Kargath Bladefist Detailed Strategy Guide (Heroic+Mythic Modes included)

This guide is intended to provide a comprehensive description of the encounter with Kargath Bladefist in Highmaul. It is targeted at anyone who desires to understand the fight mechanics.

This guide is updated for World of Warcraft WoD 6.1.2.

Kargath Bladefist is the first boss in the Highmaul raid instance. The encounter requires that your raid deal with both Kargath and the several ads he summons, mostly putting a strain on your DPS players. The fight will act as an initial gear check for your raid.

General Information

1.1.

Normal, Heroic, and Mythic Difficulty

This main part of this guide covers both the Normal and Heroic versions of the encounter, as far as mechanics and general strategy is concerned. The only difference between these two modes is found in the tuning, with Heroic being more difficult.

When we speak of extreme situations (such as the difficulty of a soft enrage timer, or damage from a certain source being too high to survive), we mostly refer to Heroic mode.

In addition to this, we have a specific Mythic mode section, where we present all the differences between Normal/Heroic and Mythic, as well as the strategy to defeat the Mythic encounter.

1.2.

Enrage Timer

We do not know what the hard enrage timer of this fight is on Heroic or Mythic difficulty. On Normal, it appears to be 10 minutes. There are no soft enrage mechanics present.

Loot

In this section, you will find the loot table for Kar'gath. The section is divided in 3 subsections: armor, weapons, and the rest (neck, back, finger, and trinket items).

2.1.

Armor

Item Name	Armor	Slot	Secondary Stats
Vilebreath Mask (Heroic, Mythic)	Cloth	Head	Mastery Multistrike
Spectator's Sandals of Carnage	Cloth	Feet	Critical Strike Haste
Chestguard of the Roaring Crowd (Heroic, Mythic)	Leather	Chest	Haste Versatility
Throat-Ripper Gauntlets (Heroic, Mythic)	Leather	Hands	Versatility Mastery
Firewalker's Treads	Leather	Feet	Critical Strike Mastery
Bracer of Amputation	Mail	Wrists	Critical Strike Versatility
Grips of Vicious Mauling (Heroic, Mythic)	Mail	Hands	Critical Strike Haste
Casque of the Iron Bomber (Heroic, Mythic)	Plate	Head	Haste Versatility
Iron Bomb Spaulders	Plate	Shoulders	Versatility Mastery
Treads of Sand and Blood (Heroic, Mythic)	Mail	Feet	Versatility Mastery

2.2.

Weapons

Item Name	Type	Main Stats	Secondary Stats
Bileslinger's Censer (Heroic, Mythic)	OH Frill	Intellect	Critical Strike Haste
Blade Dancer's Claws	Fist Weapon	Agility	Critical Strike Mastery
The Bladefist (Heroic, Mythic)	Fist Weapon	Agility	Critical Strike Versatility

2.3.

Amulets, Cloaks, Rings, and Trinkets

Item Name	Type	Main Stats	Secondary Stats
Champion's Medallion (Heroic, Mythic)	Amulet	Intellect	Spirit Haste
Flamescarred Drape	Cloak	Agility Strength	Critical Strike Bonus Armor
Fireproof Greatcloak (Heroic, Mythic)	Cloak	Agility Strength	Mastery Bonus Armor
Kargath's Last Link (Heroic, Mythic)	Ring	Intellect	Critical Strike Mastery
Grunt's Solid Signet (Heroic, Mythic)	Ring	Strength	Critical Strike Haste
Grunt's Rusty Ring	Ring	Strength	Critical Strike Haste
Bloodmaw's Tooth	Trinket	Agility	Critical Strike

Summing Things Up

In this section, we will very briefly summarise what the players belonging to each of the three roles have to do during this fight. This is by no means meant to provide sufficient information to master the encounter, and it is only supposed to give you a very rough idea of what to watch out for.

3.1.

Tanks

Tank Kargath away from Fire Pillar and Ravenous Bloodmaws.
Perform a tank switch for every Impale cast. Make sure to have an active defensive cooldown for each Impale you go through.
If in the stands, make sure to pick up any adds present there, and face the Drunken Bileslingers away from other raid members.

3.2.

Healers

Beware of intense tank damage whenever Impale is being cast, and be prepared to use a defensive cooldown on the tank.
Be prepared to heal damage on random raid members during Blade Dance, and increasing damage on random raid members as more Iron Bombers are present in the stands.
Be sure to stand away from Kargath, and to be somewhat spread out.
If in the stands, be prepared for unpredictable damage on the other players who are in the stands, especially on the tanks who will sometimes by stunned.
In Mythic mode, beware of extra raid damage from players who are hit by Flame Gout while there are active Fire Pillars.

3.3.

DPS

Ranged DPS should make sure to stand away from Kargath, and to be somewhat spread out.
If in the stands, kill as many adds as possible, ideally prioritising Drunken Bileslingers.
In Mythic mode, ranged DPS players should switch to and kill any Ravenous Bloodmaws that leave their pits.

3.4.

Everyone

Keep an eye on where the active Fire Pillars are, and if you are chased by Kargath during Berserker Rush, kite him into one of them to stop the chase. Tanks do not need to worry about this.
Move out of Kargath's path when he is casting Berserker Rush.
Make sure not to be close to Kargath at the end of his Chain Hurl, unless you are assigned to being sent up into to the stands, in which case be sure to be as close to him as possible.
Make sure not to get knocked back into the Ravenous Bloodmaws (particularly by Chain Hurl).
In Mythic mode
- If fixated on by Kargath during Berserker Rush, kite him for as long as possible without bringing him in range of a Fire Pillar.
- If fixated on by a Ravenous Bloodmaw, kite it in range of a Fire Pillar.
- Avoid being hit by Flame Gout (the areas about to be hit are indicated with a ground effect).

Overview of the Fight

The encounter against Kargath Bladefist is a single-phase fight. You engage Kargath inside a circular arena. In this encounter, the surroundings play a large part, so we will take the time needed to explain this.

Inside the arena there are two important things to look out for.
- There are 4 pits in the ground, each one containing a deadly, stationary mob. Players who come within range of these mobs (that is to say, who fall in the pit) are instantly killed.
- There are 4 skulls on the ground, each one of them being raised up throughout the fight to turn into a Fire Pillar that constantly deals damage to players in an area around it.
In the stands surrounding the arena, adds will spawn throughout the fight. These adds cannot be attacked from within the arena, but they will cast spells at your raid, hindering your performance. At certain times in the encounter, Kargath will throw the 5 closest raid members to him in the arena's stands.

The Fire Pillars play an important role, because bringing Kargath inside the radius of a Fire Pillar will cause him to interrupt his current cast and smash the Pillar, disabling it. This technique is integral to the fight, as we will see later on in the guide.

Raid members sent up into the arena's stands will have a chance to reduce the number of adds present there.

Aside from all this, the fight is quite simple and straightforward.

We have released a video preview of the encounter against Kargath Bladefist based on our (Heroic) Beta testing. You can watch this video to get a good idea of how the fight works, but keep in mind that some things can still change before the fight goes live.

Abilities

Firstly, we will look at Kargath's abilities, since these are the ones your raid will have to deal with most often (and they are also the most deadly ones). Then, we will look at the abilities of the adds located in the stands of the arena.

5.1.

Kargath Bladefist

Impale is an attack that Kargath uses against his tank. It deals a large amount of Physical damage every second for 8 seconds, and if the target survives, then the Open Wounds debuff is applied to them, causing them to take increased damage from future Impales. The ability is cast roughly every 30 seconds, and it requires a tank switch. The tank on which Impale is being cast is stunned for the 8-second duration.
Blade Dance is an ability that Kargath regularly uses throughout the fight. For 10 seconds, he enters a state where he charges a random raid member every 2 seconds, dealing damage to them and anyone else within 7 yards. The charge is instant and unavoidable, and Kargath prefers ranged raid members provided that enough of them are present.
Berserker Rush is an ability that Kargath regularly uses throughout the fight. He fixates on a random raid member and walks towards them for 20 seconds. While doing so, Kargath damages all enemies located in front of him. Throughout these 20 seconds, his movement speed and his damage done increase every 2 seconds.
Chain Hurl is an ability that Kargath uses roughly every 1 minute and 30 seconds. He jumps to the center of the arena and channels Chain Hurl for 6.5 seconds. At the end of his channel, the closes 5 players to Kargath are thrown up into the stands of the arena. These players can jump back down into the arena whenever they wish, but they cannot spend more than 45 seconds in the stands (after 45 seconds, they are thrown back into the arena).

In addition to these abilities, there are 4 Fire Pillars located around the arena, which you can see on the ground in the form of skulls. These Fire Pillars are normally inactive, but Kargath will activate one every 20 seconds, raising it up from the ground and causing it to deal Fire damage in an 8-yard radius around it. If Kargath is brought inside the radius of an active Fire Pillar, he will smash it and deactivate it. When this happens, Kargath will stop doing whatever else he was doing at the time, although this is only of importance with regard to Berserker Rush Icon Berserker Rush. Any raid members who are within 8 yards of a Fire Pillar when Kargath smashes it are knocked back.

Finally, there are also 4 pits inside the arena, each one containing a stationary Ravenous Bloodmaw that kills raid members who come within its melee range. The Ravenous Bloodmaws cannot be targeted, damaged, or killed.

5.2.

Adds

There are three types of adds that appear in the stands of the arena, each with their own abilities.

Drunken Bileslingers appear in the stands and throw Mauling Brew into the arena.
- Mauling Brew hurls a mug of vile Mauling Brew into the arena, doing a large amount of Nature damage on impact and leaving a void zone behind for 30 seconds.
- Vile Breath is a frontal cone ability that the Drunken Bileslingers cast, which only affects players who are in the stands. It stuns affected targets.
Iron Bombers appear in the stands and hurl Iron Bombs at the raid.
- Iron Bombs deal a moderate amount of Fire damage to an enemy and additional Fire damage every 2 seconds for 10 seconds to the same player.
- Fire Bomb are left behind by dying Iron Bombers, and they deal a large amount of Fire damage to nearby players.
Iron Grunt appear in the stands, but these adds only attack players who are also in the stands.
- Grapple is an ability that deals a moderate amount of Physical damage to the current target and reduces their movement speed by 25% for 4 sec.

Strategy

The strategy for defeating Kargath Bladefist is not very complex, but your raid will have to execute it correctly, and avoid certain mistakes, in order to succeed.

We will begin with (and focus on) how to handle Kargath himself in the arena, since this is the most important part of the fight. Afterwards, we will discuss how to handle Chain Hurl Icon Chain Hurl and the adds in the stands.

6.1.

The Arena

Before we discuss anything else about fighting Kargath, it is important to mention that your tanks will have to perform a regular tank switch because of Impale Icon Impale. We recommend a tank switch before a tank has to take two consecutive Impales, because this makes the fight easier, but it should be possible for any tank to survive two consecutive Impales, especially if there is a defensive cooldown up on them.

The most important part of fighting Kargath in the arena is proper positioning and movement. The following instructions should ensure that your raid is properly set up to handle everything Kargath can do.

Have Kargath tanked out of range of any Fire Pillars or Ravenous Bloodmaws. A viable location is between one of the Fire Pillars and the adjacent wall, but other positions may work just as well.
Have your ranged DPS and healers stand away from Kargath, loosely spread out. This will minimise the damage your raid takes from Blade Dance.
Make sure everyone is aware of the locations of the Fire Pillars, and is ready to avoid taking damage from them if/when Kargath activates them.
Make sure that raid members who are targeted by Berserker Rush run away from Kargath. Normally, they should kite Kargath into an active Fire Pillars so as to stop the Berserker Rush.
Make sure that no raid members end up coming too close to the Ravenous Bloodmaws.

If you follow the above advice, your raid should take minimal damage from Blade Dance, since it should not really get a chance to damage more than the intended target at any one time.

Furthermore, this positioning ensures that Kargath never deactivates a Fire Pillar without being purposefully kited into it. This point is important, because every Berserker Rush will have to be stopped by kiting Kargath into a Pillar, as otherwise it is practically impossible to avoid being caught by him for the full 20 seconds (outside of very specific cases where some specialisations, with external assistance, might be able to do it).

Regarding Berserker Rush, it is important to note that while it does only seem to target ranged DPS players and healers, melee DPS players should move away slightly from Kargath when Berserker Rush is about to be cast, since otherwise they risk being slashed by him as he moves towards his target.

Avoiding the Ravenous Bloodmaws is also important. Knock-back mechanics are not common in this encounter, but they do sometimes occur. The most notable knock-back happens when Kargath prepares to cast Chain Hurl. Another knock-back that can affect players is if they are too close to an active Fire Pillar when Kargath smashes it. In both cases players should be careful not to get knocked back into a Ravenous Bloodmaw.

Finally, players will have to deal with the two abilities cast by the adds in the stands. Mauling Brew Icon Mauling Brew void zones will simply have to be avoided, while the unavoidable damage random raid members take from Iron Bomb Icon Iron Bombs will have to be healed through.

As you will have noticed, we have not talked about Kargath's Chain Hurl Icon Chain Hurl, because we discuss this in the subsequent section. The only thing worth mentioning about it now is that when Kargath casts this, he will move to the center of the arena, and once the cast is done, you will have to move back to your designated tanking location.

6.2.

The Stands

Another important element of the fight is dealing with the adds in the stands. These adds spawn throughout the fight, and so, as the fight progresses, their numbers will increase. This means that they will become more and more of a problem for your raid.

6.2.1.

Sending Players Up

The standard strategy for the fight is to make use of Kargath's Chain Hurl Icon Chain Hurl to send a team of 5 players up into the stands to deal with (at least some of) the adds. The ideal set-up will depend on your raid's composition and ability. Sending one tank up seems to be mandatory (this should always be the tanked debuffed by Open Wounds Icon Open Wounds), while the rest of the 5-player group is more flexible. The standard will be to send 1 healer and 3 DPS players in addition to the tank, but this can vary. For instance, if you have access to DPS players who can easily off-heal, then you can send 4 DPS players up to maximise DPS on the adds located there.

In order to send your designated team up into the stands, make sure that they are the 5 nearest players at the end of Kargath's Chain Hurl Icon Chain Hurl channel. Since the channel is quite long, melee DPS players (who are not part of the stands team) will probably want to spend a few seconds at melee range to do more damage, but it is important that they move away before the end of the channel.

6.2.2.

In the Stands

There is no set rule about how long players should stay in the stands, or how many adds they should try to kill while they are there. This will depend on many factors, but the most important one will be your raid's overall DPS. If your raid's DPS is very high, you will be able to kill Kargath very quickly, before becoming overwhelmed by the adds. This allows players to spend less time in the stands, increasing DPS on Kargath even further. That said, raids that wish to play it safe will probably prefer to clear out as many of the adds in the stands as possible within 45 seconds.

On the Beta, with very high DPS, it was possible to even have players jump back down into the arena immediately after being sent up, but most raids will probably not be able to manage this while progressing on live servers.

Another strategy to consider, if your raid's healing is strong, is to jump down right away for the first 2-3 Chain Hurl Icon Chain Hurl casts, allowing more adds to pile up in the stands, and then AoEing them all down more efficiently later on in the fight. This will put more strain on your healers (since the raid will take more damage in the arena), but it will be more efficient.

Once in the stands, there is no set strategy to follow. Your DPS players should focus on killing the adds (where we believe that the Drunken Bileslingers are the biggest threat), while the tank will need to pick up any adds that are engaged, and face them away from the other players in the stands. The tanks will often be stunned by the Bileslingers' Vile Breath Icon Vile Breath, so this is something healers will have to watch out for. All players in the stands will have to make sure not to be next to any dying Iron Bombers, so as to avoid taking damage from Fire Bomb Icon Fire Bombs.

When to Use Heroism/Bloodlust/Time Warp

We recommend using Heroism Icon Heroism/ Bloodlust Icon Bloodlust/ Time Warp Icon Time Warp at the start of the fight. This is mostly because there is no specific reason to use it at a later time, and benefiting from all raid members having all their cooldowns available at the start is very advantageous. Additionally, this timing is suitable since during the first part of the Kargath fight, the arena will be clear of any void zones, and no raid members will be thrown into the stands, allowing all raid members to maximise their DPS.

Mythic Mode

The Mythic mode of the Kargath Bladefist encounter is most likely the first Mythic fight your raid will attempt in the Highmaul raid instance. The fight presents a few differences from the Normal and Heroic versions, but overall there are many similarities.

8.1.

Differences From Normal/Heroic Mode

As with all Mythic modes, all the mobs in the fight deal more damage with their abilities and have more health. In addition to this, there are a few changes in mechanics.

The Mythic mode of this fight revolves around a new mechanic called Roar of the Crowd. This appears as a special resource bar on each raid member's screen, and it tracks the amount of favor that the raid has with the "crowd". The more favor the raid has, the more damage it will deal. Note that favor is raid-wide, so all players will always have the same amount. Favor is gained and lost through a variety of methods throughout the fight, which we will explain below, but let us first look at what the DPS increase granted by favor is.

Between 0-24 favor: 0% damage done increase;
Between 25-49 favor: 25% damage done increase;
Between 50-74 favor: 50% damage done increase;
Between 75-99 favor: 75% damage done increase;
100 favor: 100% damage done increase.

We will now present all the other differences present in the fight. Most of them impact your raid's favor in way or another, which we will explain, and which we will also summarise at the end of this section.

The raid gains favor for every second that Kargath chases a player during Berserker Rush. If Kargath manages to kill his target during Berserker Rush, the raid loses a large amount of favor.
The 4 Ravenous Bloodmaws become free, leaving their pits. This only happens to one Ravenous Bloodmaw at a time. Whey they become free, the Bloodmaws fixate on random raid members, chasing them. If the Bloodmaws reach their target, they instantly kill them and any other players in a small area. If the Bloodmaws come in contact with the fire from a Fire Pillar, they catch fire, become disoriented for 8 seconds, and then change their fixate target. When a Ravenous Bloodmaw catches fire, the raid gains favor.
The Iron Grunts located in the stands grant favor when killed.
The Drunken Bileslingers and Iron Bombers located in the stands cast Heckle at raid members who are in the stands, reducing the raid's favor.
The Fire Pillars now also cast Flame Gout while they are active, dealing damage at the locations of random raid members. The affected locations are indicated ahead of time, allowing players to avoid being hit.

Therefore, to summarise, here are the various ways for the raid to gain and lose favor with the crowd.

The raid gains favor
- by kiting Kargath during Berserker Rush;
- by killing Iron Grunts;
- by setting Ravenous Bloodmaws on fire;
The raid loses favor
- if the fixated raid member dies during Berserker Rush;
- if raid members are hit by the Drunken Bileslingers' and Iron Bombers' Heckle (this is unavoidable to a certain degree).

8.2.

Strategy

Overall, the strategy for the encounter remains the same. Your raid will perform just as in Normal/Heroic mode, with a few changes. The changes revolve around maximising the amount of favor that the raid has, which is necessary in order to defeat Kargath before he enrages.

When Kargath casts Berserker Rush, the player on whom he fixates will have to try to kite Kargath for as long as possible. The use of movement-enhancing abilities and cooldowns is highly recommended.
When a Ravenous Bloodmaw leaves its pit, ranged DPS players must kill it. Kiting it through a Fire Pillar is recommended.
Raid members who go into the stands of the arena have to spend as much time there as possible, killing as many adds as possible.
Raid members will have to avoid being hit by Flame Gout throughout the fight, whenever a Fire Pillar is active.
Heroism/ Bloodlust/ Time Warp should be used when the raid has a high amount of favor.

8.2.1.

Berserker Rush

One of the biggest differences in the strategy for this encounter is how your raid handles Kargath's Berserker Rush Icon Berserker Rush. As opposed to Normal/Heroic mode, where kiting Kargath into a Fire Pillar to stop his rush and deactivate the pillar was the default strategy, on Mythic you will try to keep Kargath in the Berserker Rush for as long as possible.

Players who are fixated on by Kargath will have to try to out-run him for as long as possible, all while making sure he does not run into an active Fire Pillar. The use of abilities is practically mandatory to ensure that this strategy is effective. There are many abilities available among all the classes, but we will only list a few of them to give you an idea of what you can use.

Abilities such as Dash, Sprint, Blink, Disengage, and Roll can be used to stay away from Kargath.
Abilities such as Leap of Faith, Angelic Feather, Tiger's Lust, and Stampeding Roar can be used by other raid members to help the fixated target out-run Kargath even longer.
Abilities such as Ice Block, Divine Shield, Hand of Protection, and Dispersion can be used to survive Kargath's attacks once out-running him is no longer possible.

A possibly easier alternative is to simply make use of Paladins' Hand of Protection, by doing the following. As soon as Kargath fixates on a raid member, this player should move directly in front of an active Fire Pillar, have Hand of Protection cast on them, and simply stand there tanking Kargath. When Hand of Protection is about to expire, the player simply runs around the radius of the Fire Pillar, and as Kargath will chase them he will smash the Fire Pillar and stop his fixate.

Note that if the fixated target dies, all the favor gained by extending that particular Berserker Rush is lost, meaning that it is always better to kite Kargath into a Fire Pillar (when the target cannot outrun him any longer) than to have the target die.

8.2.2.

Ravenous Bloodmaws

When a Ravenous Bloodmaw becomes free and starts chasing raid members, all ranged DPS players should switch to it and kill it. The health of Ravenous Bloodmaws is quite high, meaning that killing them will not be very fast. Since the Bloodmaws kill their target (and any nearby players) when they reach them, you will have to be very careful. The best way of doing it is to kite the Bloodmaw close to an active Fire Pillar, and always have it kited into the fire, disorienting it and causing it to reset its target. When the Bloodmaw's disorient fades, it cannot be affected by fire again for about 5 seconds, so players will have to be careful.

The Fire Pillar remains active no matter how many times a Bloodmaw enters its radius.

Players who are fixated upon by a Ravenous Bloodmaw are debuffed with On the Hunt Icon On the Hunt, which useful to know if you are looking to see if you are fixated upon or not.

8.2.3.

Fire Pillars and Flame Gout

Because the active Fire Pillars damage the raid with Flame Gout Icon Flame Gout, you should try to keep their number as low as possible throughout the fight. So, if you have two active Fire Pillars, you should not hesitate to kite Kargath directly into one of them to deactivate it. The same applies if you have an active Fire Pillar, and you know that another one will activate before the next Berserker Rush Icon Berserker Rush is cast, and before the next Ravenous Bloodmaw becomes free.

8.2.4.

The Stands

As opposed to Normal/Heroic mode, where neglecting the adds in the stands is possible (and sometimes even recommended), on Mythic it is imperative that you send a highly efficient team to the stands. The team that goes to the stands should be comprised of 1 tank, 1 healer, and 3 DPS players.

Once in the stands, players will have to kill as many adds as possible before being sent back to the arena 45 seconds later. Killing the Drunken Bileslingers and the Iron Bombers is the top priority, since these adds will cast Heckle Icon Heckle on the players in the stands, reducing the raid's favor. Of course, killing these adds will also reduce the number of abilities that the raid has to avoid in the arena. Killing the Iron Grunts will grant the raid some favor, but as we said, the other two types of adds are the main priority.

Learning the Fight

The most difficult aspect of the fight that your raid will be confronted with immediately is positioning and movement. Take the time make sure that all your raid members understand where they should and should not stand, and why that is important.

Aside from this, the other challenging part of the fight will be deciding exactly how to handle the adds in the stands (which players to send up there, how long these players should stay there, and so on). This is difficult to say ahead of time, so you will need a bit of trial and error before you figure out the balance that works best for you.

10.

Loot

In this section, you will find the loot table for Mar'gok. The section is divided in 3 subsections: armor, weapons, and the rest (neck, back, finger, and trinket items).

10.1.