@DeLindsay‌ I posted my build on Tamriel Foundary. Here is the link: http://tamrielfoundry.com/topic/white-claws-tanking-build/
You will notice that I use whitestrike set for the damage shield and not 5 footman. For the rings and neck, I have footman, but unassailable is also ok.
For this strategy, I suggest a dk or templar tank since they have self heal. Switching to restro staff and heal is also an option, but it is safer with self heals.

@Artemis Guess he ment astros or summoners then. The summoners have a timer they spawn if you kill them. Astros will always spawn after a player gets fire. When it ends astro spawns.

DeLindsay wrote: »

xaraan wrote: »

This is pretty good. We haven't beaten last boss (plan to try again this weekend now that rewards are worthwhile) and we always have a bit of trouble on stage 9. So we'll try out the ideas.

My issue is that as a NB tank, I find I can't live through the fire phase of the main boss. Seems you have to be a templar or dk tank and have self heal to get through it. That's with me funneling health, drinking potions, etc. Usually I can live through first or second fire phase, but after that no luck.

Kind of sucks they have content that locks out certain classes in certain playstyles, but so far we've had our dk switch with me and do tanking while i switch to dps. We made it to last mini boss spawn, but obviously didn't make it to the main boss death.

I haven't done DSA yet but my main is NB so I wanted to ask you what your gear is and what's the +Healing taken % you run with for that fight when you try and tank it? For a character without access to Footman yet (I'm VR11) I have a mix of crafted + Unassailable for my tank set. Because of not wearing 5pc Footman I end up with +39% healing taken and decent Spell damage which helps Funnel Health, Sap Essence, etc. This is with 4pc Unassailable + 3pc Shalidor's Curse + 5pc Twilight's Embrace. This is (7) pc Heavy, (1) 1550 Fire resist, (1) 630 Resist all, (1) +132 Alchemy glyph. My pots are 990 + 756 for the Health portion.

I run Resto staff for the 2nd bar if I need to keep myself up like another person suggested, and yes that leaves room for error. Healing Ward + RR + FH + improved Triad Pots + VoB is one hell of a sustain combo. Just thought I'd ask so I know for my own sake once I get to that point.

I run 5 pc Footman, 5 pc Whitestrakes, 2 pc boss head set (usually gargoyle, but also have snakelady). I too run resto on second bar and keep enchant for potions on my jewelry, plus I wear fire resist as well. The fire phase does a huge amount of damage on vet arena if you don't have a healer. Any bump to funnel health isn't noticeable, and even with resto I can barely keep myself up during it, while drinking potions and all at the same time. You really need something like dragon's blood or breath of life if you are going to pull the boss away and tank the fire phase alone. Potions don't come up often enough to take the place of those two skills. Veil is great, but it's not ready everytime you have to do the fire phase. I have over 3500 health and it will completely drain through half the time of the fire phase (with over 2.5k spell resist and full fire resist on) even with HoTs running.

Now, it can be done juggling the big heals from resto and all the other stuff, BUT, and this might come down to my own ability to juggle - you have to take the boss back and forth so often, while he's attacking you, while fire is going across the floor, etc. and juggle all that during each phase, that it only takes one misstep for the whole process to crumble and the whole group to wipe. Perhaps some will say it's supposed to be that hard, but it would be monumentally easier if I had access to something like dragonsblood or breath of life. I've considered taking my DK tank instead, but I consider my Imperial my main and really want the completion on him.

"whiteclaw47 wrote: »

Timer for fire casting:

100% - 75%: 50s

75% - 50%: 85s

50% - 25%: 55s

25% - 0%: 50s

The first fire casting is really fast, so the tank needs to go away from the group fast.

The times are the casting time from one fire to next, so tank needs to go away sooner (about 10s sooner).

Quick question regarding the times.
We are learning this method, and our dps is a bit slower that yours is in the video. If we need to take the boss away multiple times for safety (as we learn) I assume the timer stays the same as long as his HP doesn't change into the next % category?

(ie. from 75%-50, each round of fire is start to finish 85s... Not just the first.)

Also, more importantly, how does the timer change as you push him into another phase (ie. 76%-->74%) mid phase? Do you get the extra time (35 seconds in this case)added on to the current timer?

The timers are not static. They differ for each phase. 75 to 50 has the longest timer and 25 to 0 has the shortest. Changing phase resets the timer.

Its about 50s for 100 to 75 and 50 to 25m. Its about 80s during 75 to 50 and only 30s during execute.