First Look at Kazzara the Hellforged Boss Guide

Blizzard has given players a look at the new raid Aberrus coming in 10.1 on the PTR with normal raid testing, and limited heroic and mythic testing. The first boss players will face is Kazzara the Hellforged who has several abilities themed around the new Shadowflame magic players are introduced to. Let's take a look at what she can do so you can be prepared for the new raid.

Kazzara the Hellforged is equipped with Hellsteel Plates and at 70%, 50%, and 30% health some of her plates will shatter into Hellsteel Fragments. Where these fragments land is shown by swirls, and any players standing on them when they land will take Shadowflame damage. The force of the plates breaking off her deals Shadowflame damage to all players. Once her armor has been broken at 70% health, Revenant's Blood will fall from her wounds where the blood lands is shown by swirls and anyone standing where the blood lands will take Shadowflame damage. The final effect of losing her armor is her Infernal Heart, which will become exposed and pulsates raid-wide Shadowflame damage every 4 seconds. As Kazzara loses armor, this effect hastens, dealing damage much quicker. Healers will need to be cautious of this, as the damage output will quickly increase as Kazzara loses armor.

The ability Tanks will have to manage is Terror Claws, a standard tank buster mechanic. This ability inflicts heavy physical and Shadowflame damage, then puts a dot on her target that deals damage every 2 seconds and increases their damage taken from Terror Claws by 200% for 25 seconds. Tanks will most likely swap at one stack to avoid getting killed by Terror Claws.

Her next ability is Dread Rift which will put circles around random players. After 5 seconds, each player, and anyone within their circle, takes Shadowflame damage and will drop a Dread Rift. This looks like a pool on the ground, and anyone standing in it takes Shadowflame damage every second until they get out. Kazzara will target an additional player for each piece of armor that has been shattered. Players targeted by Dread Rift should stay away from others and drop the rifts so they are not in the way. When Kazzara casts Rays of Anguish, each Dread Rift will target the closest player to it and mark them with an arrow. Then the Dread Rift turns into a Molten Scar and a Ray of Anguish will spawn near the targeted player and follow them, the Ray will deal Shadowflame damage to anyone in its path. As the ray moves, it leaves behind a Molten Scar, these Molten Scars deal Shadowflame damage to any players that stands on them. Players will want their mobile ranged classes to stand near Dread Rifts so they can kite Rays of Anguish away from the group.

kazzara the Hellforged Heroic and Mythic changes

On Heroic and Mythic difficulties, there is an additional mechanic to Rays of Anguish. The ray will only despawn if it goes through a Dread Rift, so players need to kite this ability a lot longer than they do on normal. This can be difficult since each Ray of Anguish casts despawns all Dread Rifts, so players will need to wait for the next Dread Rift cast to get rid of their rays. If any rays are active when Kazzara casts the ability again, then each ray will gain Relentless Torment. This causes the ray to move much faster and pulsate raid wide Shadowflame damage every 2 seconds, growing in intensity with each pulse. If left unchecked, this mechanic could quickly wipe the raid.

Wings of Extinction is Kazzara's next ability. She thrashes her wings, dealing Shadowflame damage to all players and knocks them back. This ability also places a dot on all players that deals damage every 2 seconds for 20 seconds. While this dot is out players must be cautious as getting hit by another ability could easily kill them. Kazzara's final ability is Hellbeam, which triggers when she reaches 100 energy. She will face a random player and release an annihilating beam from her jaws, inflicting Shadowflame damage every 0.3 seconds for 3 seconds to any players caught in the beam. This ability has a long cast so players have plenty of time to move out of the way of this deadly ability. There are all of Kazzara the Hellforged's abilities explained, she looks to be a fun introduction into Aberrus.