Welcome to the center of Nyalotha. This is a 3 phase encounter, with you moving progressively deeper into the being known as N’zoth. Between each phase is a transition where you move through tunnels further into the madness. Ywaq mh’naus wgah zaix zygtahg.
Encounter-Wide Ability
Sanity
When you pull, you get a Sanity bar. Several mechanics throughout the fight reduce your Sanity. If you ever reach 0 Sanity, you get blessed with the Gift of N’zoth
Increases your damage and healing by 100% for 20 seconds
When this expires, you get MC’d and try to destroy your raid. MC cannot be broken and you must be killed
While MC’d, you cast Mental Decay, draining 15 Sanity from your target and dealing 35k Shadow damage every second for 12s, interruptible
In Phases 1 and 2, you get an extra action button which uses your Legendary Cloak
Pressing this will fly your character to the back of the room, where our boy Wrathion is hanging out
It also heals you to 100% HP and prevents you from losing Sanity while active
The little circle around Wrathion periodically restores your Sanity back to 100
When you leave the circle, you get Grace of the Black Prince, increases your movement speed by 40% for 10 seconds
Extra action button has a 2 minute CD
Phase 1
Fury of N’zoth
Large mob, functions as the boss for the encounter
Mandible Slam
Big slam on the tank, deals 286k Physical damage and 142k Shadow damage. Shadow damage is called Black Scar
Also causes subsequent Black Scars to deal 100% increased damage for 40s
Madness Bomb
12 second debuff applied to several players. Actual number of people affected can be slightly different each time
After 12s, explodes for 143k Shadow damage and fears everyone within 10 yards of the affected player
Denoted by a purple circle under you
Players hit by the explosion who were NOT affected by the debuff lose 15 Sanity
Mental Decay
Applied to about 30% of the raid
Immediately drains 15 Sanity, then deals 36k Shadow damage every second for 12
Adaptive Membrane
Shields either an add or the boss for 12 seconds
While shielded, the target is immune to CC and interrupts, and cannot be slowed
If you break the shield, all damage dealt to the shield is then actually taken by the affected mob
Also creates multiple Fragment of Sanity orbs
Touching an orb gives you 10 Sanity back. Each orb may only affect 1 player
Adds
Growth-Covered Tentacle
Giant tentacle. Puts a shadow on the ground in the shape of the tentacle, then slams down on that spot after about 5 seconds
Deals 1 million Nature damage to anyone hit
After it slams down, two types of adds spawn from the giant tentacle
Horrific Hemorrhage
Spawn on the tentacle itself
Periodically throws goop on the ground. Deals 143k Shadow damage to anyone hit, and spawns a Nightmare Antigen
Hemorrhages don’t need to be tanked, just killed
Nightmare Antigen
Smaller adds with a threat pool that need to be tanked
Each of the adds melee attacks inflicts 36k Shadow damage, and debuffs the target
Reduces Haste and movement speed by 3% for 4s. Stacks
Periodically gain a stack of Adaptive Antigen, increasing damage done by 10% and prevents them from being slowed past 10% of their normal speed
Stacks
In summary, Horrific Hemorrhages spawn Nightmare Antigens regularly. Horrific Hemorrhages live attached to the big tentacle
When all 6 Horrific Hemorrhages die, the big tentacle goes away and the Fury of N’zoth takes 7.5% of its max HP in damage
Gaze of Madness
Eyestalk tentacle add dude
Chain casts Breed Madness
3 second cast, which turns into a 9 second channel
Channel deals 143k Shadow damage per second for 9s to several targets
When the channel either completes, OR gets interrupted, it triggers Maddening Eruption
Deals 107k Shadow damage to the entire raid and drains 5 Sanity
Also causes a stack of Deepening Madness on the add
Increases damage by Breed Madness and Maddening Eruption by 5%, stacks
When a Gaze dies, Fury of N’zoth loses 3% of his max HP
Once the boss reaches 50%, he’ll run to the very front of the room, through the wall, and run away
Wrathion will turn into Dragonboi and burn a hole in the room, leading to a hallway you run through, beginning Phase 2
Phase 2
After you follow the tunnel Wrathion creates, you’ll get to the new room for P2
Wrathion follows you down to the tunnel. Wait for him to reach you in the new room, and he’ll restore your Sanity to 100
Fury of N’zoth is immune to damage when you enter the room
Off to each side of this new room is a gauntlet of little goop adds on the floor called Mycelial Cysts, and bigger goop adds on the wall called Synthesis Growth
You must kill off all the Synthesis Growth adds before you can engage Fury of N’zoth
Mycelial Cyst
These things are on the floor on the right-hand side
Similar to the cysts on the sides during the G’huun fight, these things create a pool around them which slows you 75% and deals 14k Nature damage per second while standing in the pool
The size of the pool is reduced as you damage the Cysts
Cysts regen 1% HP every 0.5 seconds
Synthesis Growth
Each Synthesis Growth heals Fury of N’zoth for 35k HP every 2s, and makes him immune to damage and healing reduction effects
7of these will be on the Left side, 9 will be on the Right
While you’re fighting the Synthesis Growths, Fury of N’zoth casts several of his abilities at you, most of which are from Phase 1
Madness Bomb, Mental Decay, and Adaptive Membrane are cast in this phase like they were in P1
Madness Bomb can be cast on the Mycelial Cyst adds, so be careful of the purple circles
Unknown if that’s intended or a bug, but did occur on PTR
Eternal Darkness
Deals 143k Shadow to the raid, and drains 10 Sanity from everyone
Once you’ve killed all 16 Synthesis Growths, the boss becomes fully active again, needs to be tanked, and can be attacked
When Fury of N’zoth becomes active, he continues casting Madness Bomb, Adaptive Membrane, Mental Decay, and Eternal Darkness as before
Also gains 1 new cast, and begins using Mandible Slam again from Phase 1 on the tank
Occipital Blast
Frontal cone ability, targeted at a random player
If hit, deals 268k Shadow damage and drains 40 Sanity
As a note, once Fury of N’zoth is re-engaged here, the back end of the room gets covered in the goop from Mycelial Cysts, which will be between the fight area and where Wrathion is. This means to get to Wrathion and back when you need to reset your Sanity, you’ll be slowed and take damage
Using the Cloak extra action button will port you to Wrathion, but you’ll still need to run back into the fight through the goop
Once Fury of N’zoth reaches 40% HP, he’ll run away down another tunnel, and you’ll enter Phase 3
Phase 3
Follow Fury of N’zoth through the tunnel to the final platform, and begin Phase 3
He casts Mental Decay at you while you’re running
Adaptive Membrane, Mandible Slam, and Mental Decay continue in this phase exactly like they were the rest of the fight
Mental Decay is cast every 27 seconds
In Phase 3, it seems like every Mental Decay cast affects everyone in the raid, slightly staggered
According to logs, you’ll get affected by Mental Decay in Phase 3 every 20-ish seconds. This will occur more frequently per person if you have people dead.
Adaptive Membrane is cast every 45s
Mandible Slam doesn’t seem to have set timings
Madness Bomb is replaced with Insanity Bomb. It functions exactly the same as before, but now spawns 1 Nightmare Antigen near the location of every bomb when they explode
Nightmare Antigens work just like they did in P1
Insanity Bomb is placed on everyone except tanks
Infinite Darkness replaces Eternal Darkness
Cast every 45 seconds in Phase 3
Similar ability. Now deals 214k Shadow damage to everyone, still drains 10 Sanity
Now also creates an Infinite Void, sphere of bad
Touching the sphere of bad deals 35k Shadow damage per second, stacking
The Infinite Void sphere didn’t seem to spawn on PTR, so we don’t know what it looks like or how large it is
Thrashing Tentacle
A series of 4 shadows appear on the ground. After 5s, giant Tentacles slam down on each shadow, one by one
Getting hit by a tentacle deals 1 million Nature damage
You do not have your Legendary cloak extra action button in Phase 3
Strategy
Phase 1
Start with the boss up near where he starts, pulled just a bit off to the right-hand side as you face him
If you get a Madness Bomb, make sure you move away from other players so your circle isn’t on top of anyone
Going a little extra distance for this is not a bad thing, other people being hit in your circle is a bad thing
0:15 into the fight, a Gaze of Madness add spawns
Drag boss on top of it
Do NOT interrupt the Gaze’s cast of Breed Madness
Allow it to start channeling, and interrupt near the end of the channel, with between 1 and 1.5 seconds remaining
All DPS should swap and kill the Gaze as quickly as possible
0:40 into the fight, the first shadow for a Growth-Covered Tentacle appears. The tentacle slams down at 0:45
Do not get hit by the tentacle, it’s a 1 shot
Ranged DPS need to focus down the Hemorrhages, melee should focus on the Antigens
Tanks need to pick up the Nightmare Antigen quickly so they don’t wreck your healers
Careful here, as the tentacle itself serves as an obstacle. The little adds cannot run through the tentacle and must run around
All healers should make sure they’re on the same side of the tentacle as the tanks, that way if you get healing aggro soon after the little adds spawn, the tanks can pick them up
Once the 6 Hemorrhages are dead, all DPS swap to the little Antigen adds and blow them up, then move back to nuking the boss
Tanks should taunt swap at 2 stacks of Black Scar
Adaptive Membrane doesn’t really cause you to change what you do in this phase. If you’re nuking the Hemorrhages and it goes out, just keep nuking until the Membrane explodes.
Don’t waste GCD’s padding on extra targets unless the target will actually have it’s shield drop
As an example, when fighting a Gaze of Madness, if Adaptive Membrane goes off don’t waste time applying DoT’s or going out of your way to cleave on the boss. Wait until the Membrane ends, then DoT up and cleave back onto the boss.
At 1:15 a new Gaze of Madness spawns. Handle this like the first one
At about 1:40, a second shadow for a Growth-Covered Tentacle appears. The tentacle slams down at 1:45
Handle this the same as the last one.
If you ever get below 30 Sanity in Phase 1, click your extra action button to port back to Wrathion and fill your Sanity bar
New Gaze of Madness spawns at 2:20. Handle the same way as previously
3rd Growth-Covered Tentacle shadow spawns at 2:42. Slams down at 2:47
Handle exactly the same way
By the time the 3rd Tentacle and set of Hemorrhages die, the boss should be at, or close to, 50% HP. Everyone in the raid should reset their Sanity no later than this point
If you have a Warlock, set up a gateway from the center of the room to the back, as close to Wrathion as you can
Ideally, nobody will have used their Legendary cloak before this point, and everyone can press the extra action button to port back. You may have to sit in Wrathion’s circle for 3-4 seconds.
Once your Sanity bar is back full, run back to the front of the room. Click the Gateway on your way back if you have one
You do not want to push the boss to 50% until everyone has had a chance to reset here.
You do NOT want to go into the beginning of Phase 2 low on Sanity
A new Gaze of Madness spawns at 3:20. The DPS goal is to have the boss pushed to 50% before this Gaze spawns. If that doesn’t happen, hard focus the Gaze with no cleave, then finish off getting the boss to 50%
As an FYI, the Sanity orbs that spawn after breaking Adaptive Membrane should go to the tanks as first priority, as it’s much more difficult for tanks to reset Sanity by running to Wrathion
Phase 2
At the start of Phase 2, after Wrathion has blown the hole in the wall for your path, he’ll go ahead of you in his humanoid phase and put down his Sanity cleaning circle
Make sure you run over this on your way into the Phase 2 room
You’ll want your raid split into 2 groups for the beginning of Phase 2. Group 1 goes left, group 2 goes right. The Right side group should have 1-2 more DPS, since there’s more Synthesis Growths on that side
DoT up and lightly attack the Cysts to clear a small path with no goop
We recommend starting with the furthest back Synthesis Growths first. This requires you to run the length of the gauntlet. DoT up the Growths you’ll pass on your way to the back
Once you reach the back, go HAM on the Growths. Keep DoTs rolling on the Cysts to keep open a small safe spot with no goop
After your side kills the growths in the back part of the gauntlet, everyone on that side should use their Legendary cloak extra action button
This’ll bring you back to the start of the gauntlet and in Wrathion’s Sanity circle
Get back to 100 Sanity, then run back up through your gauntlet to kill the remaining Synthesis growths. These ones that are left should be the ones near the beginning of the gauntlet.
Again, keep yourself a safe spot from the goop by DoTing the Cysts
Once all of the Synthesis Growths on your side have been killed, go reset your Sanity one more time by running down to Wrathion
It’s helpful to have a Warlock gateway from Wrathion towards the center of the Phase 2 room
As soon as the boss is re-engaged, the same type of goop from the Cysts will cover an area between the center of the room and where Wrathion is, forcing you to run over goop to get back and forth. The Gateway helps you get past most of this easily, quickly, and safely
Once you begin fighting the boss, he’ll quickly cast Occipital Blast. This is cast at a random player, so it’s very possible it can be cast directly at Wrathion. Be very careful here not to get hit
Everyone should stand within 15 yards of the boss. This makes it easier to avoid subsequent Occipital Blast casts, but keeps the ranged and healers far enough away to make spreading for Madness Bomb easier
All Sanity Orbs that spawn during this part of Phase 2 should go to the tanks first. If they are both at 100%, other players who are lower on Sanity may grab them
Phase 3
Follow the boss as closely as possible as he runs down the hallway between phases. Wind Rush Totem, Stampeding Roar, and personal movement speed buffs should all be used.
Your Sanity is reset while you run down this hallway
He does cast Mind Decay while you run, so spend as little time in that tunnel as you possibly can
Once everyone makes it through the tunnel, move the boss towards the center of the room
We don’t know why, but the purpleish circle in the actual center of the room will insta-kill you if you get too close. See positioning graphic below for recommended spot.
Lust at the start of this phase once you begin fighting the boss
Insanity Bomb affects every single player, and almost always overlaps with Thrashing Tentacles in this phase. Make sure everyone spreads out when Bombs are cast. It’s absolutely worth losing DPS to ensure you don’t get hit by someone else’s circle or the Tentacles
Remember, there’s 4 tentacles per cast in this phase. Make sure you aren’t standing in the shadows, and still are spread out far enough from each other to not be in someone else’s Bomb
The second set of Insanity Bombs overlaps directly with the tentacles. You’ll be exploding as the tentacles are slamming down
After the Bombs explode, everyone should collapse behind the boss in melee range so all the Antigen adds get brought together for AoE
You want to blow up the first set of Antigen adds ASAP
The second set, you want to hold. 15 seconds after they spawn, the boss casts Adaptive Membrane
If you get this Membrane applied to the adds, you’ll get several extra Sanity orbs when they die
We couldn’t test this directly on PTR due to some mechanics previously working differently, but could confirm from P1 that the Antigen adds can get the Membrane and do spawn Sanity orbs if you break the Membrane
You’ll want to also hold the 3rd set until Adaptive Membrane, which is cast 10 seconds after the 3rd set of adds spawns
Same with 4th set, Membrane is cast 5s after the 4th set spawns
During the 2nd, 3rd, and 4th sets of adds, you want to generate as many Sanity orbs as possible, and split them as evenly between the raid as possible. Prioritize people below 30 Sanity to get an orb first to prevent people from getting MCd. after everyone below 30 gets an orb, it’s a free for all. Just make sure they all get used, as they only last 15 seconds
This phase basically becomes a dance. Spread for Bombs and tentacles, collapse to group up adds, wait for membrane, blow up adds, nuke boss. Spread for bombs and tentacles again, collapse for adds again, wait for membrane, blow up adds. Keep going through this until the boss is dead and you get to move on to big daddy N’zoth.
Positioning
Start with the boss slightly to the right-hand side, as that’s where the first Gaze add spawns. Star denotes roughly where Wrathion is:
When the big Tentacle spawns, everyone should adjust and move to it. Melee should run on top of it:
In Phase 2, start with the Growths in the back of the side areas:
Once they die, you’ll come back down, preferably using your Cloak extra action button:
You’ll then fight the boss. Putting him near the middle of the room makes it easier to dodge the beam, and keeps you closer to Wrathion:
Phase 3, everyone just needs to be spread around the boss. Collapse after the adds spawn to help tanks pick them up.
