Preparing the 'Herald of the Titans' (Archived)

By bakhtarrh Updated: 2018/03/21

This Is A User-Submitted Guide!

Wowhead only updates official guides, so information might not be up-to-date.

you

Note: This Herald guide is outdated, please read the Herald of the Titans guide by Vills instead for up-to-date info.

PreambleThe Hundred Club (25 player)en passantHerald of the TitansIt is tied to character levelit is tied to item levelnotAlgalon the Observertwinkinfo.comAlgalon the ObserverAuthor's Note - Warlords of DraenorUlduarensureThorimVal'anyr, Hammer of Ancient KingsMimiron's HeadOpenRaid.euend of lifecycleStep 1: Planning the CompositionAlgalon the ObserverOpenRaid.euhere

The awarded title can be used by any character on your account (given he is at least level 80).

Celestial Planetarium Key is gone. You don't need a key to access the Celestial Planetarium anymore.

Algalon the Observer does not vanish one hour after first pull, anymore. Take your time.

Bloodlust/Heroism(Shamans), or Ancient Hysteria (Beast Master with Core Hound). At level 80, Mages are not in this business, yet.

Balanced composition with all raid buffs.

Death Knight Tank. Mastery: Blood Shield takes the edge out of the tank switches.

People other than the tank being able to survive the Big Bang.

UlduarStep 2: Hitting the '80'Elixir of Ancient KnowledgeKrol the BladeArchiereus of FlameWowHead Guide Section: "New Players & Leveling"Recruit-a-FriendScroll of RessurectionFeb '14UlduarBehstenStormwind CitySlahtzOrgrimmar

A note about professions: Since patch 5.4 it is business as usual: Just ask your crew to pick professions which support the class and role they are playing and raise them to skill level 450. One can push the professions to 600, if it pleases, but there is no tremendous all-that-really-matters advantage anymore: The professions' benefits are scaled down to your character level bracket (for example: Leatherworking 600 grants 500 agility on bracers for a character level 90, this is scaled down to 50 for character level 80, which is exactly what you'd get with skill level 450). It is mentioned here, because the easiest way to raise the profession skills is, as usual, doing it while leveling the character. You process through the right zones for the resources needed, and you may even get some XP acquiring them.

Step 3: Equipment permitted for purposeVal'anyr, Hammer of Ancient KingsQuel'Delar, Might of the FaithfulLich King

Maximum item level for equipment (including trinkets): 226

Maximum item level for weapons, shields, off-hands items: 232

"Do I have to get all BiS gear?!". We answered this question with a 'no'. Don't let the best picks escape as style gear for others and keep an eye on trinkets, but don't throw in months to get the BiS cloak for your healer, unless you plan exceptional stunts (skip Big Bang, get through with some 'green' clothed crew members, cast only druids for the job ...).

The Drop

Ulduar 25-man is the largest and most important source of gear. Almost all slots are covered with maximum level (however not everything is BiS here). Normal mode equipment drops with item level 226, weapons with item level 232. Neither hard mode loot nor loot from Algalon the Observer can be used: Item level 239 isn't available in the 10-man version and doesn't meet the achivement requirements.
Two level 90 toons are sufficient for running the instance, if you round up five of them, you can do Yogg-Saron in Alone in the Darkness (25 player)-mode and maintain a chance on Mimiron's Head as a motivator for the supporting crew.

Ulduar 10-man would be a nice fall back in general (two level 90 toons are enough for a very fast run including the hard modes), but the 10-man and 25-man version share their ID. Common item level is 219 (which is quite usable), but hard mode loot and booty from Algalon the Observer matches the achivement requierements exactly (226 for equipment, 232 for weapons). It may be advisable to run Ulduar 25-man, skipping Algalon the Observer and return in small groups (you'll need two level 90 characters in each group) to defeat Algalon the Observer in 10-man. It should be pointed out that in whole Ulduar shield loot table there are only two item level 232 shields in Ulduar: Both drop in Hodir 10-man hard mode.

Kel'Thuzad in Naxxramas 25-man, Malygos in The Eye of Eternity 25-man, Sartharion in The Obsidian Sanctum 25-man are providing booty to go and can be harvested with a small level 90 support crew (in case of Kel'Thuzad this crew should be exactly one level 90 character who has to remain target of Kel'Thuzad all time - and if you think item level 213 is enough you might want to clear the wings, too). They provide loot up to maximum permitted item level - and even some of the lesser objects are BiS (e.g. Illustration of the Dragon Soul).

Trial of the Crusader 10-man normal mode provides loot with item level 232 and is useful as source for weapons and shields/off-hand. Since one level 90 character (given proper class and gear) is as much support as needed, this is quite nice.

Onyxia in Onyxia's Lair 10-man is, for weapons at least, of some interest, too. The Grand Dame can be defeated easily these days, too.

Vault of Archavon depends on the current Wintergrasp status; may be you have to be a bit lucky to gain access to Emalon the Storm Watcher, who may have tier 8 tokens (trousers and gloves) for you.

Pit of Saron, The Forge of Souls, and Halls of Reflection - commonly refered to as "ICC5" - provide in normal mode item level 219 equipment, which is a nice fall back, and the harvesting is not restricted by any daily or even weekly ID (but by the hourly instance limit only). You may get almost everything out of ICC5, but it will take some time - the loot tables are rather long. In heroic mode it is down to 'daily' and limited to weapons (and one item held in the off-hand). But "daily" is still better than "weekly", some items are BiS and, of course, one level 90 support buddy is enough for keeping the receiving level 80 character on auto-run.

Trial of the Champion (heroic) is often considered as a sting in the butt for solo-runs, because the first encounter (the joust) has its lengths if you are alone. But in this case, you won't be alone: With the three heroes coming in and picking on the poor level 80 guy a level 90 damage dealer can send them into dust from afoot easily. Take a close look into the normal mode loot table as well: There may be a item level 200 BiS trinket in there.

The Quest

Whoever wants to have item level 226 at one's neck but hasn't had any loot luck, may pick up The Heroic Key to the Focusing Iris from Heroic Key to the Focusing Iris (drops once per kill from Sapphiron in Naxxramas (which is right on your way to Kel'Thuzad, lucky you!). Carry it to Alexstrasza the Life-Binder, next kill Malygos (très chique, too), and you are done. You'll get one of Wyrmrest Necklace of Power, Life-Binder's Locket, Favor of the Dragon Queen, and Nexus War Champion Beads. Hint: If you die in the last phase, reclaim your body at the Spirit Healer and walk into the instance alive - you'll get your dragon, then.

If you have Algalon the Observer (10 man on your To-Do already, try to get Reply-Code Alpha as well. The quest with the most wonderful name in Azeroth - All Is Well That Ends Well - will lead you to one of Drape of the Skyherald, Sunglimmer Drape, Brann's Sealing Ring, and Starshine Signet.

The Craftbeltfeetblue printsUlduarshort listLich KingNobles DeckDarkmoon Card: GreatnessDarkmoon Card: GreatnessDarkmoon Card: GreatnessDarkmoon Card: Greatness

Greatness or no Greatness? Taking into account that

Darkmoon Card of the North will come up with one of thirty-two cards (and the deck needs Ace of Nobles to Eight of Nobles)
the very low AH and channel trade on Lich King Darkmoon cards
the little value of any other Lich King Darkmoon card and decks

... we concluded that the tons of herbs needed for just one Nobles Deck, certainly does not look like it's worth the efforts. We asked around if one of our old insanes (who did Insane in the Membrane with Lich King Darkmoon card sets) was lazy enough not to sell the Greatness cards and any left-overs immediately (they all did, unfortunately), and checked if cards and/or decks can be picked at acceptable prices from the auction house (which wasn't the case). Then we decided to choose other trinkets.

The DealJustice PointsbeltsglovestrousersamuletskludgeHarold WinstonEtched Band of the Kirin TorEtched Loop of the Kirin TorEtched Ring of the Kirin TorEtched Signet of the Kirin TorIris MoondreamerMount HyjalErunak StonespeakerErunak StonespeakerKelp'thar ForestVashj'irCataclysmeverything carried in handsinferiordaily pvp questsGrizzly HillsWintergraspKnight DameronStone Guard Mukara long listisPlatinum Disks of Sorcery

Heirlooms - yes or no? Heirlooms do qualify as gear for Herald of the Titans , and since most of your crew will have a rich uncle to inherit something from, the question is risen with good cause. The answer is, with utter conviction, "well, ... probably.". The purpose of heirlooms is not to provide BiS for a given character level, but to provide a suitable baseline - their itemisation budget at level 80 is somewhere between the budgets of an item level 187 rare and an item level 200 epic (see e.g. comparisons of Ranged Weapons or Agility Mail Shoulders). However: Heirlooms carry attributes which are useful today, and the ancient garb may not suit you best. Long story short: It's better than nothing, it may be able to keep up with kludges you otherwise may have to spend gold on, but it's not even close to the BiS gear.

Summaryall weaponsall trinketsUlduar

We've seen it as best practice to take level 80 characters out of the Ulduar 25-man crew as soon as all but one or two slots are taken care of, the remaining slots are to be filled with gear from other sources, for which a single level 90 support character is sufficient to harvest. Despite the shiny mount as probable reward, staffing the level 90 support crew may be one of your core problems during preparations and you may need everyone who can switch from the level 80 character to the support team. Performing more than one run in one evening (rotating the toons) wore the crew out too much, and on the other side is not having the ultimative BiS gear not even close to be of a problem.

Intermission: Tending to the Gear

If you still have character specialisations to chose from, you should make the decision now. It's about time.

For enchants and such, things might get complicated: You can (of course) stick with the Lich King enchants, but if you choose to get the best without compromises, you may want to pick some Cataclym enchants (see below).

Use your profession perks.

For gems, it is a bit difficult. Technically, gems should scale through the whole range of releases. However, even Cataclym gems are restricted to an item level not usable for this achievement. Furthermore, some gems are weaker than they should be - e.g. Solid Majestic Zircon, which should be very much the same as Solid Stormjewel, grants stamina equal to blue quality Solid Sky Sapphire. So, if you want to max out your gear, check wowhead first.

Reforge. The easiest way is to put some faith in addons like ReforgeLite, cross-check that the addon's intentions seem to match your expectations and go for it. For some classes this means reforging almost everything to mastery rating. Don't ask Mr. Robot, he doesn't know anything about old content, he's more of a bleeding edge guy.

A note on enchants: To substitute an enchant of your current equipment level bracket with a stronger one of equal type will never lead to better numbers - the strong enchant will scale down for your gear - at best to the same numbers as the matching enchants, but probably not even that. This should apply to gems, too, but gems still have item level restrictions. Picking unmatching gems and enchants may have a good purpose anyway: (a) You want attributes on a gem/enchant that does not exist for the tier you are staffing for: Mastery rating wasn't in the world in the Age of Arthas Menethil, but can be used today in Arthas' domain and character level bracket as well. (b) You want the special effects of an enchant which wasn't available in the tier you are staffing for: For example, the number of run speed enchants for boots has risen - there may be a better one for you than Tuskarr's Vitality. The weapon enchants vary in their effects most of all - and may be subject of discussions, too.

The omnipresent and still literally resourceful internet happily provides us a spreadsheet (according to the sheet, credits go to Aelobin @ The Maelstrom (EU), who is, by the way, one of the exceptional contributors to the achievement's user comment pages, as well) which enables you to check wether enchants or gems of a higher level bracket should be put in use or not: 5.4 Live - Enchants & Gems.

Lich KingOnyxiaJustice PointsStep 4: Meet your friend, the Training Dummy(not scoped for this guide)Icy VeinsElitist JerksAlgalon the ObserverCollapsing StarCosmic SmashIntermission: Consumablesall you can eat

Flask: Flask of the Draconic Mind

Potion: Volcanic Potion

Food: Severed Sagefish Head

Flask: Flask of the Winds

Potion: Potion of the Tol'vir

Food: Skewered Eel

Flask: Flask of Titanic Strength

Potion: Golemblood Potion

Food: Beer-Basted Crocolisk

Flask: Flask of Flowing Water

Potion: Mythical Mana Potion

Food: Delicious Sagefish Tail

Flask: Flask of Steelskin

Potion: Mythical Healing Potion / Earthen Potion

Food: depends, e.g. Lavascale Minestrone

Just for comparison: This was Lich King Style: Potion of Speed, or Flask of Relentless Assault.

For Flasks and Food the efforts may be somewhat socialiseable using Cauldron of Battle and Seafood Magnifique Feast.

Of course, you may use Fortune Cookie as a wild card. And maybe you'll be lucky.

Final step: Meet & Greet with the Titans' sidekick(not scoped for this guide)fakehThis script will do:

Run through the player's equipment. For each slot do the following:
Check if the item level is greater than 226. If that's the case:
Check if it is greater than 232 or neither main hand (slot id 16) nor off-hand (slot id 17) slot. If that's the case, too:
Paste the item link and the item level into the chat, for you must not use it in this fight.
Increment the incident counter.

After all that has been done, paste the total number of incidents (basically for having a confirmation the macro has indeed been run).looked up easilyWowWiki

Encourage your crew to having a boss mod active and installing the modules for the Lich King content as well (if you don't see timers for Cosmic Smash and Big Bang, you haven't).

The fallen should never ever set free their spirits until the encounter either has resetted or the achievement has been unlocked (the button to do so activates several seconds before the achievement is granted).

If even just three dps pushed their gear and know their classes you'd see no more than one Big Bang. Cast Bloodlust/Heroism early.

Pit of SaronThe Forge of SoulsHalls of ReflectionAlgalon the Observer

Comments

Comment by bakhtarrh

The guide ~~is still subject to change~~ ~~still needs some maintenance~~ will not be maintained anymore - the purpose of the guide was to help people with the preparation for , but now all the tricky little details ceased to matter.

Sorry, guide. You and me, we have had a good time, but, see... We drifted apart over time, didn't we. You've been my first, I will never forget you.

Open issues at end of lifecycle

2014-10 enchants other than the enchanters' (hodir, winterspring) are not in, yet.
2014-11 check link to twinkinfo
2014-11 honor points and valor points may be a bit of a problem now...
2015-03 profession perks, now...

Change log

2013-10-15 introduction shortened
2013-10-20 included the macro
2013-10-23 tweaks, greatness
2013-11-21 added remark on 232 greens sold in Cata zones
2013-12-10 added remark about the green's lower quality (thanks, treestump)
2013-12-10 added note about openraid.eu (thanks, Chrii)
2014-03-05 plus a few words on the quite costly Kirin Tor rings (thanks, Kisatan)
2013-03-12 No more resurrection (thanks again, Chrii)
2014-06-07 Linked twinkinfo for BiS, their forums seem to be stable and available again.
2014-06-07 It looks like gems still carry their item level restrictions and one may fear this will not change soon. Additionally, some gems can be thought of being buggy... this needed a mention, too. Thanks to Esploratore for bringing both to attention.
2014-06-07 (to-do from 2013-11-21) 232 greens (sold by Erunak Stonespeaker, for example) can be used safely. (desec, via foxbuster)
2014-07-17 (to-do from 2014-07-10) added pvp gear sold for honor points (thanks, Goraidh)
2014-09-13 Confirmation for heirlooms came in (thanks, fendred).
2015-06-22 Finally announced end of lifecycle.

Comment by Chriah

Excellent guide, the macro is a life saver!

Comment by Chrii

These days you can easy use services like the ones www.openraid.eu uses.
Some people there makes these kind of events once a week or sometimes even more then once.

If youre up to it, id say check it out! :)
Filtered search with events at Openraid.eu

~~-------------------------------------~~

You need:
Level 80 (Scroll of resurrection is removed from the game)
Armor/Relic ilvl 226 MAX
Weapon/Offhand/Range 232 MAX
Cataclysm food + potions

How to get gear:
- Get a boost through Ulduar 10N/10H/25N.
- Onyxia 10man and TOC10N might drop something useful.
- Farm ICC 5 man Normal dungeons for 219 armor.

- Farm ICC 5 man Heroic dungeons for 232 weapons.

- Farm TOC 5 man Normal for some BiS trinkets.
- Farm TOC 5 man Heroic for 219 armor/weapons.
- Get 226 belt and boots crafted.
- Farm cataclysm randoms for Justice Points.

A LOT of gear can be purchased through Justice Point vendors in Dalaran (near the Auction House).

You don't need to be full 226 gear, aim for approx 220 average(ish).

Gem and enchant appropriately. You can use the ICC epic gems (+20 stats) and some cataclysm enchants.

~~-------------------------------------~~

To keep your character from leveling higher for any reason, follow these steps:

For the Horde:
Go to the Hall of the Brave, Valley of Honor in Orgrimmar.
Look for and talk to Slahtz.
For 10Gold he will put a hold on all experience points earned. You can enable your experience again by seeing Slahtz and paying another 10Gold.

For the Alliance:
Go to the War Room, Stormwind Keep in Stormwind City.
Look for and talk to Behsten.
For 10Gold he will put a hold on all experience points earned. You can enable your experience again by seeing Behsten and paying another 10Gold.

Comment by treestump

The weapons from Hyjal say ilvl 232, but when you compare them to even 226 gear, they have lower stats by quite a bit.

Comment by Orcbum

I've recently acquired this title after multiple wipes with my Herald's group, so i've come to offer some insight of Algalon on 10M.

DBM is a must
Vent/Mumble/etc is very necessary.
This is a damage heavy fight. Healers, take care to be always ready to do some heavy raid healing when Collapsing Stars are killed. Raid Leaders, please announce a count down on Collapsing Star deaths so healers will have ample time to react. Also, always keep the tank's health topped off.
Typically, what wipes groups the most is Cosmic Smash. He summons a small red radial directly under a random player in which a meteor will drop in that location after 2-3 seconds. Players that do not move away from this will usually get one-shotted; players close to it will receive heavy damage because of its splash damage around the radial, so please, everyone should move far away from it. There will be a warning: "Algalon the Observer begins to cast Cosmic Smash!"---when you see this, check your position, and others, for the red indicator. It may seem as simple as "get out of the fire", but this red fissure is small (about the size of a player), and its view can be obstructed by Living Constellations.
Prior to entering a Black Hole (to avoid the Big Bang), look around the area to see where other Black Hole locations are. It is very possible to enter a Black Hole, run around (to avoid adds), then leave the Black Hole dimension once its duration is up, only to enter another Black Hole because you spawned on top of it.
It can be beneficial for the person eating a Big Bang to also receive a Pain Suppression, or Blessing of Sacrifice (with Charred Glyph). A Power Word: Shield with a Prayer of Mending will also prove very beneficial .
At the current state of DPS at level 80, you should only be Big Bang'd once. Use a Drums of Rage if there is no available Bloodlust (Mages do not get Time Warp until 84) to ensure this. With exceptional DPS, you may not even be hit by a Big Bang at all (zerging him to 20% before 90 seconds).

Comment by kisatan

You can also buy an ilvl 226 ring, for example Etched Band of the Kirin Tor from Harold Winston in Dalaran. It is quite expensive though.

Comment by Chrii

Scroll of ressurection doesnt work anymore.

Just a heads up.

Comment by childofnewlight

I'm curious, does anyone know of a guide to which professions offer which stats/perks at 450? I've been trying to figure out what professions to go with, but all of the guides say "pick one that fits for your class" or it refers to pre-5.4 information.

Comment by Lupin3rd

Hello, does anyone know if is it possible to use heirloom gear for this?

Comment by Sqqueeky

A warning for LWers: at level 80, gives 102 stamina. Once you hit 500 LW, this spell is automatically upranked but due to scaling, the upranked version only gives 78 stamina. And there is no option to use the lower rank of the spell.

A similar downscale occurs with Heavy Leg Reinforcements rank 3, though you have the option of Frosthide Leg Armor. Check the scaling on other versions of linings and reinforcements.

I recommend you obtain your bracers and line them before pushing LW up to 600.

Comment by Esploratore

Nice guide I have to say, but I have to point out a mistake on gems: you are right that even mop and cata enchants can be used if you for instance don't find a wotlk version or the wotlk version is at inflated price, and that they scale down to your gear if not even lower if you take cata\mop ones, but as for gems they don't only scale down, they also are still (as of the date of this comment) impossible to use on herald of the titans items, even starting cata gems require item level 285 or so! So as for gems, wotlk is the only option still, not because of the scaling, but because of the item level needed. Also noticed that some gems, like solid majestic zircon, stamina epic one, if you check them with a 90 they give 30 stam, if you check them (and get them) with an 80 they only give 24 stam. How comes? 24 stam is exactly like blue quality wotlk gems give, so why is still scaling down happening even if they are wotlk gems?

Comment by Goraidh

You may add to gearing section info about honor points gear - Wintergrasp Quartermasters sell ilvl 226 bracers and few rings for 280 hp each, which is quite nice additon, as honor is easy to obtain. They also sell ilvl 213 gear (including trinkets).

Easy way to farm honor are daily pvp quests in Grizzly Hills.

---
And thank you for your guide - I was using it preparing my group for herald. :)

Comment by LadyWillpower

Just curious about the "gear" section. I didn't see any mention as to whether you can still use a belt buckle for that extra slot. The belt buckles from Cata seem alot less hassle to make and can be used at level 80 but not sure if that is out of bounds as far as gear goes. I would hate to be the one in the raid with a Cata belt buckle and everyone was wearing an Ebonsteel one

Shoulder enchants from MoP require 85 so if you aren't interested in grinding Hodir rep I think Wintergrasp shoulder chants still might be worth using.

I'm just typing this up from memory atm, I am currently gearing my 80 Priest and am listing some things I didn't find in the guide but did come across in-game. Correct me if I missed something

Comment by fendred

Hey everyone did this achievement today with a group of 8 people, can confirm this absolutely works with Heirloom gear, a number of the guys were using it (one person was basically a fresh 80 with full heirlooms).
I would recommend the healers are fairly well geared though, 2 resto shamans; me with just about full BiS and fully enchanted, the other was the fresh 80, and we did have a couple of deaths although still got Alg down with relative ease on the first try.

Comment by 765310

thanx buddy, all in one place:) going to try 5-man multibox "solo" this week, finally..

Comment by Gadoink4

It falls short of being an in-depth BiS-list for each class and role (for this I'd refer to a dedicated thread at twinkinfo.com)

Link is a bit busted. The actual thread still exists, but all of the links in said thread to the actual pieces of armor are now broken.

Also, Justice Points and Reforging have been removed from the game.

Comment by Jammerlee

Does anyone know if this is still obtainable in WoD?

Comment by 1371287

I have a silly question, the achievement says that you have to defeat Algalon in 10 normal mode at lvl80 BUT no one in the raid have to be more than X item level, so, my question is, if i go with my friend, beeing me lvl 100 with less than the required item level and my friend is lvl 80 with less than the required item level for the achievement, will he able to complete the achivement?

I mean, no one in the raid is wearing anything more than x itmlvl, and it doesn't say anything about the other level of the people in the raid.

Sorry for my bad english, but is a question have to make 'cause this achievement is awesome.

EDIT: It says you only have to kill Algalon with those restrictions, but what about the other bosses?

Comment by Peredhil

Some update for 6.2
While having best gear and preparations is not 100% required,it surely helps and can compensate for one mistake/one raid member less geared.I got this today,in a pug group,with no voice com,after maybe 12 attempts(the 3% wipe was quite irritating,few more hits and he would've been defetead).
The fight is,mechanic wise,easiest than any WoD raid.Avoiding cosmic smash and understanding how the big bang part works is required.He hit quite hard on tanks,some classes are more suited for the fight(at 80 as blood dk i had a much easier time than my cotank guardian)
Gear-get 2 set pieces from dalaran(helm+chest).Boots and belt crafted-ulduar recipes are great.The rest,depends,more sockets/4 piece set-better .
Enchant-WoD rings,neck,cloak,weapon(mastery is OP at 80;if you are DK,rune of fallen crusader is best weapon enchant,and the self healing+ absorbtion of a blood dk tank is really huge,also eating the big bang with CD not an issue).MoP for hands,wrists,boots;stamina kits for legs and shoulders;one extra socket buckle for waist

Gems-TBC epics are best,with mats easily found in raids like BT(where are a lot of other interesting stuff to do)

Flasks/Pots/Foods-Cata ones;try to get the mats or even prepare them yourself,are quite rare on AH

Drums of Fury or a shaman are helpfull,BL at start(which is 6 sec after the first pull).
Take it seriously-but have fun.Too bad Blizz did not preserved other old raid challenges-and titles-restricting the gear in the same way...(Naxx or TotC ,I'm looking at you :) )

Comment by Xdoras

Legacy set bonuses do not seem to work any longer as of Legion Pre-Expansion Patch, 7.0.3. even at the correct level for the set.

ALL Gem slots are now prismatic for old gear so you can just gem flat primary stats.

Comment by Deihjan

Please, can this be updated? Blizz have made legacy sets unusable, even at the correct level, and this needs to be added.

Preparing the 'Herald of the Titans' (Archived)

Contribute