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Il'gynoth, Healer Guide

Updated 6 years, 8 months ago for patch 7.2 by Preston. View the change log.

Il'gynoth Dungeon Journal ModelThis page covers a healer-focused strategy for Il'gynoth in The Emerald Nightmare. 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 fight as well as Dungeon Journal information. I'll continue to update it as-needed.

General Mechanics and Abilities

Normal and Heroic

Stage 1 - add stage

Stage 1 happens when The Eye of Il'gynoth is alive, sealing the entrance to the heart chamber, and ends when The Eye of Il'gynoth is killed using Nightmare Ichor adds, explained below.

  • Avoid standing in the Nightmare Corruption left behind by the adds and some of their abilities.
    • If you're affected by the Spew Corruption debuff from Corruptor Tentacles, run to the outside of the room or near other Nightmare Corruption puddles to minimize the space they take up. Try to remain in range of the other healers as this ability deals significant damage. You will likely need to use a personal defensive cooldown to survive as well.
    • Avoid being hit by Ground Slam from Dominator Tentacles when possible. It is a quick cast that knocks you back and deals moderate damage if you are hit.
    • Do not stand in front of Nightmare Horrors, they will cast Eye of Fate which is largely unsurvivable without a personal defensive cooldown.
  • If you are fixated by a Nightmare Ichor add, kite it around until it is almost dead. Then, kite it close to The Eye of Il'gynoth so when it dies and casts Nightmare Explosion it hits the Eye. These adds can be stunned, rooted, snared, and knocked back by almost all abilities.
    • It's okay to be hit by the Nightmare Ichor you are kiting, but be aware that they apply a stack of Touch of Corruption every time you are hit.
  • Nightmare Gaze will hit random players with unavoidable damage.

Stage 2 - heart stage

Stage 2 happens when The Eye of Il'gynoth is killed and ends when The Heart of Il'gynoth finished its cast. Before the cast finishes, you want to leave the heart chamber or you will be killed. At this point, Stage 1 begins again.

  • If you're affected by the Cursed Blood debuff, run at least 11-yards from other players before it expires. Use a personal defensive cooldown to help survive the burst of damage when the debuff expires.
  • Leave the heart chamber before Dark Reconstitution finishes casting. Leaving ~5-seconds before it ends is safest, start leaving sooner if you're in the back of the room.
  • The second time you enter the heart chamber, The Heart of Il'gynoth will be casting Final Torpor instead. This ability kills the group when it finishes casting no matter where they are, so there's no need to try to leave the heart chamber.
  • If a player dies within the heart chamber, their body will be teleported outside when the Stage ends, making it easier for them to recieve a battle rez if needed.

Mythic Differences

The information below covers the new abilities and strategies introduced in Mythic difficulty. In addition to new things, you can expect all previous abilities to hit significantly harder.

Stage 1 - add stage

  • Death Blossom will need to be soaked or the entire group will be affected by Dispersed Spores. Be prepared to use a personal defensive cooldown to help mitigate the damage when soaking.
  • When a Nightmare Ichor dies, the entire group will be damaged by Nightmare Explosion and gain a damage over time effect, even if they aren't standing near the add. The effects from this stack so it will be important to kill Nightmare Ichors in an organizied manner.

Stage 2 - heart stage

  • There will now be Shriveled Eyestalks inside the heart chamber. These cast Mind Flay on random players and need to be interrupted if not killed.

Healing Strategy

Healing this fight mostly comes down to managing all of the damaging debuffs and adds properly. The only time you'll want to have group-healing or mitigation cooldowns ready is for Stage 2.

Stage 1 - add stage

  • Dispel Touch of Corruption when it reaches ~4 stacks or higher.
  • Players affected by Mind Flay will take critical damage until it is interrupted.
  • Players affected by Spew Corruption will be taking critical damage and require an external defensive cooldown if they don't have one of their own.
  • On Mythic, players soaking Death Blossom will need moderate healing when the Blossom explodes.

Stage 2 - heart stage

  • If a Nightmare Ichor from Stage 1 enters the heart chamber, all players will take a moderate amount of damage from Reabsorption. This may require a healing cooldown to survive if players were already missing health.
  • Players affected by Cursed Blood will need moderate healing to ensure they survive the blast when the debuff expires.
    • I recommend setting up a cooldown rotation to handle the three sets of Cursed Blood that are cast in this phase. You'll want to use the cooldowns shortly before the debuffs expire to ensure the players are topped off or that they have the mitigation required to survive the damage.

 Debuffs to Track

Below are debuffs you should track on your raid frames.

  • Touch of Corruption should be dispelled when the stacks reach ~4 or higher.
  • Mind Flay causes critical damage that will need to be healed until it's interrupted.
  • Cursed Blood causes light damage that will need to be healed before it expires, upon expiring it causes critical damage that will kill some players if they're not already at full health.
  • Spew Corruption causes critical damage to the player affected by it, they'll need additional healing quickly and possibly even an external defensive cooldown.
  • On Mythic, Death Blossom causes players to take a spike of damage that may need to be healed quickly.

 DBM Settings

Below are the DBM settings I'll be using for Il'gynoth. 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 Il'gynoth Thumbnail
Healer DBM settings for Il'gynoth

 Videos

Heroic, Restoration Druid PoV

Below is a video of me and my guild defeating Il'gynoth on Heroic difficulty. There is no commentary, only game sounds.

Mythic, Restoration Druid PoV

Below is a video of me and my guild defeating Il'gynoth on Mythic difficulty. Again, there is no commentary, only game sounds.


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Changelog - View the last ten changes. - +

March 24, 2017 - 12:00 am (The Emerald Nightmare) - Guides reviewed for patch 7.2, no major updates made.

December 31, 2016 - 6:00 pm (The Emerald Nightmare) - Reviewed for patch 7.1.5.

December 25, 2016 - 12:00 am (The Emerald Nightmare) - Updated Healer guide for Xavius, adding Mythic kill video and additional Mythic information.

December 18, 2016 - 12:00 am (The Emerald Nightmare) - Updated Mythic Healer guide for Cenarius and added Mythic kill video.

November 24, 2016 - 12:00 am (The Emerald Nightmare) - Added Mythic video to Il'gynoth Healer guide.

November 14, 2016 - 12:00 am (The Emerald Nightmare) - Added Mythic videos to Ursoc and Dragons of Nightmare healer guides.

November 12, 2016 - 12:00 am (The Emerald Nightmare) - The Mythic information on the healer guide for Dragons of Nightmare was updated.

October 23, 2016 - 12:00 am (The Emerald Nightmare) - Added additional clarifications to the Mythic section of the Elerethe Healer guide, along with a Mythic video.

October 22, 2016 - 12:00 am (The Emerald Nightmare) - Added Heroic video to the Xavius Healer guide.

October 20, 2016 - 12:00 am (The Emerald Nightmare) - Added videos to the Healer guides for Nythendra (mythic), Il'gynoth, and Cenarius.