the main platform, there is a small yellow glowing orb in the middle of the corpse which you must right-click to then be sent back.

2) Personal opinion regarding the double-tap fears from the crossbowman. His arrow-spray is sporadic and unpredictable, making dodging nearly impossible (unless someone's found a way I couldnt think of). Dispelling is posssibly not worth it, since the fear has such short duration. I heal for my group and stopped bothering to dispel after the 4th attempt, finding myself more than preoccupied with healing and collecting orbs. I do however recommend Tremor Totems and Fear Wards, very useful.

3) Regarding Dread Blossom, the guide isnt joking, this hits like a truck. However, since DPS on these platforms is sensitive and getting back fast is good (getting back before the next Ominous Cackle is pretty much mandatory), I strongly recommend all raiders with non-stasis immunities to save them/plan them for this ability to boost overall DPS. Hand of Protection is also very helpful, so pallies with clemency can help out squishies. With care and planning healers CAN heal through this ability, but a misstep can be very costly so I think LoSing as the guide recommends is wise for players who have no CD.

4) Overall impression of the encounter is that the better you do on the Crossbowman's platform, the simpler the rest of the fight becomes. So spreading out to collect orbs, minimizing fears with whatever you can, ensuring no deaths to Death Blossom, and maxing your DPS via whatever means you have.

Thanks for the guide! Will follow up with any further thoughts once we get this down

Thank you so much! I will make all the necessary edits to the guide :)

Good luck killing it.

This fight hurts.

I'm sorry :(

[Guest Chill]

The dread spray is completely avoidable for every single person on each platform. What we found easiest to do was mark the position of the *starting* bolt on each platform with one of the raid markers, then each person only needs to know where to start.

Check this illustration of the dread spray pattern for each platform. The crossbowmen fire 16 bolts per dread spray in these orders:

http://i967.photobuc...raypatterns.jpg - I did not create this so you'll have to create your own or contact the author to include it. There are multiple videos on youtube showing the patterns too.

On Guoshi start to the left of the first shot, then move anti clockwise one eighth of the room after counting each four bolts shot.

On Yang start to the left of the first shot then move clockwise two eights of the room after counting each four bolts shot - I personally found it beneficial to just keep edging round clockwise on this one as the "back shot" can catch you out.

On Kun start to the right of the first shot then move round two eights of the room after counting each four bolts shot.

If nobody is being hit by dread bolts it becomes extremely easy - we were far from perfect at it even by the end but compared to just attempting to dodge bolts randomly it was a massive improvement. It's also the only way I think you can get the achievement as you cannot line of sight the dread spray (the guide says you can - graphically it looks like the arrows stop, the game still says you got hit).

[Krazyito 521]

http://i967.photobuc...raypatterns.jpg - I did not create this so you'll have to create your own or contact the author to include it. There are multiple videos on youtube showing the patterns too.

Could you please link where you found this?

[Guest Gr8]

Love your guides, they're the best out there imo.

Thanks and keep it up!

[Vlad 411]

The dread spray is completely avoidable for every single person on each platform. What we found easiest to do was mark the position of the *starting* bolt on each platform with one of the raid markers, then each person only needs to know where to start.

Check this illustration of the dread spray pattern for each platform. The crossbowmen fire 16 bolts per dread spray in these orders:

http://i967.photobuc...raypatterns.jpg - I did not create this so you'll have to create your own or contact the author to include it. There are multiple videos on youtube showing the patterns too.

On Guoshi start to the left of the first shot, then move anti clockwise one eighth of the room after counting each four bolts shot.

On Yang start to the left of the first shot then move clockwise two eights of the room after counting each four bolts shot - I personally found it beneficial to just keep edging round clockwise on this one as the "back shot" can catch you out.

On Kun start to the right of the first shot then move round two eights of the room after counting each four bolts shot.

If nobody is being hit by dread bolts it becomes extremely easy - we were far from perfect at it even by the end but compared to just attempting to dodge bolts randomly it was a massive improvement. It's also the only way I think you can get the achievement as you cannot line of sight the dread spray (the guide says you can - graphically it looks like the arrows stop, the game still says you got hit).

Thank you for an excellent post. We are taking it into account now, and we will update the guide, including our own version of the diagram (we are still studying video footage to make it as accurate as possible). We hope to have the update out tonight, but it may only end up being tomorrow. Thanks again.

Love your guides, they're the best out there imo.

Thanks and keep it up!

Thank you for your compliments :)

[Damien 1,514]

The dread spray is completely avoidable for every single person on each platform. What we found easiest to do was mark the position of the *starting* bolt on each platform with one of the raid markers, then each person only needs to know where to start.

Check this illustration of the dread spray pattern for each platform. The crossbowmen fire 16 bolts per dread spray in these orders:

http://i967.photobuc...raypatterns.jpg - I did not create this so you'll have to create your own or contact the author to include it. There are multiple videos on youtube showing the patterns too.

On Guoshi start to the left of the first shot, then move anti clockwise one eighth of the room after counting each four bolts shot.

On Yang start to the left of the first shot then move clockwise two eights of the room after counting each four bolts shot - I personally found it beneficial to just keep edging round clockwise on this one as the "back shot" can catch you out.

On Kun start to the right of the first shot then move round two eights of the room after counting each four bolts shot.

If nobody is being hit by dread bolts it becomes extremely easy - we were far from perfect at it even by the end but compared to just attempting to dodge bolts randomly it was a massive improvement. It's also the only way I think you can get the achievement as you cannot line of sight the dread spray (the guide says you can - graphically it looks like the arrows stop, the game still says you got hit).

Where did you get that diagram? I need to be able to give credit.

[Guest Chill]

Here's where I found it:

http://www.wowhead.c...t=6825#comments

From user "magicmoose"

[Vlad 411]

Here's where I found it:

http://www.wowhead.c...t=6825#comments

From user "magicmoose"

Thank you!

[Krazyito 521]

Ok so we finally killed this boss yesterday. Here are a few things about 25 man.

• Unless you have "OMG UBER AWESOME DPS" You CANNOT do this fight with 2 tanks with current normal gear levels (480's~). There is simply NOT enough time to DPS the mini-boss and get your tank back to the main platform before the 2nd tank gets ported off.

• We did it with 3 tanks, which I am thankful for, but I've talked to other people who say they have done it with 4. Basically, the number of tanks you need will depend on how fast you can DPS the mini-boss before the next tank gets ported off. If you need more time, add another tank. But Ideally you should NOT go over 4 tanks... 4 should give ample time.

• Dread Blossom should only be LoS'd if you don't have a big defensive CD. if you have a paladin in the group of people, decide right when you get to the platform, who he should BoP. Healers for the most part should LoS.. Most DPS classes should try to figure out if they can survive it, but if they cant, they have to LoS. Warlocks with Dark Bargin + Twilight Ward/Unending Resolve, is a perfect example of being able to survive it.

• In 25 man, this fight seemed like a logistical nightmare. We had all the time in the world in terms of berserk on the boss, we just had to make sure everyone was aware who was on their platform and listen for them. In our mumble, there were constantly 3 groups of people talking. One for the main platform, as the DPS leaders that were still there called which side to DPS the shield adds and the other two platform groups. Usually on the platform groups it was a tank and healers making quick confirmation statements about what we were going to do and trying to be as quick and informative with who should be BoP'd and who should LoS etc..

This fight on 25 man at least, is about having everyone in your raid go to the platforms a couple times to practice and know what to do, then settings a 12 - 13 minute rhythm with your raid to micro-manage each group. Having 3 tanks, pretty much gives you less then 3 minutes to DPS the mini boss (as each ominous cackle goes off every 1:30 minutes about). So all your DPS have to be consistent, or better then that time to be able to get your tank back to the platform to tank the boss before the next tank gets ported off.

DPS should be saving their big burst and damage CD's (as well as healers for healing and/or damage) for the mini-bosses and NOT for Sha. When the DPS finish killing the mini-boss they gain the Fearless buff, and should be using it to solely DPS Sha. The rest of the DPS on the platform should be cleaning up the shield adds and then the boss.

Another huge healing concern we had was Thrash It unexpectedly would one shot our tanks. If a tank dies on the main platform and Sha decides to use reaching attack on the other two tanks that are on separate platforms, you're pretty much gonna wipe that attempt. Tanks have to be sure to save most of their active mitigation to time with this and call for healing CD's (you wont know for sure who will be on the main platform though) if you don't have any big CD's. There should be at least one healer assigned to focus on a single target rotation on the tank on the main platform (Again, this is dynamic and will change depending on who gets ported) while the other healers are healing the rest of the raid.

Having even one group fall behind in DPSing the mini-boss will result in the whole main platform getting breath of fear, due to a tank not being on a pedestal. One option we had was a rogue with Symbiosis used Growl if we were falling a little behind, just so Sha wouldn't Breath of Fear the raid or, use Reaching attack before a tank got back. Other options for a temporary tank are Demo Warlocks with Dark Apotheosis or any druid with Heart of the Wild.

Edited November 22, 2012 by krazyito65

[Vlad 411]

Ok so we finally killed this boss yesterday. Here are a few things about 25 man.

• Unless you have "OMG UBER AWESOME DPS" You CANNOT do this fight with 2 tanks with current normal gear levels (480's~). There is simply NOT enough time to DPS the mini-boss and get your tank back to the main platform before the 2nd tank gets ported off.

• We did it with 3 tanks, which I am thankful for, but I've talked to other people who say they have done it with 4. Basically, the number of tanks you need will depend on how fast you can DPS the mini-boss before the next tank gets ported off. If you need more time, add another tank. But Ideally you should NOT go over 4 tanks... 4 should give ample time.

• Dread Blossom should only be LoS'd if you don't have a big defensive CD. if you have a paladin in the group of people, decide right when you get to the platform, who he should BoP. Healers for the most part should LoS.. Most DPS classes should try to figure out if they can survive it, but if they cant, they have to LoS. Warlocks with Dark Bargin + Twilight Ward/Unending Resolve, is a perfect example of being able to survive it.

• In 25 man, this fight seemed like a logistical nightmare. We had all the time in the world in terms of berserk on the boss, we just had to make sure everyone was aware who was on their platform and listen for them. In our mumble, there were constantly 3 groups of people talking. One for the main platform, as the DPS leaders that were still there called which side to DPS the shield adds and the other two platform groups. Usually on the platform groups it was a tank and healers making quick confirmation statements about what we were going to do and trying to be as quick and informative with who should be BoP'd and who should LoS etc..

This fight on 25 man at least, is about having everyone in your raid go to the platforms a couple times to practice and know what to do, then settings a 12 - 13 minute rhythm with your raid to micro-manage each group. Having 3 tanks, pretty much gives you less then 3 minutes to DPS the mini boss (as each ominous cackle goes off every 1:30 minutes about). So all your DPS have to be consistent, or better then that time to be able to get your tank back to the platform to tank the boss before the next tank gets ported off.

DPS should be saving their big burst and damage CD's (as well as healers for healing and/or damage) for the mini-bosses and NOT for Sha. When the DPS finish killing the mini-boss they gain the Fearless buff, and should be using it to solely DPS Sha. The rest of the DPS on the platform should be cleaning up the shield adds and then the boss.

Another huge healing concern we had was Thrash It unexpectedly would one shot our tanks. If a tank dies on the main platform and Sha decides to use reaching attack on the other two tanks that are on separate platforms, you're pretty much gonna wipe that attempt. Tanks have to be sure to save most of their active mitigation to time with this and call for healing CD's (you wont know for sure who will be on the main platform though) if you don't have any big CD's. There should be at least one healer assigned to focus on a single target rotation on the tank on the main platform (Again, this is dynamic and will change depending on who gets ported) while the other healers are healing the rest of the raid.

Having even one group fall behind in DPSing the mini-boss will result in the whole main platform getting breath of fear, due to a tank not being on a pedestal. One option we had was a rogue with Symbiosis used Growl if we were falling a little behind, just so Sha wouldn't Breath of Fear the raid or, use Reaching attack before a tank got back. Other options for a temporary tank are Demo Warlocks with Dark Apotheosis or any druid with Heart of the Wild.

Thank you for the awesome post. There's a lot of good info, and doubtless a lot of it will make it into the guide. I am in a rush right now and I'll be out of town tomorrow, but I'll get to it when I come back. Thanks again :)

[Fel 42]

Got this fellow down this weekend without any trouble, Icy Veins strat is spot on.

Ymmv but just to reiterate what I mentioned in my earlier post, the whole fight seems to revolve around how well/quickly you handle the crossbowman's platform.

Tidbits for Xbow platforms:

1) Didn't use the movement strat to prevent fears from dread spray. Decided that effectively avoiding this would require toooo much coordination if we didnt all stack in one place, and stacking in one place = not getting enough orbs so, just went with the spread out strat and frankly had no issues.

2) Healers and tanks should be primary orb collectors. Healers set yourselves up for your most powerful quick cast/instant heals and just blast away while collecting orbs. You'll have tons of mana. I was able to handle my 1/3rd of the platform or more without any issue, while the tank handled another 1/3rd to 1/2 on his own, freeing DPS to nuke away.

3) Once the fight begins, assuming you lose no one, your two teams of 5 people are pretty much set in stone. This allows you to quickly determine what raid CDs each 5man comp has, and use them each time you are sent to the platform. Divine hymn, Healing Tide, Tranq and any other high HPS Cds are great for death blossom. Additionally, all players on the platform should be using a personal CD and communicating + LoSing if they do not. We run with 3 paladins and were making liberal and embarrassing use of clemency + Hand of protection. Having one HoP per platform really reduces healer strain since they can ignore that one player completely for the duration of Death Blossom.

Sha/General:

Once we'd perfected the strat and stopped losing people to Death blossom, the pressure was off and we got into the groove. We were usually killing the Xbowman just after Death blossom, about 10 - 15 secs faster than we had been on earlier attempts. Doesnt sound like much but that little bit of extra time meant we stayed ahead on adds on the sha platform very easily, never having more than 3 up at any given time.

We found it helpful to always have DPS going to whichever side had two adds alive. Given the frequency of the breath of fear, your DPS will need to spend a fair bit of time running, so it helps to have them always focusing one side. It also helps to have direct damagers focusing off one player, so that adds go down faster.

Slow and steady really seems to be the key for this fight. It looks like mayyybe he starts to spawn adds faster towards the end, sort of sub 25% life, but that might've just been us getting excited and being sloppy haha. If you can get your platform teams ahead of the game on the crossbowmen and then just rinse/repeat/rinse/repeat without losing focus, he'll die without issue.

In case you're over the 10 min mark, don't forget your 2nd heroism! We used it to explode the crossbowman. OH! Just in case: The rate at which the crossbowman spawns orbs is proportional to his health loss, so if you hero on him, be ready for a ridiculous spray of orbs to come squirting out of him (..ew). Caught me completely off-guard I was laughing and running in circles trying to keep up.

Have fun!

[Guest Rust]

Yeah, after seeing the fight, reading this, I just wanted to point out that this is not 2-tankable on 25-man. Cackles are 45s apart (as opposed to 90s apart on 10-man), and since the number of players teleported is the same, as is the health on the Terrace Guardian, you're forced to go 3 tanks so that each group has 90 seconds on the platform to get the Terrace Guardian down.

[Vlad 411]

Yeah, after seeing the fight, reading this, I just wanted to point out that this is not 2-tankable on 25-man. Cackles are 45s apart (as opposed to 90s apart on 10-man), and since the number of players teleported is the same, as is the health on the Terrace Guardian, you're forced to go 3 tanks so that each group has 90 seconds on the platform to get the Terrace Guardian down.

Thank you, good sir! Including it in the guide.

[Krazyito 521]

http://www.curse.com/addons/wow/shaoffearassist

Similar to the internal addon Blood Legion used for their heroic kill.

[Guest Lily]

The HM tactics contain some serious misinformation, most importantly that the boss goes into p2 at 66 %, not 50 % HP and that Huddle in Terror can *not* be dispelled as the guide claims. Please check this :/

[Vlad 411]

The HM tactics contain some serious misinformation, most importantly that the boss goes into p2 at 66 %, not 50 % HP and that Huddle in Terror can *not* be dispelled as the guide claims. Please check this :/

The Huddle in Terror issue was fixed quite promptly (probably shortly after you commented), along with some other issues, but I'm not sure what you mean about the boss entering Phase Two and 66%. He transitions when he reaches 50%, not 66% - but once he enters this phase he is healed back up to 66% :)

[Guest Dagthul]

The Huddle in Terror issue was fixed quite promptly (probably shortly after you commented), along with some other issues, but I'm not sure what you mean about the boss entering Phase Two and 66%. He transitions when he reaches 50%, not 66% - but once he enters this phase he is healed back up to 66%

Incorrect. The boss transitions to the second phase when he reaches 66 %. I assume it was originally 50 % (because you can see that in some old videos) and they changed it to make phase 1 less annoying.

Dread Thrash doesn't fully replace Thrash in phase 2. The normal Thrash is still happening the same way as in phase 1; Dread Thrash happens on every fourth THRASH, not on every fourth melee attack.

People affected by Huddle in Terror do not run around, they cower on the spot where they were struck, so you don't have to worry about them suddenly moving out of range.

All of this applies to 10-man heroic; I don't have any experience with 25-man but I assume it works the same way there.

[CausalXXLinkXx 0]

Here is a few good strats for sha heroic 25 man.

In order to ignore the dps requirements in the first phase, it's best to have your DPS warrior step inside the circle of light about 5 seconds before the first cackle goes out. He can not be killed as long as he has popped Die by the Sword . He will then be transported, along with 1 healer and 3 dps to the first platform. This first group NEVER engages the add. You just sit on that first platform and wait until phase 2. Now with your 3 remaining tanks, you don't have to worry about meeting the DPS requirements on platforms, as all 3 will be filled, and you will still have your 3rd tank on the main platform at all times, making the phase drastically easier.

Another good tip for Heroic 25 (probably works on 10) is at the end of the fight, when he has sub 100 mil in 25m, the add group that you're going to kite, if you have a frost Death Knight, have them go blood presence and wait for all the adds to converge on one of your orb tossers, the second he dies or a second before, start spamming howling blast on them with DnD set before the orb thrower dies. This way, all of the adds will now chase you, the DK, and you can keep them slowed with howling blast and Chilblains, leaving the rest of your DPS to focus on the boss, and your healers not having to deal with 10,000+ bolts flying everywhere. As long as no one goes near the dead body, they won't pick up the orb. I have been able to kite for around 30 seconds with this method, and makes the end of the fight an absolute joke.

Edited February 24, 2013 by CausalXXLinkXx