Neltharus has consistently been an obstacle for me as someone new to M+ this expansion.
A lot of it I am finding is just a case of practice makes perfect, but one thing in particular is challenging me still. When fighting Chargath Bane of Scales, tanks seem to split into two mindsets as to how we, as DPS, should position the chains from grounding spear.
The first school of thought, which is what I’ve seen recommended in every guide I’ve read and watched, is that you should spread the chains wide across the room and let the tank kite through them. The second is that you should charge into the boss and run around his feet, praying that your healer can keep you alive long enough for this to work.
Most tanks seem to prefer the second option. This always seems to lead to a wipe. Pop defensives, pop heals, no matter, always a wipe (and often the group falls apart in a shouting match). If we then decide to switch to the first option, it’s an easy clear.
Am I missing something about this that makes DPS charging into the boss such an appealing option?
Edit: this is my first time using the forums and I have no idea why it’s on a level 13 alt instead of my actual M+ running main!!
I’m not one to do much M+, but if I were to just theorycraft, if there are 3 chains, it’s best if their intersections are as close as possible to one another, ideally forming an asterisk, but realistically just a triangle that’s as small as possible. Then the tank can lead the boss there instead of running around the room, and neither the players nor the spears have to be close to those intersections.
Now practically whether you can coordinate something like that and if the party has enough mobility to do something like that I’ll leave it up to you to decide.
If you click on your portrait on the top right you’ll see an option to switch characters.
I think you made a bit of a lopsided comparison there, but I believe the reason some tanks want DPS to break the chains themselves is that they are unsure about when to do it (2-3 at once or staggered), and so they delegate the decision. Or their Neltharius experience started with DPS who were eager to break the chains themselves (perhaps because they were used to tanks being passive) and so it seemed to them that this is the way things are done, and so they keep reinforcing that idea.
We place 3 parallel lines of chains for the tank to run through.
I, as the tank wait for the debuff to drop before going through the next chain.
Trying to pop all 3 in a pug quickly (to cover with a huge CD) is almost always going to end in tears as the damage gets staggered over a longer period than the cooldowns.
The only “downside” to the safe approach is maybe 6/7 seconds of lower dps for some people. There is no extra damage for holding the chain, you just need to avoid swirles for a few seconds.
This is it really, and what Pugs don’t seem to understand.
The boss does no damage during that Phase unless you stand in a clearly marked area on the ground. So as long as you can dodge, you can take your time.
Clear 1 chain, wait for the debuff to clear, clear the next chain. That way the healer can keep everyone topped up.
I’ve heard lots of groups say “oh the tactic is do 2 chains and then 1, OMG healer you bad!”.
The healer is not bad in that situation, the group simply isn’t doing the tactics correctly. 1 chain at a time and everyone is alive and happy.