WoW Reviews & Guides

As we prepare for the public testing phase of minor content patch 3.3.3, some players might come across information regarding upcoming content that isn’t yet available. To avoid any confusion, we’d like to tell you about an exciting new raid dungeon we are working on for content patch 3.3.5.

The Ruby Sanctum

A powerful war party of the Black Dragonflight, led by the fearsome Twilight dragon, Halion, have launched an assault upon the Ruby Sanctum beneath Wyrmrest Temple. By destroying the sanctum, the Black Dragonflight look to crush those that would stand in the way of their master’s reemergence into Azeroth and to ultimately shatter the Wyrmrest Accord – the sacred bond that unites the dragonflights.

The battle that is to come will surely deal a crippling blow to the Red Dragonflight, however, it is up to you to stop this unprecedented offensive and defend the Ruby Sanctum. First you must face the assault of Halion’s servants, Saviana Ragefire, Baltharus the Warborn, and General Zarithrian, before squaring off against Halion the Twilight Destroyer, a new and deadly force in this realm.

The Ruby Sanctum will feature 10- and 25-player content, Heroic difficulties and all-new rewards! Stay tuned for more information as we get closer to its release.

The mare Brightmane gave birth to Invincible as a young Prince Arthas watched with rapt attention.
In the years following Invincible’s birth, the horse and Arthas formed a bond that carried them across the warring nations of Azeroth, through the icy grip of death, and into the throes of battle.

The stallion’s coiled muscles were made for speed, and Arthas often felt that his mount flew rather than galloped across the countryside. With the slightest touch of his heel, Arthas was able to convey his directions, and Invincible obeyed without question or hesitation.

It was Invincible’s unfaltering faith in his master that inevitably led to the stallion’s death and unholy rebirth. On a cold winter afternoon as snow was blanketing the ground, Arthas was desperate to get away from the city even if it meant riding through harsh and unforgiving weather. Once outside, Arthas guided Invincible over a familiar jump, but the stallion slipped on slick ice, and the fall shattered his forelegs. With no way to save his companion, Arthas was forced to give Invincible a merciful death, and the prince carried that guilt with him for a very long time.

Years later, after the Lich King granted Arthas necromantic powers, Arthas returned to the grave where he had buried Invincible and raised his loyal servant into undeath. It was in this dark act that Arthas felt a sense of purpose. He believed that Invincible’s death was not an accident; rather, it was essential to Arthas’s destiny.

Invincible was not bred to be a warhorse, but after he was brought back from the dead and made immune to hunger, pain, and exhaustion, he became the perfect steed for Arthas. Now the skeletal charger stalks Icecrown Citadel, ever at the ready to serve his beloved master.

Arthas and Invincible were as one until parted by the stallion’s untimely death. Now, they are rejoined in death through the power of the Lich King and pose a fearsome sight for all who gaze upon them. Only the power of the heroes of Azeroth can part them once more.

In order to attain such a steed, one must conquer Icecrown Citadel and face the Lich King on Heroic difficulty. Perhaps you will be the lucky individual to obtain the most coveted of mounts — the Invincible Charger. This reward awaits those who are brave enough to tempt fate and face the full wrath of the Lich King!

The Plagueworks is an area inside the west side of Icecrown Citadel it is an area connected to the rest of the instance by the Spire surrounding the Frozen Throne in the middle level of the zone.

The Plagueworks is a laboratory for creation of potions, vials and containers of the Plague of Undeath and blight slimes. It is also the factory where several Abominations and horrific scourge creations are made. Professor Putricide is the leader of the Plagueworks.

A central theme of the Plagueworks seems to be the green liquid plague seen in Warcraft III and classic World of Warcraft, alongside the orange Blight Crystal plague seen throughout Northrend (mainly in Zul’Drak).

The Plagueworks opened on January 5, 2010, 28 days after the opening of Icecrown Citadel.

Professor Putricide is a boss in the Plagueworks wing of the Icecrown Citadel raid.
This boss is available since January 5, 2010 on US servers and January 6 on EU servers.

10-man Strategy

You will want an offtank to click the table Putricide stands at before he is pulled to become the Abomination for the fight. Then at 35%, the offtank helps tank Putricide. Since this encounter relies heavily on high DPS and much of the damage is avoidable, using two healers instead of three provides added DPS to the encounter.

Phase 1: 100% to 80%.

Putricide will spawn growing slime pools throughout the encounter, which the abomination pilot (the offtank) eats to gain ooze power. If you are almost out of ooze, stop eating the puddle to retain your source of ooze power, as you will need the ooze power to snare the Volatile Oozes and Gas Clouds. You will cause 4,000 damage every 2 seconds to the raid while an abomination is piloted. If your abominations dies, you can click the table again to obtain a new one.

Tank Putricide next to the Orange tank on the left side of the room to start with. Not long after the pull you will see a raid warning for “Unstable Experiment,” which causes a Volatile Ooze to spawn next to the Green tank on the right side of the room. Ranged DPS should switch to it immediately and melee DPS should switch to it as soon as it is clear who it is targetting. The Volatile Ooze will root a player in place and move towards them; your abomination pilot needs to snare it with Regurgitated Ooze. It will explode for 175,000 damage split between every player standing on top of the affected person. When the Volatize Ooze is close, all players should collapse on the affected player. If the Ooze is not yet dead it will acquire a new target and do the same thing. It needs to die quickly.

After the Ooze is dead, move Putricide next to the Green tank. He will soon cast another Unstable Experiment and spawn a Gas Cloud next to the Orange tank. The Gas Cloud also follows a random player, applying a dot called Gaseous Bloat on them, which requires a lot of healing. Gaseous Bloat starts with numerous stacks that decrease over time. Should the Gas Cloud reach its targetted player while stacks still remain, the raid takes a large amount of damage, potentailly wiping the raid. The targetted player must kite the cloud around the room while everyone else kills it. The abomination pilot should also snare it.

After this, Putricide should be moved back to the Orange tank. The add spawns alternately in a predictable manner.
Alternate Tactic

A different approach to dealing with the Volatile Oozes is to have the raid stack where the Volatile Ooze spawns. Healers will be near the ranged, but will move away from the target of the Volatile Ooze. When the Volatile Ooze spawns, melee and ranged will quickly kill it. If a healer is the target, ranged will move and stack with the targeted healer. Damage will be split between ranged and melee and they will be thrown back. Quickly finish off the Volatile Ooze before it hits another player. AoE healers can start pre-casting to quickly bring the health back up. With sufficient DPS and less movement, the raid should enter phase 2 before the first Gas Cloud spawns. Handling the Gas Cloud remains the same. This approach works in phase 2 for the Volatile Ooze as well, the raid will still need to watch for Choking Gas Bombs and Malleable Ooze.

Note: This method is not reccomended for low DPS groups.

Phase 2: 80% to 35%

Putricide casts Tear Gas, which stuns the raid for 10 seconds while he phases.

All previous abilities continue in this phase. In addition, Putricide gain two new abilities: Choking Gas Bomb and Malleable Goo.

You can see Putricide holding Choking Gas Bombs (one in each hand), which look like orange laboratory flasks. When Putricide tosses these to the ground near him (and relatively close together), they form an orange cloud on the floor. These flasks explode after 20 seconds, killing nearby players.

Malleable Goo looks like a bouncing green slime ball. Putricide randomly targets and tosses the goo to a ranged player. These cause 20,000 AoE damage on impact, and slow attack/cast speeds by 200% on impact. Easily avoidable by moving out of the way of the goo.

You will need to keep killing adds and controlling slime pools while dealing with these abilities.

Phase 3: 35% to 0%

Professor Putricide casts tear gas again and phases. No more adds will spawn, however adds that are up will remain.

Save Heroism/Bloodlust for this phase. Your abomination driver will need to tank Putricide now. Malleable Goo, Choking Gas Bomb, and Slime Pools continue. You cannot get rid of slime pools anymore so they will grow until you are overrun or Putricide dies.

Putricide stacks a debuff on his current tank every 10 seconds called Mutated Plague, which has a one-minute expiration timer. This causes damage to the entire group, and should a person die from Mutated Plague, heals Putricide for a massive amount. Tanks should switch over at four stacks, and if a tank is going to lose their mutated plague stack, they should taunt, since Putricide is healed if the debuff expires. Switching at four stacks eliminates this issue.

Putricide also stacks a buff on himself called Mutated Strength, causing him to do more damage over time. Phase 3 is a burn phase in which Putricide must be killed in short order or he will wipe your raid. After about 80 seconds when someone gains a 5th stack of Mutated Plague it will cause too much damage to handle.

Putricide will berserk after 10 minutes of combat.

25-man Differences

• Professor Putricide will launch three Malleable Goo projectiles rather than just one.
• Three tanks will give you the most time to kill Putricide in Phase 3 since Mutated Plague triples in damage every stack. You must keep the debuff on all three tanks. Therefore each tank in turn will gain 2 stacks then gain 4 stacks in a 2/2/2 4/4/4 setup. After 120 seconds someone will gain a 5th stack, wiping the raid.

Heroic Difficulty

Heroic difficulty will feature “Thaddius-like” charges in the form of Gas Variable and Ooze Variable debuffs during the encounter.

The Crimson Hall is an area inside the northern side of Icecrown Citadel. This section is the headquarters and home of the San’layn, the vampiric darkfallen blood elves in the service of the Scourge.

The area is luxuriously decorated in red decorations and scarlet coloured curtains similar to other blood elven decor. The Hall is connected to the rest of the instance by the Spire surrounding the Frozen Throne in the middle level of the zone.

Blood-Queen Lana’thel is the leader of the San’layn, a sect of blood elves who were raised in undeath by the Lich King.

Following the destruction of their homeland, the determined blood elves began to regroup and rebuild. It was during this time that the battle-hardened warrior Lana’thel stumbled upon Quel’Delar, and soon afterward the greatest opportunity to use the blade presented itself: Prince Kael’thas Sunstrider raised an army and combined forces with Illidan Stormrage, who led them north to Icecrown on a mission to destroy the Lich King. Lana’thel readily followed her prince with one thought in mind — revenge against the Scourge — but only tragedy awaited her.

In the icy hills of Northrend, Arthas ultimately defeated Illidan and Kael’thas, and the expedition’s few survivors were scattered across the frozen wastes. One by one the Lich King sought out those who had challenged him, and Lana’thel found herself cornered. Using Quel’Delar, she struck at him with all her might… but Frostmourne’s evil powers overwhelmed her. Through his blade, the Lich King chose Lana’thel to serve him in undeath as blood-queen of the San’layn, a group responsible for overseeing the Scourge’s operations across Azeroth.

Blood-Queen Lana’thel eagerly carried out her new duties, but every time she looked at her blade, maddening anger would swell within her as she remembered her former life. She could not afford such distractions, and with a scream that echoed throughout Icecrown, she shattered Quel’Delar and flung the fractured pieces as far as she could.

She now resides in the Crimson Halls of Icecrown Citadel and is the second boss of the wing.

The majority of the fight is spent in the land phase 1, interrupted occasionally by healing intensive phase 2. During the land phase, you will want a few things kept in check. Two tanks will have to swamp on the boss, so they don’t get overwhelmed by the bleed from Delirious Slash. The tanks will also have to be close to each other – the OT needs to be the closest player to the MT, so they soak the damage transferred through Blood Mirror. Other players will want to be relatively spread out (at 6-10 yards range), but still close enough to be able to run to each other quickly when Pact of the Darkfallen happens. Run out of the mandatory void zones Swarming Shadows, of course.

The trick to the fight is to not run out of people to bite as a vampire. Since Lana’thel will bite a player every 20-30 seconds or so, and those players will need to bite somebody after a minute, you may find yourself running out of people very soon. Do not risk and wait to bite another player though, as a single person gone frenzy can and will wipe the raid. Keep in mind, biting requires melee range with the target.

Phase 2 lasts only a few seconds and is preceded by the spawning of a few Blood Whirls throughout the room. Make note of them and spread out so you are at least 6 yards away from each other. Healers will have to heal through the high damage the raids will take, and then phase 1 will re-start.

Lord Marrowgar is the first boss of the Icecrown Citadel raid. Pieced together by the Lich King from the bones of a thousand vanquished adventurers, he is the guardian of the Frozen Throne within The Spire, and wields the power of the throne itself.

Lord Marrowgar is a fairly simple encounter that should not give any guild prepared for Icecrown Citadel any difficulty assuming you have ToC hard modes on farm. If your guild is farming ToC normal 10-man and nothing higher, be prepared to hit the learning curve.

Tanking

Tanks need to stand on top of each other to soak Saber Lash. If you are short tanks and the raid has plate DPS available, one can be put in front of the boss with the tanks to help soak the Saber Lash damage. If said DPSer has a tanking set, equipping a piece or two to increase their HP is an option should they be taking too much damage. Note that the tanks will take substantial damage during the fight – using an off tank of this sort is not advised, as it will make healing even more difficult, although it is better than insufficient tanks.

It is entirely possible to single tank Marrowgar, in 10man, should the tank be sufficiently geared. In 3.3(a) Marrowgar’s damage was further reduced, making this an even more viable strategy. Be advised that although this frees up another DPS in your 10man raid, the tank will take heavy damage.

The key to the fight is managing the transitions between the Bone Storms and going back to the Bone Graveyard phase. You have 10 seconds from the end of Bone Storm until Lord Marrowgar starts casting Saber Lash again (until then he simply melees his target) – the tanks need to pick him up and position themselves together in that time. (The 10 second grace period also applies to the beginning of the encounter, counting from when he is first aggroed, giving the tanks time to set themselves up.)

It is important to note, after every Bone Storm, the boss resets aggro. The DPS must give the tank a chance to re-establish threat, before continuing to DPS.

DPS

Lord Marrowgar has a gigantic hit box! If the melee are hugging the boss, they’re standing way too close. This is true for those melee who wish to dodge the cold fire rather than avoid it completely by standing in his hit box, but if you’re doing 10-man without a dedicated spike team the melee need to be standing with the healers until you outgear the encounter or are attempting his heroic mode.

Bone Spikes

Ranged DPS, or nearby melee, should immediately switch to Bone Spikes to free impaled players. If the raid has an abundance of melee, members should stay relatively close together to reduce travel time. Bone Spikes should die within two GCDs; any longer and you will have issues.

Cold Fire

Cold Fire spawned by Marrowgar should be avoided entirely by ranged DPS, and moved out of immediately by melee. It moves in a straight line out from its spawn point in melee range and if moved out of immediately by melee no damage will be taken. It is also possible for melee to stand inside his hit box and avoid it completely, as the cold fire spawn starts outside of his hit box. Touching this flame applies a short but potent Damage over Time effect in heroic mode.

Cold Fire during his non-Bone Storm periods will be directed at a given person, thus ranged should spread out radially, preventing more than one from having to move from any given spawn.
Bone Storm

Every 30 seconds Marrowgar will execute Bone Storm. This whirlwind attack cannot be avoided and damage is dealt every two seconds based on your proximity to the boss as he spins. The closer you are, the more damage you take. Additionally, in heroic this will also leave a bleed effect on anyone hit by it.

While in his Bone Storm Lord Marrowgar will randomly target and charge a raid member. When he reaches them he stops moving for around six seconds before targeting another random raid member. Every time Lord Marrowgar reaches his target and stops he will fire four lines of Cold Fire along the semi-cardinal points (NE, NW, SE, SW – they form an X). Unlike during phase 1, the cold flame lines start directly underneath him. After his fourth target the Bone Storm will end.

Healing

Need clarification and correction here.

The tanks take moderately-high damage (10-15k every second from Saber Lash (13-17k 25 man) [pre-3.3a nerf]). During the Bone Storms, everyone takes damage. People who don’t move when they’re targeted by the boss during Bone Storm will be taking full Bone Storm damage in addition to Cold Fire damage from up to four separate Cold Fire effects. They will probably die.

Note that Lord Marrowgar has a red positioning reticule below him. Stacking your entire raid (with the exception of the three tanks and any hunters) on the back edge of the reticule during phase 1 does three things:

1. Prevents all incoming Coldflame damage. (No one is hit by the fire)

2. Controls the location of Impales so they may be quickly DPSed.

3. Allows Healers and Caster DPS to remain stationary, maximizing throughput.

The raid must disperse during Phase 2. Bone Storm damage is negligible, but Priests need to be mindful that Inner Fire charges are depleted by this ability. Stay mobile in Phase 2, and re-collapse to the rear of the positioning reticule once the tanks regain control after phase 2.

Note that tanks do not take damage during the Bone Spike Graveyard cast, which can be very handy for moving into position or catching up on healing.

In the upcoming content patch there are many new additions and improvements. One of the largest changes is the introduction of the new Dungeon Finder. This new system will be available for all five-player dungeons. A Dungeon Finder button will replace the Looking For Group feature currently available in-game, and provides additional benefits to those who use it.

Join as a Group or Solo
Much like the current Looking For Group system, players will be able to join the Dungeon Finder and choose the role they would like to fill within groups: Healing, Damage, or Tank. In addition, once roles have been identified, they will be applied to all dungeons chosen. Players will now be able to choose multiple dungeons and will no longer be limited to three. The system has also improved group creation and matchmaking capabilities and will create more balanced groups when assessing the selected roles of players.

The LFG channel has been disconnected from the Dungeon Finder and can be used by anyone in a major city, much like the trade channel currently available.

Cross Realm Instances
When joining the Dungeon Finder as a solo player or with a partial group, additional random players can be found within the same Battlegroup via cross-realm instancing.

While the new system offers the ability to group with player from other realms within your Battlegroup, you won’t be able to use this to manually invite specific players to groups.

Instance Teleporting
When you use the Dungeon Finder to find a dungeon, you’ll get ported to the inside of the dungeon, much like the current Battleground system. When you leave the instance, you will be returned to your previous location. If you need to leave temporarily, such as for repairs or to purchase reagents, you can teleport back to the dungeon again. This feature can be used both by groups looking for other players and by premade groups of five who use the Dungeon Finder.

Smarter Group Matching
The new system will now work to match at least one experienced player for the assigned dungeon with less experienced players in the group. It will more carefully match class types, and will more consistently match players of equal levels for the dungeon chosen. The interface will also allow players to see how many players are looking for groups as well as the average wait time of groups that the tool has formed.

Daily Random Dungeons
Players or groups can choose specific dungeons or they can instead take their chances with a random Heroic or random normal dungeon. Picking randomly conveys some additional benefits. If you defeat the final boss in a dungeon, you receive 2 Emblems of Frost for Heroic dungeons and 2 Emblems of Triumph for normal dungeons. In addition, after players have received 2 Emblems of Frost for the first Heroic dungeon they do in a day, they will earn 2 Emblems of Triumph for each additional random Heroic dungeons in that day. These random rewards replace the current daily dungeon and daily Heroic dungeon quests. The current NPCs who offer those quests will offer weekly repeatable raid quests instead. You can also earn level-appropriate rewards for running random pre-Wrath of the Lich King dungeons while you are leveling up.

Lovin’ the PUG
Players who take part in groups with one or more members who have been matched with them randomly from within the Dungeon Finder will receive extra rewards, including the coveted Perky Pug non-combat pet. The more random players you group with, the faster you could get your new pet!

Vote Kick
Players who use the system to find additional random members for their party will be afforded a couple of extra conveniences to help them perform well. The loot option is fixed to the updated Need Before Greed option (and unalterable by any member) and players can vote to remove another party member from the group. It will take four votes in order to remove someone, however, so consider this newfound power carefully.

Looking for Raid
There will be a new option available to players that can be accessed via the raid information screen in the interface or by typing /lfr. Players will also be able to take part in raid-specific weekly quests and will be able to browse the system manually for any other players looking for a raid dungeon group.

Need Before Greed Updated
Need Before Greed will now recognize gear appropriate for a class in three ways: the class must be able to equip the item, pure melee will be unable to roll on spellpower items, and classes are limited to their dominant armor type (for example, plate for paladins). All items will still be available via greed rolls should no member be able to use the item as well as the new disenchant option will be available for all parties.

Group Disenchanting
Players in a group with an enchanter will now have the option to automatically disenchant any items that are not claimed by a player from within the loot window. Players will have this option available to them in both premade groups and in randomly matched groups. This option is available in any loot system, even if players don’t use the new Dungeon Finder.

The Forge of Souls is the first wing of the Frozen Halls instances in Icecrown Citadel, released in patch 3.3. The Forge is a massive production facility that builds Soul Grinders, the latest foul construct in the Lich King’s arsenal.

Serving as the first wing in this expansive dungeon, the Forge of Souls will quickly put players to the test of carving through the Scourge stronghold into deeper, more treacherous locations. Jaina will command Alliance forces, and Sylvanas will direct Horde forces. The goal is to ruin the twisted engines known as soul grinders found in this portion of the citadel, and then players can advance — that is, if the Horde and Alliance forces can overcome the foes who confront them.

Bosses

Bronjahm, the Godfather of Souls
An instrument of reckoning, Bronjahm watches over the engines in the Forge of Souls. He must be killed if the soul grinders are to be destroyed.

The Devourer of Souls
As the chief operator of the engines found in this wing, the Devourer stands guard over the souls stolen by the Lich King.

The Frozen Halls is a three-winged dungeon released in Patch 3.3.0. This dungeon is likely to be the last one released in the Wrath of the Lich King era.

The entry chamber to the Frozen Halls instances has been designated a sanctuary and can be found on the northwest side of the citadel on the upper parapet. A meeting stone can be found inside the halls near the three instance lines.

Every loot item which drops in both Normal and Heroic modes for those instances is of epic quality. The loot for Normal mode equals or surpasses 10-man Ulduar drops in some slots. The loot for Heroic mode equals or surpasses 10-man Onyxia’s Lair and 10-man Trial of the Crusader normal mode drops in some slots. However, its difficulty should not be underestimated though. And just like Trial of the Champion, it is by no means a “get epics quick” scheme for under-geared players!

Icecrown Citadel: The Frozen Halls will feature 3 wings and 7 bosses where the players accompany Jaina Proudmoore (for Alliance players) or Sylvanas Windrunner (for Horde players). Only the Forge of Souls is available at the start; players must complete each wing in sequence to unlock access to the others.

The Forge of Souls
The first wing in the instance will have the players destroy Soul Grinders under watch of Bronjahm and the Devourer of Souls, wicked machines that serve some dark purpose of the Lich King. When this is complete the players can advance into the next wing.

Pit of Saron
The second wing of the instance involves entering a saronite mining pit and freeing captured champions of the Alliance and the Horde, put to slave labor by the Scourge under watch of Forgemaster Garfrost, Krick and Ick, and Scourgelord Tyrannus.

Halls of Reflection
The last wing of the instance will have players and their guides attacking the private chambers of the Lich King along with his two Scourge commanders, Falric and Marwyn.