Painsmith Raznal, Healer Guide
Updated 6 months, 1 week ago for patch 9.2.7 by Preston. View the change log.
This page covers a healer-focused strategy for Painsmith Raznal in Sanctum of Domination in Shadowlands. 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, combat log 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 alternating between the two stages.
Stage One - A Chamber of Agony
This stage begins the encounter and ends when Raznal reached 70% and 40% health. It begins again after Raznal has forged a new weapon in stage two.
- Raznal wields different Instruments of Pain throughout the encounter, these are swapped out in the order below each time stage two ends.
- The tanks will be dealing with stacks of Blackened Armor, requiring a tank switch.
- Each time a weapon is used, players will need to avoid a Spiked pattern, noted below under each weapon.
- To start the encounter, during Cruciform Axe, stay as far away from the tank as possible to mitigate the damage taken.
- When the cast ends, Spiked occurs immediately in a plus (+) pattern across the entire platform with the tank at its center.
- After the first time in stage two, during Reverberating Hammer, stay as far away from the tank as possible to mitigate the damage taken.
- When the cast ends, Spiked occurs in a square pattern that slowly emanates out from the tank in a slow wave.
- After the second time in stage two, during Dualblade Scythe, stay as far away from the tank as possible to mitigate the damage taken.
- When the cast ends, Spiked occurs using both patterns above, occurring immediately in a plus (+) pattern as well as slowly emanating out from the tank.
- When affected by (355506) , stay more than 4-yards away from other players to avoid chaining the damage and knock back effect.
- When Spiked Balls begin rolling across the room, at least one of them must be killed to create a safe passage for players.
- On Heroic, when targeted by Flameclasp Trap, move away from other players to drop the resulting Flameclasp Trap.
- Flameclasp Trap will trigger when touched by a player, hit by Spiked, or hit by Spiked Balls.
- Traps should be broken in a controlled manner to avoid overlapping the damage taken increase from Flameclasp Eruption.
Stage Two - The Screaming Anvil
This stage begins when Raznal reached 70% and 40% health, and ends after he's forged a new weapon.
- Avoid the "waves" of Spiked as they move across the platform. Each "wave" will have a safe section to pass through.
- Avoid the impact locations of Shadowsteel Embers.
- Frequently deals moderate damage to all players with Black Flames, applying stacks of Lingering Flames, which deals stacking light damage over time.
Mythic Differences
Stage One - A Chamber of Agony
- During Cruciform Axe/Reverberating Hammer/Dualblade Scythe, avoid the additional lines of spikes emanating from players affected by (355506) .
Stage Two - The Screaming Anvil
- Shadowsteel Horrors must be killed before triggering Final Scream, dealing fatal damage to all players.
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
- Flameclasp Eruption, when triggering Flameclasp Trap [occurs in sets about every 30-seconds in stage one]
- Use Minor Cooldowns on
- during stage two
- Cruciform Axe/Reverberating Hammer/Dualblade Scythe [occurs about every 30-seconds in stage one]
- Pre-heal Before (mainly for heal over time classes)
- Cruciform Axe/Reverberating Hammer/Dualblade Scythe
- stage two
- Flameclasp Traps are triggered
- Potion of Spiritual Clarity use
- immediately following stage two before stage one mechanics pick back up
- Other things to watch for
- Stage two requires a fair bit of movement, so using cooldowns can be tricky. Try to line yourself up with the gap in the waves as early as possible to maximize the time you can stand still.
Debuffs to Track
Major
- Several abilities cause players to need additional healing over time.
- Blackened Armor
- (355506)
- (Optional) Spiked incapacitates players and may cause them to need additional healing.
Comment on Painsmith Raznal, Healer Guide