Iron Qon

Iron Qon
Title	<Master of Quilen>
Race	Mogu (Humanoid)
Level	?? Boss
Reaction	Alliance Horde
Location	Throne of Thunder
Status	Killable
Throne of Thunder Jin'rokh the Breaker Horridon Council of Elders Tortos Megaera Ji-Kun Durumu the Forgotten Primordius Dark Animus Iron Qon Twin Consorts Lei Shen Ra-den (Heroic only) (lore) (lore) (lore) (lore) (lore) (lore) (lore) (lore) (lore) (lore) (lore) (lore) (lore) Loot

Iron Qon is the tenth boss encounter in the Throne of Thunder. It is a tank and spank with numerous environment awareness mechanics.

Background

Adventure Guide

Legends speak of the brutality of Qon and his quilen champions. The fearless mogu commander was dubbed "Iron Qon" by the Thunder King for his unrelenting resolve to claim victory after victory for the empire regardless of the cost.

Encounter Design

Qon is one of Lei Shen's elite personal guard, and a master of mounted combat. An original concept for this fight was inspired by the Three Kingdoms warlord Lu Bu, a fierce warrior renowned for his skill in fighting with a spear from horseback. Though Qon does have some very cool and unique mounted attack animations, in the end we found it more interesting to explore gameplay via the different abilities of his mounts instead. Thus, the encounter involves Qon switching among different magical quilen, each of which is empowered with vicious elemental attacks, creating a four-phase encounter that is almost like four separate intense fights rolled into one.

Spells and abilities

• The Quilen Champions - Iron Qon battles atop his finest Quilen champions.
  •  Throw Spear — Iron Qon hurls his mighty spear over a random player, inflicting 25/100/50,000 (LFR/10/25) Physical damage on impact.
  •  Impale  — Iron Qon impales his target with his spear, inflicting normal melee damage and causing bleeding, which inflicts an additional 25/40/45/50/65,000 (LFR/10/H/25/H) Physical damage every 2 sec. This effect stacks.

Ro'shak, the Molten Flare

•  Molten Inferno — Ro'shak emits molten flame, inflicting 40/80/100,000 (LFR/N/H) Fire damage to all players. This will relieve Ro'shak of 10 Molten Energy.
•  Molten Overload  — When he reaches maximum Molten Energy, Ro'shak will overload and combust, casting Molten Inferno every 1 sec until he is degraded of molten energy. This effect temporarily increases his damage dealt by 50%.
•  Unleashed Flame — Ro'shak incinerates the largest cluster of enemies he can find, inflicting 600/700/1,400,000 (LFR/10/25) Fire damage split evenly among targets within 10 yards. Discharging this flame will relieve Ro'shak of 30 Molten Energy. There must be at least 3/5 (10/25) targets clustered in order to get Ro'shak's attention.
  •  Scorched — Ro'shak's burning talons leave players Scorched, increasing Fire damage taken by 5/20/25% (LFR/10/25) for 2 min.
• Ignite Spear: Burning Cinders - Ro'shak spits molten lava at Iron Qon's spear, causing magma to burst forth from the ground, inflicting 27/25/50/27/55,000 (LFR/10/H/25/H) Fire damage initially and then stacking 10/15/15/18/15,000 (LFR/10/H/25/H) Fire damage every 1 sec to players who remain within the effect.
• Calling the Stormcaller: Quet'zal – In Heroic difficulty, Quet'zal attacks players alongside Ro'shak. He casts Lightning Storm on random players from above.
  •  Whirling Winds — Quet'zal summons a massive swirl of wind and launches it ahead of him, inflicting 200,000 Nature damage to all players with which it comes into contact.

Quet'zal, the Stormcaller

•  Arcing Lightning — Quet'zal zaps a random player with Lightning, stunning, absorbing healing effects, and causing them to shock nearby allies for 12/27/40/29/43,000 (LFR/10/H/25/H) Nature damage. This shock damage effect jumps to nearby allies, causing them to also pulse with electricity.

They are stunned until another player pulls them out of the storm. If they die while under the effect of Lightning Storm, then Arcing Lightning will zap a random player.

•  Windstorm — Quet'zal pulls all players into the eye of a rushing windstorm. Players suffer 10/50/65/55/70,000 (LFR/10/H/25/H) Nature damage every 2 second until they are able to exit the storm. Damage, healing, and absorption effects cast while inside the windstorm are decreased by 20%/80% (LFR/other). Once the storm is over, some rushing winds will linger.
  •  Rushing Winds — Rushing winds attract players into the storm, inflicting 137,654 Nature damage every 5.2 sec (all difficulties) to those who stand within.
• Strike Spear: Storm Cloud - Quet'zal calls lightning down on Iron Qon's spear, causing a rolling storm cloud that electrifies players for 75/100/200/110/220,000 (LFR/10/H/25/H) Nature damage. This effect stacks, and players who receive 3 stacks become fully electrified and are stunned for 20 sec.
• Breaking the Ice: Dam'ren – In Heroic difficulty, Dam'ren attacks players alongside Quet'zal. He freezes and shatters random players from above.
  •  Frost Spike — Dam'ren commands frost spikes from the ground beneath random players, inflicting 150,000 Frost damage and knocking enemy targets within 4 yards into the air.

Dam'ren, the Frozen Sage

•  Dead Zone — Dam'ren directionally shields himself. Players standing within the Dead Zone created by this shield cause all incoming and outgoing attacks to miss.
•  Frozen Resilience — Dam'ren is protected with a sheen of ice which reflects 2/10% (LFR/other) of damage taken back at the attacker.
•  Frozen Resilience — Dam'ren is protected with a sheen of ice which reflects 2% of damage taken back at the attacker.
•  Freeze — Dam'ren freezes a random player. After 1-5 sec, Dam'ren will then Shatter them, inflicting 50/95/130/102/145,000 (LFR/10/H/25/H) Frost damage to all enemies.
• Freeze Spear: Frozen Blood - Dam'ren strikes Iron Qon's spear with ice, freezing the ground around it. Coming into contact with the frozen ground inflicts 60/100/200/110/220,000 (LFR/10/H/25/H) Frost damage instantly and slows the player's movement, melee, ranged, and casting speeds by 25%. This effect stacks while standing within the area of frozen blood.
• Spark of the Molten Flare: Ro'shak – In Heroic difficulty, Ro'shak attacks players alongside Dam'ren. He casts Unleashed Flame on the largest clump of enemies he can find. If he cannot find a clump of enemies, he instead casts it on a random target.

Iron Qon's Last Stand

Having lost his prime quilen mounts, Iron Qon faces you himself. In addition to his previous attacks, he gains new abilities.

•  Fist Smash — Having no spear in hand, Iron Qon smashes the ground violently, inflicting 15/25/30/28/35,000 Physical damage to all players every 0.75 sec for 7.5 sec.
•  Rising Anger — Iron Qon becomes increasingly angry, increasing damage done and attack speed by 10% per stack.
•  Ignite Cyclone — Iron Qon ignites a random cyclone, causing it to burn all players for 15/20/30/20/33,000 (LFR/10/H/25/H) Fire damage every 2 sec.
•  Freeze Cyclone — Iron Qon freezes a random cyclone, causing it to entomb players in ice on contact. The player will take damage equal to 5% of their maximum health every 2 sec.

Strategy

In all phases, each tank should taunt off the other when their stacks of the Impale DoT fall off, at which point the other will have about 2-3 stacks. Other raiders should avoid clumping, and dodge thrown spears throughout the fight.

Phase 1: Ro'shak, the Molten Flare

The primary task of this phase is keeping Ro'shak's energy below 100 to prevent a Molten Overload, which will likely wipe the raid. Random casts of Molten Inferno will help with this (-10 energy), but the main method is to trigger Unleashed Flame, which releases 30 energy at once. The boss gains about 5 energy / sec, for a total of 8-10 seconds between Flames (along with an Inferno or two). Predetermined teams must rotate responsibility for attracting Flames due to Scorched, a stacking debuff increasing fire damage taken for 30 seconds. Thus, in the 30 seconds it takes to drop stacks, the raid can expect 3-4 new Unleashed Flames to go out. To attract Unleashed Flame, a team clusters together while the boss has at least 30 energy. When the next team takes over clustering (once their own debuffs expire), the now-Scorched team spreads out.

There are several approaches to dividing teams. Using the smallest possible teams (3, 3, and 4 in 10-man, and 5 teams of 5 in 25-man) means frequent team rotation and higher initial Unleashed Flame damage to each player, but fewer debuff stacks at once and less clumping of players. Big teams (2 teams of 5, or 2 teams of 12 & 13) are simpler, lower in individual damage (before the debuff starts piling up), higher in total debuff stacks, and more clumped up. Clumping and debuff stacks make the raid more vulnerable to other AoE, require more total healing, force more people to dodge thrown spears at once, and sometimes require melee to attack from the front (so as to cluster with tanks). Still, well geared raids frequently "go big" for its simplicity, and can often burn the boss down before requiring the ranged group to cluster for any Unleashed Flames at all (avoiding the spear dodging issue). Raids looking to maximize DPS and conserve healer mana tend to go with the first approach.

If melee players are currently trying to clear their Scorched debuff, they must take care not to get near the tanks and trigger an Unleashed Flame out of turn. If there's a high enough number of melee-ers in the raid (3 or 5 for 10- or 25-man), they must be extremely careful not to get too close to each other when they're not on clustering duty.

Additionally, fire will erupt from the thrown spear throughout the phase, creating a crisscrossing web of fire lines that inflict a stacking DoT for 15 seconds. Players should avoid crossing the lines when possible, but performing the clustering duties takes priority. The phase ends when Ro'shak is dead.

In summary: Swap tanks, rotate clustering in teams to reduce energy, dodge spears, and don't cross the lines.

Phase 2: Quet'zal, the Stormcaller

Phase 2 is marked by Quet'zal's most dramatic ability: Windstorm. All players will be pulled to the center of the room, tornadoes will circle around it, and everyone will take an overwhelming effectiveness debuff and continuous damage while they remain in the storm. One side of the room to run to should be pre-designated, often the entrance. Players must exit the storm in that direction as quickly as possible without getting hit by any tornadoes. Warlock portals will help with this, and healers should be given priority so that they can heal from the edge of the storm while others make their way out.

Once again, lines of lightning will erupt from thrown spears throughout the phase, creating a crisscrossing web throughout the area. These Storm Clouds will deal a hefty amount of damage and apply a 20 second debuff that will stun you for 20 seconds if it reaches 3 stacks. No player with 2 stacks should ever cross a Storm Cloud line. While avoiding Storm Clouds, players must also free anyone hit by Arcing Lightning as soon as possible, as the target cannot receive healing until they are rescued. This is accomplished by simply interacting with them from melee range. Arcing Lightning will also apply a 30 second DoT that spreads to adjacent players; both the target and their rescuer should avoid other raiders until it expires. Finally, all players should dodge the wandering tornadoes left over from Windstorm. Killing Quet'zal ends the phase.

In summary: Continue tank swapping, run out of Windstorm, dodge tornadoes and spears, free Arcing Lightning players, and don't cross the lines.

Phase 3: Dam'ren, the Frozen Sage

Phase 3 has no signature ability, simply a number of things to avoid and reposition for:

• Dam'ren will shield himself from 2 out of the 4 directions, requiring any damage dealers to hit him from an unshielded side. It may be worthwhile to wait it out rather than stepping into the fire, however.
• The "fire" in this case is one last criss-cross of lines emanating from thrown spears, in this case Frozen Blood, which will stack a 25% movement and action speed reduction up to 100%, as well as dealing damage. Abilities such as [Burst of Speed] that remove movement-impairing debuffs are effective here, though players should still beware of the damage Frozen Blood trails will deal.
• Periodically, a player will be hit with Freeze, and will then "shatter", dealing raid-wide damage. Healers should ensure the raid is topped off.
• Dam'ren reflects damage. It shouldn't be much to deal with, but make sure not to use damage cooldowns at low health.
• The boss can be kept near the entrance for the entire phase, to aid in dodging the remaining tornadoes, which prefer the center of the room.
• The final phase begins when Dam'ren is killed.
• Continue tank swapping and dodging spears, and don't cross the lines.

Phase 4: Iron Qon's Last Stand

Iron Qon will stop throwing spears and start dealing increasing amounts of raid-wide damage in this phase. The raid should clump together for AoE healing as there is no need to dodge anything but slow-moving tornadoes. The most damage comes from Fist Smash, a 7.5 sec Physical AoE; Ignited Cyclones add to this amount. Bloodlust and other cooldowns should be used for the final push, when his Rising Anger has stacked up a few times. Once again, he can be kept near the entrance to help avoid tornadoes. Some of these will be Frozen, taking down the health of anyone touched extremely quickly. Avoid them while hammering the boss to his death.

Heroic mode

The fight plays the same way as normal mode, but every mount of Qon retreats at 25% health, and he gets aided by an inactive quilen during each phase:

Phase 1: Quet'zal targets random players, spawns a tornado, then becomes active a few seconds later, dealing damage to players and knocking them up in the air. Players must simply move from the tornadoes while keeping their stacks of Unleash Flames in mind.

Phase 2: Dam'ren summons Frost Spikes under random players, which hit for 150k frost damage and knock the players up a few seconds later. Players should simply try to move from them, though getting him by them once isn't that deadly.

Phase 3: Ro'shak will simply use Unleash Flames on player clusters. The raid must simply use the same stacking rotation as phase 1 and heal though the damage.

As soon as the last Quilen reaches 25% ALL the Quilen will join the fight along Iron Qon. The raid should simply hero and burn Ro'shak first (to cut the Unleashed Flame damage), then Dam'ren (because of his Dead Zones disrupting dps) and last Quet'zal, who simply casts Arcing Lightning. The Quilen use the abilities listed above and have normal threat tables. As soon as all three Quilen are dead Iron Qon will start to cast Fist Smash with several stacks of Rising Anger and your raid should simply keep burning him and stay alive until the end of the fight, as his damage towards the end will be massive.

Related Achievements

•  [Pinnacle of Storms]
•  [Heroic: Iron Qon]
•  [Can't Touch This]
•  [Throne of Thunder Guild Run]

Quotes

Aggroed Manchu

Iron Qon yells: Strike quickly, Manchu! Show them no mercy!

Manchu yells: THEY ARE NO MATCH FOR MANCHU!

Aggroed Weisheng

Iron Qon yells: Focus, Weisheng! Show your enemy the meaning of pain!

Weisheng yells: Yes, master! I will fight with my life!

Manchu Killed

All brawn, no brains. A recoverable loss.

Weisheng Killed

He fought with honor... his first and last mistake.

Aggro

Stare into the face of true power!

Dam'ren

Dam'ren! Freeze them to oblivion!

Quet'zal

Quet'zal! Unleash the storm upon my enemies!

Ro'shak

Ro'shak! Grant me wings of flame!

Quilen Killed

• Gaaaahh!
• How can this be?!
• USELESS!

Phase 2

ARGH! Worthless mongrels! I will kill you myself!

Killing a player

• I run you through!
• Fall at my feet!

Wipe

What a pathetic display.

Death

More... training...

Unused quotes

• Turn back now, strangers. You face the army of Iron Qon!
• Enough of this! Come now, weaklings. You have earned your reward... you may now face the Iron Qon!

Videos

Guides

• TheDDGuides → How to "TANK" Iron Qon
• TheDDGuides → How to "DPS" Iron Qon
• TheDDGuides → How to "HEAL" Iron Qon
• TheDDGuides → Heroic Iron Qon Strategy Guide
• Aliena's Raid Guides - Iron Qon

10-man Heroic

• Hadriana - MW Monk POV

25-man Normal

• Iron Qon Live Servers (1080p) - Mage, Boss voice, Vent

Trivia

• Iron Qon is voiced by Patrick Seitz.
• In the patch 5.2 trailer he is seen alongside other mogu when delivering the coffin of Lei Shen to his tomb.
• Quet'zal's name is most likely derived from Quetzalcoatl, the Mesoamerican feathered serpent deity, who was often associated with the wind.

Patches and hotfixes

• Hotfix (2013-04-16):
  • During the final phase of the encounter, Iron Qon's Quilen champions should no longer try to reposition themselves in 10-player and 25-player Heroic difficulty.
  • Reduced the health of Ice Tomb.
    
• Hotfix (2013-03-21): Fixed an issue where players winning a bonus roll after defeating Iron Qon on Heroic mode could receive a non-heroic version of the tier token.
  
• Patch 5.2.0 (2013-03-05): Added.
  

External links

• Wowhead
• WoWDB

Guides

Icy Veins Iron Qon strategy guide