Anzu - optional boss in heroic Sethekk Halls

[Arcdelad]

From Wowwiki:

Anzu, the Raven God.Anzu the Raven God is a new boss in Sethekk Halls (on Heroic difficulty only). Summoning and killing Anzu allows a druid to complete the Epic Flight Form quest. To summon Anzu, a druid who either is currently on or has already completed said quest must use the item Essence Infused Moonstone.

Anzu has around 230,000 health.

Spell Bomb - 8 second curse, burning 2000 mana and deals 1000 damage if a player affected by it casts a spell; Anzu whispers the player affected by the debuff, effectively warning of the effect. It is very important that casters take note of when they have this debuff on them. If you continue to cast whilst this debuff is on you, it will very probably result in a party wipe. If you are unlucky and your druid is repeatedly given this debuff, you will probably find it very difficult to complete this fight.

Cyclone of Feathers - Targets a random party member (minus tank) and puts them in a cyclone for 6 seconds. Considered a magic effect, but the debuff also makes you immune for normal dispels. Can be dispelled with Mass Dispel. This ability has a cast bar and can (and should) be interrupted.

Paralyzing Screech - A 6 second AoE stun on the entire group. Has a 5 second cast time but is not interruptible in any way. It is recommended to place heal over time spells and shields on the tank when you see the cast. Cannot be outranged (100 yard range).

Banish/Spawn Birds - At 66% then 33% he will banish himself and spawn non elite crows with about 14k health. The crows do around 700 damage on cloth (around 300 with the Hawk Spirit up) and can be crowd-controlled.

[edit] Bird statues
When Anzu is summoned, three friendly NPC birds appear as well. Casting a druid HoT on the birds will awaken them for the HoT's duration, and will provide the following effects to the group:

Hawk Spirit (left): All players receive 500 less damage from every attack. Applied before armor.
Eagle Spirit (right): Deals 300 damage every second to all enemies in the room.
Falcon Spirit (back): Grants 25% movement speed increase, 25% ranged haste and 25% spell casting haste.
[edit] Group makeup
1 Tank - Anzu does not hit particularly hard, especially with Hawk Spirit's damage reduction buff.
2/3 DPS - It is strongly recommended that at least one of these has AoE capabilities, but this is not required.
2/1 Healers - Depending on tank's and healers' gear, one to two healers may be enough. A druid healer can keep the bird spirits up during both phases, providing additional damage mitigation - while a druid tank can only keep the spirit buffs up when Anzu is banished. If a healer gets cycloned or spell bombed, it may be desirable to have an offhealer pick up the load temporarily; although, depending on gear, both effects can be safely outlived.
At least one of the group members must be a Druid, since Anzu can only be summoned by using a Druid-only quest item/key. A druid may enter the instance and summon Anzu for a druid-less group, but doing so would make this encounter more difficult in the absence of statue buffs.

[edit] Strategy
The fight is a regular tank-and-spank during phase 1. If a caster is afflicted by Spell Bomb, they should STOP casting immediately; if a healer is afflicted, an offhealer, if present, should heal the party for the duration of the debuff.

As Anzu approaches 66% (and later 33%), he'll self-banish and summon birds that should be AoE'ed. It is very beneficial to keep the Eagle Spirit active during Phase 2, taking advantage of its 300 DPS room-wide AoE. You will probably find that the Eagle Spirit's AoE is more successful than any mage or druid AoE that you use. There is also the advantage that the Eagle Spirit's AoE will not draw aggro to any party member. If you have a Frost Mage in your party, have them freeze the bird flock to help avoid harm to your party members. Anzu will unbanish after 1 minute or when all birds are dead - whichever comes first. If it seems likely that the birds aren't going to die in one minute, the tank needs to pick up Anzu while the rest of the group finishes the birds off.

Generally, you'll want to keep the Hawk Spirit up as much as possible, the Eagle during phase 2 and the Falcon if you have spare time (the haste effect significantly increases the group's DPS, making the fight less time and mana consuming). Rank 1 Regrowth or Rejuvenation are basically free mana-wise, and are enough to keep the bird spirits up for 21 and 12 seconds respectively. While Regrowth is longer, Rejuvenation is instant cast - either may be used depending on the situation. The following macros enable you to cast Rejuvenation on a specific spirit without having to target it directly:

Eagle Spirit (AoE damage)  Hawk Spirit (Mitigation)  Falcon Spirit (Haste) 
/target Eagle Spirit
/cast Rejuvenation(Rank 1)

/targetlasttarget
/target Hawk Spirit
/cast Rejuvenation(Rank 1)

/targetlasttarget
/target Falcon Spirit
/cast Rejuvenation(Rank 1)

/targetlasttarget


Using macros such as the above will make this fight a lot easier than manual targeting. Manual targeting of the spirits becomes very difficult once the bird flock arrives due to the number of mobs on screen.

After the second, and last, wave of birds you may find the best way to finish the fight is to DPS Anzu down quickly.

[edit] Patch changes
The fight with Anzu has been significantly retuned in patch 2.1.2. Anzu can no longer be kited away and his Spell Bomb can be decursed:

Heroic Mode: Anzu, the Raven God may no longer be pulled far away from the location where he is summoned.
Heroic Mode: Anzu's Spell Bomb is now a curse and he will no longer charge.
Heroic Mode: The quantity and health of Minions of Anzu that spawn have been reduced.
Heroic Mode: The frequency and duration of many of his abilities have been retuned to make the fight more forgiving.
[edit] Notes
You may find it easiest to bunch together where Anzu is. It will mitigate confusion caused by the charge and will be easier for the AoEers when the flock of birds come.
If there's a feral druid, shift out and innervate a healer when he banishes.
Make sure you're ready to heal the AoEers when the birds arrive.
Try keep the left (hawk) and right (eagle) birds up at all times. Rank 1 regrowth is the best option because of the duration.
You don't need super DPS to kill him, he has pretty low HP - just play it smart.
If you have spell bomb on you, take that time to bandage yourself or someone who needs it.
This boss can only be summoned by a druid who has the quest or has done it. The summoning item can be received again after completing the quest. The item goes in the keyring.

NOTE: he does drop a rare raven mount:[wowitem]Reins of the Raven Lord[/wowitem]

[fiere redfern]

Going for your epic flight form, Arc?

*notes new avatar picture* =)

[Arcdelad]

hehe...I am indeed...although my avatar picture isnt related...i like to cycle through the various druid forms with their real life equivalents in my avatar pics...hehehe

[Muridin]

hehe...I am indeed...although my avatar picture isnt related...i like to cycle through the various druid forms with their real life equivalents in my avatar pics...hehehe

arc's crazy *gets straight jacket ready*