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Located under the frigid wastes of Dragonblight, and only accessible
through a crack below Wyrmrest Temple, the Obsidian Sanctum is home to
Sartharion and his three lieutenants (all drakes of the twilight
dragonflight); Shadron, Tenebron, and Vesperon. Charged by Deathwing to
guard a clutch of twilight eggs, Sartharion is a powerful guardian who
will smite those who dare enter his sanctuary.



The Obsidian Sanctum allows for 10 or 25 man versions of the raid, and
also allows groups of raiders to decide if they would like to kill all
three drakes, or leave some combination of them alive. Defeating
Sartharion with one or more drakes up increases the difficulty but in
turn improves the loot drops.

href="http://www.tentonhammer.com/node/76772"> style="border: 0px solid ; float: right; width: 250px; height: 153px;"
alt="" src="http://www.tentonhammer.com/image/view/76772">While
there is not much trash
inside  the Obsidian Sanctum the trash can easily
wipe even an over geared raid group who are not prepared.
There are 2 types of add packs inside the Sanctum: a pack of 4 dragons,
and a pack with 2 Onyx Sanctum Guardians. The Guardians require a tank
on teach and are a hard hitting tank and spank. They cast a Curse of
Mending on random raid members which will heal them every time that
player attacks. This needs to be dispelled or the targeted player needs
to stop DPS till it wears off.  The pack of four consists of
an Onyx Brood General who when killed will break all CC from the other
dragon kin and prevent them from being Cced again for the rest of the
fight, 1-2 Onyx Flight Captains who have no major abilities but tend to
hit very hard, and 1-2 Onyx Blaze Mistresses which should be killed
first as they conjure up Flame Orbs that do damage to anyone near it.

All three drakes are very similar fights with small differences. All
three drakes have a Shadow Breath so no one except the tank should be
in front of them, all three will spawn void zones that should be
avoided by all players, and each drake will spawn  portals
throughout the fight that can be taken by the raiders. While
in  a portal everyone will take shadow damage, and what you do
in the portal depends on the drake you are facing. Depending on the
drake you are facing it is currently acceptable to skip some of these
portals.

style="font-style: italic;">Tenebron

Located on the terrace to
Sartharion’s right side, she will open portals into the
Twilight realm that give players a chance to destroy her eggs. Left
untouched these eggs will eventually spawn Twilight
Whelps which will attack the raid. Currently it is much easier
for players to ignore her portals and focus on DPSing her down while an
off tank picks up her adds. Unless killed before engaging Sartharion,
she will be called to aid him after 30 seconds, strengthening
Sartharion even more.

style="font-style: italic;">Shadron

Located on the terrace to the rear of Sartharion, Shadron will
regularly open portals to the Twilight realm that will give players the
opportunity to slay acolytes which Shadron will summon. Players will
need to take these portals as the acolytes will give Shadron the Gift
of Twilight which decreases Shadron’s suffered damage to style="float: right; width: 300px; height: 207px;" alt=""
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zero. Send in an off tank, all your DPS, and a few healers (or just one
on 10-man) and the acolyte will easily go down. Unless killed before
engaging Sartharion, he will be called to aid him after 75 seconds,
strengthening Sartharion even more.

style="font-style: italic;">Vesperon

Located
on the terrace on Sartharion’s left side, he will
open portals to the Twilight realm that give raiders the chance to kill
acolytes that will be summoned by
Vesperon. These acolytes have an
ability that inflicts damage to players who attack Vesperon or the
acolyte. Depending on how confident you are in your healers and your
DPS to take down Vesperon quickly you can skip these portals, however
to make it easier simply send in an off tank, a few healers and your
DPS and take out the acolyte. Unless killed before engaging Sartharion,
he will be called to aid him after 75 seconds, strengthening Sartharion
even more.



Each drake will drop an Emblem of Conquest
upon their death.

Sartharion

While being an old fight Sartharion still requires the raid to have
moderate movement skills and situational awareness, especially when
attempting 3 drakes. Sartharion is most frequently done with no drakes
alive, or all three drakes. While 1 or 2 drakes can also be done it
seems almost silly not to just do all 3 and get the whole shebang out
of the way.

S style="font-weight: normal;">artharion No
Drakes

Sartharion has all the abilities you would expect from a
dragon:  Cleave, Flame Breath, and Tail Lash. Keeping
Sartharion
faced away from the raid with his tail out of the way is key here. The
best spot I have personally found for the tank to stand is on the
eastern tip of the island. That way Sartharion faces out toward the
lava, his tail is towards the lava on the other side, and the DPS can
spread out along his side while the tank can avoid the Lava Wave with
just a few steps.



Besides the abilities mentioned above Sartharion will also make use of
several other unique abilities that make the fight a little
bit more interesting. Throughout the fight Sartharion will
summon Fire Elementals. They do not hit hard initially and should be
picked up by an off tank. However if they are not killed and they
manage to hit a Lava Wave they will enrage, gain more health and hit
very hard. Killing the Fire Elementals at regular intervals and having
your off tank drag them out of the Flame Waves is key. Lava waves will
also be summoned throughout the fight. You will receive an emote about
the wave, and then a wall of lava will sweep over the island. The waves
can either move left to right or right to left. Each wave will have a
safe spot that players will need to get to. If the wave moves left to
right (looking in from the entrance of the room) there will be two
openings on each end of the Lava Wave. If the wave sweeps right to left
there will only be one opening in the center.  Besides the
Flame Waves and the Fire Elementals Sartharion also has several typical
dragon abilities such as: Cleave, Flame Breath, and Tail Lash.



Between avoiding Lava Walls, and killing Fire Elementals all DPS should
be on Sartharion. Getting up as many DoTs as possible makes this fight
go much faster. Avoid the Lava Waves, kill off the Fire Elementals
regularly, and keep Sartharion from turning to the raid and you will
easily win this boss fight.

Doing Sartharion with three drakes up means he will continue to do all
his normal abilities discussed above plus the drakes will now join the
fight in intervals, buffing Sartharion and debuffing the raid. Void
Zones will now appear throughout the fight and will one shot a player
and should be avoided at all costs. The most viable tank for this fight
is a Death Knight as they have the most cool downs. A priest healing
the main tank is also a good idea as they can lend their wings or pain
suppression as extra cool downs for the tank. The key to Sartharion
with three drakes up is to stay alive.



With drakes active the following elements are added to the fight:

• style="font-style: italic;">Power
  of Tenebron - Increases
  Shadow Damage by 100%
• style="font-style: italic;">Power
  of Shadron - Increases Fire
  Damage by 100%
• style="font-style: italic;">Power
  of Vesperon - Decreases
  maximum health by 25%

• style="font-style: italic;">Will
  of Sartharion - Increases
  Sartharion’s health and those of the other drakes by 25%
• style="font-style: italic;">Twilight
  Revenge - Increases
  Sartharion’s physical damage and attack speed by 25% every
  time a drake dies
• style="font-style: italic;">Berserk
  - When Sartharion reaches 35% health while at least one of the drakes
  are alive, he will berserk, increasing his attack speed by 150% and
  damage done by 500% for 5 minutes.

Once pulled all damage should be on Sartharion until Tenebron lands
after 30 seconds. Tenebron should be picked up by an off tank and the
raid will burn her down. Shadron will land after 75 seconds, and should
be taken care of by a second off tank. The raid should have killed
Tenebron, and have a good start on Shadron by the time Vesperon
 lands after 125 seconds. If the raid is lucky Shadron will
not cast his immunity shield before his death and the raid can continue
on to kill Vesperon.



The damage to the main tank at this point will be
extreme and the tank and his healers should do everything possible to
keep him alive. If Shadron does manage to cast his immunity shield the
DPS , a healer, and an off tank (or a plate wearing DPS) will have to
enter the portal to kill the add inside to be rid of the immunity
debuff. During this time Fire Elementals as well as Whelps will still
spawn which should be picked up by an off tank. Once the last drake
dies the raid should kill off any adds (Whelps, and Fire Elementals)
that have built up and then move quickly to Sartharion. It now becomes
a race to the finish with your raid trying to defeat Sartharion before
the damage overwhelms your tank. Void Zones will have stopped spawning
after all the drakes are defeated however your raid will still need to
dodge Lava Waves.




style="font-weight: bold; font-style: italic;">

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alt="" src="http://www.tentonhammer.com/image/view/76773">A
recently developed and commonly used
strategy (by well geared groups)
is the zerg method. The zerg strategy requires little skill, a large
amount of DPS, and may be made impossible to do by Blizzard at a future
date. It is largely controversial as some consider it cheating,
especially those who completed three drakes the way it was intended.



This strategy will require 1 tank, 1 healer and 8 DPS (10 man) with
more healers being used for 25 man. A feral druid or another class that
can DPS but still taunt is also required here. Players will need
excellent gear, and need to come with all available buffs (flasks,
food, etc). Heavy melee here is a plus. The main tank will grab
Sartharion and pull him into position while the DPS goes all out,
blowing all cool downs. If there are any Rogues or Hunters in the raid
they should use their abilities to help the MT keep aggro. The MT
should grab all the adds that he can, including Tenebron when he first
lands. Once Sartharion reaches 25% the Druid, or another class with a
taunt ability should taunt Tenebron off the MT as he will enrage and
kill your MT quickly. Tenebron should then be kited by the OT back to
the instance portal. All that is left is to continue burning Sarth
down. It will be a close call, don’t be distracted by Shadron
if he lands, just continue to DPS.

While most the loot available in the Obsidian Sanctum is outdated there
are still a few noteworthy pieces, including some cool mounts.

10
Player

• style="font-style: italic;">Reins
  of the Black Drake (3 Drake
  Only)
• style="font-style: italic;">Title:
  <Name> of the Nightfall  (3 Drake Only)

25
Player

• style="font-style: italic;">Fury
  of the Five Flights - Amazing
  DPS trinket that will probably not be replaced until your guild reaches
  ToC 25 man.
• style="font-style: italic;">Illustration
  of the Dragon Soul - Great
  trinket for caster DPS and healers a like
• style="font-style: italic;">Reins
  of the Twilight Drake (3
  Drake Kill Only)
• style="font-style: italic;">Title:
  Twilight Vanquisher <Name> (3 Drake Only)

style="font-style: italic;">Besting
the Black Dragonflight (10
& 25)

Simply defeat Sartharion normally to gain this
achievement.

style="font-style: italic;">Gonna
Go When the Volcano Blows (10
& 25)

This achievement requires the player to not be hit by
Lava Strike during the fight. Not an achievement that your entire raid
will get at once. Keep an eye on the sky and try to anticipate the spot
where the meteor will drop. Also never stand in the same spot for more
than a few seconds.  When the raid comes together to dodge
Lava Waves take a spot in the back away from everyone else. Around 10%
Sarth will incite a meteor shower of sorts for around 5 seconds, try to
move further away from him and concentrate on dodging the meteors until
the shower is over. There is a good chance you will get this
achievement by sheer luck. I would not suggest doing this achievement
while leaving the drakes alive.

style="font-style: italic;">Less
Is More (10 & 25)

Requires your raid to defeat Sartharion and the Twilight Drakes with
fewer than 9 raid members or fewer than 21 players on 25 man. This
achievement is easily done by a well geared group. Dropping DPS instead
of healers or tanks is advised. Simply take out all the drakes, and
then move on to Sartharion and kill him with your normal strategy and
this achievement is yours.

style="font-style: italic;">The
Twilight Zone (10 &
25)

Requires your raid to kill Sartharion while all three Twilight
Drakes are still alive. Considered one of the hardest fights in the
game this achievement may take awhile to get while using a normal
strategy. But keep your cool and keep trying and it will be yours. Or
use the zerg method and make it that much easier.

style="font-style: italic;">Twilight
Assist and Twilight Duo (10
& 25)

Requires your raid to kill Sartharion
with one or two
drakes still alive. Most raids do no drakes or all three at once, which
would give you all these achievements. If you absolutely feel that your
raid needs to do only one or two drakes, use the same strategy used for
three drakes misusing the drakes you have already killed as needed.