Ragnaros normal

Ragnaros normal

Post 04 Aug 2011 12:59

Avatar hailofthechamber
 
Posts: 14
My guild is currently wiping on the ragnaros encounter and I suspect this to be a problem with gear and experience combined.
I would just like to make sure i am doing the up most to get the max dps out of my gear, class and rotation.
A friend told me of a strategy guide to rag hc on the forums for warlocks and i was wondering if someone could do the same for the normal encounter for mages (i.e when to pop cds and when to hold off even though a certain ability is ready). I feel that i am using my cds at bad times resulting in evocation being used a long time after i have used these cds causing overlapping problems and also that i am not holding off on a cd for tw or a crucial time in this encounter, if this is so could you tell me when these times are.

As many pictures, illustrations or other means of giving the information would be amazing.

As i have yet to clear the encounter i cant link you any more information but i just hope you can offer me hints and tips to the encounter which have helped you as an arcane mage. I will enclude a link to my armoury if anyone is interested but bare in mind i am the best geared in my guild, we are not all this prepared for ragnaros:

http://eu.battle.net/wow/en/character/chamber-of-aspects/Hail/simple

thanks for an help at all and ill do my best to take it all into mind.

Re: Ragnaros normal

Post 04 Aug 2011 18:55

User avatarGuromin
 
Posts: 190
Hailofthechamber,

Unfortunately, I don't think that Paragon is going to make a guide for normal mode Ragnaros. I'm pretty sure they are quite busy and there's several guides already available. What makes Paragon's Heroic Ragnaros guide special is that they are one of the only guilds in the world to kill the boss. It's difficult to provide a strategy guide for a boss you haven't killed yet. Here are two links to well done videos about Normal Mode Ragnaros. I hope you will find them usefull. If you have specific questions about the fight feel free to post those questions and I will answer them, but it's almost not worth my time to make a guide for a boss that already has a lot of guides.

Learn to Raid Ragraros 10m guide: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eR0G7DSV91o
TankSpot's Guide to Ragnaros: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Cc0kfS8-KB0

As far as mage tips on the encounter I really can't tell you when to use your CD's for it. I don't know what your raid dps is like or how long exactly your burn phase lasts. There's a few generic tips though. Make sure that when your about to AoE seeds that you have 4 stacks of Arcane Blast. This will greatly increase your AoE damage and help them to die much faster. Don't sure your CD's or enter a burn phase right before a transition. Try to have your CD's up for phase 3, because that's when the damage counts the most. I thought I would also mention that your groups gear doesn't seem like it would be an issue. If everyone is doing their job correctly the boss should go down.

I looked at your armory and everything checks out just fine. Your reforging correctly; along with correctly geming and enchanting. Really my only comment is that for Ragnaros you should move 2 points from [Nether Vortex] (makes arcane blast slow) to Improved Arcane Explosion. Believe it or not, if mages have 4 stacks of Arcane Blast their AoE damage is pretty strong and this is worth tallenting.

Now lets talk about your set bonus. Your dropped your t11 4 set (and 2 set) for your t12 2 set. I've posted several times already about why this is probably a bad idea in regards to your dps, but I will post it again for you. With your gear, I really would wait a little longer to drop your set bonus. Run some simulation crafts to see when the new gear does better then the t11 4 set. Make sure that the amount is significant. If your getting an answer that's something small like 10 dps difference don't switch. I would estimate with with your progression that you would only need to obtain 2 heroic items for the switch to be worth it (tier items or not). I'm fairly confident that after getting Ragnaros down you will find yourself with a Heroic Shannox kill soon after.

Again, if you have any questions make a post or send me a message!

-Guromin

Re: Ragnaros normal

Post 09 Aug 2011 21:28

Avatar Zurkhan
 
Posts: 2
Use all your cooldowns off the start. Evocate as soon as the first burn phase ends then stay near full mana until the first intermission.


If you are spec'd into Incanters Absorbtion and would like to see that proc during the encounter, 5 seconds into the pull pop Mage Ward (will let you mitigate a bit of the Magma Trap damage as well as gain a spell power proc out of it). If you want to use Mage Ward for every Magma Trap in Stage 1 then you'll need to pop it early in the fight, well before the first trap spawns.

If you are on trap duty this will reduce the damage you take and you won't need to waste mana on Mana Shield. Use Blink to quickly return to the ground and maintain dps on the boss. If your blink bugs (sometimes it does based on what part of the ground pattern you are standing over) then have a keybind for slow-fall so you can immediately slow fall yourself (or someone else if you're pro) should they fly up and have no way of surviving the fall.

You should be able to use 1 minute cooldowns again when they are available; however I would save any 1.5 - 2minute cooldowns for when you hit the first Intermission.

The key to ragnaros is proper add-control and dps assignments on the sons during the intermissions; which is emphasized more in the second intermission. As an arcane mage, you'll want to be on the short side of the room when the hammer falls because your burst will get the adds down very fast. It is good to practice having full mana and a few cooldowns available for each intermission and you will cut through the adds very fast. Also have your raid focus on stuns, knockbacks, death grips for the adds to give the dps more time to get them all below 50% and eventually kill them all.

What I generally do is zip over to the short side (blink + glyph + improved blink) and then just before the sons spawn I release my flame orb in the direction of the hammer (so when my side dies if any are close to the hammer from the other side flame orb will get a tick or two extra). Then I pop my cooldowns and burst down the adds with 2-3 hits each (this should get them sub 50% with your other partners helping dps on that side). Then it is very easy for the arcane mage to finish them all off in a few casts while your partners can run to the other side of the hammer and help out there.

Stage 2 is all about survival and some aoe dps (or single target depending on how you deal w/ the elementals). As arcane you'll want to single-target the elementals (most likely hitting them only once each before they get close to the raid or die) and then Arcane Explosion spam (with 4 stacks up) while running away from the adds.

Again, nearing the end of Stage 2 make sure you have some, if not all, cooldowns avialable to deal with the next Intermission (as the dps/stun/knockback requirements are tighter in this intermission). Mirrors works well for deterring the large adds away from hitting you once (assuming you're the first one over there from a speedy blink). Make sure you keep dpsing the boss until he becomes untargetable, as that will make your stage 3 that much easier.

What we are working on is completing the 2nd intermission WITHOUT hero (we used hero during 2nd intermission on our kill). This will prepare us for heroic mode when we will need heroism during Stage 3 to exit it with minimal meteors up.



TL;DR = Manage your CD's to use them often, but keep them available for Intermissions where your burst will be very valuable. Work with your raid for stuns, knocbacks and deathgrips to maximize intermission synergy.
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