Helya (tactics)

Helya is the final boss in Maw of Souls. The fight is quite healing-intensive due to Taint of the Sea and has a kill-mechanic in the form of Corrupted Bellow, making Helya one of the more difficult Legion 5-man bosses. Though the fight ends at 70%, this can be a very long battle for a 5-man due to her massive amount of HP.

Adventure Guide
''Helya, once queen of the val'kyr, was once at Odyn's right hand, raising the spirits of vrykul champions to the Halls of Valor to prepare for the final battle for the fate of Azeroth. But following Loken's betrayal, she was persuaded to join him and turn upon her master. She now lurks in the shadowy realm beneath the world, plotting her revenge.''

Overview
Attaching herself to the Naglfar, Helya launches an all-out assault of the vessel from a distance. Defeating Helya's Tentacles wounds her, and after defeating several tentacles, Helya submerges and continues to barrage the Naglfar with her tentacles. After 15 sec, Helya rips the front of the Naglfar in half and combats players directly, periodically retreating to the waves for the remainder of the encounter.

Damage Dealers

 * Defeat Helya's Destructor and Grasping Tentacles to wound her during the Siege of the Naglfar.
 * Watch Helya's facing for Corrupted Bellow.
 * When Taint of the Sea explodes, it and leaves behind a Tainted Essence.
 * Watch Helya during Brackwater Barrage to know which side of the Naglfar will be bombarded.

Healers

 * Taint of the Sea explodes when dispelled or when it expires, and leaves behind a Tainted Essence.
 * Watch Helya's facing for Corrupted Bellow.
 * Watch Helya during Brackwater Barrage to know which side of the Naglfar will be bombarded.

Tanks

 * Destructor Tentacles cast Smash and Helya casts Wing Buffet when untanked.
 * Watch Helya's facing for Corrupted Bellow.
 * Watch Helya during Brackwater Barrage to know which side of the Naglfar will be bombarded.

Intermission: Submerged
After several of Helya's tentacles are defeated, Helya submerges under the waves and assaults the Naglfar from below. On subsequent phases Helya periodically submerges.

Achievements

 * Maw of Souls (achievement)
 * Heroic: Maw of Souls
 * Mythic: Maw of Souls
 * Mythic: Maw of Souls Guild Run
 * Poor Unfortunate Souls

Strategy
The fight consists of three phases: Killing Helya's tentacles, an intermission phase where she is submerged and is unhittable for at time, and a second phase where the players attack her directly. Helya's Torrent will deal consistent frost damage to the players throughout the fight unless DPS interrupt the spell. Of more concern to the healer is Taint of the Sea, a dispellable magic debuff that will hurt the target over time, cause a burst that hurts all other players when it fades, and leaves behind a green void zone on-top of the targeted player that explodes after about 5 seconds (simply move out of it). Multiple players will be targeted at once on Heroic and Mythic, so it may be in the group's best interest to dispel the Taints as they come, so that they don't all burst at the same time when their time runs out.

Phase 1: Attack the Grasping Tentacles on the hull of the ship and the Destructor Tentacles attacking the players. As the Grasping Tentacles have large hitboxes, you may be able to cleave them while fighting the Destructors. Once they are all dead, the intermission phase will begin. Watch the ground for Piercing Tentacles which rise up, hit anyone close-by after a few seconds, and then retreat below the ship. They leave behind holes in the ship which stun you when you step in, so watch your step.

Intermission: As Helya submerges at 80% HP, more Piercing Tentacles will rise from the ground and try to hit the group. Simply keep moving and continue dodging the green void zones.

Phase 2: Helya rises, destroys half the arena, and pushes the players back against the ship before attacking the party herself, not summoning any more tentacles. In addition to her previous spells, she now uses Corrupted Bellow, a large frontal cone of shadow damage in-front of her. Due to it's large range and the fact that the arena gets cut in half, players must see where Helya is facing and/or where her hands are in order to see where she is about to fire the spell and move very quickly if she is facing towards them. Speed buffs or instantaneous teleports like Stampeding Roar, Roll (monk ability), and Demonic Circle are valuable here. Take note of- or mark where the holes created by the Piercing Tentacles in the previous phase are as being stunned while within Corrupted Bellow will kill you.

Loot
The following items are contained in the Waterlogged Cache of Ancient Relics which spawns after defeating Helya.

Quotes

 * Intro
 * yell


 * Aggro
 * yell


 * Taint of the sea
 * yell


 * Losing 1st tentacle
 * yell


 * Losing 3rd tentacle
 * yell


 * Losing 4th tentacle
 * yell


 * Losing 5th tentacle
 * yell


 * Losing 6th tentacle
 * yell


 * Corrupted Bellow
 * yell


 * Submerged
 * yell


 * Killed a player
 * yell
 * yell


 * Wipe
 * yell


 * Defeated
 * yell


 * Unused quotes
 * Odyn values these creatures?
 * I have had enough! This ends now!
 * An eternity of agony awaits you.
 * Hold still!
 * Curse you all! Do you really think to conquer my domain? All of Helheim will stand against you.

Trivia

 * Much like Sinestra, Helya uses the same skeleton as Kil'jaeden from the Sunwell Plateau.