Nefarian

# Blackwing Lair - Boss Guide

Blackwing Lair is a 6 Encounter raid ending with the notorious Lord Victor Nefarius (Nefarian) <Lord of Blackrock>.

All bosses in Blackwing Lair drop pieces of the Tier 2 Raid Set, excluding the *leg* and *head* slots, which drop from Ragnaros and Onyxia respectively.

## **Nefarian**

Nefarian is the final encounter in Blackwing Lair.

The Black Dragon Nefarian is the Lord of Blackrock and ruler of Blackwing Lair. As a prominent member of the Black Dragonflight, Nefarian serves as the last encounter in the Blackwing Lair raid.

### **Before Facing Nefarian**

#### **Equipping Cloaks**

> It is **highly recommended** Tanks equip a Royal Cloak of Lord Victor Nefarius or an Onyxia Scale Cloak to reduce damage from Shadow Flame. **(Normal / Heroic)**
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> All players must equip the cloak stated above.
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> We also recommend the use of Shadow Resistance (Shadow Protection or Aura) to reduce damage. **(Mythic / Ascended)**
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### **Fighting Nefarian**

> Nefarian is engaged by talking to **Lord Victor Nefarius**, standing on the throne by the end of the alcove.
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#### **Phase 1: Nefarian's Lair**

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> ##### Drakonids
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> > 6 types of Drakonids will appear, they will be one of Five colours (Excluding Chromatic) which represents their element.
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> > On **Mythic / Ascended** damage types must be controlled as Drakonids will Heal from specific elemental schools.
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> > Green Drakonid - Nature
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> > Red Drakonid - Fire
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> > Bronze Drakonid - Arcane
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> > Black Drakonid - Shadow
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> > Blue Drakonid - Frost
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> > Chromatic Drakonid - Holy and Physical DPS should focus these Drakonids.
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> > > **Chromatic's will rotate their Resistances to different schools of Magic.**
> > > (Note: A strategy used is to Tank the Chromatic Drakonids away from the rest of the group and only let Holy and Physical damage them)
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> ##### Mind Control
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> > Raid members will be mind controlled throughout this phase. Avoid AoE damage to prevent killing Raid members
> > **(Note: Bladeflurry should not be used at all during Phase 1 as it's damage is not reduced against Mind Controlled Players like other abilities)**
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> ##### Grip
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> > Lord Victor Nefarius will periodically pull in raid members to him and disperse AoE Shadow Damage through Shadow Bolt Volley.
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> ##### Enrage
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> > **Lord Victor Nefarius will enrage at the end of Phase 1.**
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> > Lord Victor Nefarius will begin casting Shadow Bolt Volley every 1 second, hitting everyone for Shadow Damage until all Drakonid's are dead.
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> > Once all Drakonid's are dead, Player's will be stunned, Lord Victor Nefarius will stop casting Shadow Bolt Volley and the Raid will transition over to Phase 2.
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#### **Phase 2: Searing Gorge**

Players must traverse the Searing Gorge, moving slowly as a group and moving targeted players out of the Raid to avoid wiping, facing Enemies at Checkpoints to reach Nefarian.

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> ##### Teleport
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> > The entire Raid will be teleported to the Searing Gorge.
> > Note:
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> > > Currently pets may become bugged during the fall, spam click spawn pet to prevent this).
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> > > If a player is experiencing loading times greater than 1 second, it is advisable to have another player be ready to use either Levitate, Slow Fall (if they themselves don't have any of the two)
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> ##### Landing
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> > Once the raid has landed, they must move a group towards Nefarian.
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> > Occasionally players will be targeted by Massive Shadow Flame Bolt by Nefarian.
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> > Players must move out of the Raid. This can easily kill players.
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> > > (We recommend the use of this WeakAura: Nefarian Massive Shadow Flame Tracker so that the Raid is alerted when you are the target)
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> > Note:
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> > > If you being one-shot by Shadow Flame Bolt you may need to use Scroll of Stamina or ask for Power Word: Shield from healers or use items which increase Shadow Resistance. **Cloak of Nefarian will NOT reduce the instant damage from Massive Shadow Flame Bolt**, it only reduces damage taken from the DOT  you sustain after.
> > > **Once Nefarian lands, he will inflict the Coward Debuff, reducing stats, damage and healing by 11% for 2 minutes to everyone who's out of the intended encounter area** (i.e. down the slope right after the last portal. Avoid moving down there at any cost)
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> ##### Checkpoints
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> > Enemies will be met at checkpoints throughout this Phase.
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> > You must group up before engaging these adds to avoid losing people to Massive Shadow Flame Bolt. Once the Raid has grouped you may engage, focus the Commander.
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> > Repeat until you reach Nefarian.
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#### **Phase 3: Searing Gorge (The Cauldron)**

Once players have traversed the Searing Gorge and killed all of the Enemies along the way, they will meet Nefarian who is in the back of The Cauldron.

Nefarian will begin walking towards the Raid once players kill the last Commander group and move up the ramp.

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> ##### Bellowing Roar
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> > Nefarian will cast Bellowing Roar to the entire Raid once he's engaged and every ~45 seconds afterwards.
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> > Bellowing Roar will apply a Healing Absorb which stacks every second and *forces* everyone Auto-Run for 5 seconds.
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> > **Everybody should Use 'Toggle Walk' (Default key-bind "/" on Key-Pad) to reduce the Auto-Run effect of Bellowing Roar.** Especially for the Main-Tank, this can prevent accidently Cleaving Melee DPS. Off-Tank / Kiter should turn this off at 50%.
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> > ###### Healing Absorb
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> > > This reduces Healing taken by 50% and Deals damage until healed through.
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> > > The Healing Absorb gains stacks quickly, increasing the total Healing Absorb.
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> > > The Debuff must be healed immediately to prevent stacks reaching too high. If stacks reach high levels the player will become immune to healing, the player should be left to die.
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> > > Note:
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> > > Decurse may be used when at *1 Stack* of Healing Absorb.
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> ##### Positioning
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> > Nefarian will be tanked up on the hill on the marked position **(See Image)**.
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> > Melee, Ranged and Healers will move to the opposite side of Nefarian.
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> > Do Not Stand behind Nefarian or you will be Tail Sweeped, you will be damaged and knocked back.
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> > Do Not Stand infront of Nefarian as Nefarian casts Cleave, on higher difficulties this can result in a One-shot.
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> ##### (Classless) Class Call
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> As Ascension is a Classless Server, the Class Call ability found in Vanilla does not apply, instead a custom mechanic replaces this: **Shadow Clones**
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> > Shadow Clones will spawn. Each Raid Member will spawn their own Clone, these Clones replicate Abilities by the original Raid Member.
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> > A portion of the damage dealt to your own Clone is reflected back.
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> > **You must kill *YOUR* Shadow Clone before doing any AoE damage or using CC.**
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> > It is advised that the raid lightly stacks for Shadow Clones.
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> ##### Shadow Flame Breath
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> > Nefarian will cast Shadow Flame Breath dealing Shadow Damage and engulfing targets in Shadow Flame (DoT).
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> > Shadow Flame (DoT) inflicts Shadow Damage every second for 30 seconds, stacking up to 100 stacks. **Players can negate this (See "Before Facing Nefarian")**
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> > Tanks will need to a use a Defensive CD for every Shadow Flame Breath on **Mythic / Ascended**
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> ##### Bone Constructs
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>    At 50% Health Nefarian will spawn Bone Constructs and every 10% Health he loses after.
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> > The spawn locations get highlighted in a rotation **(See Image)**, which switch every 2-3 Seconds. The spawn is highlighted before the boss hits 50%, 40%, 30% etc. One location will be spawned at a time.
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> > The Off-Tank *(Or Dedicated Kiter)* will need to kite these away from the raid around the Boss Arena. One Healer should go with the Kiter to ensure that they do not die.
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> > The Bone Constructs can by kited easily by the use of CC Abilities and Movement Abilities (Holy Wrath is a powerful spell for this).
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> > Bone Constructs leave a trail of Shadow Flame behind them, which will do a high amount of damage to anyone standing inside of it.
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