Welcome to the first in a new feature of Heroic Dungeon Strategies. If you’re stuck or struggling with a particular boss, then this is where you should hopefully find they key to your problem.
The Nexus
Starting then with the introduction to Wrath of the Lich King dungeons, The Nexus.
There are a number of routes to take in the Nexus, but I’m going to take you on my Guild’s usual route. Seems to be the fastest for us, but feel free to use your own.
Commander Stoutbeard (Horde) / Commander Kolurg (Alliance)
This boss is optional but why would you ignore him when he drops Blues and an Emblem of Heroism?
His main attacks are a Charge, an AoE Fear and Whirlwind. It is the Whirlwind you most need to worry about. So, all ranged and healer stand at max distance at all times. When the tank pulls and picks up the Boss and his two adds he should pull them back away from other frozen mobs to avoid any ninja pulling. Unless you want the fun and are geared for it… 
All should focus on the adds as they heal. Mark them to make this easier. When both are down, nuke the Boss.
Healers need to watch for Whirlwind and make sure the big heals are queued up and ready, especially if your party is melee heavy. There is no excuse in this fight for ranged players to get hit. None at all. Keeping your distance will minimise the probability of getting AoE feared as well, though it’s duration is fairly short, so melee players shouldn’t have to worry too much if you’ve pulled the Boss back far enough.
That’s it for this guy. It’s fast and with a bit of care very easy.
Grand Magus Telestra
Moving on to the mage then, and we find her in circular room all of her own. You don’t all need to be in the room before the encounter starts as it doesn’t close. However, you might be better clearing the trash outside as she does occasionally run outside. I haven’t figured out why yet…
Anyway, tank starts the fight as normal. Melee and ranged nuke as normal. This is a test of the healer. Telestra has several AoE attacks which, while not hitting for too much, will require significant and skilled group healing.
She casts Firebomb on one target which damages the target and anyone surrounding that target. She casts Ice Nova, damaging and stunning anyone within 60 yards. And she casts Gravity Well, which will fling you around the room causing fast damage over 6 seconds. You can’t do anything that has cast time during this 6 seconds, so if you have DoTs, get them up.
The healer will have to keep an eye on all party members through this first Phase. Phase 2 occurs at 50% health. She will vanish and create three clones. A frost mage, arcane mage and fire mage. Kill the frost mage first to reduce AoE damage (Blizzard – stay out of it) then nuke the other two down. They can be CC’d if you want to reduce damage further. No Mind Control though…
On Heroic the arcane mage will cast Time Stop and no-one can move or cast – so your healer will need to make sure everyone is topped up at all times.
Once you’ve killed the clones Telestra will reappear at 50% health. She’ll carry on as before with the same attacks. At 25% health she’ll freeze you all and cast Fireball Volley that will hit everyone within 30 yards. On Heroic there is a chance she will vanish and create the clones again, so be ready to repeat that process. After that, nuke away until dead. It’s a very simple fight for DPS and tank, but your healer is going to be tested.
Anomalus
Next we come to Anomalus, the arcane elemental. Essentially a very easy fight. Anomalus casts various arcane spells which your healer, depending on his level of skill, should have no problem with. The Boss, however, will spawn Chaotic Rifts which WILL cause huge amounts of damage. All DPS should focus on those rifts immediately and nuke them down. Just keep doing this and the fight will be cake.
At 75%, 50% and 25% health Anomalus will create a Rift and shield himself, becoming immune to all attacks. To free him up nuke down the rift as fast as possible. Rinse and repeat this strategy until he’s down. Oh, Mana Wraiths will spawn – get a DPS take them out if they cause you trouble. That’s it!
Ormorok the Tree-Shaper
Ok, here’s the deal with this guy. It’s another relatively easy fight. Tank as normal to start the fight. All DPS nuke and the healer keeps the tank up.
Ormorok will use these abilities: Trample (damage to all nearby enemies); Spell Reflect (stop casting!); Crystal Spikes (these appear outwards from the boss and will erupt after a few seconds causing damage and flinging you into the air – just run away from them).
Keep that in mind and you’ll do fine. He will occasionally summon adds which will slow the healer down so assign a DPS to take them out. They’re very weak. At 25% health he will enrage, doubling his damage output. Just keep nuking and let your healer worry about the tank. He WILL hit plate for about 8k, if not more, so make sure your healer is aware of this.
And finally…Keristrasza
In the centre of The Nexus you’ll find the final Boss, the dragon Keristraza. Make sure you’ve cleared all the patrolling adds from around her tomb (that includes the passageways leading out to the other areas of the instance). To start the fight, position the tank near the Boss and begin clicking the 3 orbs surrounding her.
This will release her from her ice prison and your tank can pick her up. DPS and healer need to stand to the sides of her, as she casts Crystal Breath in front and has a Tail Sweep behind. There is a constant debuff in place called Intense Cold. This will stack up to nine times and cause increasing damage as it does. To remove this debuff each member of your party need only jump between casts / shots / melee – THIS INCLUDES THE TANK.
Keristraza will also cast Crystal Chains, quite frequently on Heroic, which will bind the party to the floor for 10 seconds and allow Intense Cold to build up. You can either heal through this or better yet, have a Shaman use Grounding Totem at all times or all have the PvP trinket which also removes the chains.
At 25% she will Frenzy. This is going to hurt your tank. DPS go full nuke, use all cooldowns and get her down within 15 seconds. If you don’t, your tank is going to take one full on Frenzy melee hit that your healer may not be able to handle! Sounds scary, but it’s not that bad – just do your jobs at this point to the best of your ability and you’ll have her down for some nice Emblems and loot.
For the Warlock
Loot from The Nexus that will suit the Warlock includes Telestra’s Journal (Grand Magus Telestra), Gloves of the Crystal Gardener (Ormorok) and Gloves of Glistening Runes (Keristraza).
There are other caster drops but they suit healers better so unless they really don’t need them and they represent a real upgrade for you don’t bother with them.
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