Heroic Al'Akir 10-man

[Anygdala]

Hi spotters,

My guild is currently 7/13 HC on 10-man but we're really struggling with Al'Akir at the moment. Supposedly it's easier than the 25-man version due to the extra space but I gotta say if that's the case... I feel sorry for whoever's doing 25-man because that boss has been handing our arses to us for days now.

Our raid grp does not lack skill, that's for sure. We're top end on the server and we normally do very well on progress. But from my perspective there's just sooo much RNG going on in that fight. Normally I'd mock anyone blaming RNG but I'm running out of better explanations... It's like, we can easily handle the abilities separately but having tornados + ice patches + chain lightning + wind blast is just horrendous. If ONE person accidentally chains the lightning for a period when running to avoid stuff, it's a wipe. I just have to believe that something might be off about our positioning because if it's this RNG nightmare that I fear, I might as well shoot myself.

So, basically we're spreading out on the platforms pretty evenly. We've noticed that there's a certain pattern to the ice patches and tornado spawn points, which is usually on the western part of the platform (known in my guild as "the death zone") - We currently have classes with the most mobility in that area (mage + paladins), while we try and cluster a bit more in the northern area behind him, seeing as the timing with wind blast and the other abilities seems a bit more forgiving there. The problem with that is, that now we chain the lightning too much in that area.

We spread out so that each group of three people form the shape of an triangle. That way, when chain lightning hits, the person centered in it just stays and soak it while the two others strafe a few yards to the sides. Ideally, we're having just enough space in between groups to create a small safe zone where there should be no chain lightning even if two groups get it right next to each other.

We're really struggling to get into P2 and I'd like some practice for add tanking (ret paladin). And a kill obviously. It's really against my nature to go to a message board and ask for help but I know some of you guys are probably more experienced with this encounter than I am so any help would be greatly appreciated.

Setup:

Tanks
Feral druid

Healers
Holy priest
Restoration shaman
Holy paladin

DPS
Shadow priest
Fury warrior
Retribution paladin (me, OT'ing stormlings in P2)
Mage
Warlock
Hunter


Thank you in advance!

[Rekcinad]

As you say, high mobility classes are great in the 'death zone'. Warlocks are pretty awesome there as well. Depending on your DPS you can nuke him into P2 before his 3rd Wind Blast. It's all about positioning, and taking initiative in the right situations. Sometimes you can easily afford one person standing in the lightning zone and heal through it (better than clumping with 3 people in one spot).

You should have the MT tank the stormlings as well. Save up the first 3 stormlings, then start killing them before the debuff on Alakir runs off. You need the DPS in P2 so don't waste a dps'er on offtanking stormlings. Have 1 dedicated ranged DPS bring the stormlings low (and kill them) and assign another ranged to help him out when needed. Warlock + hunter could be great for this. Use Heroism in P2 as well. A druid would be great too if you can bring one in your setup (tranquility in P2).

Once you get to P3, group up the raid behind him. If people don't fail on the conductor debuff, then phase 3 is complete faceroll and a big anti climax compared to P1 of the encounter. Spread the clouds as follows: 2 on top, 3 on bottom, 3 on top, 3 on bottom, and continue this pattern with 3 on both sides.

[Dinaye]

We set ourselves up so that almost all of the time, only one person is in each lightning field when it spawns. We had eight people by themselves, and one pair, which was a resto druid and a rogue, and the rogue was assigned to move if that spot got a lightning field on it. I see no reason to have groups of three. That's a lot of unnecessary damage that you're taking while people move out, and it's probably making your phase one take a really long time, which just increases the likelihood that the tough spots on the platform get screwed.

[Anygdala]

Thank you for the quick replies!

Dinaye - How would having eight people spread out decrease the dmg from chain lightning? We are "spread out" atm, the term "groups" was more to describe that we would be spread around the platform like (clockwise around the platform) tank-healer-dps(1st grp)-dps-healer-dps(2nd grp)-dps-dps-healer... And then we're back to the tanks position.

If all these groups form triangular position, theoretically it should mean that the people who are not having lightning cast on them would only strafe a few yards to get out of it, having the lightning spread out evenly on the platform, and the one centered in it soaking it.

[Dinaye]

The initial hit of the lightning only ever hit one person. We didn't have two people strafing to get out of it, even five yards.

[Anygdala]

So you just had everyone spread out with a few yards between them? Why the rogue/druid pair? Lack of space and best mobility?

[Darksend]

If you are going to try and 3 heal it you ABSOLUTELY MUST MUST MUST HAVE a resto druid holy paladin and a priest with the 4pc PVP set bonus. Well maybe not the last 2 but a resto druid is an absolute must.

Also, we spent almost the entire first day trying different stacking combination, we finally decided that 8/1 + 2 was the best way to go. Came back the second day having only gotten to phase 2 maybe a handful of times the previous day, and killed it within 2-3 hours. It was amazing the difference the having 8 groups solo made.

[Mysti]

Worked on this for the first time last night, and I have to say it's pretty intense trying to dodge everything/stay alive in P1. We made it to P2 a couple of times and it felt like we made some progress towards the end of the night. We used the strategy of having everyone spread out individually, as stated above. We found it easier to heal through the lightning when it's just one person standing in it. Just need to work on people staying alive through the crazy instances of windburst/icepatch/lightning combo in P1. Any tips on what people did to help them survive those intense moments? We are going back Friday night, hoping for a kill!