Lord Jaraxxus

Jaraxxus' True Form: Loot Pinata

At first I was delighted to watch a gnome die every week, but as we’ve done this fight time and again, I started to realize that my real joy was watching our dps get incredibly good at killing all the adds which are designed to make healers knash their teeth. The damage effects in heroic are the same as normal, the simply hit harder and dpsing down the portals and infernals becomes ever more a priority. Having more than two mistresses up at any given time is a wipe. This is because of one major difference between normal mode Jaraxxus and hardmode—the addition of Mistress’ Kiss. If you cast while this buff has been applied (provided a paladin does not have aura mastery up), you will be locked out of your selected spell’s school of magic. For some healers this royally stinks; for resto shamans it’s a time to practice the head fake.

• Healing Setup: 1 dedicated healer for each tank (we use 1 tank on the boss, 1 on the adds). All other healers are raid. Pallies with Aura Mastery are a definite plus.
• Raid Positioning: Option 1 – everyone spread out around the room, so that damage is distributed and the number of affected players is minimized. Option 2 – People spread out on a section of the room, or in groups, so that healing is centralize. Either way, distribute your healers evenly.
• The Resto Sham: ES on the main tank, since he will get hit very regularly. CH-thru-tank is a good option here since melee do take splash damage (from flames, from infernos, and from the portal aura.) Also, set up PowerAuras to warn you when Jarraxus has Nether Power—purging this off of him (mages can spellsteal, priests can dispel), will significantly decrease the amount of damage the raid takes.
• The Bonus: There are a couple. First, make sure your Grid is set to display Legion Flame and Incinerate Flesh. RT is a perfect solution for the former (provided that the player actually realizes that he/she needs to move.) For the latter, if it’s ranged I will generally opt for LHW/RT; if it’s an afflicted melee, I’ll elect to use CH. Secondly, Aura Mastery, if activated after the Mistress’ Kiss is applied, will negate the lockout effect. Otherwise, resto shamans can start a Lava Burst cast, which will result in them being locked out of the fire school for 8 seconds but will also remove the Kiss and allow them to continue healing as normal. (Hooray shamans!) Thirdly, portals and the initial inferno will always spawn to Jarraxus’ right side, meaning that the smart healer can position themselves accordingly, knowing that he/she will be in range when damage output from adds increases.

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