Northrend Beasts

Northrend Beasts
Race(s)	Magnataur, Jormungar, Yeti
Level	?? Boss
Location	Trial of the Crusader, Crusaders' Coliseum
Status	Defeatable
Trial of the Crusader Northrend Beasts Lord Jaraxxus Faction Champions Val'kyr Twins Anub'arak (lore) (lore) (lore) (lore) (lore) Other Crusaders' Coliseum instances Trial of the Champion (5) Trial of the Grand Crusader (10/25)

Northrend Beasts is the collective term used by Blizzard for the first 3 boss encounters of the Trial of the Crusader in patch 3.2. These bosses individually are: Gormok the Impaler (a magnataur), Acidmaw and Dreadscale (a pair of jormungar) and Icehowl (a yeti).

25-player abilities

• Berserker Enrage Each of the beasts enrages 15 minutes after it entered the arena, increasing all damage done by 500%, and becoming immune to taunt.

Phase 1: Gormok the Impaler

•  Staggering Stomp 50000 yd range — Deals a staggering stomp that inflicts 9263 to 9737 (Heroic: 11700 to 12300) Physical damage to all enemies within 15 yards and interrupts spellcasting for 8 seconds. 0.5 second cast
•  Impale 10 yd range — Inflicts 150% of weapon damage to an enemy and causes it to bleed for 3,500 to 4,500 damage per application every 2 seconds for 40 seconds. Cast every 10 seconds. Instant
• Snobold Vassals appear every few seconds, and attack players. On 25 man, they have 539,000 health; only 4 of them spawn during the encounter. The player under attack receives the debuff Snobolled!. While they are not very dangerous on melees, they are able to lock down a caster from ever casting any spell. They have three abilities:
  • Fire Bomb: Inflicts 4813 to 6187 Fire damage to all enemies within 8 yards of the target.
  • Head Crack: Stuns an enemy for 2 sec. 30 seconds cooldown.
  • Batter: Strikes an enemy for 75% of normal melee damage, interrupting spellcasting for 5 sec.

Phase 2: Acidmaw and Dreadscale

Acidmaw abilities

•  Paralytic Bite Melee range — Inflicts 11100 to 12900 (Heroic: 18500 to 21500) Nature damage on an enemy and injects them with a paralytic toxin. Used on Acidmaw's tank while mobile. Instant
•  Acidic Spew 100 yd range — Deals 2775 to 3225 (Heroic: 4625 to 5675) Nature damage per 0.25 sec for 2.5 sec to enemies in front of the caster. Used while mobile. 1 sec cast
•  Slime Pool 0 yd range — Inflicts 5088 to 5912 Nature damage to enemy targets within the Poison Cloud. This is spawned underneath Acidmaw periodically while mobile and lasts 45 (Heroic: 60) sec. Instant
•  Paralytic Spray 100 yd range — Sprays acid at an enemy and nearby targets, dealing 6938 to 8062 (Heroic: 12950 to 15050) Nature damage and applying a debilitating paralytic toxin. Only used while rooted. 1.1 sec cast
•  Acid Spit 100 yd range — Deals 6475 to 7525 (Heroic: 10175 to 11825) Nature damage to an enemy. Only used while rooted. 1.1 sec cast
•  Sweep 15 yd range — Inflicts 6938 to 8062 (Heroic: 10175 to 11825) Physical damage to enemies within 15 yards and knocks them back. Only used while rooted. 1.5 sec cast

Dreadscale abilities

•  Burning Bite Melee range — Inflicts 12950 to 15050 (Heroic: 18500 to 21500) Fire damage to an enemy and coats them with burning bile. Used on Dreadscale's tank while mobile. Instant
•  Molten Spew 100 yd range — Deals 3700 to 4300 (Heroic: 4625 to 5375) Fire damage per 0.25 sec for 2.5 sec to enemies in front of the caster. Used while mobile. 1 sec cast
•  Slime Pool 0 yd range — Inflicts 5088 to 5912 Nature damage to enemy targets within the Poison Cloud. This is spawned underneath Dreadscale periodically while mobile and lasts 45 (Heroic: 60) sec. Instant
•  Burning Spray 100 yd range — Sprays fluid at an enemy and nearby targets, dealing 6938 to 8062 (Heroic: 12950 to 15050) Fire damage and coating them with burning bile. Only used while rooted. 1.1 sec cast
•  Fire Spit 100 yd range — Deals 6475 to 7525 (Heroic: 10175 to 11825) Fire damage to an enemy. Only used while rooted. 1.1 sec cast
•  Sweep 15 yd range — Inflicts 6938 to 8062 (Heroic: 10175 to 11825) Physical damage to enemies within 15 yards and knocks them back. Only used while rooted. 1.5 sec cast

Phase 3: Icehowl

•  Arctic Breath 100 yd range — An icy breath that freezes targets in a cone in front of the caster, inflicting 20000 (Heroic: 30000) Frost damage over 5 sec. Channeled
•  Ferocious Butt 8 yd range — Delivers a ferocious headbutt to an enemy, inflicting 69375 to 80625 (Heroic: 83250 to 96750) Physical damage and stunning for 3 sec. Instant
•  Massive Crash 50000 yd range — Leaps into the air and crashes down with massive force, dealing 10175 to 11825 (Heroic: 16188 to 18812) Physical damage to all enemies, stunning them, and knocking them back. 1 sec cast
•  Whirl 15 yd range — Whirls around, dealing 9250 to 10750 (Heroic: 12950 to 15050) Physical damage to all nearby enemies and knocking them back. 1 sec cast
•  Frothing Rage 0 yd range — Increases Physical damage and attack speed by 50%. 15 sec duration

10-player abilities

Phase 1: Gormok

•  Staggering Stomp 50000 yd range — Deals a staggering stomp that inflicts 7,800 to 8,200 Physical damage to all enemies within 15 yards and interrupts spellcasting for 8 seconds. 0.5 second cast
•  Impale 10 yd range — Inflicts 150% of weapon damage to an enemy and causes it to bleed for 3,500 to 4,500 damage per application every 2 seconds. for 30 seconds. Instant
• Snobold Vassals appear every few seconds, and attack players. On 10 man, they have 134,000 health; only 4 of them spawn during the encounter. The player under attack receives the debuff Snobolled!. While they are not very dangerous on melees, they are able to lock down a caster from ever casting any spell. They have three abilities:
  • Fire Bomb: Inflicts 4813 to 6187 Fire damage to all enemies within 8 yards of the target.
  • Head Crack: Stuns an enemy for 2 sec. 30 seconds cooldown.
  • Batter: Strikes an enemy for 75% of normal melee damage, interrupting spellcasting for 5 sec.

Phase 3: Icehowl

•  Arctic Breath 100 yd range — An icy breath that freezes targets in a cone in front of the caster, inflicting 15,000 Frost damage (20'000 on heroic mode) over 5 sec. Channeled

Strategy

The Northrend Beasts is a three phase boss fight. First comes Gormok the Impaler, then Acidmaw and Dreadscale at the same time, and finally, Icehowl.

Phase 1: Gormok

Phase 1 has four simple objectives:

• the tanks taunt off each other to keep the damage-over-time Impale from stacking too high (more than 3 debuffs)
• raid DPS kill Snobold adds that attach themselves to random players
• ranged and healers spread out to stay out of fire patches and outrange the 15-yard staggering stomp interrupt

Each tank should taunt the boss as soon as their Impale debuff has expired. With two tanks, this normally results in 3 stacks, three tanks can keep themselves at 2 stacks. It's possible to heal 8 stacks or more, but a high Impale stack makes the start of Phase 2 very difficult.

DONT STAND IN FIRE ! The ranged DPS and healers must avoid the fire patches which randomly spawn. They are rather short range AoE, but deal substantial damage. They always spawn on a player, and rather quickly too. This means that while moving away from one's own fire, it's possible to enter somebody else's. To avoid this, ranged should spread out in a semi-circle, and move outward when they get fire. A priest's [Levitate] buff will prevent the fire pool from spawning on ranged/healers.

KILL SNOBOLDS! Gormok throws Snobolds on random players (even on tanks). Snobolds don't deal a lot of damage, but they regularly interrupt and/or stun their targets, which is particularly dangerous on healers. Ranged (if not all DPS) should kill Snobolds quick, relieving healers first. A common mistake that players new to the instance make is not killing Snobolds under the assumption that a tank is supposed to pull it off of them and tank it.

Gormok's damage can be greatly reduced by disarming him in non-heroics.

Phase 2: Acidmaw and Dreadscale

The key mechanics to understand about this phase are the interactions between Burning Bile and Paralytic Toxin.

• Acidmaw applies Paralytic Toxin; Dreadscale applies Burning Bile.
• Players with Paralytic Toxin can get it removed by running close to a player with Burning Bile and taking a tick of fire damage.
• Burning Bile falls off naturally and cannot be removed.

One tank takes Dreadscale, the other Acidmaw. Dreadscale enters on the right facing the outside door and is mobile; Acidmaw emerges from the ground on the left and is stationary. The two worms burrow periodically, switching which one is mobile and which is stationary. The mobile worm puts down poison clouds at regular intervals, like Grobbulus, and thus must be moved out to keep it safe for melee and for the tank.

Until the first burrow, the Dreadscale tank always has Burning Bile, and Acidmaw may attack any cluster of players, giving them Paralytic Toxin. These players need to move to the Dreadscale tank, take a tick of AoE fire damage, and thus clear their debuff, lest they become paralyzed and stunned. This applies to the Acidmaw tank as well, who can run from Acidmaw without fear of losing aggro, even though it is stationary.

After the first burrow, Acidmaw is mobile, and Dreadscale stationary. Dreadscale now applies Burning Bile not just to his tank but to a random raid member and anyone around him. This creates an AoE damage hazard, as all these players must spread from each other and from other raid members—they deal AoE damage to anyone around them and themselves.

A simple strategy is to burn down Acidmaw, after he's dead no one needs to clear the Paralytic Toxin debuff, and Burning Bile by itself is not much of a threat. The Acidmaw tank need only make sure he gets his Paralytic Toxin debuff cleared, either by running to the Dreadscale tank or vice versa, if Dreadscale is the stationary worm at the time.

Note that when one Jormunjar dies, the other enrages, for at least 50% extra damage (10 and 25 player normal).

Phase 3: Icehowl

Aside from Icehowl's melee range knockback and periodic tank stun, the main mechanic of this phase is the Massive Crash and charge mechanic:

• Icehowl knocks the entire raid back to the walls, stunning everybody (Massive Crash)
• Icehowl moves to the center of the room, picks a random target which he's going to charge. He turns in that raid member's direction
• After a short pause, Icehowl takes a few steps back. At the instant he starts moving backward, everybody gets a speed buff and can move again
• After two seconds, he charges the spot where his target originally was standing
• If he hits any player(s) (not neccessarily the original target), they die instantly and he enrages (dispellable with [Tranquilizing Shot] or  [Anesthetic Poison]).
• If he hits nobody, he crashes into the wall, and is stunned for about 5 seconds, increasing damage taken for a short period.

Avoiding the charge is critical to minimizing overall damage to the tanks and maintaining control over the phase. Other than that, healers need only watch out for the freezing cone attack, which can be broken altogether if the main target breaks the stun (Blink, or usual immunities like Divine Shield).

Heroic mode tactics (25-man)

Phase one

This is a three-phase-encounter, proceeds the same way as in normal mode apart from a slight damage increase in everything. We will start with phase 1: Gormok the Impaler is basically a Tank and Spank fight as in normal mode with just some minor changes. Important tips: Two healers should never hug and noone should hug a healer for two reasons. They are:

1. If there's a Snobold on your back and a Healer next to you, the Snobold can Interrupt and Stun that Healer if you are hugged.
2. If you get Fire Bomb, you will get it on the healer also, forcing him to move and preventing him from doing his job

Basically, everyone should be spread a few yards away from each other to have as less moving as possible. The melee will be spread in a half-circle around the back side of the boss. If there's a Snobold on the Melee, it will be dealt with immediatly. Totts must be only on the tank!

If there's a Snobold on the ranged, the person with it will move closer to the middle so it's in range for the whole raid. The caster with a Snobold musn't move in melee range of the boss though, since he will get a truckload of silence if he happens to stomp at that time. The Snobold on the ranged will be DPSed when the raid leader gives the command to do so.

You can cleave from the snobolds, but not to the snobolds. If there's a snobold in melee the ideal thing is to have everyone switch to him and cleave.

Paladins must be quick to react with a BoP when a tank asks for it. Tanks need to be healed even while not tanking, since the debuff will have heavy ticks.

Priests can cast Levitate on all ranged, right before the pull. So Fire Bomb will hit for its initial damage only and ranged won't have to move.

Phase two

There are no changes to this one, expect for the fact that the debuffs are way more deadly. The whole raid must be spread like at least 7-8 yards from each other.

The two mobs will face one direction and will mostly be near to each other. The melee are divided into two groups - one on the static and one on the mobile mob: On the static mob we have Ferals, Warriors and Rogues; on the moving - Retris, Shamans, DKs. Logic: The ones on the static can charge/intercept/shadowstep back to the boss immediatly and lose the least dps.

Since we use three tanks, the best way to optimize that is the following - We have our feral druid pick up Dreadscale and tank until she gets Burning Bile. Immediatly after that we have the idle tank taunting Dreadscale and having the Druid run around and remove debuffs from people.

The player assigned to tank Dreadscale is going to do it in pairs with another tank. The starting tank on Dreadscale, is advised to get rid off his debuffs from phase 1 (with a blessing of protection from a paladin or so). The tank must get into position – in front of the entrance gate – waiting for Dreadscale to enter (Note: he is always the mobile one at the beginning). Picking it up and tank it with his face to the entrance gate (away from the raid) and in close distance from Acidmaw.

As soon as the tank gets the Burning Bile fire debuff, the second tank will come to taunt Dreadscale so he can be free to run around and free people. Make sure you're doing it careful, don't just randomly wander around because you are dealing aoe damage to nearby players. After several players are freed from the toxin and the tank's debuff is expiring, he must go back to Dreadscale and taunt it since the other tank has already got the debuff on himself. (Note: While tanking Dreadscale make sure you are kiting him out of the poison circles on the ground so the melees are able to dps him.)

After the first burrow is over, the mobs have switched and Dreadscale is now static that is why there is not need to switch tanks at this point. Since, Dreadscale will turn around and put Burning Bile on random players from the raid not on its tank. Just make sure it is tanked with his face away from the raid.

Since, Acidmaw is the target with priority to be eliminated, Dreadscale will be left alone enraged after Acidmaw is down. Make sure you will use your cooldowns wisely and you will have them for the "enraged" part of the fight.

Make sure the tank assigned to Acidmaw will announce when he get the toxin so he can be freed as soon as possible, if he doesn't get free in time that may cause a raid wipe.

All tanks on phase 2 should make maximum threat since both of the mobs reset aggro when they burrow.

The objective is to get Acidmaw out of the picture quickly, so all ranged will be nuking him. Melee always stick to their respective assignments. When Acidmaw is down, Dreadscale will enrage and needs to be nuked down rapidly.

Imagine the two mobs as if they were two different elementals. Acidmaw being an elemental of poisons and Dreadscale being an elemental of fire. All of Acidmaws abilities are poison'ish, all of Dreadscale's abilities have something to do with fire.

But their "mode" (i.e. whether they're static or mobile) defines the way they use those abilities and debuffs. The static mob will be using its AoE skill (targets a random player and debuffs everyone within ~10 yards from him), whereas the mobile mob will always debuff its target (the tank). They, obviously, put the debuff of their element. It comes down to this:

• Acidmaw static / Dreadscale mobile: fire debuff on tank, poison debuffs aoe'd to players
• Dreadscale static / Acidmaw mobile: poison debuff on tank, fire debuffs aoe'd to players

The easy thing about this is that the players reaction to both of them should be the exact same - run to the mobile mob's tank.

If you get poison, you want to run to the dude with the fire debuff, which will only be dreadmaw's tank at that point, which is the mobile one. If you get the fire debuff, you want to cleanse the poison from the tank of the mobile mob (acidmaw in this phase), so again, you run to him.

Phase three

Icehowl will enter the room once Dreadscale is down (if noone was asleep), will be dragged by the tank to the middle and he will start building threat.

RetPaladins need to have 2/2 Divine Purpose in their spec for this one and make the following macro:

/assist Icehowl

/cast Hand of Freedom

This is the best way to deal with Arctic Breath, since when you free the person who is targeted, Icehowl will cease casting and focus on the tank again. If there are any poison clouds left from phase two, Everyone must watch out to not have their back towards them, so when he does his knockback you don't end up in one and dying, making you waste a rebirth and get yelled at.

It's good for everyone (Except the classes that can increase their movement speed with talents i.e. Pursuit of Justice, Feral Swiftness etc) to have Tuskarr's Vitality on their boots, since on Hard mode you don't have a speed buff when he is charging. Unless he charges sleeping beauty, he will crash into the wall, and that's when we pop our cds and pump him full of lead. In any case, tanks must be ready to Taunt with a cooldown.

Quotes

Starting the event:

Highlord Tirion Fordring yells: Hailing from the deepest, darkest carverns of the storm peaks, Gormok the Impaler! Battle on, heroes!

On killing Gormok:

Highlord Tirion Fordring yells: Steel yourselves, heroes, for the twin terrors Acidmaw and Dreadscale, enter the arena!

On killing Acidmaw and Dreadscale:

Highlord Tirion Fordring yells: The air freezes with the introduction of our next combatant, Icehowl! Kill or be killed, champions!

Loot

As with the other bosses in the instances, there are separate versions of each item for Alliance raids and for Horde raids.

10-man

Alliance	Horde	Description	Alliance Heroic	Horde Heroic
[Rod of Imprisoned Souls]	[Scepter of Imprisoned Souls]	Wand	Rod of Imprisoned Souls (heroic)	Scepter of Imprisoned Souls (heroic)
[Gauntlets of Rising Anger]	[Gauntlets of Mounting Anger]	Plate gloves	Gauntlets of Rising Anger (heroic)	Gauntlets of Mounting Anger (heroic)
[Girdle of the Impaler]	[Belt of the Impaler]	Plate belt	Girdle of the Impaler (heroic)	Belt of the Impaler (heroic)
[Belt of the Frozen Reach]	[Girdle of the Frozen Reach]	Plate belt	Belt of the Frozen Reach (heroic)	Girdle of the Frozen Reach (heroic)
[Dreadscale Armguards]	[Dreadscale Bracers]	Plate bracers	Dreadscale Armguards (heroic)	Dreadscale Bracers (heroic)
[Armbands of the Northern Stalker]	[Bracers of the Northern Stalker]	Mail bracers	Armbands of the Northern Stalker (heroic)	Bracers of the Northern Stalker (heroic)
[Shoulderguards of the Spirit Walker]	[Pauldrons of the Spirit Walker]	Mail shoulders	Shoulderguards of the Spirit Walker (heroic)	Pauldrons of the Spirit Walker (heroic)
[Acidmaw Boots]	[Acidmaw Treads]	Leather boots	Acidmaw Boots (heroic)	Acidmaw Treads (heroic)
[Shoulderpads of the Glacial Wilds]	[Pauldrons of the Glacial Wilds]	Leather shoulders	Shoulderpads of the Glacial Wilds (heroic)	Pauldrons of the Glacial Wilds (heroic)
[Icehowl Cinch]	[Icehowl Binding]	Cloth belt	Icehowl Cinch (heroic)	Icehowl Binding (heroic)
[Carnivorous Band]	[Gormok's Band]	Ring	Carnivorous Band (heroic)	Gormok's Band (heroic)
[Collar of Ceaseless Torment]	[Collar of Unending Torment]	Necklace	Collar of Ceaseless Torment (heroic)	Collar of Unending Torment (heroic)
[Emblem of Triumph]	[Emblem of Triumph]		[Emblem of Triumph]	[Emblem of Triumph]

25-man

Alliance	Horde	Description	Alliance Heroic	Horde Heroic
[Steel Bladebreaker]	[Stygian Bladebreaker]	Dagger	Steel Bladebreaker (heroic)	Stygian Bladebreaker (heroic)
[Blade of Tarasque]	[Barb of Tarasque]	Dagger	Blade of Tarasque (heroic)	Barb of Tarasque (heroic)
[Crystal Plated Vanguard]	[Forlorn Barrier]	Shield	Crystal Plated Vanguard (heroic)	Forlorn Barrier (heroic)
[Boneshatter Armplates]	[Boneshatter Vambraces]	Plate bracers	Boneshatter Armplates (heroic)	Boneshatter Vambraces (heroic)
[Boots of the Courageous]	[Sabatons of the Courageous]	Plate boots	Boots of the Courageous (heroic)	Sabatons of the Courageous (heroic)
[Chestplate of the Towering Monstrosity]	[Hauberk of the Towering Monstrosity]	Plate chest	Chestplate of the Towering Monstrosity (heroic)	Hauberk of the Towering Monstrosity (heroic)
[Breastplate of Cruel Intent]	[Cuirass of Cruel Intent]	Mail chest	Breastplate of Cruel Intent (heroic)	Cuirass of Cruel Intent (heroic)
[Belt of the Ice Burrower]	[Binding of the Ice Burrower]	Mail belt	Belt of the Ice Burrower (heroic)	Binding of the Ice Burrower (heroic)
[Leggings of the Broken Beast]	[Legwraps of the Broken Beast]	Leather legs	Leggings of the Broken Beast (heroic)	Legwraps of the Broken Beast (heroic)
[Boots of the Unrelenting Storm]	[Boots of the Harsh Winter]	Leather boots	Boots of the Unrelenting Storm (heroic)	Boots of the Harsh Winter (heroic)
[Flowing Vestments of Ascent]	[Flowing Robes of Ascent]	Cloth chest	Flowing Vestments of Ascent (heroic)	Flowing Robes of Ascent (heroic)
[Cord of the Tenebrous Mist]	[Belt of the Tenebrous Mist]	Cloth belt	Cord of the Tenebrous Mist (heroic)	Belt of the Tenebrous Mist (heroic)
[Drape of the Untamed Predator]	[Cloak of the Untamed Predator]	Cloak	Drape of the Untamed Predator (heroic)	Cloak of the Untamed Predator (heroic)
[Shawl of the Refreshing Winds]	[Drape of the Refreshing Winds]	Cloak	Shawl of the Refreshing Winds (heroic)	Drape of the Refreshing Winds (heroic)
[Band of the Violent Temperment]	[Ring of the Violent Temperament]	Ring	Band of the Violent Temperment (heroic)	Ring of the Violent Temperament (heroic)
[Trophy of the Crusade]	[Trophy of the Crusade]		[Trophy of the Crusade]	[Trophy of the Crusade]
[Crusader Orb]	[Crusader Orb]		[Crusader Orb]	[Crusader Orb]
[Emblem of Triumph]	[Emblem of Triumph]		[Emblem of Triumph]	[Emblem of Triumph]

Related achievements

•  Call of the Crusade (10 player) /  (25 player)
•  Call of the Grand Crusade (10 player) /  (25 player)
•  Not One, But Two Jormungars (10 player) /  (25 player)
•  Upper Back Pain (10 player) /  (25 player)

Patch changes

• Template:Patched
• Template:Patched
• Patch 3.2.0 (2009-08-04): Added.
  

External links

WoWraid Complete Northrend Beasts strategy guide based on live boss kills.

TodoWOW Guía completa del fansite Español.