Firemaw

Firemaw's Attacks:

Wing Buffet: This is a knock back attack which will hit everyone in front of Firemaw. It reduces threat and can be used to group advantage by sending high DPS characters like rogues in to be deliberately targeted. This makes it possible for them to use full out DPS attacks when the time comes.

Flame Buffet: This is a pulsing AoE flame attack which will hit anyone in Firemaw's line of sight. Because it stacks it can do anywhere from a few hundred to a few thousand damage.

Shadow Flame: This AoE breath attack does anywhere from 3900-5100 points of shadow damage, plus an additional 1750-2250 points of damage over the next 12 seconds.

Thrash: This is a burst melee attack which often comes immediately after Shadow Flame.

When you kill Broodlord Lashlayer, a gate opens, and behind it you will find a number of Goblin Packs. Some of these must be dealt with before you can attack Firemaw. The Goblin Packs vary, but include Blackwing Technicians, Blackwing Spellbinders, Blackwing Warlocks, Death Talon wyrmguards, and a Death Talon Overseer. Their attacks are:

Blackwing Technicians: They use Bottle of Poison, which is a stackable DOT attack, and Throw Bomb, which is a direct fire attack.

Blackwing Spellbinders: The use Flamestrike, which is an AoE fire attack, and Greater Polymorph, which targets the nearest person to them, and is recast every 10 seconds. Spellbinders are immune to all magic but can be stunned and interrupted. Assign a Rogue to them.

Blackwing Warlocks: Their three attacks are Rain of Fire, Shadowbolt, and Summon Felguard. These are basically like player Warlock attacks, so they are respectively, and AoE attack, direct attack, and a summon demon attack. The Felguard will appear about 20 seconds after their portal opens and they can be banished and feared.

Death Talon Overseer: These dragonkin appear in two groups. The fourth group has one, and the last group has three. They use Cleave, a cone melee attack, and Fire Blast, a fire attack which does 1080-1320 points of fire damage.

Death Talon Wyrmguard: These use both Cleave and War Stomp, which is an AoE stun attack. They also cast a random Brood Affliction.

Master Elemental Shaper Krixix: This goblin is hiding behind the three Death Talon Overseers in ninth and last Goblin Pack. He is the only NPC in the game that teachesSmelt Elementium. If you have someone who needs to learn this, kill off the three Overseers and Mind Control him. Once the skill is learned, release him and kill him.

Goblin Pack Strategy:

There are nine Goblin Packs. The first pack has two Warlocks and eight Technicians. Tank the Warlocks and pull them away from the Technicians. Use AoE attacks on the Technicians, then kill the Warlocks one at a time.

Packs 2, 3, 5, 6, 7, and 8: These packs have the same mobs as the first, plus a Wyrmguard and a Spellbinder. Have Warriors target the Wyrmguard, Spellbinder, and Warlocks, then use a Hunter to shoot a single member in the pack, then run back to the raid group. The Warriors tank their targets, moving them away from the Technicians. AoE the Technicians, and then kill the Warlocks off, one at a time. Now kill the Spellbinder using melee DPS classes, while the ranged DPS classes kill the Wyrmguard.

Pack 4: This pack has three Wyrmguards and one Overseer. Manage this fight by determining which Brood Afflictions are being cast. Assign tanks to each target until you ascertain which Aflliction is being used. Black is a direct fire damage attack. Tanks should use Fire Resist gear and receive good heals to survive. Green is an AoE sleep attack which makes tanking very difficult. Bronze puts the target into a spin, which causes them to hit anyone nearby and cause significant damage to both themselves and the people who are hit. Use a ranged attack for this Affliction. Red is another single target attack which is a fire based DOT. Tank this type, wearing Fire Resist gear. Blue is a single target debuff which reduces attack speed. This is the easiest Affliction to overcome and should only require one Tank.

Pack 9: This pack has three Overseers and Krixix. The difficulty of the fight varies, depending on which Affliction they cast. Mind Control Krixix and kill the Overseers first. The strategy is basically the same as for Pack 4.

Firemaw Strategy:

Clear the first three or four Goblin Packs. Pull Firemaw near the entrance to the room he guards, which is the corner where the first Goblin Pack was stationed. The raid group should remain in the room where Lashlayer was killed, out of line of sight of Firemaw. Healers need to keep the tanks in their line of sight however. The MT should be standing in the corner where the first Goblin Pack was, with his back to the wall that divides the two rooms. The OT stands to his right, just inside the room, and just past the doorway. Firemaw should be facing the MT. The OTs need to be able to duck out of Firemaw's line of sight when necessary.

The fight up to the point where Firemaw casts his first Wing Buffet is all the MTs. When it's cast it will likely hit the MT. Start timing at this point so you can predict the next Wing Buffet. At 28 seconds after the first Wing Buffet, the OTs need to start using Taunt, so that Firemaw is turned before he casts the next Wing Buffet. You want his remaining Wing Buffets cast on them, not the MT, since you don't want him to have his threat diminished. Use CT Raid Assist to help you time this, as it has a warning for this fight.

If the MT gets knocked back at any point, and he will, reposition him and resume the routine as quickly as possible. To reposition Firemaw, use this strategy. An OT Warrior runs behind him, uses Taunt, and pulls him back into position. It's important at this point that the MT not change his position at all. OTs must perfect this strategy, be paying attention at all times, and react quickly when Firemaw moves. Keep three Warriors in the OT group, with extra Warriors out of Firemaw's line of sight and ready to step in when a Warrior gets Flame Buffet stacked to where he needs to reset. Once Flame Buffet has about 15 in the stack, Warriors need to rotate out until they've reset.

Keep Firemaw positioned so that he is attacking the MT inside the doorway and can be put out of sight by the raid if they hug the walls either side of him. TFlame Buffet is the most serious threat to the raid party and it quickly accumulates. Healers should be positioned so that they are out of Firemaw's line of sight. Most of the healing during the fight will be from the right side of the room. When the MT gets a knockback though, the OT will have to take over, and needs to be healed by Healers on the left side.

Position DPS players on the right side, with the majority of the healers, and able to duck out of his line of sight when Flame Buffet stacks reach about 10. These players need to be ready to heal themselves with bandages and potions the majority of the time. Healers need to concentrate on the tanks. Rotate DPS players in and out of service so that some are attacking and some are in Flame Buffet cooldown. This makes for a long fight, but keeps more DPS players alive and in play.

Firemaw's most deadly attack is Shadow Flame. Mitigate its impact by having Priests cast Power Word Shield on the MT just prior to this. The other tactic is to have a couple of Healers using big heals which land the second after the shadowflame hits. This takes split second timing.

To be successful at this fight you must manage aggro. In a perfect fight the MT will never be hit by Wing Buffet, thus maintaining their place at the head of the threat list.

The Bosses:

Razorgore the Untamed
Vaelastrasz the Corrupt
Broodlord Lashlayer
Firemaw
Ebonroc
Flamegor
Chromaggus
Nefarian