
Za'qul, Healer Guide
Updated 2 years, 10 months ago for patch 8.2.5 by Preston. View the change log.
This page covers a healer-focused strategy for Za'qul, Harbinger of Ny'alotha in The Eternal Palace. While it's tailored for healers, other roles may also find the information useful. If you have any suggestions or feedback, you can leave a comment below or tweet @PrestonDvorak.
This guide has been updated and maintained based on my own experiences with the encounter, logs information, and Dungeon Journal information. I'll continue to update it as-needed.
General Mechanics and Abilities
Normal and Heroic
During this encounter players will be fighting Za'qul as they descent further into insanity.
- Avoid venturing into the
Dark Beyond that surrounds the area.
- Players will be gaining stacks of
Hysteria throughout the fight (more details below).
Stage One - The Harbinger
This stage begins the fight and ends when Za'qul reaches 85% health.
- This area of the encounter is considered Reality, and is referenced later in the guide.
- The tanks will be dealing with
Mind Tether, reflecting a portion of damage taken from the current tank to the off-tank (or nearest player).
- If no players are within 300-yards, the current tank is stunned by
Snapped.
- If no players are within 300-yards, the current tank is stunned by
- Avoid the impact locations of
Portal of Madness.
- Each portal spawns a Horrific Summoner.
- These channel
Dark Tear for 2-minutes, continually spawning Horrific Visions.
- If the channel is allowed to finish,
Void Eruption deals fatal damage to all players.
- If the channel is allowed to finish,
- These channel
- Each portal spawns a Horrific Summoner.
- Avoid the impact line of
Crushing Grasp which originates from a large portal that spawns on the edge of the area.
- Dispel
Dread (magic).
Stage Two - Grip of Fear
This stages begins when Za'qul reaches 85% health and ends when Za'qul reaches 70% health.
- All players are pulled into the
Fear Realm.
- Players in this Realm gain a stack of
Hysteria every 15-seconds.
- Players in this Realm gain a stack of
Mind Tether,
Crushing Grasp, and
Dread (dispel, magic) continue during this stage.
- When affected by
Manifest Nightmares, move away from other players to drop the resulting
Nightmare Pools.
- When the effect expires, a Horrific Vision spawns.
- Avoid the location of
Maddening Eruption.
- The boss should be moved to the location to apply
Punctured Darkness and reduce the damage radius to only 10-yards.
- If the boss is not brought to the location before detonation, all players will take moderate damage instead.
- The boss should be moved to the location to apply
Stage Three - Delirium's Descent
This stage begins when Za'qul reaches 70% health and ends when Za'qul reaches 50% health.
Mind Tether,
Crushing Grasp, and
Dread (dispel, magic) continue during this stage.
- During
Delirium's Descent, one player must stand in each of the three orange patches in front of the boss to be transported to the
Delirium Realm.
- Inside the
Delirium Realm, all players are hostile to each other, gain 30% haste, and are transported out of the realm upon death.
- Dispel
Shattered Psyche (magic) from players that exit the realm.
- Dispel
- Inside the
- On Heroic, avoid the impact location of
Tentacle Slam.
Stage Four - All Pathways Open
This stage begins when Za'qul reaches 50% health and ends when Za'qul is killed.
- Players are teleported back to Reality and have access to
Reality Portals in each insanity realm.
- To use the Portal, stand near it and use the Extra Action Button.
Mind Tether,
Crushing Grasp,
Manifest Nightmares, and
Maddening Eruption continue during this stage.
- The visual effects for
Crushing Grasp,
Manifest Nightmares, and
Maddening Eruption are only visible to players in the
Fear Realm, however, players in all realms can be affected by their damaging aspects if they're not positioned properly.
- The visual effects for
Dark Passage opens a portal to the
Fear Realm and releases a Horrific Summoner.
- To use the Portal, stand near it and use the Extra Action Button.
- Horrific Summoner
- Immune to damage from players not in the
Fear Realm due to
Shroud of Fear.
- Channels
Fear's Gate for 2-minutes, continually spawning Horrific Visions into Reality.
- If the channel is allowed to finish,
Void Eruption deals heavy damage to all players.
- If the channel is allowed to finish,
- Immune to damage from players not in the
- Dispel
Manic Dread (magic).
- Be prepared to avoid the impact location where players were dispelled and the resulting
Caustic Delirium pool.
- Standing in the pools grants stacks of
Caustic Delirium. At 5-stacks, affected players are sent to the
Delirium Realm.
- Standing in the pools grants stacks of
- Damage from dispelling this effect hits all players in all realms.
- Be prepared to avoid the impact location where players were dispelled and the resulting
- The
Dark Pulse absorb shield must be destroyed before the channel finishes to avoid all players taking critical to fatal damage.
- Destroying the absorb shield in time applies
Mind Fracture to the boss.
- Destroying the absorb shield in time applies
All Stages
- On Heroic, Horrific Visions start with 30-stacks of
Gathering Nightmare and lose a stack every 2-seconds.
- Each missing stack increases damage dealt and reduces movement speed.
- When all stacks are lost, transforms into an Unleashed Nightmare.
Quivering Claws applies stacks of
Hysteria to players hit.
Mythic Differences
Stage Four - All Pathways Open
Reality Portals are no longer available.
- Za'qul splits himself into Echoes across the
Fear Realm and
Delirium Realm.
- While Echoes are alive, Za'qul is immune to damage and interrupts due to
Dark Shield.
- Echo of Fear
- Interrupt
Dread Scream to prevent the Fear.
- Interrupt
- Echo of Delirium
- Avoid the
Void Slam cone when the Echo turns to cast.
- Avoid the
- When both Echoes are killed,
Mind Fracture stuns and interrupts Za'qul.
- While Echoes are alive, Za'qul is immune to damage and interrupts due to
Healing Notes
Quick Notes, All Difficulties
The notes below mostly pertain to progression difficulty, meaning if you out-gear the difficulty you're on or use extra healers they may not apply.
- Use Major Cooldowns
- after
Dread /
Manic Dread
- after
- Use Minor Cooldowns
- as-needed, especially during stage four
- Pre-heal Before (mainly for heal over time classes)
Potion of Replenishment use
- at the beginning of stage four
- Other things to watch for
- If the
Dark Pulse shield isn't destroyed in time, be prepared for players across all realms to take a burst of damage.
- Stage Four can get very hectic with players changing realms, try to be aware of where players are so you can move through realms as-needed.
- If the
Debuffs to Track
Major
- Several spells should be dispelled immediately in most cases:
Dread (magic)
Manic Dread
- This can be delayed to allow the Feared players to get closer to the edge of the room.
Shattered Psyche (magic)
DBM Settings
Below are the DBM settings I'll be using for Za'qul. You can set them up however you'd like, but these ones should work well as a starting point. Some settings may be Mythic only.
Healer DBM Settings for Za'qul
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