or: How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love the Gaze

First things first - Golgoroth is a dick. Not the encounter, that's actually pretty cool once you've got it down. But golgoroth is a dick. He's got Cursed Thrall, a Tablet of Ruin, Venom Balls, Surprise Taken, Venom Balls, Adepts, and Venom Balls all just itching (heh) to ruin your day. He's arguably the hardest part of the Raid (at least in terms of getting your tactics straight) and was the quitting point of a lot of teams over that first weekend.

So it's understandable why people might be looking for an easy way out. The last three Raids I've run have all had someone stop us at Golgoroth while deciding gaze-holders and say "Hey have you heard about the one-gaze method? It's way better!".

For those who don't know, the "one-gaze" method involves killing all the adds in the room, dropping a single Puddle of Reclaimed Light, having one person grab the Gaze, and then resetting after just a single DpS Phase. It's about as simple as it sounds, and executed perfectly, it will allow you to kill Golgoroth just before he enrages.

It's also slower, riskier and (most importantly) much less likely to work in the Hard Raid than any other approach. It involves fighting more adds, getting shot at by Golgoroth more frequently, and the poor gaze-holder running laps around the room all for a maximum of 15 seconds of DpS per phase. It's terrible.

So how should you do it? Well, there's two methods I like a lot, and which you choose depends on whether you want to do it safe or fast. It's worth noting though that both methods are still safer and faster than the one-gaze approach.

The Simple/Safe Approach: Front and Back
This method is probably my favourite, just because it's so simple, and is the method I'd recommend if you dont' have a very confident pair of Gaze-holders. This is what the one-gaze method wishes it was.

Start by picking two gaze-holders. They don't have to be experts, as they won't have to do much in the way of multitasking. Defenders are a good choice for clutch health-regen, but any class is perfectly good. They definitely want a primary that holds at least 15 rounds though, or at least has a fast reload.

The least confident gaze-holder (Gaze-A) needs to head to the back of the room, into the cave above the exit. This is where you'll live for the rest of the fight. The other gaze-holder (Gaze-B) will stay around the entrance to the room.

At the start of the fight, split into two groups to kill all the adds while taking care not to get laser-faced by Golgoroth. Gaze-A will have to be careful as a number of Acolytes spawn from doors towards the back of the room. Once the adds are dead, everyone should position themselves at the front of the room while Gaze-A takes the Gaze.

Gaze-A's job is very simple - don't die. You don't need to keep track of the countdown timer or even changing your position, just focus on destroying Venom Balls. The best way to do this is stand right in the open, in line of sight of Golgoroth. This way the balls will come at you in a straight line, whereas if you're behind cover they'll bounce around and give you a hard time.

As soon as Golgoroth's back is turned, Gaze-B and the others should drop the front-left Orb suspended from the ceiling. Gaze-B then takes the Gaze and the Puddle Team jump into the puddle. Don't forget to have someone take care of the Cursed Thralls.

Use Tethers and Melting Point liberally, but not both at once. They don't stack. They do stack with Weapons of Light though

Gaze-B has a slightly harder job than Gaze-A, but only in that he should be keeping an eye on the countdown timer. The easiest place to stand at this point is right up against the doorway you first come in through. Once the countdown reaches 10 start counting out loud, and when you reach 2, Gaze-A should take the gaze again and everyone should jump out of the pit.

Next, drop the front-right Orb, and repeat the process.

Once Gaze-A has the Gaze again (after the second Puddle), destroy the mid-right Orb. Gaze-B will have to move to the right a little (past the cover so Golgoroth is in clear Line of Sight) so that the Puddle Team can get a good shot on Golgoroth's stomach.

This time, Golgoroth's back will be closed, so Gaze-A won't be able to take the gaze. Once the countdown reaches 0 Golgoroth will become hostile, so it's important to get everyone out of the pit and into cover before then.

For increased DpS, Gaze-A can join the Puddle Team for this third Puddle

From here, kill the adds and repeat until victory. At some point (when Golgoroth's health reaches half?) Taken Thrall will start teleporting in. This is actually quite convenient, as it means you don't need to kill a wave of Acolytes between phases any more, you can just start another phase as soon as Golgoroth's back reopens.

The Intended/Fast Approach: Side to Side
This method is a little more complicated for the Puddle Team, and requires more multitasking from the Gaze-holders, but is definitely the fastest, cleanest way to clear the encounter. Unless the enrage Timer is shortened substantially for the Hard Raid this method shouldn't be necessary, but we have no idea what to expect so practicing probably isn't a bad idea. It's also very satisfying when it all comes together and you blast Golgoroth in just a couple of minutes. Otherwise though, I'd suggest sticking to the Front-to-Back method.

Again, we'll start by picking two Gaze-holders (Gaze-L and Gaze-R). They need to be confident in in dealing with Venom Balls on the move, and have enough firepower to destroy the Orbs on their own. An LMG is ideal.

For this example I'll be starting from the left, but the process can be reversed with no problems.

Split into two teams of three and kill the adds, then have Gaze-L get Golgoroth's attention but not his gaze! by shooting him in the body. While he's distracted, the other 5 should position themselves by the Back-Right Orb and destroy it.

As soon as the Orb lands, Gaze-R should take the Gaze and start counting down, while the Puddle Team starts burning Golgoroth. Don't forget about the Cursed Thralls

While this is happening, Gaze-L should destroy the Back-Left Orb. The puddle lasts longer than 20 seconds, so it doesn't matter if it breaks a little early. Try and drop it for around the 5-second mark.

Once the countdown reaches two, Gaze-L should take the Gaze and the puddle team should immediately move to the new puddle.

Now Gaze-R needs to destroy the Mid-Right Orb while Golgoroth is occupied with Gaze-L. Then Gaze-L will destroy the Mid-Left Orb, then Gaze-R the Front-Right, then finally the Front-Left. The Gaze-holders will need to move into position in front of each of the puddles so that the Puddle Team can get a good shot on Golgoroth, while the Puddle Team move from puddle to puddle.

Callouts are key so everyone knows how much time is left on each Gaze.

During Gaze-L's final Gaze, Gaze-R can jump into the pit to help DpS

Once the countdown reaches 0 on the Front-Left Orb Golgoroth will become hostile, so it's important to get everyone out of the pit and into cover before then.

The adds will spawn again, so kill them and take a moment to find ammo, as you're likely to need it. Then repeat the process until Golgoroth is dead. My group has killed him before with just 7 orbs on an almost-perfect run, so it's probably possible to beat him in just one phase with high enough DpS. Maybe you'll get a secret chest for it? Who knows.

TL;DR
Friends don't let friends One-Gaze. Use the Front-to-Back method for safety and convenience, or the Side-to-Side method for Speed and bragging rights.