Anub'arak (tactics)

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This article is about information on how to defeat Anub'arak in Azjol-Nerub. For the character biography of Anub'arak, see Anub'arak. For information on how to defeat Anub'arak in the Crusaders' Coliseum, see Anub'arak (Trial of the Crusader tactics).
BossAnub'arak
Image of Anub'arak
Gender Male
Race Crypt lord (Undead)
Level 17-32 Elite
Reaction Alliance Horde
Location The Brood Pit, Azjol-Nerub
Status Defeatable

Anub'arak is the third and final boss of Azjol-Nerub, an instance in the Dragonblight.

Adventure Guide

The fates of Azjol-Nerub and Anub'arak have long been intertwined. In life, he was the empire's king. In death, he was its conqueror. Charged by the Lich King to protect his old empire once more, the traitor king stands vigilant against any that threaten his kingdom.

Abilities

  • Spell shadow seedofdestruction.png Carrion Beetles — Anub'arak summons 2 Carrion Beetles every second for 4 sec.
  • Spell nature earthquake.png Impale — Anub'arak fires a spike through the floor, impaling all players within 4 yards, inflicting Physical damage and knocking them up in the air.
  • Spell shadow contagion.png Leeching Swarm — Anub'arak creates a swarm of locusts to protect him for 15 sec. Locusts inflict Nature damage every second to all players within 60 yards.
  • Spell nature earthquake.png Pound — Anub'arak rears up and smashes down on all players in front of him within 15 yards, inflicting Physical damage and stunning them for 6 sec.
  • Ability vanish.png Submerge — When Anub'arak reaches 75%, 50% and 25% remaining health, he submerges and summons Nerubians to defend him.
Anub'ar Assassin
  • Ability backstab.png Backstab — Anub'ar Assassins backstab when attacking players from behind, inflicting Physical damage.
Anub'ar Darter
  • Ability warrior bloodnova.png Dart — Anub'ar Darters quickly dart at a player, inflicting Physical damage every 3 sec. for 12 sec.
Anub'ar Guardian
  • Ability rogue ambush.png Strike — Anub'ar Guardians strike at a player, inflicting Physical damage.
  • Ability warrior sunder.png Sunder Armor — Anub'ar Guardian hacks at a player, reducing their armor by 1000 per stack for 20 sec. Sunder Armor can stack up to 20 times.
Anub'ar Venomancer
  • Spell nature corrosivebreath.png Poison Bolt poison — Anub'ar Venomancer shoots poison at a player, inflicting Nature damage, then additional Nature damage every 3 sec. for 9 sec. This effect stacks up to 5 times.
  • Spell nature corrosivebreath.png Poison Bolt Volley poison — Anub'ar Venomancer shoots poison at all players, inflicting Nature damage, then additional damage every 3 sec. for 9 sec.

Tactics

Shortly after the fight starts, a wall of web is raised around his platform which will lock group members out if you are not all inside. Be sure all party members are on or inside the ring before engaging. Anub'arak requires the tank to get quite close (near melee range) before the fight begins and the web goes up.

Warriors and Druids should not attempt to start the fight by charging Anub'arak as due to his size this will result in a face pull prior to achieving charge range. It is possible to circle around the perimeter and attack from the rear or side so as to start the fight with him facing away from the remainder of the party.

Spread out around the ring, tanking Anub'arak in the center. He will periodically stun the tank so do not be overzealous with DPS. Carrion Beetles will spawn when he is not submerged which can be easily killed with light aoe while the main focus of DPS remains on Anub'arak. When not submerged he will cast Locust Swarm which results in a moderate damage aoe against all party members and pets (usually cast shortly before submerge). When Anub'arak submerges, all DPS should switch to the incoming adds which fall from above into the ring, with the main tank keeping an eye out for when Anub'arak resurfaces in the center of the ring. The area beneath a player about to be hit by Spikes is indicated by a shifting drift animation and can be easily avoided if the player moves quickly.

So long as Anub'arak is picked up quickly after each resurface and the adds are killed quickly, the boss fight should be easily controlled.

If you find your healers running out of mana, an effective tactic is to prolong the submerged phase by killing all but the last guardian. While the tank and dps round up and deal with the other mobs, the healer sits back and does minimal healing, regenerating as much mana as possible. Once the healer is back to full mana, the last guardian is killed and the next phase begins. From experience it works best to only do this during the first two submerged phases, the third is usually too frantic and should be ended as fast as possible.

Feral druids can really shine during this fight. Since they don't use mana for their attacks, a well played druid will be able to use [Innervate] on the healer, [Rebirth] on any party members who might die during the fight, heal the party with [Tranquility] and round out his job with [Abolish Poison]. And, because of the nature of the fight with the boss dissapearing every now and then, even druid tanks will find some time to support their party with these spells. As this fight tends to be pretty intense, it's rare for a feral druid not to blow one or more of his cooldowns, and the lack of their use can point out a careless or badly played toon.


Heroic Mode:

Fighting Anub'arak while he is up is easy, as long as the tank and melee can avoid Pound properly. The adds phase is the real challenge. Adds come in from all direction. Healers and DPS can aggro easily if the tank is not used to AoE tanking. Several tips here:

  • Healer and casters should stay close to the tank, so that the tank can grab any adds on them quickly.
  • DPS should handle the non-elite adds. This prevents the tank from burning cooldowns and time on the easy adds.
  • Tank should focus on the elite adds that come down the ramp where the party entered.
  • Tank and DPS should all focus on the Anub'ar Venomancers when they arrive on the second and third rounds. Stunlock or crowd control them as much as possible. Place a raid icon on one to focus fire and/or assist the tank after they arrive so the proper target will die fast.
  • Make sure someone is assigned to cleanse the poisons. If your group cleanser is a shaman, Poison cleansing totems help a lot. However, totems also seem to get killed by adds quickly as they come in, so make sure to keep re-casting them.
  • The poisons can be interrupted.

Loot

Normal mode
Heroic mode

Related achievements

Quotes

Intro
I was king of this empire once, long ago. In life I stood as champion. In death I returned as conqueror. Now I protect the kingdom once more. Ironic, yes?
Aggro
Eternal agony awaits you!
Killing a player
  • You shall experience my torment first hand!
  • You have made your choice.
  • Soon the master's voice will call to you.
Locust Swarm
  • Your armor is useless against my locusts!
  • A pestilence upon you!
  • Uunak-hissss tik-k-k-k-k!
Submerging
  • Come forth, my brethren! Feast on their flesh!
  • Auum na-l ak-k-k-k, isshhh.
Death
Anub'arak yells: Ahhh... RAAAAAGH! Never thought... I would be free of him....
Reclaimer A'zak yells: Anub'Arak has fallen, my brothers! Rise from the depths and reclaim our birthright!

Patch changes

External links