Drest'agath Tactics and Strategy guide

Before you start reading the strategy, we advise you to look at the abilities of Wrathion, in our encounter journal pages.

• This is a single-phase fight during which you need to handle the boss and many waves of different types of adds.
• The boss is stationary in the center of the room, and tanks must always be in range.
• Drest'agath has a number of abilities, some of which are mirrored by some of the adds each time the boss casts them.

• Tank the boss in the center of the room. He is stationary so make sure to always be in range of him, or else he will attack someone else.
• Perform a tank swap for each Volatile Seed cast; the player with the debuff must go and stand near adds when it expires, in order to debuff them.

• Beware in particular to the high raid-wide damage that happens when the boss casts Throes of Agony at 100 Agony; each add type also uses an avoidable damaging ability at this time, so additional players may take extra damage.
• When Entropic Crash is used, there is raid-wide damage, the lower the farther each player is from Drest'agath and any Tentacle of Drest'agath adds that are alive.
• Top off and dispel players affected by Unleashed Insanity.
• On Heroic mode, a healer should be designated to enter the Void Miasma cloud near Tentacle of Drest'agath adds to heal any players inside the cloud; the cloud blocks line of sight into and out of it, and deals damage to anyone inside.

• Only DPS the boss if you have taken a Void Infused Ichor orb (and only take them when you are ready to DPS the boss).
  • On Heroic mode, you cannot take an orb for 1 minute after having taken one, so more of the raid's DPS players will have to rotate taking these orbs.
• DPS and kill the adds to avoid being overwhelmed. Melee DPS players should avoid getting near to/DPSing the Maw of Drest'agath adds and should instead focus on the other types.

• Use the visual clues to avoid damage from Void Glare, Crushing Slam, Reality Tear, Falling Gore, and Spine Eruption.
• Move away from the boss and any Tentacle of Drest'agath adds when Entropic Crash is being cast.
• If affected by Mutterings of Insanity, move more than 12 yards away from any other players.
• Interrupt the Eye of Drest'agath's Mind Flay casts as often as possible.
• When around the Maw of Drest'agath, spread out at least 4 yards apart.
• On Heroic mode, do not enter the Void Miasma around the Tentacle of Drest'agath adds unless accompanied by a healer and instructed to do so.
• On Heroic mode, do not be within 10 yards of any Maw of Drest'agath adds long enough for the Mutterings of Betrayal debuff to reach 4 stacks.

As stated, this is a single-phase fight that does not really change as it progresses. Check out our dedicated Drest'agath Encounter Journal page to see a full list of the abilities used by the boss and the adds during this fight.

Generally speaking, the strategy the fight relies on successfully avoiding all the abilities used by the boss and his adds, killing the waves of adds, and having your DPS players pick up the Void Infused Ichor orbs and use them to damage Drest'agath (so that he cannot regenerate the health). Note that in Heroic mode, players who take these orbs cannot use them again for 1 minute, which means you will need to employ a rotation.

Drest'agath is stationary in the center of the room, so this is where he needs to be tanked. It is important that the boss's tank always be in melee range, as otherwise the boss will lash out and attack (and probably kill) any other player who is in his melee range. Moreover, if no one at all is in the boss's melee range, he will choose a random raid member and pull them into melee range (and then attack them).

The tanks should perform a swap for each cast of Volatile Seed, and the tank who has the debuff should move near tentacle adds when the debuff expires, so as to inflict Volatile Corruption on them.

None of the adds need to be tanked.

The rest of the fight revolves around not taking damage from the many abilities the boss and adds use at various times. Most of these can be avoided either by avoiding the visual effects or by correct pre-positioning.

• At 100 Agony, the boss casts Throes of Agony; this raid-wide damage cannot be avoided and must be healed through. On each Throes of Agony cast, each add type will use an ability ( Reality Tear, Falling Gore, and Spine Eruption), and all 3 have visual effects that let you avoid them.
• Drest'agath has 3 abilities each of the casts of which are mirrored by a type of add.
  • Entropic Crash deals raid-wide damage that is lower the farther away players are from Drest'agath. The Tentacle of Drest'agath adds also cast this at the same time. When this ability happens, all raid members should aim to be as far away as possible from all the sources of damage.
  • Void Glare causes the boss to face a random raid member and 3 seconds later fire a damaging beam at that location for 4 seconds. The Eye of Drest'agath adds also cast this when the boss does, each choosing their own target. Simply make sure to move out of the path of the beams before they begin firing.
  • Mutterings of Insanity is mirrored by the Maw of Drest'agath adds. Ideally, all affected players should move more than 12 yards away from other players in the 5-second duration of the debuff. Once the Unleashed Insanity triggers and the players are stunned, they should be dispelled by the healers. If any player is having trouble moving away from others before the 5-second debuff expires, players around them should move away instead.
• The Tentacle of Drest'agath's Crushing Slam is used frequently and should simply be avoided.
• The Eye of Drest'agath's Mind Flay should be interrupted as often as possible, and otherwise simply healed through.
• The Maw of Drest'agath's Acid Splash must be healed through, but players around these adds need to be spread out at least 4 yards apart to minimise its damage.

In general, melee players should stay away from the Maw of Drest'agath adds, as they are ill-suited to deal with these adds.

We recommend using Heroism/ Bloodlust/ Time Warp at the start of the fight.

In Heroic mode, the Tentacle of Drest'agath adds gain a cloud around them that blocks line of sight into and out of it, and also deals moderate damage to any players inside the cloud. Our recommendation is to have a healer enter the cloud, together, with a few melee DPS players, and simply kill the adds quickly.

The Maw of Drest'agath adds' Mutterings of Betrayal further make life hard for melee DPS players, so there is even less reason for them to attack these adds. Moreover, any ranged players or healers should make sure not to spend too much time within 10 yards of the Maws, or else they risk becoming Betrayed.