or this one
from
lorebook.lotro.com/wiki/Walkthrough:_Vile_MawPhase 1
The battle against the Watcher begins when your raid walks to the lip of the Watcher Deep Water Pool. The Watcher will appear in the middle and begin an induction for the Vile Scream – a cone acid damage attack that cannot be interrupted. If you do not move to the left or right you will die immediately. The Vile Scream is the only attack the Watcher will use and will do so every 30 seconds. You know it's coming when white text appears on the screen (The Watcher shakes with anger). Just before the induction he will lock on to one player and scream in that direction. This attack is very easy to avoid as long as you break inductions and move immediately.
Once the first scream has gone off, two Wriggling Tentacles will appear in front of the Watcher Deep Water Pool. These Tentacles will do significant range damage and so must be tanked in melee range. Put one heavy armour wearer on the one on the left, and everyone else on the right. When you are damaging the first tentacle, be wary of the 30 second Vile Scream timer! This means if you get a conjunction 20-25 seconds after the first scream – do not contribute! Accordingly, do not be stuck in long inductions or you will pay a dear price for doing so.
After each subsequent Vile Scream a Squeezing and Crushing Tentacle will spawn on either the left or right hand side. The Crushing Tentacle is a ranged and melee damage dealer, while the Squeezing simply holds a raid member in place until it is defeated. This means you will want to defeat the Squeezing before the next scream (in case the Watcher targets that person for his Vile Scream). Once the Squeezing is defeated, leave the Crushing Tentacle alone and finish off the Wriggling Tentacles. When they are defeated, phase 1 finishes.
Phase 2
The Watcher will begin phase 2 by bringing down the over-hanging bridge above him and then submerge beneath the water. In his place will emerge two Massive Tentacles. Have your Hunters pick them up and start damaging them. In the shallow water where your raid battled the two Wriggling Tentacles, a series of Crushing, Squeezing, and Strangling Tentacles will spawn depending upon where you are standing. I do reccomend to put everyone in the Gate Deep Water Pools. I encourage this course because while you're in shallow water you can be punted into the Watcher Deep Water Pool where a new tentacle has emerged, making its way around: Carouselling Tentacles. These Tentacles remain for the duration of the fight and increase in number as you proceed through the stages of the encounter. They cannot be targeted or destroyed, but if you are within melee range of them, they will hit you for 3-4k+. The idea behind remaining in the Gate Deep Water Pools is you avoid a good number of punts, but you do get Strangling Tentacles. These tentacles will hold someone up in the air, decreasing their morale over time. Kill these immediately to free the raid member.
If you feel so inclined, you can throw some damage dealers in the Watcher Deep Water Pool to aid in defeating the two Massive Tentacles: the objective of phase 2. We do not do this, however, and let the Hunters do it. You will want to kill one Massive Tentacle and take the other down to 5,000 morale. Once this is done, clear out the remaining Tentacles in shallow or deep water, and you will be ready for phase 3.
Phase 3
There are two ways to enter into phase 3: the entire raid grouped together or split apart. If you only have one Captain, I do recommend separating groups 1 and 2; placing them a fair way apart. If you have the luxury of two Captains, I do recommend bunching everyone together. Regardless of which method you choose, phase 3 begins when the Massive Tentacle dies. When you are ready, finish it off.
When phase 3 begins, a Crushing Tentacle will spawn next to every member of the raid. If you have split the groups in two, have the squishies back away from the tentacles, and burn down one group at a time. If you have everyone together, have both Captains hit In Harms Way and Last Stand and just have all damage dealers go berserk. If you have two Champions with you, the vast majority of the tentacles will be dead by the time the skills duration is over. If you elect this method – and I do recommend it – remember the Captains will need to be healed a few seconds before the skills expire! At some point – we do not have the timing exactly – the Watcher will activate and the Hunter who is tanking him (the one with the most morale and -ranged vulnerability) needs to pick him up. The other Hunter(s) should assist in damaging two Shaking Tentacles that will spawn to his sides until they go into healing mode. When all the tentacles are defeated and the Watcher is being healed, you are ready for final phase.
Final Phase
The entire raid is going to move to the right hand side of the room, near the shore outcropping. The Watcher should be on a diagonal slant at this point. There will be four individuals who will remain at this point: two Hunters, a Captain, and a Champion – all of who should be in the same group! The responsibility of the Captain and Champion is burn down the Crushing and Squeezing Tentacles that will spawn around the Hunters – they must be protected. All other raid members – including the Minstrels and Lore-masters – are in the deep water, in the Watcher's grill. It is advisable, however, that the Minstrels and Lore-masters remain near the Watcher's left (so your right) Shaking Tentacle so they remain in range of the Hunters. Please note, however, that the Carouselling Tentacles will have increased at this point! The group in shallow water must stay far enough away from the lip to avoid being smacked, and the same for the Minstrels and Lore-master in deep water. The positioning is tricky to describe, but once you're in there, it's manageable.
The designated Hunter tank will never leave the Watcher – ever. The second Hunter will be the Shaking Tentacle tank. To begin, have your raid burn down one Shaking Tentacle to 5,000 morale and then the same to the other. You will then finish one off, and wait for it to respawn. As soon as it does, the Hunter will pick it up and start damaging immediately. Everyone else that can do damage will burn the other one down. You will then beat on the Watcher for a short period of time (about 5-10 seconds). The Shaking Tentacle the Hunter originally picked up should be at 38,000-40,000 morale. Start damaging it down. As soon as the other Shaking Tentacle pops up, have the Hunter switch to pick it up.
That is the process in which you defeat the Watcher. A few more notes, however. First, we're not sure how long the timer is, but a Strangling Tentacle will spawn periodically. When it appears, have all your DPS attack it immediately (except for the dedicated Watcher tank) and then return to Shaking Tentacles. Second, it is reccomended that you assign one Minstrel to solely heal the Hunter tank on the Watcher. If he falls, the Watcher will likely aggro someone in melee and start going berserk – this will be the end of your raid. Third, do not be tempted to spend too much time on the Watcher – if you do not bring the Shaking Tentacles down fast enough, they could go into healing phase and erase all your progress!
That is the Animus strategy for defeating the Watcher in the Water within the Vile Maw. As a collective group, we hope that this guide will be of benefit to you and your runs. Any comments, suggestions, or optimizations to our strategy will be greatly appreciated and welcomed.
