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We had heals/casters on the balcony.
Off tank/rogue combo on each terrace.
Problems came at the splits. The idea was to kill the clones first and when they popped return them to the lower terrace to the MT. We made it through one split with casualties. But at the second we were too depleted by clone leakage to the caster area.
Tried Druid bears on upper stairs as a safety net and that didn't work either. The clones still made it to the caster area and earthshocked or whatever they do to one shot multiple caster types.
I do understand where the guides are [wowwikki etc] I'm looking for your guilds experience with this fight.
We downed him last nigth for the first time, so i am by no means an expert on him.
But what we did was:
3 tanks, one on each platform, our MT on the middle one with one priest assigned to each of them. All casters and melee on top, exept for one rogue on each left and rigth platform. We also had a druid OT to "patrole" the top platform along with our fury warriors incase a split or skeram himself got loose.
this way we killed him rather fast on our 3try with no deaths, im rather happy with that resault :)
What we do is have healers, casters, and Hunters standing either on the stairs, the ledges surrounding the stairs, or right at the top of the encounter area (above and behind where Skeram spawns).
Skeram has 3 main abilities: Mind Control, Arcane Explosion, and Earth Shock. You probably know this, but I'll outline them for posterity.
Mind Control: Only targeted against the person 2nd on the aggro list. Arcane Explosion: 1000+ AoE arcane damage spam if 4+ people are in melee range. Earth Shock: 2000+ AoE nature damage spam if the top of his aggro list is not in melee range.
To deal with this, then, we do the following:
Tanks are positioned at the usual places, left, right, and centre. Each side has the following 1 Tank, 1 Secondary Tank, and 1 Rogue within melee range of Skeram. The Tank is, obviously, highest on the aggro list for that side. The Rogue is second highest. The Secondary Tank on each side is only there in the event that there are multiple Skerams, Skeram gets away, or the MT in their area dies. Otherwise, they essentially stand still.
On the stairs, or the ledges on the sides of the stairs (to be in casting range of both the centre and their assigned side), we have 3 healers dedicated to their side's Tank, Secondary Tank, and Rogue.
Mages are responsible for polymorphing any MC'd Rogues.
Clones are priority kills on a split. Focused damage on one clone, then the second clone, and then Skeram himself.
What it sounds like you're having trouble with is the Earth Shock. And the reason for that is your tanks not getting aggro on Skeram or his clones before the DPS starts unloading. As soon as the ranged DPS pulls aggro, he starts spamming Earthshock and moving towards the casters; once there, he starts spamming AE. That equates to a dead raid.
Make use of DPS calls. Let your raid know that their DPS should be OFF at 77%, 52%, and 27% in preparation for the split. The ONLY people doing DPS just prior to the split should be the MT and the Rogue. When the split occurs, the MT and the Rogue should be given a few seconds to establish 1st and 2nd place on the aggro list before the DPS begins to unload.
We've one-shotted everything from Skeram through Ouro two weeks in a row now (with the exception of Viscidus, who we have yet to attempt), so it's been a while since I learned the Skeram fight. If I missed anything in my explanation, it's because I forgot.
Tanks are positioned at the usual places, left, right, and centre. Each side has the following 1 Tank, 1 Secondary Tank, and 1 Rogue within melee range of Skeram. The Tank is, obviously, highest on the aggro list for that side. The Rogue is second highest. The Secondary Tank on each side is only there in the event that there are multiple Skerams, Skeram gets away, or the MT in their area dies. Otherwise, they essentially stand still.
exactly. from what the OP describes, the tanks arent where they should be, otherwise there would be no boss running around in the range groups.
The Rogue does--and should not be--too high on Skeram's aggro list, however. The only purpose is for him to become the target of True Fulfillment, which Skeram casts on the NEAREST person, regardless of who or what that person is. Our rogues simply unequip their weapons, stand in the center of Skeram and/or his clones, and wait to be MC'd and sheeped.
The biggest mistake, as Dyn indicated, is going to be the tanks. They MUST grab Skeram fast; by fast, its literally half a second... anymore, and you've got two Skerams on one side, most likely earth shocking before anybody can respond. The second problem is going to be DPS. Again, just as Dyn mentioned, ALL DPS should stop when he splits. Everybody in your raid should have Target's Target on, and if they DO get aggro, for whatever reason, they should jump off the balcony immediately.
We're not quite as far as Dyn, but we've got Skeram down pat. :)
Assign 2 tanks and 1 rogue to each platform (left, right and mid) and then do what others have already outlined for you, a spare tank will make the learning process easier.
Put a raid symbol on the real skeram on the pull too, it'll stay on him at splits and make it much easier to spot the clones :D
If you have 6 warriors, have 3 tanks on each platform, and 3 warriors in tanking gear with a white 3-4 DPS weapon spamming sunder when Skeream pops. He won't get agro, but he can shield bash and can will get MCed to minimal effect.
Frees up all the rogues to DPS also.
Mark Skeream with Raid Target so you always know which are clones as well.
Rogues DPSing means that there will be constant Arcane Explosions--and even kick isn't on that short of a cooldown. 2 Warriors, 1 Rogue is the best way to do it. Granted, if you have more than 6 warriors, by all means--use them as the MC puppet... but how many people are walking in with 8 or 9 warriors?
I'd like to thank all of you for your time and advice. Sadly we are still struggling. One sequence out of four was promising but still wipey overall.
I think the points that have been made about tank aggro and grabbing the clones is the crux of our problem.
Ran into problems with Arcane explosions as well though. Just to be clear this is triggered by more than four people in melee range of Skeram or his clones?
Some info on the rogue mind control dummy would be welcome as well.
Real quick, you may or may not know this fact, but Skeram has a pissy ability that when he splits the warriors taunt him, good right? but if he (splits) gets another taunt it takes off to who knows where and starts arcaning. 1 taunt only to get his attention.
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