ICC Guide: Lord Marrowgar

http://www.wowwiki.com/Lord_Marrowgar

This is the first boss in ICC and this post will describe the fight from a shadow priests point of view in 10 and 25 man normal modes as well as 10 man heroic. I will only blog about my experiences from bosses I have killed and hopefully will update this post if I manage a kill on 25 man heroic. The wow wiki link above gives some background information on the boss and some of his abilities and I am presuming a basic understanding of the fight.

10 Man Normal Point of View

Lord Marrowgar has a large hit box, the common tactic for this boss involves the entire raid standing inside his hitbox to negate the effects of Coldflame which will spawn outside of his hitbox. This makes the fight a standstill and nuke fight for the most part. When the tank is positioning the boss you can safely throw off a Devouring Plague and SW:D to start building stacks of Shadow Weaving or spell power buffs on any trinkets you might have. Once the boss is in position kick start your normal rotation. The boss has an ability called Bone spike, which will impale one random person (not the tank). A shadowpriest is not equipped to deal serious DPS because of the ramp up nature of our spells so casting DoT's on the bone spike is a DPS loss because of the global cooldown involved and the fact the DoT might tick once. An understanding raid leader will allow you stay on the boss full time but if you are required to hit the bone spike, tab SW:D and Mind Blast should provide a solid 10k damage. The boss will Bone Storm at points in the fight, with good healing it is possible to stand still and continue to nuke the boss while moving from cold flame. If your healers are not comfortable with healing through the damage it is a matter of moving out of cold flames and moving away from the boss when he comes close to you. The bosses whirlwind causes more damage the closer you are to him, coupled with a coldflame you will take serious damage so have dispersion ready to save yourself. It is generally a good idea to stay within the circle (that the boss is in before the pull happens) to avoid becoming isolated from your healers. It is possible to keep all DoT's ticking and continue your rotation during this phase. Expect at least 2 Bone Storm phases.

25 Man Normal Point of View

The fight is identical to 10 man except Bone Spike now hits 4 people. If you have glyphed for the extra range on Mind Sear you can Mind Sear the boss as the Bone Spikes hit. Use a mod such as Deadly Boss mods or Quartz casting bar to see when this cast is occuring. Your mind sear should hit all 4 bone spikes if you use the boss as your target. If not, tab to the nearest Spike and Mind Sear it. The AoE from multiple classes should ensure that the Spikes go down within one Mind Sear cast. It is a nice DPS boost and a contribution to the raid. The damage from Bone Storm and Coldflame is a lot higher in 25 man so the tip regarding Dispersion is even more valid.

10 Man Heroic Point of View

The difference between 10 man normal and 10 man heroic is the amount of damage you take and the boss now casts bone spike during his bone storm. This fight is purely about survival and as a shadow priest you are better equipped then most classes. The bone spike still hits one person but the health of the bone spike is increased. It is still not viable for a shadow priest to switch from the boss to the spike unless a DPS has died. When bone storm occurs you need to spread out around the inner circle, do not become isolated from your healers and your fellow DPS. If you get bone spiked outside of their range you will die. If you get bone spiked during the bone storm use dispersion immediately. It is a life saver particularly when a combination of the boss in close proximity, coldflames and a bone spike hitting you. Expect 3 bone storms during the fight and expect to be asked to use your Divine Hymn to help out the healers during one of those phases. Do not under any circumstance continue casting the hymn if you are in the path of his bone storm or standing in coldflame. Damage prevention abilities and hybrid heals are normally cast during each bone storm to ensure survival. If you are the only priest in the raid throwing a Prayer of Mending onto any random player can provide a nice healing boost to the raid.

If you are not specced for Improved VE and to a lesser extent Improved Shadowform, now is the time to consider it. The healing from VE is a real benefit to the raid and the improved self healing benefits really shine through on healing intensive hard modes. The virtual interrupt immunity from imp shadow form is also a welcome addition allowing you DPS through the bone storm and ensuring full duration on your hymn.

Hope this helps someone out :)