Introduction
Hey everyone, and welcome to the Ara-Kara, City of Echoes dungeon guide for season 3 of The War Within! In this guide I’ll be going over the abilities of all the trash mobs and bosses throughout the dungeon as well as how I recommend you handle them. I’ll be focusing on the mythic and M+ versions of the dungeon, but it still applies to both normal and heroic difficulties as well. I’ll also be including my recommended, PUG friendly route via the Mythic Dungeon Tools addon for anyone interested.
Some background on myself, my name is Tactyks and I am an avid M+ player, achieving the 0.1% M+ title in every season it has existed, as well as competing in The Great Push in season 4 of Shadowlands. I also create M+ and Raid guide content on my YouTube and Twitch channels, so be sure to stop by and say hi!
If you are using the Mythic Dungeon Tools addon, you can import my recommended route using the following link: https://wago.io/kDwiwnRGA
Tailoring Bonus
Throughout the dungeon there are several bodies of Discordant Attendants that tailors can interact with if they have at least 25 Khaz Algar skill. Doing so ties a tether between them and the body, which upon breaking gives an extra action button for 1 minute that will apply Silk Wrap to their target when used, stunning it for 12s. This stun does work on Lieutenant mobs, such as the mini bosses spread throughout the first trash area which normally cannot be CC’d, making it extremely helpful when pulling trash into them.
Video Guide
Avanoxx Trash
Ravenous Crawler
- Ambush targets a random player more than 8yds away, try to stack close to avoid this attack and reduce melee downtime
Engorged Crawler
- Venomous Spit targets a random player, use a Poison dispel to remove the DoT
Jabbing Flyer
- Bleeding Jab targets random players applies a stacking bleed, beware of high damage intake as stacks increase and use defensives or bleed cleanses as needed
Trilling Attendant
- The Resonant Barrage channel deals heavy damage to the group, be sure to interrupt or use a CC to stop the cast
- Web Bolt targets a random player, use spare interrupts on this cast
Also in this first area are 3 different mini bosses which you must defeat in order to spawn the boss.
Ixin
- This mob is immune to CC
- Be sure to interrupt every cast of Horrifying Shrill
- Web Spray shoots a frontal at a random player, be ready to avoid it and the puddles it creates
- Web Bolt targets a random player, use spare interrupts on this cast
Nakt
- This mob is immune to CC
- Call of the Brood spawns several Ravenous Crawlers on random players so group up to make it easier for tanks to get aggro
- Web Spray shoots a frontal at a random player, be ready to avoid it and the puddles it creates
- Web Bolt targets a random player, use spare interrupts on this cast
Atik
- This mob is immune to CC
- Avoid the puddle spawned under a random player by Poisonous Cloud
- Web Spray shoots a frontal at a random player, be ready to avoid it and the puddles it creates
- Poison Bolt targets the tank, use spare interrupts on this and a Poison dispel on the DoT when needed
Avanoxx Boss Fight
Throughout this fight you’ll need to manage Starved Crawler adds, which spawn from the eggs located around the boss platform and fixate a random player. Tanks be aware of their location as if they get too close to the boss, she will consume them with Insatiable, gaining a stacking 50% damage increase for 60s. DPS should use slows and CCs on these crawlers and cleave them down.
In terms of when these adds appear, they will always spawn immediately after the Alerting Shrill group damage. This ticks for physical damage every 0.5s for 3s, so use defensives and healing CDs here as needed. Gossamer Onslaught also deals group damage over a 5s channel, spawning 2yd web puddles underneath every player each second. Do your best to group these in order to maximize your space, and note that you can safely spawn 2 puddles on top of each other without taking damage from their impact.
Outside of this, tanks will want to use defensives for the Voracious Bite ability, which hits 3 times and applies a 50% damage taken increase for 10s. This can be especially dangerous if you have the debuff during one of the AoE abilities previously mentioned, so try and time your defensive usage to overlap the hits and the debuff duration if possible.
Anub'zekt Trash
Bloodworker
- Charge targets a random player more than 8yds away, try to stack close to avoid this attack and reduce melee downtime
Bloodstained Assistant
- Extraction Strike targets the tank, use defensives to help reduce the healing this ability does
Bloodstained Webmage
- Be sure to interrupt every cast of Revolting Volley, and if one goes off use Poison dispels to remove as many debuffs as possible
- Web Bolt targets a random player, use spare interrupts on this cast
Hulking Bloodguard
- This mob is immune to CC
- Prioritize damaging this mob as it has the Bulwark of the Weak aura
- Impale shoots a line at a random player, be ready to avoid it
- At full energy the mob channels group damage from Locust Swarm, so use defensives and healing CDs as needed
Sentry Stagshell
- This mob will attempt to cast Alarm Shrill, aggroing all mobs within 50yds and spawning an additional Hulking Bloodguard if successful, make sure to chain CCs and kill the mob before this happens
Anub'zekt Boss Fight
Tanks make sure you are facing this boss away from your allies, as Impale is a frontal targeted at you. Be sure you also step out of this effect.
Throughout the encounter the boss will debuff random players with the Infestation DoT, these targets should use defensives and be the focus of healing. When this DoT expires it creates a Ceaseless Swarm for 45s which move in lines towards random players, applying a stacking DoT to anyone it touches. Ideally you want to drop these away from other players, but don’t run so far that it reduces your boss uptime or makes it more difficult to heal you!
At the same time you’ll want to be on the lookout for Bloodstained Webmages that spawn near the edges of the room and attempt to cast Silken Restraints on a random player, rooting players on a successful channel. Tanks pick up these adds and bring them under the boss so they can be cleaved, then make sure as a group you use interrupts and CCs to prevent their casts.
Twice per phase the boss will target a random player at range with Burrow Charge, charging at their location after a few seconds and doing a 13yd AoE. If the targeted player has a blink or dash ability it is possible to avoid the second hit if you move quickly after the charge is in motion. If you are unable to avoid this hit you’ll want to use a defensive. Other players should avoid being near the targeted player as well so they are not hit by the AoE portion of this attack. Since this attack prioritizes targeting players at range, you can have all but one player stack in melee of the boss, causing all charges to target that designated player and making this ability a bit easier to handle.
Outside of these abilities, when the boss reaches 100 energy he will move to the centre of the arena and begin to cast Eye of the Swarm, which fills the room with a Ceaseless Swarm cloud for 25s except for a small circle in front of him. This circle will move if you turn the boss, so tanks be aware of this.
Webmages will not spawn during this phase, but players will still be debuffed with Infestation so try and drop the new Ceaseless Swarms on the edge of the circle. The boss will also continue to do the Impale frontal, so I recommend tanks play on the right side of the circle (facing the boss) with the rest of the group on the left side, dropping off Ceaseless Swams on the right side of the circle so you can rotate away from them. After the 25s concludes the cloud dissipates and the fight repeats.
Ki'katal the Harvester Trash
Blood Overseer
- This mob is immune to CC
- Make sure to interrupt every cast of Venom Volley and if missed remove as many Poison debuffs as possible
- Avoid the swirlies spawned under all players by Erupting Webs
Reinforced Drone
- The first time this mob is hit it creates a Black Blood puddle underneath it, avoid these puddles and use CCs or root breaks to free yourself if you touch one
- Beware of the stacking Magic DoT applied to tanks (Tainted Blood) from Black Blood Drenched Claws and dispel it or use defensives as needed, particularly around casts of Erupting Webs so the tank can avoid them
Winged Carrier
- The first time this mob is hit it creates a Black Blood puddle underneath it, avoid these puddles and use CCs or root breaks to free yourself if you touch one
- Dashing Strike targets a random player, beware of this additional damage intake and use defensives as needed
Ki'katal the Harvester Boss Fight
Throughout this encounter, Bloodworkers will run through the boss arena. These mobs cannot be tanked, and have the same Black Blood buff as the trash before this boss, causing them to drop a puddle under themselves if someone hits them, after which they will flee in fear.
You’ll need these puddles as when the boss reaches 100 energy, they’ll channel Cosmic Singularity, pulling players in with increasing strength before doing a 10yd AoE that debuffs players hit with Faded, decreasing damage done and increasing damage taken by 75% for 20s. To avoid this pull in you’ll need either an immunity of some sort, a well timed leap or blink cast, or to step into one of the Black Blood puddles and get rooted until the cast completes.
After the detonation make sure to use a CC, interrupt, or freedom effect to break yourself free, as the boss will create many swirlies throughout the arena with Erupting Webs which you’ll want to avoid.
The last ability to worry about is Cultivated Poison, which applies a poison DoT to 3 random players that shoots out 2 waves when the DoT expires or is dispelled. Make sure you position yourself to point these waves away from your group, keeping in mind that they can only shoot out from you in 2 possible patterns: North/South and East/West.
If any players are hit by waves they’ll get a nasty DoT on them, so beware and use a defensive if this happens. I recommend players pre-spread around the boss or at range and be ready to dispel the initial DoT quickly once it’s safe to do so. Players unable to remove the debuff will need extra healer attention and may need to press a defensive so watch your health!