How to kill Atramedes as a Frost DK


Atramedes is one of three "second-tier" bosses in Blackwing Descent. The fight has a unique mechanic related to Atramedes' blindness: sound. Every time you get hit by an attack, you gain sound, and if you reach 100 sound, you die. Scattered about the room are some ancient Dwarven gongs which, when rung, will stun Atramedes for a few seconds and reset everyone's sound to 0. However, you also need to use these gongs to stop Atramedes' brutal Searing Flame attack (which will kill the raid if not interrupted with a gong) and to interrupt him when he takes to the air and breathes fire after random players.

There is usually a designated person assigned to manage the gongs. It won't be us, since we're melee.

For us, it's an easy fight. We have no Frost or Death Knight-specific duties. Woo!


Your special class/spec responsibilities:
• None. Stack, dodge rings, kite flame breaths.



Rings!

This is one of the easiest fights for us. The main thing we will have to do is dodge yellow rings that emanate from Atramedes and head towards random raid members. If your raid likes to stack up (most do, I think) it's simple to just sidestep a few paces in one direction and let the rings pass safely by.

If your raid doesn't stack (or doesn't stack very well) sometimes you will have two rings coming out side by side, leaving you no room to dodge to the side. Sometimes you will just have to get hit by a ring, but you can usually run away and wait for the rings to spread out enough for you to squeeze between them. As a melee character, the rings start out very close together and drift apart the farther they go, so be prepared to run straight back and wait for a gap.

An example. In this clip, I start moving right to dodge, but I decide there isn't enough room to clear the ring. I turn back, only to see there isn't room between the rings to fit through. So I run away, just for a few steps, but it's just long enough for a gap to open between the rings.



Remember, if there's no room to dodge, run directly away and an opening will usually appear.



Tracking / Sonic Breath

Atramedes will randomly pick a raid member and breathe fire at them, but he's slow, and the raider can run away and "kite" the fire breath as Atramedes slowly rotates the breath after them. Most raid groups have a designated direction to run the flame, so that everyone else can move the OTHER direction so they're not caught in the breath. If Atramedes starts Tracking you, be sure to run the right way.

Also, there's no reason to kite the breath far away from Atramedes, since it just means more ground to cover. Just stay in tight and keep ahead of his head and you'll be fine.

If someone ELSE is being Tracked, and they start bringing the breath towards you, STOP WHAT YOU ARE DOING AND MOVE. Fortunately, we can DPS basically just as well on the run as we can while standing still, so just keep ahead of the breath and keep DPSing Atramedes.

After Sonic Breath finishes, another set of rings will be coming up in a few seconds, so be ready to dodge them. If you had to kite the breath, be watching for the rings as you run back into position (or just avoid the rings where you are, then re-stack).



Air Phase

This is the boring phase for us. Before Atramedes lifts off, try to Plague Strike him one last time to refresh your Blood Plague disease.

If Atramedes starts Tracking you, kite the flame breath around the outside of the room as best you can. Make no mistake though, you WILL need help, since we lack any movement or speed abilities. Tell your raid when you need help BEFORE the fire is right on your heels, or else it will catch you (and kill you) before someone can Life Grip or ring a gong. Play it safe.

If you're not being chased, stay out of the path of whoever IS being pursued. Move out of rings on the floor and out of fire patches, and Howling Blast/Death Coil Atramedes while you wait for him to land. If your Outbreak is up, use it when Blood Plague falls off.

If you didn't Army of the Dead on the pull, you can cast it as soon as Atramedes starts descending, as long as you're not standing in something bad. Don't be dumb about it!



Anti-Magic Shell
This is one fight where Anti-Magic Shell and other defensive cooldowns aren't much use. We'll rarely die from damage in this fight - getting to 100 sound is the killer. And Anti-Magic Shell, Icebound Fortitude etc. won't prevent sound, just damage.

There is one good time to use our defensive moves, though - during Searing Flame. This is the one move Atramedes does that actually DOES do significant damage, so reduce it to help out your healers.


Atramedes drops the Battleplate of Ancient Kings, which is nicely statted for Frost DKs. There's also some plate tanking gear, but they're bad choices for us (reputation and/or 346 Heroic gear is better, even after reforging).