You Don't Have an Eternity (25 player)

Went down like the Titanic eh? It took you 2 hrs & 40 minutes? :P (Source: Wikipedia)

This is the strategy for this achievement that I created for my guild:

Fight Overview:

Malygos - 19,523,000 HP

Phase 1
- Arcane Breath (1 sec cast): Deals 28275 to 31725 Arcane damage in a 40 yard cone in front of the caster. After 5 sec of being damaged, the affected targets with explode with energy, dealing 18850 to 21150 Arcane damage to nearby friends. Pets caught in the breath take reduced damage from the breath and survive it due to pet mechanics, but will carry the debuff which will damage anyone nearby for ~20k damage.
- Vortex: Malygos takes off from the ground and flies to the center of the platform and lifts and spins everyone in an arcane vortex dealing 2000 damage a second for 10 seconds and also deals damage equal to ~10% of your maximum health from falling after the vortex ends. Rogues may escape this effect with Killing Spree or Shadowstep and Warlocks may teleport to a demonic circle. At rare times, hunters and melee types will be drawn into melee range of Malygos.
- Power Sparks: Power Sparks spawned at regular intervals will slowly move towards Malygos and give him a ~10 second buff which increases his damage done by 50% if it reaches him. If a Power Spark is killed, it will leave a temporary static field on the ground which increases the damage dealt by those standing in it by 50%. It is possible to kill multiple Power Sparks in the same position, which will in turn stack the 50% damage buff multiple times (150% of normal dmg -> 225% -> 338%).
- Arcane Storm (Instant cast): Fires a salvo of magic missiles into the air. These missiles select a random nearby enemy target and slam into them, dealing 11782 to 13218 Arcane damage. There are 6-8 missiles per salvo and the ability has a cooldown of 10 seconds and he will usually cast the first salvo 10-12 seconds after aggro and landing from vortex.

Phase 2: Begins when Malygos is at under 50% life.
- Deep Breath: Deals 5000 Arcane damage per second to the whole raid for 5 seconds. This ability does not effect anyone flying above the platform on a disc. Malygos will cast this 1 minute and 30 seconds after taking off for phase 2.
- Power Overload: Anti-magic zones will periodically fall on the platform, knocking back anyone nearby when they expand. All magic damage taken while standing inside is reduced by 50%. These zones will slowly collapse.
- 4 Nexus Lords (~500k HP) will slowly descend on floating discs on to the platform. They have the following abilities:
* Arcane Shock: Deals 14138 to 15862 Arcane damage.
* Haste: Increases movement, casting, and attack speed by 100% for 15 seconds. Can be dispelled.
- 8 Scions of Eternity (~300k HP) will fly upon floating discs, circling the platform in a clockwise pattern (top-down perspective). They are immune to stun/incapacitate/slows, but are vulnerable to silence. They have the following ability:
* Arcane Barrage: Deals 16965 to 19035 Arcane damage to a random target.

Phase 3: Begins once all Scions of Eternity and Nexus Lords die.
- Arcane Pulse (Instant cast): Lashes out with an instant pulse of arcane energy, inflicting 28275 to 31725 Arcane damage to enemies within 30 yards.
- Static Field (Instant cast): Summons a field of crackling energy at a random target's location. This field deals 9425 to 10575 Arcane damage per second to all enemies within 30 yards of that location. Has roughly a 15 second cooldown.
- Surge of Power (3 sec cast): Fires a beam of pure magic at an enemy (3 targets at once), dealing 12000 Arcane damage every half second for 3 sec. 72000 total damage. 8 second cooldown.
- Arcane Storm (Instant cast): Fires a salvo of magic missiles into the air. These missiles select a random nearby enemy target and slam into them, dealing 11782 to 13218 Arcane damage. There are 6-8 missiles per salvo and the ability has a cooldown of 7 seconds during this phase, but he does not regularly use it every CD.

Drake abilities: Drakes have 75k HP and regen 20 energy every 2 seconds.
1 - Flame Spike 10 Energy. 60 yd range. Instant. Fires a quick jet of fire at your target, causing 943 to 1057 Fire damage. Awards 1 combo point.
2 - Engulf in Flames 50 Energy. 60 yd range. Instant. Launches a blast of flames, igniting your target for 1500 Fire damage every 3 sec. This effect stacks. Lasts longer per combo point:

1 point : 6 seconds
2 points: 10 seconds
3 points: 14 seconds
4 points: 18 seconds
5 points: 22 seconds

3 - Revivify 10 Energy. 60 yd range. Instant. Heals the target for 500 per second. Lasts 10 sec. Awards one combo point. Stacks up to 5 times.
4 - Life Burst 50 Energy. Unlimited range. Instant. Releases a burst of rejuvinating energy, healing friendly targets within 60 yards and increasing the caster's healing done by 50%. Heals for more and lasts longer per combo point:

1 point : 5,000 heal / 5 sec
2 points: 7,500 heal / 10 sec
3 points: 10,000 heal / 15 sec
4 points: 12,500 heal / 20 sec
5 points: 15,000 heal / 25 sec

5 - Flame Shield 25 Energy. Unlimited range. Instant. Surrounds the caster in a shield of flames, reducing all damage taken by 80%. Lasts longer per combo point:

1 point : 2 seconds
2 points: 3 seconds
3 points: 4 seconds
4 points: 5 seconds
5 points: 6 seconds

6 minute Malygos is chiefly made possible through brute force to get Malygos to phase 2 before a second vortex in which Power Spark control in phase 1 is needed to build a 2 stack of damage increasing spark fields to deal maximum damage to Malygos, especially as he transitions from phase 1 to phase 2, and to have a fresh spark field for phase 2 to quickly clear the Scions and Nexus Lords, preferably before Malygos performs his Deep Breath. Stacking DoTs as fast as possible and not letting stacks drop is critical in phase 3, so DoT stackers must focus solely on that and designated healing drakes must provide on-time healing to make up for not using shields during Surge of Power and to top drakes off from AoE damage from static fields and Arcane Storm to ensure drakes can survive the Surge of Power.

Map: http://i39.tinypic.com/2vx3vuq.jpg

Note: This view shows a much larger platform below the actual platform we fight on, making it seem larger than usual. The main platform is the one marked by the 50 yard radius. The entry/exit portal is on the West side of the platform.

Info to help control Phase 1 Power Sparks:

- A spark will spawn from one of the four bright blue stars when Malygos triggers them. The stars will turn into swirling portals when a spark appears from them which makes identify their location fast and easy. The spark will slowly float down and make a bee-line straight to Malygos - knowing this, we can move Malygos to make sparks follow a route that will allow us to get an easier spark stack with less risk of Malygos absorbing the spark. Call the sparks out by heading: NW, NE, SW, and SE. Malygos should trigger the first spark before the first vortex, one more the moment he gains aggro after vortex, and 1 more before the second vortex. The first spark will be close to the outer edge of the platform shortly after the first vortex ends (it pauses its movement while Malygos channels his vortex). Sparks and their field will last a total of 1 minute and 30 seconds from the time they are spawned - if the spark was active for 30 seconds before it was killed, the field will last for 1 minute

- Scions will fly in a clockwise pattern. Since ranged should be firmly standing ground in the 2x spark field, they should target the scions on their left first and kill them in a counterclockwise order, so we do not have to wait for them to pass by a second time to kill and lose time.

- Nexus Lords land equidistant from each other in a "box" formation. Tanks should focus on Nexus Lords closest to the spark field first and then pick up the far Nexus Lords as they close in onto the raid group. Melee should not go all out on Nexus Lords until they have been pulled into the spark field by the tanks.

Time cut off:

Our goal is to get Malygos to transition to phase 2 before he has a chance to perform a second vortex. Also, if we have a 2x spark field (2nd and 3rd spark), we should likely clear phase 2 before deep breath. If not, we should have at least 2:15 left on the timer once we clear the last nexus lord/scion.

Malygos must go through a ~25 second script from the time the last scion/nexus lord dies to the moment he may be damaged again in phase 3. Malygos cannot be defeated before phase 3, but may be brought down to 1 HP if ranged DPS is exceptional.

Scenario:
0:00 Everyone should follow Malygos once the raid is ready. Once everyone is in place, begin DPS immediately, using all threat transferring abilities on the MT such as Misdirect and Tricks of the Trade.
0:20 Arcane Breath on MT
0:22 Arcane Storm cast (6-8 missiles)
0:30 Spark 1 spawn
0:32 Arcane Storm cast
0:37 Vortex lift off phase
0:47 Vortex spin cycle start
0:57 Vortex spin cycle stop
1:02 Spark 2 spawn + Malygos regains aggro
1:12 Arcane Breath on MT
1:13 Arcane Storm cast
1:15 Spark 1 killed
1:25 Arcane Storm cast
1:30 Spark 2 killed
1:32 Arcane Breath on MT
1:33 Spark 3 spawn
1:35 Arcane Storm cast
1:45 Arcane Storm cast
- END Phase 1 or Vortex 2
2:00 Spark 1 fades + Spark 3 killed
2:05 Malygos moves to begin phase 2
2:07 4 Nexus Lords and 8 Scions of Eternity spawned
2:15 Power Overload 1 (Anti-Magic Zone) lands
2:20 Nexus Lords complete landing
2:28 Power Overload 2 lands
2:32 Spark 2 fades
2:51 Power Overload 3 lands
3:03 Spark 3 fades
3:04 Power Overload 4 lands
3:15 Malygos moves into position for Deep Breath
3:23 Deep Breath start
3:28 Deep Breath end
3:31 Power Overload 5 lands
- END Phase 2
+25-30 second script before Malygos can be targeted
4:00 Malygos active
4:08 Surge of Power (on 3 people)
4:12 Static Field
4:13 Arcane Storm
4:16 Surge
4:24 Surge
4:28 Static Field
4:29 Arcane Storm
4:34 Surge
4:39 Arcane Storm
4:42 Surge
4:45 Static Field
4:46 Arcane Storm
4:50 Surge
4:58 Surge
<continues randomly only limited by cooldown and Malygos's choice to use what when>

Videos:

Premonition (US first Maly 5 min): not narrated and not so lucky where all sparks come from one side, using 3 DKs to chain DG sparks with into position, 4 druids to root, and Frost trap to add another level of security. Somewhat useful to watch and see how they controlled sparks in phase 1 and how they handled phase 2.
- http://files.filefront.com/Malygos+Finalavi/;12582615;/fileinfo.html

TankSpot: 6 min Maly guide which uses a strat that moves Maly and only requires a single DK. To improve survivability, Holy Paladins in raid respec'd to get the Tier 3 Prot talent, Divine Guardian, which reduces the damage taken by the raid by 30% which helps in phase 2. They used 2 Prot Warriors which had Improved Spell Reflect. They had a goof in phase 3, which involved a Warlock dismounting to put up CoE - you can put CoE up during the P1-P2 transition and it's 5 min duration is sufficient enough to last through the rest of the fight.
- http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UrCxLHXYqwg

Thing up for discussion/debate:

If there's not enough DPS to get Malygos up before the second vortex, despite stat food and flasks, min/maxing should be considered. Minimizing the number of healers and tanks can bring in another 3-5k DPS to the raid which would equal at least 2% of Malygos for phase 1 alone (4000 DPS x 105 seconds = 420,000 dmg / 19,523,000 HP = 2.15%).

- What is the minimum number of healers we can do this with? 5 healers would be a fair number. I doubt 3 would be viable, and 4 would require some very good performances from those players. Wild Growth and CoH now work in vortex again, but there's only one to deal with. Heals during P2 will need to be shark - haste, crit, and spell power seems to be the idea set of stats to maximize HPS to help top people off to avoid double arcane barrage deaths. Improved Spell Reflect and Divine Guardian should take the sting out of it and possibly even Anti-Magic Zone, though going that route would reduce our DPS.

- What's the maximum number of melee DPS that can be brought? 4 nexus lords come down, meaning 4 discs once the ground is clear. 6-7 melee DPS should be the max, assuming that ranged gets a scion to drop a disc or 2 around the time the 4th nexus lord is downed. We rarely, if ever, bring more than 7 to a raid anyways (thinking back to Kel'Thuzad).

- How many DKs do we need? 1 if they're smart and 2 for a reliable spark stack. Looking at the overview above, 30 yards is not quite good enough to perfectly align a spark as it approaches Malygos's melee range, even with very good timing and positioning. We have an Ele Shaman and Boomkin that can do something about it though. The only case where 1 DK won't work is with sparks spawning opposite of each other, but the chances of that happening is rather low (no higher than a 25% chance).

- Can you do this with only 1 tank? 1 tank to tank 4 Nexus Lords. They hit a Fury Warrior for 9k which considering a tank should take 30% less, 1 seems viable. Threat seems to be the main issue. There's 4 to pick up with healers healing frantically who will likely aggro some before the tank can get enough GCDs to aggro them. Once the tank has initial aggro, it should be fine as it's not much of a race to kill them, so people can go light on threat, plus the tank also has the spark field to fuel their threat. Incoming damage should not be a problem with tank cooldowns.

- Phase 3 practice: DPS drakes need to optimize their rotation. If you very good FPS and latency, you can risk a tight 1-2 rotation. Healing drakes need to practice setting up a staggered healing rotation. With 4-5 drakes, there should be a Life Burst roughly every 1.5 seconds. The main reason why we need to adapt this strategy is so DoT stacks do not expire due to needing to shield.

- Luck with sparks. I'd hate to rely on luck, so I'd like to do everything in our ability to work with what we got rather than wipe continuously until we are blessed with great luck. With everyone focused on DPS, sparks should simply have their location called and the raid should adjust to them. First spark spawns right before the first vortex. When it spawns, the star it comes from looks like a big swirling portal! If the portal is NW or NE, Maly should be faced south after landing. If it's SW or SE, Maly should be faced north after landing. Once the second spark is spawned, hopefully not on the opposite side (NE-SW or NW-SE), the first spark should be DG'd toward the second spark's path. Stun and bust up the first spark once it's within max melee range and do the same for the second spark which should float directly to where the first spark was busted. The TankSpot video has a method that