Alternative Hagara HC Strat

[Alierya 94]

Currently we are progressing (somewhat) on hagara, and as a guild who's gear/skill level/ability to not stand in stuff isn't as high as some others we like to use slightly odd tactics.

During the lightning phase instead of having 4 groups of 2 (ten man) we go with 2 groups of 2 and have everyone else hide in the middle just before the add dies & get the ranged to finish him off. The groups start at the spawn point and then go in oppoisite directions. A healer has each group as well as aoe healing the middle. Any classes that can help with group healing do. This we robbed of another guild but works really well for us as healing is easier (though over a longer period of time) and as there is only 4 people running instead of 8 there is less chance of mistakes.

The ice phase is our current work in progress. Again instead of running round the ring we pop the first icicle down then move onto the second, stay as a group and 'dodge' the ice wall by side stepping into the center as it passes. This we haven't got quite right yet (a few people forget and run round, others can't deal with avoiding and generally panic) but we are getting there. Thoughts on this... easier to dodge or easier to run round?

[Astropolix 10]

Well I already posted parts of our strat for Hagara before this forum went live but I'll gladly share some thoughts on it again.

We found the lightning phase to be very easy to manage if done QUICKLY. For this we have 3 groups of 3 (raiding 10 man) instead of 4 groups of 2. These groups are positioned such that they overload all but one capacitor without ANY movement involved. The last capacitor is then overloaded by either 2 pets, 1 pet 1 warrior jumping in or whatever else is available (dispersing shadowpriest, AMSing DK, you name it). This way the phase lasts about 15 seconds or so (including the time to kill the add). Our priest stands in the middle during all of this and pops her hymn once the add dies to heal the ppl forming the chain.

As for the frost phase we found it most viable to have everyone kill the first pillar and then have all ranges+healers run into the middle, stack on hagara and nuke the other pillars down. This way only tank+2 melees need to run around. The ones in the center receive a considerable amount of damage, but a holy paladin with popped cooldowns is able to keep them topped off for quite some time. After his CDs run out I pop my shieldwall for the group and by the end of that the phase usually ends. By doing so we avoid people "panicking" as your people seem to do :-)

If you have access to a hunter then running around is also a viable option, but we figured: why have ranges run around leading to a longer fight if you can 'just' heal through them standing still.

[Damien 1,514]

There are literally tons of ways to do the Lightning Phase, so whatever works for you is good.

For the Ice Phase, have you tried simply stacking in the middle and healing through the damage? Ranged DPS get the crystals without having to move while melee players run round?

[Alierya 94]

For the Ice Phase, have you tried simply stacking in the middle and healing through the damage? Ranged DPS get the crystals without having to move while melee players run round?

No we have not though may be worth a go. Do you do this with 3 healers, or two really really competant ones? Move with the mele but inside the bubble, or can healers reach mele from the center? Though it could be possible to have one healer travel with mele, two with ranged; depending on the no. of ranged vrs mele.

[Damien 1,514]

Melee players can be healed from the middle, no problem :)

[Astropolix 10]

We do it with three healers - two priests (holy+disc) and a pally. Wouldn't advise going with 2 unless you're REALLY ranged focused (i.e. only like 1 melee+tank). Then you might be able to down all the pillars before the pallys CDs run out.

[AmysSmokingHot 0]

Just keep bashing your head youll get there eventually! ;)

[Alierya 94]

I'll pop how it goes down on sunday. Though with the sign ups it's not looking THAT promising... luckily the mightly johan is coming with! So I'll let him erm 'be advice comity to the RL'.

[Alierya 94]

Ah due to terrible signs we ended up 7-maning Naxx 25... so alas no hagara progress at all!

[Damien 1,514]

Guess it's a really bad time to be raiding (diablo3, mop, end-year exams, summer holidays for some, etc).

[meukow 15]

I didn't even know people are still raiding :P Relax a bit

good luck :)

[MadMonk 154]

Some people want to get their BiS list completed (like me) and some of those people (like me) are very unlucky on drops. Still need 2 rings, random drop which we've only seen twice and the ring from hagara which we've seen three times (25-man)

[Alierya 94]

Aye still not seen my bow drop even once...

We are raiding *most* weeks. As our bff guild has collapsed we should be able to boost our raid team with what is left of theres next week. As we haven't finished DS on HC we will be pushing on with it. Saying that raids are generally fun (for people that are not leading ) which is why we still do them.

Quite enjoyed racing through naxx though and picking up a few achieves + almost a complete transmog set for our rogue!

[Peelyon 416]

Just a bit of a bump, we took our first look at Hagara hc this week and just wanted to say that some of the little ideas here helped a lot. We found 2 groups of 2 on lightening phase meant we could just pop all our healing cool downs and we survived even the really slow occasions compared to all running and getting squished.

The ice phase we went as a whole group with myself (holy priest with Body and Soul speed boost) running in the next "gap" between ice walls. Meant as soon as anyone got behind the main group they entered my range and I speed shielded them back forward. Worked really nicely for our group who seemed to struggle a bit with co-ordinating stuff.

Cheers again all was still a satisfying kill even at this late stage!

[Valhella69 2]

Morning all.

Ok silly question here, our guild is busy with Hagara HC as well.

with regards to the 30% nerf coming in to DS will this affect the HP of the pylons in the frost phase ?

or will those still be a set amout for HP ?

were hoping to finally kill off Hagar on Thursday.. then can move onto Warmaster or Zono'zz

[Peelyon 416]

Although I've never noticed the debuff on the pylons (too busy dispelling and healing XD) I am oretty sure they will be affected. All the trash etc in DS has the debuff as well so it would be silly if they werent.

Good luck with the progression! Zonozz should become a lot more accessible to guilds this coming week aswell!

[Valhella69 2]

Cool.. well will keep an eye out and see what happens when we run it.

yea should all be fun and games :)

so hopefully will have an extra 2 boss's down on thursday :)

[Zagam 1,982]

Everything in Dragon Soul is affected by the 30% reduction, including Stomp from Morchok, the adds from Yor'sahj, the AoE during the Black Phase on Zon'ozz, Pillars on Hagara, etc.

For you guys struggling with Hagara, take heart from a late February Savior of Azeroth...this fight sucks. Not so much that it is difficult...it's just annoying. RNG can mess with you in the worst way on this fight, almost to the degree the dreaded Warmaster fight has with it's (pardon my French) bullshit fire mechanic.

I've done Hagara both ways. The method where the healers and ranged stack in the middle is ok if this is where you choose to use your healing CDs. Tranq, Divine Hymn, and Aura Mastery are helpful, but I prefer my method.

What we do is I mark all 4 spots where the pillars spawn pre-fight. Blue, Green, Purple, Red. When the ice phase begins, we all group up at Blue and burst it down with no problems. During this entire phase, when someone gets Frostflake, they call out in Mumble when they are in the water sphere and need dispelled. Communication makes this phase a joke. We then head for Green right behind the now-moving Ice Wave. When we get to Green, we DPS it but I make everyone stand close to the water sphere. When the wave comes around, everyone dips in, runs past the wave, and back out to finish Green off. Rinse and repeat for Purple and Red. Dipping in and out of the water sphere requires almost no healing CDs and thus can be saved for some of the ridiculous RNG things that can happen in the normal phase. However, this strategy does make you require a high level of communication and coordination...if someone calls for a dispel early, it'll likely cause a wipe. If someone doesn't call for a dispel, they'll likely die. While most of these mechanics are easy to ignore, it's important to keep your raiders responsible for what they each need to deal with. It will cause a lot less headaches when MoP comes and mechanics are not as forgiving.

By not using healing CDs during Ice Phase, you can use them for the normal phase when Hagara makes the wonderful decision to freeze two healers right before she does Focused Assault. Or when all three of the Ice Beams start spawning from the same point and wreck one person. I hate the randomness of this fight.

Some tips I picked up in my many times teaching this fight...when an Ice or Lightning Phase is completed, make sure your ranged and healers stay at least 15 yards away from Hagara. As soon as Feedback wears off, she will begin those Ice Beams. The mechanic here is she can only target someone with the Ice Beams who is within 15 yards of her. If your ranged or healers are too close and they try to move out of the Ice Beam to drop stacks but can't because they're focused, they're either at the mercy of another person realizing this and intercepting them or an immunity cooldown. Just prevent this mishap by keeping ranged and healers far away. Also, that Shattered Ice spell? DKs can steal it and hit her with it for a nice cool 150-180k hit. Not bad for two GCDs!