Swamplord Musel'ek

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BossSwamplord Musel'ek
Image of Swamplord Musel'ek
Gender Male
Race Broken (Humanoid)
Level 10-30 Elite
Resource Mana
Reaction Alliance Horde
Affiliation(s) Murkblood tribe
Location Underbog, Coilfang Reservoir
Status Killable

Swamplord Musel'ek is a Broken hunter, ruler of the Murkblood,[1] and the third boss of the Underbog in Coilfang Reservoir. He is accompanied by his pet, Claw, who is part of the quest N [10-30D] Lost in Action which can be obtained from Watcher Jhang in front of the entrance to the dungeon. However his location in the dungeon brings into question why he is here surrounded by beasts instead of with his fellow Murkblood. This may suggest that he is in exile and hiding in the untamed parts of the Underbog.

Adventure Guide

To be one of the Broken is to be an outcast. This truth weighs heavy on Swamplord Musel'ek. Although he is a member of the Murkblood Broken, he prefers to roam the caverns beneath Zangarmarsh alone. During one of these recent wanderings, he used his mastery over beasts to enthrall Windcaller Claw, a druid who had been exploring the area in the form of a ferocious bear. Musel'ek has forced Claw to act as a loyal companion who will not judge him for the twisted being he has become.

Abilities

  • Inv sword 05.png Raptor Strike — Swamplord Musel'ek strikes at a player, inflicting Physical damage.
  • Ability upgrademoonglaive.png Multi-Shot — Swamplord Musel'ek fires a volley of missiles at a player and their nearby allies, striking up to 3 targets for Physical damage.
  • Ability whirlwind.png Deterrence — Swamplord Musel'ek increases his chance to dodge and parry by 25% for 10 sec.
  • Inv gauntlets 05.png Knock Away — Swamplord Musel'ek knocks a player away, inflicting Physical damage.
  • Ability marksmanship.png Shoot — Swamplord Muse'ek fires his bow at a player, inflicting Physical damage.
  • Claw — Swamplord Musel'ek commands Claw to attack random players.
    • Ability druid maul.png Maul — Claw mauls a player, inflicting Physical damage.
    • Ability druid demoralizingroar.png Echoing Roar — Claw roars, reducing the armor of all players within 0 yards by 50%.
    • Ability bullrush.png Feral Charge — Claw charges to a player.
    • Spell shadow unholyfrenzy.png Frenzy — Claw enters a frenzy, increasing his attack speed by 60% and his Physical damge done by 75% for 20 sec.

Strategies

Clear the Underbog Lord that patrols near Musel'ek before engaging the boss. He can crit for in excess of 9.5k on mail armour. He will aggro when you attack the boss, and you will wipe unless spectacularly geared.

This fight is similar to the Illyanna Ravenoak encounter in Dire Maul and can be completed with a single tank. The tank first attacks Claw for a few seconds to build up threat before switching to Musel'ek. Once the tank has built up enough threat, the rest of the party can attack and down him quite quickly. Musel'ek will occasionally freeze the whole group and take some distance so he can shoot. It is important for the tank to get back into the hunter's melee range immediately. Once the hunter is dead the group can focus on Claw, who will turn friendly at 20% health and expose himself as Windcaller Claw. Alternatively, the bear can be burned to 20% first, removing it from the fight, and then the boss engaged. The primary concern appears to be healing interruption and proper double-tanking.

Multiple Tank Strategy

It is possible to use an off tank to tank the bear around the corner. This has the advantage that the main tank will not be affected by the bear's armor-reducing ability.

Alternatively, have the main tank on Claw and the off tank of Musel'ek. Neither of them melees very hard, and the most important thing in the fight is to keep someone in melee range of Musel'ek. Your group's MT will be in a better position (more armor and health) to handle the armor debuff that Claw applies. Kiting is not necessary: have the MT charge Claw where he stands and the OT engage Musel'ek, moving him a short distance away from the MT. Then have the OT move to Musel'ek immediately after the frost trap wears off. Have all DPS on Musel'ek until he is down.

Kiting Strategy - obsolete

You can simply have a Rogue, frost Mage, or Hunter kite the bear all the way back to the beginning of the water where you jumped down, while the rest of the party downs the main boss. By the time you get Claw down to the beginning of this section, simply Vanish, Ice Block, or Feign Death; and Claw will return to the party for his demise. This gives the party time to heal up and bandage. This tactic works in Heroic too, but beware, the person kiting may not be able to loot the boss afterward.

[NOTE: When Musel'ek calls him, Claw runs back; this strategy does NOT appear to be valid any longer. THoL]

Hugging Strategy

You can also hug both to keep all party members and both Swamplord and Claw within an 8-yard circle. This avoids Claw's charge and prevents the Swamplord from using his ranged attacks. You will be frozen for a second or two. Simply repeat the process by moving into an 8-yard circle. Since Musel'ek does about 700 melee damage compared to 500 from Claw, it's probably better to kill him first.

[NOTE: I am NOT certain this method still works in Heroic mode. THoL]

Additional Information

It has been confirmed in a normal instance that Claw can be put to sleep with a Druid's [Hibernate] spell. This has been confirmed NOT to work for Heroic, as Claw is now immune.

Heroic Difficulty

This fight does not appear to change much on Heroic, although Claw's Echoing Roar reduces armor by 82% now. Again, clear the Bog Lord first.

With a decently-geared tank, both targets can be kept under control, provided the tank quickly regains aggro after Claw's charge. Claw doesn't hit particularly hard on tanks, so he really just needs to be kept from running amok among the rest of the group, especially on the healer.

The easiest strategy on Heroic mode is for the tank to occupy Claw to stop him from knocking group members out of range of Musel'ek and the healer. Musel'ek himself stays in ranged combat for the majority of the fight (only occasionally seems to 'throw' group members who get too close), so ranged DPS can burn him down relatively fast without the tank needing to touch him. You can see his freezing traps coming as he places them, so if you're running low on health use a potion or healthstone, as he has a free hit on you while frozen. Healers have to be on their toes as his targets seem pretty random, and he uses attacks such as Multi-shot to hit more than one target. Once Musel'ek is down, burn Claw down to 20% and he returns to his Druid form and the fight is over. Musel'ek is definitely one of the easiest bosses in heroic dungeons providing Claw doesn't get loose from the tank.

Loot

Normal drops
Heroic drops
Jewels (Heroic only)

Quotes

Aggro
  • I will end this quickly...
  • We fight to the death!
  • Acalah pek ecta!
Enrages Claw
Beast! Obey me! Kill them at once!
Killing a player
  • Krypta!
  • It is finished.
Death
Well... done...

Trivia

Patch changes

  • Wrath-Logo-Small.png Hotfix (2009-05-07): The damage done by Swamplord Musel'ek's Aimed Shot ability has been reduced and be more in line for players at the appropriate level to face him.[2]
  • Bc icon.gif Patch 2.0.3 (2007-01-09): Added.

References

 
  1. ^ N [15-30] Murkblood Corrupters
  2. ^ Blizz.gif Bornakk 2009-04-17. Recent In-Game Fixes - 4/16/09. Retrieved on 2009-05-30.

External links