The Battle of Icecrown Gunships, an exhilarating aerial clash between the Skybreaker (for the Alliance) and Orgrim’s Hammer (for the Horde) over Icecrown Citadel’s pinnacle, offers a unique experience that deviates from the usual raid boss mechanics. Thanks to its relatively straightforward mechanics and enticing loot, it’s often affectionately nicknamed the “Lootship Battle.”
ABILITIES:
Cannon Blast: Launches a cannonball at the designated target, dealing 1,000 Siege damage and generating 6 to 10 Heat.
Incinerating Blast: Utilizes the cannon’s accumulated Heat to fire a colossal fireball at the target, resulting in 1,000 Siege damage, with additional damage based on the Heat level.
Burning Pitch: Hurls a flaming pitch that engulfs the targeted area in flames, inflicting 17,250 Siege damage and an additional 7,500 Fire damage over 3 seconds.
Rocket Artillery: Fires a rocket that detonates upon impact, causing Fire damage to nearby enemies and Siege damage to the enemy gunship.
Below Zero: Freezes the target within a solid block of ice, achieved by condensing and freezing the moisture in the air. The caster must maintain the ice block through channeling.
STRATEGY:
General: The primary objective is to inflict enough siege damage on the opposing ship to bring it down before your ship meets its doom.
The raid should be divided into two teams: one responsible for defense and the other for offense.
Both teams should equip jet packs provided by the engineer NPC on the player’s ship, facilitating movement between the two vessels.
Defensive Team: This team is tasked with safeguarding the player’s gunship from enemy boarding parties.
Enemy boarders not aggroed by players will unleash burning pitch, causing substantial siege damage to the player’s gunship. It’s imperative to immediately tank all members of the enemy boarding party.
Ranged AoE abilities are particularly effective against boarders, while melee should exercise caution until all Sergeants are eliminated.
Once the previous boarding party is vanquished, a new one spawns shortly after. Delaying the death of the last boarder allows ranged DPS to target enemy ranged attackers on the opposing ship effectively.
Offensive Team: Comprising melee attackers, a tank, and dedicated healers, this team focuses on firing the ship’s guns until they are frozen by the enemy mage. When frozen, the team transitions to the enemy ship to eliminate the mage, thereby unfreezing the guns.
The tank engages the enemy commander, who gains a stacking buff during combat. The offensive team’s quick defeat of the mage is crucial to prevent the commander from becoming excessively powerful.
Following the mage’s defeat, the team returns to their ship to resume firing the guns.
TIPS:
- The ship’s guns offer two types of attacks: a regular shot and a heated shot. The heated shot expends all accumulated heat on the gun, causing additional damage based on the heat level.
- The primary source of siege damage to the player’s ship emanates from the rocketeers. Disrupting their actions and inhibiting their experience accumulation can significantly reduce damage to the player’s ship.
- Burning pitch represents the most destructive ability to the player’s ship. Units capable of casting burning pitch should be addressed promptly.
- As of Patch 6.0.2, the damage inflicted by your ship’s cannon scales with your item level. At higher levels, the enemy ship can be vanquished expeditiously.