Hodir Encounter Guide: Strategy, Abilities, Loot

Hodir is one of the four Keepers of Ulduar. This encounter involves utilizing multiple buffs and debuffs provided by the nearby NPC allies. The hard mode for this fight is somewhat unique, as it does not have a special way to activate it; it is simply a DPS race if you can kill the boss in 2 minutes or less.

• DPS players must maintain as much up-time in the Starlight beams as possible to meet the DPS requirements of this fight.
• Ice Shards will constantly be falling during the fight. Pan your camera around so you can see where they are landing, and avoid taking damage from these if possible.
• Ranged DPS will need to stand near the Toasty Fire to gain the Toasty Fire buff, giving their attacks and spells a chance to apply the Singed debuff. All ranged players will want to help quickly stack this debuff up before returning to the Starlight beam. One ranged player will need to stay near the fire to maintain the Singed stacks. Never stand directly on the fires as they will go out if the constantly falling Ice Shards hits them.

• Tanks will take massive Frost damage during the Frozen Blows. Be ready with large heals and any needed defensive raid cooldowns.
• Spread out to isolated areas of the room to prevent some Ice Shards from hitting multiple players or causing DPS to need to move.

• You will need to constantly reposition Hodir so that the melee DPS can stand in a Starlight beam while attacking the boss. The friendly NPCs helping you in this fight will be frozen periodically by Flash Freeze. When this happens, you will want to drag the boss on top of them till they are free and begin to cast their spells again.
• Frozen Blows is the main threat for you in this fight. Be ready with personal defensive cooldowns and external defensive cooldowns when this buff goes out.
• It is highly recommended to wear a few pieces of Frost Resistance gear to greatly reduce how much damage you will take from the Frozen Blows. This will be much easier to do once you have obtained a decent amount of Ulduar raiding gear.

• Biting Cold
• Flash Freeze
• Freeze
• Frozen Blows
• Ice Shards

This fight starts with multiple friendly NPCs encased in blocks of ice that you mean destroy to set them free. Freeing these NPCs and keeping them out of ice is essential to meeting the DPS requirements of this encounter, especially in hard mode. you will typically start this encounter with some massive AoE on pull the quickly free all of your allies.

Keep Hodir near a Starlight beam so the melee DPS can benefit from this damage increase. Ranged DPS will need to maintain the Singed debuffs; typically, this is done by having all ranged players quickly stack the debuff up, then have 1 ranged player assigned to refresh it constantly.

Hodir himself will constantly afflict the raid with Biting Cold, placing stacking frost damage over time debuff on any member standing in place. Similar to the Keristrasza encounter in The Nexus, these stacks can be prevented and dropped by moving or jumping. Hodir will also cast a similar spell, Freeze, rooting all nearby players. Rooted players will quickly gain stacks of Biting Cold, dealing severe Frost damage over time, and be unable to avoid any falling Ice Shards.

Hodir will also bombard the raid with Ice Shards, placing a large blue circle indicating where this giant icicle will land. Players will want to avoid taking this damage whenever possible, as it is quite easy to die from these in conjunction with all of the other constant raid damage. The Ice Shards land on a random player, meaning players should attempt to be as spread as possible. This will often mean that Hodir is being moved constantly, and melee DPS will need to adjust accordingly.

A few times throughout the fight, Hodir will gain Frozen Blows, adding massive Frost damage to his melee attacks and dealing moderate Frost damage to the raid every 2 seconds for 20 seconds. During this time, it is crucial that the tank uses personal and external defensive cooldowns and is constantly topped up at all times.

Lastly, periodically throughout the fight, Hodir will cast Flash Freeze, calling down 3 giant Ice Shards. You will want to position yourself near one of these Ice Shards, but avoid getting hit by it as it lands. After landing, the Ice Shards will shatter and create a Snowdrift, granting nearby players a buff that prevents them from being frozen by Flash Freeze. This ability will, however, refreeze all of the friendly NPCs. Your DPS will need to break the NPCs out again through strong AoE or single-target damage.

Item	Type/Slot
Cowl of Icy Breaths	Cloth Helm
Winter's Frigid Embrace	Back
Leggings of the Wayward Conqueror	Tier Token
Leggings of the Wayward Protector	Tier Token
Leggings of the Wayward Vanquisher	Tier Token
Signet of Winter	Finger
Stormedge	Two Hand Axe
Avalanche	Bow

Item	Type/Slot
Bitter Cold Armguards	Plate Wrist
Shiver	One Hand Mace
Icecore Staff	Staff
Ice Layered Barrier	Shield
The Boreal Guard	Shield

Item	Type/Slot
Winter's Icy Embrace	Leather Chest
Breastplate of the Wayward Conqueror	Tier Token
Breastplate of the Wayward Protector	Tier Token
Breastplate of the Wayward Vanquisher	Tier Token
Frost-bound Chain Bracers	Mail Wrist
Frostplate Greaves	Plate Legs
Frozen Loop	Finger
Northern Barrier	Shield
Fragment of Val'anyr	Val'anyr, Hammer of Ancient Kings

Item	Type/Slot
Frigid Strength of Hodir	Necklace
Drape of Icy Intent	Back
Bindings of Winter Gale	Mail Wrist
Gloves of the Frozen Glade	Leather Hands
Staff of Endless Winter	Staff

Hodir 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.