Hogger (tactics silly)


 * For Hogger's actual appearance in Elwynn Forest, see . For Hogger's appearance in Stormwind Stockade, see .

Hogger is a level ?? Boss Riverpaw gnoll chieftain in southern Elwynn Forest. A quest exists offering a reward for his killing from the Westbrook Garrison in Elwynn Forest, near the border with Westfall, as the people who offer the rewards ignore Hogger's real power. He is, in fact, the direct chief of the Defias Brotherhood, surpassing even Edwin VanCleef.

Hogger has a reputation as a particularly dangerous encounter, primarily because he is one of, if not the only, boss that has wiped a whole 25-man raid in less then 10 seconds.

Strategy
Hogger has 1,000,000,000 health on normal difficulty and 100,000,000,000 on heroic difficulty.

''Note: The strategies and tactics described below are for a raid of low level characters. Most could also work with high level characters, as, like all other ?? level mobs, his level is always 3 more than the level of the player he is attacking.''

Preparation

 * When you first enter from the road near Westfall, start clearing the trash around Hogger, they're on a fast respawn rate so you should keep moving until you reach Hogger. Though you may want to be careful with how much trash your raid group clears, as members may level up if too much trash is killed, thus defeating the point of the raid.
 * You need to designate one full group of tanks. Once the MT is hit by Head Butt, it is advisable to let another tank get aggro and have the afflicted one wait the debuff off.
 * The healers should set up a healing order so that none of them ever run out of mana.
 * DPS groups should watch aggro as if Hogger is pulled away from the tanks, he will quickly decimate the entire group, maybe even raid.
 * Healers should pull up the raid interface and drag everyone's name onto their screen for an easier time.
 * It is recommended that you pay Saurfang some homage, otherwise he might cleave you during your battle with Hogger. In fact, that's why Elwynn Forest and Darkshire are separated.

Strategy
Hogger should be pulled only by the tanking group(s). Once combat is started, healers and DPS will have to be at full mana. The reason for the group of tanks is to switch them off whenever Head Butt hits. If you want, they can continue fighting but the healers will be burning much more mana on him/her. If any adds aggro during the fight, the DPS needs to focus fire and burn them down before going back to Hogger.

Phase 1
Hogger will spam Head Butt with no mercy. The raid will likely need to use slowing effects on him, and this phase will burn mana quite quickly. Fortunately, you only need to burn down 10% of his health before phase 2.

Phase 2
At 90%, Hogger will start Phase 2. He will still use Head Butt, but it seems to be on a 10 second cooldown (not timer). He will use Rushing charge whenever he switches targets, so tanks will not survive very long. The first tank will need to sit down after Head Butt, while tank 2 gets pummeled without Head Butt, and tank 3 gets Head Butt, Tank 4 gets pummeled without it, and by the time he gets to tank 5, tank 1 will probably be up again. Hogger often uses Disintegrate Armor at around 15% health. This Phase lasts until 10%.

Phase 3
Hogger will turn into the Lich King, wearing the Helmet of Domination and wielding Frostmourne. He will summon Gnoll zombies that hit for 50-60 damage and have 200 health each, use defile which players must immediately jump out of, and use Pierce Armor on random targets. He will stop using Head Butt and Rushing Charge, so it will be easier on the tank, but likely harder on the group.

Phase 4
Phase 4, Hogger reverts back to his normal form and from there on out it is a pure DPS race, if you do not finish him in under 7 seconds he casts "Fury of C.Norris" which kills all players online. If he is beaten then he will scream "I shall take you all with me!!!" and explode, killing all player on the server...

Enrage
Hogger enrages after 10 seconds of fighting, angry that not everyone is dead yet. He will lose all previous abilities, gain his enrage abilities, gain 1000% armor, and deal twice as much damage. The embodiments aren't very dangerous, that is until too many spawn. Have an offtank pull the embodiments when they spawn and a small group to nuke them down. Their health is extremely low, and can be killed in seconds, but they will spawn at a very fast rate.

Hogger will use Hogger's blast more and more frequently the more time you spend on enrage, until all players are in the air, at which point he will reset. If you get hit with it, you must navigate around trees, caves, mountains, houses, etc. and get back to your raid. Though you will likely die upon landing, dying from impact means that you are far away from the raid group as you traverse all of azeroth when hit with this.

Requirements

 * At least a 25-man raid
 * Full group of tanks.
 * Two Full group of healers (Priests Recommended).
 * At least 2 DPS groups.
 * The three others can be anything. (If more than 25)

Trash Mobs

 * Riverpaw Bandit, Brute, Herbalist, Miner, Mongrel, Mystic, Outrunner, Runt, Scout, Shaman, and Taskmaster
 * Hits for around 11-17 damage.
 * Young Forest Bear
 * Hits for around 16-18 damage.

Gear

 * No one should still be wearing their starting clothes. They should at least be wearing armor from the merchant in the starter towns (Goldshire, Kharanos, etc.)
 * It's recommended to have healers and DPS get gear enchanted with +mana/intellect while melee classes get +health/stamina.
 * Wear as much armor is possible for a level 1.
 * Bring plenty of copper for hefty repair bills.