Off-Tanking Ignis in Ulduar

So, as I'm doing this from different perspectives, I'm learning a little about what needs to be done.

My guild 10 man just downed the first 4 in Ulduar last night in under 2 hours.

I was playing the role of off-tank for the whole time, and as off tank, I can say that for sure, the most annoying of the four is Ignis, but last night I noticed some tricks that make it VERY easy to do.

Off Tanking Ignis:

The basic setup:  in 10 man, we determined that the key ingredient to this fight is the healers.  You will most likely need 3.  One for the main tank, one for the off tank and raid and one for the pot (and raid when no one is in the pot).  

The dps and healers will pretty much stand in the middle of the room (right between the two pools) and the MT will kite Ignis around in a circle, close enough to the dps for the melee to hit him, but always facing to the side of the group (imagine running a ruler around a penny, where Ignis is the point of contact between the two, and he's facing along the ruler).

You (the OT) are in charge of grabbing any of the 20 constructs that can be brought to life and making sure that they are killed in a timely fashion so that Ignis doesn't buff enough to wipe the tank and then the raid.  The constructs are arranged around him in 4 rows on both sides of the area, and you have to police all of them in 10 man (in 25 man, I think it would be worthwhile having 2 off tanks).

So to begin with, you're not going to be anywhere near Ignis for "most" of the encounter.  Ignis is big, and hard to see around.  Your main tank is most likely going to be circling Ignis around the middle of the floor (right between the two pools).  So you want to stay close to the sides, and keep moving.  you need to be constantly watching both sides of the room.  

Once you hear him say "Arise, soldiers!" start looking OVER his head.  He will throw a spark to whichever construct he is activating.  Having your camera distance set at maximum will help a lot with this.  Once you know which construct he's activating, start running that direction.  You want to hit him with something quickly.  If your raid group is doing this right, most of the group is huddled basically in the middle, and you don't want to get "too" far out of range for the healers, but you need to be the first thing the construct sees.  If you miss it, it's ok, they don't do a lot of damage immediately, but you will need to taunt it ASAP, and quickly lock your target's aggro on you.

Next step is to make your way as quickly as possible (which may be a slow crawl, since you may have to walk backwards to kite them without letting them aggro onto the raid group) to the most recently placed "upside down flame tornado" (that's my name for them).  Then stop.  If you have the ability to have some druids or mages on hand to root them in the middle while you step out, that's good, otherwise, you'll need to stay healed while you sit there and babysit your little guy(s).  Once you see them become orange (or have 20 stacks of the debuff, whichever is easier for you) you need to call out in vent to alert the ranged dps that you've got an incoming brittle guy.  As long as you parked them in the most recent flame-nado, you shouldn't have to move them again, but if you were forced to use an old one, you might need to take them to a new one before they finally go molten.  Run, don't walk, directly to the nearest pool.  Do NOT go anywhere near the raid, and don't be afraid to taunt them one extra time for good measure on the way.  I've noticed that the moment they become molten they drop aggro and reset, so you'll definitely need to do something to get their attention off the raid long enough to get to the pool.  Do a quick in and out at the pool, and call out in vent again that you now have a brittle construct so the ranged dps can destroy it.  Run quickly, as if you are still in range the explosion will hurt badly.  If your ranged dps has a hard time keeping oriented, you might tell them "North" or "South" pool to make it easier for them to know where to orient.

Unlike the dps, you won't really have to worry about being in the pot, and you won't really care about "most" of the things that Ignis does, but if you are a paladin or DK, do watch out for the spell lock periods.  Each time he casts flame jets, remember that this will interrupt casting and prevent casting from that school for 8 seconds.  If you're using spells to tank, this might be an issue.  Obviously it's not a big deal for me. 

By the way, ever notice that all the "shouty" bosses in Northrend have the same voice?   Hmmmm.