Assembly of Iron Encounter Guide: Strategy, Abilities, Loot

The Assembly of Iron fight, often referred to as The Iron Council, consists of three separate bosses, Runemaster Molgeim, Steelbreaker, and Stormcaller Brundir. These bosses can be tackled in any order, offering unique challenges and abilities depending on the order they are killed. Whenever one of the bosses dies, the others will heal to full, making AoEing them down not an option. Killing Steelbreaker last is considered the hard mode for this fight while killing him first is the easiest way to complete this encounter normally. This hard mode fight is where the quest chain begins to gain access to Algalon.

• Staying inside the Rune of Power as much as possible on this fight is required to make the DPS checks. Always be aware of your positioning and when you may need to move.
• Lightning Whirl must be interrupted as soon as possible to prevent it from dealing massive damage. Be aware of the timer at all times.
• Shield of Runes must be removed instantly, ideally with a Mage Spellstealing it.
• You will want to save your cooldowns for the third and final boss, as this is when the real DPS race starts, especially if doing the hard mode.

• Runemaster Molgeim will start to spawn Rune of Death if not killed first, which spawn under random players' feet. Avoid standing with the DPS to give a chance not to spawn this on top of the Rune of Power.
• Coordinating defensive cooldowns with the tank is important when only one boss is remaining, especially if doing hard mode by killing Steelbreaker last.
• When attempting hard mode, you will likely keep Runemaster Molgeim alive till he spawns a fresh Rune of Power. This is a great time to apply some DoT to Steelbreaker in preparation for the upcoming DPS race.
• Be mindful of the Fusion Punch timer and instantly dispel the applied magical debuff.

• Positioning the directly next to Rune of Power, not inside of it, is crucial to meet the DPS requirements of the fight. You must drag the bosses out of the rune instantly, or you can die easily.
• Remember that Stormcaller Brundir can be interrupted and stunned; a tank with the ability to do both can mitigate tons of damage this way.
• No matter which order you choose to kill the bosses in, you will need to coordinate your defensive cooldowns with the raid when tanking the final boss, as the Supercharge will boost their damage output greatly. This is especially important if doing hard mode with Steelbreaker alive last as he will also have Electrical Charge, further increasing his damage done.
• When attempting hard mode, tank deaths are unavoidable. Be sure to coordinate battle resses and other in-combat revivals to keep the tanks in the fight.

• Normal Abilities
• Rune of Power
• Shield of Runes
• Hardmode Abilities
• Supercharge
• Rune of Death

• Normal Abilities
• High Voltage
• Fusion Punch
• Hardmode Abilities
• Supercharge
• Static Disruption
• Electrical Charge
• Overwhelming Power
• Meltdown

• Normal Abilities
• Chain Lightning
• Overload
• Hardmode Abilities
• Supercharge
• Lightning Whirl
• Stormshield
• Lightning Tendrils

As this fight has three bosses with unique abilities, the order in which you kill them determines the difficulty and, thus, the loot rewards from this fight. This means there are six different kill orders you follow here. Still, only two are recommended for the normal version and the hard mode.

Steelbreaker is the most threatening boss in this fight, and killing him last is the full hard mode version of the fight, rewarding the highest loot possible. If going for the normal version of the fight, you will want to kill Steelbreaker first to make the encounter much easier.

Runemaster Molgeim will be the second kill target in this fight for both normal and hard mode. He will periodically drop Rune of Power on the floor, buffing the damage of anyone inside of the rune, including both players and the bosses. Drag the bosses out of this rune instantly to prevent them from killing your tanks, but keep them close enough that your DPS can maintain this buff and still reach the boss with their attacks.

Stormcaller Brundir is the third boss in this encounter. For the the normal version of this fight, you will want to kill him last as he is the least threatening all three bosses. For the hard mode version, you will be killing Stormcaller Brundir first, as you need the Rune of Power buff as from Runemaster Molgeim as long as possible to meet the DPS requirements.

In this strategy, your kill order will be Steelbreaker first, followed by Runemaster Molgeim, and lastly, Stormcaller Brundir will be the final boss you kill. Start by having one tank pick up Steelbreaker and the other tank pick up both Runemaster Molgeim and Stormcaller Brundir. Stack all three together and have your DPS begin damaging Steelbreaker. Remember that when one boss dies, the others heal to full, making cleave and AoE attacks pointless and a waste of damage.

The main reason for stacking the bosses together is the Rune of Power that Runemaster Molgeim spawn periodically throughout the fight. These are crucial for meeting the DPS requirements of the fight and should be played around extensively. Whenever Runemaster Molgeim drops a Rune of Power, the tanks must make sure the bosses are not inside of it as it will also increase their damage dealt. Make sure the melee DPS are still able to get this buff while being able to reach the boss.

Steelbreaker only has two abilities at this point in the fight, High Voltage and Fusion Punch. High Voltage is simply unavoidable raid-wide AoE damage every 3 seconds while Fusion Punch is a dangerous tank-nuke ability. Fusion Punch It also leaves a deadly Nature damage debuff on the target over time, which must be dispelled instantly before it deals damage. With this strategy, you are killing Steelbreaker first, so these are the only two abilities of his you will need to deal with.

Runemaster Molgeim starts off with only Rune of Power and Shield of Runes. Positioning the entire raid and the bosses around the Rune of Power locations are a vital part of this fight. Be sure your melee DPS can get this buff and still reach the bosses while being sure none of them are buffed with it simultaneously. Make sure to dispel or Spellsteal the Shield of Runes off of Runemaster Molgeim quickly to prevent him from gaining a 50% increased damage buff.

Once Steelbreaker dies, both other bosses will heal to full and gain a stack of Supercharge, increasing their damage done and granting them new abilities. Runemaster Molgeim will now cast Rune of Death under a random players feet, dealing 7,000 Shadow damage per second to all nearby players. To prevent this from being placed on top of the needed Rune of Power, be mindful of the timer for Rune of Death and have everyone spread out a few seconds before this spell goes off, then quickly stack back inside of the previous Rune of Power. Healers can and should spread around the room after the initial Rune of Power spawns, as they do not need the damage buff, allowing them to move much less often. Depending on your timing, you may wish to keep Runemaster Molgeim alive until he casts a fresh Rune of Power so you can maintain the increased damage buff for the harder part of the fight.

The third boss you will be killing with this strategy is Stormcaller Brundir. Brundir starts the fight off with only Chain Lightning and Supercharge. Brundir himself can be interrupted and even stunned. He should be as often as possible to prevent as much Chain Lightning damage as possible, especially on tanks. However, Overload can not be interrupted; instead, the raid must move over 20 yards away from the boss to avoid its damage and stun.

Once Steelbreaker dies, Stormcaller Brundir will gain the Lightning Whirl ability, dealing serious AoE damage to all nearby enemies. Luckily this can also be interrupted with a kick or stun, similar to the Chain Lightning casts. This ability must always be interrupted instantly, be mindful of its timer, and if you need to let a couple of Chain Lightning casts go through to save your kicks or stuns, do so.

Finally, when both Steelbreaker and Runemaster Molgeim are dead, Stormcaller Brundir will gain an additional ability, Lightning Tendrils. This spell deals serious Nature damage every second to all nearby enemies. Brundir will then "target" a player and chase them slowly, requiring that player to kite the boss and everyone else to move out of their path and away from the boss. Repeat this process till Brundir ends his cast and lands again, allowing you to continue to DPS him till he dies.

The hard mode version of this fight is essentially the reversed order of the normal version. You will start by killing Stormcaller Brundir, followed by Runemaster Molgeim second still, and lastly Steelbreaker will be the third and final kill target of the fight.

Killing Stormcaller Brundir first means you will only need to deal with his Chain Lightning and Overload abilities. Interrupt Chain Lightning as much as possible and run away from Brundir whenever he casts Overload.

Runemaster Molgeim will function the same way he does in both the normal and hard modes. Be sure to keep the bosses near the Rune of Power on the ground to benefit from the damage buff while ensuring the bosses are not gaining this buff. Run away from the Rune of Power shortly before Rune of Death is cast to prevent the 2 from stacking and removing your access to the damage buff from Rune of Power. It is highly recommended to keep Runemaster Molgeim alive at deficient health until he casts a new Rune of Power as you can use this damage increase for the final phase of the fight.

Steelbreaker is the main difference with this strategy. In the normal version, he is killed first as he is the most dangerous if left alive, which is exactly what the hard mode requires. When Stormcaller Brundir dies, Steelbreaker will gain the Static Disruption spell. This will damage the furthest target away from him and any nearby allies, increasing their Nature damage taken by 75%.

Seeing as your healers are already spread out for the Rune of Death, you can further use this to guarantee the Static Disruption targets them. Make sure your ranged DPS are stacked inside the Rune of Power and that your healers are the furthest players away from Steelbreaker. Static Disruption will target a healer every time, allowing your DPS to continue damaging while standing together inside the Rune of Power. Static Disruption can not target the same player multiple times in a row if other targets are available without the debuff. Be sure your healers are spread out properly for this.

When both Stormcaller Brundir and Runemaster Molgeim are dead, Steelbreaker gains two more abilities. Firstly, whenever any player dies during the fight, Steelbreaker will gain a stack of Electrical Charge, further increasing his damage output by 25% per stack. In addition, whenever a player dies, Steelbreaker will heal for 40% of his maximum health. This heal can and must be reduced by healing reduction spells such as Mortal Strike or Wound Poison.

The second ability Steelbreaker gains is Overwhelming Power. This will be applied to the current tank, increasing the damage dealt by 200%. However, after 25 seconds, they will Meltdown, exploding for lethal Nature damage to all nearby allies. To prevent this from wiping the raid, you will need to tank swap and have the tank with the Overwhelming Power debuff run out of the raid. It is worth noting that this damage can not be mitigated or prevented; it will always deal maximum damage to ALL nearby allies. Tank deaths to this mechanic are unavoidable and are considered the soft-enrage mechanic of the fight as Steelbreaker will gain a stack of Electrical Charge every time a player dies, further increasing his damage by 25% per stack. Tanks must be ressed in combat via things such as Soulstone or Rebirth and fully rebuffed so they can return to their tanking jobs.

Keep in mind with both other bosses dead, Steelbreaker will also have 2 stacks of Supercharge, granting him 50% more damage on top of the stacks of Electrical Charge he gains with each player's death. This makes even his basic attacks deadly the further you get into the fight, and his Fusion Punch now becomes a massive threat that requires a major defensive cooldown on the tank to survive the cast. Coordinate your cooldowns so there is always something available for each cast. Eventually, this will start to one-shot your tanks even through cooldowns as Steelbreaker will have highly increased damage through Supercharge and Electrical Charge. This is the soft-enrage timer, wiping your raid after about four casts of Overwhelming Power.

Mastering this fight and saving as many offensive and defensive cooldowns for this final phase with just Steelbreaker alive is crucial to defeating this hard mode encounter. Use all major offensive cooldowns together with the freshly spawned Rune of Power to burn down Steelbreaker as quickly as possible and collect your extra rewards.

Item	Type/Slot
Circlet of True Sight	Mail Head
Cloak of the Iron Council	Leather Shoulder
Runetouch Wristwraps	Cloth Wrist
Belt of the Iron Servant	Mail Waist
Leggings of Swift Reflexes	Leather Legs
Boots of the Petrified Forest	Leather Feet
Greaves of Iron Intensity	Plate Feet
Stormtip	Main Hand Dagger
Rune-Etched Nightblade	One Hand Sword
Lady Maye's Sapphire Ring	Finger

Item	Type/Slot
Watchful Eye of Fate	Necklace
Belt of the Crystal Tree	Leather Waist
The Masticator	Main Hand Fist
Perilous Bite	One Hand Dagger
Loop of the Agile	Finger

Item	Type/Slot
Ancient Iron Heaume	Plate Helm
Insurmountable Fervor	Necklace
Unblinking Eye	Necklace
Iron-studded Mantle	Mail Shoulder
Drape of the Lithe	Back
Raiments of the Iron Council	Cloth Chest
Phaelia's Vestments of the Sprouting Seed	Leather Chest
Steelbreaker's Embrace	Plate Chest
Runeshaper's Gloves	Mail Hands
Handguards of the Enclave	Plate Hands
Overload Legwraps	Cloth Legs
Runed Ironhide Boots	Leather Feet
Radiant Seal	Finger
Rapture	Staff
Stormrune Edge	Two Hand Sword

Item	Type/Slot
Sapphire Amulet of Renewal	Necklace
Shoulderpads of the Intruder	Leather Shoulder
Drape of Mortal Downfall	Back
Belt of Colossal Rage	Plate Waist
Greaves of Swift Vengeance	Mail Feet
Fang of Oblivion	One Hand Dagger

Assembly of Iron is just one of the 14 encounters present in the Ulduar raid of Wrath of the Lich King Classic. If you would like to learn more about the other fights and their respective loot, please see our Ulduar Raid Hub page below.