DREAMBREATH

Sszorak

The Venomous Abyss. Where the damage lands and what these runs pressed against it, stage by stage.

How to heal it

Sszorak alternates with a second named stage and keeps alternating for as long as the fight runs. The main stage is long, the other is short, and the short one is where the spike lands every time it comes round.

This one cycles: two stages repeating across 7 segments, for as long as the fight lasts. Spend cooldowns on the assumption that the same stage is coming back, because what you use on the first pass will not be up for the second.

The first thing worth planning against lands 53s in, inside Sszorak. Empowers and Stasis both want lead time, so a ramp that starts when you see a health bar move is already late. Begin it around 33s, roughly 20 seconds out, and let it land into the spike rather than after it.

Most of what reaches the group here comes from Ula'tek's Presence, Mutilated Gash and Viscous Cyst, and those are totals for everybody who is not the tank, so they are what the raid took rather than a number you have to heal on your own.

All of this comes from 128 logged normal runs, every one of them a kill, because the board these came from holds no wipes. Read the timings as the shape of the fight rather than as settled numbers: they will move as the raid goes on farm.

The stages that spike

Each stage of Sszorak, how long it runs and where its heaviest five seconds fall.
StageRunsMedian lengthWorst momentTaken in those five seconds
Sszorak1282m 5s53s9,099,232
Howling Maelstrom12825s2m 17s7,701,745
Sszorak1282m 7s3m 49s8,943,675
Howling Maelstrom10925s4m 48s6,764,099
Sszorak10929s5m 28s6,998,625
Howling Maelstrom725s7m 11s4,535,558
Sszorak713s7m 49s5,268,895
Log-verifiedn=128 runs
Sszorak on normal runs 7 stages, and the worst moment of each falls at 53s, 2m 17s, 3m 49s, 4m 48s, 5m 28s, 7m 11s, 7m 49s into the fight.
The worst moment is the middle of the heaviest five seconds of damage that did not land on a tank, measured from the pull.
First week of the season, so gear is low and every timing here moves as it rises.Every run is a kill. The leaderboard holds no wipes, so nothing here shows what going wrong looks like.

What the ramp looks like

Taken from what these runs cast in the thirty seconds before the heaviest damage of each stage. Procs are left out, because a proc is not a decision: Twin Flame fires when Essence Burst is consumed, and Merithra's Blessing is a passive that upgrades your next Reversion.

Sszorak

Press Echo about 12 times, Emerald Blossom about 11 times, Temporal Anomaly about 5 times, Verdant Embrace about 5 times, Dream Breath about 5 times and Fire Breath about 4 times inside that window, across 127 runs.

No two runs cast the same full sequence, so there is no single opener to copy. What repeats is which cast follows which:

  • Echo into Echo, in 95% (121 of 127) of the runs
  • Echo into Emerald Blossom, in 92% (117 of 127) of the runs
  • Emerald Blossom into Echo, in 91% (115 of 127) of the runs
  • Temporal Anomaly into Echo, in 90% (114 of 127) of the runs
  • Emerald Blossom into Emerald Blossom, in 86% (109 of 127) of the runs
  • Temporal Anomaly into Emerald Blossom, in 81% (103 of 127) of the runs

127 runs with ramp casts · a typical ramp is 7 abilities

No ability reliably goes first here. The most common opener was Emerald Blossom, in 42 of 127 runs. Treat this as a set to get out, not an order.

Ramp abilities for Sszorak, by how often each appeared and opened.
AbilityAppeared inOpened the rampTypical position
Emerald Blossom99% (126 of 127)42 of 1272
Echo100% (127 of 127)31 of 1273
Temporal Anomaly100% (127 of 127)21 of 1273
Dream Breath100% (127 of 127)12 of 1274
Verdant Embrace74% (94 of 127)11 of 1275

Howling Maelstrom

Press Echo about 8 times, Emerald Blossom about 7 times, Verdant Embrace about 4 times, Temporal Anomaly about 4 times, Dream Breath about 3 times and Fire Breath about 2 times inside that window, across 127 runs.

No two runs cast the same full sequence, so there is no single opener to copy. What repeats is which cast follows which:

  • Emerald Blossom into Echo, in 87% (110 of 127) of the runs
  • Echo into Echo, in 86% (109 of 127) of the runs
  • Echo into Emerald Blossom, in 81% (103 of 127) of the runs
  • Emerald Blossom into Emerald Blossom, in 80% (101 of 127) of the runs
  • Temporal Anomaly into Echo, in 77% (98 of 127) of the runs
  • Verdant Embrace into Verdant Embrace, in 73% (93 of 127) of the runs

127 runs with ramp casts · a typical ramp is 7 abilities

No ability reliably goes first here. The most common opener was Echo, in 33 of 127 runs. Treat this as a set to get out, not an order.

Ramp abilities for Howling Maelstrom, by how often each appeared and opened.
AbilityAppeared inOpened the rampTypical position
Echo98% (125 of 127)33 of 1273
Emerald Blossom98% (125 of 127)25 of 1273
Temporal Anomaly100% (127 of 127)25 of 1274
Dream Breath99% (126 of 127)14 of 1275
Verdant Embrace74% (94 of 127)9 of 1275

Sszorak

Press Echo about 12 times, Emerald Blossom about 11 times, Temporal Anomaly about 5 times, Verdant Embrace about 5 times, Dream Breath about 5 times and Fire Breath about 4 times inside that window, across 127 runs.

No two runs cast the same full sequence, so there is no single opener to copy. What repeats is which cast follows which:

  • Echo into Echo, in 95% (121 of 127) of the runs
  • Echo into Emerald Blossom, in 92% (117 of 127) of the runs
  • Emerald Blossom into Echo, in 91% (115 of 127) of the runs
  • Temporal Anomaly into Echo, in 90% (114 of 127) of the runs
  • Emerald Blossom into Emerald Blossom, in 86% (109 of 127) of the runs
  • Temporal Anomaly into Emerald Blossom, in 81% (103 of 127) of the runs

127 runs with ramp casts · a typical ramp is 7 abilities

No ability reliably goes first here. The most common opener was Emerald Blossom, in 42 of 127 runs. Treat this as a set to get out, not an order.

Ramp abilities for Sszorak, by how often each appeared and opened.
AbilityAppeared inOpened the rampTypical position
Emerald Blossom99% (126 of 127)42 of 1272
Echo100% (127 of 127)31 of 1273
Temporal Anomaly100% (127 of 127)21 of 1273
Dream Breath100% (127 of 127)12 of 1274
Verdant Embrace74% (94 of 127)11 of 1275

Howling Maelstrom

Press Echo about 8 times, Emerald Blossom about 7 times, Verdant Embrace about 4 times, Temporal Anomaly about 4 times, Dream Breath about 3 times and Fire Breath about 2 times inside that window, across 127 runs.

No two runs cast the same full sequence, so there is no single opener to copy. What repeats is which cast follows which:

  • Emerald Blossom into Echo, in 87% (110 of 127) of the runs
  • Echo into Echo, in 86% (109 of 127) of the runs
  • Echo into Emerald Blossom, in 81% (103 of 127) of the runs
  • Emerald Blossom into Emerald Blossom, in 80% (101 of 127) of the runs
  • Temporal Anomaly into Echo, in 77% (98 of 127) of the runs
  • Verdant Embrace into Verdant Embrace, in 73% (93 of 127) of the runs

127 runs with ramp casts · a typical ramp is 7 abilities

No ability reliably goes first here. The most common opener was Echo, in 33 of 127 runs. Treat this as a set to get out, not an order.

Ramp abilities for Howling Maelstrom, by how often each appeared and opened.
AbilityAppeared inOpened the rampTypical position
Echo98% (125 of 127)33 of 1273
Emerald Blossom98% (125 of 127)25 of 1273
Temporal Anomaly100% (127 of 127)25 of 1274
Dream Breath99% (126 of 127)14 of 1275
Verdant Embrace74% (94 of 127)9 of 1275

Sszorak

Press Echo about 12 times, Emerald Blossom about 11 times, Temporal Anomaly about 5 times, Verdant Embrace about 5 times, Dream Breath about 5 times and Fire Breath about 4 times inside that window, across 127 runs.

No two runs cast the same full sequence, so there is no single opener to copy. What repeats is which cast follows which:

  • Echo into Echo, in 95% (121 of 127) of the runs
  • Echo into Emerald Blossom, in 92% (117 of 127) of the runs
  • Emerald Blossom into Echo, in 91% (115 of 127) of the runs
  • Temporal Anomaly into Echo, in 90% (114 of 127) of the runs
  • Emerald Blossom into Emerald Blossom, in 86% (109 of 127) of the runs
  • Temporal Anomaly into Emerald Blossom, in 81% (103 of 127) of the runs

127 runs with ramp casts · a typical ramp is 7 abilities

No ability reliably goes first here. The most common opener was Emerald Blossom, in 42 of 127 runs. Treat this as a set to get out, not an order.

Ramp abilities for Sszorak, by how often each appeared and opened.
AbilityAppeared inOpened the rampTypical position
Emerald Blossom99% (126 of 127)42 of 1272
Echo100% (127 of 127)31 of 1273
Temporal Anomaly100% (127 of 127)21 of 1273
Dream Breath100% (127 of 127)12 of 1274
Verdant Embrace74% (94 of 127)11 of 1275

Howling Maelstrom

Press Echo about 8 times, Emerald Blossom about 7 times, Verdant Embrace about 4 times, Temporal Anomaly about 4 times, Dream Breath about 3 times and Fire Breath about 2 times inside that window, across 127 runs.

No two runs cast the same full sequence, so there is no single opener to copy. What repeats is which cast follows which:

  • Emerald Blossom into Echo, in 87% (110 of 127) of the runs
  • Echo into Echo, in 86% (109 of 127) of the runs
  • Echo into Emerald Blossom, in 81% (103 of 127) of the runs
  • Emerald Blossom into Emerald Blossom, in 80% (101 of 127) of the runs
  • Temporal Anomaly into Echo, in 77% (98 of 127) of the runs
  • Verdant Embrace into Verdant Embrace, in 73% (93 of 127) of the runs

127 runs with ramp casts · a typical ramp is 7 abilities

No ability reliably goes first here. The most common opener was Echo, in 33 of 127 runs. Treat this as a set to get out, not an order.

Ramp abilities for Howling Maelstrom, by how often each appeared and opened.
AbilityAppeared inOpened the rampTypical position
Echo98% (125 of 127)33 of 1273
Emerald Blossom98% (125 of 127)25 of 1273
Temporal Anomaly100% (127 of 127)25 of 1274
Dream Breath99% (126 of 127)14 of 1275
Verdant Embrace74% (94 of 127)9 of 1275

Sszorak

Press Echo about 12 times, Emerald Blossom about 11 times, Temporal Anomaly about 5 times, Verdant Embrace about 5 times, Dream Breath about 5 times and Fire Breath about 4 times inside that window, across 127 runs.

No two runs cast the same full sequence, so there is no single opener to copy. What repeats is which cast follows which:

  • Echo into Echo, in 95% (121 of 127) of the runs
  • Echo into Emerald Blossom, in 92% (117 of 127) of the runs
  • Emerald Blossom into Echo, in 91% (115 of 127) of the runs
  • Temporal Anomaly into Echo, in 90% (114 of 127) of the runs
  • Emerald Blossom into Emerald Blossom, in 86% (109 of 127) of the runs
  • Temporal Anomaly into Emerald Blossom, in 81% (103 of 127) of the runs

127 runs with ramp casts · a typical ramp is 7 abilities

No ability reliably goes first here. The most common opener was Emerald Blossom, in 42 of 127 runs. Treat this as a set to get out, not an order.

Ramp abilities for Sszorak, by how often each appeared and opened.
AbilityAppeared inOpened the rampTypical position
Emerald Blossom99% (126 of 127)42 of 1272
Echo100% (127 of 127)31 of 1273
Temporal Anomaly100% (127 of 127)21 of 1273
Dream Breath100% (127 of 127)12 of 1274
Verdant Embrace74% (94 of 127)11 of 1275

Stasis

Held time is how long the charges sat banked before release. A long hold means Stasis was filled during downtime and spent later; a short one means it was filled and released inside the same window, which is a different tool.

Log-verifiedn=171 runs with Stasis recorded
Into Sszorak, Stasis was banked with Dream Breath + Dream Breath + Temporal Anomaly and held 16s.
Log-verifiedn=16 runs with Stasis recorded
Into Howling Maelstrom, Stasis was banked with Dream Breath + Temporal Anomaly + Echo and held 15s.
Thin sample: 16 runs with Stasis recorded.
Log-verifiedn=111 runs with Stasis recorded
Into Sszorak, Stasis was banked with Dream Breath + Temporal Anomaly + Emerald Blossom and held 13s.
Log-verifiedn=11 runs with Stasis recorded
Into Howling Maelstrom, Stasis was banked with Dream Breath + Temporal Anomaly + Emerald Blossom and held 15s.
Thin sample: 11 runs with Stasis recorded.
Log-verifiedn=47 runs with Stasis recorded
Into Sszorak, Stasis was banked with Dream Breath + Temporal Anomaly + Emerald Blossom and held 13s.
Log-verifiedn=1 runs with Stasis recorded
Into Sszorak, Stasis was banked with Tip the Scales + Dream Breath + Emerald Blossom and held 0s.
Only 1 runs with Stasis recorded. Read this as an observation, not a rate.

What they were playing

The loadout most of these runs shared. A real build somebody imported rather than an average: a build assembled from per-talent take rates can overspend the point budget or take both halves of a choice node, which is not a build anybody can play. The full spread by key level lives on the talents page.

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Class

2/22/22/22/22/2

Preservation

2/22/22/22/22/24/4

Hero · Flameshaper

Flameshaper

What is doing the damage

Per stage, the abilities that hit somebody other than a tank hardest, totalled across the whole stage and averaged per run. These are stage totals, so they are much larger than the five second figure in the table above and the two do not compare.

A raid total is not a healing requirement and neither is this. It is what the group took, with most of a tank's share deliberately left out.

Sszorak

  • Mutilated Gash, 42,771,505
  • Ula'tek's Presence, 39,764,000
  • Tempest, 16,998,936
  • Venomous Surge, 9,577,467

Howling Maelstrom

  • Viscous Cyst, 16,174,951
  • Ula'tek's Presence, 8,075,231
  • Tempest, 8,803
  • Shadow Word: Death, 5,092

Sszorak

  • Mutilated Gash, 42,473,336
  • Ula'tek's Presence, 36,993,210
  • Tempest, 14,915,314
  • Venomous Surge, 8,765,341

Howling Maelstrom

  • Viscous Cyst, 13,237,895
  • Ula'tek's Presence, 6,492,950
  • Shadow Word: Death, 19,515
  • Tempest, 6,927

Sszorak

  • Mutilated Gash, 13,137,148
  • Ula'tek's Presence, 10,618,628
  • Tempest, 4,536,406
  • Mutilate, 2,659,667

Howling Maelstrom

  • Viscous Cyst, 6,765,271
  • Ula'tek's Presence, 3,736,613
  • Tempest, 11,517
  • Shadow Word: Death, 10,473

Sszorak

  • Mutilated Gash, 3,617,725
  • Ula'tek's Presence, 3,069,160
  • Mutilate, 1,260,864
  • Viscous Cyst, 1,239,422

Other bosses

How these numbers were measured

Runs come from Warcraft Logs. Preservation Evoker only, The Venomous Abyss only.

2075 logged runs across 9 bosses, cut into 7555 phase segments. Every one is a kill, because the ranking board these came from holds nothing else, so nothing here describes a fight going wrong.

Runs whose event stream was cut short are excluded, because their totals would be low by an amount nobody can measure. None have hit that yet.

An ability is called part of the ramp only if it appears in at least 60 percent of the runs with ramp casts for that pull. One player's habit on one key does not reach the page.

Casts are only collected from the 30 seconds before a damage spike. That is a setting, not a finding, so nothing here can tell you whether a ramp starts earlier than that. Where you see a window, it is the window we looked in.

Ramps are worked out one run at a time and then compared, rather than by taking each ability's average timing separately. Doing it the second way produced ramps of six casts inside four seconds, which is faster than the game allows anyone to press buttons.

Damage figures are the whole party added together. Nothing here records who took the damage, and most autoattack damage lands on the tank. Use these numbers to compare one pull against another. They are not an amount you have to heal.