This page covers a healer-focused strategy for Yogg-Saron in Ulduar in Wrath of the Lich King. 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.

Keepers of Ulduar

Before starting the encounter, players can speak to the Keepers of Ulduar that line the central area overlooking Yogg-Saron's room. Keepers that are asked to help grant players beneficial effects.

• Freya
  • Four Sanity Wells are present at the edges of the room for the duration of the encounter, allowing players to replenish their Sanity.
  • Grants all players Resilience of Nature for the duration of the encounter, increasing damage done and healing received.
• Hodir
  • When a player takes fatal damage, Hodir's Protective Gaze prevents their death and instead places them in a Flash Freeze. This grants immunity to all damage and harmful effects and incapacitates the player.
    • This has a cooldown of 25-seconds, however, if multiple players take fatal damage at the same time, it's possible that all of them are protected.
  • Grants all players Fortitude of Frost for the duration of the encounter, increasing damage done and reducing damage taken.
• Mimiron
  • Applies Destabilization Matrix to Tentacles, greatly reducing their Attack Speed and casting speed.
  • Grants all players Speed of Invention for the duration of the encounter, increasing damage done and movement speed.
• Thorim
  • Uses Titanic Storm to kill Immortal Guardians when they reach 1% health and gain the Weakened during stage three.
  • Grants all players Fury of the Storm for the duration of the encounter, increasing damage done and maximum health.

All Stages

• After 15-minutes, kills all players with Extinguish All Life.

Stage One - The Lucid Dream

This stage begins the encounter and ends when Sara is killed.

• Sara
  • Stationary in the center of the room and can only be damaged by Shadow Nova from Guardians of Yogg-Saron, detailed below.
  • Targets random players with Sara's Fervor, increasing damage dealt and greatly increasing damage taken.
  • Can heal players with Sara's Blessing, but then causes them to take light damage over time.
  • Soothe Sara's Anger from Guardians of Yogg-Saron to remove the greatly increased Physical damage dealt effect.
    • This also deals damage over time to the Guardian, so it could be worth leaving it active.
• Guardian of Yogg-Saron
  • Periodically spawn from Omnious Clouds that move around the room.
    • Additionally, if any player enters an Omnious Cloud, Boil Ominously causes a Guardian of Yogg-Saron to spawn.
  • Interrupt Dark Volley to prevent the light damage dealt to and reduced healing effect on all players.
  • Upon death, Shadow Nova deals damage to Sara equal to 12.5% of her health if she's within 15-yards, and moderate damage to all players within 15-yards.

Stage Two - Descent Into Madness

This stage begins when Sara is killed in stage one and ends once the Brain of Yogg-Saron reaches 30% health.

• All players gain 100 stacks of Sanity to begin the stage.
  • Various abilities, noted below, reduce player's Sanity. If a player reaches 0 stacks, they go Insane, becoming hostile to other players, and gaining greatly increased damage dealt and maximum health.
  • Sanity can be replenished by standing in a Sanity Well if Freya was asked to help before the encounter was started.
• Yogg-Saron
  • Immune to damage due to Shadowy Barrier.
• Sara continues to assault players, and cannot be attacked.
  • Deals light damage to random players with Psychosis, reducing Sanity.
  • When affected by Brain Link, stay within 20-yards of the player you're linked to to prevent the light damage and Sanity loss over time.
  • Stay more than 10-yards away from players affected by Malady of the Mind as they move around randomly while horrified. Players with 10-yards when the effect expires will be affected by Malady of the Mind. This effect reduces Sanity of affected players.
  • Avoid the paths of Death Rays as they move around the room.
• Various lesser Tentacles periodically spawn at random locations in the room.
  • Crusher Tentacle
    • Spawns about every 60-seconds.
    • Must be hit with a melee attack to interrupt Diminish Power and prevent the reduced damage dealt effect being applied to all players.
    • Gains stacks of Focused Anger when hit by player's spells and abilities, increasing Attack Speed and damage dealt.
  • Corruptor Tentacle
    • Spawns about every 30-seconds.
    • Susceptible to Stuns effects.
    • Interrupt or dispel Curse of Doom (curse) to prevent the heavy damage dealt when the effect expires.
    • Interrupt or dispel Black Plague (disease) to prevent the period Stun effect from Black Plague (dispel, disease).
    • Interrupt or dispel Draining Poison (poison) to remove the light damage over time and mana drain effect.
    • Interrupt or dispel Apathy (magic) to remove the reduced Attack Speed, casting speed, and movement speed effect.
  • Constrictor Tentacle
    • Spawns about every 20-seconds.
    • Incapacitates and deals light damage over time to a random player with Squeeze (Squeeze on 10-player) until killed.
• After 60-seconds in this stage, and every 80-seconds after that, ten (four on 10-player) Descent into Madness portals open around Yogg-Saron.
  • One player can enter each portal to reach Yogg-Saron's Mind, these should usually be all DPS players.
  • Inside, players are presented with one of three illusions. Regardless of the illusion, the enemies function the same.
    • Laughing Skull
      • Cannot be attacked.
      • Avoid facing these as much as possible to avoid the light damage and Sanity loss over time from Lunatic Gaze.
    • Influence Tentacle
      • Initially shows up as a neutral mob with the Nondescript buff, changing to a Tentacle when attacked.
      • Deals light damage to attackers with Grim Reprisal.
  • When all Influence Tentacles are killed:
    • Players can reach the Brain of Yogg-Saron, near where you're placed when first entering Yogg-Saron's Mind.
      • Brain of Yogg-Saron
        • Is casting Induce Madness, driving all players still inside Yogg-Saron's Mind Insane when it finishes.
    • Outside Yogg-Saron's Mind, Shattered Illusion stuns all Tentacles until the Induce Madness cast finishes.
  • Players should leave Yogg-Saron's Mind using the Flee to the Surface portals near the Brain of Yogg-Saron before Induce Madness finishes casting.

Stage Three - The Head of the Beast

This stage begins when the Brain of Yogg-Saron reaches 30% health in stage two, and ends when Yogg-Saron is killed.

• Yogg-Saron
  • Can now be attacked directly, has no threat table, and does not move.
  • About every 15-seconds, during Lunatic Gaze, avoid facing Yogg-Saron to avoid the light damage and Sanity loss over time. 
• Immortal Guardians spawn steadily for the duration of this stage, about one every 15-seconds.
  • Immortal Guardian
    • Can only be killed by Thorim's Titanic Storm upon gaining the Weakened debuff at 1% health.
    • When affected by Shadow Beacon, tanks should keep it more than 20-yards away from other enemies, or at least Yogg-Saron, to prevent the healing when the effect expires.
    • Interrupt Drain Life to prevent the healing over time.
    • Deals increased damage the higher its health is due to Empowered.

Hardmode is activated by having three or fewer Keepers of Ulduar active as help. With the hardest option being having no Keepers activated.

Keepers of Ulduar

• Players lose the beneficial effects of any Keeper not activated.
• If Keepers were unintentially activated, they can be deactivated by leaving and resetting the instance.

Stage Three - The Head of the Beast

• Every 60-seconds, deals light damage to all players and Silences them with Deafening Roar.

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
  • during stage one: as-needed to deal with Shadow Nova from Guardians of Yogg-Saron being killed
  • during stage three: as-needed to keep tanks alive or to deal with Lunatic Gaze
• Use Minor Cooldowns
  • during stage one: as-needed to deal with Dark Volley
  • during stage three: as-needed to keep tanks alive
• Pre-heal Before (mainly for heal over time classes)
  • during stage two: players enter Yogg-Saron's Mind
  • (Hardmode) during stage three: Deafening Roar
• Other things to watch for
  • Stage one is usually has the highest healing requirement over all, with stages two and three requiring heavier healing focused on the tanks or select players affected by debuffs.
  • If healing permits, helping deal damage to Yogg-Saron during stage three can be helpful, as the stage gets progressively harder the longer it goes on.

Major

• Several abilities can cause players to need additional healing.
  • Sara's Fervor
  • Brain Link
• Several debuffs can be dispelled immediately.
  • Curse of Doom (curse)
  • Black Plague (disease)
  • Draining Poison (poison)
  • Apathy (magic)
• Squeeze (Squeeze on 10-player) causes players to need additional light healing over time.

Minor

• Sara's Blessing causes players to need additional light healing over time.