Solenor the Slayer

Solenor the Slayer is a nathrezim appearing in the Black City during The Battle for Broken Shore (quest). Previously, he was summoned in Silithus for an epic quest for hunters. He was in a gnome-form called Nelson the Nice unless you came to bother him with the quest.

He also appears in Sinfall, disguised as Tavian, the innkeeper.

Objective of

 * Drops Solenor's Head Stave of the Ancients.

Strategy

 * Pop a Greater Shadow Protection Pot early, and wait for the cooldown before fighting.
 * After turning in the quest and waiting off the pvp flag, Traces of Silithyst is a good source of an additional +5% to damage.
 * Clear the area first. Spawning him on the Southern end of his patrol is a plus, as it avoids a Twilight Cultist Patrol
 * Key Class Helper: Start a duel with a Warlock. Have him cast Curse of Recklessness Rank 1 on you, which lowers your armor but makes you immune to fear effects for 2 minutes. You will still take damage from Solenor's spell. You just won't get hit with the fear effect. You must stay in range of the dueling pole to retain this effect. When the curse of recklessness wears off, the Warlock can renew it. He wont aggro the mob because it is considered a debuff.
 * Key Class Helper: Horde characters can party up with a Shaman. Have him or her cast Grounding Totems near you. Solenor's fear spell will destroy grounding totems with the shadow damage, so they must be re-cast as often as the shaman is able (every 15 seconds). It's still helpful to use a shadow protection potion in case the totem is on cooldown and the fear spell hits you. This totem does not cause Solenor to despawn, even if the Shaman places it while you are in combat (as of Patch 1.11). Note that friendly totems do not work if you are in a duel.
 * Key Class Helper: Alliance characters can party up with a Dwarf Priest, who can place a Fear Ward on you. Solenor will not fire his fear spell as long as you have a Fear Ward. NOTE: As of 1.12 the Fear Ward disappears after the first time he casts his fear effect.
 * Once spawned, throw down a Frost (Frost, not Freezing) Trap and then Feign Death after he goes through it. This will remove his red color, and make him easier to kill. NOTE: In Patch 1.11, Frost Trap stopped properly debuffing Solenor. This has been fixed in Patch 1.12..
 * Open up with an Aimed Shot, and start firing away until he gets close. Explosive Trap is a plus too here, as it kills the first few bugs that spawn.
 * Wing Clip (Rank 3!), run sideways away, Auto-Shot, Multi-Shot, Serpent Sting, rinse, repeat. Make sure you don't use so much mana that you have none left for more Wing Clips!
 * Be sure to stay away from bugs, and use Volley (Rank 1) or explosives (remember you can use EZ-thro dynamite even if you're not an engineer) if they get too numerous. But it is not necessary by any means to kill them.
 * Use Scatter Shot if necessary when he gets close, but it won't necessarily save hit points, as he likes to hit you right after wingclip anyway.
 * Healing Potions and Mana Potions should NOT be used in place of a second Greater Shadow Protection Potion. If you need healing, use Whipper Root Tubers, Night Dragon's Breaths, Major Healthstones, and if you have time, Heavy Runecloth Bandages.

Addendum to strategy (Added by Niknak):


 * This method only requires the clearing of a handful of mobs, and if done correctly, greatly diminishes the need to deal with his minions.
 * This method was completed with the help of a Warlock, one Greater Shadow Protection potion (Note: Shadow resistance was 125 when performed), one Dark Rune and some bandages.
 * Like above, confront the demon at the lower end of his path; however, make sure you confront the demon at the bottom of the stone slab that leads up to the Scarab dais.
 * You will be using the ledges near the dais to your advantage. Like all Mobs, the demon and his minion cannot jump off of ledges. Some form of acrophobia perhaps. This greatly lengthens the time that the minions must run to get to you.
 * Start by attacking him from the top of the stone slab (standard method: Aimed Shot, Serpent Sting, Multi-Shot etc.)
 * After performing Wing Clip, run off the eastern edge of the stone slab (to your right). There will be a slight lip to the edge, use it.
 * Run to maximum range, near the ledge furthest away from the dais, and continue the attack.
 * Wing clip him near the ledge and jump off.
 * Once down, pop a Dark Rune and bandage yourself. You should have plenty of time as the minions are still trying to find their way around the ledge.
 * Continue the attack.
 * After the demon runs down around the ledge, wing clip him, and try to make your way back up on the ledge, making sure to avoid his minions. Note: It might be good to take out the minions that are close to the ledge with Volley at this time but not entirely necessary. Note: You must wing clip him such that when on the ledge you are still in range.
 * Repeat as needed.

Alternative strategy (post-TBC patch) added by Bastun: I defeated Solenor on my third try the other night (December '06) and noticed some changes from my previous attempts. On previous attempts, I had buffed with Greater Shadow Protection Potion, Elixir of the Mongoose, Elixir of Demonslaying, etc. We noticed that this night in the first two attempts, the buffs were disappearing - the only one to persist through the fight was Mana Oil. This 'buff eating' may be a bug, or a change introduced with the TBC (2.0) patch. My main problem with this fight has always been the bugs and I didn't see how I could beat it without any buffs. Then I remembered the TBC patch had given me the ability to lay traps during combat.

New strategy: pretty much as above for the pull. Hunter's Mark him, lay Frost Trap, pull him into the trap, Feign Death. Drink up quickly and get to inside max range. Have a warlock duel for Curse of Recklessness. Lay Explosive Trap. Move back to max range and pull as normal - (I used Aimed, concussive, serpent, multi). The frost/concussive means the bugs will hit the explosive trap first. When he gets close, Wingclip or Scattershot/Wingclip. Run sideways, shoot. Every so often, when he has a lot of bugs after you, drop another Explosive Trap. The Bugs are no longer a problem with this method.

No warlock or shaman strategy

 * Buffs: Aspect of the Hawk, Trueshot Aura, Traces of Silithyst
 * Potions and Elixirs: Elixir of Major Mageblood, Elixir of Major Agility, Onslaught Elixir, Elixir of Demonslaying, Super Mana Potion, Major Shadow Protection Potion
 * 1 Mithril Frag Bomb or other explosive
 * Location: Southern Silithus near the The Scarab Dais to the south east of Twilight Outpost.

Strategy

Before the fight clear the area and take your potions and elixirs. Start off by pulling Solenor through a Frost Trap to debuff him and Feign Death to reset him, this will not reset the buff he had. Make sure you are full mana and health and start pulling Solenor through a Freezing Trap. Walk back to gain maximum range and then open fire again, by now he should have spawned some Creeping Dooms so wait for Solenor to come close and Wing Clip him. Take distance again and start shooting if the Creeping Dooms get close use the explosive to kill them and continue shooting. Solenor will most likely fear you once but the protection potion will cushion the blow. If Solenor breaks lose Wing Clip him again and taken distance, the second wave of Creeping Dooms is best killed with a Volley and the third wave with a Explosive Trap you shouldn't need to kill the adds more than three time. Use the Super Mana Potion early on in the fight.

Specifics

 * Aspect of the Hawk
 * 2x Greater Shadow Protection Potions (highly recommended)
 * Major Healthstone
 * Whipper Root Tuber
 * Night Dragon's Breath (optional)
 * Elixir of the Mongoose (optional)
 * Elixir of Demonslaying (optional)

Quote
I come to Silithus every year around this time. The weather is phenomenal for my bunions.
 * In disguise

You should take a stroll with me, friend. Enjoy the sights and what not.