Cataclysm Heroic Dungeons Quick Reference Guide

Our guilds in both Horde and Alliance sides are heading heroic.  We hate to face the challenge without doing a bit of research.  Hence this article.  I will do my best to update it as frequent as possible – both in turn of new patches and new strategies.  The description for each boss encounter is meant to be concise, similar level of details you would have typed in-game.  The dungeons are listed in the order of difficulty.  So ready to rock?  Let’s go.

Quick links: [Vortex Pinnacle] [Throne of the Tides] [Halls of Origination] [Deadmines] [Blackrock Caverns] [Lost City of the Tol’Vir] [Shadowfang Keep] [Grim Batol] [Stonecore] [Zul’Aman] [Zul’Gurub]

[April 30, 2011] – First creation with patch 4.1.
[June 14, 2011] – Minor updates based on experience.
[July 17, 2011] – Updates based on breathing and living inside 4.0 heroic dungeons.
[July 19, 2011] – Added 4.1 troll dungeons.
[August 24, 2011] – Updates based on breathing and dying inside 4.2 troll dungeons. 

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[1] VORTEX PINNACLE

Boss #1 – Grand Vizier Ertan

After pull, all should stay inside the ring of whirlwinds facing different directions.  This renders Lurking Tempest pointless.  This boss only does lightning AoE damage, have your resistance ready.  When the boss summons the whirlwinds onto him, all weave out of the whirlwinds in the same direction, preferably towards the entrance.  AoE heal is crucial so stay close.

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Boss #2 – Altairus

This is a fight for survival, not a DPS race.  Avoid tornadoes at all cost because they will knock you off the platform and the boss can one-shot you.  Tank the boss at the edge of the platform with one of his sides always facing downwind.  Altairus will randomly target a player and cast chilling breath. Avoid the cone of breath if you can.  DPS and heal should stay upwind to gain haste.

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Boss #3 – Asaad

When the boss casts unstable grounding field, all must get into the triangle or be one-shot to death.  In heroic, this spell has a faster casting time.  In addition, the boss casts a static cling that root players for 18 seconds.  He will cast twice before he creates the grounding field.  Jumping to mid air right before static cling casting is completed can avoid the debuff.  If need to, dispel the 2nd static cling (dispel is a mana drain FYI).  Those who can off-heal should do so when the party is assembled inside the triangle.

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[2] THRONE OF THE TIDES

Boss #1 – Lady Naz’jar

Avoid geyser on the ground, or you will be toss to the air.  Move away from deadly fungal spores (looks like tornadoes), which is tossed to random players.  Take turn to interrupt the boss’s shock blast because the damage is high.  At 66% and 33% of health, the boss is enraged and spawns 2 casters and 1 guard.  Crowd control is the key.  Preassign duty prior to the fight.  Caster mobs hurt.

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Boss #2 – Commander Ulthok

This boss smashes the ground with dark fissure.  All should avoid the smash.  Tank should kite the boss from far end of the room because each dark fissure opened on the ground will grow in size with time.  Hence, enough open space should be planned for.  Because the boss randomly squeeze players, healer should keep the group’s health up full.  Also anticipate that the enraged boss will cause extra physical damage.

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Boss #3 – Erunak Stonespeaker / Mindbender Ghur’sha

In human form (Erunak), this boss randomly casts lava bolt to players and has to be interrupted.  Magma splash is a cone spell damage and avoid if you are not the tank.  This boss also casts earth shards to a random player.  Stay away from the shard before it reaches its target.  At 50% health, Erunak is released and player with the highest threat will be mind controlled.  Bring him or he down to 50% health fast.  Ghur’sha casts unrelenting agony to all and the beams can be broken with line-of-sight (i.e. pillars).  Avoid mind fog AoE damage on the ground as well.  After Ghur’sha casts absorb magic, all magical damage heals the boss.  This shield can be stolen by mage, tranquilized by hunter, dispelled by priest, or purged by shaman.

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Boss #4 – Ozumat

Phase 1: Burn caster mobs first.  Tank should kite the Behemoths away from the rest (and the rest should stay and move together).  Phase 2: Burn down the three Faceless Sappers in a predetermined manner.  Again, tank should kite the Blight Beasts away from the rest.  All should avoid the ink on the ground.  Phase 3: Burn Ozumat fast.  Healer should save the group heal towards the end of the fight.

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[3] HALLS OF ORIGINATION

Boss #1 – Temple Guardian Anhuur

Casters and range DPS should spread out due to the AoE divine reckoning damage.  Everyone should watch out for searing light if targeted.  When the boss chants the hymn, the two switches underneath should be triggered.  Immediately after which, the boss casts a stacking AoE and must be interrupted.  In heroic, the triggering of the switches can be interrupted by the snakes.  1 should stay back ready to interrupt the boss once 2 switches are flipped.  The tank + 2 DPS + healer jumps down and move together as a group.  The tank should run round the pillars, aggroes both groups of snakes.  The 2 DPS should flip the switch once the tank grabbed all the snakes.  Healer simply needs to heal the tank if necessary.

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Boss #2 – Earthrager Ptah

This is a simple boss.  Stay away from earth spikes.  Melee DSP should not stand too near to tank or may get the raging blow.  At 50% health, the boss crumbles and spawns adds.  All should stack on tank and DSP the adds down.  Avoid quick sand on the ground.  Tank and spank the boss when he respawns.  You may mount a camel prior to engaging the boss.  Avoid the ground spike and your camel should survive till the end.

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Boss #3 – Anraphet

Only engage the boss when he wipes out the troggs.  Avoid alpha beams as well as the puddle that it leaves behind.  Crumbling ruining is a stackable heath reduction debuff hence the boss should be burned down fast.  Omega stance is an AoE damage that healer would need to heal through.  In as such, players should stay close to capitalize on group heal.

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Boss #4 – Isiset

Face away when she casts supernova or be blinded for 4 sec as well as taking arcane damage.  At 60% of health, Isiset splits into three and later on at 30%, into two.  The kill order should be (1) Astral Rain, (2) Celestial Call, and (3) Veil of Sky.  It is because Isiset summons one of the three familiars to fight alongside with her.  The aspect you kill will prevent familiar of that kind from spawning, but will make the rest of the familiars more powerful.

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Boss #5 – Ammunae

The entire group including the tank should take down the pods fast.  Because they energize the boss.  Since the tank moves to the pod, it is easier for the melee DPS to get back to the boss.  If  the pod turns into a flower, burn down the flower first.  The tank should taunt the spore the moment it spawns and have it killed near the boss because it will damage the boss too.  Also, dead spore creates a pool of brown dirt that the tank should avoid while at the same time, position the boss on top of the pool.  This pool of dirt can damage the boss too.

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Boss #6 – Setesh

Setesh is untankable.  Heroism and etc. should be used in the beginning (including Army of the Dead) to nuke the boss before a total of 6 portals appear one after another.  Portals can be destroyed and all should be on it.  Portals spawn the followings in that order: Sentinels, Worms, and Seekers.  The tank should kite the Sentinels and adds if any.  And they can be snared or rooted.  The tank should be able to take down Worms and the anti-magic prison spell of the Seekers should be interrupted.

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Boss #7 – Rajh

Blessing of the sun is an AoE damage by the boss.  All DPS should save their cool downs during that phase (which may appear more than once) and not before that.  Players should spread out before infernal leap does AoE damage to all who are nearby.  Those who are hit by the infernal leap will gain speed, and should immediately run away.  Summon sun orb spell should be interrupted.  If one gets summoned, the rest should stay away from him or her.  Solar winds leave a trail of fire on the round.  All should avoid.  Tank should first drag the boss to the far left side of the room.  After the first blessing of sun AoE damage, drag the boss to the far right side of the room.

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[4] DEADMINES

Boss #1 – Glubtok

Phase 1 is standard tank-and-spank.  In phase 2, the boss floats above the ground and randomly casts fire and frost blossom spells on the ground, visually marked.  Hence, all should move away and avoid.  There is also a wall of flame that slowly rotates around the boss.  All should avoid or else risk getting one-shot.  The boss spawns fire adds that have to be tanked.  All should get together during phase 2 to avoid getting separated by the fire wall.

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Boss #2 – Helix Gearbreaker

Phase 1 is again standard tank-and-spank.  In phase 2, Helix randomly jumps onto a player and ride him or him.  The player getting ridden should be in the move because Helix drops bombs that hit the melee DPS.  When the ridden player is released by Helix, a bomb will be placed onto his or her chest and upon explode, sends the player in the air.  That player should immediately run to the center of the room and stand under the log.  This will limit the fall distance.

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Boss #3 – Foe Reaper 5000

The boss occasionally casts overdrive that does AoE to all that are around him.  The boss also randomly marks one of the players for harvest and pursues that target.  All should move away from the marked location (on the ground).  At 40% health, the boss will buff his damage output by double.  Before engaging the fight, one of the DPS should gain control of a prototype reaper and kill the adds far away from the group.  The tank may wish to position the boss at the ramp near the entrance while the prototype reaper is at the far end of the room.  Note that towards the later part of the fight, the adds will overwhelm the prototype.  Burn boss fast.

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Boss #4 – Admiral Ripsnarl

Phase 1 is standard tank-and-spank.  The boss will hit faster and faster with each successful hit (i.e. DPS should not aggro).  In phase 2, every 25% of health the boss will despawn and adds will appear.  Take down the adds.  In the end phase, the boss will appear together with the adds.  Focus on the boss because when he is down, the adds will despawn.

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Boss #5 – “Captain” Cookie

This boss is not tankable.  She throws good food and bad food onto the floor.  Bad food has a aura of debuff while good food increases hastes.  Food can be eaten while not losing focus on the boss.  Hence, each player should eat one bad food first, and the eat one good food to remove the debuff and gain haste.  Also, this will free up more space on the ground.  Players should avoid taking more good food then needed.

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Boss #6 – Vanessa VanCleef

Before engaging the boss, players need to face 4 nightmares.  (1) Use the 4 pressure steam vents before being lowered into the lava.  Kill the shade of Glubtok while avoiding the fire and the icicles.  (2) Stand at the corner of the door and burn down Helix.  (3) Kill Foe while avoiding spinning spark walls.  Stand in between the rotating spark barriers.  (4) Healer should heal the wife (an NPC) while the group takes down the rest.

Rest and engage Vanessa.  At 50% of health, she will flee.  The group should flee too using the rope at the far side of the boat.  Continue to fight her till she kills herself (sad eh?)

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[5] Blackrock Caverns

Boss #1 – Rom’ogg Bonecrusher

This boss reduces the tank’s heal effective for 25% via mortal striking.  When the group is chained, it is important to break the chain quick and move away from the quake that will one-shot players in heroic mode.  In addition, this boss summons non-elite adds that have to be DPS down after the tank grabs the aggrro.

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Boss #2 – Corla, Herald of Twilight

This boss casts dark command (2 sec cast) to fear and must be interrupted.  She has three Zealots that once transformed into Evolved Twilight Zealots can deal massive damage.  Evolution is done via the purple beam and it takes 20 seconds to fully evolve a Zealot (or a friendly player who blocks the beam).  It takes 14 seconds for the stacks of debuff to drop off.  Hence, three players can be assigned to block the beam, let the counter reaches 80 out of 100, step out until the debuff disappears, and then go back in.  Depending on group composition, the tank may need to block one of the beams.

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Boss #3 – Karsh Steelbender

Clear the room of troggs before the fight.  The boss should be dipped into the lava gradually putting one stack of debuff onto him at a time.  Each stack of debuff he gains deals AoE to all party members.  The damage is proportional to the number of stacks he has.  The debuff takes 17 seconds to wear off.  How many stacks of debuff to put onto the boss depends on tank and healer.  7-8 stacks could be ideal.  Once the debuff wears off, the circular grate explodes killing all who stand on it.  In additional, adds are spawned and upon death, leave a pool of lava on the ground.  Hence, DPS should kite the adds far away from the tank.  Once the adds are down, time to dip the boss into the lava again!

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Boss #4 – Beauty

Clear the mobs and pats near the entrance first.  Beauty has puppies.  Crowd control as many as you can.  Tank Beauty near the entrance facing out so as to avoid breaking the crowd controlled puppies.  This boss fears often.  Burn down the puppies first if the situation arises due to their AoE lava drool.

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Boss #5 – Ascendant Lord Obsidius

This boss has three assistants who channel a healing reduction debuff on all whose are near them.  One player should be assigned with the task to kite the assistants away from the tank.  Also, because the boss does thunderclap, the kiter should not come near to the boss at all.  In several occasions, the boss will take over the body of one of his assistants and the threat table will be reseted.  Again, kite the adds and while the rest, burn the boss.

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[6] LOST CITY OF THE TOL’VIR

Boss #1 – General Husam

This is a standard tank-and-spank.  Avoid crossing the bombs on the ground.  Avoid the lines of shockwave as they deal massive damage by walking away from them.  Every 20 seconds, the boss casts bad intention on a random player and deal 45k damage.  Healer should make sure that no one has less than 45k health at any time.

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Boss #2 and #3 – Lockmaw and Augh

Pull Lockmaw from the back so as to avoid aggro’ing Augh.  The boss periodically smashes his tail onto the ground and causes massive damage.  This should be avoided.  Those who are marked with scent of blood run the risk of being munched by 4 crocodiles.  Transfer the threat to the tank fast.  Better still, all should stack near the tank.  At 40% of health, the boss is enraged and can be tranquilized.  Natural resistance should come into handy.

In phase 2, Augh can be engaged.  Tank-and-spank and stay away from the whirlwinds.

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Boss #4 – High Prophet Barim

Barim periodically gains fifty lashing buff that does big damage.  Tank and healer may consider burning cool-downs when that happens.  In addition, a phoenix is spawned when the boss is pulled.  When enough damage is dealt onto the pheonix, it morphs into an egg, regenerate health, and reborn.  Hence, one DPS should be assigned to kite the pheonix.  Anyone who is targeted with heaven’s fury should move away from getting hit.  At 50% of health, the boss casts repentance and a Harbinger of Darkness appears.  All players should remain as far away from the tank as possible.  If a soul fragment (spawns from the player) reaches Harbinger, it deals 70k damage to all nearby.  Once Harbringer is down, time to go back to Barim again.

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Boss #5 – Siamat

In phase one, focus on the Servants and Minions.  Servants first, and then Minions.  In phase two, Siamet channels wailing winds that do AoE to players as well as tossing people in the air.  This boss should be burned down fast before overwhelmed with AoE.  Minions will be spawned in phase 2.  Whether they can be ignored or not depends on how long the fight would drag.  Heroic encounter is the same as normal encounter.  The damage is much higher.  And … avoid storm clouds at all time.

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[7] SHADOWFANG KEEP

Boss #1 – Baron Ashbury

Interrupt or dispel pain and suffering debuff if possible.  In phase 1, after Asphyxiate that brings all party members’ health to 1, the boss casts Stay of Execution that heals players as well as himself.  This spell should be interrupted after 1 to 2 ticks because leaving it too long will heal the boss too much.  In phase 2, the boss enrages with calamity unleashing his true power in dark angel form AoE all members.  All cool-downs should be saved for this moment and the boss has to be burned fast before healer runs out of mana.

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Boss #2 – Baron Silverlaine

This boss casts curse veil debuff that reduces healing by 75% for 15 seconds.  Dispel it if need to (if the target is not going to be healed immediately, don’t bother).  At 25% of health, Baron Silverlaine summons one of the ancient Worgen spirits to his aid.  Take down the add first before going back to the boss.  A simple tank-and-spank routine.

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Boss #3 – Commander Springvale

This encounter will require a high level of coordination.  This boss should be tanked at the furthest side of the wall.  When he casts shield of the perfidious, all must stay out of the torrent of damage.  Hence, the tank must make sure that (1) the boss should not be facing the group and (2) he or she must stay outside of the torrent.  When the boss does desecration, all melee players must move away.  Casters and ranged DPS should stay as far away from the boss as possible.  Springvale summons Guardsman that does AoE silence and mortal strike.  He also summons Officer.  Crowd control the Officer and burn down Guardsman.  Assign someone else to tank the adds and these adds should be dispatched before going back to the boss.  Last but not the least, unholy empowerment casts by Guardsman and Office must be interrupted.  This spell buffs up the boss a great deal and will make the fight unbearable.

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Boss #4 – Lord Walden

Through toxin mixture, this boss either glows in red or green.  When he is green, the group must keep moving (or jumping).  Or the stacks of debuff will kill you.  When he is red, you are buffed and hence, should stop and focus on DPS.  In addition, there is a toxic debuff that can be cleansed.    As for the frost mixture, you should see the floor marked before the mixture lands.  Hence, move away when you see it coming your way.  The group should spread out for this fight.

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Boss #5 – Lord Godfrey

Tank him on the lower floor with a group making a circle on him.  He randomly targets one person and casts pistol barrage after he summons the ghouls.  The person targeted should move away from the barrage.  If it helps, pan the camera to top down view to see where the direction of the fire is.  Adds should be AoE fast.

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[8] GRIM BATOL

Boss #1 – General Umbriss

This boss periodically summons 1 Malignant Trogg and 3 Trogg Dwellers.  Crowd control the malignant one throughout the boss fight if possible.  It buffs the boss and the adds and debuffs the players.  Ground siege is a 2.31 seconds cast and should be avoided by the melee players.  Umbriss randomly marks a player for Blitz.  Everyone should stop and move away from the marked location, including the marked one.  This is a massive attack.  Tank may receive a bleeding wound debuff from time to time.  Healer needs to keep tank’s health atop.  At 30% of health, Umbriss stops summoning adds and enraged.  This can be tranquilized by the hunter.  The boss should be burned down fast at this stage.

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Boss #2 – Forgemaster Throngus

Phase 1 – He wields a sword (or dual wield) and does high single target damage.  Debuff on tank must be dispelled quickly.  Boss can be disarmed at this phase.  Phase 2 – He wields a heavy mace that slows him down by 70% but increase his weapon damage by 300%.  He also leaves pool on the ground that must be avoided as well as grabbing random player.  This is a survival stage and the tank should kite the boss throughout this stage.  His mace should not land on anybody.  Phase 3 – He wields a shield.  All should stay behind the shell and avoid the frontal AoE shield damage.  In fact, all should stack onto the boss (except hunter that needs a distance).  When the boss turns around, go through the shield and stack onto him again.  The fire arrows that hit the group will drain the healer’s mana a great deal.  Hence, conserve your healer’s manna by not taking unnecessary damage throughout the fight.

The phases are picked in random.

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Boss #3 – Drahga Shadowburner

Burning shadowbolt by Drahga can be interrupted.  From time to time, the boss casts Invocation of the Flame.  Everyone should move away and build distance from the lava puddle.  Once a fire element is spawned, it will target on a random target.  Once the element meets the target, a massive AoE damage will be dealt to those nearby.  Hence, all should focus on slowing and snaring the element and burn it down.  At 25% health, the dragon Valiona is summoned.  Melee players should avoid peddles on the ground.  Also, everyone should avoid Devouring Flames that damage all that are facing the dragon.

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Boss #4 – Erudax

This boss randomly casts Blinding Shadow that deal damage to nearby players, snare them, and heal the boss.  This can be avoided because (1) the boss will look at your direction and (2) the ground is marked prior to the landing of Blinding Shadow.  This boss periodically knocks the tank away and casts a +damage debuff.  The tank should move away and wait till the debuff fades.  When the boss cases Shadow Gale, all should get into the eye of the gale.  Afterwards, two Faceless Corruptors will be spawned.  The adds should be snared and burned down fast.  Roles should be assigned prior to the fight.

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[9] STONECORE

Boss #1 – Corborus

Tank this boss at the far end of the corridor.  Everyone should avoid Crystal Barrage.  After Crystal Barrage, adds are spawned and will move to a random player.  These adds must be range AoE down fast.  Players should spread out just in case.  When the boss burrows, move away from the dust on the ground or you will be one shot (hence tanking far helps with more space to run back).  Any adds summoned by the boss must be AoE down as a priority.

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Boss #2 – Slabhide

Mark the healer.  All should stay in the line of sight with the healer.  Tank should face the boss away from the group as the boss does Sand Blast, a front cone damage.  When it flies up, avoid the stalactites falling from the ceiling (the ground is marked and you should move away).  Keep away from the lava pool.  When the boss lands, it does a massive AoE (Sand Storm).  Everyone should take cover behind the stalactites or you will be … one shot (what’s new?)

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Boss #3 – Ozruk

Memorize the following mechanisms.  (1) Ground Slam does a front cone damage targeted to the tank.  (2) Elementium Bulwark reflects spell.  (3) Elementium Spike Shield is a bleeding effect received when hitting the boss with melee.  (4) Shatter does massive damage within 20 yards (comes after Paralyze).  (5) Paralyze freezes all players for 8 seconds and deals damage if the debuff is not removed.

Tank should always have his or her back against one of the narrow walls ahead of the boss.  He or she should step aside to avoid Ground Slam [1].  If you are confident, you can run through the boss.  But make sure the boss won’t face the group.  Everyone should avoid Shatter [4] (black pool marked on the ground).  Tank will need to move from one side of the wall to another.

It is OK for melee players to receive the bleeding debuff [3].  Casters should get a DoT reflected back to them during Elementium Bulwark [2].  If a player has a debuff on them during the Paralyze [5], he or she can easily break away from paralyze.  Only hunter cannot use this trick so someone may need to help removing the hunter’s debuff.

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Boss #4 – High Priestess Azil

This boss force grip the tank.  DPS should interrupt as much as possible.  Avoid purple circles on the ground.  Everyone should use the purple circles to down the adds if possible.  I.e. those who aggro the adds go behind the purple circles and the disciples will simply run into the circles and die.  This boss casts Seismic Shard.  It is a large piece of rock that must be avoided.

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[10] ZUL’AMAN

Boss#1 – Akil’zon (Eagle)

Players should spread out due to the Static Disruption debuff on random players.  This debuff stacks and can be removed.  An eagle called Amani Kidnapper will grab and strangle a random player.  All (including the plucked one) should kill the bird.

When Electrical Storm is cast on a player lifting him or her up in the air, all should group under the targeted player.  Those who are outside the eye of storm will take AoE damage.

PS. It is possible to pay attention to the ambient sound and watch out for the rain drops.  When that happens, all should stack onto boss just before Electrical Storm is cast.  That way, the group can still do DPS during the storm.

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Boss#2 – Nalorakk (Bear)

In troll phase, the boss does 80k damage to the tank (ignoring armor) via Brutal Strike.  He also targets the furthest player and charges the player with 35k damage as well as a 500% physical damage debuff.  Hence, pre-assign three players to take turn and absorb the charge.

In bear phase, the boss does a 180k damage to the tank (before armor mitigation) as well as a 2 seconds AoE silence to the rest.

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Boss#3 – Jan’alai (Dragonhawk)

All should avoid Flame Breath that is targeted to a random player.  The boss also casts Fire Bomb (looks like orange bombs) that spawns from the center of the room.  Avoid the stuffs on the ground.

This boss has 20 eggs on each side of the altar.  Each egg hatches a Amani Dragonhawk Hatchling that casts Flame Buffet (5k fire damage with a 10 seconds 3% debuff that stacks).  At 35% health, all the eggs will be hatched.  The key to this fight is to control the number of eggs hatched and DPS the hatchlings fast. The eggs are hatched by NPCs (that can be killed).  One strategy is to allow the entire right side hatches first.  Tank should be near (but not cornering himself or herself) the bridge to get ready in tanking the adds.  Once the right side is dealt with, burn the boss down and anticipate for “Hatch All Egg”.

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Boss#4 – Halazzi (Lynx)

In troll phase, the boss drops a water totem that replenishes health and mana.  Tank should push the boss out of the green healing circle while standing on it.

At 66% and 33%, the boss summons the Spirit of the Lynx and heals to 100%.  The group should ignore the Lynx.  Tank should build aggro on the Lynx but bear in mind that the Lynx may attack random target.  DPS must take down the Lightning Totem.  Rinse and repeat.

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Boss#5 – Hex Lord Malacrass

This boss summons different type of adds that should be crowd control.  If crowd controlling is not an option, kill the blood elf, imp, or dragonkin first.

The boss does AoE damage (Spirit Bolts) at a party member.  He also channels Siphon Soul to steal the abilities of one of the members and use them against the group.  When that happens, think PvP and dispel, interrupt, or move away accordingly.

When the boss heals himself, make sure that is interrupted.

As the fight drags on, the boss will gain more powerful while the group will get weaker.  It will get harder as the duration of the fight lengthens.  DPS is the key for this fight.

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Boss#6 – Daakara

This boss transforms at 80% and 40%.  The threat table is wiped off and he is immune to taunt (DoT however stays on).

In phase 1, the boss casts Grievous Throw that bleeds a player until he or she is fully healed.  He does Whirlwind too.  In phase 2 and 3, two of the following avatars will be used.

Shape of the Eagle – All should dodge the cyclone.  It has a Zap debuff that inflict casters nearby when spells are cast.  Lightning totem should be down fast as well.  The boss casts Energy Storm.  All spells cast does damage to the casters.  Hence, healer has to be efficient in casting spells.

Shape of the Bear – This avatar casts Paralysis that must be dispelled.  It does big damage to the tank as well (hence Paralysis should be dispelled a.s.a.p.)

Shape of the Dragonhawk – Avoid fire.

Shape of the Lynx – In between Lynx Rush (charge and bleed) and Claw Rage (charge and attack), this avatar summons two adds that must be tanked and burned fast.  The tank should taunt the boss during the Claw Rage phase to split the damage taken (like a 1.5 second wait).  Alternatively, these adds can be CC.

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[11] ZUL’GURUB

Boss#1 – High Priest Venoxis

Tank should pull the Venomguard Destroyer out of the room and fight them near the cauldron.  Everyone should pick up Toxic Torment from Zanzil’s Cauldron of Toxic Tormet for toxic mitigation.

Before engaging the boss, pick up another Toxic Torment.  Avoid standing in poison (that looks like a maze).

In phase 1, Whispers of Hethiss should be interrupted.  Two players who are affected by Toxic Link should run away from each other to break the link.  But they should stay away from the party members to avoid AoE damage when the link is broken.

In phase 2, the boss is transformed into a serpent that doubles physical damage.  The tank should watch the ground and drag the boss out of the green pool.

Everyone should avoid front cone damage (Breath of Hethiss).

At the end of the phase, the boss summons 3 Bloodvenom Tendrils.  It targets random players and does massive damage to anyone nearby.  Hence, the group should run through the maze when that happens.

After Bloodvenom stage, the boss is stunned for 10 seconds taking up 100% more damage.  Thereafter, the boss is back to phase 1 again.

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Boss#2 – Bloodlord Mandokir

This boss has a raptor and the group has 8 Chain Spirits that grant the group a total of 8 resurrection.

The boss often Bloodletting a random player draining 50% of health every 2 seconds for 10 seconds.  Healer needs to heal the target fast immediately after the ritual is over.

When the boss dismounts from his raptor, he casts Devastating Slam (spikes shoot up in front cone).  All should run away from the affected ground space (in red).

The boss also Decapitate a random player (dealing 15 million damage).  Chain Spirits can be used to resurrect the player.

After the boss dismount, his raptor will run to the Chain Spirits and kill them.  The group needs to snare, slow, or even kill the raptor.  Note that raptor will be reanimated by the boss. Raptor must be killed at sight.

Tank should initially position the boss in the center (hence maximum distance for the raptor to run to first spirit).  After the raptor is down, tank should always stand on top of the raptor’s corpse so that melee DPS can quickly get to it when it is reanimated.

At 20%, the boss enrages and attacks 100% faster.

Lastly, each time a player dies, the boss Level Up and increase damage dealt by 20%.  This buff stacks.

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Boss#3 – Hazza’rah

This is a ghost troll that can be summoned with players who have archaeology skill of 225.

The boss is random.  In some situation, freeing players from a rooted position can avoid a single kill.

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Boss#4 – High Priestess Kilnara

Trash mobs should be cleared before engaging the boss.  The boss should not dropped below 50% before the four panthers are awakened and killed one batch after another.

Tears of Blood is a channeled spell and should be interrupted.  Lash of Anguish is a nasty DoT that should be dispelled immediately.  Wave of agony is a purple wave wall that should be avoided.

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Boss#5 – Zanzil

This boss casts Terrible Toxic on random people that has to be healed through.  Voodoo Bolt should be interrupted and avoid the fire line when he casts Zanzil Fire (always in front of him).

There are three cauldrons: green, red, and blue.

When the area is flooded with toxic gas, use the green cauldron.

When the boss raises zombies, the tank picks up Burning Blood from the red caudron and aggro the zombies.  Zombies should be AoE down.  Note: DPS can pick up Burning Blood too.  Be aware that it friendly fires as well.

When the boss resurrects a Berserker, use the Frostburn Formula from the blue cauldron and stun the mob.  The add should be burned down first.

PS. Before engaging the boss, the tank (and even melee DPS or the rest as well) may consider picking up the fire buff and stack on boss.  Healer will have to heal through this but this increases the overall DPS of the group.

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Boss#6 – Jin’do the Godbreaker

Before engaging the boss, make sure that the two Gurubashi Spirits are killed on either side of the platform.  Gurubashi Spirit should be tanked on top of the purple ground (after body slam) while the tank is outside the zone.  This technique applies to the rest of the boss fight.

In phase 1, the tank should pull the boss out of the Deadzone (take 90% less magical damage while reduce casting speeding by 90%).  When the boss charges his weapon with Shadow of Hakkar, all should enter into Deadzone while leaving the boss outside.  Rinse and repeat for new Deadzone.

In phase 2, three Hakkar’s Chains have to be broken free.  The tank should pull a Gurubashi Spirit while the rest stay near to the chain. The spirit will do a Body Slam to the group, deal 15k damage, and break the chain.  Anything on top of the purple zone (including the Gurubashi Spirit and the Chain) dies faster.  The group should consider killing Gurubashi Spirit first because it does extra damage to the tank after Body Slam.  Clear some adds before moving onto the next chain if need to.  Avoid the black or purple spikes flying in the air (the ground is marked before that happens).  Avoid standing in the purple void zone.

This fight can get nasty if the group does not have enough ranged DPS.  If that is the case, melee DPS will have to help killing adds and healer will have to heal them through.

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8 replies on “Cataclysm Heroic Dungeons Quick Reference Guide”

Thanks a bunch for these directions. They’re short, to the point and easy to read. Helped me out great when pugging HCs and needed info quick. Big cheers! 🙂

Harro – Thanks for your comments. I will update this page as and when the strategy can be fine tuned. And of course, still need to expand on a couple more heroic dungeons! Good luck with your loots!

Excellent! Thanks for putting this together, it should be required reading for anyone running heroics. Do you plan to do the new troll heroics as well?

Thanks for all of this info. I am a new player, and other guides I’ve read online are a bunch of BS. Great, straightforward advice for the heroics.

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