The trash around Gehennas had only given them two crafting mats and one green leather piece. So far, they'd seen one Warlock T1 belt and one Priest T1 bracer. Anyone who'd paid big gold for every trash BoE would be sweating by now.
MC trash was pure RNG. One run could shower you with valuable BoE epics; another could go all the way without dropping a single one.
"Another boss with two adds."
"Wait, doesn't this guy look familiar?"
"He does. He's basically Lucifron with a palette swap. Two adds and everything."
Gehennas stood with two Flamewakers at his side. The fight was roughly on Lucifron's level, so any raid that could handle the first boss should be able to handle him too. Once a group knew the strategy, Gehennas was one of the easier bosses in Molten Core.
"Carlos, take Gehennas. Susie, left Flamewaker. David, right. Kill David's first."
If they could one-shot Magmadar, Gabryell saw no reason they couldn't beat Gehennas. The Flamewakers had an AoE stun, Sunder Armor, and enough close-range damage to put serious pressure on their tanks. Since David was the least durable of the three, Gabryell wanted his target dead first before five Sunders became a problem.
"Melee, watch the Flamewaker. It AoE stuns. Free Action if you've got one; otherwise just burn it."
The repeated stuns wrecked melee uptime, slowing the kill and putting even more pressure on the healers. The fight already had plenty of raid damage, and with their current gear, the healers needed Flask of Distilled Wisdom and Major Mana Potions on cooldown or they'd run dry.
"Tanks, spread them out. Don't overlap the Flamewakers' AoE."
"Physical DPS, pop your consumables before the pull. Let's get this in one."
Just like Lucifron, once the adds were dead, Gehennas was basically free. If burning extra consumables got them the kill, Gabryell didn't care about restocking later.
"Mages, decurse immediately. Tanks first, then melee. No Frostbolts until they're clean."
Gehennas' Curse reduced healing received by 75%. If it stayed on a tank for too long, the healers could lose them in just a few hits. Melee were standing inside the Flamewakers' AoE as well, so they were next in line for decurses.
"Healers, keep people healthy. Shadow Bolt hits hard—don't leave anyone low."
Gehennas' Shadow Bolt could easily finish off anyone already hurt. To give the raid a little more room for error, Gabryell added one more precaution. "Priests, get Shadow Protection on everyone."
Sixty extra Shadow Resistance might not save everyone, but it was better than nothing. On a tank, even one resisted Shadow Bolt could matter.
"Watch Rain of Fire. Move."
"Tanks too. If it drops in melee, move your target."
Rain of Fire hit hard enough that anyone slow to react could die fast. Gabryell didn't want to see ranged players standing in it for no reason.
"Melee can get stunned, fine. But if you're ranged and die to Rain with nothing holding you there, that's on you."
He immediately singled someone out. "Seven, that means you. Stop blinking for no reason. Blink into Rain and you're out on Gehennas loot."
OldSeven whined, "Blink's cursed, man. That's not my fault."
Gabryell shot back, "In WoW, being bad is a crime. You've spent enough time on the floor tonight for a ten-year sentence. Die to another rookie mistake and you're getting life."
"OldSeven, age unknown, gender unknown, suspected of being a boss plant sent to sabotage the raid from within—sentenced to life," Coldhands announced.
OldSeven protested, "I swear, if we don't wipe, I'm not dying. I'll be standing at the end."
That was exactly what Gabryell had been waiting for. "You heard him. If Seven dies before the raid wipes, he's out on loot for the rest of this lockout."
If Gabryell needed someone to make an example of, OldSeven was perfect.
Once the Priests finished buffing Shadow Protection and everyone had recovered, Gabryell gave the order. "Tanks, go. Grab your targets and spread."
Carlos, Susie, and David charged in together.
"Carlos, hold Gehennas here. Move only for Rain."
"Susie, David, farther apart. Don't overlap."
"DPS, David's add. Burn it."
Gabryell kept attacking while calling the fight. Since the Flamewakers applied Sunder Armor, he had made sure David had a Greater Stoneshield Potion up before the pull. Even at five Sunders, the healers should still be able to keep him alive.
"This is so annoying."
The Flamewakers were a pain in the ass for melee. Even planted behind them, they still ate AoE and got hit by random stuns, wrecking their uptime.
"Healers, get the melee back up. Don't let them die."
When Gehennas cast his curse, Gabryell immediately decursed David. With five Sunders and the lowest armor of the three tanks, David was the one most likely to get flattened if the healing penalty stayed on him.
"Mages, off DPS. Decurse. Tanks first. No Frostbolts until they're clean."
A cursed tank took 75% less healing, far too much for the healers to brute-force through. This time Gabryell kept the Resto Druids healing instead of helping decurse. Tanks and melee were priority; ranged could wait a few seconds.
"Good. Keep it clean."
Right then, Gehennas dropped Rain of Fire.
"Susie, move! Out of the fire!"
Rain of Fire landed right in Susie's melee range. Fortunately, every melee DPS was already on David's Flamewaker, so none of them got caught in it.
Susie dragged her Flamewaker out. She was already at five Sunders, so healer pressure on her wasn't much lower than on David.
Gabryell had built Groups 1 and 2 around the tanks, with two Paladins in each. Carlos wasn't taking much pressure on Gehennas, so his healers could help cover Susie and David.
"That's it. Keep it steady. We've got this."
David's Flamewaker was down to 19%. If they kept this pace and avoided major deaths, Gehennas was theirs.