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Many Nightmare (Master) level operations change or tune differently verse their 8 mode counter parts. Explosive conflict is one that appreciates changes to your expected group composition.
Kephess we find it best to run with 3 Tanks. 1 we gear up very dps focused. This third tank acts like a dps until gift of the masters, then they enter into the swap sequence. This is because in NiM, breath of the masters is faster and will hit the tank before the first one is back.
Below is a flow of the strategy and order we use to clear. Positioning is the critical point. The tank taking Kephess needs to be out of the stack and ready to taunt from range so that Kephess does not cleave the group and kill anyone (2 deaths is still auto enrage).
Here is the play by play for Kephess tanking
Gift of the Masters channels, big Circle @ 58%, we call get out and preferably start at the shield bunker. We will do a quick tank check here and decide who which tank will be going first. The first tank must have a strong DCD for the first big hit before breath of the masters, and they should taunt Kephess during Gift of the Masters, regardless of who Kephess was on and go to the shield bunker to align the swaps in a predictable 1-2-3 order.
Your team can certainly set up and predecide who this tank is and set up a consistant order. We found it best to be dynamic and talk about our cool downs as we downed the walker and approached Gift of the masters.
We maintained 2 tanks swapping for normal on Kephess before Gift. You can certainly do 3, but if one of your tanks is running light on actual tank gear, your healers may need to hard focus them more.
However you decide to handle it, the first tank stepping out to take the first hit, becomes Tank 1 for our diagrams.
Tank 2 taunts after Tank 1 gets Breath, Tank 1 moves out and start dropping Circles OPPOSITE to the planned path for the boss, in my example, clockwise around the room. Tank 2 Holds boss in Place at the Shield Door (OR your chosen starting location)
Tank 1 gets yanked in, and on Puddle #3 Tank 2 will be getting Breath forcing the next tank swap. [Note that this is the change from 8 mode] Tank 3 will have moved out to the far walker door and standing ready to Taunt [FROM RANGE VERY IMPORTANT to NOT stay in the group and have him follow you to the next spot, you will KILL people].
Tank 2 Will plant their puddles 1&2 and get pulled in as Tank 1 is finishing dropping their puddles 4&5, Tank 1 will return to kephess about the same time Tank 2 is getting pulled in. Tank 2 can save hold the line for fast movement away from Kephess to plant his 3-4-5 further away giving Tank 3 room to plant his.
Again Tank 1 is not so much "returning to Kephess" as they are moving ahead to the next tanking location so that they are ready to taunt from range. This is where the mistake happens ;)
Tank 1 will stand ready to Taunt as soon as Tank 3 gets his breath. Tank 2 will be on their puddle #3/4 as Tank 1 taunts.
Note that in the diagram, this is pictured of more of a Tank 1 swaps Tank 3 and stays in that position. It is best to go ahead and leap frog ahead, that gives Tank 1 room to drop puddles when its their turn.
Tank 3 will move out and begins planting thier puddles 1&2 as Tank 2 is finishing Puddles 4/5. They will then move to the next kephess tanking position.
Tank 3 will be pulled in before breath, this is a good trigger to watch for to know when breath is coming, as it channels, Tank 2 Taunts, pulling kephess to the next location.
Remember to always give yourself space between tanking spots for your puddle drops, this figure unlike the previous shows a good spacing.
Tank 3 will be planting their 3/4/5 as Tank 1 begins their 1/2. (where we had Kephess at)
From here the pattern repeats until we clear.
If dps is pushing quickly, you can save more space between tank swaps. The corner as you come around the front of the room can be particularly narrow and can trap you in as you get pulled in to drop your puddles.
If DPS is low, tanks will need to use every space possible to drop circles.
If we don't have Kephess dead after 7 swaps, we can probably just blame the DPS. The center of the room is always a fun and exciting option.
One last item to note is that while the major change to this fight in 16 mode is the final phase, there is a small change to the shield phsae as well with 2 warrirors spawning per wave. e.g. two shield domes to contend with. The strategy, however, remains much the same. Reflect for the win. With a third tank, you can more easily have an AoE taunt ready for the third group. I recommend 2 reflects per add wave to make this phase as easy as possible. The tank and their two reflecters should break away and be ready to taunt and reflect before the adds spawn.
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