Halls of Reflection is the third and final in the series of 5-man instances inside Icecrown Citadel. This dungeon is the Lich King’s inner sanctum, and it’s here you’ll finally meet with the Lich King… sort of.  There are three bosses in this 5-man instance. 

Falric

Falric is the first of the three bosses in Halls of Reflection.  The battle begins with about four or five waves of various ghost mobs, with Falric becoming active after the fourth or fifth one.  The number of ghosts in the mob increases with each wave.  The important thing to remember about the ghosts is that anyone standing near them when they spawn can draw aggro, so it’s best to keep your healer and ranged DPS bunched in a corner or the entrance with the tank nearby.  Paladins will have a field day with all these ghost mobs, so it’s handy to have one along for the instance.  Always target the healers in these pre-fight trash mobs first.

Falric’s Abilities

Ghostly Adds, summoned pre-fight

• Ghostly Priest: Shadow Word: Pain, Circle of Destruction, Cower in Fear, Dark Mending
• Phantom Mage: Fireball, Frostbolt, Chains of Ice, Flamestrike
• Phantom Hallucination: Summoned by Phantom Mage, uses same abilities, except it explodes when killed.
• Shadowy Mercenary (rogue): Deadly Poison, Poisoned Daggers
• Spectral Footman (warrior): Shield Bash, Enrage
• Tortured Rifleman (hunter): Ice Shot, Cursed Arrow, Frost Traps

Quivering Strike

• 60 – 100 percent weapon damage
• Reduces ability to dodge
• Instant cast

Impending Despair

• Stuns
• Instant cast

Defiling Horror

• 2,500 damage per second
• Shadow damage
• Lasts 4 seconds
• Instant cast

Hopelessness

• Reduces damage and healing dealt by party members
• Instant cast

Falric Encounter Tactics

1. Falric attacks after the fourth fifth wave of ghostly adds, so if you didn’t start the fight in the corner by Falric, the entire party should start making its way over to Falric toward the end of the fourth wave of ghosts.
2. Falric is fairly easy to defeat.  It’s a simple tank and spank.  Just use all your dispelling abilities to get rid of Hopelessness.  Kill off all the adds like you did in the first four rounds, and then kill Falric.  Use crowd control methods as needed.

Marwyn

After a brief pause when you kill Falric, Marwyn will activate in the other corner of the room.  The fight is very similar to the battle against Falric.  It starts with waves of the same trash mobs, and Marwyn activates on the fourth or fifth one again.  Use the same strategy you used on Falric’s mobs, killing priests first.

Marwyn’s Abilities

Obliterate

• 20,000 – 30,000 damage
• Instant cast

Well of Corruption

• Increases Shadow damage taken
• 100 yard range
• Instant cast

Corrupted Touch

• Increases shadow damage 30 – 75 percent
• Lasts 20 seconds
• Instant cast

Corrupted Flesh

• Reduces maximum health 25 – 50 percent
• Lasts 10 seconds
• Instant cast

Shared Suffering

• 16,000 damage over 12 seconds
• Shadow damage
• If you dispel it, the damage is split among the whole party

Marwyn Encounter Tactics

1. This fight is just as simple as the one against Falric, with a few minor changes.  Don’t dispel Shared Suffering.  Healers should just heal individual party members through it.  Otherwise you face an entire party wipe.  Healers also watch your tanks because Obliterate does a lot of damage.
2. Stay out of the circles on the floor, or you could die because you’ll take a lot more damage than if you weren’t standing in them.

The Lich King

1. There’s no real strategy needed for the Lich King portion of Halls of Reflection.  You spend the entire time running away from him.  Just stay with the group and run away from him.  His abilities don’t really matter because you shouldn’t get close enough to him for him to them.  Let’s suffice it to say that if you don’t run away from him, he’ll kill you instantly.
2. While you’re fleeing, the Lich King will bring up walls come up to block your path.  Each time this happens, spin and take out the trash mobs.  It’s very easy.  Eventually you’ll get to the end of the path, and your gunship will come up and cause a rock slide to block the Lich King from getting you.
3. You’ll have to go all the way through the 10- and 25-man Icecrown Citadel raids to actually kill the Lich King.

The second wing of the Icecrown Citadel dungeon is the Pit of Saron.  It’s a large open area with mobs scattered all around.  There are three bosses in this 5-man instance: Forgemaster Garfrost, Krick and Ick, and Scourgelord Tyrannus.  You must have beaten the Forge of Souls instance before you can gain access to the Pit of Saron.

Here’s a quick Pit of Saron instance strategy guide.

Forgemaster Garfrost

The first boss to beat in the Pit of Saron instance is Forgemaster Garfrost.  His abilities are mostly frost-based, so use any extra frost resistance abilities or items you have.  The battle against Forgemaster Garfrost comes in three phases, and he uses different abilities in each of the three phases.

Forgemaster Garfrost’s Abilities

Permafrost

• 200 damage
• Frost damage
• Instant cast
• Stacks 30 times
• 200 yard radius

Throw Saronite

• 3,500-5,500 damage
• Physical damage
• Knockback
• 150 yard range
• 2 second cast

Thundering Stomp

• Stuns you for 2 seconds
• 50,000 yard range
• Instant cast

Forge Frozen Blade

• Doubles his frost damage
• 4 second cast

Chilling Wave

• 1,850-2000 damage per second
• Frost damage
• 40 yard range (in front of him)
• 65 yard radius (from the central point where it lands)

Forge Frostborn Mace

• Doubles his frost damage in regular mode
• Triples his frost damage in heroic mode
• 4 second cast

Deep Freeze

• 4,000-6,000 damage
• Frost damage
• Cuts movement speed in half
• Stuns you for 1 second
• 14 second cast
• 50,000 yard range

Forgemaster Garfrost Encounter Tactics

1. For the first phase, Forgemaster Garfrost utilizes only Permafrost, Throw Saronite, and Thundering Stomp.  Start by knocking down the adds which pull with him at the beginning.
2. Ranged DPS should watch for this emote: “Forgemaster Garfrost hurls a massive saronite boulder at you.”  It means he just cast Throw Saronite at you, so be ready to duck the boulder immediately. 
3. Pay attention to your Permafrost stack.  The spell stacks up to 30 times, which will kill you if you don’t pay attention to it.  Healers may not be able to keep with you if your stack gets too high.  Remember that Permafrost will stack about every three seconds.
4. Phase two of the Forgemaster Garfrost battle begins when he emotes, “Axe too weak.  Garfrost make better and Crush you!”  At this point he also creates a new weapon, which you’ll find under Forge Frozen Blade.  All party members should stand back and let their de-buffs run out while he’s forging his blade.  Remember, the new blade doubles his damage output, so be ready for even more damage.
5. Phase two also brings the ability Chilling Wave into the mix.  The healer and ALL DPS should stay behind Forgemaster Garfrost to avoid this ability.
6. Phase three begins when Forgemaster Garfrost is at 33% life.  He creates another new weapon at this point, which you can check out under Forge Frostborn Mace.  This new weapon doubles or triples his damage output again, so be ready.
7. Phase three also adds in the ability Deep Freeze.  Healers keep an extra eye on the players who get hit by Deep Freeze because it’s a hard hitter.

Krick and Ick

The second encounter you’ll face in the Pit of Saron instance is Krick and Ick.  This duo works together for a very active encounter.  There’s a lot of running in this encounter, so be ready to move with them. 

Krick and Ick Abilities

Toxic Waste

• Damage 25 percent of your total health every 2 seconds
• Nature damage
• Lasts 10 seconds
• Instant cast
• 40 yard range

 Mighty Kick

• 150 percent weapon damage
• Instant cast
• 10 yard range

Shadow Bolt

• 2,125 – 2,900 damage
• Shadow damage
• 40 yard range

Pursuit

• Ick starts chasing one party member

Pursuit Confusion

• Buffs Ick to cut movement speed in half and double damage dealt

Poison Nova

• 12,000 – 30,000 damage plus 1,500 – 6,500 damage every 3 seconds
• Nature damage
• Lasts 21 seconds

Explosive Barrage

• 3,000 – 6,000 damage
• Arcane damage
• 6 yard range

Krick and Ick Encounter Tactics

1. This is a very simple fight.  Ick is the only one who can be targeted, and you may not even notice Krick hanging onto Ick, although he sure does talk a lot.
2. The main thing to remember in this battle is not to stand in the green areas on the ground.  Stay out of the poison, and you’ll be fine.  Tanks can help by keeping the movement going and continually dragging Ick out of the poison areas.  Also watch out for Poison Nova and jump away when Ick casts it.  Watch for: “Ick begins to unleash a toxic poison cloud!”
3. Krick’s main function in the fight is to throw down mines around the fight area, so watch out for those and just keep moving.  This is definitely not a fight in which you can just stand in one place.

Scourgelord Tyrannus

The third and final encounter in the Pit of Saron instance is Scourgelord Tyrannus.  He rides on his mount, which is named Rimefang.  He dismounts Rimefang at the beginning of the fight, and Rimefang adds to the damage during the battle, although you can’t target him.  Just watch out for Rimefang’s effects, but don’t worry about taking him out because you can’t.

Scourgelord Tyrannus’ Abilities

Forceful Smash

• 28,275 – 52,875 damage
• Physical damage
• Knockback

Overlord’s Brand

• Mirrors all the damage the target is doing onto Scourgelord Tyrannus’ target
• Mirrors all healing from the target onto Scourgelord Tyrannus
• Lasts 8 seconds

Unholy Power

• Increases physical damage 75 percent (or 100 percent on heroic mode)
• Cuts movement speed in half
• Lasts 10 seconds

Rimefang

• Mark of Rimefang: Marks a target for attack
• Hoarfrost: 4,813 – 10,125 frost damage; stuns you for 5 seconds
• Icy Blast: 4,813 – 8,437 frost damage; Reduces movement speed by 75 percent

Scourgelord Tyrannus Encounter Tactics

1. The battle against Scourgelord Tyrannus is fairly simple.  Stay out of the ice patches created by Rimefang.  The tank may choose to use the ice patches to help slow Scourgelord Tyrannus’ movement speed, but all party members should keep moving so they’re not on the ice patches.
2. The only other thing to watch out for is Overlord’s Brand.  Whoever gets this spell cast on them should stop what they’re doing until it’s over.  Healers will find themselves healing Scourgelord Tyrannus if they don’t, and DPS will kill the tank if they keep it up during this spell.

Forge of Souls is the first wing of the new Icecrown Citadel instance in patch 3.3.  It’s home to two bosses: Bronjahm and the Devourer of Souls.  Forge of Souls is a five-man instance. 

Bronjahm

You’ve got to beat Bronjahm first in the Forge of Souls instance.  One thing to keep in mind is that Bronjahm fears your party members, but only while he’s casting Soulstorm a spell that can be deadly if you’re standing in the wrong place.

Bronjahm’s Abilities

Magic’s Bane

• 2,500 damage + damage in the amount of half your total mana, up to 10,000
• Physical damage
• Instant Cast
• 28 yard radius

Corrupt Soul

• 50,000 yard range
• Separates you from your body
• Instant Cast
• Lasts 4 seconds
• Spawns a Corrupted Soul Fragment

Consume Soul

• Heals Bronjahm if the Corrupted Soul Fragment reaches him.

Shadow Bolt

• 2828-3173 damage
• Shadow damage
• 20 yeard range
• 1 second cast

Teleport

• Teleports Bronjahm to the Soul Tower
• Automatically cast when Bronjahm reaches 30% health

Soulstorm

• Shadow damage every second
• Hits all group members
• Lasts 10 minutes
• 4 second cast

Fear

• Makes you flee
• Lasts 3 seconds
• Only cast during Soulstorm

 

Bronjahm Encounter Tactics

1. Phase 1 is your basic tank and spank.  The key thing to watch out for this first part of the battle is the Corrupted Soul Fragments.  DPS should break from attacking Bronjahm to destroy the Corrupted Soul Fragment before it reaches him.  If it reaches Bronjahm, it heals him, so whoever Bronjahn casts Corrupt Soul on should run as far away as possible from him so the Corrupted Soul Fragment has the maximum distance to travel to get to him. 
2. The second and final phase of the fight is Soulstorm, which Bronjahm casts as soon as his health is at 30 percent.  The entire group should stand within a 10-yard radius of Bronjahm to avoid taking damage from Soulstorm.  Look for Soulstorm to be cast right after Bronjahm teleports to the center of the room.  He also casts fear some of your party members, which will make them wander and not be able to stay in the center where it’s safe.  Healers, watch your feared targets during the Soulstorm, or they won’t live through it.

The Devourer of Souls

The second encounter in the Forge of Souls instance is the Devourer of Souls.  He pretty much casts Phantom Blast on your main tank for the entire battle, so you’ve got to have a solid strategy to beat him.

Here’s a quick strategy guide for the Devourer of Souls.

The Devourer of Souls’ Abilities

Phantom Blast

• 11,700 to 12,300 damage
• Shadow damage
• 2 second cast
• 15 yard range

Mirrored Soul

• A percentage of the damage being done to him is mirrored onto you.
• 100 yard range
• 2 second cast

Well of Souls

• 2,925 to 3,075 damage
• Shadow damage
• Instant cast
• 40 yard range

Unleashed Souls

• Releases tormented souls
• .85 second cast
• Lasts 5 seconds

Wailing Souls

• 4,875 to 5,125 damage
• Shadow damage
• Knocks you back

The Devourer of Souls Encounter Tactics

1. One of the first spells the Devourer of Souls will cast is Phantom Blast.  He sustains this spell on your tank whenever possible, so the focus should be on interrupting it, either with a stun ability from your tank or another similar ability from one of your DPS.  Healers should also be mindful of Phantom Blast because  it doesn’t take many to kill your tank.
2. All party members should watch out when the Devourer of Souls casts Well of Souls.  Any player standing in the Well of Souls will likely die, so be ready to move on a moment’s notice.
3. Watch out for the following emote: “Devourer of Souls begins to cast Mirrored Soul.”  All DPS should stop immediately when this emote appears because all damage you do to the Devourer of Souls is mirrored to one of your party members proportionally.  Let this debuff expire before you start DPS back up again.
4. Another spell to keep an eye out for is Wailing Souls.  The emote before this spell is cast reads: “Devourer of Souls begins to cast Wailing Souls.”  This spell is a broad sweep of the room and lasts for 15 seconds.  Don’t be in front of the Devourer of Souls when he casts Wailing Souls.
5. When the Devourer of Souls casts Unleashed Souls, he releases several wraiths, which you cannot kill.  In most cases you can ignore these, but watch out much damage you allow them to do before you run away.

Trial of the Champion is the first new 5-man instance of WotLK on World of Warcraft.  The fact that all the drops are epic will really help you gear up a second character.  If you’ve got a very experienced group and less-than-perfect gear, it is possible to run Trial of the Champion, but you may find it to be difficult.  You will need at least decent gear in order to run ToC successfully, and if you’ve got a good strategy up front to guide your group, ToC can be a very quick instance run.  You’ll find Trial of the Champion in the Crusaders’ Coliseum, which is in the Argent Tournament Grounds in Icecrown.

You’ll need your best jousting abilities to start off the instance.  You’ll start off mounted and face three champions of the opposite faction, generated randomly from a list of five.  On that list of five champions, pay attention to which three classes you draw in order to develop your strategy.  Always take out the champions’ main healer first.

You’ll need to knock all three of them off their mounts, and immediately run them over after you knock them off.  If you don’t run them over after you knock them off, they’ll jump up and find another mount, which basically means you’ll have to start all over again.  After all three of the champions are off their mounts, your group will automatically dismount and fight them on the ground.  After your group beats the three champions on the ground, stage two begins.

The second stage of ToC starts with some quick trash mobs scattered around the arena.  Those mobs are led by three lieutenant bosses.  Once again, kill the healer boss first, which is the priestess.  Kill the monk last because when he dies, your speed and damage automatically decrease under a de-buff he casts.   After these mobs, the second-stage boss comes out.  This boss will be either Argent Confessor Paletress or Eadric the Pure.

If you draw Argent Confessor Paletress, you’ll face her numerous priest abilities.  When you get her down to 25% health, she summons a random monster from your past.  You can’t damage Paletress while the monster is in the game, so kill that monster and be ready for a Paletress with full health afterward.  Also keep in mind that the monster is heavy on the fear, so healers will need to especially watch their tanks during this bout.

Eadric the Pure is a paladin, and if you draw him instead, watch out for the blinding spell he throws down.  You’ll need to keep turning your character to face away from him to avoid getting dazed.  Beating Eadric is pretty much all about keeping your DPS focused on him and trying not to face him.  Just keep your character turned away from him as much as you can during this battle.  Two of his three major attacks will stun you, so just keep that in mind as you play around it, whether you’re ranged or melee.

After you beat Paletress or Eadric, you face the Black Knight.  You’ve got to kill him three times before he stays dead.  For his undead form, use your basic tank and spank approach to quickly knock him down.  His second form is his skeleton form, which brings with it several ghouls.  Take down the ghouls first, because if you don’t, you’ll take major damage when the ghouls explode at the knight’s second death.  The Black Knight’s third form is his ghost form, and this is where you’ll find out if your healer’s really got it.  The ghost form casts spells which really increase the amount of magic damage taken, so your healer’s got to be on his toes.