Altairus

Altairus
Race	Storm dragon (Dragonkin)
Level	84 Elite
Health	?? (normal) 6.6M (heroic)
Location	Nimbus Rise, Vortex Pinnacle
Status	Killable
See
Vortex Pinnacle
Grand Vizier Ertan Altairus Asaad (lore) (lore) (lore) Loot

Altairus is the second boss of the Vortex Pinnacle in World of Warcraft: Cataclysm.

Tactics summary

• Normal: Do not leave the platform. Stay upwind of Altairus for massive haste boost (downwind causes massive haste/movement reduction). When he casts Chilling Breath on a random target, he stays aimed at his chosen target even if they move, so those not targeted should move away from the victim, or the victim should move to point Altairus away from the others.

• Heroic: Avoid the vortexes roaming the platform. There are a lot of them so you will probably get hit at least once per fight.

Abilities

• [Chilling Breath]—Inflicts 30000 Frost damage to enemies in a frontal cone
• [Upwind of Altairus]—Standing upwind of Altairus makes it easier to attack and cast spells. Attack and casting speed are increased by 75%. Movement speed is increased by 30%
• [Downwind of Altairus]—Standing downwind of Altairus makes it harder to attack and cast spells. Attack and casting speed are decreased by 75%. Movement speed is decreased by 30%

Strategy

• Work in progress
• Tanks - Turn the boss so one of his sides is always facing downwind.
• DPS - Always stand Upwind from the dragon to get the buff. Do not stand Downwind or you will get the speed decrease debuff.
• Healers - Stand with DPS.

The wind switches directions every x amount of seconds so keep rotating. It is an easy tank and spank.

Heroic

Same things apply regarding the wind shifting--but nearly 50 cyclones spawn in the boss area, and each one will attempt to knock you off the platform. If you leave the platform then you'll get a warning message and the boss will 1-shot kill you.

In addition, the dragon's breath no longer seems to follow strict aggro tables in this fight. He appears to always attack the person with the lowest HP. Consequently, keep your group well separated for this fight, and avoid tornadoes like they will instantly kill you.

He doesn't have an enrage timer, however. If you lose a couple DPS but the tank and healer can keep themselves alive indefinitely, you're fine - just be prepared for a ten-minute fight. Protection Paladins who find themselves in this situation can end up doing about 1/3 of the party's total healing by the end of such a fight with their Word of Glory.

Loot

Normal Mode

Skyshard Ring Item Level 316 Disenchants into: [Dream Shard]: 1 (99.5%) [Abyss Crystal]: 1 (0.5%) Binds when picked up Unique-Equipped Finger +127 Strength +191 Stamina Requires level 81 Equip: Improves critical strike rating by 91. Equip: Increase your expertise rating by 74. Sell Price: 5 34 34 Hail-Strung Belt Item Level 316 Disenchants into: [Dream Shard]: 1 (99.5%) [Abyss Crystal]: 1 (0.5%) Binds when picked up Mail Waist 1183 Armor +170 Agility +255 Stamina Requires level 81 Equip: Improves critical strike rating by 121. Equip: Increases your mastery rating by 99. Sell Price: 6 81 88 Mantle of Bestilled Winds Item Level 316 Disenchants into: [Dream Shard]: 1 (99.5%) [Abyss Crystal]: 1 (0.5%) Binds when picked up Leather Shoulder 1104 Armor +255 Stamina +170 Intellect +113 Spirit Requires level 81 Equip: Improves haste rating by 113. Sell Price: 8 84 37 Reins of the Drake of the North Wind Item Level 70 Disenchants into: Not disenchantable Binds when picked up Unique Mount"Mount" is not in the list (Back, Chest, Feet, Finger, Hands, Head, Held in off-hand, Legs, Main Hand, Neck, ...) of allowed values for the "Item slot" property. Requires level 70 Requires Riding (300) Use: Teaches you how to summon this mount.

Videos

How2 ~ Heroic: The Vortex Pinnacle - Altairus [WoW] by StupidOctopus on YouTube

Quick Guide to Heroic Altairus [HD] by The Yogscast on YouTube

How to solo on normal

Trivia

• Altair means the flying one or bird of prey in Arabic.

External links

• Wowhead
• Thottbot
• WoWDB