Over the years, World of Warcraft players have seen their fair share of destruction in-game. From the decade-old Plaguelands on Azeroth to the Legion-corrupted homeworld of Argus, heroes consistently venture into enemy-infested strongholds for new challenges and loot. And while the Shadowlands story involves saving the primarily prosperous covenants, players will visit another of these ruined locations in the Plaguefall dungeon.
Though the realm of Maldraxxus was previously ruled by 5 houses, players learned from its Afterlives short featuring Draka that the House of Plagues was destroyed prior to heroes arriving. But despite this tragedy, the dark power which its members formerly wielded still exists within the ruined seat of power. Now with other forces attempting to capture the House of Plague's legacy, adventurers must defeat them all to save Maldraxxus and the rest of the Shadowlands. Here's how players should go about tackling it.
Important Trash Mobs
- Fungi Stormer: It casts a Fungi Storm AOE that can only be interrupted by CC.
- Plaguebelcher: Move away from the direction it faces when casting Belch Plague. Kill the Slime Morsels it summons to avoid the mob healing.
- Rotmarrow Slime: Interrupt Corrosive Gunk to avoid a stacking DoT.
- Rotting Slimeclaw: The tank will be debuffed by Corrosive Claws which decreases stats and stacks. Make sure it falls off before pulling more mobs.
- Slime Tentacle: The tank must always be in melee range or it casts Vile Spit on the party.
Globgrog
Plaguestomp will deal damage to the entire party and debuffs everyone with the Debilitating Plague disease, which is a DoT and slow. Occasionally, the boss will also use Slime Wave, a frontal cone targeted at a random player. Because of these two abilities, stay close to Globgrog to make dodging Slime Wave easier and to avoid being knocked back into the slime surrounding the fight area.
Globgrog also uses Beckon Slime to summon Slimy Morsels and a Slimy Smorgasbord that heal the boss if they reach them. Have a WoW hunter put down a freezing trap or use other incapacitates on the Smorgasbord while the party AOEs down the smaller slimes. The tank can also kite Globgrog around the area to keep it away from the slimes.
Doctor Ickus
The boss will patrol around 3 different platforms, so clear the trash before engaging him. If no one is in melee range, Doctor Ickus will spam Burning Strain, which will quickly kill everyone. Doctor Ickus will cast Slime Injection on the tank which should immediately be dispelled by the healer, while World of Warcraft DPS classes should focus on killing the Erupting Ooze that spawns or just step on it. He will also target the farthest player with Slime Lunge, so don't be standing anywhere near his landing point.
At 66-percent and 33-percent health, the boss will leap to another platform summoning several slime adds and a Plague Bomb. Every Plague Bomb must be immediately focused down since its explosion will wipe the group. Keep the Congealed Slime away from Doctor Ickus and the other adds since it has a 75-percent damage reduction aura. Prioritize the Plague Bomb, then Congealed Slime, and finally the remaining slimes.
Domina Venomblade
Stay near a party member or just have the entire group stack to counter Solitary Prey which webs any isolated World of Warcraft players after several seconds. However, anyone targeted by Shadow Ambush must run away to avoid dropping AOE damage on the party and return before they get webbed. Fortunately, anyone that does get webbed can be freed if their cocoon is destroyed by other players. Cytotoxic Slash leaves an increased nature damage debuff on the tank, but it's a poison that Paladins, Druids, or Monks can remove.
Throughout the fight, stealthed Brood Assassins will spawn and spam an Assassinate DoT on players. Have the tank run over the webs or cast AOE on them. Once the adds are unstealthed, they only melee and can be cleaved down alongside the boss.
Margrave Stradama
Watch for the different patterns of Plague Crash that leave a wide open space or smaller gaps to dodge. Note any tentacles that stand up straight are about to slam down. Malignant Spawns will also appear throughout the fight and their Touch of Slime circle must be soaked by the tank while DPS focus it down. Infectious Rain deals damage to the entire party and leaves a disease DoT, but it can be dispelled by Priests, Paladins, or Monks to help the World of Warcraft healer class out.
Margrave Stradama will go into an untargetable intermission at 66-percent and 33-percent health where players need to survive multiple patterns of Plague Crash. Additionally, Plaguebound Devoted adds keep spawning and should be focused down while dodging until the boss reemerges. After the second intermission, Malignant Spawns won't appear anymore, but Plague Crash will come out faster alongside Plaguebound Devoted. Save DPS cooldowns for the final phase and defeat Margrave Stradama before the group is overwhelmed.
World of Warcraft: Shadowlands will release on November 23rd for PC.
Source: Wowhead