Vault of Archavon Guide

The other thing that makes VOA different from other raids is the loot that is available there. Each boss can drop PvP or PvE gear of varying quality, for any class or spec in the game. This makes loot quite random, as a piece of gear may drop for a spec or class that is not present, or all PVP gear could drop, or all PVE gear could drop. The randomness to the loot frustrates many players. It also means that groups should attempt to bring as many different classes and specs as possible so that most loot can be used.
The raid currently contains three bosses, but has expanded from one on initial release. Currently in ascending order of difficulty the bosses are: Archavon the Stone Watcher, Emalon the Storm Watcher, and Koralon the Flame Watcher. While we will describe the fights and strategies in this order, realize that most groups will start with the hardest boss first. That way if they fail to down him, they are not saved to a failed group and can instead look for a better group of raiders. If you are raiding with your guild, then this is not an issue and you can do the bosses in any order.
Archavon the Stone WatcherArchavon is a pretty simple fight that is a DPS race due to his 5 minute enrage timer. While he has a few abilities that need to be dealt with, nothing is overly complicated. He does, however, require two tanks due to his abilities.
Archavon’s Abilities
ArchavonRock Spikes – Roughly every 30 seconds Archavon will launch a barrage of rock spikes at a random player. They can not be avoided and cause damage to the player and anyone nearby.
Crushing Leap – Roughly every 30 seconds Archavon will leap at a random player and knock them back. He will then cast a choking cloud and then return to the tank.
Choking Cloud – The choking cloud is an AOE damage effect that stays in place for roughly 20 seconds before dissipating. While active anyone in it or moving through it will suffer damage every second.
Lunge – This is the ability that takes the current main tank out of combat and is preceded by the emote “Archavon the Stone Watcher lunges for ”. He will grab that player and hold them for 8 seconds and inflict damage to them during that time, then throw them across the room.
Archavon Fight StrategyThe fight starts with both tanks engaging Archavon and fighting for threat to ensure both are ahead of all other players. Ranged DPS and healers need to spread out around the room to minimize the damage taken from Archavon’s AOE abilities. While you should have some distance between everyone, you also want to be close together so that everyone can be healed and players are not running all over. Once everyone is in place DPS can lay into Archavon.
When rock spikes are shot at a ranged player if no one else is near simply stand in place and take the hits. If someone is near, move away from them. If someone in melee is targeted, the tank should move the boss away, while the targeted player moves away in an opposite direction. In general though, you want as few people moving as possible.
When Archavon leaps at a player and places a choking cloud, everyone simply needs to move out of the cloud area and wait for Archavon to return to the tank. The distance and time that it takes Archavon to return is based on how far players are standing apart. This means that while you should not group up, you should also not stand 30+ yards away from each other.
When Archavon lunges at a tank and removes them from the fight, the other tank simply picks up tanking duty. When the first tank is release they can either become the off tank waiting to resume tanking the next time Archavon lunges or if they are geared significantly better, taunt off the other tank and resume being the main tank.
That’s all there is to the fight. Keep in mind that you need to have enough DPS to down him quickly as you only have 5 minutes before he enrages and starts one-shotting players. You do not need a huge amount of DPS though since he only has 2.3 million health in 10 player raids and 10 million in 25 player raids. If all DPS players are above 2,000 DPS each you will have more than enough to beat the enrage timer.
Emalon the Storm WatcherEmalon the Storm Watcher is a boss in VOA that is accompanied by a group of four guards called Tempest Minions. These guards respawn whenever they are killed, therefore DPS should not be wasted on them other than when required. Instead they are simply held by the off-tank. Emalon himself has a few abilities that need to be watched for, while the guards’ main ability is to explode when overcharged.
Emalon’s AbilitesChain Lightning – This spell hits the target and then bounces to additional nearby targets increasing the damage it causes to each subsequent target.
Lightning Nova – This is an AOE damage attack that Emalon casts roughly every 20 seconds. It hits everyone nearby for a large amount of damage, and will wipe most non-tank players. The damage it causes is maximized if you are within 20 yards of Emalon. Lightning Nova has a long cast time though, so melee DPS has a plenty of time to get away.
Overcharge – Emalon casts this ability on one of the Tempest Minions 45 seconds after the last overcharge ended. It applies a stacking buff to one of the minions that grants 20% extra damage caused and grows the minion to roughly double the size. A new stack of the buff is granted every 2 seconds, and when the stack hits 10 the minion will explode causing significant damage and most likely wiping the raid.
Emalon Fight Strategy
EmalonThis fight requires two tanks each with their own healer(s), or healers alternating tanks from a central position. The fight is started by the off-tank engaging the adds and Emalon to establish aggro and then moving to one side of the room. The main tank then pulls Emalon off of the off-tank and drags him to the opposite side of the room. Normally the off-tank goes left of the door and the main tank goes right, however either side, or front and back work just as well.
Once the tanks are in position, ranged and healers setup more than 20 yards away from Emalon and in range of both him and the minions. They also need to spread out as much as possible so that any chain lightnings that are cast at the group do not bounce through too many targets. Melee DPS then starts in on Emalon.
When lightning nova is cast all melee needs to run at least 20 yards away from Emalon before he finishes the cast. Once nova goes off they can run back in to DPS.
When overcharge is cast, one of the minions will be healed to full health and grow in size to roughly twice as large. All DPS must immediately switch to this minion and kill it within 20 seconds. If it lasts longer than that it will explode, wiping the raid. Since overcharge is on a 45 second timer you can start moving to the minions before they actually get overcharged, that way you can start DPS faster. Once the minion dies, DPS goes back to Emalon. A new minion will spawn by Emalon and the off-tank needs to pick him up and drag him back to the add location.
AbilitesBurning Fury – This is a stacking buff that Koralon applies to himself every 20 seconds after he is engaged. For each stack on him he causes an extra 5% damage.
Burning Breath – When cast Koralon spins around breathing on everyone in the raid, causing significant fire damage each second for three seconds.
Flaming Cinder – Koralon targets a random player and hits them and anyone near them (roughly 5 yards) for fire damage. The attack also leaves a pool of fire on the ground that will burn for roughly 20 seconds. Anyone in or moving through the fire will suffer damage.
Meteor Fists – When cast, Koralon does an addition 100% damage in fire damage in addition to his normal melee attack. This damage is split with another target in his front ark. The buff lasts for 15 seconds.
Strategy
KoralonThe fight requires two tanks to be present, although the off-tank can focus more on damage than threat. Determine which way Koralon will be moved during the fight and let everyone else in the raid know before engaging. Normally he is dragged counter-clockwise around the room. Both tanks move in and engage Koralon and get him into position just outside of the glass octagon on the floor. An ideal distance is 5-10 yards away from the octagon so that players can clearly see the fire pools that are dropped. Once engaged the tanks stay stacked on top of each other for the duration of the fight.