Helya Strategy/Tactics for Normal/Heroic

Table of Contents

• +Introduction
  • 1. Contents
  • 2. Lore
  • 3. Outline
  • 4. TL;DR
    • 4.1. Tanks
    • 4.2. Healers
    • 4.3. Everyone
  • 5. Mythic Notes
  • 6. Bloodlust/Heroism/Time Warp
  • 7. Changelog
• +Abilities
  • 1. Overview
    • 1.1. Phase One
    • 1.2. Phase Two
    • 1.3. Phase Three
• ×Normal/Heroic Strategy/Tactics
  • 1. Positioning
    • 1.1. Phase One: Low Tide
    • 1.2. Phase Two: From the Mists
    • 1.3. Phase Three: Helheim's Last Stand
  • 2. Tank Concerns
  • 3. Healing Concerns
  • 4. Bloodlust/Heroism/Time Warp
• +Mythic Strategy
  • 1. Mythic Mode Abilities
    • 1.1. Phase One
    • 1.2. Phase Two
    • 1.3. Phase Three
  • 2. Strategy
    • 2.1. Phase One
    • 2.2. Phase Two
    • 2.3. Phase Three

General Information

On this page, you will find a working strategy to defeat Helya in Trial of Valor for both Normal and Heroic modes, which usually only differ by the tuning of the boss.

Here, we assume that you have read our descriptions of the abilities for this encounter.

The other pages of our Helya guide can be accessed from the table of contents on the right.

Phase One lasts until Helya hits 65% health.

Positioning on this encounter is fluid during Phase One. All players will need to be wary of the Bilewater Breath as it should only hit the tank and will deal enough damage to be potentially fatal to a non-tank player. The Bilewater Breath occurs every 25 seconds.

• Tanks should be careful not to face the Bilewater Breath too far to the edges, as it will cause some of the Bilewater Slimes to spawn on the upper platforms. However, they should also take care that the breath does not sweep through the raid, as this will cause a wipe.
• Damage dealers and healers should be careful to avoid getting hit by the breath as it will likely be fatal.
• The slimes' casts are unaffected by crowd control and they cannot be moved by abilities such as Sigil of Chains or Typhoon, so they will need to be killed individually or with spread cleave (such as DoT effects).
• Tanks should taunt after each Bilewater Breath due to Bilewater Redox.

Players should be ready to run out of the group, as Orb of Corruption will spawn regularly and fixate members of the group.

• Being loosely spread before Orb of Corruptions spawn will help minimize incidental damage from orbs.
• Orb of Corruption always target the off tank and a selection of random ranged DPS and healers.
• The fixate effect lasts 8 seconds.
• Players should kite the orbs towards the edges or back of the room to give the rest of the group space, while being wary of other mechanics that may overlap.

All players should be ready to soak nearby Tentacle Strikes that emerge from the front and back of the platform. Tanks should assist in this endeavour whenever possible.

• All nearby players should help soak the Tentacle Slams, however, the damage split is low enough that it only takes a handful of players per tentacle in order for the damage to not be fatal. This means that melee will not need to move to the back of the room to soak ranged tentacles, for example.
• The Tentacle Strikes can be avoided by having players immune the damage alone. Personal cooldowns such as Ice Block are useful here, as well as raid utility such as Blessing of Spellwarding. If you have a limited number of immunity effects, it is best to use them on the Tentacle Strikes at range, as tanks and melee will not be able to assist with soaking those.

Helya will afflict players with Taint of the Sea, which can be dispelled by a healer. Once dispelled, it deals low raid wide damage and leaves behind a Tainted Essence zone that explodes after a few seconds. Tainted Essence deals moderate Frost damage to anyone caught in the zone, and is easily avoided. This effect will always target the current tank in addition to random other players in the raid. Healers should prioritize dispelling this effect as soon as possible, as it will greatly reduce total raid damage.

There must always be at least one player in melee range of Helya, or she will begin casting Corrosive Nova, which deals low raid wide Frost damage and permanently increases her damage by 3% for each cast for the remainder of the encounter.

Helya will spawn 9 Gripping Tentacles around the arena; 2 on each raised platform, 2 on the main platform (1 on either side), and 3 at the back of the main platform area.

As Helya transitions into Phase Two, she will cast Fury of the Maw immediately, which sends a wave crashing across the lower platform of the room. The wave spawns two large adds on either side of the room (one Night Watch Mariner and one Grimelord). Each subsequent cast of Fury of the Maw will always deal 25% more damage than the previous one, stacking indefinitely, due to Raging Tempest. The wave can be avoided by escaping to the upper platforms on either side of the room, but it is fine for the group to tank it if you are killing tentacles on the lower levels. The raid should try and be grouped for each wave to increase healing efficacy and allow for cooldowns to be used.

Decaying Minions also spawn at the beginning of the Phase as well as periodically throughout the remainder of Phase Two. They cannot be tanked and fixate on random raid members with Rabid. They should be cleaved down quickly, though bear in mind they leave pools of Decay on the ground when they die, which makes positioning important. It is best to stack them and kill them quickly, especially if you are able to stack them on a tentacle or add (such as the Night Watch Mariner) that will be killed quickly. You can also elect to stack them and kill them along the edges, which is easier to pull off but results in a slower Phase timing.

The two large adds that spawn (Grimelord and Night Watch Mariner) need to be focused down quickly. The Night Watch Mariner should be killed first as he has the most dangerous abilities of the duo:

• The Mariner casts Lantern of Darkness 25 seconds after he spawns, which will likely wipe your raid. The raid's goal should be to kill the Mariner before this cast even takes place. He does not have much health in Phase Two, so cooldowns should be unncessary.
• The Mariner will also teleport to nearby players and cast Give No Quarter which spawns a white circle beneath their feet that deals high Arcane damage to anyone caught in the circle after a few seconds. This is easily avoided by quick movement and a loose spread (when Decaying Minions are not active).
• The Mariner casts Ghostly Rage periodically, which grants him 30% attack speed for 6 seconds. Tanks should be wary during this time and use appropriate cooldowns and/or mitigation.
• The Mariner and the raid should always be near one of Helya's tentacles to maximize cleave damage and minimize the time in this Phase.

After the Mariner is killed, players should switch to the Grimelord. The Grimelord has several abilities that occasionally force players out of melee range, so it should be tanked away from the group until the Mariner is dead so melee players can have full uptime on the Mariner.

• The Grimelord periodically casts Sludge Nova, which deals high Plague damage to players within 15 yards and knocks them back. Tanks and melee should run out of harm's way when this ability is cast.
• The Grimelord periodically casts Anchor Slam on the tank, which deals very high Physical damage and knocks anyone hit in the air. This ability has a large targeting circle around the tank and should be avoided carefully by all melee as it will result in instant death. Anchor Slam also causes the debuffed player to take 400% increased damage for 6 seconds. A cooldown should be used to help survive the damage. If the Mariner has already been killed, the other tank should taunt after the Anchor Smash to avoid the damage increase from the debuff.
• The Grimelord periodically debuffs the raid with Fetid Rot which deals ticking damage and reduces healing taken by 10% per stack. When the debuff expires it explodes and applies Fetid Rot to any players within 5 yards. Players with the debuff should get away from the group to avoid this ability chaining throughout the raid.

Phase Two is largely a control Phase that involves dealing with the imminent threats while cleaving down the tentacles. The raid should group near a tentacle whenever possible so you will benefit from additional splash damage coming off the large adds and the Decaying Minions. When the final tentacle is killed, Helya returns to the platform at 47% HP. For the cleanest possible transition, try to clean up as many adds as you can before finishing the last tentacle as the adds persist through the Phase until they are killed.

Phase Three begins with the boss at 47% and is a mix of mechanics from the previous Phases. Taint of the Sea is still periodically cast along with Fury of the Maw. The Night Watch Mariner will also continue to spawn, though he has a new ability called Rally of the Kvaldir, which increases his health significantly. His other abilities and timers are the same, so it is imperative that he takes significantly more damage than in Phase Three as he will wipe the raid if he gets his Lantern of Darkness cast off after 25 seconds.

Healing cooldowns should be used to help survive Fury of the Maw, as the entire raid will not be able to dodge it. If you elect to try and avoid some of the waves by going to the upper platforms a tank will need to stay in range of the boss to avoid Corrosive Nova from being cast. Generally, it is better to loosely group for healing and tank the waves, as it reduces raid movement significantly and is easier to organize. The damage and timers are very predictable, allowing your healers to plan raid cooldowns for each wave well in advance.

Instead of Bilewater Breath, Helya will now cast Corrupted Breath. It now deals Shadow damage instead of Frost and applies Dark Hatred to anyone hit, which significantly reduces healing received. It also spawns Corrupted Axions that need to be soaked. Corrupted Axions deal moderate Shadow damage and absorb a set amount of healing for 30 seconds. If any one Corrupted Axion is not soaked, it applies the healing debuff to the entire raid. This effect can also stack, making soaking of the highest imperative. Healers should quickly break the absorb on the players that soaked to avoid them dying from lack of healing. Players can immune the damage, but not the healing absorb.

Instead of Orb of Corruption, Helya will now spawn Orb of Corrosions which function identically except that they leave void zones on the ground when they pulse. Proper kiting of the orbs is more important than ever, as the void zones can only be waashed away by the Fury of the Maw casts that happen periodically. Ideally, players that are fixated should take the orbs to the edges of the room or the very back. Ranged and healers should form a horshoe shape facing the boss so the orbs do not spawn in the middle of the room and cut off vital areas.

Decaying Minions will also continue to spawn in this Phase. They still spawn Decay when they die, which further restricts your safe spaces. Ideally, you want to kill these adds in such a manner that they are all as stacked as possible, or on the very edges of the room, to maximize your remaining real estate.

• Ensure Bilewater Breath is properly faced so it does not hit the raid, but also so that it does not spawn adds on the upper platforms.
• Taunt after every Bilewater Breath or Corrupted Breath.
• Tank the Grimewalker and Mariner appropriately to maximize raid cleave.
• Use appropriate cooldowns for the Grimewalker's Anchor Slam and the Mariner's Ghostly Rage.
• Help soak Tentacle Strikes in the First Phase.

• Dispell Taint of the Sea as soon as possible to minimize damage.
• Help soak Tentacle Strikes in the First Phase.
• Appropriately use cooldowns to help survive Bilewater Liquefaction, if necessary.
• Keep players with the Fetid Rot debuff alive.
• Cycle raid cooldowns appropriately for the later waves of Fury of the Maw.
• Quickly heal players who soaked Corrupted Axions to break the healing absorb.

We advise you to use Bloodlust/ Heroism/ Time Warp during the final Phase. The first two phases of the fight are about control, while the final Phase is a race to the finish to kill the boss before the raid damage is too high from Fury of the Maw. Bloodlust/ Heroism/ Time Warp can also be an invaluable healing cooldown in this Phase.