Aggramar Strategy/Tactics for Normal/Heroic

Table of Contents

• +Introduction
  • 1. Contents
  • 2. Lore
  • 3. Outline
  • 4. TL;DR
    • 4.1. Tanks
    • 4.2. Healers
    • 4.3. DPS
    • 4.4. Everyone
    • 4.5. Positioning
  • 5. Bloodlust/Heroism/Time Warp
  • 6. Changelog
• +Abilities
  • 1. Overview
  • 2. Phase One: Wrath of Aggramar
    • 2.1. Taeshalach's Reach
    • 2.2. Scorching Blaze
    • 2.3. Wake of Flame
    • 2.4. Taeshalach Technique
      • 2.4.1. Foe Breaker
      • 2.4.2. Flame Rend
      • 2.4.3. Searing Tempest
  • 3. Intermission One: Fires of Taeshalach
    • 3.1. Corrupt Aegis
    • 3.2. Meteor Swarm
    • 3.3. Flames of Taeshalach
      • 3.3.1. Catalyzing Presence
      • 3.3.2. Unchecked Flame
    • 3.4. Embers of Taeshalach
      • 3.4.1. Wrought in Flame
      • 3.4.2. Blazing Eruption
      • 3.4.3. Molten Remnants (Heroic+ only)
  • 4. Phase Two: Champion of Sargeras
    • 4.1. Returning Abilities
    • 4.2. Flare
  • 5. Intermission Two: Taeshalach's Rage
    • 5.1. Returning Abilities
  • 6. Phase Three: The Avenger
    • 6.1. Returning Abilities
    • 6.2. Empowered Flare
• ×Normal/Heroic Strategy/Tactics
  • 1. Positioning
    • 1.1. Phase One
    • 1.2. Intermission One
    • 1.3. Phase Two
    • 1.4. Intermission Two
    • 1.5. Phase Three
  • 2. Tank Concerns
  • 3. Healing Concerns
  • 4. Bloodlust/Heroism/Time Warp
• +Mythic Strategy
  • 1. Mythic Mode Abilities
    • 1.1. Ravenous Blaze
    • 1.2. Empowered Taeshalach Technique
      • 1.2.1. Empowered Flame Rend
      • 1.2.2. Empowered Searing Tempest
      • 1.2.3. Empowered Foe Breaker
    • 1.3. Catalyzed
  • 2. Strategy and Positioning
    • 2.1. Phase One
    • 2.2. Intermission One
    • 2.3. Phase Two
    • 2.4. Intermission Two
    • 2.5. Phase Three
  • 3. Bloodlust/Heroism/Time Warp
  • 4. Changelog

General Information

On this page, you will find a working strategy to defeat Aggramar in Antorus, the Burning Throne for both Normal and Heroic modes, which usually only differ by the tuning of the boss.

Here, we assume that you have read our descriptions of the abilities for this encounter.

The other pages of our Aggramar guide can be accessed from the table of contents on the right.

Aggramar stands at the center of a circular platform. He should be tanked facing away from the entrance, with both Tanks superimposed over each other. Should the Tanks ever need to move, they should ensure that they stick close together, else a melee DPS might be killed by Taeshalach's Reach.

The rest of the raid will form a loose spread behind the boss, ensuring there is no unnecessary damage from Scorching Blaze.

When the Wake of Flame spawns, all players should take note of the spawn point and figure out the path of the individual wakes, moving appropriately to avoid being hit. Wakes are most lethal at mid-range, as it is easy to sidestep all 5 wakes at point blank range or squeeze between them at long range.

Taeshalach Technique is the focal point of the raid's positioning and movement. During the Foe Breaker portion of the technique, Aggramar must be faced away from the group by the Tanks. It is also important only 1 of the Tanks eats the damage from Foe Breaker.

During the Flame Rend portion of Taeshalach Technique, Aggramar must be faced towards the raid, who should ensure they are all within the large frontal cone of the rend. Stay away from the edge of the platform during this time, as there is a risk of being knocked off.

Searing Tempest is the easiest and most telegraphed part of the Taeshalach Technique. When Searing Tempest is cast, the raid should all vacate the large circle before the cast ends, then resume the encounter as normal.

Each of the tanks should immediately pick up a Flame of Taeshalach. One Flame should be designated as the priority kill target and eliminated immediately by the raid. The Embers of Taeshalach should be slowed, snared, or put under hard Crowd Control while this is taking place. Multi-DoT classes can also apply their DoTs to the Embers that are not being put under hard Crowd Control.

On Heroic difficulty, the Embers require somewhat greater finesse. Due to Molten Remnants, the Embers never truly "die" until they reach Aggramar and trigger Blazing Eruption. The raid must therefore strategically eliminate and/or rotate Crowd Control on the Embers, allowing only a single ember, or a small number (with cooldowns), to reach Aggramar at a time. The raid must then wait another 15 seconds for the debuff to drop before letting (an)other Ember(s) detonate.

The raid will adopt the same positioning as in Phase One. The main difference in Phase Two is the inclusion of the Flare mechanic. Wake of Flame is not present in Phase Two. There are two acceptable ways of dealing with Flare; the "spread and stack" method and the "stack and sidestep" method. The first method involves spreading out before each Flare cast. This spreads out the Flares and lessens the chance of multiple players being hit. The raid will need to re-stack for the upcoming Flame Rends, however, making this method heavy on raid movement.

Alternatively, the group can stay in their normal positions and have the group sidestep the Flares when they appear. This requires less overall movement, however it increases the risk of an individual making a mistake, as there will be many players avoiding the same Flares. This strategy is better for groups that are confident in their players and their coordination, while the first strategy is best at minimizing risk at the expense of efficiency.

This intermission is identical to Intermission One except the raid will now have to avoid periodic casts of Wake of Flame from Aggramar. The Wakes function similarly to Phase One, with the point of origin being in front of Aggramar (the center of the platform), and radiating outward in a random direction. The raid should take care to avoid being hit by a Wake at all costs in this phase, as the raid damage is already high and Blazing Eruptions will be going off frequently.

The raid will adopt the same positioning as in Phases One and Two. Flare has been upgraded to Empowered Flare. Either strategy for dealing with Flares (as described in the Phase Two section) can be employed, with one caveat; the entire raid should get at least 15-30 yards from the Empowered Flares, or sidestep entirely. This is because each will spawn a Wake of Flame when it detonates, that radiates out from each detonation. This is the only unique mechanic in Phase Three, however it makes the phase extremely hectic and it is only a matter of time until players begin to get hit by Wakes.

The main recommendation for Phase Three is to be liberal with movement speed, personal, and healing cooldowns. Any time group movement, such as Stampeding Roar, can be employed to avoid Empowered Flares, it should be made use of. Personal defensive cooldowns are a great asset to give you some extra insurance, especially if you will be clipped by a Wake of Flame. Healers should have throughput cooldowns at their fingertips to stabilize the raid when necessary.

During Aggramar's active phases, the Tanks need be most concerned each time Taeshalach Technique is cast. Foe Breaker must always be faced away from the group, or else most of the raid will be instantly killed. Strong active mitigation or a cooldown should be used for each Foe Breaker, as it hits very hard.

Flame Rend, on the other hand, should always be faced towards the raid, as the Fire damage is evenly split among all targets struck.

The Flame of Taeshalach adds that must be tanked in the Intermission phases do not present much of a threat unless under the influence of their Catalyzing Presence. If this is the case, they should be separated to a minimum distance of 15 yards immediately.

The main concerns for Healers are during the Intermission phases. The Flame of Taeshalach adds inflict increasing Fire damage to the raid as long as they are alive. The ticking damage, combined with the frequent damage from Blazing Eruption, puts the raid in an unstable state that may require cooldowns to stabilize.

During Phase Three, the Healers should be ready to deploy cooldowns after an Empowered Flare, particularly if a Flame Rend is coming very soon (or came right before). There are not a lot of instant kill mechanics on Aggramar, however there are a plethora of combinations that can sneak up on the raid and result in deaths.

We advise you to use Bloodlust/ Heroism/ Time Warp in either Phase Three or the Second Intermission phase, based on whatever is causing you more problems. There are pros and cons to either choice; there is high DPS efficiency in using it during the final phase, but the Second Intermission has the most moving parts of any phase.