Halls of Lightning

Table of Contents Introduction About HoL Quests Group Composition Normal Group Composition Heroic Where Halls of Lightning General Bjarngrim The Iron Crucible Volkhan Hall of Watchers Ionar Thundering Overlook Loken

Introduction

The purpose of this guide is to provide a short, easy-to-use overview of Halls of Lightning (HoL). It is not intended to cover every aspect of the instance (at least in this first phase). It is intended to be something you can use while in the instance and quickly and easily share with your fellows who are not familiar with it. Thus I have tried to make short, specific statements that do not require a lot of explanation. My thought is these could be easily copied into a chat message or easily explained using vent.

This is my first guide. I also want to let you know I am not an experienced WOW player. I am an occasional player. Most of the information in this guide came from researching what others said about HoL. It seems that nobody likes to do HoL. I felt making this guide and consolidating some of the information I found in my research would make it a lot easier for others. Hopefully you will find this valuable. I will add pictures later but intend to get it in place as quickly as possible.

About HoL

HoL is designed for a level 79-80 group in normal mode. It can be done with 1 or 2 players at a lower level if they are reasonably well geared. My lowest level group had a 76, 77, 79 and 2 80's. The 80s were a weak tank with no Epics (me as a DK not defense maxed) and the decent Druid Healer but he was a fairly new 80 (only a few Epics). It is possible to enter the instance at level 75 but most of the mobs are level 79 so I would say the minimum level to contribute to the party is level 76.

Quests

Both

I have not confirmed or completed all of these quests. These fist two are part of a very long quest chain starting with They Took Our Men . It will provide a lot of reputaion with Sons Of Hodir and if you are below level 80 it provides a lot of XP and some nice pre-naxx gear.

• Whatever it Takes!
• Diametrically Opposed

Daily from Dalaran

• Timear Foresees Titanium Vanguards in your Future!
• Proof of Demise: Loken

Walkthrough

Group Composition Normal

1. Tank - 490 Def 20k Health
2. Healer - Druid is probably best for HoT but that may be more opinion then fact.
3. Off Tank/DPS - 400+ Def 11k health
4. DPS or DPS/CC (Total DPS for group in the 4k range)
5. DPS

I suspect this group might be considered a little controversial. Here is my reasoning for the Off Tank/DPS. Things tend to get a little crazy with these fights. When you fight General Bjarngrim he moves a lot and there is knock back, the same is true of several of the fights. In some of the other fights there are occasionally straggelers that get away. The Off Tank/DPS (I am thinking a DK, Pally or DPS Warrior) can take any straggelers or if the Main Tank gets wiped and you are close to finishing the boss you might be able to still kill him if there is an off tank. In additon, with there being a lot of movement in this your healer needs to be able to have instant heals or HoT's. Otherwise they will be getting interrupted too often. I suggest a Druid for that but, even more so make certain you have a good healer. They need to know their craft well to keep you alive.

Group Composition Heroic

1. Tank - 535 Def 22k Health(can substitute resilience if you know what you are doing and can be non-critable with sufficient perry/dodge/block values)
2. Healer
3. Off Tank/DPS
4. DPS or DPS/CC
5. DPS

The Heroic group is pretty standard. The CC helps in this instance and the off tank can help also, but I believe that helps in many instances.

Where

Halls of Lightning is part of the Ulduar dungeon hub in Storm Peaks. The meeting stone is at 43.7, 26.2. There is a flight point and repair area right there. The graveyard is also close by but I am certain you will not need that:-).

Halls of Lightning

The first set of mobs are positioned around a circle. You can choose to go either left or right it does not matter. Do watch where General Bjarngrim is walking to and from. He walks over about 1/2 the circle. You need to start thinking about where you want to take him down. Unless you are looking for the achievement Lightning Struck on Heroic Mode you want to take him when he is not buffed.

These first groups of mobs are pretty easy. Typical Tank and spank. You should be able to pull some of the walkers solo and the groups are no more than 3 or 4. Easy for a typical group(if they are not easy for you, perhaps you should reconsider your run).

General Bjarngrim

At 2 points in the circle he gets an electrical buff called Charge Up that adds 30% to his damage output. If you are not on heroic mode you need to wait for the debuff of this. In heroic mode you can get the achievement Lightning Struck if you kill him while he is buffed.

Normal Mode:

• Level - 80
• Health - 221,561

Heroic Mode

• Level - 82
• Health - 323,544

His 2 adds can be cc'd

General Bjarngrim is a warrior with 3 stances and he switches these a few times during the fight:

• Defensive Stance – ironform (bleed, poison, disease, immunity and 20% armor for 8 second) Spell reflection, intercept and pummel. Aura decreases damage by 25%
• Berserker Stance – Melee Attacks and cleave (hits three targets in front of General with and AoE attack for about 2k damage each). Aura increases damage by 25%
• Battle Stance – Mortal Strike (6k to 9k each) and Whirlwind (2k per hit but it hits a lot)attack speed increased by 25% (Melee DPS need to get out of there when Whirlwind is going on)

The Fight against General Bjarngrim

Kill or CC the Stormforged Lieutenants first they heal him and throw a debuff on you that only takes affect if you move. If you get the debuff from the Lieutenants do not move. They do about 1,500 in damage if you move.

The General also throws a knock back on occasion. I believe you can not be knocked off the platform but would not bet my group getting wiped on it. With that in mind the tank needs to either stay towards center of platform or fight the General with his back against the wall. Melee DPS needs to stand behind General other than that it is a traditional Tank and Spank.

Drops

Normal Mode

• Stone Keeper's Shard (x3)
• Hewn Sparring Quarterstaff
• Hardened Vrykul Throwing Axe
• Mantle of Electrical Charges
• Bjarngrim Family Signet

Heroic

• Emblem of Heroism
• Stone Keeper's Shard (x3 to 4)
• Traditional Dyed Handguards
• The General's Steel Girdle (very nice pre-naxx DPS gear for DK)
• Iron Dwarf Smith Pauldrons
• Patroller's War-Kilt

The Iron Crucible

The next room is filled with Slags. This was actually pretty fun. The best way to do this is have the tank lead the way and run to the other side of the room by the stairs. Have the party get on the stairs and then kill what you have collected. The reason is these guys respawn very fast and do not stop spawning until you kill Volkhan.

There are some things you can apparently destroy in the room to get them to stop spawning but I have never done this. The Slags have a debuff of Melt Armor and do a Blast Wave for about 2500 damage to nearby enemies.

There are some additional trash mobs to fight on the way up to Volkhan. The only ones that can be a little tough are the Unbound Firestorm's. They have Afterburn which increases their Critical Hit Chance to 50%. So your tanks can get a nasty critical hit if you are not careful. Just pull carefully and you will be fine.

Volkhan

Volkhan is a typical Tank and Spank except for one item. Every 20% of his health he will go to his anvil and cast Temper. This will create several Molten Golem's. The Molten Golems do not hit that hard but if you try to kill them they will instead become frozen. Then when Volkhan casts Shattering Stomp they will explode for about 5,000 damage. Because of this you should tank Volkhan at the bottom of the steps and let all the casters stay at top of steps.

Normal Mode

• Level - 80
• Health – 269,783

Heroic Mode

• Level - 82
• Health – 388,253

The Fight against Volkhan

I suggest simply ignoring the adds in this fight, telling casters not do do their AoE attacks, and brunign him down as fast as you can. However if you prefer you can have your off tank take the golems into a corner and keep them all there (they do not hit very hard unless they explode). The last option is to have your tank move Volkhan up and down the stairs and around the room. The golems are slow and will struggle to keep up.

Quests

• Diametrically Opposed – If you have this quest it is completed when you kill Volkhan

Achievements

• Shatter Resistant – Defeat Volkhan before he shatters more than 4 golems.

Drops

Normal Mode

• Stone Keeper's Shard (x3)
• Volkhan's Hood
• Eternally Folded Blade
• Kilt of Molten Golems
• Cape of Seething Steam

Heroic

• Emblem of Heroism
• Stone Keeper's Shard (x3 to 4)
• Giant-Hair Woven Gloves
• Slag Footguards
• Shroud of Reverberation
• Belt of Vivacity

Hall of Watchers

After you defeat Volkhan go through the door into the Hall of Watchers. You will see Vrykul against the walls. They are like statues and will only awake after you have passed each section. I suggest sending a caster or healer to lead this and have the tank stay with the main group. Typically only 3 – 4 spawn and they are not that tough to get through. The only issues here with the Titanium Thunderer's and Siegebreakers is that they have an AoE fear attack but even with that it has never caused us many issues.

Ionar

Ionar is definitely going to be a fight for most groups. About every 25% of his health he casts Disperse. Ionar also has his normal attack Ball Lightning (which you can avoid if you stay out of the way) and a debuff called Static Overload. Static Overload does about 1,300 damage over 10 seconds but once it completes it does about 2,500 damage to all surrounding enemies (i.e. your party members). So if you have this debuff when you run stay away from the rest of your party. It has an 8 yard range so you just need to be a little ways away. Static Overload does stack so be careful.

Normal Mode

• Level – 80
• Health – 325,852

Heroic Mode

• Level – 82
• Health – 431,392

The Fight against Ionar

In general the group needs to stay spread out with the Tank keeping Ionar farily high up the stairs. The debuff Static Overload can push a lot of damage when it finishes and it is best to get good spacing in the group.

When fighting Ionar he will disperse into sparks of energy about every 25% of his health that hit hard and can’t be attacked (don't even try to attack them, it does not good.). When this happens the entire party needs to run. You will run down the stairs and past the two large pillars up against the wall. You need to get that far away as they will follow you about 50 yards. Anyone who has the debuff Static Overload needs to remember to stay away from the others (the Tank will almost certainly have it and the healer is likely to have it).

Once the sparks disappear the tank needs to pull Ionar back up the stairs again so that the group has room to run away from the sparks. The casters need to try and avoid the ball’s of lightning and any melee DPS needs to attack from behind when possible to avoid these also. They hit for over 2k each so they are bearable but it will put a lot of stress on your healer that is not necessary.

Normal Mode

• Stone Keeper's Shard (x3)
• Thundercload Grasps
• Ionar's Girdle
• Pauldrons of the Lightning Revenant
• Tornado Cuffs

Heroic

• Emblem of Heroism
• Stone Keeper's Shard (x3 to 4)
• Cord of Swirling Winds
• Winged Talisman
• Skywall Striders
• Charged-Bolt Grips

Thundering Overlook

After killing Ionar you can go west through the room and clear the way to Loken. You only need to kill enough to get to him. Pull carefully and you will have no issues. If you can interrupt the electro Shock from the Stormfury revenant's that would be ideal.

You now enter the last room prior to fighting Loken there are several types of mobs here but nothing too difficult if you pull carefully. The Stormforged Giants doa Thunderstorm attack that can hit for 3K plus in damage. Interrupt that if you can.

Loken

Loken is why most people hate HoL. With Arc Lightning at 3.5k, Lighting Nova at 12k plus, Pulsing Shockwave that does more damage the further you are away from him and 8k critical hits he is a tough fight.

First of all the entire party will be taking damage from Loken during the entire fight. This is from his aura. The closer you are to him the less damage you will take so... stack close to Loken. If you get hit with Arc Lightning it can do a lot of damage to the other party members (about 8k). So step a away from the party (but not Loken if you can) if you get that debuff.

Normal Mode

• Level – 80
• Health – 390,990

Heroic Mode

• Level – 82
• Health – 512,278

The Fight against Loken

The tank needs to pull Loken to the white circle. I like to just run him up and down the white line. There are 3 keys to this fight:

1. When you see him about to cast Lightning Nova RUN – He will lean to the side and a ball of lightning will start to appear in his hands you have about 4 seconds from the start of the cast. Get out of there it hurts a lot (to the tune of 12K plus in damage).
2. Stay near Loken. - The further away you are the more his Aura hurts. When you are close it can do as little as 400 damage a tick. When you get far away it can do 2k a tick or more.
3. If you get the Arc Lightning debuff try to step away from the rest of the group but stay near enough to Loken to not increase your damage from his aura too much.

Tankspot suggests the following (but I found it easier to run him up and down the white line).

1. Tank pulls him to the circle of light in front of this throne (everyone stacks). DPS him.
2. He starts to cast the nova. Everyone heads south. Run until you're near the top of the first set of stairs.
3. Everyone restacks. Loken will run to the tank. DPS him until he starts to cast the nova again.
4. Run to the edge of the circular platform under the floating planet.
5. Everyone restacks. Loken will run to the tank. DPS him until he starts to cast the nova again.
6. This time, run around the edge of the circle until you feel you are far enough.
7. Everyone restacks. Loken will run to the tank. DPS him until he starts to cast the nova again.
8. If he still isn't dead, continue this cycle around the planet.

If you have a really great healer you can just stand there and take the damage. Usually this requires everyone to stack on the tank and stay put no matter what. The healer needs to be well geared and very good. I have only seen a Shamen and a Druid do this, not certain if other healing classes could. If you can do this it makes the fight very easy and you are likely to get Timely Death as you will burn him down in no time or you will wipe.

Some adds that can really help in this fight.

• Nature Resist
• Group heals
• DK anti-magic shell

Drops

Normal Mode

• Stone Keeper's Shard (x3)
• Loken's Tongue
• Leather-Braced Chain Leggings
• Chaotic Spiral Amulet
• Fists of Loken
• Raiments of the Titans
• Ancient Measuring Rod
• Projectile Activator
• Seal of the Pantheon
• Hood of the Furtive Assassin
• Design: Eternal Earthsiege Diamond

Heroic

• Emblem of Heroism
• Stone Keeper's Shard (x3 to 4)
• Frozen Orb
• Celestial Ruby Ring
• Mail Girdle of the Audient Earth
• Flowing Sash of Order
• Ornate Woolen Stola
• Planetary Helm
• Lightning Giant Staff
• Advanced Tooled-Leather Bands
• Woven Bracae Leggings
• Colossal Skull-Clad Cleaver
• Design: Eternal Earthsiege Diamond
• Loken's Tongue

Quests

• Proof of Demise: Loken – Loot Celestial Ruby Ring if you have this quest
• Whatever it Takes! - Take the tongue if you have this quest
• Timear Foresees Titanium Vanguards in your Future! - Kill 7 Titanium Vanguards (should have done this already if not go back and kill some more)

Achievements

• Timely Death – Kill Loken in Heroic Mode in under 2 minutes

Thanks to Tankspot, worldofstrats.com and a couple of youtube.com videos I watched.