Chromaggus A two - headed dragon beast in Nefarian ' s service , who resides in Blackwing Lair after Flamegor and before Nefarian . He drops the Tier 2 Epic Set shoulders for all classes . Chromaggus . Chromaggus is a boss in Blackwing Lair , right before Nefarian . One of the most challenging aspects to Chromaggus is the randomness of his abilities . As the name suggests ( the word chromatic is derived from " khroma " , the Greek word for " color " , suggesting Chromaggus takes his powers from dragonflights from all colors ) , Chromaggus shimmers in a variety of colors , which relate to his current abilities . These abilities are determined upon instance creation , and will only be reset with the instance timer . Despite his canine appearance , he ' s actually a dragonkin . It is speculated that he was created by Nefarian experimenting on captured Core Hound s , such as The Beast found in Upper Blackrock Spire , possibly by feeding or injecting dragon blood from various dragons from all dragonflights . As of patch 4 . 03a he is tameable . Abilities . Breath Attacks . Chromaggus ' breaths are unique in that they do not only affect the front of Chromaggus , but hit everything within LoS of Chromaggus . In each new instance , Chromaggus will use two of five possible breaths . This combination will stay with him for the remainder of the instance timer . A breath is cast every 30 seconds , and the 2 breaths alternate . " Note : A rumor is circulating that Chromaggus ' breaths can be predicted by examining the dragon carcasses in the Ebonroc and Flamegor ' s room . While believable , several days of attempts will prove this untrue as the carcasses randomly change colors if the instance is empty long enough , much like how the Death Talon Pack and Lab Pack s packs despawn if left partially cleared . " Brood Afflictions . In addition to his two breaths , Chromaggus also radiates Brood Afflictions which debuff everyone in the zone , not just those in line of sight . They include : It is extremely important that the raid is constantly cured of these debuffs as they not only hinder the players , but can result in a wipe if any player gets all five of the debuffs . This part of the fight is simplified by Paladin Cleanse ; otherwise you will have to assign one or two of the various healer classes along with Mages and Warlocks ' Felhunters to handle each type of debuff . Bronze affliction can only be removed with Hourglass Sand , which drops off the trash packs leading up to Chromaggus . ( Mages can also activate Ice Block to cancel it . ) Only healers , tanks , and hunters should need to remove bronze affliction . All other classes can live with it and must adapt to the frequent stuns . When a player gets all five afflictions , they will turn into an elite Drakonoid . This mutation cannot be dispelled . The only way to deal with this situation is by polymorphing or killing the mutant player . When the player dies , Chromaggus is healed for a significant amount of health , prolonging the encounter . Attempting to chain polymorph the player may become complicated by the immense magical resistance that the player gains from the debuff . As such , it is best to keep these debuffs from ever stacking past 3 . It also helps to keep a Restorative Potion handy in case the main dispellers are running low on mana . Mages can use iceblock to remove afflictions , however they cannot ice block out of the mutation . Enrage and Frenzy . Chromaggus frenzies every ten to fifteen seconds throughout the fight and must be kept tranquilized by hunters . The frequency of these frenzies is much greater than those of Magmadar but not quite as often as Flamegor . Nevertheless , frenzy must be kept off or the tank will die very quickly . At 20 % health , Chromaggus will enter a hard Enrage that lasts the duration of the fight . He can still frenzy , which makes it even more important for hunters to stay on top of their tranquilizing shots . Additionally , healers who were taking time lapse breath should stop at this point and focus solely on keeping the tank up . Shimmer . Chromaggus ' skin can " shimmer " , changing his vulnerability to a particular school of magic . If you have CTRA it will help you know when his vulnerability changes and identify it when it is found . Strategy . The Chromaggus fight is all about line of sight . There are several possible positions where he can be tanked effectively : Find somewhere that suits your raid and that you are happy with . As described above , Chromaggus has different breaths . This fight is a long one , and the trick to it is to move OOS when CTRA gives a breath warning . All other than the MT should move OOS . Healing should intensify on the MT during this period as he will be taking heavy damage from whichever breath Chromaggus uses . The breaths are cast alternately so once you know which breaths he is using you can prepare appropriately . During the fight Chromaggus will shimmer . This means his resistances have changed . He will become extremely vulnerable to one type of magic and extremely resistant to others allowing for a boost in DPS ( or allowing DPS to slow for a time to allow tanks to keep ahead on aggro ) The one difference to this tactic is the Time Lapse breath . Commonly called ' hard mode ' Chromaggus , Time Lapse is a breath attack that stuns . The stun is a binary spell which can be resisted with arcane resistance . Much like Onyxia when she does her fear attack , Chromaggus will target the person highest on his aggro list who is not stunned . In order to deal with Time Lapse the tactic in theory is simple , but in practice is harder . A warlock can leave an imp on the ideal tank spot so that it is easy for the off tank and MT to get the positioning perfect . For all who can decurse , it is important to be on the ball due to the Brood Affliction debuffs as described above . Especially on the main tank . It is vital that hunters keep tranquilizing shot up on this boss as he causes three times as much damage when frenzied . The blue and bronze afflictions can prevent hunters from tranquilizing . That ' s a recipe for a dead tank and a wipe , so priests and paladins must place the highest priority on removing the blue affliction from hunters , and the hunters should each carry two Restorative Potion s and five Hourglass Sand s per attempt . As this is a very long fight , it ' s not a good idea risk death to stay in the line of fire of a breath attack until the last moment . Get into a safe spot early . The breath attack is instant . Once you see the breath animation start , it ' s over . So , it ' s safe to move back into line - of - sight as soon as that appears . Loot . On a kill , Chromaggus drops 2 Shoulders + 2 Random other items . Notes . One of the realm s in World of Warcraft is named after Chromaggus . Speculation . Chromaggus is similar to a core hound , and it is possible that they are related . The Beast is a huge core hound found in the nearby Upper Blackrock Spire , captured by the black dragonflight ( probably stolen from the Molten Core ) . Most likely The Beast is included in Nefarian ' s experiments with the chromatic dragonflight , which Chromaggus may be a result from . Interestingly , as Core Hounds ( at least the ones found in Molten Core ) are the servants of Ragnaros and therefore the enemies of Nefarian and his dragons ( see Blackrock Mountain ) , Chromaggus may be an attempt by the black dragonflight to gain their enemies ' strength .