Theater of Pain Quick Dungeon Guide: Video, Boss Strategies, and Trash

To see how difficult Theater of Pain is to complete on Mythic+ this week, we recommend checking out our Mythic+ dungeon difficulty rankings, linked below.

Please consult our Theater of Pain encounter journal pages for more information regarding what the bosses do exactly in each difficulty.

• You fight three bosses at the same time. Kill Dessia first, then Sathel, and then Paceran.
• Interrupt Sathel's Searing Death cast, because it does a ton of damage to its target. And interrupt Paceran's Plague Bolt cast when he teleports away in order to keep him stacked with the other bosses for cleave damage.
• Dispel Sathel's Spectral Transference buff, because it heals the buffed target.
• Dessia enrages at low health, gaining an absorb shield and fixating random players. Remove the enrage if capable, or run away from her when fixated.
• Sathel gains an absorb shield at low health that also makes him immune to interrupts ( One with Death). Focus him down during this in order to interrupt him again.
• On Mythic, a fourth boss stays stealthed and occasionally ambushes a random player ( Opportunity Strikes). Interrupt this channel as soon as possible, because it does a ton of damage to the player.

The first three bosses can be done in any order.

• Quickly kill the banner spawned by the boss ( Oppressive Banner). It will slow everyone and make it harder to dodge the following abilities.
• Dodge Crushing Slam and Massive Cleave. These are telegraphed abilities that the boss casts when he gets to full energy.
• Occasionally the boss will send two DPS to the pit below to duel each other ( Blood and Glory). One player needs to win within 45 seconds, or else both players get their damage reduced for 30 seconds. The winner gets a damage increase, and the loser gets a damage decrease.
• On Mythic, the boss also casts Deafening Crash at full energy. Move out of the green circle and stop casting to prevent getting interrupted.

• Dodge the hooks that sweep across the room ( Meat Hooks). You can see safe openings when they spawn on either side of the room.
• A couple adds spawn every time the hooks come through. Stay spread while the adds are alive, focus kill the quickly, and don't stand in the green pool they drop when they die.
• On Mythic, the boss occasionally pulls everyone to him and casts Tenderizing Smash. Everyone needs to quickly move out of the brown circle.

• The tank should always stay in melee range of the boss, or else it casts a really bad stacking DoT ( Spectral Reach).
• Stay slightly spread, because the boss frequently puts a DoT on random players that pulses damage in 3 yards ( Phantasmal Parasite). This DoT should be dispelled as often as possible.
• Dodge green swirlies on the ground, and do not step into the green circle that is spawned by the swirly ( Grasping Hands).
• If the boss starts channeling Draw Soul on you, quickly move behind one of the green circles on the ground, so that the circle is between you and the boss. At the end of the channel, your soul will escape you body and run straight toward the boss, getting stuck in the green circle. You will be pacified and have to collect your soul in order to use abilities again. Recovering your soul also gives you a big damage buff for a while.

• Dodge the frontal beam that faces a random direction and rotates in a random direction ( Dark Devastation).
• When everyone gets a green circle around them, spread out so that each circle does not hit another player ( Manifest Death).
• Occasionally the boss will spawn a big green swirly rift toward an edge of the area ( Grasping Rift). Move away from the rift, because it will pull you toward it and do bad things to you if you get too close ( Death Grasp).
• On Mythic, Manifest Death also spawns an add on each player. Interrupt and cleave these adds down. Also, at 50% health remaining, the boss casts Echos of Carnage. This frequently spawns ghosts around the room that need to be dodged.

• Ancient Captain in Xav's area
  • Focus-kill this mob, because it reduces your AoE damage to nearby enemies ( Commanding Presence).
  • Interrupt its Demoralizing Shout cast, because it reduces all of your damage done.
• Rancid Gasbag in Gorechop's area
  • Dodge the Vile Eruption cast. It is a cone breath in front and behind the mob.
• Portals in Kul'tharok's area
  • Kill a Portal Guardian and pick up the swirly green orb it drops when it dies. Put it in one of the orb holders in front of the portal, choosing the left or right orb holder based on whether you want to go left or right with the portal. You can figure out the correct direction by looking ahead to where the next portal is.
• Nefarious Darkspeaker in Kul'tharok's area
  • Interrupt its Necrotic Bolt Volley cast, because it does damage to everyone and also applies a healing absorb.