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.
Chromaggus[]
Chromaggus is the 5th of 6 encounters in Blackwing Lair.
A Two-Headed Dragon Beast (Drakeadon), Chromaggus is Nefarian's 'pet' who guards the entrance to Nefarian's lair. Faced after defeating the Three Dragon's encounter. Chromaggus uses all Magic Schools from previous Dragonkin faced in Blackwing Lair.
Chromaggus remains a daunting boss to learn initially due to his 'randomness' but once you have seen the fight once or twice you will begin to understand that Chromaggus is in fact a very mechanically easy boss.
Before Facing Chromaggus[]
Dragon Flight Blessing / Brood Afflictions[]
All players can select 1 of 5 Blessings (Obtained by talking to one of the Whelps by the lever).
Dragon Flight Blessings negate the effects of the Brood Afflictions which Chromaggus will apply during the fight. (Example: Choosing the Dragon Flight Blessing: Blue will prevent Chromaggus applying Brood Affliction: Blue on you)
Brood Affliction: Blue[]
Reduces cast speed by 100%, dispelable by Magic Effect Dispels (Blessing: Blue Recommended for Melee DPS / Hunters)
Brood Affliction: Red[]
Increases threat generated by 100% and damages target for 3% of max health every second, the target dies Chromaggus restores health, dispelable by Disease Effect Dispels (Blessing: Red Recommended for Tanks (optional for DPS in highly geared groups with tanks without threat problems))
Brood Affliction: Green[]
Reduces attack power (Melee and Ranged) by 75%, dispelable by Poison Effect Dispels (Blessing: Green Recommended for Healers & Caster DPS)
Brood Affliction: Black[]
Reduces healing taken and Threat Generated by 50%, dispelable by Curse Effect Dispels - optional for DPS in groups with geared healers (Not Recommended for any Players to take the respective Blessing)
Brood Affliction: Bronze[]
Periodically stuns for 1.5 seconds, dispelable only by Hourglass Sand item. (Not Recommended for any Players to take the respective Blessing)
Chromatic Mutation[]
For each Brood Affliction active, the player gains 15% multiplicative damage increase, transforming into a Chromatic Drakonid with all 5 active, which increases the damage dealt by 100% yet reduces healing taken by 100% and damages for 1% max hp every second. This should not be allowed unless group is struggling with overall damage and hits the enrage.
Hourglass Sand[]
Before the encounter begins ensure that all players have 1 Hourglass Sand. These are dropped by a variety of enemies from the Crimson Laboratories. (Note: Does not work if Players choose Dragon Flight Blessing: Bronze). It is used to Dispel the effects of Brood Affliction: Bronze.
Positioning & Tanking[]
We recommend on Normal / Heroic that Chromaggus is solo tanked. The tank should not move during ALL phases whilst keeping Chromaggus in the middle of the room faced away from the Raid. Use defensives on Breaths.
It is possible for Tanks to solo tank this boss on Mythic / Ascended however this requires very good levels of gear and many defensives, aswell as good coordination with Healers for calling for External Defensives. We recommend that this boss is 2 Tanked where Tanks will taunt swap after every breath. The tanks should stand 45 degrees apart to avoid being hit by Breaths twice.
The rest of the Raid Group should be grouped and stacked as close as possible to Chromaggus, to make healing aswell as dodging mechanics easier.
Fighting Chromaggus[]
5 Phases - Breaths & Elemental Shields[]
Chromaggus has 5 Phases, these are listed in order of rotation: Nature, Arcane, Frost, Fire, Shadow.
Chromaggus applies a Brood Affliction debuff on entire raid every time it switches phases.
Chromaggus will also cast two Breaths in the Element of the Current Phase.
One of these phases will be randomly chosen at the beginning of the encounter, however the order will remain the same.
Nature[]
Corrosive Acid (Breath)[]
Chromaggus' Breath will be transformed into Corrosive Acid which reduces Armour and inflicts Nature Damage.
Slimes[]
Chromaggus will spawn Green Slimes which appear and move around the area. If they touch a player, they leave a puddle which deals nature damage to anyone standing in it, avoid if possible, this can be ignored in Normal / Heroic.
Arcane[]
Time Lapse (Breath)[]
Chromaggus' Breath will be transformed into Time Lapse, which stuns for 3 seconds and inflicts Arcane Damage.
Time Lapse: Buff/Debuff[]
Chromaggus applies a Buff/Debuff on itself and the Raid which Stuns everyone for 2 seconds at start of this phase and a few seconds after reaching 10 stacks of said Buff/Debuff.
It increases Attack Speed (including on Chromaggus) and Reduces Cooldowns on first 10 stacks, and Decreases Attack Speed and Increases Cooldowns on second 10 Stacks. The order is reversed for players on Mythic / Ascended.
Frost[]
Frost Burn (Breath)[]
Chromaggus' Breath will be transformed into Frost Burn reducing Melee and Ranged Attack Speed by 100% and inflicting Frost Damage.
Freezing Cloud[]
Freezing Cloud covers a segment of the room, dealing Frost damage and slowing anyone standing in it by 50%. This circles around the room in a Clockwise pattern. This can be healed through in all difficulties when Players stack up behind Boss.
Fire[]
Incinerate (Breath)[]
Chromaggus' Breath will be transformed into Incinerate applying a DoT dealing Fire Damage every 1 second and inflicting Fire Damage.
Incinerate[]
Chromaggus will cast Incinerate spawning a Lava Pool under him.
This will expand in Rings periodically outwards towards the edge of the room. These cause lethal amounts of damage in Heroic / Mythic / Ascended
DPS and Healers need to move away to the back of the room to avoid getting hit by these rings. Tanks will move Chromaggus in the opposite direction to avoid Incinerate (Breath) being cast on the raid.
On Mythic / Ascended the ring expands faster and also shrinks back after reaching the edge of the room. This is the crux of the encounter and players will need to learn the pattern to not die to this.
Shadow[]
Tanks and Healers are recommended to keep Cooldowns for this Phase.
Engulfing Shadow (Breath)[]
Chromaggus' Breath will be transformed into Engulfing Shadow applying a Healing Absorption and inflicting Shadow Damage.
Engulfing Shadow[]
Chromaggus spawns Shadow Clouds which fill the room, dealing constant Raid Wide Damage, the Boss will heal for a percentage of player's health towards the end of this phase.
Shimmer & Elemental Shields[]
Chromaggus will Shimmer which will change his Resistances (Elemental Shield). This follows a Rotation however is independent from his Phase Rotation.
Elemental Shield: Nature[]
Chromaggus gains an Aura - Elemental Shield: Nature. Increase's Nature Damage received by 100% and reducing damage taken by all other magic damage types by 25%
Elemental Shield: Arcane[]
Chromaggus gains an Aura - Elemental Shield: Arcane. Increase's Arcane Damage received by 100% and reducing damage taken by all other magic damage types by 25%
Elemental Shield: Frost[]
Chromaggus gains an Aura - Elemental Shield: Frost. Increase's Frost Damage received by 100% and reducing damage taken by all other magic damage types by 25%
Elemental Shield: Fire[]
Chromaggus gains an Aura - Elemental Shield: Fire. Increase's Fire Damage received by 100% and reducing damage taken by all other magic damage types by 25%
Elemental Shield: Shadow[]
Chromaggus gains an Aura - Elemental Shield: Shadow. Increase's Shadow Damage received by 100% and reducing damage taken by all other magic damage types by 25%
Enrage[]
Chromaggus will Enrage at 20% health, increasing Attack Speed by 50%.