Kael'thas Sunstrider, Healer Guide
Updated 1 year, 10 months ago for patch 2.5.2 by Preston. View the change log.
This 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.
- Commonly tanked by two Warlocks or one Warlock and one traditional tank.
- 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
- 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.
- Phoenix
- 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.
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
- as-needed during stage three
- on Arcane Disruiption
- 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
- Several abilities cause players to need additional healing.
- (Optional) Nether Vapor reduces players maximum health.
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
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