Darkflame Cleft Dungeon Guide: Location, Boss Strategies, and Trash
This page will cover everything you need to know about the Darkflame Cleft Dungeon in the War Within Expansion, including strategies for events, trash, and bosses.
Getting into Darkflame Cleft
Darkflame Cleft is a max-level dungeon located on The Ringing Deeps, Khaz Algar.
Darkflame Cleft Location
This guide will be an extensive overview of the dungeon, providing vital information on how to complete it across all difficulties. We will cover all 4 Boss fights, as well as the most notable trash enemies in the dungeon and their important abilities. If you would like to learn about the rest of the dungeons in The War Within Season 1, please see our overviews linked below. Otherwise, without further ado, let us begin!
Darkflame Cleft Layout
Ol' Waxbeard + Trash Mobs in the Area
Notable Trash Before Ol' Waxbeard
- Your tank must pay attention to the stackable Crude Weapons's Bleed effect coming from Menial Laborer.
- Run away from Rank Overseer's Wild Wallop. Be mindful of the number of mobs you are pulling with him due to his Overpowering Roar buff to nearby enemies.
- Interrupt Wicklighter Bolt coming from Royal Wicklighter.
- Lowly Moleherd is the only static mob in this area, making him hard to group on top of the existing pack. They will Throw Rock on random members of your party and Enrage any nearby Pack Moles with Mole Frenzy.
- Speaking about Pack Moles, they will be harmless outside of their Nasty Nibble Disease debuff on your tank.
Ol' Waxbeard Guide
All Roles
- Dodge the Reckless Charge and its follow-up effect - Cave-In. Both of those abilities are fatal to Menial Laborers.
- When Ol' Waxbeard casts 'Kol'-to-Arms, avoid being hit by the High Speed Collision minecart.
- When Underhanded Track-tics is being cast, focus on the dynamite laden cart before it explodes and wipes your team.
Tank
- Use your active mitigation when Ol' Waxbeard is casting Rock Buster on you.
- Gather all Menial Laborers under the boss to enable your party to effectively cleave them.
Healer
- Use your healing cooldowns when Luring Candleflame is cast.
Blazikon + Trash Mobs in the Area
Notable Trash Before Blazikon
- Step away from the Surging Wax AoE ability and use defensives when Quenching Blast is cast (it does group-wide damage).
- Interrupt Blazing Fiend's Explosive Flame cast.
Blazikon Guide
All Roles
- Avoid being hit by the ground fire swirlies coming from Wicklighter Barrage.
- Don't stay in fire patches coming from Incite Flames.
- When Blazikon reaches 100 energy, he will begin to cast, Enkindling Inferno, make sure to stay in the safe spot to avoid further damage.
- If you are being targeted by Extinguishing Gust, avoid being hit.
Tank
- Make sure to be present in melee at all times to avoid Blazikon from casting Blazing Storms.
Healer
- Make sure everyone is healthy before each Dousing Breath cast as it does group-wide damage.
The Candle King + Trash Mobs in the Area
Notable Trash Before The Candle King
- Interrupt Kobold Flametender's Flame Bolt.
- Use defensive when Torchsnarl targets you with One-Hand Headlock.
- Avoid the Ceaseless Flame frontal from Sootsnout and interrupt as many Candleflame Bolts as you can.
The Candle King Boss Guide
All Roles
- The whole fight evolves around Eerie Molds; the longer they stay active the more damage your party will take. It is your goal to destroy as many of them as possible when the boss targets you with either Darkflame Pickaxe or Throw Darkflame. Make sure to avoid the Molten Wax lingering ichor once you destroy them!
- Don't stay too close to the wax statues, otherwise you will trigger the Cursed Wax effect.
- Interrupt The Candle King's Paranoid Mind at all times.
Tank
- Move the The Candle King away from any existing Molten Wax lingering ground ichors.
Healer
- If multiple wax statues live for a long time, you will have to use your major cooldowns to keep your team alive!
The Darkness + Trash Mobs in the Area
Notable Trash Before The Darkness
Once you defeat Blazikon, you will trigger the Push the Cart event, which will introduce you to the basics you need to defeat the final boss of the dungeon - The Darkness. Collect any nearby lights to keep the cart pushing to its final destination.
Cart Event
- Move away from the Skittering Darkness's Suffocating Darkness, triggering upon their death.
- Use your disturb effects to stop Shuffling Horror from draining the candle life out of your cart with Drain Light.
Before engaging the boss, you will do a final event dropping its health by throwing dynamite at him. The more accurate you are, the lower the health it will be at its final stage before engaging him.
The Darkness Boss Guide
The whole boss fight relies on you managing the Candlelight by doing your best to avoid it being hit by any of the boss's abilities. This way, you don't need to refresh its duration as often and spend your time actively damaging the boss, who dies at 45% HP.
All Roles
- Make sure to be close to the Candlelight to avoid having Smothering Shadows debuff. Once the Candlelight is depleted, your party will suffer from Rising Gloom.
- If you are targeted by Shadowblast, use a defensive and move away from your group to avoid "clipping" them.
- Use your special action button to move away the Candlelight when The Darkness is casting Umbral Slash.
- Avoid being hit by the waves coming from Eternal Darkness.
- Interrupt Call Darkspawn cast as quickly as you can.
Tank
- Gather any existing Wriggling Darkspawns and stack them under the boss.
Healer
- Be proactive at helping your team recharge the Candlelight.
Darkflame Cleft Loot Table
Ol'Waxbeard
Type | Item | Stats |
---|---|---|
1H Axe | Rail Rider's Bisector | Str, Mastery/Vers |
Off-Hand | Arcane Scuttle | Vers/Crit |
Mail Shoulder | Mole Knight's Grimemail | Vers/Haste |
Ring | Wick's Golden Loop | Haste/Vers |
Trinket | Conductor's Wax Whistle | Agi |
Blazikon
Type | Item | Stats |
---|---|---|
Plate Head | Waxsteel Greathelm | Haste/Vers |
Neck | Flickering Glowtorc | Mastery/Crit |
Cloth Wrist | Gleamwax Shackles | Mastery/Crit |
Leather Hands | Shimmering Glimclaws | Haste/Mastery |
Mail Waist | Scent-Strong Candlecord | Haste/Vers |
Trinket | Carved Blazikon Wax | Int |
The Candle King
Type | Item | Stats |
---|---|---|
1H Axe | Dark Zone Headtaker | Mastery/Crit |
Back | Candlebearer's Shroud | Vers/Crit |
Cloth Hands | King's Malicious Clutches | Crit/Haste |
Leather Waist | Gleamkeeper's Buckle | Crit/Mastery |
Mail Feet | Gloomstomper's Sabatons | Mastery/Haste |
Trinket | Burin of the Candle King | Int |
The Darkness
Type | Item | Stats |
---|---|---|
Polearm | Poleaxe of Somber Fate | Mastery/Haste |
Dagger | Crepuscular Carver | Mastery/Haste |
Mail Head | Gloaming Visage | Mastery/Vers |
Cloth Shoulder | Photophobic Amice | Vers/Mastery |
Plate Hands | Caliginous Claspers | Vers/Haste |
Trinket | Remnant of Darkness | Special effects |
Rare Mount | Wick's Lead | - |
Darkflame Cleft Achievements
There are 4 total achievements to obtain in Darkflame Cleft:
Achievement | Criteria |
---|---|
Darkflame Cleft | Defeat The Darkness in Darkflame Cleft. |
Heroic: Darkflame Cleft | Defeat The Darkness in Darkflame Cleft on Heroic difficulty or higher. |
Mythic: Darkflame Cleft | Defeat The Darkness in Darkflame Cleft on Mythic or Mythic Keystone difficulty. |
Keystone Hero: Darkflame Cleft | Complete Darkflame Cleft at Mythic Level 10 or higher, within the time limit. |
Changelog
- 20 Oct. 2024: Reviewed and update for 11.0.5 Patch.
- 03 Aug. 2024: Page added.
This guide has been written by Petko, one of the top Mythic players of all time. He has accomplished several Europe- and World #1 Team and Solo Seasonal rankings with multiple specialization and classes. Moreover, he competes in the MDI and streams his runs live on Twitch, and shares his personal opinions on YouTube and Twitter.
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