Maw of Souls Mythic+ Guide (Legion 7.2.5)

Table of Contents

• +1. Mythic+ Affixes
  • 1.1. Tier 1 Affixes (Active at 4+ Keystones)
  • 1.2. Tier 2 Affixes (Active at 7+ Keystones)
  • 1.3. Tier 3 Affixes (Active at 10+ Keystones)
• 2. Maw of Souls Timer: 24 minutes
• +3. Ymiron, the Fallen King
  • 3.1. Important Trash to Note
    • 3.1.1. Enslaved Shieldmaiden
    • 3.1.2. Seacursed Slaver
    • 3.1.3. Cursed Falke
    • 3.1.4. Seacursed Soulkeeper
  • 3.2. Ymiron, the Fallen King Encounter
    • 3.2.1. Quick TL;DR
    • 3.2.2. Overview
    • 3.2.3. Bane
• +4. Harbaron
  • 4.1. Important Trash to Note
    • 4.1.1. Waterlogged Soul Guard
    • 4.1.2. Seacursed Swiftblade
    • 4.1.3. Night Watch Mariner
    • 4.1.4. Shroud Hound
    • 4.1.5. Seacursed Mistmender/Skeletal Warrior
    • 4.1.6. Helarjar Champion
  • 4.2. Harbaron Encounter
    • 4.2.1. Quick TL;DR
    • 4.2.2. Overview
• +5. Helya
  • 5.1. Important Trash to Note
    • 5.1.1. Helarjar Mistcaller
    • 5.1.2. Skjal
    • 5.1.3. Skeletal Warrior/Skeletal Sorcerer
  • 5.2. Helya Encounter
    • 5.2.1. Quick TL;DR
    • 5.2.2. Overview
    • 5.2.3. Phase One
    • 5.2.4. Intermission
    • 5.2.5. Phase Two
• 6. Changelog

When you reach level 4 in your Mythic+ dungeons, you will start to see affixes attached to the keystone which add additional effects to enemies within the dungeon. Each tier (4, 7, and 10) cannot be duplicated within one keystone, so you will have one of each at higher levels and they will cycle each week. Combinations can vary in difficulty and how much they synergise with each other and the instance in question, but all of them have an impact and have to be dealt with in different ways.

Raging. When targets reach 30% health, they Enrage, and deal 100% bonus damage. This encourages burning enemies down individually when they reach this point, or saving hard crowd control like stuns for when they reach this point during AoE.

Bolstering. Whenever an enemy dies, it buffs other enemies in combat with an additional 20% health and damage, which heavily encourages killing them at the same time, or within a small window of each other. In larger groups, this can be deadly if mis-managed. Note this does not, however, interact with adds summoned via boss mechanics.

Sanguine. When enemies die, they leave a small pool on the ground which deals damage to players and heals enemies standing within them. This increases the awareness requirement, and means you need to reposition groups quickly around them.

Teeming. The dungeon itself will generate additional lesser adds, which increases the number of targets in pulls. This mostly increases the difficulty of pulls as additional enemies will be active in each pack.

Bursting. When minions die within the dungeon, all party members inside will receive a stacking debuff that deals 5% of their maximum health every 2 seconds for 4 seconds. This requires the party to kill targets in a staggered fashion to prevent it stacking too high and killing off players, and for the healer to be acutely aware of the state of the party health when it is applied.

Volcanic. This causes random patches on the ground to spawn that will deal high pulsing damage if standing within them. Managing this is mostly on players avoiding them whenever they appear, and will by extension result in reduced DPS due to players avoiding them.

Necrotic. All enemies will apply a stacking debuff that deals flat ticking damage, and reduces healing/absorption received by 3%, stacking up to 10 with additional hits. This increases the intensity of tank healing and adds an additional component to the damage they receive.

Skittish. Enemies will randomly drop all threat on their current target. This makes it significantly more dangerous for DPS and adds an extra factor for tanks to account for, as dangerous mobs will require additional attention to keep in check.

Explosive. Enemies will occasionally spawn Explosive Orbs nearby with a small amount of health. These will will detonate after 6 seconds if not killed, dealing 50% of the all party members' maximum health. These orbs are immune to AoE and crowd control, so need to be switched to and killed quickly throughout the dungeon.

Quaking. All players will periodically cause a Shockwave 8 yards around their character, dealing 20% of players' maximum health to any players standing inside it after 3 seconds and interrupting casts. Players should remain spread to avoid taking more than one hit.

Grievous. Any players that falls below 90% health will be afflicted by a Grievous Wound, dealing a percentage of the player's maximum health every 3 seconds, stacking up to 5 times. This is permanent throughout the dungeon, so the healer needs to be aware of the stacks and heal players back above 90% to remove the debuff.

Tyrannical. Increases the health of boss targets by 40%, and their damage by 20%. This intensifies bosses significantly and must be noted when dealing with some of the more dangerous ones, as it also affects abilities alongside extending the duration of the fights in question.

Fortified. Increases the health of minions within the dungeon by 20%, and the damage they deal by 40%. This intensifies the trash pulls significantly and in some cases can limit how many extra you can pull at once, which will slow your pace between bosses.

Maw of Souls is broken up into two sections, the Helmouth Cliffs and the Nagalfar. There are a number of opportunities to pull extra packs and push the timer, but just be wary of abilities and the danger that it could create when doing so, as much of the trash have access to very punishing abilities.

The Helmouth Cliffs opening is entirely linear, so the path you will run will generally look like this:

The bottom deck of the Nagalfar has two different sides as you head up to the stairs, presenting two different groups of enemies you can deal with before reaching the upper deck, the left or the right:

On the top deck of the ship, you should run down the left side for ease. Note the mini-boss will provide 8% of the enemy forces requirement, so if you need any extra forces you can pull additional enemies on the right side:

Leading up to Ymiron there are 4 total pulls that can be condensed into 2, depending on the comfort of your tank and healer. Note that the more you pull together, the more dangerous this is, and some affixes can make this even more difficult, so you need to decide as a group how much you are comfortable doing. All of the Kvaldir on this pathway have some extremely dangerous abilities both for the tank and the group, so be aware of all of them when considering your strategy.

Enslaved Shieldmaidens will cast Breach Armor and Hew Soul, and are the most significant threat to tanks. Breach Armor will deal moderate Physical damage and leave a stacking debuff, reducing armor by 10% for 9 seconds. This increases the intensity of the damage taken by the tank from all enemies engaged, so the longer the pulls continue, the more damage will be taken. Hew Soul will deal low Shadow damage, but leave a debuff that will absorb an amount of healing equal to the damage dealt, so both tanks and healers should be acutely aware of this being cast and react accordingly to prevent losing the tank in a quick burst. DPS should also make sure to stay behind any Shieldmaidens, as Hew Soul will cleave any targets in front of them when cast.

Seacursed Slavers will spawn with the above Shieldmaidens, and present a higher threat to the group than to the tank, casting Barbed Spear, Fracture, and Swirling Muck. Barbed Spear begins with a cast toward a random ranged player that, after 3 seconds, will pull any players within 3 yards of the targeted area into melee range of the Slaver, followed up with a secondary Barbed Spear cast. This hits any players around the slaver, dealing moderate Physical damage and leaving a DoT on those struck. Whilst healers should help to smooth this out, DPS should attempt to avoid this if possible or, if hit, use defensive tools to survive the bleed. Fracture is a frontal cleave that will hit any players in front of the caster, so DPS should take special note to stand behind Slavers, and they should be positioned accordingly by the tank to make this easy for the group to do to reduce damage intake. Finally, Swirling Muck is cast at a random group member, and will deal low Nature damage alongside leaving a patch on the ground. This will continually hit players remaining in the ground effect left behind, so players should move out of it quickly.

Cursed Falkes will spawn and attack the party when you cross over the bridge as a group of 4. Each will cast Ravenous Bite that will deal moderate Nature damage to their current target, and leave a light Nature DoT. Each application is individual as opposed to a stacking effect, so players can have multiple instances of this on them at the same time.

Seacursed Soulkeepers are also extremely dangerous, with their casts all being potentially lethal, especially players in melee range of the target due to Defiant Strike. When this is cast by the Soulkeeper, it will begin marching forward, dealing extremely high Physical damage to those caught in its wake. When this begins, players should quickly get out of the way, and when the cast ends it will finish with another Defiant Strike, dealing massive Physical damage to all players within 7 yards of the Soulkeeper. Brackwater Blast will also be cast routinely by the Soulkeeper, applying a short 3-second debuff on a random non-tank player. When this expires, it will deal moderate Frost damage to the targeted player and any allies within 8 yards. The afflicted player should get out of the group quickly to avoid additional damage to the group.

Melee and Tanks avoid Screams of the Dead. Heal through Winds of Northrend and be careful of knockbacks into Bane telegraphs. Try to soak some ranged orbs with defensive abilities to reduce add spawns. Cleave down any Risen Soldiers that spawn with Arise, Fallen. Tanks use active mitigation and defensive tools to survive Dark Slash.

Ymiron, the Fallen King presents an increasingly powerful tank check the further up in Mythic+ you reach, as his base damage dealt becomes extremely punishing. The tank should always pay attention to upcoming Dark Slash casts, as this deals massive Shadow damage to Ymiron's current target. Defensive tools should be used for this to prevent getting instantly killed by these, especially at higher keystone levels.

Generally it is advised to use cooldowns at the start and burn him down as quickly as possible to reduce the encounter time as much as possible. Any AoE cooldowns should be saved for the add period following Bane, and tanks/healers should organise cooldowns for this as tank damage will spike very high.

Ymiron will routinely cast Screams of the Dead, starting 5 seconds into the encounter and then every 30 afterwards. This will deal heavy Shadow damage and fear any players remaining in the telegraph circle around Ymiron after 2 seconds. Players should avoid this to reduce risk from other mechanics and reduce downtime.

Winds of Northrend will be cast shortly after each cast of Screams of the Dead, that will deal high Frost damage to the group and knock everyone back 20 yards. Be aware of your position during this to avoid being knocked back into Bane orbs, as this can be lethal.

Finally, Bane will be cast after the above two abilities, that will spawn a number of purple orbs that will rotate around the room. These will deal high damage if players come into contact with them and hit all other players for a smaller amount. Each orb that remains when Arise, Fallen is cast will create a purple telegraph on the ground that will deal heavy Shadow damage to players when they land after 2 seconds, and spawn a Risen Warrior. These should be picked up quickly by the tank and AoEd down, as they become increasingly dangerous due to the stacking Vigor effect, increasing damage dealt by 10% per stack.

These patches can be soaked up by players to reduce the number of Risen Warriors triggered by Arise, Fallen, but be wary of how much damage an orb will deal. Plan this out beforehand based on how much help the tank will need with incoming damage versus the Healer's ability to manage the orb hits.

Following Ymiron, you will summon the Nagalfar via the horn on the hilltop, and enter the final area of the dungeon. There is a number of rooms in the lower deck containing a variety of pulls, and the staircase that leads you up the final path to the upper deck and Harbaron.

Waterlogged Soul Guards will deal moderate tank damage, and cast three different spells, Six Pound Barrel and Soul Siphon. Barrel casts cannot be interrupted, and will launch a barrel rolling toward a random player in the group that will detonate on impact, and also deal damage to any player it comes into contact with. This deals heavy Frost damage when this happens, or 5 yards around the impact point when it reaches the player's location, so spread out to mitigate the effect of this. Soul Siphon is interruptible, and will deal light Shadow damage every half second to a random player in the group. This also heals the Soul Guard for any damage dealt. Finally, Curse of Hope will be applied to random players, reducing damage by a percent relative to their current health remaining, which should be decursed immediately if possible, but if not then the player should be kept healthy so as to mitigate the damage reduction effect.

Seacursed Swiftblades are a particular annoyance due to their Sea Legs effect granting a 50% chance to deflect spells and abilities cast upon them.

Tanks should be wary of Seacursed Swiftblades due to Very Sinister Strike, which deals massive Shadow damage to their current target. Swiftblades will also cast Deceptive Strike after reaching 50% health, becoming invisible and spawning two ghosts behind a random player. After 3 seconds, these will deal a massive Physical damage cleave in front of both copies to any players in the area, so get away from these quickly. After re-appearing, they will gain Sea Legs for 6 seconds, granting a 50% chance to deflect spells and abilities cast upon them. This can be dispelled, but the deflect chance also applies to dispel casts so this is difficult to remove.

Night Watch Mariners present a large danger to the group with a very high damage AoE ability in Lantern of Darkness. This cannot be interrupted, and will hit the entire group for massive periodic Shadow damage over 6 seconds. This will require defensive and healing cooldowns to make it through comfortably and should be used whenever this is cast. On top of this, it will frequently cast Bind on the tank, dealing heavy Physical damage followed up by a moderate Bleed lasting 12 seconds.

Shroud Hounds will be in a large group of six in the second room of the lower deck, and also as a patrolling group of 3 around the The Grimewalker. These will all deal heavy Physical damage to their current target, and are easy to lose track of due to Shroud Strike casts, causing them to teleport to a random player in the group and deal moderate Nature damage. Try to stun them when pulled and keep them grouped up to AoE them down.

On the right side, you will encounter a group containing a Seacursed Mistmender and two Skeletal Warriors. Mistmenders are casters and will constantly cast Shroud Bolt at a random player, dealing light Shadow damage, chaining to nearby allies that should be healed through — do not waste interrupts on this. The most dangerous cast is Torrent of Souls, which will fire out projectiles at random players in the group and splash around them, dealing moderate Frost damage. This will also heal any other enemies around the Mistmender for the damage dealt, so interrupt this cast this as a priority. Skeletal Warriors will deal heavy tank damage and repeatedly cast Mortal Strike for moderate Physical damage alongside reducing incoming healing so defensives should be used when this is active to make it easier on the healer. They will also Hamstring their current target, dealing light Physical damage and reducing movement speed by a significant amount. These are not a priority compared to other targets in the group and have lower health, so will generally be cleaved down.

In the final corridor up the stairs blocking the path to Harbaron, there will be two Helarjar Champions. These deal heavy tank damage, and will regularly cast Ghostly Rage on themselves, increasing their size and attack speed by 30%. Bone Chilling Scream will be cast by both of them roughly every 20 seconds, and both should be interrupted as if a cast completes it will fear all players for 3 seconds.

Focus down Shackled Servitor and Fragment adds when spawned. Interrupt Servitor's Void Snap, and avoid Cosmic Scythe while staying spread out to avoid it being too disruptive. Move out of Nether Rip and avoid patches left behind.

Harbaron deals massive damage with his abilities following changes in 7.2, that players must pay attention to, especially during Tyrannical weeks. Dealing efficiently with additional targets spawned by him throughout the encounter is important, and mis-stepping here can not only lead to reduced the space in the room but also deaths, so handling them as they come is crucial.

Harbaron will spawn two separate types of adds, the first being Shackled Servitor. This will create a ghostly Vrykul that will attempt to chain cast Void Snap, that will deal heavy Shadow damage to the group and must be interrupted. Kill these off quickly as they spawn to prevent any extra damage risk to the group.

The second follows a cast of Fragment, that will stun the targeted player and spawn four copies of them that will slowly move to the edge of the room. While these remain active, they will deal increasing Shadow damage to the targeted player so should ideally be stunned when they spawn and AoEd down immediately.

There are also two environmental mechanics, Cosmic Scythe and Nether Rip. The first will target a player and spawn a line of scythes that will swing down, dealing massive Shadow damage to any players in their wake. This does not track the target, so simply side step the direction he is facing when the cast begins. Nether Rip on the other hand will spawn a purple patch on the deck that will deal heavy Shadow damage every second to any players who remain in the telegraphed area. These can be quite a problem while dealing with adds but try to avoid being inside them. Reposition the boss to safe areas to avoid these stacking up and blocking off areas in the arena.

The top deck, leading to Helya, will contain an amalgam of trash from the lower decks, alongside a new enemy in the Helarjar Mistcaller, and a mini-boss, Skjal. It is advised moving down the left side. Stuns should be used very liberally in this section, as there are a number of extremely dangerous casts that your group may not be able to keep interrupted.

Much like Mistmenders from the lower decks, Helarjar Mistcaller are casters that attempt to cast Shroud Bolt as their primary attack. They, however, have two far more important casts to note, Surging Waters and Whirlpool of Souls. Whirlpool of Souls functions in the same way as Torrent of Souls from Mistmenders, dealing moderate Frost damage and healing allies nearby, and as such should be interrupted. Surging Waters on the other hand is a targeted cast on a low health enemy mob, that will heal them for a massive amount (usually around 50%) of their maximum health. When this begins casting it is a priority.

Note that none of the casts from surrounding enemies are more dangerous than Bone Chilling Scream from accompanying Helarjar Champions, as this runs a massive risk of pulling additional enemies via the fear and should always have an interrupt reserved for it.

Skjal is a mini-boss that on top of having some quite dangerous mechanics, will constantly spawn a mix of 2 Skeletal Warriors or Skeletal Sorcerers that also present a threat.

Skjal himself will deal heavy Tank damage and cast Bind periodically, which, like the lower deck Mariners, deals heavy Physical damage and applies a Bleed. He will also cast Double, a cleaving attack dealing two moderate Physical damage hits to any players standing in front of him, so the tank should position him facing away from the rest of the group.

Skjal will also routinely cast Debilitating Shout, that will deal moderate Nature damage to all players within range, and increase all damage taken by 5%. This effect stacks, but he should not cast this within the debuff period to refresh it. This can and should be interrupted whenever he attempts to cast it.

Roughly every 15 seconds, he will select a non-Tank player (usually Ranged) with Give No Quarter, creating a line of ghostly Kvaldir that will AoE around them in sequence, and finally teleport to the target destination dealing heavy Arcane damage to anyone in the path or nearby.

When Skjal emotes, he will summon a combination of two different Skeletons. Skeletal Warriors will apply Hamstring to the their primary target, and deal heavy melee damage if not picked up. Skeletal Sorcerers, on the other hand, will cast Necrotic Bolt at random players with no threat table, dealing light Shadow damage and applying Necrotic Infusion to the player hit, increasing damage dealt by subsequent Bolts. If this debuff reaches 3 stacks, a Necrotic Barrage will be triggered, dealing massive Shadow damage to the group. Attempt to interrupt these Necrotic Bolt casts with any spare crowd control abilities, and control the adds with stuns to keep them in place and cleave them down, to prevent the spawns from overwhelming the group. If too many Sorcerers are present (especially during Fortified weeks), then focus them down and remove the threat of the Barrage.

Healer dispel Taint of the Sea in a safe spot. Focus Destructor Tentacles, then Grasping Tentacles in Phase One, avoid gaps in the platform, and dodge Brackwater Blast. Avoid gaps during intermission alongside telegraphs on the platform. Interrupt Torrent, and dodge Corrupted Bellow.

Helya contains two main phases separated by an intermission. This intermission will repeat in the second phase if you cannot kill her quickly enough. The first phase is focused around burning tentacles to force Helya onto the platform, and the second is a movement-heavy encounter that has high danger AoE telegraphs to avoid. Gaps in the platform will form from casts of Piercing Tentacles, and if players fall into these holes they will take heavy Frost damage and be stunned for 3 seconds, which must be avoided for the remainder of the encounter.

Taint of the Sea will be cast in both main phases, applying a dispellable magic debuff on a random non-Tank player, dealing heavy Frost damage every second followed by a heavy blast to all players in the room when it expires. Players affected should move to a safe edge and be dispelled, which leaves behind Tainted Essence. This will be a large green telegraph, that after 2.5 seconds will detonate for lethal Frost damage. Players should pay special attention to this patch when spawned and stay well clear.

Two types of tentacles will spawn as you engage Helya, Destructor Tentacles and the Grasping Tentacles. Phase One will end after 6 total tentacles have been defeated, so do not spread damage on extra tentacles that spawn after this as it will be wasted.

Destructor Tentacles will spawn one at a time, and should be focused down when they are active. They will deal massive Tank damage, and cast Rapid Rupture to their current target, leaving a very dangerous DoT that requires heavy defensive tools and must be healed through as a priority. They will also repeatedly cast Smash if no player is in melee range of it, meaning the tank must immediately move to newly spawned tentacles. This presents a time check, in that old tentacles must be defeated before new ones spawn, to prevent being overwhelmed.

Grasping Tentacles will be attached to the left and right side of the ship, and merely serve as an additional way to burn down Helya with no extra effect. These have large hitboxes, so cleave can be useful to chip them down.

There are two dangerous area effects that Helya will cast in this phase, the first being Piercing Tentacle. These will breach the platform and deal heavy damage to any players who remain in the area after the animation completes, also creating a gap in the platform that must be avoided. Anyone who enters this area after the breach is created will take heavy Frost damage through triggering Swirling Water. Helya will also cast Brackwater Blast, that will charge up on either the left or right side of the ship, indicated by the glowing hand Helya is holding up after the cast alert, that after 3 seconds will deal lethal Frost damage to anyone on that side of the ship. Move to the other side quickly to prevent Phase One deaths.

After any combination of 6 tentacles are destroyed and Helya reaches 82% health, she will submerge and bombard the platform. A number of Piercing Tentacles will rise through the deck, and there will be a large amount of Turbulent Waters telegraphs littered in the area that must be avoided. Take note of the gaps created during Phase One, and make sure to avoid these as getting stunned in this phase is particularly lethal due to additional effects that may hit you.

Phase Two retains the Taint of the Sea mechanic alongside the gaps on the deck that spawned during Phase One and the intermission, but Helya will engage the party directly dealing heavy tank damage; and the encounter will end when you reduce Helya to 70% health. You must also always make sure as a tank to remain in melee range, else Helya will begin repeatedly casting Wing Buffet dealing heavy Physical damage to the group.

The two new mechanics of this phase are Torrent and Corrupted Bellow. The first can and should be interrupted in a rotation between the group, as any successful cast will deal heavy Frost damage to the group. Corrupted Bellow will target one third of the platform (Left, Centre, or Right) and deal massive Shadow damage every half second to players in the area, increasing in intensity with each wave. Try to position yourself in the centre of the platform to give yourself the best chance of adjusting when she begins the channel, and plan your route based on where the gaps in the platform are; as a stun during this cast at a bad point will almost certainly cause a death.

• 22 Aug. 2017: Guide added.

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