Welcome to Blackwing Lair. The following guide seeks to assist in preparation for the Blackwing Lair raid.
Before being able to enter the lair all raiders need to complete the attunment quest. The quest starts when you kill the Scarshield Quartermaster and loot the Blackhand's Command. He is located inside blackrock mountain close to the entrance to the lair. Once the quest is accepted raiders must touch the orb located behind General Drakkisath within Upper Blackrock Spire to complete attunement.
All raiders should run some fire resistance to help the healers and to prevent unnecessary deaths from spike damage. These totals are after druid buffs but don't factor temporary potions or paladin aura. All raiders will need an Onyxia Scale Cloak as well, this can be enchanted with Fire Resistance as well.
All raiders are expected to bring consumables to each raid. Consumables are broken into two sections, required and optional.
The fight starts when the 3 mobs on the ramp near the orb are engaged. Once started the boss will be loose and the assigned controller should use the orb to mindcontrol Razorgore. While the raid clears the intial monsters the controller should use Razorgore to destroy the eggs. The mindcontrol orb has a 90 second cooldown as well as a 90 second duration meaning one controller can do the job if all goes perfectly but a backup is recommended. It's important to prevent the controllers from taking damage as it interupts the mind contol effect.
Once the inital monsters are cleared the raid should break into two groups. Healers and casters should stand on the platform near the orb and odd group melee and tanks should stand on the right side (south) while even group melee and tanks should stand on the left side (west).
Mobs will spawn all over the room and will head for the orb controller until agroed.
DPS should be focused on Mages first then Legionnaires and Dragonkin.
When all eggs are destroyed all the remaining adds will despawn and the mindcontrol effect will disappear.
A tank should be the controller of the orb for the last egg break as that will put him top of agro by a large margin.
The boss should be tanked near the front of the platform slightly to the west side. All the ranged and healers should stand close to the corner at the base of the platform on the south side and use that edge as a line of effect blocker during the Fireball Volley.
Razorgore uses Conflagration on the person with the highest amount of threat and switches to the second highest on the threat list, this is why 2 tanks are needed. The offtank will need to generate threat even while not tanking.
The rest of the Raid has to watch the timer on when Fireball Volley will be cast and hide behind the corner to avoid line of effect. Melee also needs to avoid War Stomp by moving away from Razorgore.
While mind-controlled, Razorgore exposes these abilities to the controlling player, listed using their default hotkey:
While not mind-controlled, Razorgore can also cast:
It is recommended raiders bring Greater Fire Protection Potions for this fight.
By talking to Vaelastrasz you will start the fight and everybody in the raid will get the debuff Essence of the Red. The positioning will be a tight stack of melee at the back left leg of Vaelastrasz. The ranged and the healers will stand on walkway to the east side of the room near the edge. The maintank will be right in front of Vaelastrasz with the 2 other tanks on the opposite side of the melee group.
Every 15 seconds Vaelastrasz will target a mana user and inflict Burning Adrenalin on him. When you get this debuff you have to leave the group to your left immediately, after you got distance to the other players keep damaging the Boss until you die.
Every 45 seconds the person with the highest amount of threat (main tank) will also get Burning Adrenaline the other 2 tanks need to be prepared as soon as the main tank dies, to take over and position Vaelastrasz.
Everyone needs to watch threat carefully and dont overaggro or the fight is over.
If Vaelastrasz ever turns on the melee it's almost certainly wipe.
As the raid moves through these rooms they should always stay in a tight stack. One of the tanks should gather the little dragons, however don't kill them as they respawn rapidly until the Broodlord Lashlayer is dead. Only clear them out when there are too many to manage, then quickly AoE them down.
Pull 1 Death Talon Hatcher at a time and interrupt his Flamestrike ability or pull a group of Blackwing Taskmasters sheep 2 of them and focus the last one down.
Keep 2 of the rogues out of combat the whole time in stealth. Their duty is to keep the suppression devices down at all times to allow the raid to move unslowed through the room.
When you reach the end of the suppression room you should still hold on to a few little dragons, power up and shortly before you run into the boss AoE them down. Broodlord Lashlayer has rather a large aggro range (40yds).
2 rogues will stay out of combat and keep the 2 suppression devices closest to the gate down at all times.
Have your tanks be in the corner on the right wall of the gate. At random intervals (20-30 seconds) Broodlord Lashlayer hits the current aggro holder with Mortal Strike, that ignores armor for 5000+ damage and he will get a debuff that reduces all healing effects by 50% for 5 seconds.
The ranged should be on the other side where the boss is (other side of the doorway) and the melees need to use line of sight in the doorway to avoid the AoE Blast Wave. All threat reducing abilities should be used here, like Feint, Feign Death. Since you dont wanna overaggro keep the damage slow and steady.
The pulls around three drakes are tricky and have their own strategies. There are 7 pulls all up and consist of various combinations of trash each needing their own solutions. Breakdown as follows.
A hunter should pull the Spellbinder and maintain agro and kite around. Tanks should pick up the Overseer and the two Warlocks. Ranged should spread out and AoE nuke down the technicians while avoiding being the focus of their dynamite attacks. Warlocks will be focused down in order by the melee, while moving to avoid the rain of fire effect. Warlocks should banish any Felguards that were summoned. After those are dead the Spellbinder should be brought back and killed, interrupting her firestrike when cast. Lastly the remaining Overseer and any banished Felguards should be slain.
The two Overseers will be pulled by two hunters and be kited into the suppression room. Tank the Wrathguards apart as they stun. Once they are both dead, one of the hunters will Feign Death and that Overseers will be picked up and killed, followed by the last.
Raid will gather at the base of the ramp. Only the pulling Hunters and Tanks will go up the ramp. Kill order is the same as the First pull, but adjusted for differing numbers of each type.
Same as the previous 3 but now near the top of the ramp. The cubbies can be used to cause the Spellbinders to interrupt their Flamestrike casts.
This pull is much like the first, but hit harder. Have hunters kite the extra Wurmguards as the raid focuses down the one on the tank one by one. The Wurmguards can charge around the room at various ranged and when they do they inflict damage to all targets in front of them. The goblin can be killed first, but if required he can be sheeped or mind controlled to teach the raid how to smelt Elementium Bars.
When you enter the next room to the left there will be a closed gate, and this will be your tanking location. You will need 2 pairs of tanks working together. The maintank will tank Firemaw with his back to the gate and the offtanks will be positioned at the corner of the gate. 3 seconds before Wing Buffet occurs offtanks will taunt the boss so they bite the bullet and the maintank can taunt back. (Tank positioning is key on this fight).
This fight has a complex rotation of tanks which work like this. As the new tank pair comes into the room the offtank taunts first and stands near the gate (maintank spot) so healers can target him. After that the maintank in the pair taunts and the offtank moves to the second tanking position. (The old tank pair can now leave the room and stand in the safe spot and let their stacks drop.) Just before wingbuffet goes out the offtank taunts once again to take the threat drop. If that taunt is resisted the maintank will take the wing buffet and the threat drop. When that happens the offtank must immediately take position where the maintank stands and healers must shift heals onto him. This continues until the tanks are relieved by the other tank pair.(note the offtank is in a position where they are receiving minimal heals as they are out of line of effect from the main heal crew)
When you start the fight have the whole raid line of sight at the ramp. Your main tank pulls Ebonroc to the corner. Your other 2 tanks should already be there or join shortly after and they should build a triangle. Ebonroc curses a tank with Shadow of Ebonroc, which causes Ebonroc to heal when he strikes the cursed target. As soon as 1 tank gets the curse, 1 of the others has to taunt Ebenroc. Tanks also have to wear their Onyxia Scale Cloak for this fight.
Flamegor is almost the exact same fight as Ebonroc. Instead of 3 tanks we will have 2 tanks standing next to each other in the corner, the offtank taunts of 3 seconds before Wing Buffet occurs. Tanks also have to wear Onyxia Scale Cloak for this fight. Hunters will use Tranquilizing Shot to get rid of Frenzy.
Chromaggus difficulty comes from the randomness of his abilities. Each raid reset he will choose two of his five breath abilities at random. This combo is locked to the raid ID meaning that you will face the same two dragon breaths every time you fight Chromaggus until your raid ID is reset. These breaths are periodic attacks every 30 seconds and they alternate, affecting everyone within Line of Sight of Chromaggus.
The result is that Chromaggus has highly variable difficulty, depending on which two breaths are chosen. It also means that once you have identified which two breaths you are facing you can strategize accordingly.
Every 10-15 seconds he will Frenzy which needs to be dispelled by Hunters using Tranquilizing Shot.
Throughout the fight, he will apply Brood Afflictions to all players within the zone regardless of Line of Sight. These afflictions all have a type (disease, poison, magic, or curse) and must be removed by all classes that have the ability to remove those respective types (Paladins, Mages, Priests, Druids, Warlock Felhunter's).
If any player gets all five afflictions simultaneously, they will be affected by Chromatic Mutation, transforming them into a dragonkin fighting on behalf of Chromaggus. The only cure for this is death.
At 20% health, he will Enrage.
Line of Sight is key. Chromaggus needs to be positioned using one of the nearby corners (see map above) to allow ranged and melee DPS to easily escape Line of Sight to avoid the periodic breath attacks occuring every 30 seconds.
A Warlock can place their Imp in this position to give the tanks Blood Pact, leaving the Imp out of combat.
Melee DPS need to be able to quickly escape around the nearby corner. Ranged DPS can be at either corner so long as they can quickly escape line of effect. It is optional if the raid prefers to split into two groups or keep both DPS groups around the same corner.
The breaths occur at regular 30 second intervals and only affect players within line of sight. Correct placement and timing means that everyone in the raid except for the Main Tank should be able to avoid the effects of the breaths.
Breaths are an instant cast. By the time you see the breath animation, it's too late. Also, once you see the breath animation you are now safe and can return to DPS or heal.
Afflictions will affect all players in the zone and cannot be avoided by Line of Sight. If a player gets all 5 afflictions at the same time, then they will be transformed into a dragonkin by Chromatic Mutation which turns the player into an ally of Chromaggus and gives them powerful resistances to all forms of magic. If a player is so turned, then they need to be killed immediately.
Chromatic Mutation can be avoided by dispelling the various afflictions. Mages, priests, paladins, druids and Warlock felhunter's are able to cleanse the Magic, Poison, Disease, and Curse afflictions. Blood Affliction: Bronze can only be dispelled using Hourglass Sand (which drops off trash mobs in BWL), however this must be reserved for players in critical roles - tanks, healers, and hunters. Additionally, Mages can use Ice Block to remove Blood Affliction: Bronze.
Chromaggus will Frenzy every 10-15 seconds causing 3x damage. This must be removed by a hunter using Tranqualizing Shot.
Periodically, Chromaggus' skin will "shimmer" a color that relates to a class of magic. While shimmering this color, Chromaggus is highly vulnerable to that school of magic while highly resistant to other schools of magic.
Casters should change which spells they are casting to exploit this vulnerability or if they don't have abilities within that class then they can stop casting and wand while regaining mana instead.
Hourglass Sand drops off mobs in Blackwing Lair. Collect and save these for the Chromaggus encounter as if is critical for removing Blood Affliction: Bronze off tanks, healers and hunters. Restorative Potions can be used to remove various afflictions. Tanks, healers and hunters are advised to carry several of these for this encounter.
Disease. 50 Fire Damage every 3 seconds. If a player dies with this debuff active, then Chromaggus gets healed.
Poison. Reduces healing received by 50% and inflicts 250 Nature Damage every 5 seconds.
Magic. Slows movement by 70% and reduces casting speed by 50%. Drains 50 mana and 1 health per second.
Curse. Increases Fire Damage received by 100%.
A 4 second stun that occurs randomly for 10 minutes. Can be removed by applying Hourglass Sand. Prioritize tanks, healers, and hunters for Hourglass Sand. Everyone else can just soak this effect.
3675-4275 Fire Damage.
875 to 1125 Nature Damage every 3 sec for 15 seconds, reduces armor by 3938 to 5062.
1400 Frost Damage. Attack speed reduced by 80%.
657-843 Fire Damage every 3 seconds for 60 seconds. Stackable.
6 second stun, reduces your maximum health by 50%. After stunning players within line of sight, Chromaggus will attack non-stunned players. Permanently reduces threat of stunned players.
Every 10 to 15 seconds Chromaggus will Frenzy doing 3x damage. This can be removed by Tranquilizing Shot.
At 20% health, Chromaggus will Enrage for the remainder of the fight.
Nefarian (in human form) is invulnerable to attack. Nefarian teleports around and attacks players with Shadow Bolt and Shadow Bolt Volley. If these spells are killing you, consider using a Greater Shadow Protection Potion before the fight starts. Additionally Nefarian will Mind Control random players which must be CC'ed and not killed.
Waves of Drakonids will spawn at each of the two doors. The raid gets split into two even groups, one group for each door. Each wave of Drakonid will be of one color (see Adds & Abilities) plus a single Chromatic Drakonid. Depending on their color these Drakonid's will have resistance against a particular class of magic. DPS should swap sides to fight where their class of magic is most effective.
For example, if Black Drakonids spawn, then Warlocks at that door need to swap with Frost Mages on the other door - taking care to keep DPS balanced at both doors.
Phase 1 is complete once 40-42 Drakonids have been killed, immediately beginning Phase 2.
At the start of Phase 2, Nefarian will immediatly cast Shadow Flame which can easily kill any player not wearing their Onyxia Scale Cloak. Mages and paladins can use Ice Block and bubble instead of the cloak. Players who do not have an Onyxia Scale cloak can seek refuge in one spot just behind and to the left of Nefarian's throne where Shadow Flame does not reach.[Needs confirmation]
The Main Tank and 2-3 healers pick up Nefarian at his landing spot and turn him around so that he is facing off the edge away from the raid to prevent any more Shadow Flame or Cleaves from hitting the raid.
Ranged and melee DPS will cleanup any remaining Drakonid's and then assume their respective positions for the Phases 2 & 3.
During Phases 2 & 3 Nefarian will call out classes at random. For about the next 30 seconds, each member of that class is then affected by a class-specific "class call" and the rest of the raid will need to respond appropriately.
Once Nefarian is below 20% Phase 3 begins. It can be worth holding back DPS to wait for a more convenient class call before dropping below this threshold and beginning Phase 3.
All the Drakonids from Phase 1 are resurrected as Bone Constructs. These undead skeletons only have 20% HP and are easily killed but they hit hard so all DPS needs to focus on them. Now is the time to use your Stratholme Holy Water and Goblin Sapper Charge. Hunters use frost traps to make the constructs easier to manage.
Class class calls continue in Phase 3, so once the Bone Constructs are down, this phase continues the same as Phase 2.
AoE fear effect with a range of 35 yards. You will see the ground shake for a second before this is cast.
Thanks for taking a look, see you all in the Lair.
