Introduction
Hey everyone, and welcome to the Siege of Boralus dungeon guide for season 1 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/EXtnO5vvp
Note that, regardless of your faction, all groups will be doing the Alliance version of this dungeon on M+ difficulty.
Video Guide
Chopper Redhook Trash
Scrimshaw Gutter
- Tooth Breaker targets the tank, reducing their haste by 15% for 10s
Scrimshaw Enforcer
- Tanks point the Slobber Knocker frontal away from your group and step out of the effect
- Make sure to stop casting before the Shattering Bellow AoE hit finishes
Blacktar Bomber
- Avoid the random target swirly and puddle from Burning Tar
- Be aware of the random target damage from Fire Bomb
Irontide Waveshaper
- Use an interrupt on the Watertight Shell cast, or purge the Magic buff if you can
- Use spare interrupts on the random target Brackish Bolt casts
Irontide Raider
- This mob is immune to CC
- Iron Hook pulls all players in, be ready to run out to avoid the Savage Tempest AoE
Riptide Shredder
- Iron Ambush targets a random player, be aware of this extra damage
- Singing Steel targets the tank, applying a 10s DoT
Irontide Powdershot
- Be aware of the random target damage from Molten Slug
Chopper Redhook Boss Fight
Instead of meleeing the tank, the boss fixates random players with On the Hook for 20s at a time, gaining 5% movespeed every 2s in the process. If the channel finishes he will pull all players in with Iron Hook, followed by the Gore Crash AoE around himself.
To interrupt the channel and remove his speed buff, kite the boss through one of the Heavy Ordnance bombs, stunning him and increasing his damage taken by 50% for 10s. These bombs remain on the ground for roughly 50s, and if they explode before being soaked they deal heavy damage to the party, so if you aren’t able to have the boss hit all the bombs then have an individual player soak them with a large defensive. Also note that the boss will do his Iron Hook into Gore Crash combo upon this stun ending, before choosing a new target to fixate.
At 75%, 50%, and 25% health the boss will spawn an Irontide Powdershot and an Irontide Cleaver. Tanks pick these up and face the cleavers away from your party so they don’t need to avoid the Heavy Slash line attack, but make sure you step out of the effect yourself.
Dread Captain Lockwood Trash
Irontide Curseblade
- Cursed Slash targets the tank, dispel the Curse debuff as often as possible
Ashvane Commander
- This mob is immune to CC
- Use an interrupt on the Bolstering Shout cast, or purge the Magic buffs if you can
- Azerite Charge targets a random player, move away from others and use a defensive if needed
There is a small event in this area and after the 2nd boss where several mobs will fire at the group, dealing heavy damage to anyone within line of sight before reloading. Make your way to the pack between rounds to end this effect.
Ashvane Spotter
- This mob is immune to CC
- Keep snare or root effects on this mob to prevent it from trying to disengage via Bounding Retreat
- Sighted Artillery spawns circles underneath a random player over 6s, keep these away from your group
Ashvane Deckhand
- Crimson Swipe targets the tank, beware of the damage taken increase it applies
Ashvane Cannoneer
- This mob is immune to CC
- Tanks point the Broadside frontal away from your group and step out of the effect
Dread Captain Lockwood Boss Fight
Like the Spotter mobs earlier in the dungeon, you’ll want to keep a snare or root effect on the boss at all times to prevent her from jumping around the room thanks to Evasive.
If the boss has no melee target to hit she will use Gut Shot on a random player, focus heal the target and use a defensive if needed.
Tanks make sure to face the boss away from your group for the Clear the Deck frontal and step out of the effect yourself.
Fiery Ricochet targets a random player and bounces to 3 random players, applying a DoT to anyone hit. Use defensives as needed and heal through this group damage.
Mass Bombardment spawns circles under all players every 2s for 6s. Melee should group up and move together to conserve space whereas range can play wherever as long as they aren’t cutting other players off. To minimize required movement, you can stack up 2 circles on top of each other and then quickly move out to avoid both hits.
At 66% and 33% HP the boss jumps away to the boat, spawning 2 Deckhands and 1 Cannoneer mob, the same as the ones from earlier in the dungeon, while the boss shoots Dread Volley swirlies in waves across the platform that you need to avoid. After killing the Cannoneer, have someone pick up the Unstable Ordnance on the ground and use their extra action button to bring the boss back to the platform.
Hadal Darkfathom Trash
Bilge Rat Demolisher
- This mob is immune to CC
- Crushing Slam deals damage to all players, use defensives as needed
- Terrifying Roar fears players around the mob, run out of this effect
Bilge Rat Pillager
- Stinky Vomit targets a random player, interrupt the cast or dispel the Disease DoT it applies
Bilge Rat Buccaneer
- Avoid the Banana Rampage AoE around the mob as well as the banana spawned near a random player
Bilge Rat Tempest
- Choking Waters targets a random player, interrupt the cast or dispel the Magic DoT and silence it applies
- Use spare interrupts on the random target Water Bolt casts
Bilge Rat Cutthroat
- Rotting Wounds targets the tank, dispel the disease debuff as often as possible
Ashvane Sniper
- Shoot and Ricochet target random players, use a defensive or move out of line of sight if targeted by multiple Snipers
Ashvane Destroyer
- Occasionally gains the Ferocity buff, use a soothe to remove it
Ashvane Invader
- Occasionally gains the Stinging Venom buff, tanks be aware and dispel the Poison DoT on them as often as possible
Hadal Darkfathom Boss Fight
Avoid the Break Water swirlies spawned under non-tank players. You’ll want to position away from the statue in the middle of the room as these also drop puddles on the ground, limiting your space.
The statue is important as the boss will cast Tidal Surge at full energy, causing waves to spawn on one side of the room and sweep across it, dealing lethal damage to anyone hit. If you position such that the statue is between you and the wave, you instead take no damage, so it’s important you leave space to hide. A second set of waves spawn 4s after the first, so be prepared to avoid this immediately after dodging the initial waves.
Tanks make sure to face the boss away from your group for the Crashing Tide line attack and step out of it yourself.
Viq'Goth Boss Fight
To defeat the boss you need to shoot all 3 Cannons, which can only be repaired by freeing a nearby engineer trapped by a Gripping Terror mob. Cannons can only be fired if all tentacles on a platform are defeated, so you’ll want to make sure you are damaging both. Every time a cannon is fired the boss uses Eradication on it, so be sure the player shooting it quickly leaves after doing so.
Putrid Waters will debuff 2 random players with a 30s Magic DoT that does an 8yd AoE hit and knockback when dispelled. Move away from your allies so that you can be dispelled without hitting them. Since most groups only have one Magic dispel, the player who doesn’t get dispelled initially should use a defensive.
Avoid the Call of the Deep swirlies the boss occasionally shoots across your current platform.
Tanks be sure to always be in melee of any Demolishing Terrors as they will use Hull Cracker if no one is in melee. Outside of this, the mobs also do a raid hit and knockback in Slam, so make sure players are topped and position yourself accordingly to not be knocked into swirlies or debuffed players.
In general, I recommend killing the Demolishing Terror first followed by the Gripping Terror, as this gets rid of the additional party damage from Slam making it easier to survive.