Stop dying to M+ bosses; Maybe less people will leave your key

Community General Discussion
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I created a similar thread at the end of season 1, but felt it was time to bring it back with season 3 in full swing. A lot of these are common knowledge at this point, but I see see people fail the mechanics.

Here is a list of boss mechanics for M+ that are commonly overlooked:

Hakkar’s Blood Barrier: Using immunities and defensives decreases the shield the boss gets. Pop your cd right before his ability goes off and there is less of a shield to dps down.

Manastorms: Echo Finger Laser X-treme needs to pass through Millhouse, but you need to move out after the laser to not get stunned and nuked. You also don’t want to kill Millhouse before Millificent phases in, or else you won’t have the stun to stop the raining chickens.

Dealer Xy’exa: Lightning stacks and making sure you pass it to the right people, don’t give it to someone who already has a bomb.

Mueh’zala: You can lust after everyone lands on their platform, you don’t have to hit lust before hand.

Echelon: Adds won’t start casting until they get hit. Stack on tank and wait for them to move in. You can even decurse the person who will get jumped on so they don’t take damage if they move out in time. You will get knocked back where ever your back is facing so make sure your back is not facing the pool of red.

HoA in general: You can control multiple Gargoyles at the same time. The trick is to tag both Gargoyles, bring them into range, and button mash your ability.

Lord Chamerlain: The statues shoot off in the direction they are facing once he targets one of them. You can visually see which statue is selected with the beam he shoots at. You can also soak more than 1 beam without taking additional damage by moving into the bosses hit box.

Ingra Maloch: You need to nuke down the tree and the main boss will take extra damage. Once the tree hits 25%, the boss will no long fear the group. If the main boss hits ~20-25% after the burn phase then you should tunnel the boss. If not, you should go back on the tree.

Tred’ova: Acid Expulsion follows your movements during previous ability casts. If you run across the map, the green swirlies will run across the map. Move as little as you need to.

Doctor Ickus: You can cc the purple slime to prevent the dmg reduction debuff. Fear, push+root, and banish works well. Just make sure to keep an eye on the cc timer.

Margrave Stradama: Only the tank needs to soak the big guy, no one else should be in the frontal marked by a green circle.

Kyrxis the Voracious: Group should be staggering the Living Essences. If the whole group soaks them at the same time, it will likely kill someone or the whole group. You can also use an immunity on the Juggernaut Rush to prevent group wide damage, but make sure you face the boss away from the group if you are going to immune it.

Executor Tarvold: Many classes have ways to stop Castigate when it is targeted on you. Using immunities or even feign death and Shadowmeld.

Grand Proctor Beryllia: When collecting orbs, you want to get 3 so everyone can get them. Alternatively, you can cycle players using immunities to everyone can get 4. Tanks only really need 1 or 2 with defensives and self heal.

Venturnax: Balls shoot out in a counter-clockwise direction from the swirlie. Tanks can stack 2 swirlies on top of each other before moving her for recharge so there are less points of origin.

Oryphrion: Use 1 minute cds at the start, but save big cds for when boss’ energy is Drained and recharging. Boss takes 100% extra damage.

Necrotic Wake in general: Kyrians can activate the goliaths that will drop big anima orbs. Pick one up quickly because they will despawn. Once gathered, stay stacked on the tank. The buff will deal constant aoe damage around you and being grouped will maximize damage.

Blightbone: Turn the boss away from the group when targeted by Heaving Retch.

Surgeon Sitchflesh: You can easily one phase the boss with double Spear and no lust. If you can’t one phase the boss, point the 3rd hook back towards the platform. Boss will jump back up right before the 3rd hook goes off and will miss otherwise.

Nalthor the Rimebinder: Saving Lust and a Spear will shorten the boss fight considerably. During Comet Storm, run in a tight circle and you won’t run into anyone else. You can also use Hammers to break down his Icebound Aegis.

Xav the Unfallen: Kill whoever doesn’t have cds up during duels. Winner of the duel gets a buff.

Mordretha: Stand on the edge of the arena and you can see the Ghostly Charge much better.

Zo’phex the Sentinel: You can use an immunity to stop the Interrogation ability.

Streets Trading Market: If one player gets on a 2 seater mount, and another player rides the mount, the rider can pick up the item and the driver can navigate to the trade locations. Note you have to be ON the mount before you pick up the item, otherwise you can’t mount.

The Grand Menagerie: Tank the 2nd boss that drops down in the corner of the room and the balls will be much easier to gather with Gluttonous Feast.

So’azmi: Try to interrupt the first Double Technique very early and wait to interrupt the second cast to maximize DPS. This is because the boss will not move onto it’s other abilities while trying to cast Double Technique.

Timecap’n Hooktail: Tank the boss against the cliff near the start of the encounter. You can easily move the boss from left to right throughout the encounter to have a better aim at the adds. The DPS and heals should try their best to stack near each other close to the cliff. This will make adds group better and also the fire.

So’leah: Tank the boss in the nook on the side of the arena so the whole group can see the
Energy Fragmentation.

59 Likes
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Just something here too, when you get banished and return, don’t immediately go back into melee the boss. Wait for your debuff to fall off so you don’t instant ice your tank and fellow melee dps. Just wait in a corner where it does the least harm.

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Ignore boss mechanics to maximize dps.

If you die, it’s because your healer sucks.

Follow me for more M+ hacks.

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I think I know most of them except Tazavesh dungeon bosses since I havent done those dungeons that much.

My only concern with PuGs is on Mist of Tirna Scithe final Boss, Tred’ova.

Tred’ova spits Infesters to Range DPS’ers.

Parasitic Incapacitation:

Tred’ova spits a Parasitic Infester at a player, inflicting 2,213 Nature damage every 1 sec and Stunning them until the Parasitic infester is killed.

Parasitic Domination:

Tred’ova spits a Parasitic Infester at an player, Mind Controlling and shielding them for 50% of their maximum health. Breaking the shield kills the parasite and removes the Mind Control.

I remember I died on them twice already spending 24 seconds doing nothing. Those DPS’ers has no clue that they have to kill the Infester on me. The healer just keeps on healing on me… wasting his mana while the Boss keeps on throwing poops on me. Hey, kill the Infester on me so I would dodge the poops and help you kill the Boss.

The best strat in here. When the Boss is about to throw Infester on you, run to the tank.

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I’m pretty sure both of these can be interrupted, Parasitic Domination 100% can…usually the tank takes care of the interrupts, but anyone can really

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Yeah I had a wipe due to Infestor even on a high key like +20. You can ignore all of that as long as someone interrupts the boss. That ability is 100% avoidable.

They really need to be. The cast going off is basically a mechanical failure.

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Okay, OP. But what if everyone’s leaving your keys cause you keep dying to trash?

Checkmate.

Seriously though, that’s a nice list of tips.

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I concede, checkmate lol.

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interrupt it

no no no no no no no

this kind of stuff is what leads bad players to think they don’t need to press their interrupt button.

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This is potentially very harmful advice. If it’s a 20 tyrannical or even it’s lower and their output matches the lower key level this advice could easily wipe them.

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The Boss usually throw Infesters during Gormling adds phase where almost everybody is trying to nuke them. The targetted player of Gormlings has to run to the tank so we would just cleave them with the Boss. With this, we would also be able to see what Boss is casting allowing us to interrupt if needed. But instead, DPS’ers switch targets… targetting the Gormlings. They cant interrupt the Boss when their targets are on Gormlings.

Next time, I would be selfish… I would rather wait for Infester cast and interrupt it instead of saving someone from being pummeled by gormlings. I suppose killing those gormlings outside the Boss area is not my duty. Gormlings carry Necrotic affix buff too right?

I remember I feign death on Boss’ Infester casting and still got stunned by an Infester. I should be in front of the tank during this phase whatever the case: interrupted or not.

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Even a tyrannical +20, if the boss is at 20% health the group should tunnel the boss. Maybe higher keys you can’t, but this guide is more for +2-20, where achievements and scaling was designed for.

If the boss stay up too long and it phases to the dmg reduction shield, then it is a time sink to kill the tree again, but not a wipe. At 20% remaining though, the group should easily get it.

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let’s add to this one. If you aren’t the tank you need to be standing NEAR the boss or at least near the rest of the group. Grouping up the adds so the tank can hit them with the bosses frontal is on the party. there’s nothing the tank can do if the group is kiting the adds in 8 different directions.

Even something as seemingly insignificant as standing on the other side of the boss from the rest of the group can cause an add to wander far enough away that the tank can’t hit it with the others that are up.

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Agree to disagree I suppose. Kill the tree and the last 20% disappears like nothing anyways, and the risk is removed.

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Grouping also makes the red swirlies closer together. Good add.

We absolutely can agree to disagree, but the time it takes to kill the tree an additional time could be the different from timing and not timing a key. Understandably the same can be said if the dps is not high enough to kill the boss with 20% remaining.

However, if the group can get it down to 20% you know they have the throughput.

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Consider adding a bit about the trading game in streets.

if you aren’t using Wo for it, If one player gets on a 2 seater mount, and another player rides the mount, the rider can pick up the item and the driver can navigate to the trade locations.

you can complete the trading game in a fraction of the time this way (and it’s a lot easier than trying to do it with Wo, which can be problematic in pugs). Note you have to be ON the mount before you pick up the item, otherwise you can’t mount.

drives me nuts watching people slowly walk the thing around the room when they could save 30-45 seconds by hopping on a 2 person mount.

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I didnt even think that was possible lol!

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Apart from the demeaning and condescending title, a good and comprehensive list of important Shadowlands dungeon boss abilities and how to deal with them in Mythic+.

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I was taught in grade school to make the title eye catching.

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I disagree with this strategy, just because if two people think they’re going to be the one to interrupt early, then you end Double Technique too soon and don’t get to enjoy the little burn phase. It’s better for everyone to interrupt a second or two before the end, because there is nothing else to use your interrupts on anyways, there’s no reason to rush the first.

And I always just solo the trading game as a hunter, start the RP when you open the mailroom, and get Wo for me that first pack. Then I’ll come back in a minute and both bosses will be ready to go.

1 Like