Tribunal of Ages

The Tribunal of Ages encounter consists of protecting dwarf explorer Brann Bronzebeard from waves of mobs as part of the Halls of Stone (quest) quest he gives. It is unusual in that it is a boss encounter in difficulty and in loot, but does not involve fighting a boss per se. Rather, you must only survive and protect Brann from the waves. Nevertheless, many people would find this encounter more difficult than the other three boss fights of this instance! Successfully completing this event grants access to the Tribunal Chest.

The Tribunal of Ages is a false system created by Loken to cover up the crimes he had committed and is not an accurate record of historical fact.

Adventure Guide
''Abedneum, Kaddrak, and Marnak make up the Tribunal of Ages, librarians for the titan discs that contain the ancient histories of Azeroth. The immobile constructs do not give up the titans' secrets easily, but adventurers such as the intrepid Brann Bronzebeard believe the reward is worth the risk.''

The Tribunal
The Tribunal security measures attempt to stop Brann Bronzebeard and players from accessing the archives of the ages.
 * Dark Rune Protector
 * Dark Rune Warrior
 * Dark Rune Stormcaller
 * Iron Golem Custodian
 * Lightning Construct
 * Dark Rune Warrior
 * Dark Rune Stormcaller
 * Iron Golem Custodian
 * Lightning Construct
 * Dark Rune Stormcaller
 * Iron Golem Custodian
 * Lightning Construct
 * Iron Golem Custodian
 * Lightning Construct
 * Lightning Construct
 * Lightning Construct

The Encounter
To begin the escorting event, talk to to start Halls of Stone (quest) quest. Escort him through the room with three stone golems. The real fight encounter takes place in a circular room (called the Tribunal of Ages, hence the article title) at the end of Halls of Stone wing of Ulduar. Brann will stop and allow you to rest after clearing this trash, talk to him again to begin the encounter. There are three large faces surrounding your party in the room. If you are facing the exit, they are (clockwise) Kaddrak, Abedneum and Marnak.

Soon after Brann enters the room (~20 seconds after talking to him), Kaddrak, the face directly to the right of the entrance, will activate. This face will shoot Glare of the Tribunal, a bolt that deals roughly 500 Arcane damage to a random party member every ~3 sec for the remainder of the fight. Waves of groups will start to appear. The first waves come slowly, with each group appearing roughly 45 seconds after the last. Groups consist of three elites, two melee (Dark Rune Protector) and one caster (Dark Rune Stormcaller) (3 melee on heroic). Mobs will go directly to Brann, if not picked up. Brann doesn't have so much health, so they must be tanked.

After several waves (~75 seconds after Kaddrak activates), Brann will yell and the face to the left of the entrance, Marnak, will activate. This face fires a shadowy orb, Dark Matter, at the ground where one person is standing (similar to Void Reaver and his orbs). Any player hit by this will be afflicted by a debuff which increases damage taken by 50% on normal and 100% on heroic for a short time. Waves will begin coming faster now, about every 30 seconds, and two non-elite casters are added to every second wave.

After several more waves (~100 seconds after Marnak activates), Brann will yell once again, and the final face opposite of the entrance, Abedneum, will activate. The third face fires a channeled beam, Searing Gaze, at a location on the floor that deals 500 damage per second to anyone within 10 yards of it. On heroic, the damage is about 2000 per second, coupled with the damage debuff from the second face the beam can reduce your health at an astonishing rate. The damage will be ramping up at this point, so avoiding beams by moving out of them is paramount. Mobs will be coming at an increasing pace, ramping up to roughly every 15 seconds by the end of the event. Eventually, the Iron Golem Custodian will be added into the waves also. At this point, killing the mobs is not a priority so much as survival — proper use of CC and various AoE stuns (i.e. Shadowfury, Hungering Cold, etc.) can save lives. Survive for another ~90 seconds and Brann will yell last time, causing faces to turn on mobs, destroying them quickly. A Tribunal Chest containing the event's loot will then appear against the wall to the right of the console. The entire event lasts approximately 5 minutes from when Brann is talked to to when the chest appears.

Positioning
The positioning of the group can make a big difference in this fight. There are generally two strategies:

On the Stair
With a skilled and geared AoE tank (paladin or death knight), this method can reduce damage taken from the beam and bolt. Have the whole group stand on the stair, with the tank in the front. The tank needs to grab the aggro of all incoming mobs. DPS then AoE down the mobs quickly. Note that sometimes the beam can still hit people standing on the stair, so everyone still needs to stay alert. NOTE: this technique is not reliable on heroic.

In the Room
If the tank has difficulty AoE tanking, the group may find this method easier. The tank stands close to the bottom of the stair. Other group members scatter in the room. This way the tank will have more time to get the aggro of incoming mobs. DPS should try to focus fire on tank's target to avoid drawing aggro. With this method the group can handle the mobs much more easily. However, everyone will need to move away from the beam and bolt constantly.

Tips for Damage Dealers
For groups with very good DPS and AoE, it is possible to burn down most of the mobs so that the tank only needs to take care of a few mobs throughout the fight.

For groups with lower DPS, it is still possible to clear the first few waves before the next waves emerge. However, as new mobs emerge faster and faster, more and more mobs will remain when the next waves come. This does not mean low DPS cannot handle this encounter. At the later part of the encounter, the tank should try to hold aggro of as many mobs as he/she can. Healers should focus on healing the tank. At this point, the DPS should use all the available crowd control and snaring abilities to CC/kite any free mobs. (Hunters' Frost Trap and shamans' Earthbind Totem are very helpful here!) As long as the group can keep the mobs tanked/CC'ed/kited, Brann will be unharmed and the defense system of the room will kill all the mobs at the end.

Tips for Tanks
This fight can be a real nuisance. Your first priority is to pick up every add, after that you can start building aggro. By the end the adds are coming really fast so try to keep up, and don't let any get through your defenses! For paladins in particular, its not possible to build mana fast here, and if you have no mana between waves you are going to be unable to pick up mobs. No mobs hitting you means no mana. No mana means you wipe. If you ever hit a no mana situation do whatever you can, blow potions, divine plea, tell your dps to not attack while you hit them with your weapon manually for a second. Keep in mind, if you have to do the last thing the waves won't let you dick around, once you have aggro the mobs you have on you have to die faster than usual, otherwise you're going to have 50 guys on you in a minute or two.

Related Achievements

 * Halls of Stone (achievement)
 * Heroic: Halls of Stone
 * Brann Spankin' New

Quotes
Well now, I'm surprised to see other adventurers is a place such as this!

Now that you're here, ye can help me get to the Tribunal. If my research theories about these halls is correct, information pertainin' to the creation o' the entire dwarven race lies within.




 * Brann runs to event
 * yell

If only my dear brothers could be here with me at this moment in time. They would not believe what a discovery this will be!

The Tribunal are the librarians for the Titan discs, which are stored in this very room.

Look! You can see the discs beneath the floor! We must hurry, the greatest discovery of Dwarven kind is just up ahead.




 * Event begins
 * yell
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 * As the fight progresses
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 * Towards the end
 * yell
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 * Event end dialogue
 * yell
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We did it! Can you believe what we're hearing? This is incredible!
 * Interrupting




 * yell
 * Brann stealths and heads to the entranceway.
 * yell