The Pit of Saron is the second of three instances that make up the Frozen Halls in Icecrown Citadel.  It was added in patch 3.3 which added all of the Icecrown Citadel content to the game.  Until it has been completed you will not be able to enter the third and final instance of the Frozen Halls called the Halls of Reflection.  This is so that you can see and follow the storyline involved in the three instances as it evolves.

The Pit of Saron is a very story line heavy instance that walks you through finding out where the Lich King is in the Citadel.  When you enter you face the Scourgelord Tyrannus right away, however, he leaves the area as soon as you engage his minions. 

Jaina Proudmoore (if you are Alliance) or Sylvanas Windrunner (if you are Horde) meet you at this point and ask you to rescue the prisoners held in the mine and defeat the Forgemaster of the Pit.  There are three bosses that inhabit the instance and each must be defeated to complete the storyline.

Once Tyrannus flys away you should make your way along the right path of the pit freeing prisoners along the way.  If you follow the right edge you will come to Forgemaster Garfrost who will be your first big fight in the instance.

Forgemaster Garfrost

The first boss that you come to is The Forgemaster Garfrost who is a Giant that walks around carrying a load of Saronite on his back.  The fight has three different phases as he makes his way from forge to forge.  It can also be fairly healing intensive due to the AOE damage inflicted, especially if DPS is light and the fight drags on. 

Abilities

Permafrost – This is a stacking debuff that does two things: it inflicts a small amount of damage per tick and increases frost damage taken.  While the damage starts off small it ramps up fairly quickly due to the stacking increase to frost damage taken. 

Thundering Stomp – This is an AOE stun to everything in the area.  He does this when he leaps to one of his two anvils.  He does this at 2/3 and 1/3 health remaining.

Throw Saronite – Occasionally Garfrost will target a random player and heave a boulder of Saronite at them.  You are given a warning however as a shadow appears on the ground.  If you are hit you take damage and are thrown back.

Frozen Blade – (Phase 2) When Garfrost leaps to the first of his anvils he will forge a Frozen Blade. When wielding this blade he does significantly more damage.

Chilling Wave – (Phase 2)  This is an AOE cone attack that hits everything in his front arc for a large amount of frost damage.

Frostborn Mace – (Phase 3) When Garfrost leaps to his second anvil he forges an even better weapon, the Frostborn Mace.  This weapon allows him to do even more damage.

Deep Freeze – (Phase 3) During phase three Garfrost will randomly target players and hit them for a large amount of frost damage and a movement slowing effect.

Strategy

In the first phase of the fight when the tank initially grabs Garfrost's attention all of the other enemies in the room will also attack the party.  While the tank builds threat, DPS players should quickly down these additional enemies and then focus on Garfrost. Continue fighting Garfrost and avoiding any boulders that he throws at players until you drop him to 2/3rds life.  At this point he will stun everyone and leap to one of his anvils.

[protip]Any player that can put up frost resistance will very much help the group's cause in this fight. This means that Paladins and Shamans need to get them up as soon as they enter the fight. [/protip]

You are now in phase two, and things remain much the same other than ramped up damage.  The tank needs to keep the boss faced away from the group to prevent too much damage from Chilling Wave, but other than that it’s the same as phase one.  Once he is reduced to 1/3rd health he will once again stun everyone and leap away this time to his other anvil.

He will gain an even more powerful weapon here and the ability to hit random players for a large amount of damage.  At this point burn all of your cool downs and trinkets and get him down quickly.

Once you have defeated Forgemaster Garfrost you will get the next part of the quest to move on through the instance.  While the quest points you up the ramp, we will instead head just left of the ramp to deal with a vile little Gnome first.

Krick and Ick

Krick and Ick are a hilarious combination of an undead troll type creature called a Plague Eruptor and an evil looking Gnome riding on his back directing him.  The creatures that you fight in front of him help teach you the fight by having you avoid poison.

Abilities

Toxic Waste – Throughout the fight Ick will launch toxic waste at players much the same as the creatures you just fought.  Everyone needs to get out of them before they suffer too much damage.

Shadow Bolt – Any time the tank is not nearby, Krick launches Shadow Bolts at the player with the most threat.

Pursuit – Occasionally Krick will tell Ick that he is attacking the wrong person.  He will then select a player at random to attack and stay on them for about 10 seconds.    The tank can not taunt the stupid creature back until the time is up.  Ick is slowed to 50% run speed though so the player just needs to outpace it.

Poison Nova – Occasionally Krick will announce that he wants all of you poisoned.  Ick then takes a few seconds to launch a poison nova that hits everyone nearby.  There is enough time to get away if you start early.

Explosive Barrage – Once Ick has been dropped to 20% or less health he will start launching Explosive Barages.  They appear as blue orbs on the ground that expand and then explode dealing magic damage when they do. 

Strategy

This fight is really pretty simple, assuming you can get everyone to avoid the toxic waste.  The tank just needs to hold agro when Ick is not pursuing someone, and drag him around away from waste. 

Once Ick gets low on health and the exploding orbs start appearing everyone can continue to DPS but they just need to move constantly and avoid going where someone else was previously.  Once the orbs stop appearing you can go back to DPSing Ick fully.

Once he has been defeated, Krick will beg for mercy from Jaina Proudmoore (if you are Alliance) or Sylvanas Windrunner (if you are Horde).  While it looks like they are about to grant it, the Scourgelord is less than pleased with Krick's betrayal and silences the Grome for good.

Make your way up the ramp chasing Tyrannus and then make your way through the tunnel.  This is a great cinematic fight as you deal with scourge while avoiding the roof collapses going on.

Scourgelord Tyrannus

At the end of the tunnel you come to face the Scourgelord Tyrannus and his fearsome mount Rimefang.  Tyrannus is a Death Knight that has several powerful attacks, as well as being able to direct his mount that flies overhead attacking.

Tyrannus’s Abilities

Forceful Smash – This attack hits the tank and anyone else in the front arc and knocks them back while inflicting a serious amount of damage.  Any non-tank hit is likely to be killed.

Overlord’s Brand – Tyrannus marks a random player with this brand for 8 seconds.  While branded that player suffers damage equal to what they deal out, in addition any healing that that player does is done to Tyrannus as well.

Unholy Power – This is a buff that Tyrannus grants himself that increases the damage he causes by 75% but reduces his movement speed by 50%.

Mark of Rimefang – Tyrannus places this mark on a random player, signaling that Rimefang should attack that player.

Rimefang’s Abilities

Hoarfrost – Rimfang circles overhead and drops Hoarfrost onto the ground below.  A Rune displays on the ground showing where it will land and gives players a chance to get away.  It appears roughly 5 seconds before it will land.  If hit the player is stunned for 5 seconds and takes a large amount of frost damage.

Icy Blast – This is a frost based attack that Rimefang uses when not casting Hoarfrost.  It hits the target and anyone nearby with a moderate amount of frost damage.

Strategy

This fight requires that players pay attention to who is Branded and who is Marked.  Branded players must immediately stop DPS and healing.  Marked players must separate out from the others and try to avoid Rimefang's attacks. Both of these things must be accomplished while avoiding the Hoarfrost being dropped all over the area.

Once the tank has agro players need to simply watch for the items listed above.  The tank needs to watch for frost on the ground and get ready to kite Tyrannus across it when he gets Unholy Power.  Some well geared groups will not need to worry about this, but if tanking or healing is hard it is best to kite him as soon as he is empowered.

The fight itself seems easier than many of the others in the new instances, and should not pose many issues to players.  The mechanics are fairly simple, they just require players to pay attention.

Once you have defeated the Tyrannus, Rimefang will fly off and Jaina Proudmoore (if you are Alliance) or Sylvanas Windrunner (if you are Horde) will appear again to turn in your quest to.  They then lead you into the last of the new instances, The Halls of Reflection, the entrance to which can be found right at the end of the instance.