Helya Strategy/Tactics for Normal/Heroic (2024)

Table of Contents

• +Introduction
  • 1. Contents
  • 2. Lore
  • 3. Outline
  • 4. TL;DR
    • 4.1. Tanks
    • 4.2. Healers
    • 4.3. Everyone
  • 5. Mythic Notes
  • 6. Bloodlust/Heroism/Time Warp
  • 7. Changelog
• +Abilities
  • 1. Overview
    • 1.1. Phase One
    • 1.2. Phase Two
    • 1.3. Phase Three
• ×Normal/Heroic Strategy/Tactics
  • 1. Positioning
    • 1.1. Phase One: Low Tide
    • 1.2. Phase Two: From the Mists
    • 1.3. Phase Three: Helheim's Last Stand
  • 2. Tank Concerns
  • 3. Healing Concerns
  • 4. Bloodlust/Heroism/Time Warp
• +Mythic Strategy
  • 1. Mythic Mode Abilities
    • 1.1. Phase One
    • 1.2. Phase Two
    • 1.3. Phase Three
  • 2. Strategy
    • 2.1. Phase One
    • 2.2. Phase Two
    • 2.3. Phase Three

General Information

On this page, you will find a working strategy to defeat Helyain Trial of Valor for both Normal and Heroic modes, which usually only differ bythe tuning of the boss.

Here, we assume that you have read our descriptionsof the abilities for this encounter.

The other pages of our Helya guide can be accessedfrom the table of contents on the right.

Phase One lasts until Helya hits 65% health.

Positioning on this encounter is fluid during Phase One. All players willneed to be wary of the Bilewater Breath as it should only hit thetank and will deal enough damage to be potentially fatal to a non-tank player.The Bilewater Breath occurs every 25 seconds.

• Tanks should be careful not to face the Bilewater Breath toofar to the edges, as it will cause some of the Bilewater Slimes tospawn on the upper platforms. However, they should also take care that thebreath does not sweep through the raid, as this will cause a wipe.
• Damage dealers and healers should be careful to avoid getting hit by thebreath as it will likely be fatal.
• The slimes' casts are unaffected by crowd control and they cannot be movedby abilities such as Sigil of Chains or Typhoon, so they willneed to be killed individually or with spread cleave (such as DoTeffects).
• Tanks should taunt after each Bilewater Breath due to Bilewater Redox.

Players should be ready to run out of the group, as Orb of Corruption will spawn regularly and fixate members of thegroup.

• Being loosely spread before Orb of Corruptions spawn will helpminimize incidental damage from orbs.
• Orb of Corruption always target the off tank and a selectionof random ranged DPS and healers.
• The fixate effect lasts 8 seconds.
• Players should kite the orbs towards the edges or back of the room to givethe rest of the group space, while being wary of other mechanics that mayoverlap.

All players should be ready to soak nearby Tentacle Strikesthat emerge from the front and back of the platform. Tanks should assist inthis endeavour whenever possible.

• All nearby players should help soak the Tentacle Slams,however, the damage split is low enough that it only takes a handful of playersper tentacle in order for the damage to not be fatal. This means that meleewill not need to move to the back of the room to soak ranged tentacles, forexample.
• The Tentacle Strikes can be avoided by having players immunethe damage alone. Personal cooldowns such as Ice Block are useful here,as well as raid utility such as Blessing of Spellwarding. If you have alimited number of immunity effects, it is best to use them on the TentacleStrikes at range, as tanks and melee will not be able to assist with soakingthose.

Helya will afflict players with Taint of the Sea, which can bedispelled by a healer. Once dispelled, it deals low raid wide damage andleaves behind a Tainted Essence zone that explodes after a few seconds. Tainted Essence deals moderate Frost damage to anyone caught in the zone,and is easily avoided. This effect will always target the current tank in additionto random other players in the raid. Healers should prioritize dispelling this effectas soon as possible, as it will greatly reduce total raid damage.

There must always be at least one player in melee range of Helya, or she will begincasting Corrosive Nova, which deals low raid wide Frost damage and permanentlyincreases her damage by 3% for each cast for the remainder of the encounter.

Helya will spawn 9 Gripping Tentacles around the arena; 2 oneach raised platform, 2 on the main platform (1 on either side), and 3 at theback of the main platform area.

As Helya transitions into Phase Two, she will cast Fury of the Maw immediately,which sends a wave crashing across the lower platform of the room. The wave spawns two largeadds on either side of the room (one Night Watch Mariner and oneGrimelord). Each subsequent cast of Fury of the Maw will alwaysdeal 25% more damage than the previous one, stacking indefinitely, due to Raging Tempest. The wave can be avoided by escaping to the upper platformson either side of the room, but it is fine for the group to tank it if you are killing tentacleson the lower levels. The raid should try and be grouped for each wave to increase healing efficacyand allow for cooldowns to be used.

Decaying Minions also spawn at the beginning of the Phase as well as periodicallythroughout the remainder of Phase Two. They cannot be tanked and fixate on random raid memberswith Rabid. They should be cleaved down quickly, though bear in mind they leavepools of Decay on the ground when they die, which makes positioning important.It is best to stack them and kill them quickly, especially if you are able to stack them on atentacle or add (such as the Night Watch Mariner) that will be killed quickly.You can also elect to stack them and kill them along the edges, which is easier to pull offbut results in a slower Phase timing.

The two large adds that spawn (Grimelord and Night Watch Mariner)need to be focused down quickly. The Night Watch Mariner should be killed first ashe has the most dangerous abilities of the duo:

• The Mariner casts Lantern of Darkness 25 seconds after he spawns, which will likelywipe your raid. The raid's goal should be to kill the Mariner before this cast even takes place.He does not have much health in Phase Two, so cooldowns should be unncessary.
• The Mariner will also teleport to nearby players and cast Give No Quarter whichspawns a white circle beneath their feet that deals high Arcane damage to anyone caught inthe circle after a few seconds. This is easily avoided by quick movement and a loose spread(when Decaying Minions are not active).
• The Mariner casts Ghostly Rage periodically, which grants him 30% attack speedfor 6 seconds. Tanks should be wary during this time and use appropriate cooldowns and/ormitigation.
• The Mariner and the raid should always be near one of Helya's tentacles to maximizecleave damage and minimize the time in this Phase.

After the Mariner is killed, players should switch to the Grimelord. The Grimelordhas several abilities that occasionally force players out of melee range, so it should be tankedaway from the group until the Mariner is dead so melee players can have full uptime on theMariner.

• The Grimelord periodically casts Sludge Nova, which deals high Plague damageto players within 15 yards and knocks them back. Tanks and melee should run out of harm's waywhen this ability is cast.
• The Grimelord periodically casts Anchor Slam on the tank, which deals veryhigh Physical damage and knocks anyone hit in the air. This ability has a large targeting circlearound the tank and should be avoided carefully by all melee as it will result in instant death. Anchor Slam also causes the debuffed player to take 400% increased damage for 6seconds. A cooldown should be used to help survive the damage. If the Mariner has already beenkilled, the other tank should taunt after the Anchor Smash to avoid the damage increase from thedebuff.
• The Grimelord periodically debuffs the raid with Fetid Rot which deals tickingdamage and reduces healing taken by 10% per stack. When the debuff expires it explodes and applies Fetid Rot to any players within 5 yards. Players with the debuff should get away fromthe group to avoid this ability chaining throughout the raid.

Phase Two is largely a control Phase that involves dealing with the imminent threats while cleavingdown the tentacles. The raid should group near a tentacle whenever possible so you will benefit fromadditional splash damage coming off the large adds and the Decaying Minions. When the final tentacleis killed, Helya returns to the platform at 47% HP. For the cleanest possible transition, try to cleanup as many adds as you can before finishing the last tentacle as the adds persist through the Phaseuntil they are killed.

Phase Three begins with the boss at 47% and is a mix of mechanics from the previous Phases. Taint of the Sea is still periodically cast along with Fury of the Maw.The Night Watch Mariner will also continue to spawn, though he has a new ability called Rally of the Kvaldir, which increases his health significantly. His other abilities andtimers are the same, so it is imperative that he takes significantly more damage than in PhaseThree as he will wipe the raid if he gets his Lantern of Darkness cast off after25 seconds.

Healing cooldowns should be used to help survive Fury of the Maw, as the entireraid will not be able to dodge it. If you elect to try and avoid some of the waves by going tothe upper platforms a tank will need to stay in range of the boss to avoid Corrosive Novafrom being cast. Generally, it is better to loosely group for healing and tank the waves, as itreduces raid movement significantly and is easier to organize. The damage and timers are verypredictable, allowing your healers to plan raid cooldowns for each wave well in advance.

Instead of Bilewater Breath, Helya will now cast Corrupted Breath.It now deals Shadow damage instead of Frost and applies Dark Hatred to anyone hit,which significantly reduces healing received. It also spawns Corrupted Axions thatneed to be soaked. Corrupted Axions deal moderate Shadow damage and absorb a setamount of healing for 30 seconds. If any one Corrupted Axion is not soaked, itapplies the healing debuff to the entire raid. This effect can also stack, making soaking ofthe highest imperative. Healers should quickly break the absorb on the players that soaked toavoid them dying from lack of healing. Players can immune the damage, but not the healing absorb.

Instead of Orb of Corruption, Helya will now spawn Orb of Corrosionswhich function identically except that they leave void zones on the ground when they pulse.Proper kiting of the orbs is more important than ever, as the void zones can only be waashedaway by the Fury of the Maw casts that happen periodically. Ideally, players thatare fixated should take the orbs to the edges of the room or the very back. Ranged and healersshould form a horshoe shape facing the boss so the orbs do not spawn in the middle of the roomand cut off vital areas.

Decaying Minions will also continue to spawn in this Phase. They still spawn Decaywhen they die, which further restricts your safe spaces. Ideally, you want to kill these adds insuch a manner that they are all as stacked as possible, or on the very edges of the room, to maximizeyour remaining real estate.

• Ensure Bilewater Breath is properly faced so it does not hit the raid, butalso so that it does not spawn adds on the upper platforms.
• Taunt after every Bilewater Breath or Corrupted Breath.
• Tank the Grimewalker and Mariner appropriately to maximize raid cleave.
• Use appropriate cooldowns for the Grimewalker's Anchor Slam and the Mariner's Ghostly Rage.
• Help soak Tentacle Strikes in the First Phase.

• Dispell Taint of the Sea as soon as possible to minimize damage.
• Help soak Tentacle Strikes in the First Phase.
• Appropriately use cooldowns to help survive Bilewater Liquefaction,if necessary.
• Keep players with the Fetid Rot debuff alive.
• Cycle raid cooldowns appropriately for the later waves of Fury of the Maw.
• Quickly heal players who soaked Corrupted Axions to break the healingabsorb.

We advise you to use Bloodlust/ Heroism/ Time Warp during the finalPhase. The first two phases of the fight are about control, while the final Phase is a race tothe finish to kill the boss before the raid damage is too high from Fury of the Maw. Bloodlust/ Heroism/ Time Warp can also be an invaluable healing cooldownin this Phase.