Hellfire Citadel, a raid instance released in Warlords of Draenor Patch 6.2, and is located in the Tanaan Jungle Zone. This raid is currently available in four difficulties LFR, Normal, Heroic, and Mythic and requires an ilvl of 650 to enter. With 13 separate raid bosses in this non-linear instance, players will be able to choose their own path through this bastion of the Iron Horde. Divided up into five sections, this is one big instance.

In this guide we will tackle the Bastion of Shadows section of the instance, providing you with all the details you will need to successfully take on the boss encounters found in this wing.

Shadow-Lord Iskar

Players will find themselves facing off against Shadow-Lord Iskar pretty quickly upon entering the instance. Minimal trash blocks the way to this first boss encounter. The battle against the Shadow-Lord is a two phase encounter, during Phase 1 you will deal with Iskar. Then periodically throughout the fight Phase 2 will take place. During this phase Iskar will take to the air and adds will spawn for your raid to take out.

Phase 1

During Phase 1 players will take on Iskar alone. This phase is pretty straightforward, the raid needs to do as much damage to Iskar as possible while dealing with any and all abilities he throws at you. To aid in this fight, your raid will need to make use of the Eye of Anzu; a glowing orb located on the ground in front of Iskar.

When the fight begins, the Eye should be picked up by one raid member. If not picked up, the Eye deals Fire damage the entire fight. The player who holds the Eye will gain an Extra Action Button that will allow them to throw the eye from raid member to raid member. So why toss around this orb? It can dispel a number of Iskar's abilities including:

Phantasmal Wounds

Targets a number of raid members and debuffs them with Phantasmal Wounds. This debuff deals Shadow damage on impact and then continues damaging over time until the player with the debuff is healed to 90% of their health. Can be cleared by holding the Eye of Anzu.

Phantasmal Winds

Iskar targets around a third of the raid and places Phantasmal Winds upon them. This debuff surrounds the player with wind and pushes them towards the edge of the room. Players can run against the wind to avoid being pushed to their death, however, the force progressively gets stronger the longer it remains. Can be cleared by holding the Eye of Anzu.

The downside here is that the Eye will cause Fire damage to any player holding it. However, if passed around correctly, no player should take this damage for overly long. Besides the above abilities, Iskar will also use the following:

Fel Chakram

Iskar will target 3 random raid members and throws a projectile at each. The Chakram will deal damage to any player in its path, as well as causing additional damage around the targeted raid member once it hits.

Fel Incineration

Causes the targeted player to leave a continuous trail of green fire on the ground. Standing in the fire causes heavy damage. Players should move the path of fire away from the rest of the raid.

Phase 2

When Phase 2 is triggered at 80%, 55%, and 30% health, Iskar will take to the air, flying about the raid for 40 seconds. He cannot be attacked or damaged while in the air and only uses Focused Blast. This ability causes the large laser in the room to target the player holding the Eye of Anzu in a nasty beam that can be fatal. Players should stack up to split the damage.

The real star of the show during this phase is that various adds that will spawn. Spawns will vary during each rendition of Phase 2. The raid should focus on Talonpriests and Wardens and simply cleave down the rest of the spawns. After 40 seconds, Iskar will land and Phase 1 will begin again.

Socrethar the Eternal

Moving further into the wing, players will fight their way through a few trash mobs to stumble upon Socrethar the Eternal. This is another two-phase encounter which alternate over and over again until the boss is defeated. During this fight the raid will phase the Soulbound Construct as well as the Soul of Socrethar.

Phase 1

During Phase 1 your raid will take on the Soulbound Construct. The idea here is to kill the Construct as quickly as possible to trigger Phase 2. While the Construct has a number of abilities, most of them are easily dealt with in LFR:

Shattered Defenses

This ability targets the 3 closest players in front of the Construct doing damage and leaving a stacking debuff. Each stack of the debuff increases damage taken from Reverberating Blow by 200% per stack. Tanks can be affected by this debuff and should watch it accordingly. When the debuff becomes too high, a tank swap will need to take place.

Reverberating Blow

Frontal cone ability that is occasionally used. Deals heavy Physical damage and applies 3 stacks of Shattered Defenses to the 3 targets closest in front of the Construct. Damage and stacks are split evenly among these 3 targets.

Crystalline Fel Prison

A void zone will be dropped on the ground at a random location near the raid. Any raid members that come into contact with the zone will be imprisoned for 30 seconds. During this time they will be unable to perform any actions. The player inside the prison can be freed before the 30 seconds by destroying the Crystalline Fel Prison with damage. However, the raid should try to avoid these at all costs.

Volatile Fel Orb

Targets a player and summons an orb that will chase them around the room. If the orb reaches its target, or comes into contact with any other player, it detonates dealing damage. The Orb will not vanish until it has hit a player. Targeted players should try to move away from the rest of the raid and then allow the Orb to hit them to minimize damage.

Felblaze Charge

The Construct will charge at a random raid member, leaving a void zone on the ground. Players should move out of this void zone and continue to avoid it until it vanishes.

Overwhelming Power

Deals moderate Fire damage to all raid members every 1 second for 3 seconds when used. Healers should be prepared to heal up the raid when this ability is cast.

Phase 2

After the Soulbound Construct is defeated, Phase 2 will begin. During this phase, players will face off against the Soul of Socrethar and various adds that will spawn from portals around the room. However, you won't be doing it alone. After being defeated, one raid member can take control of the Soulbound Construct to use it to aid you in this Phase.

Typically, the tank with the lowest damage will want to take control of the Construct. The Construct has many of the abilities it had in Phase 1, except now they can be used against the enemy mobs. Controlling the Construct correctly is the key to making this fight easy. The tasks that should be performed by the player controlling the Construct include:

  • Placing Felblaze Charges in front of the portals that adds are spawning from.
  • Cast Volatile Fel Orb on any new adds that spawn.
  • Cast Fel Prison on any targets that escape away from the portals.
  • Spam Reverberating Blow on the Soul of Socrethar.

During this phase the rest of the raid will need to help the Construct take out adds (priority on Sargerei Dominators) first then attempt to do as much damage to the Soul of Socrethar as possible. Of course the Soul has some abilities of its own:

Exert Dominance

Cast on the Soulbound Construct, this ability deals instant damage equivalent to a percentage of the Soulbound Construct's health. This ability can be interrupted and should be at every opportunity to keep the Construct alive as long as possible. The Construct cannot be healed.

Apocalypse

Deals moderate Shadow damage to all raid members every 2 seconds for 10 seconds.

Besides dealing with the abilities of the Soul, the raid will also be dealing with the abilities of the adds. Most are negatable, however, the Mark of the Man'ari can cause some problems. Cast by the Sargerei Dominators, the Mark targets a random player and will cause AoE damage. Players targeted should move at least 8 yards away from other players to avoid causing mass amounts of damage to the rest of the raid.

If the Soul of Socrethar is defeated, the fight will end here. However, if the Construct dies before the Soul is defeated, Phase 1 will start over again.

Tyrant Velhari

The fight against Tyrant Velhari is a 3 phase encounter and is arguably the hardest in this wing. Not only does each phase have its own unique set of abilities, a powerful add will be summoned 10% into each phase.

The abilites that will remain throughout the fight include:

Edict of Condemation

Inflicts high amounts of Shadow damage, split among all player struck. This effect strikes every 3 seconds for 9 seconds and will appear as a gradually shrinking circle on the floor. As many players as possible should stack inside the circle to help mitigate damage from this ability.

Touch of Harm

Places a shell of shadow magic around a player that absorbs 486,233 healing. If dispelled, the remaining absorb jumps to a new player. While annoying, this debuff should mostly be allowed to run its course. The only time players should dispell Touch of Harm is if it is on a tank or if the target is close to death.

Seal of Decay

This ability causes melee attacks to curse the target from time to time. The curse reduces healing and absorbs received by 10% for 18 seconds. The effect stacks and players with high stacks should discontinue DPS to allow them to fall off. Tanks will also need to switch when their stacks become overwhelming.

Phase 1

Phase 1 begins when the encounter starts and ends when Velhari reaches 70% health. The name of the game during this phase is pure and utter DPS. During this phase Velhari will use a host of abilities against your raid:

Aura of Oppression

Applied to all raid members when the fight begins. This debuff persists throughout Phase 1 and causes all raid members to take Shadow damage every 0.5 seconds while moving. The damage increases the longer this phase last. Raid members should avoid movement and focus on getting Velhari out of this phase as quickly as possible.

Annihilating Strike

A frontal cone attack directed at a random raid member. The target of the attack will have a visible target above their head shortly before the attack is made. This attack cannot be avoided and will hit anyone in its path. Raid members who are not affected should move out of the way. When the attack lands it will leave a void zone that eventually explodes and causes Fire damage. This, of course, should be avoided. This attack causes Velhari to generate 1 Corrupt Power.

Infernal Tempest

After generating 3 Corrupt Power from Annihilating Strikes, Velhari will use this ability. All raid members will burst into flame and take Fire damage as well as dealing damage to any player near them. It also creates four Searing Blaze void zones under each player, which will explode after a few seconds. Players should attempt to spread out from other players and run out of void zones when this ability is used.

Ancient Enforcer

At 90% health Tyrant Velhari will summon an Ancient Enforcer. Once spawned, all raid members will take damage and be knocked back. The Ancient Enforcer should be picked up by a tank and tanked near the boss.

The Enforcer only has one ability; Enforcer's Onslaught, which creates a fiery orb that travels in a straight line from the front of the Enforcer. When the orb reaches the edge of the room, it turns and returns to the Enforcer before disappearing. The orb does damage to any player it touches and leaves a Searing Blaze at that players location.

This add is the only add that is not considered high priority to DPS. Instead, players should focus on the boss to ensure the phase ends before the Aura of Oppression becomes overwhelming. While not a priority, the Enforcer should still die around the end of the phase.

Phase 2

When Velhari reaches 70%, Phase 2 will begin and will last until she has reached 40%. Once again, your raid will want to burn through this phase as quickly as possible. The boss will continue to use Touch of Harm, Seal of Decay, and Edict of Condemation. In additon to these abilities she will gain:

Aura of Contempt

Placed on all raid members the moment Phase 2 begins and lasts until the phase ends. This debuff prevents all raid members from being healed above 80% health. This amount is reduced as the phase goes on, reducing by 5% every 13 seconds. Allowing the phase to last to long will mean certain death for your raid.

Tainted Shadows

Targets random raid members and inflicts heavy Shadow damage in a single strike. This ability triggers Corrupted Blase and generates one Corrupt Power. It is recommended that players remain spread out during this phase to prevent additional damage.

Corrupted Blast

Deals Shadow damage to anyone in a 5 yard radius around the raid member targeted with Tainted Shadows.

Font of Corruption

After casting Tainted Shadows 3 times, Velhari will cast Font of Corruption. This ability targets a high number of raid members and curses them. The curse ensures that any future casts of Tainted Shadows target these raid members. However, this curse makes them immune to the splash effects of Corrupted Blast.

Ancient Harbinger

The add in this phase spawns when Velhari reaches 60% health. When the Ancient Harbinger spawns the raid will be knocked back and take damage. This add should be quickly picked up by a tank. The Ancient Harbinger has two abilities; Harbingers Mending and Impatient Mind. Harbingers Mending is a heal, while Impatient Mind increases the cast speed of the add.

Harbingers Mending is the most imposing of the two as it has the potential to heal Velhari. This cast must be interrupted at all costs and quicker reaction times will be needed as the fight progresses as Impatient Mind speeds up the cast. Thus, the Harbinger should be taken down as quickly as possible.

Phase 3

Phase 3 begins when Velhair reaches 40% health and lasts until the end of the encounter. The boss continues to use her base abilities of Touch of Harm, Edict of Corruption, and Seal of Decay. The raid should stack during this phase and will need to kill the boss before she kills them. This is the most intense phase of the fight.

New abilities to expect during this phase:

Aura of Malice

Placed upon all raid members upon entering Phase 3, this aura will remain until the end of the battle. This aura increases damage done by 20%, but also increases their damage taken by 10%. The potency of this effect increases as the fight progresses. To prevent this aura from wiping your raid, you will need to DPS the boss down as quickly as possible.

Bulwark of the Tyrant

Deals Shadow damage to the main tank, and a few other raid members. When struck, these players leave a Despoiled Ground void zone behind them. Bulwark of the Tyrant generates 1 Corrupt Power.

Despoiled Ground

A void zone that deals Shadow damage to anyone standing inside of it. These void zones last throughout the fight. Players should move out of these areas as soon as they appear. Due to this ability, it is recommended that the raid stacks up for this phase and moves as a whole. If the phase goes on to long, the entire room will be engulfed in these zones.

Gavel of the Tyrant

After gained 3 Corrupt Power, Velhari will cast Gavel of the Tyrant. This deals Fire damage to all raid members and knocks them back. It also applies an 8 second DoT that deals Fire damage to all players.

Ancient Sovereign

When Velhari reaches 30% health, the Ancient Sovereign will appear. This add has a single ability; Sovereign's Ward, which places a damage reduction shield on Velhari that reduces her damage taken by 90% for 20 seconds. Since damage on the boss will become next to impossible, the Ancient Sovereign will need to be defeated quickly so DPS can return to Velhari.


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Last Updated: Mar 21, 2016

About The Author

Amunet, also fondly known as Memtron, is an organic life form best known for its ongoing obsession with Blizzard Entertainment's numerous properties. To that end, Amu has authored hundreds (thousands?) of the most popular World of Warcraft guides, editorials, and Top 10 lists on the planet. When not gaming and writing, Amu is busy chasing after her three children in a perpetual loop of ongoing disaster.

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