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Kael'thas Sunstrider, Healer Guide

Updated 1 year, 10 months ago for patch 2.5.2 by Preston. View the change log.

Kael'thas Sunstrider Dungeon Journal ModelThis page covers a healer-focused strategy for Kael'thas Sunstrider in Tempest Keep/The Eye in The Burning Crusade. 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

Stage One - Meet The Advisors

This stage begins the encounter. During this stage, players will be fighting against Kael'thas' advisors one by one. The stage ends once all advisors are killed.

  • Thaladred the Darkener
    • Fixates on random players.
    • If the fixated player is hit, Psychic Blow deals moderate damage and knocks them back.
      • They can also be affected by Rend, dealing light damage over time.
    • Stay more than 8-yards away to avoid Silence.
  • Lord Sanguinar
    • The tanks will be dealing with extra damage from Thrash.
    • When possible, stay more than 35-yards away to avoid Bellowing Roar.
  • Grand Astromancer Capernian
    • Commonly tanked by two Warlocks or one Warlock and one traditional tank.
      • All players, including melee DPS, should stay more than 30-yards away. If a traditional tank is used, they stand within 30-yards to be hit by Conflagration, noted below.
    • The tank will be dealing with Fireball.
    • Stay more than 30-yards away to avoid being targeted by Conflagration.
    • If any players are within 10-yards, Arcane Burst deals moderate damage to all players within 10-yards and greatly reduces their movement speed.
  • Master Engineer Telonicus
    • Stay more than 5-yards away from the tank to avoid Bomb.
    • Targets random players with Remote Toy, causing them to be periodically stunned.

Stage Two - The Legendary Weapons

This stage begins after all advisors are killed in stage one and ends after 2-minutes. During this stage, players will be fighting against Kael'thas' legendary weapons. Players can loot the weapons after they're killed to gain a legendary weapon with a special use effect.

  • Neatherstrand Longbow
    • Commonly tanked by a Hunter or other ranged DPS.
    • Uses Blink if attacked in melee ranged, resetting threat.
    • Don't stand in front to avoid Multi-Shot.
  • Staff of Disintegration
    • Interrupt Frostbolt to prevent the light damage dealt.
    • Stay more than 10-yards away to avoid Frost Nova.
  • Cosmic Infuser
    • Interrupt Heal to prevent the healing.
    • Stay more than 15-yards away to avoid Holy Nova. This also heals enemies within 15-yards.
  • Infinity Blade
    • The tanks will be dealing with extra damage from Thrash.
  • Warp Slicer
    • The tanks will be dealing with stacks of Rend.
  • Devastation
    • Stay more than 8-yards away to avoid Whirlwind.
  • Phaseshift Bulwark
    • Deals damage to players when hit by melee attacks.
    • Stay more than 5-yards away to avoid the interrupt from Shield Bash.
  • Healers should loot and equip Cosmic Infuser.

Stage Three - The Advisors

This stage begins after 2-minutes in stage two and ends after 3-minutes. During this stage, players will be fighting against all of Kael'thas' advisors at the same time.

  • The advisors function the same as in stage one.

Stage Four - Kael'thas

This stage begins after 3-minutes in stage three. During this stage, players will be fighting against Kael'thas. The stage ends when he reaches 50% health.

  • Kael'thas
    • When possible, interrupt Fireball.
    • Avoid the locations of Flame Strike.
    • During Shock Barrier, the damage absorption shield must be broken to interrupt Pyroblast.
    • Mind Controls several players, greatly increasing their damage and healing done.
      • Affected players should be crowd controlled or dispelled by someone with an Infinity Blade.
    • Summons a Phoenix, which is commonly kited by a Hunter.
      • Phoenix
        • Slowly loses health over time.
        • Stay more than 8-yards away to avoid Ember Blast.
        • Upon death, the Phoenix Egg must be killed before Rebirth brings it back to life.
    • Deals moderate damage to all players and incapacitates them with Arcane Disruiption.

Stage Five - True Power

This stage begins when Kael'thas reaches 50% health and ends when he's killed.

  • Kael'thas
    • No longer uses Shock Barrier or Mind Control.
    • Stay more than 5-yards away from other players to avoid chaining the damage from Nether Beam.
    • During [Gravity Lapse](Need Spell ID), all players are pulled to Kael'thas and forced the float in the air.
      • Avoid the Nether Vapor clouds, these reduce the maximum health of any player that touches them.

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Healing Notes

Quick Notes

The notes below mostly pertain to progression difficulty, meaning if you out-gear the encounter or use extra healers they may not apply.

  • Use Cooldowns
  • Pre-heal Before (mainly for heal over time classes)
  • Other things to watch for
    • Be prepared to heal the non-tank players that may be tanking advisors in stage one and stage three.
    • Keep the tanks near full health in stage four so they can survive Pyroblast.
    • Players will likely end up out of range during stage five.

Debuffs to Track

Major

Minor

  • Rend causes players to need additional healing.


Useful Addons

DBM Settings

Below are the DBM settings I'll be using for Kael'thas Sunstrider in Tempest Keep/The Eye. You can set them up however you'd like, but these ones should work well as a starting point.

Healer DBM Settings for Kael'thas Sunstrider Thumbnail
Healer DBM Settings for Kael'thas Sunstrider


Comment on Kael'thas Sunstrider, Healer Guide

Changelog - View the last ten changes. - +

August 01, 2021 - 2:23 pm (High Astromancer Solarian) - Added spells that were missing spell IDs.