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Introduction
Hey everyone, and welcome to the Maisara Caverns dungeon guide for season 1 of Midnight! 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 most of this article will apply 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 numerous times on 5 different specs, as well as competing in The Great Push in season 4 of Shadowlands. I also create M+, Raid, and tank guide content on my YouTube and Twitch channels, so be sure to stop by and say hi!
Socials:
- YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@Tactyks
- Twitch: https://www.twitch.tv/tactyks
- Twitter: https://twitter.com/tactyks
Important Abilities
New: Try out the Mythic+ Dungeon Ability Tracker to filter for specific abilities within Maisara Caverns!
Ability TrackerMaisara Caverns Mythic+ Dungeon Route
If you are using the Mythic Dungeon Tools (MDT) Addon, you can import our PUG Friendly Route for the Mythic+ difficulty of Maisara Caverns below.
Maisara Caverns M+ Dungeon Route: https://wago.io/enn7CXdfX
Video Guide
Special Buffs and Benefits
Spread across the first half of the dungeon are multiple different items you can interact with to gain various benefits, often for a short duration. Depending on how you route, some of these will be available while others will not.
Left - Ritual Concoction Buff, lasts for 30mins and persists through death, however the damage output seems to be extremely minimal.
Right - Hearty Vilebranch Stew, lasts for 30mins and persists through death, seems much stronger than the left side buff.
Both - Freezing Traps, pacify and slow the player but give them an extra action button to stun their target for 5s. Strong if timed correctly to stun Lieutenant mobs.
Beyond Muro’jin and Nekraxx there’s a mini boss near an altar. On the walls nearby are 4 Ritual Incense that players can activate to spawn a friendly Vengeful Shade who fights with you for 60s, though again the damage here is relatively low and not worth going out of your way for.
Muro’jin and Nekraxx Trash
To start the dungeon you’ll need to free 8 of the 12 Witherbark Prisoners spread across this initial area, which can only be done while out of combat, meaning you’ll need to make sure you clear any trash packs near them.
These are evenly split between the left and right path, giving you the flexibility to go whichever direction you prefer, where I recommend heading to the right to take advantage of the previously mentioned Hearty Vilebranch Stew buff.
Regardless of which side you go down, both have the same set of mobs just in different pack compositions.
Frenzied Berserker
- Healing reduction effects are can save you some time against these mobs to counter their Regeneratin' passive
- Tanks beware of when these mobs are buffed by Blood Frenzy and use soothes to remove it if you have them
Dread Souleater
- This mob is immune to CC
- Necrotic Wave arcs to all nearby players, be ready to stagger defensives and healing CDs to clear the healing absorb it applies
- Avoid the circles created by Rain Of Toads
Keen Headhunter
- Healing reduction effects are can save you some time against these mobs to counter their Regeneratin' passive
- Be ready to interrupt or use a freedom effect on the target of Hooked Snare
- Throw Spear targets a random player, if possible stack in melee as this spell has a minimum range
Hulking Juggernaut
- This mob is immune to CC
- Rending Gore targets the tank, use a defensive or Bleed cleanse if you have one
- Watch your health and make sure you stop casting when Deafening Roar completes
Bramblemaw Bear
- Crunch Armor targets the tank, be ready with defensives as your stack count increases
Hexbound Eagle
- Tanks beware that these mobs deal additional plague damage on their melees thanks to the Diseased Claws passive
- Avoid the random target leap and frontal channel in Shredding Talons, and if needed use a CC to stop it
Ritual Hexxer
- Make sure to interrupt every cast of Hex or use a Magic dispel if it goes off
- Use any spare interrupts on the random target Shadow Bolt cast
Warding Mask
- Sear targets random players, beware when these mobs are pulled with other mobs that deal group damage
Hex Guardian
- This mob is immune to CC
- Be ready with offensive, defensive, and healing CDs when pulling these mobs as they constantly pulse for AoE damage due to the Searing Presence passive
- Magma Surge shoots a line at a random player, make sure not to cleave your allies
- Ritual Firebrand applies a Magic debuff to 2 players, avoid the circles it drops and use a Magic dispels as needed
Umbral Shadowbinder
- Shrink channels into a random player, use an interrupt or CC to stop the cast
- Shadow Burst targets a random player, spread out to avoid cleaving allies
Muro’jin and Nekraxx Boss Fight
Make sure to split damage between the bosses, as Muro’jin will cast Revive Pet when Nekraxx dies, and Nekraxx will gain stacks of Bestial Wrath when Muro’jin dies.
Avoid the Freezing Traps unless you are targeted by Carrion Swoop, as Nekraxx will be stunned if she hits an ice block. All other players will want to avoid being in the path of this attack.
Tanks use a defensive or Bleed Cleanse on Flanking Spear, don’t get knocked into a Freezing Trap, and be ready to move the bosses together so you can continue to cleave them.
Prioritize dispels on the Infected Pinions disease debuff to reduce group damage and avoid the circles created by Fetid Quillstorm.
Stand still if targeted by Barrage to allow other players to avoid the frontal channel and stacking Magic slow it applies.
Vordaza Trash
Grim Skirmisher
- If possible stagger purges on the Grim Ward Magic shield these mobs have, just try not to break too many at once as they do deal a moderate hit of group damage on removal
Restless Gnarldin
- This mob is immune to CC
- Healers beware that this mob also deals AoE shadow damage on its melee swings thanks to the Spectral Strikes passive
- Staggering Blow targets the tank, be ready with defensives as needed
- Avoid the circle and puddle created by Ancestral Crush
Reanimated Warrior
- Tanks beware of the stacking damage increase these mobs gain after using the Dread Slash tank buster and be ready with defensives near the end of pulls
- Use an interrupt or CC to stop the Reanimation channel
Tormented Shade
- Spirit Rend targets a random player, use interrupts on as many casts as possible, and use Magic dispels to remove the DoT applied by successful casts
Bound Defender
- This mob is immune to CC
- Healers beware that this mob also deals AoE shadow damage on its melee swings thanks to the Spectral Strikes passive
- Avoid the Soulstorms that rotate around the mob
- Tanks make sure to point the mob away from your group to prevent Vigilant Defense from reflecting their attacks
In this initial room you enter you’ll notice several Lost Souls pathing away from an altar, deeper into the dungeon. While these souls can’t be engaged, they will explode upon contact with a player, dealing shadow damage and rooting them with Cries of the Fallen, so do your best to avoid them.
You’ll also notice that the exit to this initial room is sealed, requiring you to defeat a mini boss in order to progress further.
Rokh'zal
- This mob is immune to CC
- Ritual Sacrifice targets a random player and roots them on the nearby altar, use a freedom effect or destroy the shackles holding them to end the effect
- Fight the pull effect and avoid the AoE from Invoke Shadow
Hollow Soulrender
- This mob is immune to CC
- Shadowfrost Blast targets the tank, use any spare interrupts on this
- Avoid any nearby Lost Souls during the Rend Souls channel as it will cause them to explode
- Move away from allies if targeted by Frost Nova and use a Magic dispel to remove the root, or use a freedom effect to immune the hit entirely
Gloomwing Bat
- Piercing Screech shoots a line towards the tank, ideally use interrupts to prevent this cast, but tanks should make sure to point them away from the rest of the group in case a cast goes off
Vordaza Boss Fight
Kite the mobs created by Wrest Phantoms such that they collide with each other to explode, but make sure to stagger these collisions so that your healer has time to top your group between them. These adds can be CC’d so use those as needed to control them.
Tanks use a defensive for the Drain Soul channel, while all players should be ready to avoid the Unmake frontal sweep.
Save damage for the Necrotic Convergence channel so you can quickly destroy the shield and interrupt the cast.
Rak’tul, Vessel of Souls Trash
After defeating Vordaza you’ll need to cross a bridge to reach the final boss, which is filled with mobs that you’ve already encountered. That being said, there is a single new mini boss at the far end of the bridge that makes traversing it much more difficult, as orbs of shadow will continuously bounce down the length of it until you’ve defeated him, dealing heavy damage and knocking back anyone hit, so make sure you avoid these as you make your way to Rak’tul.
Zil'jan
- This mob is immune to CC
- All this mini boss does is channel Ritual Drums, dealing heavy pulsing sonic damage to players within 70yds while also sending orbs of shadow bouncing down the bridge below
Rak’tul, Vessel of Souls Boss Fight
Healers beware of the passive damage from Deathgorged Vessel while all players watch out for the circles it creates.
Tanks use a defensive and move away from your group during the Spiritbreaker combo attack as it drops a large puddle underneath you. At the same time be ready with mobility skills or use the braziers at the front of the arena to mitigate the knockback this does.
Crush Souls targets 3 players and drops a Soulbind Totem underneath them with a small AoE hit. Try and drop these close together without cleaving your allies, then focus these totems down as they channel Soulbind into random players, pulling them in at the same time.
Soulrending Roar sends players down to the bridge where they have to run through a gauntlet to get back to the boss arena. Withering Soul deals increasing damage so make sure you do this quickly. Avoid the Lost Souls as they will root you with Cries Of The Fallen, and make sure to use an interrupt or CC the 6 Malignant Souls to gain the stacking Spectral Residue buff.
