The puddle only cuts out a quarter of the space at a time though, the rest is pretty easy to move fluidly through. You mentioned getting to ~25% before wiping though and at that point the fight definitely gets a little crazy with the speed that the plagues go out (don't know if your group noticed that or not, but they do get faster as he gets lower, which is where the chaos tends to come in), so I can understand it feeling confusing or crowded. Just keep at it, and maybe consider (dps depending) slowing off before that 25% period until cooldowns are back up so you can burn through the crazy period. Consider saving bloodlust for it as well, but this will take some timing and judgment to find the best place to use it.
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