Imperator Mar'gok Strategy

[Skye]

Imperator Mar'gok Tips & Strategy

The Imperator Mar'gok encounter is long, with four phases, and very complex.

Mar'gok begins the fight with a certain set of abilities, and as he falls below various health thresholds, he will empower these abilities with additional effects by activating Runestones around the room. Between the second and third phase, and the third and fourth phase, players will have an Intermission where they must deal with a variety of add spawns while Mar'gok is immune to damage.

Phase 1

Mar'gok uses four major abilities, almost always in this order, throughout the fight.

-Arcane Wrath places a Branded debuff on a random player.
-The Branded debuff will expire after 4 seconds, dealing heavy damage to the player it just expired from, and will attempt to jump to another player within range.
-Each time the ability jumps, it gains a stack, will deal more damage when it expires, and halves its jump range; the debuff will expire after 12 jumps or when no other players are close enough for it to make a successful jump.
-Initially the debuff has a jump range of 200 yards, but by the time it reaches 5 stacks, it has a jump range of only 7 yards.
-Players should force Branded to expire early by running away from the raid when they are affected with a Branded debuff of 5 stacks or more.

Force NovaArcane Aberration:

Mar'gok will summon an Arcane Aberration that will pulse light AoE damage to nearby players. This add should be picked up by the off-tank and dragged into melee to be killed quickly.

Mark of Chaos:

Mark of Chaos is applied to the active tank, and requires a tank swap. The debuffed tank must run far from the raid, as the detonation that occurs when Mark of Chaos expires has a 35-yard range and will deal fatal or near-fatal damage to any players within its area of effect.

Force Nova:

Force Nova emanates out from Imperator Mar'gok and deals moderate to heavy damage to players as it passes through their position. If a player is running in the same direction as the Force Nova, they will be struck multiple times and are likely to die; players should run through the Force Nova to reduce incoming damage.

Destructive Resonance:

Additionally, Mar'gok will cast Destructive Resonance approximately every 15 seconds. This creates a mine at a random ranged player's feet, which becomes active after only a few seconds and will persist for one minute. Players must run out of Destructive Resonance to avoid triggering it, as detonating the Mine deals heavy raid-wide damage and will afflict the player who triggered it with a debuff that stuns them each time they take Arcane damage.

The general strategy for the fight is for the tank to slowly drag Mar'gok clockwise around the room from his starting position, with ranged lagging behind to drop Destructive Resonance mines in safe places. Tanks affected by Mark of Chaos should try to move either to the alcoves on the outer edge of the encounter area, or to the opposite side of the room, to ensure no players are within 35 yards when the Mark detonates. All DPS should kill the Aberrations when they spawn.

Phase 2

-Arcane Wrath: Displacement traps you in a ring only you can seeAfter reaching 90% health, Mar'gok becomes empowered with the Power of Displacement, which causes all of these abilities to affect the player's movement in some way.
-The Branded: Displacement debuff prevents players from moving out of a ring only they can see. A player afflicted with 5 or more stacks of Branded Displacement must move to one extreme edge of their ring, and the rest of the raid must watch their position and move in the opposite direction to help eradicate the ability.
-The Displacing Arcane Aberration will knock players back when it dies, so melee must position themselves such that the Impactful Pulse will not push them into a bomb.
-Mark of Chaos: Displacement will teleport the affected tank to a random player's location, and the tank must adjust their movement plan to ensure no players are struck by the detonation effect.
-Force Nova: Displacement will push players back with it if they do not move through it, so players should run forward through the Nova. Use a speed boost or a personal damage-reduction cooldown if no speed boost is available.
-Destructive Resonance: Displacement grows to double its size before expiring.

Intermission 1

Gorian Warmages - At 55% health, Mar'gok will become immune to damage while he begins to draw power from the second Runestone. Two Gorian Warmages will spawn to the left and right of the entrance to the encounter area. These mages will Fixate on random players and cast Nether Blast at them, dealing heavy damage to that player and all players within a few yards. The Fixated players should move out of the raid. The raid should focus on killing one Warmage first, then the other, rather than splitting damage.

Volatile Anomaly adds will also spawn; they should be picked up by the tanks and held far from the Warmages so that they do not get buffed by Dominance Aura. When a Volatile Anomaly dies, it Destabilizes, so players should stagger these adds' deaths so that this damage is spread out over several seconds, and healers should use raid CDs to keep the raid alive.

Phase 3

Fortified Arcane Aberration - Mar'gok becomes empowered with the Power of Fortification, which makes all of his basic abilities more time-consuming to deal with. The Branded Fortification debuff will only reduce its jump range by one quarter, rather than one half. When Branded Fortification's stacks get high, around 8-9 (25-31 yards), the affected player must run in one direction, while nearby raid members must run in the opposite direction, in order to cause the debuff to fizzle. The Arcane Wrath damage will be extremely high for the late jumps, so the affected players and the healers must be prepared to use CDs to prevent deaths. The Fortified Arcane Aberration is immune to stuns and crowd-control effects and has a very high health pool.

Mark of Chaos Fortification will root the tank in place. The tank must either preemptively move away from the raid just before Mark of Chaos Fortification is cast, or must use certain movement abilities such as Heroic Leap during the debuff, to get away, or, the raid must run away from the affected tank to avoid dying to the detonation.

Force Nova Fortification will occur three times over 16 seconds, instead of just once. Healers may require throughput CDs to heal through this damage.

Destructive Resonance Fortification persists for two minutes instead of one.

Intermission 2

Tanks pick up and swap the Gorian Reaver at 25% health, Mar'gok again becomes immune to damage and summons the Gorian Warmages. In addition to the Volatile Anomalies, tanks must also pick up the Gorian Reaver and be sure to point him away from the raid for Devastating Shockwave. Tanks will also have to swap whenever the Gorian Reaver uses Kick to the Face.

Phase 4

Mar'gok becomes empowered with the Power of Replication, which causes all of his basic abilities to duplicate their effects in some way.
-The Branded Replication debuff will jump to two players the first time it jumps. This creates additional strains on healers and means that two players must successfully run away from the raid to cause the debuff to fizzle without passing it to each other.
-The Replicating Arcane Aberration will summon 7 Arcane Remnant when it dies. Tanks must be prepared to pick these extra adds up, and DPS must kill them.
-Mark of Chaos Replication will create 8 Orbs of Chaos around the tank when it expires. These Orbs will move in straight lines, dealing extremely heavy damage to any players who come in contact with them.
-Force Nova Replication will cause each player affected by Force Nova to reflect damage to allies within 4 yards. Healing cooldowns will be needed to heal the melee DPS through this effect, while ranged DPS should spread out to avoid friendly fire.
-Destructive Resonance Replication will create two additional Destructive Resonances when it is triggered or expires naturally.

Tank Responsibilities

-Run far away from the raid when afflicted by Mark of Chaos; use movement speed-boosting abilities to assist in getting 35 yards away
-Taunt Mar'gok when the other tank is afflicted by Mark of Chaos
-Tank swap again about halfway between Mark of Chaos casts, to avoid stacking Accelerated Assault too highly
-When not tanking Mar'gok, taunt Arcane Aberrations and pull them into the melee DPS group
-During Intermission 1, taunt Volatile Anomalies and tank them far from the Gorian Warmages
-In Phase 3, you may not be able to move with Mark of Chaos: Fortification; call for the raid to run away from you
-During Intermission 2, tanks swaps will be required for the Gorian Reaver's Crush Armor/Kick to the Face mechanics
-In Phase 4, avoid running through your own Orbs of Chaos when returning from Mark of Chaos: Replication
-In Phase 4, after the Replicating Arcane Aberration dies, pick up the 7 Arcane Remnants that spawn

Damage-Dealer Responsibilities

-Move out of raid if Fixated for Nether Blast
-Kill Arcane Aberrations as quickly as possible
-Avoid standing in, passing through, or being knocked back into Destructive Resonance
-If you are afflicted by Branded, Branded: Displacement, Branded: Fortification, or Branded: Replication, check the number of stacks on your debuff and run away from the raid if it is 5 or higher
-Use a damage-reduction cooldown if affected by any form of Branded
-Move forward through Force Nova to reduce damage taken
-During Intermissions, melee DPS should focus on killing Gorian Warmages and ranged DPS should focus on Volatile Anomalies and the Gorian Reaver
-Interrupt the Gorian Warmages' Nether Blast whenever possible
-Move out of the path of Orbs of Chaos

Healer Responsibilities

-Force Wave: Displacement can deal heavy damage
-Strong single-target healing is needed on players affected by Arcane Wrath (after Branded expires), on players Fixated by Gorian Warmages, and on tanks
-Raidwide AoE healing will be necessary during Force Nova
-Raid CDs should be used to survive Volatile Anomaly's Destabilize and the Phase 2, 3, and 4 Force Novas
-Avoid standing in, passing through, or being knocked back into Destructive Resonance
-If you are afflicted by Branded, Branded: Displacement, Branded: Fortification, or Branded: Replication, check the number of stacks on your debuff and run away from the raid if it is 5 or higher
-Use a damage-reduction cooldown if affected by any form of Branded
-Move out of the path of Orbs of Chaos

When to Use Bloodlust/ Heroism/ Time Warp
Although the fight is long enough to be able to use Bloodlust/ Heroism/ Time Warp twice if it is used at the start of the encounter, the first 10% of the fight is very easy and there is little benefit to doing so. It may be more useful to save Bloodlust/Heroism/ Time Warp for Intermission 2, to help kill the Gorian Reaver and the Volatile Anomalies before the first Replicating Arcane Aberration spawns.