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Comment by ArgentSun

Dungeon name: Pit of Saron
Requirements: Level 80, Forge of Souls completed
Number of bosses: 3
Quests: The Pit of Saron, The Path to the Citadel, Deliverance from the Pit, and Frostmourne
Reforging The Sword (Alliance versions are virtually the same).

Quests

The Pit of Saron - Given when you complete the Forge of Souls.
The Path to the Citadel - Given by Sylvanas/Jaina soon after you enter the Pit of Saron. The slaves are all over the area, and Garfrost is on the east side of the dungeon.
Deliverance from the Pit - Given after you complete The Path to the Citadel. Krick is on the west side of the dungeon, and Tyrannus is on the north one, after a cave tunnel.
Frostmourne - Given after you complete the instance. Go through the gate on Tyrannus' platform and enter the Halls of Reflection.
Reforging The Sword - Part of Quel'Delar's chain, which starts with The Battered Hilt. Saronite Bars all over the area where the slaves are, and the Forgemaster's Anvils are around Forgemaster Garfrost, who drops the Hammer.

Bosses

Forgemaster Garfrost: Spread out and avoid saronite chunks; break LoS with the boss (using saronite or anvils) to drop the debuff stack.
Ick & Krick: Avoid the poison pools on the ground; run away when being Pursuit. Focus on avoiding the Explosive Barrage when he casts it - easily avoidable by constant movement. Break LoS during Poison Nova, or be 20+ yards away.
Scourgelord Tyrannus: Stay out of marked circles on the ground, and run away if you are targeted for a frost attack by Rimefang (red hunter's mark-looking spell). Kite the boss when he "surges with dark might" if you are not overgearing the place. Optionally you can slow DPS down during Overlord's Brand.

Comment by 479779

did anyone else notice this has a Lord of the Rings feel? with the big eye in the middle, undead dude riding the "Wyrm" that kinda stuff....

Comment by 438186

This dungeon has the unfortunate acronym of PoS.

Comment by AzurePai

The scene after the defeat of Tyranus is made out of pure, uncut WIN!

Comment by Rhinox1322

As above suggested avoid poison nova (Ick & Krick) at all costs it is rough and will hit on my best guess for around 10-18k i could be wrong but we had a very highly geared warrior tank & shaman healer, a decently geared Blood DK, Ret Paly, and Feral Druid (me) we got thru the Forgemaster pretty easy but these guys aren't playing around Ick hits HARD around 12-18k on my druid in cat and 8-14k on my paly and DK friends straight hits the few times we attempted the run tonight. The mines didn't hit too hard but stacked together they can hurt. next time we run i'll probably go bear and offtank and try it that way for awhile. Like everyone else we are still learning these new instances, so good luck everyone and many wishes for Phat lewtz.

Comment by Miracul

Kinda weird that i have been flying over the citadel several times and didn't see this...

yeah i know it is an instance, but they should make some kind of invisible wall like they did it at black temple

Comment by saschavykos

Here are the links to the Alliance versions of all the above quests;

Inside the frozen Citadel - Given out by the woman standing in the doorway of the southern bank in Dalaran. May be handed out by other characters too but thats where I got it.
Pit of Saron
Path to the Citadel
Deliverance from the Pit
Frostmourne

Comment by Gadesa

Has to be the most epic dungon ive seen, Scourgelord Tyrannus flying around watch what you do and killing of Krick.

Comment by 440942

Don't know if anyone else noticed this but the southern part of the instance kind of looks a like a smiling skull.

Comment by redraven937

I am going to share with you a deep, dark secret that I probably shouldn't share at all because if enough people end up doing this, it is liable to be hotfixed. What is the secret? Do you want to be burdened with this terrible knowledge? Are you prepared?

You can solo farm heroic Pit of Saron trash.

Specifically, you can kill the Skeletal Slaves no problem considering they have ~8,000 hp and barely hit for 300 damage on leather. What's the catch? They are grouped in packs of six with Deathwhisper Necrolytes, who are 300k hp undead monstrosities to most solo characters. The goal, then, is to separate the pack of Slaves from their undead masters, AoE them down, and be able to loot... all without dying. No small feat, right? Wrong. Before I get into the how, let me take care of the why:

~~Battered Hilt, boys. This is a confirmed drop on the Skeletal Slaves we are killing.~~ (Recent in-game hotfix removed this)
~~Ghostly Wristwraps, Seven-Fingered Claws, and Unsharpened Ice Razor are all BoP epics that can drop from Skeletal Slaves.~~ (see above)
The cash drops are not bad either. Wowhead lists the average wealth as 60s, not counting any vendor trash.

Something to keep in mind is that you are not likely to make money until you get pro at farming this trash (unless the Battered Hilt drops right away of course), as you will probably screw up and die. I was making about 12g per reset until I died twice and ended up with a 16g repair bill. Expect to die until you get this down. Anyway, onto the how.

Retribution paladin
This is, as you might expect, laughably easy. The Necrolyte is undead, so all you have to do is hit it with a Repentance, run a little bit away, then kill the Slaves, loot, and take a leisurely stroll back to the instance gate before the 1 minute Repentance duration is over. If you want to kill the Necrolyte as some above have suggested, go for it, but they are not necessarily to be taken lightly with their 10k Shadowbolts. Considering all they count for is one extra chance at the loot I listed above and don't drop more cash than their 8k hp buddies, I found it better to just run outside to leave combat rather than risk a repair bill. In a pinch, Turn Evil (with the glyph making it instant) can work as well - the Necrolytes aggroing other mobs is pretty irrelevant since the door is right there.

Rogue
That's right. Farming this trash is actually easier as a rogue than a paladin.

The Necrolyte is undead so Sap will not work, leaving you with Cheap Shot, Kidney Shot, and Blind as CC. Pretty risky, even with Vanish as a fail-safe, right? Let me introduce to a little ability called Distract. That's right, the Slaves are not specifically tied to the Necrolyte aggro-wise. Most of the time, your first Distract will catch the Necrolyte even if the targeting circle was nowhere near him - I suspect that there is at least one Slave he is "tied" to initially, although I can confirm that you can actually separate all the Slaves from the Necrolyte eventually. Even if your first Distract fails miserably, it is usually enough to screw up their normal formation, making it easier for the 2nd Distract to separate some of the Slaves. Once separated, you have about 12 seconds to engage them before they run off to regroup with the Necrolyte. In practice, your aggro window is usually 3-4 seconds since you have to wait for the Necrolyte to get out of aggro range before coming out of stealth.

If done correctly, you can kill most of the Slaves, loot them, and be back in stealth all without having to rely on Vanish at all.

Shaman
I did this as Resto, but nothing really meaningful changes as Elemental or Enhancement. Drop Grounding Totem before the pull and let it come off cooldown. Aggro the group of Slaves and Necrolytes, use Wind Shear on the first Shadowbolt, then drop Magma totem to AoE down the adds. The Necrolyte will cast Shadowbolts way faster than your Wind Shear's cooldown will be (unless you've taken all those Shock talents), so being able to drop Grounding again is key. As Resto, I had time to go ahead and loot the Slaves as the Necrolyte was beating on me (around 3,000 damage on mail + shield) because of being able to heal myself - others may want to drop the whole group closer to the door or only loot after the reset. In any case, it's a simple matter of using instant Ghost Wolf and making for the exit to reset the big guy.

And that's it folks. I haven't tried this on my other alts yet, but the basic principles remain the same. There are 4-5 groups of these mobs near the entrance, and you will hit the instance reset cap pretty quickly, so I recommend only doing this if you are killing time or otherwise not interested in actually doing anything else with your toon. Good luck, and happy farming!

Edit: Added shaman.
Edit2: Blizzard hotfixed the Hilt and BoP epics to no longer drop from the Slaves. :(

Comment by Xaxus

Anyone else feel like the skull and eye in the middle of the instance are following you?
Also: Eye of the Lich King whispers: He watches your every move...
Eye of the Lich King whispers: Cry out in torment... Let your pain overcome your might...

Comment by gustavsen

In the list is missing the trinket from heroic drop:

Needle-Encrusted Scorpion
https://www.wowhead.com/cata/item=50198

Comment by 87064

Here is a video demonstrating how an Affliction Warlock can solo the majority of the trash mobs for the Battered Hilt:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vJ26uIl_q2Q

Comment by 99345

Of all the dungeons in wow, I would never expect this one to not contain mining nodes. Has anyone seen a mining node in the Pit of SARON(ite)?

Comment by Mousa

This is kind of embarrassing! I cant seem to enter while being a ghost! Im on the bird, dead and cant enter! I see the entrance, I fly in but I dont zone in! Perhaps Im trying to enter on a different one but my corpse is so close there on the map!
Anyone has an idea and can help me?

Comment by Kalx

Funny thing, even tho the place is outdoors, you can't find it anywhere near icecrown

Comment by 84751

i have been in this instance about 6 or 7 times and evey time i die in this instance unless i get a rez i cant never find my way back inside. so could some one please tell me where the entrance is. thanks never mind i found it how i dont know but i did so for those who cant find it the cords to the entrance are 52,49

Comment by Naklesh

I won a Battered Hilt here today by a Plagueborn Horror.

Comment by 274740

After killing Ick your group can mount up and ride past the next 3 groups - hug the wall to pass the third group. Be aware, doing this is more difficult than rocket science, going by the random pugtards I'm usually grouped with.

Comment by 327154

Damn this place is driving me nuts, i cant get past ick. its insane. im at 30k hp & 544 def.. grrrr

Comment by Ketho

Collapsing Icicle -> Ice Shards are the falling icicles in the tunnel of Pit of Saron

Comment by 301101

While yes, I know that GS is not everything, I do have a question. What kind of gear does one need to have before attempting this? Specifically, as heals?

Comment by Kiriela

There is currently a glitch on the final boss of this instance. If you attack him before he attacks you, he jumps back on his dragon and become unattackable.

Comment by 296147

If you're quick enough you can skip the vrykul after Ick and Krik. Just mount up right after his final words and run....fast...you should make it.

Comment by 605259

Has anyone else noticed at the bottom of the map thingy it kinda looks like a skull? :X

Comment by 336631

Not to be a ^&*!, but you, sir, are an idiot for either not reading his post correctly or just plain not looking up or remembering C'Thun. His first form is an eye. Upon bringing him to 0%, it spawns Phase 2 or Form 2, the "Squid-headed old god". Please learn to look up NPC's before talking about them. It's what wowhead is for, after a

C'thun's phase 1 is an eye. An eye with a very intensive stare, but still just an eye. It is in NO way a reference to Sauron. If the form itself is a reference to anything, I'd suggest looking in a mirror, you've got two(for most people) sources right there!

Comment by 633104

So does this mean there is a Pit of Arthas in Middle Earth?

Comment by Sakuria

To the solodins out there ... This Instance can be soloed on Normal as a protection paladin, and most of the trash can be skipped if watched carefully, the boss' takes some time ...
I did Forgemaster Garfrost in about 5 minutes ...
Ick & Krick That one took me around 7-10 Minutes to take down ...
Scourgelord Tyrannus This one was the worst one, made me use my LoH because I wasnt carefull enough ... He took me roughly 10+ minutes ...

Forgemaster Garfrost : He is the easiest of em, hence why he is first boss ^^
Well the way I did him was simple tank and spank, run around his boulders to reset stacks, and just take him down slow and easy ... Special Ability used on this fight "Frost Resistance Aura" "Seal of Light" "Judgement of Light"

Ick & Krick : Was a little tricky but nontheless doable without breaking to much sweat ^^
I did him with a slow kiting technique, get a feeling of when he wants to throw his poison down, then move a bit back, and rinse and repeat, when he does his Barrage thingy that explodes after it has grown a bit, just run slowly around him while attacking, and you shouldnt get hit. Poison Nova, is kindda obvious, run away and let him do it, then run back and attack ... When he pursues you, you dont want to get hit to often, it can actually hurts, but is rarely that big a issue, but save yourself a chance for a wipe ... I used "Devotion Aura" "Seal of Light" "Judgement of Light"

Scourgelord Tyrannus : I was not sure I could do this guy, but I could, even though he wasnt that easy with his annoying dragon Rimefrost to keep spewning iceblocks on you and ice on the ground that hurts and slows you ... He hits kindda hard, so you will remember to keep Sacred Shild up at all times. When he uses his "Forcefull Smash" which knock you away from him, he gets Unholy Power, and starts walking towards you, DO NOT get hit by it, since you cant take the hits in the long term of his normal damage. When you get Hoarfrost on you which will make you a small Ice tomb for 3 sec, he hits you (well du'h), and he can take from 4-12% of you health per hit, on me he took aroud 5-8% all the time due to I had "Sacred Shield" up at all times ... When I was around 56% on his health, I was getting cocky and took to many unneeded hits and forced me to pop "Lay on Hands" ... But here is a hint that I didnt notice untill late in the fight, that actually the ice on the ground that hurts and slows, it works on him aswell, so if you can position him in it at most times, you might have a better chance than I had on him ... I used "Devotion Aura" "Seal of Light" "Judgement of Light"

Well good luck ... ^^

Most my geas was 264/277 items ...

Comment by 675456

I find it amazing that no one has made the connection between Krick and Ick and Master Blaster from Mad Max Beyond Thunderdome. I thought of it the instant I saw them.

Comment by 311531

why does it say on the map that first boss in RFC is after scourgelord?

Comment by Killmekos

does any1 know why Taragaman the Hungerer is pinged on the minimap as a boss here?

Edit:sorry comment not needed anymore, Well anyway I really like this instance. As a DPS Hunter I can have Sniper Training on almost 90% of the time you are actually dealing damage in the Boss fights, and as a Holy Priest, with a good tank(it helps a lot if he is a guildie, since he won't Q.Q about your gear) you can do this fairly easily.

Comment by HeyJimmy

I really like the music there. You can enjoy it while running to boss after wipe :)

Comment by 271529

Normal mode of this instance is somewhat easy to solo at level 85 with some good kiting on the final boss.

I ran solo it with my 85 Feral Druid equipped with Heroic Blues and crefted Epics, nothing form Raids. The first two bosses are extremely straight forward as long as you can handle avoiding their special attacks. Use the time when the Forgemaster gets a new weapon to heal yourself, very easy.

For the gauntlet prior to the final boss, I stealthed through all the bigger groups on the ramp, sprinted through the cave and AoE tanked all the adds in bear form at the end of the tunnel.

I died once on Scourgelord because I didn't know what the fight was like. This was my first time in the Pit of Saron and my only death in this run. This would be a super easy fight for a ranged class, it would be next to impossible to do in bear form so I chose Cat form and kited him while DoTing him up with bleeds. I forced him to chase me through the ice patches which slowed him enough that I could heal myself easily. Heavy DPS is recommended for this fight if you're a class that doesn't have an efficient self-heal that allows you to continue kiting.

He does not cast the ability Overlords Brand when there's only 1 player in the instance so it's not a problem at all.

All-in-all pretty fun for my first time through here, I highly recommend soloing these. I will try the heroic mode solo and report back my success/failure.

Comment by Tinkerer

Soloed this today as a item level 361 fire mage, not in optimal soloing spec at all. Definitely doable. A large part of this dungeon can be skipped. As far as the bosses go and what to watch out for:
- Garfrost is very easy seeing as he takes his time at the forges, allowing you to do massive DPS with only very minimal health loss. You don't even really need to stand behind the rocks at all.
- Ick and Krick are easily kited around, the pools and bombs are not even able to hurt you if you're on your own.
- Tyrannus tad hard, especially seeing as I hadn't done him in Wrath of the Lich King. He hits very hard, but knowing that the patches of ice on the ground also slow him down for a significant amount of time makes him very easily kiteable.

Comment by 707545

I roll a male mage most of the time, so it caught me off guard when I freed one of the female slaves and for her to turn around to me and say "Have my babies."
Alliance Slave says: Have my babies.

Pretty sneaky Blizz.

Comment by 534473

Amusing fact - there are undead fish in the pool in the 'pit' in the centre of the instance. Sadly however, they cannot be killed or interacted with in any way, and I'm assuming they can't be fished either.

Comment by 195313

Soloed last night with my enhancement shaman ilvl 373. Very easy, died one time in the gauntlet. Second run through I used hero at the end to quickly finish all the mobs I picked up. Last boss extremely easy, no kiting, just killing. Somehow couldnt finish the quest, theres a quistionmark but no npc to deliver it to....so I cant go Halls of reflection :(

Will try solo it on heroic now, proberly not possible though.

Comment by 276993

Completely solo-able, at 85. For all you achievement buffs, "It doesn't go to eleven" achieve is stupid easy as a hunter/warlock as the stacking debuff doesn't count on pets. Just send pet in, and stand back, heal your pet as necessary, but watch stacks. The anvil's break los for the buff on you, and just position the sardonite chunks for easy pet heals. Just make sure to dot or shoot the boss randomly. You can drag a lev 78+ for some quick gear, but xp sucks, as they can just stand by the entrance and roll on the loot.

Comment by Skizzer

I've noticed that the big flying Skull in the middle will allways watching you, maybe its like The Ocular in Icecrown?

Comment by greensoul

I've been making around 1k gold / hour (may be more) in this dungeon, soloing both normal and the daily heroic with my Blood DK (disechanting greens and epics with my alt). The adds there give between 60s-1.5g, really easy to kill. So you add the gold per mob + the ocassional green (even BoE epics here) + all the trash and gray weps and armor + the epics from the bosses (if you are enchanter you can make even more profit out of those) + the Book of Glyph Mastery that usually drops 1 of 4 runs ( this one sells pretty good on my server). I dont have the exact number but I get easily over 1k gold /hour but I'm sure you can hit the 2k if the enchanting mats sell better in your server.

Links

Pit of Saron

Icecrown CitadelThe Forge of SoulsPit of SaronForgemaster GarfrostIckKrickScourgelord TyrannusHalls of ReflectionThe Pit of Saron

Pit of Saron

Music

Intro Music

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