Neltharion's Lair Dungeon Guide: Location, Boss Strategies, Trash, and Loot

Neltharion's Lair is a max-level dungeon in Highmountain, Broken Isles. You can quickly access the portals in each capital city (Orgimmar or Stormwind).

neltharions-lair

This guide will focus on an extensive overview of the dungeon, providing vital information to increase your chance of completing the key. We will cover all 4 boss fights supported by the most notable trash enemies in the dungeon and their important abilities. If you would like to learn about the rest of the dungeon in Season 2, please see our overviews linked below. Otherwise, without further ado, let us begin!

Right when you start the dungeon, you will slide down the cave, making your way towards the first boss of the dungeon - Rokmora. Here is what you should know about the non-boss-enemies prior:

• Avoid standing in the Acid Splatter upon killing the Vileshard Crawlers.
• Embershard Scorpion will mostly be a concern for your tank due to its Impaling Shard, as it will also add a follow-up Bleed effect.
• If you end up pulling any Rockback Gnasher, they will dangerous for your tank, because of their Bone Chomp ability, dealing front-load damage and adding an additional Bleed effect.
• Tarspitter Lurker is one of the harder mobs in this area, first, because it will damage your party with Viscid Bile, followed by spawning toxic ground pools, which you should avoid - Rancid Ooze. If that weren't all, the mob would occasionally cast Submerge, becoming completely immune to attacks until the ability is over.
• Vileshard Hulk is the first tank buster in this dungeon, first because of its deadly Piercing Shards frontal, followed by its single-target hit ability Fracture. Use your party-external cooldowns to help your tank at any point!

• Rokmora will occasionally spawn Blightshard Skitter, focus them and kill them immediately. Avoid the follow-up Choking Dust ground ability.
• Make sure to have all Blightshard Skitter killed before the boss manages to cast Shatter, otherwise you risk to take additional damage from Rupturing Skitter. Keep in mindtha
• When the boss casts Shatter, there will be a follow-up effect called Crystalline Ground. Moving during the Crystalline Ground will cause you to take extra damage, it is best if you stay still until the area of effect is gone.

• Immediately taunt any newly-spawned Blightshard Skitters to avoid your team members dying from aggro.
• Move away from any existing Choking Dust to help your melee players position safely.
• Aim the Razor Shards frontal away from your team.

• Be prepared with your healing cooldowns if there are any existing Blightshard Skitters during the Shatter cast. The extra damage from Rupturing Skitter will turn lethal the higher the key goes.

Once you defeat Rokmora, head towards the Empty Barrels to access the next part of the dungeon - Broken Teeth, where you will meet Ularogg Cragshaper.

• Beware of Understone Drummers, if you decide to pull them, they will spawn an extra set of mobs which will be via War Drums, and make your run significantly harder, it is better to avoid them.
• Rockbound Pelter will spam-cast Jagged Disc and occasionally re-position due to its Retreat ability.
• Watch out when you are fighting Stoneclaw Hunters, they will deal AoE damage around them with Stone Shatter. In addition, they will have a Rockback Gnasher pet, which will cast Bone Chomp on your tank, with a follow-up Bleed effect. The Stoneclaw Hunter will also cast Kill Command empowering further the Rockback Gnasher, enabling them to have an extra ability called Stone Gaze.
• Mightstone Breaker is one of the most dangerous mobs in this area, because of their Avalanche cast, once you see it, change positions to avoid its damage.
• Blightshard Shaper is the main focus-target in this area, interrupt its Stone Bolt cast and side-step its Petrifying Totem ground visual effect.

• When Ularogg Cragshaper is casting Strike of the Mountain, move away from the ground animation to avoid taking damage.
• Watch out for Bellow of the Deeps cast, quickly focus the Bellowing Idols to avoid taking damage from Falling Debris.
• Once the boss reaches maximum energy, he will cast Stance of the Mountain, transforming himself to a Bellowing Idol, your goal here is to follow the him throughout the shuffle and nuke it. If you are playing with comms, it is best to mark it once you have identified which is the right Bellowing Idol.

• Use activate mitigation for each Sunder attack.
• When Ularogg Cragshaper is casting Bellow of the Deeps, move him closer to any existing Bellowing Idols to make it easier for your party to cleave them.

• Keep everyone healthy on each Strike of the Mountain cast in case either of them gets caught in it.

• Stoneclaw Grubmaster is the only new non-boss-enemy you will face here. Watch out for his Stone Shatter AoE damage around him and immediately focus the Tarspitter Grub when spawned with Worm Call cast. If you let the Tarspitter Grub finish its Metamorphosis (you can also stun them)cast, it will transform into Rotdrool Grabber and gain several new abilities.

• Avoid being hit by Rancid Maw and its follow-up ground effect.
• Melee players should be aware of the acid pools near the boss coming from Putrid Skies.
• It is extremely important to kill the 2 Wormspeaker Devouts before letting them get consume by Naraxas. If they do so, it will trigger a Fanatic's Sacrifice enabling the boss to get a Ravenous each time she eats one. Remember that Wormspeaker Devout is affected by all crowd-control effects, so this is the perfect time to use them.
• When the boss falls under 20% health, she will become Frenzy, gaining attack speed and increased physical damage, hence why you want to save your second set of cooldowns for this time!

• When the boss casts Spiked Tongue run away to avoid being Devouring. If that happens, you will likely die since the healer can't assist you; this will be the time to use your bonus movement speed abilities. During this time, you can use your defensive cooldowns to reduce the incoming damage of the "dragging" channel. You might want to optimize the Rancid Maw and use the pools while being dragged; just a heads up!
• Be ready with active mitigation when the boss has Frenzy effect.

• Watch out for Toxic Retch cast. It will be applied to all 5 party members and can be Poison dispel, if you have one.
• Spot-heal your tank during Spiked Tongue "phase".
• Heads up that throughout the boss fight the Angry Crowd will throw Hurling Rocks onto your party members, which will overlap with Toxic Retch Poison debuff. Always keep your party healthy to avoid having random deaths. Coordinate defensive cooldowns to best cover the difficult period of the boss fight.

Once you have defeated Naraxas, jump down the cave underneath the corpse of the boss to access the last part of the dungeon, where you will face Dargrul the Underking. Here is what you should know about each non-boss-enemy in this area:

• Understone Demolisher does nothing but auto-attacks to your tank. Still, once it finishes its Charskin cast, it will randomly fixate people with Burning Hatred and kite it away if you get targeted! Remember that you can stun/disturb the Charskin cast to delay the effect.
• Rockbound Trapper is a heavy tank-hitting mob, first because of their Jagged Disc, and second because of its Bound cast.
• Emberhusk Dominator is the most dangerous mob in this area. Your tank must pay attention to Ember Swipe and position the mob so it doesn't cleave any melee player. In addition, they will occasionally cast Frenzy, increasing further the damage they deal; if you do have an Enrage dispel, here is the perfect time to use it. At last, your healer must pay attention to everyone's health because of the Crystal Spike instant casts.

dargul-the-underking + crystal-spikes (fit somewhere below)

• Avoid the initial ground effect from Crystal Spikes. Later in the fight, you can use them for cover against Magma Wave.
• When the boss casts Magma Sculptor, it will spawn a Molten Charskin add. The ad will fixate ( Burning Hatred) a random player from your party chasing them until defeated. To make it easier, kite the add towards any existing Crystal Spikes so he can get a stunned - Crystal Cracked and increase its damage taken by 100% at which time you should switch and kill it. At last, the longer the add lives, the more stacks of Rising Inferno it will receive and the more damage you will take from Magma Breaker, which makes it a top priority to deal with the add and stun it with Crystal Spikes as quickly as you can.
• Once the boss reaches 100 energy, it will cast Magma Wave; it is crucial to see cover behind Crystal Spikes before the cast is finished to reduce the incoming damage. This is the perfect time to use your defensive cooldowns. Watch out for the following-up Lava Geyser effect after Magma Wave and the giant magma pool on the ground.

• Watch out for Molten Crash; here is a good place to use your active mitigation.
• Beware that the more you move the boss, the more damage your team will take from Magma Breaker.
• Aim the Landslide frontal away from any players or active Crystal Spikes.

• Keep everyone healthy during Molten Charskin as your whole party will take damage from Magma Breaker each time it steps.
• Watch out for your tank's health during Landslide & Molten Crash combo.
• Use your major cooldowns during the Magma Wave channel to avoid any party member from dying.

Type	Item	Stats
Neck	Understone Gorget	Crit/Vers
Mail Shoulder	Skyhorn Mantle	Haste/Crit
Leather Chest	Vest of Rupturing Diamonds	Crit/Vers
Plate Wrist	Deepfurrow Bracers	Crit/Vers
Cloth Wrist	Sunfrost Wristwraps	Haste/Crit
Mail Waist	Boulderbuckle Strap	Haste/Mastery
Plate Waist	Greystone Belt	Haste/Crit
Cloth Legs	Riverrider Legwraps	Mastery/Haste
Leather Boots	Rivermane Sandals	Haste/Crit
Trinket	Shard of Rokmora	Agi/Str

Type	Item	Stats
Cloth Head	Cragshaper's Fitted Hood	Haste/Crit
Leather Head	Steelgazer Hide Hood	Haste/Vers
Cloth Shoulder	Roggthread Mantle	Haste/Vers
Mail Chest	Tunic of Screaming Earth	Crit/Haste
Mail Wrist	Bitestone Wristwrap	Haste/Vers
Leather Hands	Gravelworn Handguards	Haste/Crit
Plate Legs	Rock Solid Legplates	Haste/Mastery
Plate Boots	Rockbound Sabatons	Haste/Vers
Ring	Loop of Vitriolic Intent	Haste/Mastery
Trinket	Talisman of the Cragshaper	Vers

Type	Item	Stats
Plate Head	Subterranean Horror Faceguard	Mastery/Haste
Back	Putrid Carapace	Mastery/Crit
Leather Wrist	Wristbands of Rousing Violence	Mastery/Haste
Mail Hands	Gauntlets of Innumerable Barbs	Mastery/Crit
Cloth Boots	Offal Galoshes	Mastery/Vers
Ring	Band of the Wyrm Matron	Crit/Vers
Trinket	Naraxas' Spiked Tongue	Mastery

Type	Item	Stats
Mail Head	Mountain Throne Coif	Haste/Vers
Neck	Chain of the Underking	Crit/Mastery
Leather Shoulder	Steelgazer Hide Mantle	Haste/Vers
Plate Shoulder	Tremorguard Pauldrons	Mastery/Crit
Plate Chest	Rockbound Chestguard	Haste/Vers
Cloth Chest	Tunic of Smoldering Ire	Crit/Mastery
Cloth Hands	Gloves of the Mountain Conquest	Haste/Mastery
Plate Hands	Rumblestone Gauntlets	Vers/Haste
Cloth Waist	Roggthread Cord	Haste/Vers
Leather Waist	Sinister Ashfall Cord	Crit/Mastery
Leather Legs	Charskin Legguards	Crit/Mastery
Mail Legs	Faultline Leggings	Crit/Mastery
Mail Feet	Bitestone Boots	Haste/Vers
Trinket	Mark of Dargrul	Crit

There are 7 total achievements to obtain in Neltharion's Lair:

Achievement	Criteria
Neltharion's Lair	Defeat Dargrul in Neltharion's Lair.
Heroic: Neltharions Lair	Defeat Dargrul in Neltharion's Lair on Heroic difficulty or higher.
Mythic: Neltharions Lair	Defeat Dargrul in Neltharion's Lair on Mythic difficulty.
Mythic: Neltharions Lair Guild Run	Defeat Dargrul in Neltharion's Lair on Mythic difficulty while in a guild group.
Keystone Hero: Neltharion's' Lair	Complete Neltharion's Lair at Mythic Level 20 or higher, within the time limit.
Got to Ketchum All	Use the Ketchum Tablet to acquire imprints of all the named snails within Neltharion's Lair.
Cant Eat Just One	Defeat Naraxas after she gains 6 stacks of Ravenous in Neltharion's Lair on Mythic difficulty.