Hellfire Ramparts Strategy Guide
However, players will learn, like with all heroics, that the difficulty ramps up (no pun intended) significantly compared to its normal counterpart. With that being said, we break down tips and tricks to help trivialize this dungeon for TBC Classic players!
Group Composition for Hellfire Ramparts
Like all heroic dungeons, you'll want to put at least some emphasis on your group composition. You will, at a minimum, want at least one class that can slow trash packs, allowing your tanks to kite when necessary, and another that can interrupt casters. A Mage is perfect for this role as they can do both with Improved Blizzard and Counterspell. A Hunter is also great for being able to slow targets with Frost Trap. Hellfire Ramparts doesn't necessarily require any hard crowd control, as the packs are not that big and even the Bonechewer Destroyers don't hit particularly hard, especially when kited through slows as mentioned earlier. But should you need it, then you can use your mage to Polymorph said targets.
Wowhead's Group Composition Tool
It is not recommended to be a melee-heavy group due to Omor the Unscarred's Bane of Treachery, but melee that do shine in particular here are Rogues. Rogues, along with having a CC ability with Sap, can also stunlock the harder-hitting targets to death, which can significantly reduce the amount of kiting a tank has to do, while also having an interupt for casters with Kick. And speaking of tanks, all three tanks will perform perfectly fine in this dungeon, as mentioned earlier, trash packs are typically only in groups of 3, making it easy for all tank specs to be able to hold threat.
For healers, it's always good to have a Shaman of any kind solely for their incredibly powerful totem buffs, and Bloodlust / Heroism to be able to significantly speed up any encounter in a heroic dungeon. Also providing Tremor Totem for the final boss encounter is incredibly helpful. Priests can also provide Fear Ward to negate this mechanic as well. Outside of that, however, all healer classes will perform well here, as AoE and single-target damage is not too insane to make any particular healer spec feel weaker than the other.
Trash Tips for Hellfire Ramparts
All of the Hellfire Citadel Dungeons have a recurring theme of one particular trash mob that cannot be slowed, but can be stunned. For Hellfire Ramparts, it is the Bonechewer Ravener. These are typically accompanied by two Shattered Hand Warhounds. The best way to overcome this trash pack is to stunlock the Ravener to death while slowing the dogs. You do not want the dogs to attack your tank, as they hit hard and apply a stacking debuff to their target.
The Raveners also deal significant damage and can use Kidney Shot, which greatly exposes your tank. A bit of fun cheese in this heroic is the Shadow Priests ability to Mind Control these mobs, as mentioned earlier, they deal an insane amount of damage, and having them on your side can greatly trivialize the dungeon!
Outside of this particular mob, when picking targets to focus down first, we recommend always taking out Bonechewer Destroyers first, as they will deal the most damage to your tanks with their Mortal Strike ability. And for tanks, when pulling groups with casters, always find spots to Line of Sight (LOS) them to force them to group up to you, as you don't want them freecasting from afar.
Boss Tips for Hellfire Ramparts
The first boss, Watchkeeper Gargolmar, is incredibly easy. The biggest tip we can provide here is making sure you have cleared out enough trash before pulling him. This fight is only difficult if you pull any trash packs with him. Focus on the healers first, as they have very little HP, and then take him down.
Make sure to clear the trash!
The second boss, Omor the Unscarred, as we mentioned earlier, is why we recommend not having a melee-heavy group composition. His Bane of Treachery is an incredibly powerful ability that provides almost no reaction time when cast. If this hits one of your melee or your tank, there's an incredibly high chance that one of you is dying. If this hits one of your ranged, the encounter is fairly simple.
To avoid a potential wipe should you be melee-heavy, it is advised to have 1-2 melee waiting until the debuff is cast before getting in melee range of the boss. Outside of that, make sure to nuke any of the summoned adds, as the mana burn they cast can be fatal if too many go off.
The final bosses, Vazruden and Nazan, are also fairly straightforward. Outside of not standing in fire, a helpful tip here is to make sure to drop Tremor Totem or have Fear Ward ready for when Nazan comes down. And when he does come down, he does not instantly engage in combat. If needed, the healer has about 2-3 seconds to top off everyone before the dragon starts coming towards the party.
