Atramedes



Atramedes is a black dragon boss located in the Blackwing Descent raid. He is a boss in the Athenaeum section of the instance. As a whelp, Atramedes was chosen to be a specimen in one of the many twisted experiments conducted by the scientist Maloriak at the behest of the Lord of Blackrock Spire, Nefarian. Although the experiment was ostensibly a failure, rendering Atramedes completely blind, over time the dragon learned to use his other senses, becoming powerful and formidable regardless. He now serves Nefarian as one of his most adept agents, dealing with any intruders to his master's sanctum.

Background
Atramedes, also known as Experiment 25463-D, was a black whelp experimented on by Maloriak to be granted "sight beyond sight." This experiment failed, however, and caused Atramedes to become blind. Rather than disposing of him, Nefarian decided to make further use of the blind whelp.

Adventure Guide
''Atramedes, or Experiment 25463-D, is a failed attempt to bestow enhanced senses on a black dragon whelp. The toxic salve applied to the broodling robbed him of sight, forcing him to rely on sound and smell for survival. A tragic story... if Atramedes weren't so evil.''

Ancient Dwarven Shields
Ten Ancient Dwarven Shields are positioned around the room. Any player can strike one of the shields and cause a Resonating Clash. This interrupts Atramedes' casting, resets the Sound on every player to zero, and gives Atramedes a case of Vertigo. When Atramedes recovers from Vertigo, he destroys the shield.

Ground Phase
Atramedes begins the fight on the ground.

Strategy
This encounter revolves around the Sound Bar mechanic. All of Atramedes' abilities cause their target's sound bar to increase, and when 100% sound is reached Atramedes will gain aggro on the target and hideously mangle and crush them. Atramedes will target the highest sound player with his abilities and follow them faster if their sound is higher.

There are 10 'gongs' around the room that can be interacted with, using them will reset every raid member's sound to zero and stun Atramedes for 5 seconds. However when they are used Atramedes will become extremely upset with them and burn them to ash, so they can only be used once each.

Phase 1
Atramedes starts off on the ground and should be tanked near the entrance. Lasts 80 seconds. This allows quick access to the shields by a player designated to hit them. Atramedes melees slowly, but very hard. Ranged and melee should be stacked on differing sides of the boss to allow for predictable Sonar Pulse flight pathing. He will also cast Modulation at regular intervals for unavoidable raid damage and sound.

Twice per phase Atramedes will use Sonic Breath, which has a 2 sec cast time. he will quickly target the person he's casting on before using it. A direction needs to be set up beforehand on where the player needs to run (i.e. targetted player runs clockwise, others run counter). Once per phase he will channel Searing Flames. This is the main source of wipes. The designated shield hitter must always be near a shield to quickly whack it and stun Atramedes. Ideally you'll only get one stack of the debuff. Two is acceptable. Anything higher is not acceptable as he usually follows up with a Modulation which will do hefty damage and likely kill low health members.

Shortly after Searing Flames he will take off and phase 2 will begin.

Phase 2
Atramedes is now in the air and has a new repertoire of moves. The most deadly being Roaring Flame Breath. This is where you'll need at least one or two dedicated kiters. Mages and Warlocks work well, and engineering is almost a must. The goal of this phase is to get through it, using preferably only one, at max two shields. As soon as the boss starts channeling, the kiter whacks a shield stunning the boss and becoming the new target. A mage can use Blink as well as the engineering belt to stay ahead of the flame, while a warlock can use the Soulburn/Portal combo to get away from the flame as well as a speed boost, before using the belt. Both will still likely need Priest's Body and Soul shields for the final few seconds. Other good kiters include Rogues (Sprint), Druids (Travel Form) and Shaman (Ghost Wolf with Ancestral Swiftness). It also is a good idea for everyone to bring a few Swiftness Potions, just in case they get stuck with being the first person targeted and they have no way to speed up - however doing this will make the player unable to use other potions such as Golemblood Potion, Volcanic Potion or Potion of the Tol'vir. Set up an order of who hits the gongs on this phase before pulling to avoid wasted shields.

While the kiting is going on the rest of the raid need to avoid the Sonar Bomb and Sonic Fireball as well as staying out of the flame patches, all the while ranged should be trying to put as much damage in Atramedes as possible.

After 40seconds Atramedes will land and phase 1 will resume.

Rinse and Repeat.

Enrage
The shields work as a sort of soft enrage, limiting the fight's length by providing a limited number of sound bar resets. On Heroic difficulty, Atramedes will go berserk after ten minutes, likely wiping the raid in relatively short order.

Related achievements

 * Blackwing Descent (achievement)
 * Blackwing Descent Guild Run
 * Heroic: Atramedes
 * Silence is Golden

Quotes

 * Intro
 * emote
 * say
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 * emote
 * say
 * emote
 * say
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 * say
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 * emote


 * Aggro
 * yell
 * yell


 * Shield used while Atramedes is on the ground on Heroic difficulty
 * yell


 * Obnoxious Fiend casts Obnoxious on Heroic Difficulty
 * yell


 * Searing Flame
 * yell


 * Air Phase
 * yell


 * Killing a player
 * yell
 * yell


 * Death
 * yell


 * Death on normal difficulty
 * yell


 * Death on heroic difficulty
 * yell


 * Unused quote
 * I can hear your little hearts beating!

Notes and trivia

 * World first heroic kill on 25-man achieved 27.12.2010 by Method of Xavius Europe.
 * Atramedes is voiced by Matthew Mercer.