Upper Karazhan 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. Upper Return to Karazhan Timer: 35 minutes
• +3. The Curator
  • 3.1. Important Trash to Note
    • 3.1.1. Shrieking Terror/Forlorn Spirit
    • 3.1.2. Damaged Golem
    • 3.1.3. Abstract Nullifier
    • 3.1.4. Mana Confluence/Mana Gorged Wyrm
  • 3.2. The Curator
    • 3.2.1. Quick TL;DR
    • 3.2.2. Overview
    • 3.2.3. Active Phase
    • 3.2.4. Evocation Phase
• +4. Shade of Medivh
  • 4.1. Important Trash to Note
    • 4.1.1. Fel Bat
    • 4.1.2. Infused Pyromancer/Gleeful Immolator
    • 4.1.3. Wrathguard Flamebringer
  • 4.2. Shade of Medivh
    • 4.2.1. Quick TL;DR
    • 4.2.2. Overview
    • 4.2.3. Main Phase
    • 4.2.4. Intermissions
• +5. Mana Devourer
  • 5.1. Important Trash to Note
    • 5.1.1. Rat
    • 5.1.2. Spider
    • 5.1.3. Ancient Tome
  • 5.2. Mana Devourer
    • 5.2.1. Quick TL;DR
    • 5.2.2. Overview
• +6. Viz'aduum the Watcher
  • 6.1. Important Trash to Note
    • 6.1.1. Mana Devourer
    • 6.1.2. Erudite Slayer
    • 6.1.3. Chess Event
  • 6.2. Viz'aduum the Watcher
    • 6.2.1. Quick TL;DR
    • 6.2.2. Overview
    • 6.2.3. Phase One
    • 6.2.4. Phase Two
    • 6.2.5. Phase Three
• 7. 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.

Upper Karazhan contains four bosses: The Curator, Shade of Medivh, Mana Devourer, and finally Viz'aduum the Watcher. The dungeon is linear and you will be led along the path moving through.

From the entrance you will take the left path, moving up the ramp and the subsequent staircases until you reach the Menagerie, where The Curator is located. Along the path are a number of individual Shrieking Terrors, as those encountered before the Opera Event, alongside some Forlorn Spirits. At the top of the stairs will be two Damaged Golems, followed by a single Abstract Nullifier. Finally, in the corridor containing the Curator are 4 groups consisting of one Mana Confluence and 4 Mana-Gorged Wyrms, which should all be killed before engaging the boss. In some cases, pulling him through the corridor to reset him in order to safely be able to pull trash is a good idea.

Like the entry path toward Opera, the path to The Curator will contain a number of Shrieking Terrors, casting Cursed Touch on random players in the group and applying a light Shadow damage DoT over 10 seconds. Make sure to interrupt all Terrifying Wail casts, as you will frequently run into situations where you can pull extra ghosts. Forlorn Spirits will also patrol this area, dealing moderate Shadow damage to the tank with Shadow Rend and leaving behind a light Shadow damage DoT over 5 seconds. They will also apply Cursed Touch to random players in the group, applying a light Shadow damage DoT, that can be decursed. Finally, they will channel Soul Leech, which will drain life from players within 8 yards, that should be interrupted whenever possible.

In the room at the top of the staircase, there will be two Damaged Golems that can be pulled together or individually. These will frequently begin channelling Unstable Energy, that will disable the constructs but cause them to fire off low damage Arcane telegraphs around the room for 6 seconds. You should ideally try to avoid these to reduce the healing required, but they are not lethal.

A single Abstract Nullifier will block the entry to the Menagerie, dealing high tank damage. They will apply Nullification to a random player in the group roughly every 10 seconds, silencing them for 30 seconds. To counter-act this, the player should find the purple image of their character and run toward it to remove the effect. Tank damage will mostly come via Arcane Strike, which will be repeatedly cast, dealing heavy Arcane damage. Finally, every 15 seconds, it will apply Force Blade to the tank, dealing heavy Arcane damage and leaving a painful Arcane damage DoT.

Mana Confluences will be present in the corridor containing The Curator in the Menagerie. These come equipped with an Ablative Shield, which prevents interrupts and is removed when they reach 20% Mana. They will frequently cast Arcane Barrage, which will deal heavy Arcane damage to all players and should be interrupted if the Ablative Shield is down, to reduce group damage. They are also accompanied by four Mana-Gorged Wyrms that will occasionally siphon Mana from the Confluence, and upon death will discharge this with Loose Mana, leaving a patch on the ground that players can stand in to regain 10% of their Mana pool per second.

To deal with these groups safely, it is advised to drag them back toward the corridor entrance, and if necessary despawn The Curator by dragging him through the doorway to allow you to freely move up the corridor to pull.

Position off the red carpet to drop Power Discharge patches, and move the boss along the corridor. Stay spread to avoid Static Charge splash from Volatile Energy spawns, and focus these adds down. Use offensive cooldowns during Evocation, and use defensives as it ends to counter-act Overload damage.

The Curator encounter is split up into two phases, the Active phase and the Evocation phase, which will cycle throughout the encounter. While in the Active phase, the boss' Mana bar will constantly deplete itself (taking roughly 40 seconds to fully deplete), and when it runs out, the boss will switch to the second phase, beginning with a cast of Evocation.

Throughout the phase, The Curator will summon Volatile Energy adds, which must be killed off throughout the fight. These will jump to a random party member with Static Charge, dealing moderate damage to them, and then cast Arc Lightning. This will deal moderate Nature damage and grant the Volatile Energy a buff that increases the damage of subsequent Arc Lightning casts. This effect stacks so these must be killed as quickly as possible, before they are able to gain too many stacks.

The Curator will also continuously launch telegraphed orbs at players with Power Discharge casts. These will land after 2 seconds, and players must quickly move out of them before they land, as anyone caught in the impact will take heavy Arcane damage. This will also leave behind a pool of energy that will deal heavy Arcane damage each second to anyone inside. These will remain for the entire encounter, so players should try to limit the spread of these by moving carefully around the room in the active phase, and moving the boss when too little room remains.

When The Curator runs out of Mana, it will begin to cast Evocation, that will channel for 15 seconds. During this time, The Curator will take 100% increased damage and cease all actions, so players should save DPS cooldowns and Bloodlust / Heroism for this period. When the cast completes, the boss will cast Overload, dealing heavy Arcane damage to the group and increasing the damage of subsequent Overload casts by 100%, meaning that each Evocation phase will be increasingly dangerous.

After defeating The Curator, you should go through the portal at the end of the room, which will move you into an inverted version of the main tower from the original Karazhan, with you standing on the ceiling. The pathway directly ahead will have Fel Bats overhead which can either be Taunted down to engage, or ignored and moved past. It will also contain two Infused Pyromancers and one Gleeful Immolator on the first platform. After these are killed, you should take the left pathway toward Shade of Medivh, and in the final room will be a single dangerous Wrathguard Flamebringer.

Fel Bats will fly around the center area in the first room. They will not engage the party, but instead bombard the platform with Fel Mortar telegraphs that will deal heavy Fire damage to any player who remains in the area after 2 seconds. They can be ignored and left up, but due to Short Temper, they can be brought down to the platform with Taunt effects. When engaged, they will instead cast Fel Breath, dealing moderate Fire damage to all players in front of the Bat after a 2-second cast, so they should be faced away.

Infused Pyromancers will be present on the main platform, repeatedly casting Fel Fireball on their current aggro target (usually the tank). This can and should be interrupted as it will deal high Fire damage, and has a long 3-second cast. They will also summon two Fel Bombs that spawn two green Fel Orbs in the area, that after 15 seconds will detonate for lethal Fire damage. This damage can be reduced by having a player stand by them, taking 1/10th of the damage each second, reducing the AoE effect.

They will also rarely summon a Gleeful Immolators on the platform, casting Gleeful Immolation to spawn a line of Felflame that will travel forward. This will deal heavy Fire damage to any players standing within it, so you should make sure to quickly move out of the way of this. They will despawn roughly a minute after being summoned, so are not a priority.

Before Medivh's chamber there will be a single Wrathguard Flamebringer that stands on a patterned floor. This will deal moderate damage to the tank, casting Strike for Physical damage followed immediately after by Cleave, which will deal Physical damage to any player standing in front of the Wrathguard. He will also cast Slide frequently, teleporting behind the tank and following up with a Strike/Cleave combo, so be prepared for that. Roughly every 10 seconds, the Wrathguard will also cast Burning Tile, which will ignite a pattern on the tiles beneath him that will detonate for heavy Fire damage to any player still standing on those indicated. Make sure to move into the safe tiles during this.

Prioritise Piercing Missiles casts to keep your tank alive, spare interrupts should be spent on Frostbite, and ignore Inferno Bolt. Do not move in or out of Flame Wreaths that spawn, keep moving during Ceaseless Winter, and focus Frostbite interrupts during this period. Focus down owls one by one during Guardian's Image to avoid being overwhelmed.

The Shade of Medivh encounter is comprised of a single long main phase that contains a large amount of different spells that need to be interrupted. This is interspersed with one of three different intermission phases that will happen throughout the fight.

Shade of Medivh will cast 3 separate spells in this phase at random, out of the following 3.

Piercing Missiles should be interrupted as much as the tank needs, as it deals heavy Arcane damage and increases the damage the tank will take from subsequent casts within the next 20 seconds.

Any spare interrupts should be used on Frostbite, and ideally there should be some kind of interrupt rotation setup in the group to cover this. If successfully cast, this will indefinitely freeze the target player in a block of ice, and the only way to remove this is by using the third spell, Inferno Bolt. This will target a random player in the group with a small point-blank AoE circle, that when it completes will deal moderate Fire damage to the player and anyone else within the circle. Players should stay spread to mitigate this and it should not be interrupted, especially if a Frostbite is active.

When the Shade of Medivh reaches full Mana, it will select one of three random Intermission phases to trigger.

The first of the 3 intermission phases that can trigger is Ceaseless Winter. This will cause the room to freeze for 20 seconds, dealing moderate Frost damage to all players within the room. Any players who stand still during this will also gain an additional stack of this debuff, so players must keep moving while this is active to reduce the damage taken as much as possible.

The second is Flame Wreath. This will spawn two Flame Wreaths around 2 random party members, and will also last for 20 seconds. Anyone who crosses over these rings of fire will trigger a detonation, dealing massive damage to all party members, so you must not break the ring. The players within the wreaths will also take heavy ticking Fire damage whilst they are active, so keep them alive. If they die whilst within it, they will trigger the detonation and likely wipe the group.

The third and final intermission ability is Guardian's Image. This will cause the Shade to disappear, replacing it instead with 3 spectral Owls at the entrance, and one on both the left and right side of the room. These will repeatedly cast Arcane Bolt at random players, dealing moderate Arcane damage throughout this phase, until they are all killed. They will also cast Shimmer every 3 seconds, dealing light Arcane damage to the group and increasing the damage of subsequent casts by 5% per stack. Due to this, the group should focus down one individual Owl, and cycle through them rather than splitting damage up. When all 3 are defeated, the Shade of Medivh will return and the main phase will begin anew.

After the Shade of Medivh is defeated, a portal on the right side of the room will open up, which after going through will cause your character to fall for a brief period of time, and end up shrunk down as you come out of the other end, on top of a large bookcase. You will not take any fall damage here, so you can jump down and engage the trash below. There are a number of enlarged critters in the area, containing individual Spiders, Rats, and Ancient Tomes patrolling in front of the boss, Mana Devourer.

Rats will deal low tank damage, but will frequently cast Poison Fang when they reach full Energy. This deals heavy damage to the tank and leaves behind a heavy DoT effect over the next 2 seconds, so using cooldowns and being aware of the increased damage intake when this happens is key. They will also cast Stampede roughly every 20 seconds, which will spawn a wave of smaller Rats that will rush forward. There will be one gap which you can move through safely, as if players are hit by any of the Rats they will take heavy Physical damage and be knocked away.

Spiders will deal light tank damage, and regularly cast Web on a random player in the group, applying a light Nature DoT and rooting them after a brief uninterruptible cast. This can and should be dispelled, especially if you pull a Rat together with a Spider. They will also apply Leech Life to the tank roughly every 30 seconds, which leech a moderate amount of health from the player every 2 seconds. This should immediately be dispelled to stop the Spider from healing too much.

Ancient Tomes are relatively tame mobs, casting Arcane Blast on the tank for light Arcane damage that scales up with each additional cast. They will apply Curse of Doom on random players, which after 10 seconds will deal heavy Shadow damage that can and should be dispelled, as it is magic. Finally, when low on health, it will attempt to cast Consume Magic that, after 4 seconds, will heal the Tome to full. This should be interrupted as the highest priority.

Move out of Arcane Bomb telegraphs, and use defensives/heal the group after Energy Discharge. Soak 2 (3 if comfortable) Loose Mana orbs after Coalesce Power and then dump stacks in Energy Void if damage taken ramps up too much.

The Mana Devourer boss is a single phase encounter which is made easier the more DPS you have. If the Devourer ever reaches 100% Mana, it will cast Decimating Essence, dealing lethal Arcane damage and wiping the group. This is the core mechanic of the fight, as the boss begins with 0% and attempts to gain it throughout the encounter.

The Devourer will passively gain 5% of its Mana every 3-4 seconds, which will all be released every 30 seconds with a cast of Coalesce Power. This will release Loose Mana orbs for every 5% of its max Mana consumed, that will quickly move toward the boss. Players can and should intercept these, and will gain 10% of their total Mana when they do so, gaining a stack of Unstable Mana. These stacks will deal heavy ticking Arcane damage and increase all damage dealt by 10% per stack. When soaking these be aware that the damage taken by this debuff is extremely high, so you should try to get rid of them quickly.

The way to diffuse your stacks of Unstable Mana is via the Energy Voids that will be spawned throughout the encounter. These swirling patches on the ground will consume a stack of Unstable Mana every second a player remains in it, deal moderate Shadow damage to them, and shrink the patch. If the player has no Unstable Mana stacks, however, this will instead remove 20% of their Mana.

The Mana Devourer will also periodically cast Energy Discharge throughout the encounter, dealing heavy Arcane damage to the party, which the healer must keep in check. Alongside this it will also spawn Arcane Bombs that will activate after 3 seconds, and any players who stand within it will take massive Arcane damage and splash to other players within 10 yards, so this should be avoided.

Following the Mana Devourer encounter, you will be returned to your regular size and can move through the Guardian's Library out toward the final encounter, Viz'aduum the Watcher. First in the Library there are a number of smaller Mana Devourers (different from the boss) with much lower health, in groups of 3. As you leave the Library, the ground will invert again and you will return to the ceiling, and are faced with a treacherous corridor with a number of Fel Bats again, and alongside a Gleeful Immolator, and a single Erudite Slayer barring the way to the Chess room. Be aware on this corridor that you can fall and can be knocked off, so be careful of the edges.

At the end of the corridor, gravity will re-orient itself and you will be faced by a re-incarnation of the Chess Event, which serves as the final trash in the dungeon. There will be one King and Queen present, alongside two Knights, two Bishops, and finally one Rook. After defeating these, you will be allowed passage through to the final room, and platform containing Viz'aduum.

Mana Devourers operate similarly to the boss, but as you are now normal size are much less of a threat. They will mimic the boss, summoning purple orbs that will travel toward the Devourers, and if they reach them will trigger a Loose Mana explosion for light Arcane damage to all players. If a player catches this orb, however, they will gain Absorbed Mana increasing damage and healing by 10%, but taking a moderate amount of Arcane damage.

The Erudite Slayer will be present half way across the platform just outside of the Library. This will deal moderate tank damage, and will repeatedly cast Mighty Swing. This deals heavy Physical damage to the tank and any players in front of it, and knocking them back. Due to this, be very careful when positioning the Slayer, as it is very easy to be knocked off the platform. The Slayer will also cast Heavy Smash, creating a large green pool that will suck players in toward it while it remains. When this is active, take extra care to avoid Mighty Swing.

The Chess Event comes in the form of trash preceding the final boss. This contains 7 different pieces that will all interact in different ways with the board. The board is the central checkered chessboard section of the platform, in which pieces cannot leave. Players can also not target any pieces on the board from outside of the area. Pieces include:

• One King;
• One Queen;
• One Rook;
• Two Knights;
• Two Bishops.

The key aspect of the encounter revolves around the King, that will spawn with the Royalty buff, reducing all damage taken by 90%. This is removed by defeating any of the other pieces on the board to trigger King's Court, that will grant a brief period of vulnerability in which to hit the King. When the King is defeated, the trash ends and the pathway opens up.

The only piece that will actively attack nearby players is the King, and all other pieces are locked to dealing damage via their chess themed move-sets. All of the movement abilities will deal massive damage to any players who remain in the lit square, so move out quickly. The most dangerous is the Queen, who will move the length of the board horizontally, vertically, or diagonally, and upon arrival light up all tiles that fit that pattern upon landing through Queen Move.

The Knight will cast Knight Move, and like in Chess can move in an L shape (two squares in a given direction then one to the side of that) and will light up the destination square and the path it moved across. The Bishop will use Bishop Move, moving diagonally across the board and lighting up all squares diagonal to it. Finally, alongside using melee swings when not vulnerable, the King will cast Royal Slash. This will light up all adjacent squares and deal massive Physical damage to any players who remain in the area, to compensate for him being stationary.

The order that pieces are killed in is not important, but make sure to hit the king when you trigger the vulnerability by killing another piece; as he is not dangerous during this period and cannot attack back, alongside taking full damage.

Move from Viz'aduum the Watcher's face during Disintegrate casts, and interrupt Burning Blast. Move out and kite Fel Beam, let players move out with Chaotic Shadows and then dispel them, avoiding orbs spawned. Dodge Bombardment telegraphs, and move into the portal during the phase transition. Avoid Disintegrate directions on the ship, and move down the center when possible to avoid Soul Harvest damage from the conductors on left and right. Make a final platform push to the boss before the Stabilize Rift cast completes, interrupt it and cleave down Felguard Sentries.

Viz'aduum the Watcher is a 3-phase encounter that deals very heavy damage to players throughout the encounter so requires careful navigation through it. At 66% and 33% health, players will teleport to different ships in the netherspace above, and additional abilities will be added to the fight.

In all 3 phases of the encounter, Viz'aduum the Watcher will always cast 3 different abilities. The first of these is Burning Blast, dealing moderate Fire damage to the tank and leaving a heavy stacking Fire DoT debuff. This can and should be interrupted by players throughout the encounter.

Disintegrate is cast regularly throughout the fight, which causes the boss to face a random party member and after 1 second will deal massive Fire damage to anyone in front of Viz'aduum and knocking them back, so players must be very aware of where the boss is facing and getting out of the way, as this can be very lethal. In later phases, this knockback can also knock you off the platform, making it even more important to avoid.

Finally, Chaotic Shadows is a debuff that will be cast on a random player in Phase One, 2 random players in Phase Two, and 3 random players in Phase Three. This deals heavy Shadow damage every 2 seconds to players afflicted by it, so they require a lot of healing, or to be dispelled when safe. When this is dispelled or expires, the player will detonate, sending out 8 shadow orbs that will deal massive Shadow damage to any players they connect with. Note that you can also run into orbs spawned around you, so when this is falling off you should stand still to avoid this. When this is about to end or is going to be dispelled, move to the edge of your current platform to give the most amount of space and time for other party members to see and react to these orbs.

During the first phase only, Viz'aduum the Watcher will cast Fel Beam, which will target a random party member. This will cause a green beam to slowly follow the player and leave behind patches of fel energy. The beam itself and these pools deal heavy Fire damage to any players within them, so this should be kited around the edge of the room to save space. Be careful not to move in range of Disintegrate however.

During this phase, Viz'aduum the Watcher also has access to the Bombardment ability. This will have a short wind-up after being cast, and then cause a large amount of green circles to spawn across the platform over 5 seconds, that will deal massive Fire damage to any players who are in them after they detonate. This can be very hectic, so players should pay attention to their surroundings during this alongside the other mechanics in the fight.

At 66% health, Viz'aduum will cast Demonic Portal and leave for the command ship. Players need to quickly run to this portal and will follow him there.

In the second phase, Viz'aduum loses access to the Fel Beam, but keeps Bombardment. When you arrive on the ship, the boss will cast Disintegrate down the center of the ship repeatedly, which players should avoid. When moving toward the boss, 4 staggered Soul Harvests will be on the left and right sides of the platform, constantly projecting an aura of Soul Harvest that deals massive Fire damage to players every second when they are within the telegraphed area, and should be avoided. Players should move between the empty sides as they head up the ship toward the boss to avoid all of the abilities in this phase, as most of the casts will be lethal.

At 33% health, Viz'aduum will once again cast Demonic Portal and leave for the final ship, and once again players should run to this portal to follow him.

In the final phase, Viz'aduum will also lose access to Bombardment. When you arrive here, there will be 3 waves of 2 Felguard Sentry enemies leading up to the boss, who will be casting Stabilize Rift. You should kill these Sentries as you move up the ship, and re-engage the boss. Interrupt Stabilize Rift as late as possible, but make sure to do so or else there will be a significantly increased number of Sentries to deal with for the remainder of the encounter. Sentries will spawn roughly every 30 seconds throughout the fight even after interrupting this, which should be cleaved down along with the boss.

• 24 Aug. 2017: Guide added.

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