Rotface Guide

Awbry’s Guide to the Rotface encounter

So we have been having a little trouble with the Rotface encounter. I would really like to encourage everybody to go take a look at the tank spot video located here: http://www.tankspot.com/showthread.php?61048-Icecrown-Rotface. Otherwise here are my insights into the encounter.

Intro:
Rotface is usually the 6th boss we do in Icecrown Citadel. It is a fight where if the entire raid does not know what to do and execute perfectly then you will kill the entire raid. Below are the mechanics you should be aware of.

Mechanics:
Slime attack: Every so often Rotface will turn to somebody and shoot out a cone AoE slime attack. It looks like he is projectile vomiting on everybody within that cone. If you stand in the cone then you will die. Don’t do it. Move about 10 yards to your right until you stop getting hit. Do NOT complete your cast, just move, the ONLY exception to this are the healers healing the people with the Infection and the tank. Everybody else SHOULD HAVE MOVED so should not be in life threatening condition. If this attack targets one of the people kiting slime the fact that they are MOVING should be enough to keep them safe. The order of things that will kill you quickly goes like this.

Puke
Puddle spewed by the little ooze
Big ooze AoE attack
Ooze in the corners of the room

What does this mean for you? If you see the Puke hitting you the MOVE TO A SIDE. As in GET OUT OF IT. You will not survive being in it very long.

Corner Slimes: The boss will flood one corner of the room with slime. It’s easy to avoid if you are paying attention but not that life threatening if you must run through it. As small ooze kiters you should not have to run through it that often. Running just on the outside of it should give you enough room to still merge the oozes.

Oozes:
Small Oozes: A small ooze will spawn after Mutated Infection is allowed to run its full course or is dispelled. They have no agro table and will follow the person who had the Mutated Infection upon them. If that person dies then the ooze will pick a new target and follow them. They are extremely buggy, don’t panic. You panic then you do something stupid and you wipe the raid. So what should you be doing? Well that question is complicated. There are a few different situations you can encounter when you get the Infection on you.

1. No other oozes. This is the hardest situation. You are ultimately responsible for where the big ooze will be spawned and you are the most vulnerable for the longest period of time. So what do you do? You RUN. NEVER STOP RUNNING. As long as you’re RUNNING you should be fine. Watch out for the ooze spills and the Rotface’s slime attack. So did I mention you should be running? If you stand still there is a good chance you are going to die. Especially if you are a clothe with not that much HP. Remember, don’t panic help is coming and your raid is watching out for you.

2. Another small ooze is up: So you get Mutated Infection on you. You know you’re the second person to get it because you’ve been listening on vent. Look around and find where the other person is. Your job is to merge your ooze with the other ooze….so they can make sweet sweet ooze love. You wouldn’t keep these two oozes separate from each other would you? SO WHY ARE YOU RUNNING THE OTHER WAY? If you are the second person to get the infection it is your one and only job to merge your ooze with the one that is currently up. Just git r done. It is not the job of the other person, it is your job. Communicate with the other person and remember your freaking geometry and plot an intercept course. This is the point where oozes are likely to freak out. Just keep moving and eventually they will get over their shyness and make ooze love.

3. A big ooze is up: This is pretty much like above except it is a little more dangerous. The big ooze has a pulse AoE attack. It should not kill you as long as you don’t stand next to it. If you can manage the best/safest way to merge your ooze with the big ooze is to start on your intercept course the MOMENT you see the infection on you. You’ll want to come in from behind and run past the big ooze. (See addendums for why coming in from behind is safer) The little ooze will then follow you and will merge. The merge radius is fairly large so you should not have an issue. Once you see your ooze merge with the big ooze then go back to raiding as usual. You have from the time your ooze spawns until the next infection is up to merge your ooze with the big ooze. The fight gets extremely more complicated if you take to long to merge your ooze.

4. A big ooze is up and somebody hasn’t merged their little ooze: Don’t panic. This is tricky but doable if you’re smart and don’t panic. Remember that when two small oozes merge they form a big ooze. Two big oozes up is a very bad thing and will in all likely hood end up in a wipe. The other small ooze is mostly likely closer then you are to merging and is focused on their task. Just like at an airport you are now in a holding pattern. Just keep running and stay the fuck away from the other small ooze.

Ooze Explosion: Once the big ooze has absorbed 5 small oozes it will explode. When this happens little ooze babies will reign down from the sky and cause mass death and unpleasantness. To avoid this all you have to do is make sure you are not standing where you or ANYBODY else was standing. The raid lead might designate a specific spot to move to until the ooze rain stops falling. Once it’s over just move back. Here is the important thing about this. THE MUTATED INFECTION WILL STILL COME OUT DURING THIS ABILITY JUST LOOK AT THE SITUATIONS ABOVE AND DO WHAT THEY SAY.

Addendums: A few things I’d like to say about the fight and some unfortunate situations that could occur that I feel you should be aware of.

-When I say that you should keep moving I meant it. I have watched more people die because they stood still and tried to tank the small ooze, or stood in a puke stream. This fight is more about raid coordination then it is about individual numbers. In this fight you are part of a machine. Do your job, pay attention and the loot will flow.
-If the off tank gets the small ooze while a big ooze is out there is a chance that they will not be able to merge it with the big ooze. This is because the big ooze hits like a freight train more so as it gets more oozes. If the offtank gets the infection with 4 stacks on the big ooze then he will have to kite both of them. It is of vital importance that you look to see if the offtank is kiting a small ooze as you plan your approach. If you’ve been listening in vent they will call it out.
-GO WATCH THE VIDEO.
-DO NOT finish your cast if one of the above things happens, especially if you are a dps. Dead people don’t do dmg.
-As the fight goes on the Infection comes out faster and faster. This is not an excuse to lose your head or stop doing the mechanics correctly. Keep your head and focus on what you are supposed to do.

If you have any more questions please feel free to contact me in game or ask me on the forums. I will do my best to answer any questions you might have. I’m going to ask Denecell to put up some healing tips for this fight. As a parting I say this. Remember to have fun while raiding. I know wipes suck but every fight is a chance to get better, to learn and to adapt. Focus and trust your raid members. See you all in game!

-Awbry

I made a post on tankspot.com earlier. I got this response regarding things that can screw up the small oozes:

"Ways to mess up aggro on small Ooze:
Any of these can cause the Small Ooze to follow different aggro rules. Mirror Images explicitly gives aggro to the images rather than the player. Everything else results in either a temporary or permanent drop in threat. This list isn't all inclusive, though should be most of the mechanics which cause unpredictable behavior.
Dying
Mirror Images
Invisibility
Ice Block
Vanish
Feign Death
Hand of Protection
Divine Intervention
Divine Shield
Shadowmeld


Ways to mess up aggro on Big Ooze:
Pets that automatically taunt, very bad.
Army of the Dead

Other possible mistakes:
Running back to raid prior to confirming a merge, only one can merge at a time. It's not an exact science but until you see yours merge, you shouldn't be running back to the middle. You, the infected party, are responsible for making yours merge. No one else is responsible for this but you. If yours doesn't merge, it's your fault, no one elses."

Also, while reading through all the posts, it seems like the Ranged/Healers want to spread out around Rotface, not stay grouped up.

Additionally, you want to avoid cleansing slimes. This causes him to do a new slime faster and in turn causes him to speed up the rate of his infections going out. They seem to be based on how many injections are thrown, not how much HP he has or how long the fight drags on.

Good to know thanks nash.

-Awb