I think we have an intermittent bug. I'm on Khaz'Goroth but I don't think it makes any difference which realm you're on. I tried this three times a couple of days ago and each time I ran into the bug described above. (I'm a lvl 39 priest.)
Because some people were encountering the bug and some weren't I wondered whether the problem was cleared after a server reboot. The whole game is rebooted every Tuesday night (Australia time) so I logged on Wednesday morning first thing and it all worked perfectly. (Woot!)
So it's just a theory but it seems to have worked once...
As mentioned above, you know you have the bug if you can see the boss stuck in the altar before you've done anything at all. You just swim down and there he is. You get the cog wheel and when it's finished you try and attack him and you just get Evade.
At that point I don't think there's anything you can do until the game is reset.
I wonder if the problem occurs when someone kills the boss in that position; stuck in the altar. Unless you are a warlock or have a potion you are going to have to drag him to the surface and kill him there. Maybe the bug occurs if you kill him on the spot and he doesn't reset properly.
For the record, here's how I did it. Dive down and pull one of the guys beside the altar. Return to surface and deal with him. Before I could kill him he pulled the next one. Finished the first guy and killed the second. (They didn't seem quite as tough as elites usually are... but your mileage may vary.) Swam to nearby rock and restored mana. Dived down to the altar on the side that I'd cleared and triggered the cog wheel. A second after it finished the boss appeared and I tried to drag him to the surface. Must have gone too fast and I lost him. Repeated clicking on altar, triggered boss and this time got him to surface. He turns into an elemental but you just keep plugging away. (In my case I kept my bubble up and wanded him to death.) Loot body. Back to Booty Bay. Yay!
I see from spiroui's comment above that, if I'd stayed in the blue column, I might have been able to do the quest without having to kill any of the elites around the altar!
Hope this helps.
Theoclastia
Because some people were encountering the bug and some weren't I wondered whether the problem was cleared after a server reboot. The whole game is rebooted every Tuesday night (Australia time) so I logged on Wednesday morning first thing and it all worked perfectly. (Woot!)
So it's just a theory but it seems to have worked once...
As mentioned above, you know you have the bug if you can see the boss stuck in the altar before you've done anything at all. You just swim down and there he is. You get the cog wheel and when it's finished you try and attack him and you just get Evade.
At that point I don't think there's anything you can do until the game is reset.
I wonder if the problem occurs when someone kills the boss in that position; stuck in the altar. Unless you are a warlock or have a potion you are going to have to drag him to the surface and kill him there. Maybe the bug occurs if you kill him on the spot and he doesn't reset properly.
For the record, here's how I did it. Dive down and pull one of the guys beside the altar. Return to surface and deal with him. Before I could kill him he pulled the next one. Finished the first guy and killed the second. (They didn't seem quite as tough as elites usually are... but your mileage may vary.) Swam to nearby rock and restored mana. Dived down to the altar on the side that I'd cleared and triggered the cog wheel. A second after it finished the boss appeared and I tried to drag him to the surface. Must have gone too fast and I lost him. Repeated clicking on altar, triggered boss and this time got him to surface. He turns into an elemental but you just keep plugging away. (In my case I kept my bubble up and wanded him to death.) Loot body. Back to Booty Bay. Yay!
I see from spiroui's comment above that, if I'd stayed in the blue column, I might have been able to do the quest without having to kill any of the elites around the altar!
Hope this helps.
Theoclastia