Battling Anzu

Every Druid who wants Swift Flight form eventually finds themselves facing Anzu, The Raven God. Anzu is the second boss in Heroic Sethekk Halls and can only be summoned by a Druid who is on their flight form quest or who has completed their flight form quest.

Back in the day (using BBB's old person phrasing ;p ), when I got my flight form, it was within a couple of days of the quest line becoming available, and let me tell you....Anzu was hard. We went in all excited to be one step away from speedy flying and quickly found ourselves in the middle of an Alfred Hitchcock movie. Granted, when we first tried, it was in the middle of the day and we didn't have an AoE class available or healers...in fact, since I had better healing gear than the other druid in the group, I was the main healer...yes, that's right...Heroic, Feral spec, less than +1k healing and I was the healer. To say that this first venture was a horror film in the making that Hitchcock could be proud of, is an understatement. In fact, we failed miserably and had to attempt it later with a better group make up.

Since then, though, Anzu has been nerfed a bit and we're certainly better geared than we were all those months ago. However, it was still a bit of a surprise when we downed him on the first shot...and, again, without an AoE class...at least we had a resto druid this time. Our group consisted of me (tank), my hubby Gankszor (rogue), Darma (feral-cat), Shikoe (resto druid), and Garthmaug (MS warrior) who came in at the last minute to take the place of the mage we had lined up who was otherwise detained (Thanks Garth!...btw, he also endured the endless hours of running Sethekk for me way...back in the day...the first time. For that he deserves a BIG THANKS!)

So, after last night's (actually, it was Monday, but I thought I lost this post until I happily found it in my drafts bucket) adventure and the successful completion of Darma's and Shikoe's quests, I thought I'd do a write up for Druids on how to conquer this boss. In fact, after last night, I think it's entirely possible to down Anzu with an all Druid group; Resto, Boomkin, Kitty, Bear and another Kitty or Boomkin...but, that's another story...

So, back to battling Anzu...

A Bit About Anzu

Before charging in recklessly to kill the big bird, there are a few things to note. Anzu has three bird statues that come to life when a druid casts a HoT on them. These three birds grant wonderful boons when awakened:

• Hawk Spirit - 500 less damage from every attack.
• Falcon Spirit - 25% movements speed increase and 25% ranged haste and spell casting haste.
• Eagle Spirit - 300 damage every second to all enemies.

As you can see, these birds are quite handy to have activated. So, it's a given that you will either want a Resto Druid or a Druid of any spec to off heal and keep these feathered friends HoTted up. It's best to use a Rank 1 Rejuvenation as it's insta-cast and uses minimal mana. Have your Druid make some targeting macros as it can be tedious trying to click the statues...especially when Anzu is in his banish/spawn birds phase and they're flying all around getting in the way.

Anzu also has a few tricks up his wing:

• Banish/Spawn Birds - At 66% and 33%, Anzu banishes himself and spawns a bunch of non elite birds. They don't deal a lot of damage, but they do needs to be dealt with before Anzu comes out of his banish. This is the part where an AoE class comes in really handy. However, a Hurricane and good ole fashioned DPS can quickly dispense them.
• Paralyzing Screech - A 6 second AoE stun for the entire party that can not be interrupted. Have the healers pop some HoTs on everyone and don't worry...too much.
• Spell Bomb - This is a curse that every caster needs to be aware of as it causes 1k damage and consumes 2k mana if they cast any spell what so ever while under this effect. It lasts 8 seconds and when someone gets it, they will be warned with a whisper. Because of this and the next item in the list, you really need to have an off healer. If your healer is plagued with the spell bomb, you'll be glad you had an off healer in the group.
• Cyclone of Feathers - This can be cast on any member of the group except the main tank. It's puts that member in a cyclone for 6 seconds that can only be dispelled with Mass Dispel. The cast can be interrupted. Again, an off healer is handy as this can be annoying if cast on the healer.

Battling Anzu

After you've completely cleared the room, it's reasonably safe to summon. Although on one occasion...out of the 6 or 7 times I've done this boss...we did have someone get feared into the next room agroing the trash before the last boss. So, if you want, you can clear that trash, but it's not really necessary.

Tank

When you summon, it's important to note that it takes an eternity for Anzu to actually show up. First, you get a black swirly cloud that hangs around for an interminable amount of time along with some verbiage that I zone out on...after a while...a long while, the ground will begin to shake. At this point, count 2-3 long seconds, then change to Bear form and hit Enrage. Don't worry, you have plenty of time for the Enrage debuff to fade before you ever get to hit Anzu. Once you see him spawn, you have another couple of seconds before you can hit him.

Once you can start dealing damage, do your normal threat generating routine...Mangle, Lacerate, Lacerate, Feral Faerie Fire, Mangle, Lacerate, Demoralizing Roar, Maul, Lacerate...you know the drill. At this point, it's pretty much tank and spank until he goes into his banishment/spawn birds phase.

When he banishes he also spawns 10 or so non elite birds. Much like the summoning phase, it takes a while for the birds to fly down enough for you to target and hit them. So, right as Anzu banishes, you can Enrage and by the time the birds are close enough to do damage, your debuff will be gone and you will have enough rage to Swipe their feather off. Another option in this phase is to pop out, activate Barkskin, and cast Hurricane to help AoE them down. No matter which option you choose, by the time he gets to the second banishment phase, your cooldowns should be up. When the banishment is about to expire, redirect your attention back to Anzu and leave any remaining birds to the rest of the party to kill. If you stayed in Bear form during this phase and are out of rage, quickly pop out and back into Bear form, providing you have 5/5 in Furor, and you'll have enough to get a good Mangle on Anzu as soon as he comes back.

Continue to tank him as before. When he goes into has second banishment phase at 33%, either repeat what you did on the first one or use the alternate tactic.

Healing and Bird HoTting

If you're in charge of healing and/or keeping HoTs on the bird statues, you'll want to have a few macros at hand. These will make your job a lot easier and prevent you from having to manually target the statues.

• /cast [target=Hawk Spirit] Rejuvenation (Rank 1)
• /cast [target=Falcon Spirit] Rejuvenation (Rank 1)
• /cast [target=Eagle Spirit] Rejuvenation (Rank 1)

Other than keeping the HoTs up, just heal as you normally do in a Heroic instance. I'm not a healer, so I won't pretend to give you advice...head on over to Resto4life for that kinda stuff. ;)

Other than your normal heal stuff, you will want to keep an eye out for the Spell Bomb. If you have this on you, let the other healer know so they can take over. If you don't, the group will wipe. Also, during the banishment/bird spawn phase, you can Barkskin and Hurricane if the party isn't needing your healing skills.

DPS

If you're DPSing as either kitty or Boomkin, just do what you do best...making sure that, if you're the back-up healer, you pop out of form and take over when needed. Set up the macros above so you can keep the birds activated if the Druid in charge of those is spell bombed or cycloned. Also, popping a Barkskin and Hurricane in the banishment/bird spawn phase is a good idea if you're not on heal duty.

In no time, Anzu will be dead and you'll be on your way to the Cenarian Expedition camp to complete your quest! Be sure to take to the quest giver again after you get your flight form so you can get the Moonstone which will allow you to summon Anzu on future visits to Sethekk Halls.