Faction Champions Strategy Guide - Trial of the Crusader Raid WotLK Classic

Faction ChampionsDon't worry about your parses, this encounter doesn't count.Faction ChampionsPvP TrinketPvP TrinketWarriorIntimidating ShoutDeath KnightHungering ColdShield WallIcebound FortitudePain SuppressionDeath Grip

The Discipline Priest and Restoration Shaman champions will require hard CC due to their many instant casts that can't be interrupted. The most effective and recommended strategy is to assign a Mage and a Warlock (or Druid) to operate as a duo to keep these two locked down by alternating their respective crowd control.

Death Knights are amazing at hindering enemy melee Champions with their constant spam of Chains of Ice and Death Grip if they ever reach their target. We all know how it feels to be on the receiving end of these spells...
Warriors are the best counter to the enemy Warrior Champion because they can maintain them permanently slowed with Hamstring, match their Intercept, and Disarm the enemy's Bladestorm.
Frost Trap, Entangling Roots, Frost Nova, Thunderstorm... If you're a caster, you already know how to ruin the day of any melee Champion that would target you.

3. Target Priority
The Faction Champions aren't much different from us, players. They also fight about Tier lists and argue that their respective specialization should be in the S tier, but not all classes are created equal, even when they're controlled by AI. Some Champions have a terrifying damage output that most groups will try to shut down immediately, while others will find themselves targeted last but cope by repeating that they will scale later.

Now that all the enemy healers are permanently controlled and enemy melees are peeled away from your squishy clothies, let's talk about doing some damage.

High priority targets
1. The Rogue is one of the deadliest champions due to its high burst damage and mobility, and a popular first target for most groups. It's essential to keep the Rogue slowed with Hamstring or Chains of Ice and Death Grip it back into the melee train when it tries to Shadowstep away to murder a clothie.
2. The Hunter deals consistently high damage thanks to its range but it's one of the easiest to burst down due to its very limited mobility so it's an easy target to quickly take out of the fight. Plus the Frost Trap can greatly handicap your team if you have many melees.
3. The Enhancement Shaman has the highest burst potential of all the champions and will inevitably claim victims if left alone, but it also has no mobility skills whatsoever so it's easily kited around with slows and roots until it's time to take it down. Make sure to destroy any Tremor Totem or Healing Stream Totem it summons immediately.
4. If you can't keep them controlled well enough, the Restoration Druid and the Restoration Shaman should definitely be high-priority targets, if not the highest.
Medium priority targets
1. The Warrior does high melee damage and also applies Mortal Strike, but most of its threat can be mitigated by permanent slow uptime. Watch out for the Bladestorm that can decimate players too close to each other and be reactive on the Disarm/Dismantle to stop the channel.
2. The Warlock will cast the occasional Fear and DoTs that can all be dispelled, but its main threat is Hellfire which can quickly wipe a group of unsuspecting stacked players.
3. The Death Knight is easily kited and most of its damage will come from Death Coil if it can't connect with its target. It's mainly an annoying enemy that will cast a lot of Chains of Ice, Death Grip and Strangulate.
4. The Retribution Paladin is also easily kited although it can deal some serious damage with Judgement of Command if it reaches its target. Watch out for Divine Storm if the Paladin passes near you. Be quick to dispel the various Hand of Freedom or Hand of Protection.
Low priority targets
1. Any remaining healer that was kept under control for all this time can be killed at this point to relieve the Mage/Warlock/Druid.
2. Most of the Shadow Priest's damage can be mitigated by dispels and both Mind Flay and Mind Blast deal weak damage.
3. The Mage's damage output is very low and it can be mostly ignored as long as you dispel any Polymorph.
4. The Balance Druid does pityful damage and is no threat at all.

Recommended Raid Composition
Tanks: 0 Tank — The Faction Champions reset aggro every few seconds and target random raid members which puts tanks out of a job.
Healers: 3-5 — Just like a real PvP situation, defensive dispels go a long way in mitigating the raid pressure.
DPS: 20-22

Faction Champions Tips for Trial of the Crusader in Wrath of the Lich King Classic

Tips for Tanks on Faction Champions

Although the Champions can be Taunted for a brief moment (only in normal difficulty), their threat table resets every few seconds making tanks mostly useless for this encounter.
Protection Warriors are the exception because they can singlehandedly shut down an enemy healer or caster with their many interrupts and stuns.

Tips for Melee on Faction Champions

The Faction Champions encounter doesn't count for parses so there is no excuse for not prioritizing your assigned crowd controls and interrupts.
Stay alert around the enemy Warrior and Retribution Paladin because they will use their AoE spells when surrounded.
Totems are always a priority if there are any Shaman Champion in the line-up. Pets however deal abysmal damage and will often bait healers into healing them instead of an actual Champion so they should be left alive.

Tips for Ranged on Faction Champions

The Faction Champions encounter doesn't count for parses so there is no excuse for not prioritizing your assigned crowd controls and interrupts.
Stay spread out the entire fight and be ready to kite melee Champions if you are targeted.
Coordinate with the raid to plan CC assignments, with backup players to control your assigned target in case you are busy kiting for your life.

Tips for Healers on Faction Champions

Stay spread out the entire fight and be ready to kite melee Champions if you are targeted.
Defensive and offensive dispels are as important, if not more, than raw healing in this encounter.
Mass Dispel will be used often to remove Divine Shield or Ice Block so be prepared.

Raid Composition

When planning your raid composition in WotLK, Wowhead has several features to help you optimize your class setup.

Our raid composition guide talks about what each class and talent specialization provides and who benefits from it, as well as providing example raid groups and instructions on how to arrange the groups. Each raid group and each encounter is unique, so understanding who benefits from what and why you group players a certain way is important so that you can adapt to different circumstances.

Wowhead's raid composition tool allows you to plan and share your raid composition, complete with a list of buffs, debuffs, and utility options from all the classes and specs in your group. When you drag and drop a spec into the tool, the URL will update so your composition is automatically saved.

Raid Composition GuideRaid Composition Tool

Comments

Comment by Faefaxi

Having Immunity issues with alternating Banish and Fear for druid

Faction Champions Strategy Guide - Trial of the Crusader Raid WotLK Classic

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