Scalecommander Sarkareth Raid Guide in Aberrus, the Shadowed Crucible

I also have my own website dedicated to both tanks and raid leaders where I share my insight on the bosses with strategy and preparation advice which I will update after my guild has completed progress. If you are interested in this or want to discuss it on Discord, the links to them are below:

• https://www.tanknotes.com
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• Remove Oppressing Howl by getting hit with Searing Breath or Mass Disintegrate.
• If you are targeted by Mass Disintegrate point the arrow away from the raid.
• Move away from Scorching Bomb.
• If you have the Oppressing Howl debuff active when Glittering Surge is cast, you will take a lethal amount of damage.
• Heroic: Avoid Drifting Embers.

• Run through 10 Astral Flare before collecting your third fragment (big circle soak).
• Dodge Abyssal Breath and kill the adds that spawn.
• Interrupt Blasting Scream.
• Move away from Desolate Blossom.
• If you pick up a Void Bomb stand in a Desolate Blossom to get sent into the other realm. Wait for the bomb to detonate and leave.
• Tanks: Run away from the raid when Void Claws is about to expire.
• Heroic: Move to the edge of the room with Infinite Duress.

• Use Bloodlust after the first Cosmic Ascension.
• Move away from Cosmic Ascension.
• Spawn Astral Formations near the edge of it.
• Hide in the lines created by Astral Formations when Scouring Eternity is cast.
• Interrupt Blasting Scream.
• Soak Embrace of Nothingness as a raid.
• Motes of Oblivion will give you 5 stacks of Oblivion.
• If you pick up a Void Bomb stand in Motes of Oblivion to go inside the other realm.
• Heroic: Move to the edge of the room with Infinite Duress.
• Tanks: Ensure Void Slash only hits you. Stand in Motes of Oblivion to go inside the other realm and wait for your debuff to expire and leave.

Your goal in this phase is to ensure all Oppressing Howl debuffs have been removed before the end of the Phase.

• At the start of this phase, every player will have Oppressing Howl applied to them. If any of these debuffs remain when Sarkareth casts Glittering Surge then they will be stunned and take lethal amounts of damage.
• Oppressing Howl can be removed by taking damage from Searing Breath or Mass Disintegrate. Assign a large amount of the raid to be hit by the first Searing Breath with a raid healing cooldown, a smaller amount for the second, and whoever is left over for the third cast. If any players are hit by Mass Disintegrate between these, they do not need to be in the breath as they have been hit by a mechanic already and have lost their Oppressing Howl debuff.
• Healers: When Oppressing Howl is removed from a player, it will trigger raid damage from Echoing Howl.
• Players targeted by Mass Disintegrate should aim to point the line away from other players. This will deal damage to every player, from the image of Sarkareth to that player.
• Scorching Bombs will spawn on random ranged players. Shortly after spawning, they will detonate, dealing raid-wide damage (and additional damage to players within 10 yards of it). Try and bait these and move around the room each time these spawn.
• Tanks: Burning Claws is a swap on 1 stack mechanic. This will deal damage to the raid when it expires. This damage is based on the amount of damage you have taken from the DoT left by the debuff. Try and reduce this with defensive cooldowns. Do not get 2 stacks of Burning Claws.
• This phase will end either when Glittering Surge is cast a second time or Sarkareth hits 60% HP.

Heroic changes:

• Drifting Embers will spawn on the platform. If you are hit by these, you will be knocked back. Simply avoid the red swirls on the ground.

This phase introduces the Oblivion stacks and gently teaches you how to use them to your advantage to either capitalize on damage by getting Astral Flare buffs, or by using the other realm to negate mechanics.

• At the start of this phase, every player will receive 10 stacks of Oblivion, which will send them into the other realm.
• Whilst you are in the other realm, you will take 99% less damage from the Emptiness Between Stars debuff and see three soak pools. When you run into all three of these, you will return to the boss phase. Before you do this: Soak 10 Astral Flare to receive a haste and movement speed buff.
• Ideally, your raid should soak the third pool at 5 seconds or less remaining on the Emptiness Between Stars debuff and soak one final Astral Flare before leaving to maximize the benefits on the buff.
• When all players have left, interrupt Sarkareth (this should be done in 5 seconds or less) to begin Phase 2.
• In this phase, the boss has an entirely new set of mechanics. Abyssal Breath will target a random ranged player, and the boss will fly to that location. 3 Null Glimmer adds will spawn, and they need to be prioritised and interrupted.
• If the Null Glimmer adds successfully cast Blasting Scream, the raid will take damage and have their casts interrupted.
• Shortly after casting Abyssal Breath, Sarkareth will create two Desolate Blossoms at their location. Move away from these.
• Finally, Sarkareth will spawn a Void Bomb on a random ranged player. This bomb can be picked up and will detonate after 20 seconds dealing lethal amounts of raid damage. However, the player holding the bomb can enter Emptiness Between Stars by standing in the Desolate Blossom to get 10 stacks of Oblivion. Stay inside until the bomb detonates and leaves. This player should also grab 10 stacks of Astral Flare whilst they are inside for some free haste.
• Sarkareth will repeat these mechanics in order until the phase is over.
• This phase will end either shortly after the third set of Desolate Blossoms or Sarkareth hits 40% HP.

Heroic changes:

• Null Glimmer adds will cast Rescind. This heals them very quickly. This can be removed by moving them into Desolate Blossoms.
• You can also kill them very quickly and not have to worry about this mechanic.
• Infinite Duress will be cast on a random player. This debuff can be removed with a dispel, however, when it is removed, two effects will occur:
  1. 1: The player with Infinite Duress will be knocked up into the air.
  2. 2: All players will be knocked away from the player with Infinite Duress.

The final phase of the encounter adds a couple of new mechanics but keeps most of the Phase 2 mechanics. This is where the fight really begins.

• Similar to the start of the previous phase, Sarkareth will fly away , and you will not be able to attack the boss. The raid will then be pulled towards the boss and pushed away. Make sure you stay on the platform!
• Shortly after landing, Sarkareth will cast Cosmic Ascension at their location. This creates a 30-yard zone you need to run away from. You should run away as a raid to a pre-assigned location to spawn Astral Formations.
• This also spawns Null Glimmer adds, and they should be prioritised and handled the same way as Phase 2.
• The Astral Formations are useful later in the phase as they allow you to negate pushbacks in the fight.
• Tanks: Void Slash is a frontal attack and will leave a debuff on everyone hit. Ensure the boss is faced away from the raid and your tank partner. After being hit by this run into Motes of Oblivion to be sent into the other realm and wait for your debuff to time out. If you fail to do this, then the Void Slash debuff will hit the raid based on the amount of damage you have taken from the DoT of this debuff.
• One player will recieve the Embrace of Nothingness debuff. This will create a large shadow zone around them. The damage from this can be split with the raid and will also destroy any Astral Formations in the area. If you have too many Astral Formations, you can opt to destroy some.
• Void Bombs will still spawn on a random ranged player and should be handled the same way as Phase 2. However, instead of standing in shadow zones, the players should stand in Motes of Oblivion as they give 5 stacks of Oblivion each.
• The final mechanic of the phase is Scouring Eternity. This mechanic will kill any player who is not hiding from it. Every Astral Formation will cast a line behind it, which indicates a safe spot. Stand in one of these.
• The mechanics will then repeat until the boss has been defeated.

Heroic changes:

• The addition of Infinite Duress adds complexity to the phase. The most notable part is where the raid is running away from Cosmic Ascension. For this, the raid should move together, and the player should move to the edge of the platform. When the Astral Formations spawn the player with Infinite Duress should be dispelled to knock the raid to safety.