How to Solo Zandalari Warbringers & Scouts

This guide is basically designed as a hunter guide but I am sure if you are another class you might be able to gather some information that could help you, good luck with your rare hunting.

Know Your Enemy:

Scouts (6M Life) will have three of the following abilities, at random, and warbringers (21M Life) will have 4 of the following abilities, at random.  If you go into each of these fights prepared to handle all 5 of the random abilities they can have you will never be caught off guard.  Good thing that as a hunter only two of these abilities even matter at all to you.

You can see which of the three or four abilities they have before you engage in battle by checking the buffs, but if you are like me, you just dive in and attack because if you do not someone else might steal your kill.

Skill: Horrific Vision
Buff Name: Tribal Mask
What it Does:  AoE fear, lasts 8 seconds.

Skill: Scarab Swarm
Buff Name: Scarab Brooch
What it Does:  Summons 10 low health scarabs.

Skill: Meteor Shower
Buff Name: Star Map
What it Does: Drops meteors from the sky.

Skill: Thunder Crush
Buff Name: Thundering Sigil.
What it Does:  A frontal high damage thunder effect.

Skill: Vengeful Spirit
Buff: Spirit Charm
What it Does: Massive melee ranged damage.

Handling The Abilities:

As I said, there are five different abilities as stated above and three of them mean nothing to hunters basically.  I will go over how to handle those three abilities first.  However, even if those abilities will not effect you in any way, I will note some things you need to think about when it comes to your pet.

Horrific Vision:

This AoE fear effect does not have a large enough range to hurt us.  Being it has a 30 yard range and all hunter abilities have a 40 yard range you can probably stay over 30 yards just fine.  If you are not good at judging distances, move back until you can't shoot and then step forward and you will be fine and 100% free from being feared.

Be aware that when feared you turn and run away, duh right?  Well, that means your pet will turn and run away and it means that your pet will be capable of being struck from behind and that can really hurt.  So make sure that mend pet is rolling.

Also take note that although this ability is easily avoided by us, the hunter, the fact we need to move when the fear happens means we need to keep an eye on where we are moving.  If you have to run toward it, make sure you do not run to close when it is done, stay over 30 yard range.  Number two is, look where you are running and where your pet has been feared to.  It is not uncommon to pull an extra mob or two when dealing with scouts that walk around and have this ability.  I hope I do not need to tell you that keeping adds out of it will make these fights considerably easier.

Meteor Shower:

If you have been a good little hunter you have surely killed your fair share of Jinyu rares so you have seen meteor shower already.  It was called raid dance.  This is the exact same ability, just a different name and graphic.  Just run around and do not get hit by the meteors.  Not all that hard, and as a hunter, you will already be at range.

If you need to you can run further out so it can not even reach you but remember to have that mend pet rolling before you do, just in case of course.

Thunder Crush:

And the winner for the most useless ability that hunters never need to worry about goes to thunder crush.  I do not mean to be rude so please excuse me if you take my next comment comes off that way but if you get hit by this as a hunter, please unsubscribe.

The only excuse of getting hit by this is when something went horribly wrong and adds came in, or you were overwhelmed or your pet died and while reviving it you took the chance of finishing the cast.  Sure.  There are reasons you might get hit by it but you better have some good excuse like one of those if you do.  Your pet will take no damage from this and he is in melee, so you shouldn't either being you are ranged and it has a huge visual ground effect well before it is cast.  Add to that, if you make sure you are always positioned behind it, you never even need to think about it.  Really, you should never get hit by this.

There are two abilities that will separate the people who play hunters from the people that are hunters.  And these are those abilities.

Scarab Swarm:

Ten little scarabs are summoned and need to be AoEed.  They despawn over time so if you really wanted to you can just do one multi shot at them and let them come to you and just DPS running in a circle.  They will never get to you and if they get close, throw a trap to slow those buggers down.

Unlike the other abilities, these need to be handled and how you handle them will depend on your spec.  In BM I prefer to kite them and basically ignore they are there.  They do a fair bit of damage so you do not really want them all on your pet with the mob and you do not want them on you.  But you will waste a lot of focus while AoEing them down that would be better spent killing the mob.  In survival I just burn them down, serpent spread takes care of them right quick.  Much easier to handle this ability with survival in my opinion.

Vengeful Spirit:

I watched a group of 8 people, 2 were hunters sadly, wipe on one of the warbringers thanks to this ability.  Yes, that is how important this ability is.  It is the only ability that can turn a simple easy solo into a horrible death without you even seeing it coming.  This means, look for it, seriously.

If your mob has the spirit charm buff you need to make this priority number one on your list.  Not downing the mob, that will come, but this.  How is this handled?  I am glad you asked.

Kite the vengeful spirit.  That doesn't sound so hard does it?  Ask those 8 people that wiped to it.  Actually, I would like to ask them.  How do 8 people get killed and none of them realize not to let the spirit touch you?

It moves slow to begin with, it can be slowed even further, CCed, stunned, snared, etc.  There is no reason it should ever get to you but it should always be attacking you.  And that is the key.  Do not, I repeat, do not let it hit your pet.  Your pet can go from 100%-0 in 2 seconds if it attacks it from behind, 3 seconds if it attacks it from any other angle.  It hits for that much.

The key is to get its attention ASAP.  A macro for distracting shot works nicely.  Tabbing to it works just as well.  When in survival I just hit a multi when it spawns and the serpent spread is more than ample to make sure its attention is on me, and stays on me, even if my tank pet decides to do an AoE at that exact moment.

Just keep an eye on it.  It really does move that slow, so slow that once I forgot I had it coming for me, yes, that slow.  It got me to less than half life in one hit.  Ouch.  So keep an eye on it.  This should be the only ability that can wipe you on either of these mobs.  The others are all easily handled.

Choose Your Spec:

The basic idea is that beast mastery is awesome for its burst and pet damage and survivability so it makes it a clear winner for soloing the rares out in the world.  However, the only two abilities that these rares have that actually need to be handled are both handled better by survival.

You can solo the scouts and the warbringers easily with either spec, I have, but I find that survival makes it a little easier for me.  I lose out on that super burst but I do not need to worry about scarabs at all, making them basically another non ability.

My suggestion would be if you are around 500 or better item level you can get by easier with survival if you are a lower item level beast mastery might be a better option.  Either could work however.

I would also suggest at least a 480 item level.  While I am sure it can be done with less when the skill factor is added it will be leaps and bounds easier at 480 than at 460 for example.  And I would not suggest doing them if you happen to run into them while level.  Absolutely not.  They last thing a level 85 hunter will see before dying a horrible death is the bottom of a zandalari boot landing on their face, repeatedly.

Glyphs and Skills:

Level 15 Talent:
Post Haste wins out here.  That speed boost can really come in handy once in a while.  While nothing here is required, this one is the one you might find yourself using when you never expected to.  And if your pet dies getting as much distance between you and the mob as possible is easier with this ability.  Post haste however is not something I would consider required unless you are undergeared or really new to soloing.

Level 30 Talent:
Binding Shot will have its uses on scarabs if you are BM and going the kiting route.  If you plan to kill the scarabs or are going SV then this is really up to you.  Nothing is actively suggested here.

Level 45 Talent:
Spirit Bond works best for my gear level.  My pet rarely comes close to dying, but when it does, Exhilaration is the way to go.  If you see your pet taking heavy damage normally, or if you are the type of player that sometimes forgets to keep mend pet rolling, or you are new to soloing, Exhilaration is the only option.  It has a two minute cooldown and it can be reset with readiness.  Basically it is a lay on hands for your pet twice, or more, per fight.  The 30% heal to yourself is meaningless, because you should be taking no damage.  Never use it for you.  Use it for your pet and when it is low and you are worried mend pet can not keep up, use it.  Do not wait two or three more seconds.  Use it.  As you get to know the fights more and get more gear you can switch to spirit bond which is usually all around better for while out questing.  For these however, while learning, it is Exhilaration, no doubt.

Level 60 Talent:
We are not talking DPS talents here, we are talking utility ones and for these types of fights nothing can beat thrill of the hunt.  As survival it makes the scarab ability a complete non ability if it happens to be up when they spawn.  A double tap and they are all dead as if they never existed.  Even in BM if it procs getting those extra multis means extra beat cleaves and with beast cleave buffed, it makes the scarabs a non issue there as well.

Level 75 Talent:
Blink Strike.  There are no ifs and or buts about it.  When it comes to an ability for positioning nothing can beat this one.  Be it micro managing, to putting a pet on passive and sending it back, positioning your pet to better solo mobs has always been a huge thing in successful soloing and blink strike is something that can seriously assist in that area.  As a little added tip, when soloing the one in the jade forest with the fear ability, the best way to move the mob inland is not by micro managing your pet, it is by finding a critter that is in some and blink strike it.  It will move you pet inland, move the mob inland, to follow it, and now if your pet is feared he will be feared further inland and not off the cliff.  Turtles do not fly, with the exception of the one in the summit of course.

Level 90 Talent:
Choose what you want here, I am still using Glaive Toss as my default ability but I can see how powershot might be effective if it works on them.   I have not tested it on them, so I can not suggest it.  Perhaps you can give it a try if you would like to and let me know how you like it.

Major Glyphs:

Glyph of Mending:  +60% to your healing, and you will keep it running all the time, this is a no brainer.
Glyph of Misdirection.  I can't imagine soloing anything without it now, not even questing.
Glyph of Animal Bond.  Increase the healing you and your pet receive by 10%, also effects spirit bond so it is 10% more if you went that way.
Glyph of Endless Wrath. If you are rolling BM you can use this instead of the misdirection one, as your pet will not have any aggro issues in BM but the endless wrath can be a lifesaving cooldown now as well as a DPS one.

Minor Glyphs:

Glyph of Stampede:  This will mean all your pets will come out as tank pets, with taunts on, just like you would want it.

Pet:

Turtle, tenacity, need I say more.  Turtles rule.

Tips and Tricks:

Stampede:

Use this only as a defensive cooldown when Mr. Ironbottom goes down from being bonked on the head too hard and you need to revive him.  With all of them taunting, you will have more than enough time to get your turtle back into top fighting shape.

Disengage:

It is an excellent tool to move around fast.  Don't think of it as only a way to get away from something attacking you, think of it as a positioning tool.

Mend Pet:

Keep it running, every 10 seconds, no matter what, even if your pet is currently at full health.  If any fight is going to last longer than 30 seconds it is no longer about burst, it is about survival and keeping your pet up becomes top priority.   Really, do you think that one arcane shot is more important than keeping your pet alive and the mob off you?

Quick Summery Solo Guide:

Zandalari Scout:

Open up with your standard DPS rotation, start the mend pet as you send your pet in.  Blow it up as fast as possible, do not worry about additional mend pets right away.  Use exhilaration if your pet gets low, which it most likely will, then readiness.  Blow your DPS cooldowns again and keep mend pet rolling now.  Use exhilaration again in case of an emergency.  Against a scout the second emergency will never come as long as you keep mend pet rolling.

Stay over 30 yards away at all times.  Multi shot to get the spirit and scarabs after you and off your pet.  Kite the spirit and kite or kill the scarabs, your choice.  The spirit will despawn after 20 seconds, so it is really no big deal and not worth DPSing down.

Otherwise, just avoid the avoidable, do your hunter thing, and collect your loot.  Scouts are easy peasy.

Zandalari Warbringer:

They drop mounts baby.  We will want to be killing these as often as we see them and luckily we are hunters and we can kill them solo.

Basically it is the same as with the scouts with one change.  You will keep mend pet rolling from the start and save exhilaration for that oh shit moment, then of course readiness after you use it.  These guys do considerable more damage so you will need to pay more attention to your pets health and positioning then you would with a scout but it is still the same fight.

The fact it lasts longer leaves more chances for errors and that is the only real difficulty of the fight.  Trying to down it before you make a mistake.  A longer fight means more chance for error.  More chances to forget the mend pet, more chances to not get the spirit off your pet fast enough.  More chances to start falling into a grove and doing things almost automated which can cause mistakes.

Just take it slow, keep your pet up, pay attention to the fight and your surroundings and the more you do it the better you will get at it and the faster it will go down.

It might seem overwhelming, watching groups wipe on this over and over.  Look at all the bones around them.  But remember, we are not everyone else, we are hunters and those mounts belong to us, they are direhorns after all aren't they?  So go get them.

Good hunting.

Note: March 18th there was a hotfix that makes it so warbringers can no longer be taunted, snared, stunned or interrupted.  

This might add a little more difficulty and perhaps the need for a higher item level to do more damage faster will be required.  It will also mean you will need to add feign death into your rotation often and can even use that as a way to heal your pet.  Let yourself get aggro, mend pet, and feign death before the mob gets to you.  Either way, this change is basically a nerf to many classes and their ability to solo this mob in current gear.