Wrathion, the Black Emperor, Healer Guide
Updated 3 years, 3 months ago for patch 8.3 by Preston. View the change log.
This page covers a healer-focused strategy for Wrathion, the Black Emperor in Ny'alotha, the Waking City. 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
This encounter alternates between the two stages.
Stage One - The Black Emperor
This stage begins the encounter and ends after two uses of Molten Eruption (when the boss reaches 0% energy).
- The tank will be dealing with Searing Breath.
- Applies a stack of Searing Armor, forcing a tank switch.
- When affected by Incineration, move as far away from other players as possible to reduce the damage dealt when the effect expires.
- During Gale Blast:
- Stay at least 30-yards away from the boss to avoid the first burst.
- After that, avoid the fireball impact locations. These land very quickly so chances are some players will be hit.
- During Burning Cataclysm, Wrathion teleports to one side of the room and releases dozens of Scorching Blisters.
- Scorching Blisters each expand to 30-yards in size and will deal fatal damage to any player inside them.
- The safe area is generally opposite of where Wrathion teleports to.
- Avoid the impact locations of Molten Eruption and the resulting Molten Pools.
- Don't stand behind the boss to avoid Tail Swipe.
Stage Two - Smoke and Mirrors
This stage begins when the boss reaches 0% energy and ends after about 1-minute.
- All Molten Pools spawn a Crackling Shard.
- Crackling Shard
- When killed, stay at least 10-yards away to avoid Pyroclastic Flow.
- Any Shard not killed before the end of stage two spawns a Lava Pool and applies one stack of Rising Heat to all players.
- Crackling Shard
- The impact locations of Scales of Wrathion must be soaked to prevent the moderate damage dealt to all players.
- Soaking a Scale grants 10 stacks of Burning Madness.
- While Burning Madness is active, run over the Crackling Shards to destroy them.
- Destroying a Crackling Shard removes one stack of Burning Madness.
- While Burning Madness is active, run over the Crackling Shards to destroy them.
- Soaking a Scale grants 10 stacks of Burning Madness.
- On Heroic, Ashwalkers Assassins join the encounter.
- Ashwalker Assassin
- Must have their Smoke Shroud removed, this can be done with AoE abilities and other abilities that can remove stealth effects.
- While Smoke Shroud is active, they can use the following abilities.
- Stuns players with Noxious Choke.
- Deal fatal damage with Dark Ambush.
- Ashwalker Assassin
Mythic Differences
Stage One - The Black Emperor
- Moving grants stacks of Creeping Madness, reducing movement speed.
- At 50-stacks, moving will instead deal heavy damage.
Stage Two - Smoke and Mirrors
- Crackling Shards are now immune to damage due to Hardened Core.
- Running over a Shard with Burning Madness will remove the shield, allowing the Shard to be killed.
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 on
- Use Minor Cooldowns on
- Pre-heal Before (mainly for heal over time classes)
- Potion of Replenishment use
- during stage two once all Ashwalkers Assassins are revealed
- Other things to watch for
- If a tank is going to take multiple hits from Searing Breath, they may need an external defensive cooldown to survive.
Debuffs to Track
Major
- Searing Armor causes tanks to need additional healing and to take extra damage from Searing Breath.
- Burning Madness causes players to need additional healing.
Minor
- Incineration causes players to need additional healing.
DBM Settings
Below are the DBM settings I'll be using for Wrathion, the Black Emperor. 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 Wrathion, the Black Emperor
Videos
Heroic Wrathion, the Black Emperor, Restoration Druid PoV
Below is a video of me killing Wrathion in a Heroic PUG.
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