Varimathras Abilities

Table of Contents

• +Introduction
  • 1. Contents
  • 2. Lore
  • 3. Outline
  • 4. TL;DR
    • 4.1. Tanks
    • 4.2. Healers
    • 4.3. Everyone
    • 4.4. Positioning
  • 5. Bloodlust/Heroism/Time Warp
  • 6. Changelog
• ×Abilities
  • 1. Overview
  • 2. Varimathras' Cell
    • 2.1. Torment of Flames
    • 2.2. Torment of Frost (Heroic+ Only)
    • 2.3. Torment of Fel (Heroic+ Only)
    • 2.4. Torment of Shadows
  • 3. Varimathras' Abilities
    • 3.1. Misery
    • 3.2. Alone in the Darkness
    • 3.3. Shadow Strike
    • 3.4. Dark Fissure
    • 3.5. Marked Prey
    • 3.6. Necrotic Embrace (Heroic+ Only)
• +Normal/Heroic Strategy/Tactics
  • 1. Positioning and Strategy
  • 2. The Prison of Varimathras
  • 3. Bloodlust/Heroism/Time Warp
• +Mythic Strategy
  • 1. Mythic Mode Abilities
  • 2. Strategy
  • 3. Bloodlust/Heroism/Time Warp
  • 4. Changelog

General Information

On this page, we list all the abilities from the Varimathras encounter in Antorus, the Burning Throne. The idea is to give you a solid understanding of the encounter before you read the strategy.

If you are already familiar with the encounter, then you can skip to the strategy and tactics page or access any other page of the guide by using the table of contents on the right.

Varimathras is a single phase encounter with a very low number of mechanics for the raid to deal with. Due to his ability to prevent all healing, however, any mistakes are punished in the extreme.

The raid engages Varimathras in his prison cell, which serves as the arena for the fight. The cell cycles through several elemental states, all of which deal constant magic damage to the raid. The order of the elemental states is fixed, and they are listed below in order of occurrence, from first to last. The length of each state is fixed, however, the exact durations are currently unknown and are different based on difficulty. For example, there are only 2 elemental states on Normal difficulty (Fire and Shadow). The Fire phase lasts significantly longer than it does on higher difficulties, as the Shadow phase is intended as a soft enrage and always occurs very late into the encounter.

Torment of Flames is the first elemental state, and causes the raid to take ticking Fire damage every second.

Torment of Frost is the next elemental state in the sequence, and causes the raid to take ticking Frost damage every second. Additionally, all players' movement speed is decreased by 40%.

Torment of Fel is the next elemental state in the sequence, and causes the raid to take ticking Fire damage every second. Additionally, the damage of this effect increases by 50% with each tick.

Torment of Shadows is the final elemental state in the sequence, and causes the raid to take ticking Shadow damage every second. This functions as a soft enrage of sorts, and this state persists until either the boss or the raid perishes.

Misery prevents all healing taken by the player for 7 seconds after they suffer Shadow damage. Additionally, all Physical damage is increased by 200% for the duration of the effect. Note that Shadow damage taken from Torment of Shadows triggers Misery.

Any time a member of the raid group is not within 8 yards of another player, Varimathras will strike them with Alone in the Darkness, dealing moderate Shadow damage. Currently it is unclear what the cooldown is with respect to the individual, however, he will recast it every few seconds until the player is within 8 yards of another player. Varimathras can cast this on multiple players simultaneously, and the damage occurs instantly.

Shadow Strike strikes Varimathras' active target and anyone else in a 15-yard frontal cone for heavy Shadow damage.

Dark Fissures target Ranged DPS and Healers, spawning 3 rifts under random players. The rifts inflict moderate Shadow damage every 3 seconds for 6 seconds before expiring. As it expires, it deals a large burst of Shadow damage to anyone remaining within the rift.

Marked Prey targets a random player, charging towards them after a 5-second delay and dealing moderate Shadow damage. Marked Prey hits the first target it comes in contact with, and knocks back whoever is hit.

Necrotic Embrace targets a random player, placing a debuff on them that deals moderate Shadow damage after 6 seconds. Upon expiry, it spreads to all players within 10 yards.