Aberrus, the Shadowed Crucible Guide
Table of Contents
Introduction
This guide was made possible by:
- Altenna (Discord: JudgeJames#0001 | Twitch | Twitter)
- Amani (Discord: Amani#0001 | Discord Server (RU) | Twitch)
- Bloodmallet (Discord: Bloodmallet(EU)#8246 | Website)
- Elivrio (Discord: Elivrio#1450, in-game : Tyrindra-Ysondre)
- Eokira (Discord: Eokira#7823)
- Gaka (Discord: Gaka#7410)
- HawkCorrigan (Discord: HawkCorrigan#1811)
- Kaldeak (Discord: Kaldeak#1394)
- Sheffy (Discord: Sheffy#4928 | Twitch | Twitter)
The tips and recommendations listed here are based on educated opinions from PTR raid testing and reviewing logs and videos, so strategies can change as we develop a better understanding of each fight or as the spec and bosses are tuned. If you have any disagreements, feedback, or questions, please feel welcome to reach out to the team.
Miscellaneous Tips
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Recommendations that include Icefury are written with the assumption that you have access to Frost Shock, the same applies to Liquid Magma Totem, Totemic Recall and Call of the Elements.
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The final boss Scalecommander Sarkareth was not tested on PTR so no footage for those bosses exists.
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GCDs spent on healing and utilities are GCDs not spent on damage, but both are necessary to down a raid boss. Find the balance to optimize your contributions to your raid team.
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Time spent in Ghost Wolf is time spent not doing damage. Practice proactive movement and utilize Spiritwalker’s Grace, Gust of Wind and instant casts as much as you can for movement heavy encounters.
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Planning and using Earth Elemental on a particular phase can alleviate the difficulty of whole parts of a fight. It will increase your maximum health by an additional 15 % and can give you Primordial Bond for the whole duration. Be careful and remember that it could interfere with your Primal Fire/Storm Elemental usage when Primal Elementalist is talented.
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Recall that Stampeding Roar is now more potent than Wind Rush Totem. Depending on your raid comp, it may be better to spend that talent point somewhere else.
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Remember to buy Gateway Control Shard in Valdrakken. It will allow you to use Demonic Gateway easily.
Bosses
Click on a boss banner to expand it.
Kazzara, the Hellforged
Boss Fight Profile: Single Target
Talents
Fire:
Lightning:
Fight Breakdown:
Damage:
- There are no phases / add spawns that require you to plan your cooldowns around.
- Use Spiritwalker’s Grace and Gust of Wind to maintain uptime whilst dealing with Hellbeam, Dread Rift and Rays of Anguish.
Defensives:
- Use Astral Shift or healing consumables for Infernal Fusion (Mythic-only) and Dread Rift, especially in later stages of the fight when Infernal Heart becomes more potent.
- If talented, use Earth Shield and Healing Stream Totem as a movement filler throughout the fight.
- Use Healing Surge if necessary.
Utilities:
- Use Wind Rush Totem to help players that are targeted by Rays of Anguish repositioning.
The Amalgamation Chamber
Boss Fight Profile: Single Target / Spread Cleave
Talents:
Fire:
Lightning:
Fight Breakdown
Damage:
- Keep Flame Shock up on both Essence of Shadow and Eternal Blaze during Phase 1 as long as you don’t accumulate too many stacks of Corrupting Shadow and Blazing Heat.
- Ensure to have Fire Elemental / Storm Elemental ready for Phase 2.
- Use Spiritwalker’s Grace and Gust of Wind to maintain uptime whilst dealing with Umbral Detonation, Blistering Twilight and Coalescing Void.
Defensives:
- Use Astral Shift or healing consumables whenever you accumulate high stacks of Corrupting Shadow, Blazing Heat or Shadowflame Contamination, especially when affected by Lingering Shadows (Mythic-only) or Lingering Flames (Mythic-only).
- If talented, use Earth Shield and Healing Stream Totem as a movement filler throughout the fight.
- Use Healing Surge if necessary.
Utilities:
- Use Wind Rush Totem to help players that are targeted by Blistering Twilight during Phase 1.
- If available, use Demonic Gateway and Wind Rush Totem to deal with Coalescing Void during Phase 2.
The Forgotten Experiments
Boss Fight Profile: Single Target / Cleave / AoE
Talents:
Fire:
Lightning in Normal/Heroic:
Lightning in Mythic:
Fight Breakdown
Damage:
- Focus down Erratic Remnants whenever they are active to prevent damage from Erratic Burst.
- Use Spiritwalker’s Grace and Gust of Wind to maintain uptime whilst dealing with Massive Slam, Rending Charge and Deep Breath.
Defensives:
- Use Astral Shift and Stoneskin Totem or healing consumables when targeted by Rending Charge.
- If talented, use Healing Stream Totem as a movement filler throughout the fight.
- Use Healing Surge if necessary.
Utilities:
- Use Wind Rush Totem to help players dodging Massive Slam in Phase 1, Unstable Essence upon removal in Phase 2 and Deep Breath in Phase 3.
Additional Notes:
- Having access to both Go with the Flow and Blessing of the Bronze provides the option of having Gust of Wind ready for every single Massive Slam.
Assault of the Zaqali
Boss Fight Profile: Cleave / AoE
Talents:
Lightning:
Fight Breakdown
Damage:
- Always focus down Magma Mystics as fast as possible to limit the damage income of Molten Barrier.
- Ensure to have Stormkeeper ready and preferably prepare an Echoes of Great Sundering buff when Zaqali Wallclimbers are about to spawn.
- Use Spiritwalker’s Grace and Gust of Wind to maintain uptime whilst dealing with Vigorous Gale, Cave Rubble and Renewed Hatchlings (Mythic-only).
Defensives:
- Use Astral Shift or healing consumables for Flaming Cudgel and while Molten Barrier is up.
- Use Healing Surge if necessary.
Utilities:
- Use Capacitor Totem, Earthbind Totem and Thunderstorm to gather and stun as many adds as possible, but especially to keep Renewed Hatchlings (Mythic-only) away from players.
- Use Wind Rush Totem to help players dealing with Cave Rubble.
Additional Notes:
- Renewed Hatchlings (Mythic-only) are CC-able. There’s potential for a strategy where you would perma CC them, which would make Earthgrab Totem and Hex viable options. It’s unlikely since the boss is one of the first ones, which means it probably won’t require this level of micro management (logs seem to indicate this as well)
Rashok, the Elder
Boss Fight Profile: Single Target
Talents
Fire:
Lightning:
Fight Breakdown
Damage:
- There are no phases / add spawns that require you to plan your cooldowns around.
- Use Spiritwalker’s Grace and Gust of Wind to maintain uptime whilst dealing with Doom Flames or Searing Slam.
Defensives:
- Use Astral Shift or healing consumables for Scorching Heatwave or overlaps of Charged Smash, Overcharged (Mythic-only) and Conduit Flare (Mythic-only).
- If talented, use Earth Shield and Healing Stream Totem as a movement filler throughout the fight.
- Use Healing Surge if necessary.
Utilities:
- Use Wind Rush Totem to help players dealing with Searing Slam or Doom Flames.
Zskarn, the Vigilant Steward
Boss Fight Profile: Single Target / AoE
Talents
Fire:
Lightning:
Fight Breakdown
Damage:
- Ensure to have Stormkeeper ready and preferably prepare an Echoes of Great Sundering buff when Dragonfire Golems are about to spawn.
- Use Spiritwalker’s Grace and Gust of Wind to maintain uptime whilst dealing with Blast Wave or Tactical Destruction.
Defensives:
- Use Astral Shift or healing consumables for overlaps of Blast Wave and Unstable Embers or whenever targeted by Elimination Protocol (Mythic-only).
- If talented, use Healing Stream Totem as a movement filler throughout the fight.
- Use Healing Surge if necessary.
Utilities:
- Use Capacitor Totem and if talented to gather and stun as many Dragonfire Golems as possible but keep in mind that Reinforced Defenses (Mythic-only) will prevent you from applying those CCs.
- Use Wind Rush Totem to help players repositioning during Tactical Destruction.
Magmorax
Boss Fight Profile: Single Target
Talents:
Fire:
Lightning:
Fight Breakdown
Damage:
- There are no phases / add spawns that require you to plan your cooldowns around.
- Use Spiritwalker’s Grace and Gust of Wind to maintain uptime whilst dealing with Blazing Breath, Molten Spittle and Overpowering Stomp.
Defensives:
- Use Astral Shift or healing consumables for whenever you accumulate high stacks of Searing Heat but especially for overlaps with Igniting Roar.
- If talented, use Earth Shield and Healing Stream Totem as a movement filler throughout the fight.
- Use Healing Surge if necessary.
Utilities:
- Use Wind Rush Totem to help players repositioning that are targeted by Molten Spittle.
Optional Notes:
- You can currently use Demonic Gateway to handle every Overpowering Stomp. Both Spiritwalker’s Grace and Gust of Wind can then be used to handle other mechanics.
Echo of Neltharion
Boss Fight Profile: Single Target / AoE
Talents:
Fire:
Lightning:
Fight Breakdown
Damage:
- Use Stormkeeper and Fire Elemental / Storm Elemental to burst down Voices From Beyond.
- If talented, prepare an Echoes of Great Sundering buff when Twisted Aberrations are about to spawn.
- Use Spiritwalker’s Grace and Gust of Wind to maintain uptime whilst dealing with Rushing Darkness and Volcanic Heart (Mythic-only).
Defensives:
- Use Astral Shift or healing consumables for Surrender to Corruption, high stacks of Umbral Annihilation and whenever targeted by Volcanic Heart (Mythic-only).
- If talented, use Earth Shield and Healing Stream Totem as a movement filler throughout the fight.
- Use Healing Surge if necessary.
Utilities:
- Use Wind Rush Totem to help players repositioning that are targeted by either Rushing Darkness or Volcanic Heart (Mythic-only).
Scalecommander Sarkareth
Soon TM
Useful WeakAuras
- Aberrus, the Shadowed Crucible by Causese
- Aberrus Co-Tank Auras by Causese
- Kaze ERT Timers Icons by KazeShinu#2330 (requires Method (Exorsus) Raid Tools) Addon)
- Interrupt Anchor - All Bosses by Reloe (Requires Method (Exorsus) Raid Tools Addon)