Nefarain - WoW Classic: Blackwing Lair Raid Guide

The Eight Boss

Nefarian

Abilites: Class Call, Cleave, Shadow Flame, Tail Lash, Bellowing Roar, Veil of Shadow

Location: In Nefarian's Lair (8)

Type: Dragonkin

Strategy

Before starting the fight, you should talk to Lord Victor Nefarius on his throne and ensure that your entire raid has equipped their Onyxia Scale Capes. The encounter takes place in three phases:

The first stage, where the boss isn't present and you'll have to take on around 40 Draconids instead, the second phase, where you'll have Nefarian enters the room, and the third when the boss reaches 20% HP and the creatures killed in Phase 1 return as skeletons.

Like all other dragons, all players, aside from the tank, should avoid standing in front of the boss to prevent being damaged by Cleave and Shadow Flame, and also behind the dragon, to avoid taking damage from Tail Lash. As Nefarian can't be taunted, take care to keep your main tank alive.

It should be noted that if you raid fails the fight, you'll have to wait 15 minutes for Lord Nefarius to return to his throne to start the fight again.

Phase 1

Nefarian won't appear for this entire phase, though his human avatar will cast Shadow Bolt and Polymorph on random members of your raid.

20 Draconids each will progressively spawn on two sets of stairs to south of the room. You should split your raid into two equal groups and be aware of the differences between the 5 different kinds of mobs:

Red: Resistant to Fire, casts a Fire Breath spell which deals damage in a cone

Blue: Resistant to Frost and drains mana at close range

Green: Stuns players at close range

Black: Resistant to Shadow and Fire, also deals heavy damage at close range

Bronze: Resistant to Arcane and casts a debuff that reduces attack and casting speed

It's vital that your each side of your raid has two tanks (one to take care of the smaller mobs, the other to tank the high-priorities targets) and a Hunter, who should constantly cast Frost Trap to make the job easier for everyone.

Once all 40 mobs are dead, Phase 2 will begin

Phase 2

Nefarian will start the fight by casting Shadow Flame, which is resisted by Onyxia Scale Cloak. Those without the cloak should either use Ice Block, Divine Shield, or hide in the northernmost corner of the throne to avoid being killed instantly.

It's vital that a Fear Ward or Tremor Totem is placed on the main tank to prevent them from succumbing to Bellowing Roar. They should be able to position the boss to allow the melees to hide themselves before the roar and the rest of the raid to stay on the flanks of the boss throughout the entire encounter.

At least one Dwarf Priest or Shaman and two Druids should place themselves next to the tank, from start to finish, to be able to instantly remove Veil of Shadow.

Nefarian will use Cleave, Shadow Flame, and Tail Lash in addition to different Class Calls (see below) throughout the fight.

Phase 3

At 20% HP Nefarian will reanimate the 40 Draconids that you killed earlier and set their skeletal forms on random players. The raid should then gather at a single point and all tanks that aren't holding aggro should take turns using Shield Wall, followed by Challenging Shout, whilst the the rest of the DPS should AoE down the mobs with their spells and Stratholme Holy Waters.

Once all 40 creatures are dead, this fight is identical to the previous stage, with Nefarian using the same spells he used in Phase 2.

Class Calls

Nefarian will use a Call every 25-35 seconds that affects one class in particular each time. Here is a list of what each class should do to deal with this spell.

• Druid: Players will be instantly transformed into Cat Form and won't be able to change form until the end of the Call. Mages should take over the responsibility of dispelling Veil of Shadow from the tank for the duration of the call.
• Hunter: All Hunters should stop dealing damage if they want to prevent their firearm from being broken instantly.
• Mage: One of the most important Calls, Mages will start Polymorphing close-range targets at random. They should separate themselves from the rest of the raid as quickly as possible while the rest of the raid should dispell any polymoprhed players, with healers and the main tank being the most high priority targets.
• Paladin: Paladins will begin to cast Blessing of Protection on the boss, rendering him invincible to all damage and removing all dots already placed on the target. In response to the Call, all Paladins should poisition themselves to keep Nefarian out of their Line of Sight.
• Priest: Healing spells (besides Renew) no longer heal, and instead put a damaging debuff on the target. Therefore, they should stop healing completely.
• Rouge: All Rogues are instantly teleported in front of the boss and immobilised. They should use Vanish to avoid being instantly decimated by Cleave or Shadow Flame.
• Shaman: Your Shaman's totems will become corrupted and turn against their owners, each having between 200-2,000 HP. Melee classes must focus these totems down, especially Mana Spring Totems, which drain nearby players of mana.
• Warlock: They will summon two Infernals each, which should be quickly killed by the rest of the raid.
• Warrior: All Warriors will enter Berserker Stance, increasing damage taken by 10%. In response, all healers should focus heals on the main tank.

Loot

Loot

Raid Quests