Heroic Mode Dungeon Guide

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Heroic Mode Dungeon Guide

A lot of people want to know about heroic mode and very little information exists on the internet about what it really is and the difficulty level of it, all you really see is misinformation on random websites that claim to know what they are talking about.

I tested this out the other night (I mean a few wipes at worst right?).
What I found out about heroic mode instances:

These instances are doable, but difficult - not impossible however. In fact they were made to be doable for decent to well geared level 70s. With the right group setup these can be done.

What group setup you will need:
1) Well geared tank
2) Well geared main healer. A holy paladin can be one of the best.
3) TWO DPS/CC classes - *Crowd control is a MUST*
4) Spot healer/DPS (elemental shammies work great). If you can't find a hybrid then bring a 3rd dedicated DPS.

NOTE: Only carry one melee DPS class with you (other than tank), lots of mobs cleave and it's too hard to heal more than 2 people being cleaved for 3k each. Also please note that at some heroic bosses its stupid to have any melee besides the tank with you because the new skills severely hurt your chances to win. Two healers also gimp your chances of winning because you will lack the DPS to kill bosses in a quick manner.

What is the difference between Heroic/Normal?
First of all, the trash mob levels increase to 71-72. All bosses are now 72 elites. Some of the mobs gain new abilities. Most of the bosses have one new ability that is significant.

TRASH MOBS: Trash hits hard. Very hard. Can crit a clothy for 10k. Watching aggro and Crowd Control is vital. Use KTM.
The bright side? The trash is just as easy to kill as it would be in normal mode (scaled to lvl 71-72 of course). So basically in CR: Steamvaults, you kill them just as fast... however - they hit a lot harder.
Take agro - and you are usually dead before you know it. Blessing of salvation really helps on the DPS.

BOSSES: The bosses will work the exact same way they did in normal mode, except they will now be lvl 72 elites. They will hit harder (depending on which boss of course). However the real trick is that each boss gets 1 new ability. Or an old ability buffed.
Example: First boss of CR: Steamvault - Hydromancer Thespia.
In Heroic mode she does the exact same thing as she would do in normal
EXCEPT:
1) her adds now hit for 1.3k on me (they used to hit for 250).
2) The thunder cloud she summons hits people for 3-4k each tic. Stay outta the cloud.

Yes, it is tougher. But it is doable. Gear wise it was made to be done for lvl 70s in blue gear picked up off lvl 70 instance bosses (Shadow Labs, Arcatraz, Steamvaults, Mechanar, Botanica, Shattered Halls).

NOTE: Do not think that Heroic mode "CR: Slave Pens" is easier than "CR: Steamvault" - although Slave pens is originally a 64 instance and steamvault is 70, you must remember that all heroic mode instances went up to 72, they didn't go up +10 lvls or something. Slave Pens and Steamvault are the same difficulty at heroic (same lvl mobs, etc.).

So things to make sure before you try heroic mode instances:
Checklist:
1) Good group setup, the group i went with seemed to work pretty well and we had all our bases covered (crowd control, etc.):
Paladin - main healer
Mage - DPS and Crowd Control
Warlock - DPS and Crowd Control
Shaman - Elemental - Very nice DPS and can kite very well.
Druid - Tank. nice because he can cast "sleep" before bear forming to tank - further CC. Also, it's nice to have "swipe" because there are 5 elite pulls that this AoE threat causer helps with.
NOTE: You must have at least 2 people capable of CCing. Sheep/fear/banish work fine.

2) Is everyone able to get in? You need to be revered to be able to buy the heroic mode keys (EVERYONE MUST HAVE A KEY IN GROUP). You can get these keys from that factions quartermaster at REVERED. See below.

Table of factions:
Faction (@Revered) - Instance Area (Instances)

Sha'tar - Tempest Keep (Botanica, Mechanar, Arcatraz)
Lower City - Auchindon (Shadow Labs, Auchenair Crypts, Mana Tombs, Setthek Halls)
Thrallmar - Hellfire Citadel (Ramparts, Blood Furnace, Shattered Halls)
Cenarion Expedition - Coilfang Reservoir (Slave Pens, Underbog, Steamvaults)
Keepers of Time - Caverns of Time (Escape from Durnholde Keep, Black Morass)

3) Gear check - don't bring in that one friend of yours with all greens... this is not the place to do that, it will only cause endless frustration. Lvl 70 blues work great. Bring +hit gear because these mobs are higher lvl than you.

4) Spec check. Shadow priests healing = YES YES! <3

5) Vent check - You can do it without vent, however i suggest you get into a voice server ASAP, as most of the time its a very good idea.

6) MAKE A PLAN. Every single pull needs a plan. You may wipe once on a pull because a mob had an unexpected new ability (cleave or something)... learn from it. Use raid symbols.

7) To enter an instance on heroic mode the group leader must right click his portrait and set "Diffculty: Heroic."

PHAT LEWTS:
Now for the part you've all been waiting for.

1) Every single boss drops a [item]Badge of Justice[/item] - there are 5 on each boss but each member can only loot 1 (yay!). You can use these to buy those awesome epics that one purple Naaru sells in Shattrath (next to A'dal in the center)

2) [item]Primal Nether[/item]'s drop off every end boss (so far as i've seen or we were just lucky... did 3 so far).

3) Epic drops off end bosses (jewels, bows, etc.).

4) All the bosses drop some new nice blue items.

5) All bosses drop some of the same blue stuff you can get on normal mode.

The end bosses usually drop 5-6 things (including the Badges of Justice) :)

Now go get your groups together and dominate!! HAVE FUN!!!

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Heroic Mode Dungeon Guide