Pit of Saron
In order to enter this dungeon, you have to complete the quest Echoes of Tortured Souls. This dungeon must be completed before you are able to enter Halls of Reflection. As soon as you zone into the Pit of Saron, Jaina/Sylvanas will be right there with you. You will be able to finish the quest to meet with her there, and you will pick up the next quest, The Path to the Citadel. Scourgelord Tyrannus flies to confront you. It seems as though you will be able to jump right into a fight with him, but that’s not the case this time. He kills Jaina’s/Sylvanas’ small army with one cast and raises them as ghouls. He taunts you as he flies away, leaving you to be dealt with by the workers in the Pit. Now you will need to free 15 slaves as you make your way through the Pit of Saron to the Forgemaster.
The trash pulls in this instance are really nothing to sweat. There are no edges to worry about besides the giant quarry in the middle. Though I’m not exactly sure you can fall into that one. From the entrance, start heading towards the right, clearing trash and freeing slaves along the mountainside. After a few packs, you will see stairs up to a forge and a really weird looking undead boss with a giant chunk of saronite strapped to his back. That is Forgemaster Garfrost, the first boss of the Pit of Saron.
The strategy for Forgemaster Garfrost is relatively simple. The tank should tank the boss in the middle of the platform. The boss does an aoe frost aura called permafrost. Every 3 seconds this aura does a bit of damage and stacks, increasing frost damage taken. Every so often, the Forgemaster will hurl a boulder at someone. For this reason, the group should spread out a little so they won’t be hit with damage from the boulder. To remove your permafrost debuff, run behind the boulder to line of sight the boss for a few seconds. This way your debuff will fall off and your healer will be able to top you off and you won’t be taking as much frost damage each tick anymore. Repeat this when you can. If you get past 10, drop what you are doing and let the debuff fall off.
Occasionally the boss will run to his forge to make a new weapon. Now is a good opportunity to run behind a boulder. It will be tempting to follow him up there, but it’s really not necessary. He will come right back to the tank in just a few seconds. I suggest waiting for the boss in the middle because I have seen him glitch out a few times and not throw saronite boulders out. That was a problem because our stacks of permafrost got too high and it resulted in a wipe. Not fun.
Sometimes Forgemaster Garfrost will cast a Thundering Stomp. It’s not much to worry about, just an aoe stun for a couple seconds. The tank should do his best to face the boss away from the group as he does a cone type aoe attack in front of him. Taking unnecessary damage should be avoided in any situation.
Once in a while, the Forgemaster will target a player and cast Deep Freeze on them. It really isn’t that big of a deal, just 50% decrease in movement speed and after 14 seconds, it will deal significant frost damage. If possible, the permafrost stacks should be removed so that you won’t get owned by the damage at the end of Deep Freeze. The healer should keep an eye out for anyone taking increased damage because of this. Although it doesn’t sound like it, this is a really simple fight.
Forgemaster Garfrost Loot Table
Normal Mode:
Garfrost’s Two-Ton Hammer
Unspeakable Secret
Ice-Steeped Sandals
Flayer’s Black Belt
Polished Mirror Helm
Ring of Carnelian and Bone
Heroic Mode:
Surgeon’s Needle
Barbed Ymirheim Choker
Legguards of the Frosty Depths
Malykriss Vambraces
Shoulderplates of Frozen Blood
Spurned Val’kyr Shoulderguards
After defeating Forgemaster Garfrost, the slaves unite and are standing guard on the steps. There you will be able to turn in your quest, The Path to the Citadel. From there you will pick up Deliverance from the Pit. From Garfrost’s platform, head to the right clearing trash as you go. Keep in mind that Battered Hilt drops here, so loot the sparkly bodies. Continue clearing until you see the Plagueborn Horror’s which will be dragging around random dismembered limbs. Clear all of those before engaging the boss, Ick & Krick.
The encounter with Ick & Krick is a little bit less complicated than the Forgemaster’s fight, but requires you to be alert. You can spot the players that don’t pay attention because they usually die pretty quick during this fight. Occasionally the boss will shoot a poison bolt at a player that will create a little green poison patch on the ground. If you stand in it, you take damage. So move out of it. Every now and then the boss will cast a poison nova. This requires you to move out of range. There are little wooden bunkers you can run into if you need, otherwise just get away from him or you will die.
At least once, the boss will cast Explosive Barrage. This looks like a mage’s Arcane Explosion, but instead of immediately exploding, they grow and then explode. Run away from these bombs, or you will be taking heavy damage. An interesting aspect of this encounter is the pursuit. The player being pursued will have a little purple arrow pointing to their head. Run away! If Ick gets within range of you, you will be insta-dead and your group will laugh at you. Once Ick is defeated, Krick falls off his shoulders and there is an RP scene that follows.
Ick & Krick Loot Table
Normal Mode:
Krick’s Beetle Stabber
Bent Gold Belt
Black Dragonskin Breeches
Purloined Wedding Ring
Scabrous Zombie Leather Belt
Wristguards of Subterranean Moss
Heroic Mode:
Felglacier Bolter
Ancient Polar Bear Hide
Blackened Ghoul Skin Leggings
Braid of Salt and Fire
Ick's Rotting Thumb
Chewed Leather Wristguards
From Ick & Krick’s area, head back to the left just a little and begin to head up the ramp there. These pulls are difficult. The aoe casters should be killed first. The hellfire and random shadowbolts are a pain for healers. So, CC if possible, watch your agro, silence when you can and play smart. After you clear up this ramp, there is a cave. Scourgelord Tyrannus order’s his protodrake, Rimefang, to make the cave crumble while you are inside. The tank should pull the mobs to the platform in the middle, while everyone should be avoiding the white runes that appear on the ground. The runes mean that the ceiling is about to cave in there, so move quickly. If it hits you, you will take about 5-6k damage and will be knocked back for a few seconds. Kill the mobs on the platform in the middle, since the ceiling will not fall on you there. Move quickly through the rest of the cave and finish up the mobs on the outside. This is where you will engage the final boss of the Pit of Saron, Scourgelord Tyrannus.
This encounter really is not that difficult. There are just a few things to really watch out for. Tyrannus will dismount, but Rimefang will remain in the air and will randomly shoot ice attacks at random players. Occasionally Tyrannus will order Rimefang to shoot and freeze a specific player. This is avoidable. Once you get the arrow showing Rimefang is about to attack you, run away from your party and avoid the runes on the ground. This will freeze you in place and an ice patch will remain on the ground after that.
The boss deals fairly heavy damage, especially when he says “Power overwhelming” and swells to half his size. He hits extremely hard and average geared tanks will not be able to take the hits. He must be kited over the ice patches that are left from Rimefang’s attacks. Keep an eye on your debuffs for this fight. If you are buffed with Overlord’s Brand, immediately stop attacking the boss or healing since damage is redirected to the tank and healing is redirected to the boss. Rinse and repeat.
After a short dialogue, and an interesting RP event, you are able to turn in the Deliverance from the Pit quest. Once you turn in this quest, you are now attuned for the Halls of Reflection.
Overlord Tyrannus Loot Table
Normal Mode:
Rimebane Rifle
Horns of the Spurned Val'kyr
Palebone Robes
Shroud of Rime
Cloak of the Fallen Cardinal
Painfully Sharp Choker
Gondria's Spectral Bracer
Protector of Frigid Souls
Rimewoven Silks
Scourgelord's Frigid Chestplate
Shaggy Wyrmleather Leggings
Skeleton Lord's Cranium
Heroic Mode:
Engraved Gargoyle Femur
Rimefang's Claw
Tyrannical Beheader
Mudslide Boots
Nevermelting Ice Crystal
Icebound Bronze Cuirass
Prelate's Snowshoes
Rusty Frozen Fingerguards
Band of Stained Souls
Fleshwerk Leggings
Frost Wyrm Ribcage
Belt of Rotted Fingernails