Arcane Anomaly
 Arcane Anomaly | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Race | Mana surge (Elemental) |
| Level | 31 Elite |
| Resource | Mana |
| Reaction | Alliance Horde |
| Location | The Menagerie, Karazhan |
Arcane Anomalies are mana surges found in Karazhan.
Abilities
Arcane Volley — Hurls magical bolts at nearby enemies, inflicting Arcane damage.
Blink — Teleports the caster to a random target. Also frees the caster from any bonds.
Loose Mana — Restores 21 mana per 1 sec in an area for 20 sec.
Mana Shield — Enfolds the caster in a protective shield that lasts until cancelled. and absorbs up to 60000 Physical damage, draining mana instead of health. Drains 1 mana per point of damage absorbed.
Drops
Strategies
These are always found with a pack of Syphoners, which deal little damage and float around the raid draining mana. It is smart to kill these mobs before working on the Syphoners, as the effect of Loose Mana will help to counteract the draining ability of the Syphoners.
These mobs are immune to banish and other CC techniques, and life draining effects do not return life while the mana shield is up. Similarly, 
[Seed of Corruption] will not properly detonate with the mana shield operational. The Anomalies are also resistant to arcane and nature damage due to their Elemental properties.
One of the more effective methods of dealing with these pulls is to have the MT pull the mobs quite far back, and to fear bomb the adds until the Anomalies have been killed, at which point the syphoners can be killed quite easily. The entrance to the room where the first two Arcane Watchmen are found makes a fantastic choke point to accomplish this.
Paladins will find it near impossible to tank an Arcane Anomaly. The mana shield soaks all damage, meaning no holy damage taken and no threat generated. A paladin can hold aggro until the first teleport, but will be unable to regain it afterwards.
While the mana shield cannot be dispelled, Anomalies do not start with one. It is activated after aggroing the group. A mage could pull with a 
[Pyroblast] (then flee) or a Marksman spec'd hunter could do a misdirected aimed shot. Burst damage with a long cast time can be difficult to take advantage of due to LoS and mob positions. Even if it fails to kill outright, this should get their health down under 20% and allows the raid to activate special abilities like 
[Execute].
[Drain Mana] for warlocks will directly drain their mana, Priest's mana burn will not. This has the added benefit of causing negligible threat for the warlock.
Rewards
Reputation: Provides 15 reputation with The Violet Eye.
Patch changes
Patch 2.1.0 (2007-05-22): The strategy involving a hunter pulling and feigning to remove their Mana Shield no longer works. - Patch 2.0.3 (2007-01-09): Added.