Tribunal of Ages The Tribunal of Ages encounter consists of protecting dwarf explorer Brann Bronzebeard from waves of mobs as part of the quest he gives . It is unusual in that it is a boss encounter in difficulty and in loot , but does not involve fighting a boss per se . Rather , you must only survive and protect Brann from the waves . Nevertheless , many people would find this encounter more difficult than the other three boss fights of this instance ! Successfully completing this event grants access to the Tribunal Chest . The Encounter . To begin the escorting event , talk to to start quest . Escort him through the room with three stone golems . The real fight encounter takes place in a circular room ( called the Tribunal of Ages , hence the article title ) at the end of Halls of Stone wing of Ulduar . Brann will stop and allow you to rest after clearing this trash , talk to him again to begin the encounter . There are three large faces surrounding your party in the room . If you are facing the exit , they are ( clockwise ) Kaddrak , Abedneum and Marnak . Soon after Brann enters the room ( ~ 20 seconds after talking to him ) , Kaddrak , the face directly to the right of the entrance , will activate . This face will shoot Glare of the Tribunal , a bolt that deals roughly 500 Arcane damage to a random party member every ~ 3 sec for the remainder of the fight . Waves of groups will start to appear . The first waves come slowly , with each group appearing roughly 45 seconds after the last . Groups consist of three elites , two melee ( Dark Rune Protector ) and one caster ( Dark Rune Stormcaller ) ( 3 melee on heroic ) . Mobs will go directly to Brann , if not picked up . Brann doesn ' t have so much health , so they must be tanked . After several waves ( ~ 75 seconds after Kaddrak activates ) , Brann will yell and the face to the left of the entrance , Marnak , will activate . This face fires a shadowy orb , Dark Matter , at the ground where one person is standing ( similar to Void Reaver and his orbs ) . Any player hit by this will be afflicted by a debuff which increases damage taken by 50 % on normal and 100 % on heroic for a short time . Waves will begin coming faster now , about every 30 seconds , and two non - elite casters are added to every second wave . After several more waves ( ~ 100 seconds after Marnak activates ) , Brann will yell once again , and the final face opposite of the entrance , Abedneum , will activate . The third face fires a channeled beam , Searing Gaze , at a location on the floor that deals 500 damage per second to anyone within 10 yards of it . On heroic , the damage is about 2000 per second , coupled with the damage debuff from the second face the beam can reduce your health at an astonishing rate . The damage will be ramping up at this point , so avoiding beams by moving out of them is paramount . Mobs will be coming at an increasing pace , ramping up to roughly every 15 seconds by the end of the event . Eventually , the Iron Golem Custodian will be added into the waves also . At this point , killing the mobs is not a priority so much as survival — proper use of CC and various AoE stuns ( i . e . Shadowfury , Hungering Cold , etc . ) can save lives . Survive for another ~ 90 seconds and Brann will yell last time , causing faces to turn on mobs , destroying them quickly . A Tribunal Chest containing the event ' s loot will then appear against the wall to the right of the console . The entire event lasts approximately 5 minutes from when Brann is talked to to when the chest appears . Strategy . Positioning . The positioning of the group can make a big difference in this fight . There are generally two strategies : On the stair . With a skilled and geared AoE tank ( paladin or death knight ) , this method can reduce damage taken from the beam and bolt . Have the whole group stand on the stair , with the tank in the front . The tank needs to grab the aggro of all incoming mobs . DPS then AoE down the mobs quickly . Note that sometimes the beam can still hit people standing on the stair , so everyone still needs to stay alert . NOTE : this technique is not reliable on heroic . In the room . If the tank has difficulty AoE tanking , the group may find this method easier . The tank stands close to the bottom of the stair . Other group members scatter in the room . This way the tank will have more time to get the aggro of incoming mobs . DPS should try to focus fire on tank ' s target to avoid drawing aggro . With this method the group can handle the mobs much more easily . However , everyone will need to move away from the beam and bolt constantly . Tips for damage dealers . For groups with very good DPS and AoE , it is possible to burn down most of the mobs so that the tank only needs to take care of a few mobs throughout the fight . For groups with lower DPS , it is still possible to clear the first few waves before the next waves emerge . However , as new mobs emerge faster and faster , more and more mobs will remain when the next waves come . This does not mean low DPS cannot handle this encounter . At the later part of the encounter , the tank should try to hold aggro of as many mobs as he / she can . Healers should focus on healing the tank . At this point , the DPS should use all the available crowd control and snaring abilities to CC / kite any free mobs . ( Hunters ' Frost Trap and shamans ' Earthbind Totem are very helpful here ! ) As long as the group can keep the mobs tanked / CC ' ed / kited , Brann will be unharmed and the defense system of the room will kill all the mobs at the end . Tips for tanks . This fight can be a real nuisance . Your first priority is to pick up every add , after that you can start building aggro . By the end the adds are coming really fast so try to keep up , and don ' t let any get through your defenses ! For paladins in particular , its not possible to build mana fast here , and if you have no mana between waves you are going to be unable to pick up mobs . No mobs hitting you means no mana . No mana means you wipe . If you ever hit a no mana situation do whatever you can , blow potions , divine plea , tell your dps to not attack while you hit them with your weapon manually for a second . Keep in mind , if you have to do the last thing the waves won ' t let you dick around , once you have aggro the mobs you have on you have to die faster than usual , otherwise you ' re going to have 50 guys on you in a minute or two . " Notes : " Speculation . " Necrophotic " . " Necrophotic " is not a real English word , but it would mean " death light " or " dead light " , from the Greek roots " necro " , death and " photo " , light . This may be a homage to Stephen King ' s " It " , and his other novels , where the antagonist was an otherworldly horror called simply " It " , with a body composed of " deadlights " , the viewing of which would turn any man insane . ( " It " is a famous novel , and draws from the same tradition of Lovecraftian horror as the Old Gods , so such a homage wouldn ' t be pure coincidence . ) Alternatively , " necrophotic " could suggest a relation between the Old Gods and the Holy Light of the Warcraft universe . It may also be related to Shadow energy or magic , which the Old Gods appear to represent on some levels . Alternatively , it could be a typo for " necrophytic " , which means " growing on death " or " living off death " ( from Greek necros ‘ dead ' and phyte ' plant ' ) , and which would make more sense in the context : the Old Gods made the Earthen flesh so they would be mortal , and thus easier to kill , so they could consume / live off their deaths . " Kaddrak , Abedneum and Marnak " As names of the three bronzed / gold faces of the Tribunal of Ages , these names are very similar to the names of three Hebrew men mentioned in the Book of Daniel : Shadrach , Meshach and Abednego . Their similarities do not end with their names , however , as these three men were cast into a " fiery furnace " and thus passed through a test of fire , similar to the Tribunal encounter event for the players , passing through such a test .