Conquering the Twilight: A Guide to Cho’gall in Bastion of Twilight

Cho’gall, the monstrous fusion of Twilight’s Hammer orcs, serves as the final test of your raid’s mettle in Bastion of Twilight (or second to last on Heroic). This encounter demands precise execution and unwavering coordination to overcome Cho’gall’s corrupting influence. Here’s a comprehensive guide to dismantle this imposing foe

Cho’gall’s Health and Raid Setup

Cho’gall’s health scales significantly depending on your raid size and difficulty. In a 10-man Normal raid, he boasts a health pool of 33.5 million, which jumps to a staggering 101 million in a 25-man Normal raid. For Heroic difficulty, the numbers climb even higher, with Cho’gall sitting at a health pool of 47 million in 10-man and a whopping 146 million in 25-man. To conquer this monstrous foe, regardless of difficulty, a well-balanced raid composition is crucial. A typical raid setup for both 10-man and 25-man encounters consists of 2 tanks, 4 – 5 healers (potentially 3 in 10-man with exceptional coordination), 17 – 18 DPS. This composition provides the necessary firepower to burn down adds quickly, strong and efficient healing for AoE damage phases, and a sturdy tanking duo to manage Cho’gall’s relentless attacks.

Understanding Corrupted Blood

Corrupted Blood is the central mechanic of the encounter. A UI element will be added to your screen. It’s a segmented bar where each segment lights up as a new corruption tier is reached, tracking your corruption level throughout the fight. Cho’gall and his adds possess abilities that inflict stacks of Corrupted Blood. As your corruption level rises, you’ll be afflicted with increasingly debilitating effects:

Level 1 (25%): Corruption Accelerated – This debuff rapidly increases your corruption, requiring magic dispels from Mages to prevent reaching higher tiers.
Level 2 (50%): Corruption Sickness – Brace yourself, as this debuff forces you to periodically vomit a cone of shadow damage in front of you. Ensure you’re facing away from the raid to avoid inflicting damage on your allies.
Level 3 (75%): Corruption Malformation – A grotesque tentacle erupts from your back, firing Shadow bolts at nearby raid members. This not only hinders your ability to contribute to the fight but also poses a threat to your comrades.
Level 4 (100%): Corruption Absolute – A double-edged sword. While you gain a significant damage boost and instant casts, you become completely immune to healing. This state should be managed strategically and only when absolutely necessary.

Phase 1: Annihilation Unleashed

Phase 1 focuses on managing adds and interrupting key abilities:

Conversion: Acts similar to mind control; affected players worship Cho’gall, boosting his damage via

Twisted Devotion: Quick interrupts are essential here. A mage can knock this interrupt out quickly.

Flames of Order and Shadows of Order: Cho’gall enhances his melee attacks with additional fire or shadow damage, respectively. Players should avoid resultant environmental hazards on the ground.

Fury of Cho’gall: A tank-swap mechanic where Cho’gall targets the current tank with high damage and a debuff that increases damage taken, requiring the off-tank to taunt immediately.

Corrupting Adherent: These adds cast Depravity (interruptible), Sprayed Corruption (a cone attack), and Corrupting Crash (applies Corrupted Blood). They must be taken down swiftly before their death triggers further complications. Make sure you assign a couple raiders to interrupt these adds. This is very important.

Positioning

Melee DPS should position behind Cho’gall to avoid frontal attacks, while ranged DPS and healers should maintain a formation that allows quick access to affected players for dispels and healing. When Corrupting Adherence is summoned, the off-tank should pull it away, and ranged DPS should focus it down quickly, especially as its health wanes to prevent excessive Corrupted Blood spread. Don’t forget your interrupters kicking all casts of Depravity.

Phase 2 Strategy

Upon reaching 25% health, Cho’gall’s corruption fully manifests, escalating the fight’s difficulty. You should be managing the adds that come up but also burning the boss. Keep control of the adds and sustain DPS and you will defeat it.

Corruption of the Old God: Continuously deals shadow damage to all players, enhancing their Corruption.
Darkened Creations: These adds are spawned and then they will cast Debilitating Beam, significantly reducing healing and damage output of their targets. They are a high priority and should be killed as quickly as possible.

Key Tactical Considerations

Corrupted Blood Management: It is crucial to manage Corrupted Blood levels throughout the fight. Utilizing class-specific dispels on Corruption: Accelerated and positioning correctly for Corruption Sickness can mitigate some of the corruption received.

Add Management: Focus fire and coordinated interrupts on Corrupting Adherents and Darkened Creations will control the fight’s pace and prevent overwhelming the raid with high Corruption levels.

Healing Distribution: Healers need to be strategically positioned to reach all raid members quickly while prioritizing tanks and highly corrupted players.

Resource Utilization: Efficient use of raid-wide cooldowns, particularly in transitioning to Phase 2 and during high add activity, will help stabilize the raid.

 General Strategies for Success

Interrupt Rotation: Assign interrupts for Depravity to ensure it’s always countered.

Tank Swapping: Coordinate tank swaps to manage Fury of Cho’gall stacks effectively.

Crowd Control: Utilize crowd control abilities on Corrupting Adherents to maintain order during hectic moments.

Healing: Healers need to be prepared to handle heavy AoE damage during Festering Blood phases. Communicate cooldowns and prioritize raid healing during these moments.

Cooldowns: Utilize defensive cooldowns strategically throughout the encounter, particularly during tank swaps and high damage phases.

Beyond the Basics

While the core mechanics form the foundation of the encounter, here are some additional tips for expert raiders:

Dispel Rotation: Priests can maintain a dispel rotation on Conversion targets in case interrupts are missed.

Movement Optimization: During Sprayed Corruption and Corrupting Crash, move efficiently to minimize downtime while avoiding damage.

Conclusion

The Cho’gall encounter in Bastion of Twilight is a rigorous test of a raid’s ability to juggle multiple mechanics while keeping the raid’s Corruption in check. Success in this fight hinges on precise execution, particularly in managing Corrupted Blood, prioritizing adds, and handling interrupts and debuffs effectively. By adhering to these strategies and maintaining strong communication, raids can overcome this challenging boss and advance in the Bastion of Twilight.