(Karazhan) Prince Malchezaar Strategy Guide

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Introduction
Prince Malchezaar can be found on the terrace on top of the Broken Tower in Karazhan, beyond the "Chess Event" room. In terms of difficulty he is comparable to the Shade of Aran or Netherspite, however he is easier than Nightbane. The quality of the loot he drops is exceptional, comparable or better than any of the loot from early 25-man instanced bosses. He is also the objective of the "Demonic Presence" quest, part of the line started by obtaining the Master's Key.

Overview & Preparation
Prince Malchezaar is a 3-stage encounter, with the different stages triggered by his HP. Stage 1 is between 100% and 60%, stage 2 between 60% and 30%, with the final stage between 30% and 0%. Due to his high HP (around 1.15 million), this encounter will test your raid's endurance, particularly the mana pools of your healers and ranged DPS classes. Depending on raid composition you are looking at an encounter lasting between 6 and 10 minutes. The infernal adds that he summons add a random factor to the encounter, depending on their positioning the encounter can be trivial or challenging, but high raid DPS reduces the impact of unlucky infernal spawns. Balance your consumable use around your raid composition. A healing-heavy raid can benefit more from DPS consumables such as sharpening stones, Wizard Oil and elixirs, while a raid with fewer healers will probably need mana regen foods and consumables such as Mageblood Elixirs, as well as Stoneshield Potions for the MT.

Prince Malchezaar
Group Composition
Malchezaar is a 1-tank encounter, therefore any warriors other than the MT should be in DPS gear, with druids in either damage or healing gear, depending on your group makeup. If your MT was lucky enough to obtain several tanking pieces from the rest of the instance, 3 healers are enough for this encounter, leaving room for 6 DPS, which makes the encounter quicker and easier. If your main tank is still geared in pre-TBC gear, you may need a 4th healer to keep him up. A hybrid class could also DPS for the first stage, then heal for stages 2 and 3. As far as DPS classes are concerned, Shadow Priests are highly desirable, due not only to their DPS but also the extra mana they provide for other casters. Ranged DPS usually outperforms melee DPS on this encounter, due to abilities that will be detailed below, so especially for inexperienced groups, more than 2 melee DPS are not recommended.


Abilities

"Summon Infernal" / "Hellfire"
Periodically, Prince Malchezaar will summon an infernal to the terrace. These fall from the sky to a random location on the terrace. This could be on top of your MT, or 60 yards away from the raid. This adds a considerable random element to the encounter. They cannot move, cannot be affected by players in any way, and do not have an aggro table, but will cast Hellfire, an area of effect fire damage spell, in a 15 yard radius around them. Hellfire "ticks" for 1.1-1.5k damage. Infernals are summoned every 50-60 seconds during stages 1 and 2, and every 20-25 seconds during stage 3. Infernals despawn about 3 minutes after they are summoned.

"Enfeeble"
Enfeeble targets 5 random players in the raid, and sets their HP to 1. For the next 8 seconds the healing on these targets is reduced by 100% and their health regeneration is also reduced by 100%. The person with the most "threat" on the boss (usually the MT) cannot be targeted by Enfeeble. 8 seconds later, the HP of the targets is restored. Enfeeble is only cast in stages 1 and 2.

"Shadow Nova"
Shadow Nova is an AoE shadow damage attack that does around 3000 points of damage and knocks back targets closer than 30 yards. It originates from the Prince, and therefore only affects the MT and melee DPS if the healers and ranged DPS stand at maximum range. Rogues can use Cloak of Shadows to eliminate the effects of Shadow Nova, which is particularly useful when Enfeebled.

"Shadow Word: Pain"
During phase 3, Prince Malchezaar will periodically cast Shadow Word: Pain on a random target. This does 1500 shadow damage every 3 seconds and can be dispelled.

"Amplify Damage"
Amplify damage increases all damage taken by 100%. The debuff lasts 10 seconds, cannot be removed, and is only cast in stage 3.


Strategy

Buffs
Apart from the obvious Fortitude/Mark Of The Wild/Arcane Iintellect, a raid is usually forced to make some choices when it comes to paladin buffs, since a 10-man raid will usually not contain 3 paladins. With 2 Paladins, Kings/Might the MT and melee DPS, but use Salvation/Wisdom for the ranged DPS. Wisdom is essential due to the long duration of the encounter, while Salvation will help keep the threat generated by the ranged DPS below that of the MT.

Note on threat: In most encounters, even if the ranged DPS generates more threat than the MT, if they do not exceed it by more than 30%, the mob will still maintain aggro on the MT. However, in this particular encounter, exceeding the MT's threat by even 1%, while not causing a loss of aggro, will make the tank a potential target for "Enfeeble" which will wipe the raid. A mod such as KLH Threatmeter can be used to make sure this does not happen (although Blessing of Salvation is usually enough).

Other buffs that can be used are a mage's "Amplify Magic" on the main tank, since the damage he takes is mostly melee, especially if "Shadow Word: Pain" is removed quickly. Shadow Protection on the entire raid will occasionally help resist the Prince's Shadow Nova, as well as the Amplify Damage effect in stage 3.

As far as shamans are concerned, considering that ranged DPS is preferred, and the encounter is very long, these should be placed in ranged caster groups. Mana Spring and Mana Tide should be used to regenerate the party's mana, together with Wrath of Air to increase the damage done by Mages, Warlocks and Shadow Priests.

The Pull
The MT can run in and proximity aggro the boss, while the rest of the raid runs in behind. As with most encounters in the game, a hunter using Misdirection is recommended and will save the raid from rare wipes caused by the MT missing his first attacks, or very early healer or DPS aggro. The MT must then position himself with his back towards a wall.

Positioning
Raid Positioning for Prince Malchezaar



With the MT having his back against the wall, the melee DPS can position itself behind Malchezaar, with the healing and DPS at maximum range. These general positioning rules should be followed for the full duration of the encounter, even if the whole raid is forced to reposition due to infernal spawns.

Fight Progression

The first stage is fairly uneventful, with Malchezaar doing only moderate damage to the MT. In a healer-heavy raid, hybrid classes can DPS, and a paladin can stay in melee range to use Judgement of Wisdom, in order to provide extra mana regeneration for the ranged DPS classes. Infernals will spawn every 50 sec to 1 minute, which may cause the raid to shift. Targets will be periodically Enfeebled. This needs to be dealt with differently depending on class, as explained below.

As stage 2 begins, Malchezaar will summon his ethereal void axes which will cause increased damage to the main tank. This is a good time to use a Stoneshield Potion to mitigate some of the extra damage. Also, this stage is significantly more healing intensive, so hybrid classes are usually forced to contribute to healing.

At the beginning of stage 3, Malchezaar will drop his void axes which will float through the raid, attacking random players. They cannot be taunted, killed or even attacked, the only option is to heal the person they are attacking. Axes will change target approximately every 10-15 seconds. In stage 3 Prince Malchezaar no longer Enfeebles anyone in the raid, which should allow the melee DPS to generate additional damage. However, "Enfeeble" is replaced by "Amplify Damage". Healers must be particularly careful and heal the target affected by Amplify Damage that is attacked by the void axes, as they can die very quickly. With the accelerated infernal spawn, stage 3 is a DPS race to kill Malchezaar before the raid is cornered and overwhelmed by infernals. Use all cooldowns to kill him as fast as possible, particularly party-wide abilities such as a shaman's "Heroism".

Tank Comments
Build good threat, since having ranged DPS overtake you will result in a wipe. Do not waste consumables on stage 1, but, depending on your gear, a Stoneshield Potion and/or an Elixir of Greater Defense at the beginning of stage 2 can make a big difference in damage taken.

Always be aware of infernal spawns and do not forget that you are in control of everyone's positioning, since you can reposition the boss if you and the melee DPS are in danger of being affected by the hellfire from a nearby infernal spawn. When "boxed in" by infernals, do not be afraid to reposition, at all costs, even if this means running through Hellfire (use Shield Wall), or even repositioning Malchezaar by running with him through the rest of the raid. If you reposition him quickly enough next to another wall you can put your back to, the raid will be safe. Always communicate what you are doing to the rest of the raid.

Try to plan ahead for infernal spawns (have at least one open safe spot to run to) and keep your options open (ie, if an infernal spawns to your right, move further to your left, to always keep an option open should an infernal spawn on the opposite side too. When that is not an option, be prepared to Shield Wall and run through Hellfire, or to reposition Malchezaar by running through the raid). Also bear in mind the order in which infernals spawn, since this will also determine the order in which they despawn 3 minutes later. Make a mental note of the areas that will be cleared up next.

Prince Malchezaar
Healer Comments
Staying at maximum range will avoid Shadow Nova. Do not attempt to heal people affected by Enfeeble, it is impossible, and their health will regenerate to full once the effect expires anyway. While Power Word: Shield can be cast on Enfeebled targets, it is wasteful, since a target affected by Enfeeble will die if in range of a Shadow Nova, whether shielded or not.

If affected by Enfeeble, as long as you are standing at maximum heal range, you can ignore it and wait for your hit points to be restored. You should however pay attention to possible infernal spawns, and move at least 15 yards away, especially while Enfeebled, before the infernals start channeling their Hellfire spell.

Conserve mana for stages 2 and 3 which are more healing intensive. In stage 3 pay attention to who is affected by the Amplify Damage debuff, and be prepared to heal them quickly if attacked by the axes. Dispell Shadow Word: Pain as soon as possible. Communicate with the MT and be aware of his movements, do not be left out of range of healing him when he repositions Malchezaar. If infernals spawn behind or next to the healers, the healers can re-adjust by moving outside the 15 yard Hellfire range, without Requiring the MT to move.

DPS Comments
Watch your aggro carefully, and if needed install KLH Threatmeter. Do not go above your MT in threat, or you will wipe the raid.

Melee DPS affected by Enfeeble must run out and towards the healers and ranged DPS immediately, since a Shadow Nova will kill them while Enfeebled. While these abilities are never used in quick succession, thus allowing the melee DPS to run out of range after an Enfeeble, a Shadow Nova is possible within the 8 second "Enfeeble" window. Therefore, always run out towards the healers and ranged DPS and do not take chances on the next Shadow Nova. After the Enfeeble effect expires 8 seconds later, melee DPS can run back in and continue to do damage. Be aware of infernal spawns and be prepared to reposition if the tank needs to move Malchezaar to a new location. While infernal spawns in the melee DPS area will always result in Malchezaar being repositioned (since the MT is also affected in that area), spawns behind, or close to the ranged DPS can be avoided just by moving left or right, while maintaining maximum range to the Prince, without requiring the MT to re-adjust its position.

Ranged DPS at maximum range can be affected by Enfeeble, but they can ignore it most of the time, as they will not take damage from Shadow Nova. You should, however, pay attention to possible infernal spawns, and move at least 15 yards away, especially while Enfeebled, before the infernals start channeling their Hellfire spell. Understand that this is a long encounter, and therefore you must use more mana efficient abilities, or compensate with consumables. Mana is particularly important for the last stage, where Malchezaar needs to be brought from 20% to 0% as fast as possible.

Both ranged and melee DPS should manage cooldowns in such a way that they are available during stage 3, so that the Prince can be brought down quickly.