Hodir (tactics)

Hodir
Race	Titan (Giant)
Level	?? Boss
Location	The Halls of Winter
Status	Defeatable
Ulduar
	The Siege of Ulduar
Flame Leviathan; Ignis the Furnace Master; Razorscale; XT-002 Deconstructor;	(lore); (lore); (lore); (lore)
	The Antechamber of Ulduar
Assembly of Iron; Kologarn; Auriaya	(lore); (lore); (lore)
	The Keepers of Ulduar
Mimiron; Freya; Thorim; Hodir	(lore); (lore); (lore); (lore)
	The Descent into Madness
General Vezax; Yogg-Saron	(lore); (lore)
	The Celestial Planetarium
Algalon the Observer (summoned);	(lore)
	Other Ulduar instances
	Halls of Stone (5); Halls of Lightning (5)

For character biography, see Hodir.

Hodir is one of the boss encounters in Ulduar. Players are able to defeat him, but not kill him. His loot is distributed through a frozen chest in his chambers.

25-man abilities

Hard Enrage - 8 minutes after encounter starts.
Reported to be able to hit for up to 25k on plate.
Biting Cold - Aura that stacks up a DoT that deals frost damage. Simply moving will dispel this DoT.
Freeze - Inflicts 5550 to 6450 Frost damage to nearby enemies, immobilizing them for up to 10 sec. 10 yard radius, can be dispelled.
Flash Freeze - Hodir will emote (Winds of the north consume you!) and start casting Flash Freeze. At this point, areas of safety are marked with large white circles. You need to wait (roughly) 5 to 10 seconds for the snow to drop on the circle. If you stand in the area when the snow falls, you will take ~13,500 damage plus a 10-15 yards push back. Once the snow dropped on the area, you need to get inside it before Hodir finishes casting Flash Freeze to avoid it. If you were not, you will be freezed (ice blocked) and unable to perform any action. The ice blocks have 100,000 health and need to be destroyed by people. If you're hit by Flash Freeze again while you're still an ice block, you're instantly killed.
Icicles - Ice Shards fall from the ceiling and deal a knockback with 12,000 frost damage to any players underneath. To avoid Flash Freeze, one must stand on the Snowdrifts. This also spawns Snowdrift on the ground where the Ice Shard hits.
Frozen Blows - Self buff that adds 40,000 frost damage to all melee attacks but reduces physical damage by 70%. Also adds a 4K AOE frost effect to his attacks.

10-man abilities

Hard Enrage - 9 minutes after encounter starts.
Biting Cold - Aura that stacks up a DoT that deals frost damage. Simply moving will dispel this DoT.
Flash Freeze - Freezing everyone in ice blocks. If anyone is hit by it, kill their ice block immediately (40,000 HP). If you're hit by Flash Freeze again while you're still an ice block, you're instantly killed.
Frozen Blows - Self buff that adds 31062 frost damage to all melee attacks but reduces physical damage by 70%. Also while up hits the entire raid for 4000 frost damage every 2 seconds. This buff last 20 seconds.

Adds

There are NPCs locked in the flash freeze which may help you.

Horde:

Priest: Leftmost (10-man) Battle-Priest Eliza. Casts: Smite, Greater Heal, Dispel Magic.
Moonkin: Front of boss (10-man) Tor Greycloud. Casts: Wrath and Starlight.
Shaman: Right (10-man) Spiritwalker Yona. Casts: Storm Cloud. Fights in melee.
Mage: Rightmost (10-man) Veesha Blazeweaver. Casts: Conjure Toasty Fire, Fireball. She can remove Flash freeze from other NPC and players very quickly.

Alliance:

Priest: Leftmost (10-man) Field Medic Penny, Field Medic Jessi (25-man). Casts: Smite, Greater Heal, Dispel Magic.
Moonkin: Front of boss (10-man) Ellie Brightfeather, Ellie Nightfeather (25-man). Casts: Wrath and Starlight.
Shaman : Right (10-man) Elementalist Avuun, Elementalist Mahfuun (25-man). Casts: Storm Cloud. Fights in melee.
Mage: Rightmost (10-man) Missy Flamecuffs, Sissy Flamecuffs (25-man). Casts: Conjure Toasty Fire, Fireball. She can remove Flash freeze from other NPC and players very quickly.

Strategy

Upon the start of the encounter, players need to keep moving because of the Keristrasza-esque aura that stacks up frost damage the longer you stand in place. Moving, strafing, or jumping removes a tick per second. For example, if a player stands still to collect five stacks, not all of them are removed upon moving.

Hodir also randomly roots members of the raid with a magical frost nova-like debuff. Anyone around the target within a 10 yard radius will also be rooted. To counter this, priests can use [Mass Dispel], or Paladins can individually [Hand of Freedom] other players.

Icicles fall from the ceiling and will hit players in the raid if they do not move away from them in time. They are visually cued by snowflakes pouring down before they land, also if you have Projected Textures on in visual options, there will be circles on the floor. Anyone hit by them takes 12000 frost damage and gets knocked back around 30 yards if they are not rooted.

Periodically Hodir gains a self-buff called Frozen Blows. It reduces his physical damage, but in turn buffs frost damage to his attacks (up to 40000 unresisted). While hodir has the Frozen Blows buff he also deals 4,000 frost damage to the whole raid every 2 seconds, so healers will have to be prepared. The frost resist tank needs to watch for the emote tied to this and immediately taunt him. Healers also need to be paying attention for the emote to switch targets onto the new tank. When the buff wears off, the original tank must taunt back immediately and the healers must switch back right away again.

When Hodir starts casting Flash Freeze, three icicles queue up to fall (two on 10 man). These specific icicles create a mound of snow which can protect everybody from getting frozen during the fight. To avoid confusion because other icicles may be falling, the circle projected on the ground is much larger than the other icicles. Get near the icicles but not in them and you will have no trouble getting onto the mound of snow and continue. Anyone who is encased should be broken out immediately before returning to the boss, or they will die when the frost aura stacks up too high.

All in all, this fight is nothing more than an endurance test. Avoid taking raid damage from Biting Cold and icicles, and definitely do not be caught on the ground during a Flash Freeze.

In depth - Mage NPC's

The two Mage NPCs will randomly Conjure a Toasty Fire, These stop players from having to move around to get rid of the Biting Cold debuff. Note that the fires only place the buff on a certain number of people in range, so keep an eye on your buffs and don't assume you have it. Check to be sure you have the buff, else you could be left out in the cold.

But, on top of that effect, any DPS caster that should have the Toasty Fire buff will also apply the stacking effect Singed to Hodir, which increases magic damage taken. This can stack up to 25 times (the tool tip on Wowhead is incorrect), increasing all spell damage taken by 50%. The Mages also have an ability called Melt Ice, which they cast on the other NPCs who are caught by Flash Freeze. This does between 5 and 15% of the total life of an Ice Block, although, this isn't enough for your raid to ignore the other NPCs. Because of these abilities, To simplify the encounter even more Mages need to be your priority NPC to release from the Ice Blocks.

Mage/Singed tactics

Because the Mages will only spawn fires about 5-15 yards around them selves, assigning a caster to each of the Mages will ensure that the debuff stay's up at all times. Before you start the encounter, mark each of the Mages before you begin (using Diamond and Moon, as these are less likely to be used by any addons), their names are Amira Blazeweaver and Veesha Blazewaver and can be targeted using the /Target command (their Ice Block stops them from being clicked).

Once the encounter starts, release the mages first, as they will help your raid to release the rest of the NPCs. The assigned casters will be looking out for the fires they spawn, Once up, practicaly stand on top of them and start casting to get the debuff rolling (remember, You can't run though them once he starts casting Flash Freeze!). Singed has a 30 second duration, and a 30% apply chance. To help with keeping the Debuff stacked, It's important for the raid to release the mages as fast as possible. The mages will help you to release the rest of the NPC's, Which is a nice little bonus! Assigned casters get back to their respective NPC, and refresh Singed.

Quotes

Aggro:

You will suffer for this trespass!

Icicles:

<Furious roar>

Flash Freeze:

Winds of the North, consume you!

Killing a player:

Tragic...to come so far...only to fail!
Welcome to the endless winter!

Berserk:

Enough! This ends now!

Defeated:

I... I am released from his grasp... at last.

Drops

Main articles: Cache of Winter, Rare Cache of Winter

Cache of Winter
Avalanche Item Level 219Disenchants into: [Abyss Crystal]: 1-2 Binds when picked up Bow Ranged Speed 2.90 106 – 198 Damage (52.4 damage per second) +28 Agility +51 Stamina +15 Critical Strike +14 Haste Durability 120 / 120 Requires Level 80 Sell Price: 16 81 42 Breastplate of the Wayward Conqueror Binds when picked up Classes: Paladin, Warlock, Priest Requires Level 30 Sell Price: 5 Breastplate of the Wayward Protector Binds when picked up Classes: Shaman, Hunter, Warrior Requires Level 30 Sell Price: 5 Breastplate of the Wayward Vanquisher Binds when picked up Classes: Druid, Rogue, Death Knight, Mage Requires Level 30 Sell Price: 5 Cowl of Icy Breaths Item Level 35Disenchants into: Not disenchantable Binds when picked up Cloth Head 3 Armor +3 Intellect +5 Stamina +3 Critical Strike +3 Haste Meta Socket Prismatic Socket Socket Bonus: +8 Critical Strike Durability 100 / 100 Requires Level 30 Sell Price: 6 17 69 Frost-Bound Chain Bracers Item Level 35Disenchants into: Not disenchantable Binds when picked up Mail Wrist 5 Armor +2 Agility or Intellect +3 Stamina +2 Critical Strike +2 Haste Durability 55 / 55 Requires Level 30 Sell Price: 6 29 70 Frostplate Greaves Item Level 35Disenchants into: Not disenchantable Binds when picked up Plate Legs 14 Armor +4 Strength or Intellect +5 Stamina +4 Critical Strike +3 Versatility Prismatic Socket Socket Bonus: +3 Spell Power Durability 120 / 120 Requires Level 30 Sell Price: 12 11 2 Frozen Loop Item Level 35Disenchants into: Not disenchantable Binds when picked up Unique-Equipped Finger +2 Intellect +3 Stamina +2 Critical Strike +2 Haste Requires Level 30 Sell Price: 7 56 23 Leggings of the Wayward Conqueror Binds when picked up Classes: Paladin, Warlock, Priest Requires Level 30 Sell Price: 5 Leggings of the Wayward Protector Binds when picked up Classes: Shaman, Hunter, Warrior Requires Level 30 Sell Price: 5 Leggings of the Wayward Vanquisher Binds when picked up Classes: Druid, Rogue, Death Knight, Mage Requires Level 30 Sell Price: 5 Northern Barrier Item Level 35Disenchants into: Not disenchantable Binds when equipped Shield Off Hand 47 Armor +2 Strength +6 Intellect +3 Stamina +1 Critical Strike +1 Haste +1 Versatility Durability 120 / 120 Requires Level 30 Sell Price: 10 99 8 Signet of Winter Item Level 35Disenchants into: Not disenchantable Binds when equipped Unique-Equipped Finger +2 Strength +3 Stamina +2 Critical Strike +2 Haste +1 Versatility Requires Level 30 Sell Price: 7 56 23 Stormedge Item Level 35Disenchants into: Not disenchantable Binds when picked up Axe Two-Hand Speed 3.60 6 – 14 Damage (2.8 damage per second) +4 Strength +4 Stamina +4 Critical Strike +5 Haste Durability 120 / 120 Requires Level 30 Sell Price: 27 82 7 Winter's Frigid Embrace Item Level 35Disenchants into: Not disenchantable Binds when picked up Back 3 Armor +2 Agility +3 Stamina +2 Critical Strike +2 Haste Requires Level 30 Sell Price: 6 10 77 Winter's Icy Embrace Item Level 35Disenchants into: Not disenchantable Binds when picked up Leather Chest 7 Armor +3 Agility or Intellect +4 Stamina +4 Critical Strike +3 Haste Prismatic Socket Prismatic Socket Socket Bonus: +3 Attack Power Durability 165 / 165 Requires Level 30 Sell Price: 12 15 53

Rare Cache of Winter
	[Bindings of Winter Gale]			[Bitter Cold Armguards]
	[Constellus]			[Drape of Icy Intent]
	[Frigid Strength of Hodir]			[Gloves of the Frozen Glade]
	[Ice Layered Barrier]			[Icecore Staff]
	[Shiver]			[Staff of Endless Winter]
	[The Boreal Guard]