Varimathras Strategy/Tactics for Normal/Heroic

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, you will find a working strategy to defeat Varimathras in Antorus, the Burning Throne for both Normal and Heroic modes, which usually only differ by the tuning of the boss.

Here, we assume that you have read our descriptions of the abilities for this encounter.

The other pages of our Varimathras guide can be accessed from the table of contents on the right.

Varimathras is an extremely simple and straightforward boss, however, it demands clean execution or it can quickly spiral out of control. It is recommended that the Tank starting the encounter moves the boss out of the center and towards the back of the room. This gives the Ranged DPS and Healers a little more space to use the rest of the room. It is very important that all players remain within 8 yards of each other, even at the moment of the pull. The inactive tank should stay near the active tank as the boss is being positioned to ensure Misery is not applied.

The Ranged DPS and Healers should form a stack, with their starting position weighted to either side of the room. It is recommended to mark one player to lead the group's movement. Each time a set of Dark Fissures is spawning, the group will step to the side as a unit.

The inactive tank should never stand directly in front of the boss due to the frontal cone from Shadow Strike. Ideally, the inactive tank should stand to the side, staying within 8 yards of the currently active tank. When Shadow Strike is cast, the tanks will immediately trade aggro with Taunt and swap positions.

A designated melee player to soak every Marked Prey is recommended. Rogues make good candidates, as they can use Feint in combination with Elusiveness to mitigate a sizeable portion of the damage. The ranged will have to form a line of sorts to ensure the player being knocked away is never more than 8 yards away from another player during their trajectory.

Necrotic Embrace only appears on Heroic and above. This ability can be very tricky to handle, as it lasts 6 seconds (notably one second shorter than Misery). This is important, as it leaves only two options for how to eliminate Necrotic Embrace completely. The afflicted player can either leave the stack alone and risk death from Alone in the Darkness, or the debuff can be removed by an immunity. Generally, it is much safer to use immunities to eradicate the debuff. If the original target has an immunity available, they can immediately use their ability without exiting the group. If a player without an immunity is the original target, they must exit the group with a player that possesses an available immunity. The two players must be at least 10 yards from the stack when Necrotic Embrace expires. Once it spreads to the second player, it can be safely immuned and the two players can return to their stack.

On Normal difficulty, the raid will only have to deal with the Torment of Flames and the Torment of Shadows. On Heroic and Mythic, however, Torment of Frost and Torment of Fel bisect the aforementioned elemental states.

During Torment of Frost, the raid must be extra vigilant for Dark Fissures and, most importantly, Necrotic Embrace. This is due to the debilitating movement debuff present during this time, which reduces player speed by 40%. This gives even less time to react to these important abilities.

The Torment of Fel is the most dangerous phase excluding the final one. As the damage ramps up over time, anyone affected by Misery must be very careful and be ready with personal cooldowns, as it is possible to die from the ticking damage before the debuff expires. Healing cooldowns are recommended once the damage ramps up to significant levels.

We advise you to use Bloodlust/ Heroism/ Time Warp as the encounter commences. This ensures as little time as possible is spent in the Torment of Shadows pseudo-phase, which functions as a soft enrage of sorts.