Soloing Anzu the Raven God

.
Occasionally, I'll be featuring some guest posts on my blog. Today, once again we have the rawr-tastic Aeman, who shows us that soloing old content isn't just for the birds. ^^

Who's that sneaking past Darkweaver Syth? It's Guestcat!

My last post actually got replies, so the rest of you have those big-hearted commenters to thank for my continued persistance (I know, I know - it's a resto blog. A cat can dream). Trismegistus asked my secret for soloing Anzu, the Raven God, and I'm back to share.

Before you walk in the door, I'd recommend the following:

• Heroic-quality bear-oriented gear. I was probably 50% Naxx25-geared when I first started on Anzu, and I wouldn't recommend too much worse than that.
  
• A talent spec that includes the major bear-oriented talents - particularly Feral Instinct (for both Prowling and Swiping) and Improved Leader of the Pack. This is the spec I use.
  
• A PvP trinket.
  
• A half-stack of Heavy Frostweave Bandages, and the following macro:
  
  /cancelform [nomod,stance:1]
  /use Heavy Frostweave Bandage
  

After you walk in the door, I'd recommend stealthing. (; With 3/3 Feral Instinct you can easily walk past every mob in the instance, with two exceptions. Darkweaver Syth, the first boss, can see through stealth - you can kill him if you want, but as long as you keep to the outside of his room you can still walk right by him. Secondly, there is a flock of birds in the first hallway upstairs. Sneak by them on the right side, but watch out for one who will fly right up to the edge of the corridor.

Now, in gear good enough to kill Anzu you can take any pull in the instance with very little personal danger. It's not really worth the time, though. If you do choose to, just be careful of the dual-wield guys guarding three doorways after Darkweaver Syth. They're quite mean, and enrage after you kill one. Watch out for the knockback from the Wind Serpents, too.

So, you've stealthed to Anzu's room! Problem is, it's full of mobs. You can sneak in to the near left corner of the room, behind the tomb there, and unstealth if you need to buff. Use Thorns; every little bit helps. Equip your PvP trinket and start pulling! Be sure to CC one or two mobs per pull to decrease the incoming damage - your only healing is going to be from Imp. LOTP, which has a 6 second cooldown. There are a variety of mobs to worry about, but here's a general guideline for each type:

• Prophets: Either Root these or kill them first. They fear, which you can either outrange (if rooted) or break with your PvP trinket (but save it for dire need... being feared isn't bad, but being feared into another pack is). When they die they turn into a spirit which can actually do some damage to you, since it's spell damage that goes right past your armor.
  
• Birds: Sleep them - they're not dangerous, but if there's a bird in the pull that's one more CC you can use to minimize incoming damage.
  
• Shadowcasters: not dangerous.
  
• Shamans: not dangerous (summon a small add).
  
• Talon Lords: Root them if you're not rooting a Prophet. They've got an annoying stun.
  
• The Wind Serpent: just make sure you don't pull it along with another group.
  

In dealing with each pack, all I do is throw up Demo Roar, Swipe when Mangle's on cooldown, and Maul when I have plenty of rage (most of the time). Between Imp. Mangle, Feral Instincts-buffed Swipe, and Glyph of Maul, you can dish a pretty pile of AOE damage. If you feel like it, throw a Lacerate on a mob or three for the Rend & Tear bonus to Maul. Nature's Grasp can be handy if you want to take some pressure off.

Once the room is clear, it's Anzu time. I didn't bother with the bird spirits - since it's only you, any spell you cast is going to trigger Spell Bomb. Just tank and spank him in bear form, but stop before you hit 66% and wait for a Paralyzing Screech. Once he Screeches, burn him down to 66% to banish him. If you're low on health (or even if you're not), hit your Bandage macro. The benefit to leaving bear form is that the bandage will heal a greater percentage of your health in caster form than it will in bear. Since you waited for the Screech, you won't be interrupted mid-bandage by a stun... and since it's not a spell, it won't trigger Spell Bomb! SNEAKY.

Bandaged up, drop back into Bear Form and get ready to take out the birds. You'll probably have to maneuver them a little to get them in front of you, but just Demo Roar, and Mangle/Swipe them down. If Anzu comes back while there are still some up, just keep plugging away. I consider the birds my "regen phase" - I crit enough on them to get some nice healthy Imp. LOTP procs.

*A note regarding 3.1: Next patch, Swipe will be targetless and 360 degrees, but remember that you can't dodge something that attacks you from behind! You still want to keep the birds in front of you as best you can.

That's all there is to it! Repeat at 33% (remember to wait for Paralyzing Screech), rebandage if you need to, and then burn him the rest of the way down. For cooldowns, I would suggest saving them for:

• Barkskin: the banish phase. More mobs = more incoming damage mitigated.
  
• Berserk: cleanup after a banish phase, if you still have a lot of birds up.
  
• +Dodge trinkets: Anzu. More damage per dodge mitigated, and you may have birds behind you during the banish phase that you can't dodge.
  
• Health Potion: any time, if you don't think you'll make it till you can bandage again.
  
• Survival Instincts: the home stretch. You don't want it to wear off while you're still in combat.
  

Bonus Plan B Strategy
I don't personally bother with either of these, but there are two additional things you can do.
1) Use Regrowth or Rejuv on one or more of the bird spirits. I used Regrowth back at L70 since it ticks for 21 seconds. The Hawk spirit will mitigate incoming damage to you, while the Eagle spirit will damage all enemies in the room. Because of Spell Bomb, you'll want to combine this with:
2) You can pull Anzu into the near left or far left corner, behind the tomb. When he banishes, run around to the opposite side of the tomb and you will be able to cast spells (e.g. heals) without fear of Spell Bomb because Anzu is out of line of sight.

So why go through all this trouble of killing Anzu? Well, there's a chance at this fancy little drop: The Reins of the Raven Lord - one of the coolest mounts in the game.

Hope that works for you, and I hope your luck with the mount is better than mine. (: Oh, and a final note for Night Elves: if everything goes pear-shaped on trash or on Anzu, just remember the last line of defense: run to the corner and Shadowmeld. Sorry Taurens... if it's any consolation, your dance doesn't suck and your Swift Flight Form is cooler than ours.

Well, back to Sethekk Halls I go... Guestcat out!

.