Maut Tactics and Strategy guide

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

• The fight has two phases that last variable amounts of time (based in part on the raid's actions), but in general Phase One lasts around 2 minutes and Phase Two lasts around 1 minute.
  • Phase One ends when Maut reaches 100% Mana (he gains some progressively and more if the raid fails certain abilities).
  • Phase Two ends when Maut's Mana shield is broken by the raid's damage (but not after more than 80 seconds, which is the hard limit at which Maut will wipe the raid if the shield is not broken).
• During Phase One, the raid must face Maut and one add that spawns occasionally, while managing the encounter area.
• During Phase Two, the raid must break Maut's Mana shield in time while dealing with high raid-wide damage.

• During Phase One
  • Perform a tank swap to handle the Shadow Wounds debuff the boss applies.
  • The off-tank should pick up the Dark Manifestation adds and tank them over 20 yards away from the boss, near a Devoured Abyss void zone, and move the add into this void zone briefly to interrupt its Dark Offering cast.
• During Phase Two
  • Tanks have no specific tasks during this phase, and should simply stack with the rest of the raid and do damage to Maut.

• During Phase One
  • Be aware of the increasing raid-wide damage as the phase goes on.
• During Phase Two
  • Communicate with the other healers to ensure good chaining of healing cooldowns, and beware of the high output required during this phase.
  • Be prepared for damage bursts when players intercept Forbidden Ritual balls.
  • On Heroic mode, wait until players affected by Drain Essence leave the group before dispelling them (but do as soon as possible).

• During Phase One
  • Kill the Dark Manifestation adds as soon as possible.
  • DPS Maut.
• During Phase Two
  • Designated ranged players should intercept the Forbidden Ritual balls as soon as they spawn, and then quickly move into the raid before the 6-second buff expires.
  • DPS Maut to break his Mana shield.

• During Phase One
  • Run away from the Dark Manifestation area, which will otherwise pull you towards it.
  • Run out of the raid if affected by Devour Magic and drop your Devoured Abyss void zones away from other players but still close enough to be usable for when you need to step into them.
  • Step into a Devoured Abyss void zone when the boss casts Stygian Annihilation, as otherwise you will die.
  • On Heroic mode, make sure that the knockback from Black Wings does not throw you off the platform.
• During Phase Two
  • Stack together near Maut to make healing easier.
  • Move out of the raid immediately if affected by Drain Essence so you can be dispelled.

During Phase One, the raid fights Maut, as well as a type of add, a Dark Manifestation, which spawns regularly.

The exact length of Phase One depends on how much extra Mana Maut gains from his various abilities, but in general it should last around 2 minutes.

For a full list of the abilities used in this phase, check out our dedicated Maut Encounter Journal page.

The Dark Manifestation zone that the boss creates before the add of the same name spawns drags players slowly towards it, and moving against this is necessary.

It is important to note that Stygian Annihilation deals lethal damage to the entire raid, and short of personal immunities, the intended way of surviving this ability is for all raid members to step into an existing Devoured Abyss void zone as Maut's cast completes.

Note also that pulling Dark Manifestations into a Devoured Abyss void zone is the only way to interrupt their Dark Offering cast.

Finally, it is important to note that all Devoured Abyss void zones detonate at the end of Phase One, dealing very high damage to anyone standing in them when this happens.

In Phase One, your raid's goal is to do as much damage as possible to Maut while keeping his Mana gain as low as possible. Ideally, you will do enough damage during the first Phase One that you can kill him off during the second Phase One.

There are a few things to keep in mind.

• Tanks need to swap around 2-4 stacks of the boss's Shadow Wounds debuff. Try to time these swaps with the spawns of the Dark Manifestation add, so that the off-tank can hold the add for its entire duration.
  • The Dark Manifestation add must be kept at least 20 yards away from the boss at all times, and must be moved inside a Devoured Abyss to interrupt its Dark Offering casts. Tanking it next to one of these void zones for quick access is recommended.
• Raid members affected by Devour Magic need to ensure that they are spread out when the debuff expires (so that no additional Mana is given to the boss).
  • The placement of the void zones that appear when Devour Magic expires is important: keep them out of the raid, but do not place them too far either because you will need to step into them to avoid being killed by Stygian Annihilation.
• Kill the Dark Manifestation adds as quickly as possible.
• Make sure not to be inside Devoured Abyss void zones when Phase One is ending.

Throughout Phase One, the entire raid will be affected by the Consuming Shadows debuff. This deals raid-wide damage proportional to how much Mana Maut has, which means that towards the end of the phase, this damage can be quite high and healers should be aware of it.

Finally, in Heroic mode, the raid also needs to be aware of the Black Wings casts. The damage of this ability is not the biggest problem, but rather the players need to ensure that the resulting knockback does not throw them off the platform or into void zones. Since Black Wings technically only targets melee players, as long as the melee group stays in a location that is away from the ranged/healer group, this should never really trouble them.

Phase Two starts when Maut reaches maximum Mana. The boss moves to the center of the arena, no longer casts any of his previous abilities, and gains a large Mana shield. The phase ends when the shield is broken by the raid's damage, but if 80 seconds after the start of the phase the shield is not broken, the raid will be killed.

For a full list of the abilities used in this phase, check out our dedicated Maut Encounter Journal page.

Phase Two is a healing-intensive phase during which your raid will need to break Maut's Mana shield as quickly as possible.

• The raid should be stacked up near the boss so that healers can get the best output possible to keep everyone alive.
• Designated mobile ranged players (such as Hunters) should intercept the Forbidden Ritual orbs as soon as possible, and then move into the stacked raid before their 6-second Forbidden Mana buff expires.

All damage players do to Maut during this phase is reflected back to them due to Obsidian Skin, which means that healers will have to constantly keep up with the high incoming damage. Moreover, all Forbidden Ritual interceptions will deal raid-wide damage (albeit low if they are intercepted early enough).

In Heroic mode, raid members will also sometimes be affected by Drain Essence; these players should exit the stacked raid and then be dispelled as quickly as possible before moving back in.

Since Phase Two is more difficult and dangerous than Phase One, this is the optimal time to use Heroism/ Bloodlust/ Time Warp.