Hellfire Citadel is a five wing instance that allows World of Warcraft players to face bosses in a somewhat non-linear order. Unlike previous guides, we cannot provide the most optimal order raid teams should encounter these 13 bosses. Refer to the in-game raid journal (shift J) determining which order to face them depending on team composition and skill.
Halls of Blood provides decision options after breaking through the Hellfire Door with two bosses being accessible for this wing. However, Gorefiend is designed to be the final boss of Halls of Blood and should not be attempted early in progression.
The other wings for Hellfire Citadel includes: Hell Breach, Bastion of Shadow, Destructor’s Rise, and The Black Gate. The following ratings are based on a first impression and defeat of each boss.
Hellfire High Council
The Hellfire High Council is a single phase, council-based encounter with three bosses. Each boss has their own health pool and should be brought down equally to roughly 50% throughout the fight. The High Council has a soft enrage timer as each of them hit 30% health as they will overwhelm the raid during their Final Hour.
Dia Darkwhisper
Dia Darkwhisper has an aura about her that will shroud her allies in a dark haze, absorbing all damage taken as long as they are within 25 yards of her. One tank should be assigned to taunting Darkwhisper away from the other two so as to avoid buffing them with Void Haze.
She will cast Void Bolt at her main threat, inflicting moderate Shadow damage. Tanks should not be overly concerned with mitigating this damage as they’ll need it when she transforms.
Dia will transform into a Nightmare Visage for a channeled time, unleashing a flurry of attacks on the tank. If a tank moves out of her melee range during this, she will Charge to them.
She will cast the Mark of the Necromancer on random enemies. This mark inflicts increasing Shadow damage over time and if it is dispelled will bounce to 2 nearby allies.
She will then begin to Reap all marked targets. Her mark will burn into the ground and inflicts minor Shadow damage to any who stand within the area of effect.
Dia will cast an Ultimate ability that will shroud the room in Darkness with Wailing Horror. These Wailing Horrors will form in random locations and sail across the room inflicting moderate Shadow damage to those they come in contact with.
Gurtogg Bloodboil
Known for his fel-corruption in The Burning Crusade’s Black Temple, Gurtogg Bloodboil returns with the all too familiar ability, Bloodboil. He will cause 5 of the furthest raid members’ blood to boil and inflict moderate Physical damage (this ability does not stack until Mythic difficulty).
He will spread his fel sickness to his primary threat target with Acidic Wound. The tank will be inflicted with Nature damage every 2 seconds and have their armor reduced by 100. Acidic Wound is a stacking debuff with a cap of 60 times that lasts 30 seconds.
Gurtogg’s tank will thankfully get a reprieve when he goes into a Fel Rage and focuses on a random enemy. He will infect the target with fel energy that causes the target to gain extra defenses. With each successful melee attack, Gurtogg will increase his attack speed by 10%, so focused players should use a mitigation cooldown.
Periodically, he will crash about the room with Demolishing Leap as his Ultimate Ability. Players within his targeted area will have heavy Physical damage, which could result in death, while the entire raid will only be damaged base on proximity to impact. This ability will require heavy movement to get as far away from where he plans to land.
Blademaster Jubei’thos
Blademaster Jubei’thos should be picked up with Gurtogg since he does not have a debuffing ability towards his primary threat target. Again, he should be 25 yards away from Darkwhisper to not gain Void Haze.
Since he won’t focus on the tank, the rest of the raid will need to be aware of their positioning with his abilities.
Jubei’thos will turn in a random direction and hurl his Fel Blade. Players will know which direction by the large arrow indicator. Any who fail to move from the boomerang blade will suffer moderate damage.
He will whirl about in a fiery tempest during Felstorm. Melee will want to quickly move out of his range as he’ll inflict minor Fire damage every second for 8 seconds.
He will cast Windwalk on himself and disappear, summoning Mirror Images as his Ultimate Ability. These Mirror Images are decoys that are capable of casting Fel Blade and Felstorm. Jubei’thos will re-emerge after 45 seconds or when all images are defeated.
Final Hour
Which boss you bring down to 30% first will depend on raid composition, but all of them should have their health brought down to 35-40% before picking which will go first. As each one hits 30%, they will begin their Final Hour that will persist until the encounter ends.
Gurtogg Bloodboil taints the blood of his enemies that will limit their maximum health value by 10% per application. The Tainted Blood debuff does stack and will persist until the encounter is over.
Blademaster Jubei’thos will create shadows of himself that will appear behind half of all living players. Wicked Strike will strike them for moderate Fire damage that will increase over time and will persist after his death.
Dia Darkwhisper will be overcome by darkness and will apply Mark of the Necromancer to half of all remaining foes. During her madness, she will no longer use Reap to clear the Mark that will remain until the encounter ends.
Tips
- Dia Darkwhisper will need to picked up by one tank and pulled 25 yards away from the other tank with Jubei’thos and Gurtogg.
- Do not push two bosses below 30% at the same time.
- Suggested kill order is Gurtogg > Jubei’thos > Dia
- Bloodlust/Heroism/Time Warp should be used to finish Gurtogg Bloodboil to minimize Tainted Blood (around 3/4th stack).
- DPS Legendary Rind should be used for each Final Hour phase. Make sure to use it first with Gurtogg.
- Healer Legendary ring should be used with Wailing Horror/Darkness and when Dia reaches 30%.
- Tank Legendary ring is for emergencies during Nightmare Visage or if Acidic Wound fails to reset.
- One of the existing bosses will use their Ultimage Ability every 1:15. These abilities will be removed from rotation if the boss is dead.
- Healers and Dia’s tank should rotate damage mitigation CDs during Nightmare Visage.
- Player with Fel Rage should pull Gurtogg about 30 yards away from the tank.
- DPS should switch to Jubei’thos’s Mirror Images during Windwalk.
- Healers should try to avoid dispelling Mark of the Necromancer unless the icon becomes red in color.
- Players with Mark of the Necromancer should run to the edge of the area when Reap cast begins.
- Push Gurtogg to 30% after he completing Demolishing Leap.
- Healing and damage mitagation CDs should be used during all Ultimate abilities (Wailing Horror, Windwalk, Demolishing Leap).
Kilrogg Deadeye
One of the last remaining Warlords from the Iron Horde, Kilrogg Deadeye, has accepting the demonic offering from Gul’dan and transformed into a fel-corrupted Orc. This encounter is target priority with an alternate zone-phase period for a select few.
Fel Corruption
Players will want to keep an eye on an extra bar that will appear during this fight that will show the amount of Fel Corruption they have gained. As it increases on a target, it will inflict increasing damage over time. Once a player hits 100 Fel Corruption, that player will be controlled by the Burning Legion with Demonic Possession.
Seizing Destiny
At the beginning of the fight, three Salivating Bloodthirsters will spawn from cave openings and start running for the blood pool at the back of the area. These should be slowed down and killed as quickly as possible so they won’t transform.
However, one of the Bloodthirsters will reach the blood pool and transform into a Hulking Terror. The tanks will want to rotate for each successful Hulking Terror to keep their Fel Corruption down.
One tank should taunt the Hulking Terror and face it away from the rest of the raid to avoid having Savage Strikes hitting any in a 9 yard 90-degree frontal cone. This ability will inflict 57% weapon damage as well as add 2 points of Fel Corruption every .5 seconds for 4 seconds.
While the Terror does melee damage, its Fel Claws has a chance to splash Fel Blood onto the current tank, inflicting 2 more points of Fel Corruption. This should only be applied to the tank.
He will periodically begin to cast Rending Howl that will inflict minor Physical damage to all enemies on impact as well as more minor Physical damage every 1 second for ten seconds of his channel. This ability can and should be interrupted, but be aware that it will increase his cast speed by 50%.
Upon death, the Hulking Terror will burst with Fel Rupture, spraying fel blood on any nearby. This will inflict major Fire damage and add 30 points of Fel Corruption to those within 10 yards.
Kilrogg Deadeye
The boss himself only has a few abilities: Shred Armor, Death Throes, Heart Seeker, and Vision of Death.
Kilrogg will have his next attack shred the tank’s armor for great Physical damage with Shred Armor. By successfully shredding their armor, it will cause the target to receive 40% more damage per application of Shredded Armor. Tanks should use their active mitigations so the debuff won’t apply.
Once he reaches a full energy bar, he will spin rapidly and cast Death Throes for 6 seconds, dealing minor Fire damage to those within melee range. Damage decreases the further players are from him, but they can’t escape as he’ll hurl fire missiles at random range. If they successfully hit anyone, they will deal major Fire damage to those within 5 yards. This ability will ramp up by 12% damage with each Death’s Door stack.
One Shot to the Heart
Random raid members will be targeted for Heart Seeker. He will hurl a knife at the target’s heart inflicting heavy Physical damage on impact and extra minor Physical damage to any in the line of the throw. Heart Seeker will leave Blood Splatter pools to form that will deal minor Shadow damage to any within them over time.
Next, a Blood Globule will be summoned next to the player affected by Heart Seeker. It will immediately begin to make its way towards Kilrogg. If it reaches him, he will Blood Surge and inflict major Shadow damage to the raid.
If a player afflicted by Heart Seeker has any Fel Corruption, a Fel Blood Globule will be summoned and make its way towards the boss. If it should reach him, it will inflict heavy Shadow damage and heal the boss for 15% of his max health.
Vision of Death
Kilrogg’s story is on how he saw his death by tearing out his own eye. Now Fel energy will pour out from his eye socket and transport any who bask in its light to see a Vision of Death. If not enough targets reach the green runes on the floor before him, he will inflict heavy raid wide Fire damage.
Only three runes will be present and there is no negative effect to entering the Vision. Those who step forth will find Khadgar, a horde of demons, and suffer minor Physical damage every 1 second with Vision of Death debuff. They will also be unable to re-enter another Vision of Death for 2 mins by Defying Death.
Those who successfully survive will gain Undying Resolve/Undying Salvation that will increase their damage and healing by 10% as well as reduce Fel Corruption from nearby allies (if healers) for 1 min.
Only three types of demons will appear during Visions of Death. The Hellblaze Imp is the basic foot-soldier and will inflict major Fire damage with Fel Blaze. The Hellblaze Fiend is a brute and will explode into Fel Flames that leaves a pool of fel flames on the ground and deal moderate Physical damage on impact. And inally, Hellblaze Mistress is an elite of the Legion and will unleash a Cinder Breath burst of felfire before her, inflicting moderate Fire damage upon impact and extra minor Fire damage every 2 seconds for 8 seconds.
Tips
- Bloodlust/Heroism/Time Warp should be used after first group is buffed with Undying Resolve.
- DPS Legendary ring should be used at the start of the fight and when players are buffed by Undying Resolve.
- Healer Legendary ring should be used during Death Throes.
- Tank Legendary ring should be used to survive during Death Throes.
- Melee should interrupt Rending Howl and focus damage on Hulking Terrors.
- Range kill order: (Fel) Blood Globules > Bloodthirsters > Hulking Terrors.
- Heart Seeker targets should move towards the back of the encounter, opposite of Kilrogg. Healers should watch the health of those marked.
- DPS will need to switch to (Fel) Blood Globules when they spawn.
- Only three may enter Vision of Death, so raids will want to assign 2 DPS and 1 Healer.
Gorefiend
Gorefiend is a multi-phase, multi-target encounter with RNG elements beyond player’s control. Souls will escape to the outside world and attack the raid while players will be devoured to damage these Souls to weaken them.
Each Soul that is released or slain will reduce Gorefiend’s energy. Once he reaches zero, he will begin to feast and recharge himself to return to the fray.
Get In My Belly
This boss is the Devourer of Souls. Players who are killed won’t be out of the encounter. Instead, he will devour their souls, which will place the player in his stomach where they will be Digested.
Even if players successfully withstand everything that the boss is throwing at them, they can still be chosen with Shadow of Death. This is a debuff that will select three random players. After 5 seconds, they will be killed and transported into his stomach.
Those who are consumed by Gorefiend will be afflicted with Gorefiend’s Corruption for 3 minutes. That means that if they die with this debuff, their soul will be lost and won’t be transported back into his belly.
Once inside, players will need to avoid the Bursting Ulcers that will inflict moderate Shadow damage to any within 3 yards of the indicator. They will also gain a 40s debuff called Digest that will kill them once it expires. To exit from inside his stomach, walk between the large pillars in the center of the area.
Within Gorefiend are three types of Trapped Souls: Shadowy Constructs, Tortured Essence, and Enraged Spirits. Players will be able to target these souls and either deal damage or heal them before they exit his stomach into the outside world.
Shadowy Constructs will appear as Orcs and will not attack players inside the boss’s stomach.
Tortured Essence is a friendly draenei spirit ingested from Auchindoun that can be healed. They will make their way towards the center of the stomach where they will be fully corrupted and released.
If a tank is devoured, an Enraged Spirit will spawn. The tank should pick these up and interrupts should be rotated for Bellowing Shout as this will increase the Spirit’s damage by 300% for 10 seconds.
These Enraged Spirits will also slam the ground with Fel Fury. Players who fail to avoid them will have major Fire damage and will need to quickly move out of the pool of felfire left behind.
Once the Spirit reaches 70% health, he will slam the ground inflicting Physical damage and bowl over any players between it and the exit of Gorefiend’s stomach.
Back in the Maw of Souls
Tanks will want to engage Gorefiend quickly to avoid him inflicting major Shadow damage to the raid with Gathering Darkness. This will only happen when he is not engaged in melee.
Gorefiend will passively deal splashing Shadow damage to the entire raid within 5 yards with Surging Shadows. The raid will want to make sure to loosely spread about 5 yards away from their team.
Three players will receive a debuff called Touch of Doom. This is an 8 second countdown to detonation that will deal major Shadow damage to all allies. The point of the explosion will leave a Doom Well that will inflict major Shadow damage to any standing in the zone.
Gorefiend will begin to twist the soul of a player, rooting the target in place and binding them to 3 other players with Shared Fate. This will deal minor Shadow damage to those connected until they are within 6 yards of the rooted player. If the afflicted players do not cancel this effect within 10 seconds, they will take heavy Shadow damage.
Finally, Gorefiend will cast Crushing Darkness that will create a series of explosions in a spiral shape. If players do not move beyond 4 yards of the indicated impact area, they will receive major Shadow damage.
Trapped Souls Unleashed
Any Trapped Souls that successful escaped from Gorefiend’s stomach will spawn outside and begin attacking the raid. They are no longer passive and now thirst for vengeance.
Shadowy Constructs will be transformed into Gorebound Constructs. They Hunger for Life and will fixate on a random player. They cannot be kited around indefinitely since they will increase in speed over time. If they reach their target, they will deal heavy Shadow damage to all enemies within 10 yards before crumpling.
The Tortured Essence will be corrupted into a Gorebound Essence. These Souls will not move and instead stand to inflict minor Shadow damage to all players as well as slowing their movement speed by 50% with Spirit Volley. With each successful cast, the damage will increase by 20%.
Finally, Enraged Spirit will emerge as a Gorebound Spirit. With each successful melee attack, it will wrap the tank in Fel Flames. This is deals minor Fire damage for 4 seconds, but this ability stacks. It will be important for tanks to communicate how many stacks they can have before requiring a swap.
Just like inside Gorefiend’s stomach, the Spirit will still cast Bellowing Shout that will increase Phsyical damage by 300% for 10 seconds. Interrupt rotations will need to be planned out so this buff won’t one-shot the tanks.
And finally, Raging Charge will cause the Spirit to charge towards a random target and back to the tanks to inflict heavy Physical damage. Players targeted to be charged will want to quickly move out of its way to not get one-shot.
Feast at the Red Wedding
Gorefiend will eventually deplete his energy and will need to recharge with Feast of Souls. He will be at his most vulnerable as damage taken will be increased by 100%.
During Feast of Souls, he will inflict moderate Shadow damage every 2 seconds during the 1minute phase. The raid will want to stack together to optimize AoE healing.
However, Gorefiend will begin to pull Unstable Souls towards him. If any of these souls reach him, he will gain 10 energy, reducing the Feast of Souls cast.
Touching an Unstable Soul will cause it to collapse. Collapsing them will inflict moderate Shadow damage to all players plus any within 10 yards of the detonation.
Once Gorefiend has reached 100 energy, he will begin the assault once more and the encounter will repeat.
Tips
- Bloodlust/Heroism/Time Warp should be used during the first Feast of Souls.
- DPS Legendary ring should be used at the start of the fight and during each Feast of Souls.
- Healer Legendary ring should be used as an additional CD during Feast of Souls.
- Tank Legendary ring should be used to mitigate if Gorebound Spirits successfully cast Bellowing Shout.
- The entire raid should spread out roughly 5 yards.
- The pillars inside Gorefiend will create terrible LoS issues and will require players to run around them to avoid exiting prematurely.
- Quickly move towards rooted player marked by the blue line during Shared Fate.
- DOTs should be refreshed on any Gorebound Constructs, but Gorebound Spirits>Gorebound Essences take priority to reduce raid-wide damage and slows.
- Adds during Phase 1 take priority over the boss. Feast of Souls will be optimal for boss damage.
- Block Unstable Souls to prolong Feast of Souls for optimal DPS.
Hell Breach | Bastion of Shadows | Destructor’s Rise | The Black Gate
Published: Jun 30, 2015 10:50 am