Utgarde Keep, near the starting zone in Howling Fjord, is most likely one of the first Northrend instances you will go to. It’s a fairly straightforward dungeon, being the first on the continent, but there are a few things to point out with each boss and the trash.

Trash Mobs
The first couple of trash pulls in here are easy, though if this is a group’s first foray into a heroic and are still gearing up, be wary of the patrols. The come up and down the path directly in front of you. Try and fight the two on the left and right in the first room as separate pulls, then pick up the patrols.

Past the first circular room of three pulls (you can skip the third by hugging the wall if you don’t need rep or XP), is an area with Enslaved Proto-Drakes and their handlers. In fact there is one immediately on the left of the room, so make sure no one runs in willy nilly or they will get their face chomped on.

When fighting these mobs, my groups always burn down the drakes first and then the handlers. For pet survivability, wait for your tank to grab them and turn them away from the party. Then send the pet in to attack at the drakes rear or side. They let out a flame attack in a cone in front of them that can easily kill your pet (especially our new, squishier SV version).

The other thing to look out for is that many of the humanoid mobs throw little time bombs out, either during the fight or right as they die. They can kill your pet pretty quick too, so if you see one yank the leash and bring him back quick. Also, after each mob kill, stay put and wait a second to make sure all bombs have detonated. More than once Hesston ran in to skin and got blasted in the face by a bomb. Rez please!

The rest of the trash is the typical affair. Casters first, everyone else second. There will be worgs with some of the pulls. If there are two, I usually take it upon myself to put scare beast on one (none of the pulls are close enough to where it would fear them into another pull) and burn down the other. They don’t have a lot of HP, and if you pop growl on your pet he should be able to tank it enough for you to kill them without any other assistance, before helping the group out with skull. Don’t forget to turn growl off/cower on before jumping back into the fray.

Boss fights below the jump.

Boss Fights: Prince Keleseth

Princey here is a sissy, end of story. Before the fight, there is a 4-mob pull with two casters. Be sure the tank pulls them at least to the entrance to avoid engaging the boss. Crowd control can be helpful (freezing trap, sap, hex, sheep, etc.), but not completely necessary.

Once they are down, mana up and have your tank engage Keleseth. Usually, the tank runs straight at Keleseth, who is standing near the rear of a circular area. I run around to the right, between Keleseth and the door, and place a frost trap, then continue around the circle near the back of Keleseth. By this time the tank has a good threat lead on Keleseth and you are within spotting distance of the rest of the group.

So why the frost trap? There will be Vrykul Skeleton adds coming from that doorway. The trap, if placed in the right spot, will slow them down and give the tank a few extra seconds to spot them and pick them up. Because of the adds, it is a good idea for the group to stack a bit on the tank. That way if an add gets loose they can grab before they smack on a squishie too much.

Keleseth’s main attack are shadow bolts, which are easily healed through. The one mechanic that he has, and where hunters are great to have in this fight, is the frost tomb.

He will select a random target and encase them in a block of ice. While encased in ice the player is unable to move for 20 seconds and takes 400 dmg a second. Hopefully you are in a position to where everyone else in the group is in range and you can see them. As soon as you see that someone is encased in ice, especially if it is your healer, target them and start firing. Optionally, if you have a high DPS pet, you can send them over so you can continue the burn on Keleseth. Also, if you are the one in ice and no one is coming to your aid, you can have your pet run over and attack or use Master’s Call to free yourself. Other than that, Keleseth is easy peasy.

Hunter Loot: On regular you should take the Dragon Stabler’s Gauntlets if they are an upgrade from TBC. Keleseth doesn’t drop anything for hunters on Heroic mode, the bum.

Skarvald and Dalronn

I’ve never been in this fight long enough to actually figure out what happens. We just kill them and be done with it. However, this is the basic intent of the fight.

The tank runs in, engages both bosses. Dalronn has no aggro table, he’ll cast out to the crowd I believe. Because of this, he should be burned down first. He also summons skeletons adds I’m pretty sure. Skarvald will randomly charge a party member, then return to his aggro target.

The strategy here is that you are supposed to burn down Dalronn to about 10 percent, then kill Skarvald and then hop over and kill Dalronn. If you kill Skarvald first and don’t kill Dalronn quick enough, I believe he revives him. If you kill Dalronn first, he continues to attack and summon skeletons in spirit form until you kill his buddy.

However, if you have the DPS you can have two on Dalronn while the other pecks away at Skarvald. Once Dalronn is down you can do an all-out burn on Skarvald and Dalronn’s spirit attacking will be a non issue.

The only hunter-specific strategy I can offer would be to stand between the tank/bosses and the healer. That way if a skeleton add gets loose you can misdirect it back to the tank or throw a trap down.

Hunter loot: Nothing of note on regular, on Heroic the Dagger of Betrayal isn’t bad if you dual wield and don’t have anything better. Definitely an upgrade if you’re running around with crafted savage cobalt slicers.

Ingvar the Plunderer

The final boss of Utgarde Keep is Ingvar the Plunderer, a big grunting Vrykul that apparently likes to spend his days looking longingly into the distance on his circular platform. For the most part, Ingvar is a pretty simple fight for hunters. Stay low and keep firing.

Ingvar has two phases, a live phase and an undead phase. The fight is long enough that, if a BM hunter, you can pop Bestial Wrath right at the start and most likely have it again in phase two, especially if you have the glyph.

During phase one, stay at range, preferably next to the healer, while the tank takes him right around where he is standing when you begin. If the you are at distance and the tank is facing him away, his smash shouldn’t affect you, though staggering roar will most likely still interrupt your shot rotation.

The biggest danger during phase one is for your pet, whom if they take an enraged cleave will most likely perish. You can either keep your pet by your side just to benefit from the buffs or keep sending them in and out as Ingvar goes through his attacks. This can take attention away from what you’re doing, but can keep your pet alive through the fight.

After you down Ingvar once, a winged chick comes down from the sky, insults Ingvar a bit and then revives him for phase two, his undead phase. During the short break, popping Aspect of the Viper is a good idea to get you back some mana really quick. It won’t be a lot, but every bit helps. And don’t forget to switch back to Dragonhawk (as this silly hunter has done on more than one occasion, d’oh!) when the fight starts back up again.

Phase two is a little more dangerous. His smash becomes dark smash, staggering roar becomes dreadful roar and his cleave becomes woe strike. All of these mean danger, danger, danger for our pets. Keeping a cycle of mend pet going constantly is a must.

The main thing to look out for is when Ingvar throws his Shadow Axe, a giant, spinning axe of death. If he throws it at melee, rein that pet in quick or they will die. If he throws it at the ranged group (you), hightail it out of there, preferably near one of the pillars.

More than once I’ve had a group where were pounding away at Ingvar and failed to realize we were getting axe in the face until we fell over dead. Even if you have to stop DPS’ing, getting away from the axe is key as the damage is really high if you are hit with it for its entire 20 second duration.

Other than that, Ingvar should go down with little trouble.

Hunter loot: Ingvar does not drop anything of note on regular, however, on Heroic he drops two items which should make hunters run Utgarde Keep every day until they have them. First, is the Plunderer’s Helm. The bonus to AP, meta and red socket and the crit make this one of the best hunter helms until you get a Naxx helm or your T7. Slap a Relentless Earthsiege Diamond in that meta slot and you’re golden. The other item of note is the epic Drake-Mounted Crossbow. This is the best crossbow you can get until Naxx and the best pre-Naxx ranged weapon for a hunter outside of the Nesingwary 4000, though for Night Elf hunters this may actually be better. If you can’t afford the gun, pick this up as soon as possible.

So that is it. Next time we venture to…..The Nexus (*cue dramatic music*)

Tags: heroics,hunters
Categories: dungeons, heroics, hunters, hunters scope, strategy
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