World of Warcraft: Shadowlandsplayers will encounter many new bosses within the Castle Nathria raid, but they will also run into some familiar faces. WithShadowlandsfeaturing plenty ofreturningWarcraftcharacters, it’s no surprise that another figure from the past has reemerged: Kael’thas Sunstrider. But unlike past setbacks, heroes won’t be fighting the former Lord of the Blood Elves this time but instead trying save him from eternal damnation.
After meeting his end inThe Burning Crusadeexpansion, Kael’thas was sent to Revendreth to be cleansed of sins committed during his lifetime. Instead of redeeming his soul, however, Kael’thas has been experimented on to create a monstrosity capable of destroying the Shadowlands. Now players must thwartSire Denathrius' minionsand rescue this iconic legend in a unique healing fight.
Enemy Abilities
High Torturer Darithos: Channels a damaging AoE around random players.
Rockbound Vanquisher: Applies a stacking DoT on the tank and occasionally deals AoE damage to the raid which increases with each cast.
Bleakwing Assassin: Deals damage and a DoT to a target and other nearby players. Regenerates to full health if not killed when low health.
Vile Occultist: Deal AoE damage to theWorld of Warcraftraid group and applies a debuff that increases damage taken. Teleports away if players are in melee range.
Soul Infuser: Channel damage to Kael’thas or heal the Shade of Kael’thas if it reaches the target.
Pestering Fiend: Deal AoE damage to random players and explodes in a small AoE when killed.
Shade of Kael’thas Abilities
Fight Tactics
Besides the initial set of adds, more will continue to spawn throughout the entire fight. Always focus the adds in this order: Soul Infuser, Vile Occultist, Rockbound Vanquisher, Bleakwing Assassin, Pestering Fiend. Tank the High Torturer Darithos mini-boss off to the side but it can be steadily cleaved down while other adds are present.
Healer classesshould spend any downtime on Kael’thas but should pick up the orb Soul Infusers drop to increase their healing for a short time. If Vile Occultists are killed quickly enough, they drop a jar that heals Kael’thas if its own health reaches 100-percent, and this is much more effective than just healing manually. Players can also click on the Soul Pedestals to channel health into Kael’thas, but they will take increasing damage and be unable to perform the action again for 2 minutes.
Once Kael’thas reaches 45-percent health, Phase 2 begins with the Shade of Kael’thas spawning. Players fixated by the phoenix adds must immediately run to the boss to minimize the extra fire pools, and soDPS classescan cleave them down alongside the boss. Tanks should face the Shade away from the raid and swap off after 2-3 Fiery Strikes so the DoT has time to fall off. Have as many players soak Ember Blast and use defensive cooldowns to lessen the healing burden afterwards. Keep an eye out for Blazing Surge and have movement abilities ready to dodge especially on Heroic.
Once the Shade takes enough damage, it will despawn and the fight goes back to Phase 1. Once Kael’thas reaches 90-percent, the Shade will come back again. Repeat Phase 2 one last time and the fight ends in victory.
