(Karazhan) Terestian Illhoof Strategy Guide

VIDEO: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wk__eQ30zr4


Terestian Illhoof is an optional boss in Karazhan. He can be reached after the Curator and before the Shade of Aran through a secret door behind a bookshelf in the library.


Abilities

Sacrifice
Illhoof will periodically Sacrifice a raid member, binding him in the green circle on the floor. The player gets encased by tragetable, killable Demonic Chains with roughly 12k HP that deal up to 2k shadow damage to him per second and at the same time heal Illhoof. Destroying these chains always has the highest priority. The main tank will never be Sacrificed.

Mark of Flames
A debuff that increases fire damage taken by up to 500 and cannot be removed. It will be cast on a random raid member and is only of significance if it lands on the "tanking" warlock as he will be the only one taking fire damage (see below). Should this happen, then the healers need to pay extra attention to this warlock's health.

Demoic Portals
A few seconds after he is engaged, Illhoof will create 2 demonic portals, one on each side of the room, and begin to summon imps at a rapid pace. The imps have around 5k HP and a firebolt attack that deals moderate fire damage and can quickly overwhelm the party if not taken care of.

Kil'rek
Illhoof starts the fight with his imp minion Kil'rek at his side. Kil'rek has around 60k HP and a weak melee attack. When he is killed, Illhoof gains a debuff for approximately 30 seconds that increases his damage taken by 25%. After the debuff wears off, Kil'rek will respawn.

Enrage
If not killed after 10 minutes, Illhoof will Enrage and start rapid shooting shadow bolts that deal very heavy damage and will quickly wipe the raid.


Terestian Illhoof
Preparation

Raid Composition

* 2 tanks The offtank can be a feral druid or DPS warrior.
* 3-4 healers, at least 1 of which should be a paladin.
* 4-5 DPS, including at least 1 warlock; affliction spec helps, but is not required. 1 rogue for Wounding Poison, or alternatively a Mortal Strike warrior.


Gear Requirements
Nothing special to note here. The tanking warlock needs a moderately large health pool (around 10-11k HP buffed). Additionally, some fire resistance gear can be of help to him. Around 100 fire resistance unbuffed can cut the damage received from the imps in half.

The encounter can be managed perfectly with the whole raid in blues from Outland instances.

Buffs and Consumables

* Greater/Major Fire Protection Potions for the tanking warlock.
* The usual mana and health potions and elixirs to buff damage and healing.
* Shadow Protection Potions can be used to mitigate damage from the Demonic Chains, but are not a requirement.
* Prayer of Shadow Protection should be buffed on the entire raid.
* Dampen Magic on the warlock will considerably lower the damage he takes from the imps' firebolts.



Group Composition

Group 1

* Paladin with concentration aura
* Tanking warlock
* Second paladin with fire resistance aura or a shaman with FR totem (if available). This is not required, but it helps.
* Restoration druid (if available)
* Main tank (and off-tank if still space)


Group 2

* Remaining DPS, healers and possibly the off-tank


Strategy

Positioning

Terestian Illhoof Raid Positions



The MT will tank Illhoof approximately where he stands before the fight starts, between the two imp-spawning portals, and close to the sacrificial circle so melee DPS can switch quickly between Illhoof and the Demonic Chains.

The OT will tank Kil'rek close to Illhoof, as well as build sufficient threat on Illhoof to be second on his aggro list. A druid works perfectly for this, as he can can swipe both of them to build threat, while at the same time doing decent DPS.

Ranged DPS and healers, as well as the warlock, will position themselves close to the circle so that any spawning imps will not move across the room if aggroed.

When Kil'rek is killed and respawns, the designated tank will have to pick him up again and drag him to his tanking position, else he will run loose and aggro the raid.


The Pull
Once all preparations are made, the tanks run in and establish aggro while the raid positions themselves correctly. The MT will aggro Illhoof and keep him in his tanking spot. The OT will aggro Kil'rek and position him right next to Illhoof; once he has built some threat on him, he will switch to Illhoof and ensure that he is second highest on his threat list. Misdirection can be used on the MT to help him build threat so that DPS on Illhoof can start immediately.

Both Illhoof and Kil'rek are suspectible to Taunt.


The Fight
After a few seconds imps begin to spawn from the two portals on either side and the raid needs to be in position by this time. As soon as the imps appear, the tanking warlock starts chain casting Seed of Corruption on Illhoof. Due to the constant DPS on Illhoof, Seed of Corruption will go off instantly, aggroing all imps in its range ensuring that nobody apart from the tanking warlock will be hit by their firebolts.

Kil'rek jumping in the air, as usualThe tanking warlock will do little else in the fight apart from casting Seed of Corruption on Illhoof over and over again and needs Concentration Aura and Power Word: Shield throughout the fight to minimize spell pushback; fire protection potions also help against the interrupts. Lifetap and Dark Pact help maintain mana over the course of the battle. Having the Suppression warlock talent minimizes the chance for resists on Seed of Corruption.

Should the number of imps become overwhelming, a mage can help with Arcane Explosion to kill the imps that likely have little HP left.

While the warlock tanks the imps, the rest of the DPS focuses on Illhoof. As soon as a raid member is being Sacrificed, all DPS (apart from the warlock) must switch targets to the Demonic Chains and destroy them as quickly as possible. This simple macro can help with targeting, allowing rapid DPS on the Chains when they spawn:

/tar Demonic Chains

Letting a raid member die to the Sacrifice will likely spell a wipe. The chains deal shadow damage and can be mitigated with potions, resistance buffs etc. Healing of the Sacrificed player is possible and required.

A paladin's Divine Shield as well as a mage's Ice Block break the Sacrifice instantly.

After the Demonic Chains have been destroyed, DPS can resume on Illhoof.

Throughout the fight, Kil'rek will die through the constant Area of Effect damage on the imps. To ensure most benefit from this debuff, however, Kil'rek should be killed right after the Demonic Chains have been destroyed. The off tank must be ready to pick up Kil'rek again once he respawns.

The fight can take quite long depending ony our DPS/how fast you are with freeing people from the Chains. He should die under 10 minutes, however, or his Enrage will wipe the raid for sure.


Class Roles Summary

Warriors
Tank the designated targets as outlined above. If Mortal Strike specced, make sure Mortal Strike is on Illhoof during a Sacrifice.

Warlocks
Tank imps as outlined above. Imp + Dark Pact is a great mana source here. If secondary warlock, see mage class role.

Druids
Heal the tanks. Slow heals will likely come too late for the Sacrificed player. Nature's Swiftness + Healing Touch, however, can be a life saver here. Non healing specced druids, see the appropriate class role.

Priests
Healing the tanks, ensuring the tanking warlock has Power Word: Shield whenever possible. Healing the Sacrificed player has highest priority: fast heals are in order here. If shadow specced, see DPS class roles.

Mages
DPS Illhoof. DPS Demonic Chains as soon as they appear. Kill Kil'rek after a Sacrifice. Make sure the tanking warlock has Dampen Magic. Help AoE the imps when they grow in number (8-10), then resume normal DPS. Keep in mind that Iceblock will free you from the Demonic Chains instantly.

Rogues
DPS Illhoof. DPS Demonic Chains as soon as they appear. Make sure wounding poison is applied to Illhoof. DPS Kil'rek after a Sacrificed player has been freed.

Hunters
DPS Illhoof. DPS Demonic Chains as soon as they appear. Kill Kil'rek after a Sacrifice. Pet can be used freely to help DPS. Misdirection on the MT to help build threat.

Paladins
Make sure the tanking warlock has Concentration Aura. Fast heals on the Sacrificed players. Remember that Divine Shield will break Sacrifice immediately.

Shamans
Help healing or DPS based on spec/need. Make sure the tanking warlock has Fire Resistance Totem.