BoT: Twilight Ascendant Council

This fight is broken into three phases.  The trick is to to get all four members of the Council down as close to 25 percent health as you can, because at the end they all combine into the Elemental Monstrosity, whose total health will equal the remaining health of all the Council members.  The phases change when one of the Council members up hits 25 percent, so you if you have one member at 25 percent and the other at, say, 40... well, you've got a real problem.

You may be assigned in groups to work on a specific member, but even so, be aware of the level of the other member and be prepared to slow down your DPS or even switch targets to keep them even.

Phase 1 begins with Ignacious and Feludius up.  For this fight it's good to stack up in the circle in the middle of the room, between the two of them.  If you are assigned to Feludius, pay attention to Ignacious.  When he casts his Aegis of Flame ability, you will want to switch to him to burn down the shield, then switch back to Feludius.  He will also cast walls of fire that stay in place.  Stay out of them EXCEPT if you get the Waterlogged debuff from Feludius.  If you get this debuff, run through the fire to get rid of it.  If you still have the Waterlogged debuff when Feludius casts his Glacier ability, you will die.  Guaranteed.

At Phase 2, Ignacious and Feludius leave and Terestra and Arrion show up.  This part of the fight is a HUGE pain in the butt.  I just hate it.  You will be told by DBM to get a "grounded debuff" or a "levitate debuff."  These debuffs are to protect you from the Quake and Thundershock abilities these two cast.  If you don't get these, you make the healers job much harder and they will not thank you for it.  There will be a tornado-looking thing swirling around the room, as well as a sort of vortex-shaped thing with lightning coming out of it. To get the levitate, head to the tornado and run through it.  To get grounded, run through the vortex thing.  Once you have these debuffs, avoid the opposite one like the plague.  Unfortunately, this is easier said than done as they appear and disappear around the room.  Your Blink will come in handy during this part of the fight.  The hard part is keeping your DPS going while you run around the room getting various debuffs.

At Phase 3, all of the Council members combine and form the Elemental Monstrosity.  It is now a race to the finish line!  Hopefully, you got everyone very close to 25 percent so you can beat the timer.  You may be asked to pop Time Warp here.  Hit all your cooldowns and just whale away on this guy so you can get him down, as the damage he deals increases the longer he stays alive.  If you get tossed up, use your Feather Fall ability to keep yourself alive.

Loot


Heart of Ignacious

BWD: Omnotron Defense System

In this battle, you will be dealing with four different mechanical contraptions, each of which has totally different abilities.  If you are running DBM, you will get announcements of which robot you should be fighting.  Make sure you are always fighting the correct one!  If you are a frost mage, keep an eye on your elemental and make sure it always has the right target as well.

Let's take a look at each one's abilities:

Electron


If you get hit with Electron's Lightning Conductor attack, get away from everyone else or you will cause damage to them.  If he puts up an Unstable Shield, stop casting until it is done.  Hitting him while this is up will cause him to do a painful AOE.  Try to stay spread out as much as possible when Electron is up.  The whole Omnotron fight is pretty chaotic, so this shouldn't be too difficult.

Magmatron


The biggest effect to worry about with this guy is Acquiring Target.  If you get targeted by this, get away from everyone else.  Hopefully it's being announced in raid who is being hit by this so that the healers can get right on it.  When you are getting out of the way, be careful that nobody else is between you and Magmatron.  When he puts out a barrier, don't attack it.

Toxitron

Toxitron puts out Poison Clouds.  As you may imagine, you want to stay out of these.   When he casts Poison Protocol, he summons slimes that need to be burned down ASAP.  This will be your job. If one of the slimes targets you, however, get away.  Do NOT let that thing touch you!

Arcanotron


This guy drops a puddle on the ground... and this one you actually stand in! (I know, right?)  It gives a 50 percent increased damage buff to ranged.  He also has an ability called Power Conversion.  You can Spellsteal this!

The fight starts off with just one bot up, but then another will join in the fray and from that point on there will be two bots up at any given time.  You can only attack one of them, but they will both be using their special abilities.  This means if Toxitron and Magmatron are both up, you might be attacking Toxitron and his adds, but at the same time dodging the Acquiring Target.  The fight isn't too bad as long as you are paying close attention to your DBM and your raid leader.

Loot


Power Generator Hood

Blackwing Descent -- Magmaw

Magmaw is one of those encounters that requires players to learn to "dance."  It's not a complicated dance, but miss the steps and you'll be guilty of wiping the raid!

Ranged DPS will be grouping up.  Follow your raid leader's instructions on where to start (a good place is to the left of Magmaw, just past the pile of rubble).  Ranged DPS and healers should all be stacked on top of each other.  As the encounter begins, start DPSing down Magmaw.  The dance will begin soon...

Magmaw will cast a spell called "Pillar of Flame" on one member of the party.  As soon as you see that start, move quickly to the other side of the room.  Blink is perfect for this and the cooldown times well with the Pillar of Flame cooldown, so you can rely on it to get you back and forth.  You must move quickly, because if you are caught by Pillar of Flame you will be blasted into the air, take damage from the spell and fall damage. Worse yet, when Magmaw casts PoF, lava parasites -- ugly, larvae-looking things -- will burst forth.  You land in the middle of those and you are toast.  Which brings us to the next point...

When you get to the other side of the room, turn around and use Blizzard to slow down and AOE the parasites.  You don't want them to reach your party or all hell will break loose and you will likely wipe.  Get those parasites down.  When the parasites are done, resume DPSing Magmaw.

Periodically, Magmaw will get staked and your target will change to the Exposed Head of Magmaw.  This is your chance to do crazy damage.  Hit that head with everything you've got -- blow your cooldowns, Time Warp, anything you have to do to maximize DPS.

Continue in this pattern, and Magmaw goes down pretty easy.

Magmaw Loot


Flame Pillar Leggings (pants) -- yellow and blue sockets
Incineratus (dagger)

Throne of the Four Winds -- Conclave of Wind

The Conclave of Wind consists of the Djinn Anshal, Rohash and Nezir.  The three of them will need to be bought down together, within a minute or they will regenerate. When you arrive through the portal you will be on a large platform.  Anshal will be directly ahead of you and Rohash will be to your right.  You travel between the platforms on bridges that are made of wind.  When the Djinn cast their Special Abilities, the bridges disappear and you must remain on the platform.

Rohash

Depending on the strength of your DPS, you may be assigned to Rohash with a healer and possibly one other DPS.  Rohash does not require a tank.  If this happens, your job will be to DPS the heck out of Rohash, trying to keep his damage close to the other two.  Rohash will cast tornadoes and a nasty wind blast.  The wind blast will always be cast directly in front of him, so take care to stay to his side or behind him, while remaining within reach of your healer.

Anshal

If you are not assigned to Rohash, you will head over to Anshal with the majority of the raid.  Begin by DPSing him.  Do not cast Time Warp, you will be saving it for the final push to make sure that the Djinn all die together.

Anshal will summon adds called Ravenous Creepers.  When these guys show up, AOE them down (Blizzard is great for this).  Periodically Anshal will cast Soothing Winds, which looks like a big rotating runic green circle on the floor.  Stay out of it!  It will silence you.

Shortly after the Ravenous Creepers are dispatched (and they must be killed quickly!), "Special Abilities" will be coming up.  Before this begins, run across the wind bridge to Nezir's platform.

Nezir


While Special Abilities is active, you will be attacking Nezir.  Be careful to avoid the ice patches, because they hurt.  When the wind bridges come back (about 10 seconds), get back across to Anshal's platform and begin attacking him again.

This cycle will repeat until all three Djinn die within one minute of each other.  This is not an especially difficult fight, but you will need to be aware of what you are standing in and the Special Abilities timer.

Conclave of Wind Loot

Planetary Band (ring)
Soul Breath Belt (waist) -- yellow socket

Bastion of Twilight -- Valiona & Theralion

This fight is all about staying out of the crud on the floor and placement.  Don't expect to pull high DPS numbers here -- you will moving around quite a bit.  You'll start off by facing Valiona...

Valiona


As you head up to attack Valiona, she will be getting ready to cast Blackout.  Blackout will target one player and do a huge amount of damage that is guaranteed to one-shot.  However, the damage can be mitigated by stacking up.  This shares the damage between all the players.  Trust me, mages are squishy and taste good with ketchup.  You do not want to bear the brunt of Blackout by yourself.

After Blackout, spread out a bit.  You want to try to keep about 8 yards apart.  Valiona's next big attack is Devouring Flames.  If you are caught in front of her when this goes off, you will be one crispy critter.  Watch carefully to see where she faces and get the heck out of the way.  Blink works well for this.

You may be asked to pop Time Warp when you start the fight, but defer to your raid leader for this.

After a couple Blackouts and Devouring Flames, Theralion will enter the fight...

Theralion


Theralion will open with Dazzling Destruction.  This makes big purple swirlies around everyone.  For this reason, you should be up by Valiona and not down on the floor, or you will have purple mess all over the floor.  Blink to get out of Dazzling Destruction.  If you stay too long, you will be transported to the Twilight Realm.  Try like heck to keep this from happening, but if it does find a portal ASAP.  Big portal-looking thing, your cursor will turn into a gear on it.  Get through there quickly or you are toast.

Theralion's next two big attacks are Engulfing Magic and Fabulous Flames.  (Have we noticed something about Theralion?)  This is where things get tricky.  We do the Fabulous Flames Dance.  This begins by starting practically in the doorway, all the ranged stacked up together.  Engulfing Magic will be cast on different raid members.  If it lands on you, get away from everyone else to prevent doing damage to the raid.  This would not be as big an emergency as if you were a DoT or HoT class, but you still want to get out.

Theralion will then cast Fabulous Flames on someone.  This will create a big black spot on the floor.  Get out of the spot FAST.  It hurts.  Use Blink if it's not on cooldown, or strafe out (your Q and E movement keys).  One important note.  Don't try to jump out of the circle.  The game does not recognize your jump until you land, so that time in the air?  No good.  Restack as soon as you are out, right on the edge of the circle.  By doing this, you will keep the black circles tight, so you don't have a big mess all over the floor.

After several rounds of this, Valiona will swoop back in with a Deep Breath -- which will knock you into the Twilight Realm and searching for a portal if you get caught in them! and she will begin her round again.

A quick note -- if you are a frost mage, make sure to keep your elemental attacking the right dragon.

Valiona & Theralion's Mage Loot


Blade of the Witching Hour -- Dagger
Theralion's Mirror -- Trinket
Valiona's Medallion -- Neck

Bastion of Twilight -- Halfus Wyrmbreaker

When fighting Halfus, your raid will be attacking three drakes under his control.  The drakes you will fight change weekly, so, if possible, check ahead of time so that you know what to expect.  Your primary responsibility will just be DPS and staying out of the way.

Your raid leader will announce the order of the drakes and, hopefully, mark them.  Make sure you know which drake you are targeting and when.

If you pull the Time Drake, it will be shooting fireballs at your raid.  You can try to avoid them, but it's challenging.  A ring of red smoke will appear around you on the floor right before you get hit, so try to get out of the way.

This fight can be pretty intense for your healers as your tanks will be very busy.  Don't make the job more difficult for them than it has to be.  Keep an eye on your health bar and be prepared to do some self-heals, taking advantage of things like:

• potions
• any healing spells you may have (i.e. Gift of the Naaru, Lifeblood)
• lightwells
• healthstones

If your healers put down HoT circles on the floor, try to stand in them.  

Check with your raid leader if they want you to pop Time Warp and when they want you to do it.  

Halfus Wyrmbreaker Loot for Mages

• Bracers of the Bronze Flight
• Book of Binding Will (off-hand)

The Mage's Pre-Raid Checklist

Ever find yourself about to go head-to-head with the first boss and realize that you've forgotten something crucial?  It happens to all of us, and for that reason I've compiled a list of essential items to double check before your invite.  In the same way that relying on memory when you go to the grocery store inevitably means that you will forget the milk, having a written list helps make sure that nothing goes forgotten.  Consider printing up this list and keeping it by your computer for a quick reference...

The Checklist


Flasks and Potions

As a Mage you should have Flask of the Draconic Mind on at all times while raiding.  Depending on how long the potions lasts (which can be based on a number of factors), try to keep at least one on hand for each hour of raiding you will do.

You should also have a good stock of Mythical Mana Potion and Mythical Healing Potion.  I try to keep at least 10 of these on hand at all times.

Materials

You will be called upon to provide refreshments for the raid, so be sure to have enough Arcane Powder for a couple tables (because inevitably someone will miss the first one that you drop).

You should also check that you have at least one Rune of Portals for the end of the raid.  Is this absolutely necessary?  No, but your raid leader will thank you for it and it is nice to stay within their good graces and offer services without being asked.

Profession Materials

Cook -- Purchase materials for the Seafood Magnifique Feast (at least 10).

Engineer -- Make sure you have the materials for Jeeves, so that nobody has to waste time running back to a city for repairs.

Alchemist -- Double check your mats for a Big Cauldron of Battle.

General Items to Double Check

Have you made a fresh set of Mana Gems?
Is your gear in good repair?
Do you have new gear that needs to be gemmed or enchanted?
Are you wearing your fishing pole or chef's hat?  If so, for pity's sake, take them off!  (Don't laugh, it happens!)
Are all of your add-ons current?  Do you need to run any updates?
If you are a frost mage, be sure to always have your elemental out.
Mage Armor only!  Anything else will cause you to run out of mana too quickly.
Have you watched a video of the fight or read up on it?

Did anything get left out?  What else are you sure to always have when you run raids?