Blood-Queen Lana'thel (tactics)
- This article is about the strategy for defeating Queen Lana'thel in Icecrown Citadel. For her character biography, see Blood-Queen Lana'thel.
 Blood-Queen Lana'thel | |||||||||
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| Title | <The San'layn> | ||||||||
| Gender | Female | ||||||||
| Race | Darkfallen (Undead) | ||||||||
| Level | ?? Boss | ||||||||
| Resource | Mana | ||||||||
| Reaction | Alliance Horde | ||||||||
| Affiliation(s) | San'layn, Scourge | ||||||||
| Location | Icecrown Citadel | ||||||||
| Status | Killable | ||||||||
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Blood-Queen Lana'thel is the leader of the San'layn and a boss of the Icecrown Citadel raid. The fight is a cross between a very intense DPS race and a hellish battle for survival. High raid awareness and understanding of the fight are critical, even a single player death can mean a wipe.
This boss is available since January 19, 2010 on US servers and January 20 on EU servers.
Abilities
10-player mode
Ground phase
Blood Mirror 50,000 yd range — 100% of damage done to you is dealt to the linked source. This affects the person closest to the tank.
Delirious Slash (Heroic mode) 10 yd range — Inflicts 50% of weapon damage to an enemy and causes it to bleed for 4500 to 5500 damage per application every 3 sec. for 15 sec. Instant. 75% of weapon damage+6125-7825/3 on Heroic
Vampiric Bite (Heroic mode) 100 yd range — Deals 12025 to 13975 damage to the target, granting them the Essence of the Vampyr Queen. Instant. 13875 to 16125 on Heroic. Triggers...
Essence of the Blood Queen (Heroic mode) 100 yd range — You are infused with the blood of the Vampyr Queen. Damage done increased by 100%. Attacks heal caster. Instant. 75 second duration. Healed for 10% of all damage inflicted. Attacks cause no threat. As it wears off, triggers...
Frenzied Bloodthirst 50,000 yd range — The caster must satiate their need for blood, otherwise they will lose their will to Queen Lana'thel. Instant. 15 second duration. "Vampiric Bite" replaces the caster's action bars. If not sated after 15 seconds...
Uncontrollable Frenzy 50,000 yd range — Charmed. Increases damage done by 100%. Health increased by 5000%. Increases healing done by 1000%. Instant
Pact of the Darkfallen 100 yd range — Deals Shadow damage to you and nearby non-linked allies. This effect expires when all linked targets are within 5 yards of each other. Instant. 5000 Shadow damage every 2 seconds. 2 targets are linked. Triggers...
Pact of the Darkfallen — Deals shadow damage to nearby targets. Instant
Shroud of Sorrow — An aura of sorrow and despair emanates from the caster, inflicting 4500 Shadow damage every 3 sec. to nearby enemies. Instant. 40 yard radius
Presence of the Darkfallen — The presence of vampyr kin infuses Queen Lana'thel, increasing the power of her Shroud of Sorrow by 5%. Heroic only.
- Swarming Shadows — A swarming void consumes the target, causing a mass of shadows to appear beneath the target and dealing 2,313 to 2,687 Shadow damage every 2 seconds. This creates a cloud of shadows on the ground that deals damage to players who stand in it.
Twilight Bloodbolt — Hurls a bolt of dark blood at the target, dealing 9,250 to 10,750 damage to the target and surrounding allies within 6 yards.
Air phase
Incite Terror — Magic dispellable 4-second fear on the entire raid to begin the air phase.
Bloodbolt Whirl — Summons a maelstrom of whirling Bloodbolts every 2 seconds for 6 seconds.
Bloodbolt Whirl — Hurls a bolt of dark blood at the target, dealing 9,250 to 10750 shadow damage to the target and surrounding allies within 50,000 yards.
25-player mode
Ground phase
- Blood Mirror 50,000 yd range — 100% of damage done to you is dealt to the linked source. This affects the person closest to the tank.
- Delirious Slash (Heroic mode) 10 yd range — Inflicts 50% of weapon damage to an enemy and causes it to bleed for 5250 to 6750 damage per application every 3 sec. for 15 sec. Instant. 75% of weapon damage+7000-9000/3 on Heroic
- Vampiric Bite (Heroic mode) 100 yd range — Deals 12025 to 13975 damage to the target, granting them the Essence of the Vampyr Queen. Instant. 13875 to 16125 on Heroic. Triggers...
- Essence of the Blood Queen (Heroic mode) 100 yd range — You are infused with the blood of the Vampyr Queen. Damage done increased by 100%. Attacks heal caster. Instant. 60 second duration. Healed for 10% of all damage inflicted. Attacks cause no threat. As it wears off, triggers...
- Frenzied Bloodthirst 50,000 yd range — The caster must satiate their need for blood, otherwise they will lose their will to Queen Lana'thel. Instant. 10 second duration. "Vampiric Bite" replaces the caster's action bars. If not sated after 10 seconds...
- Uncontrollable Frenzy 50,000 yd range — Charmed. Increases damage done by 100%. Health increased by 5000%. Increases healing done by 1000%. Instant
- Pact of the Darkfallen 100 yd range — Deals Shadow damage to you and nearby non-linked allies. This effect expires when all linked targets are within 5 yards of each other. Instant. 5000 Shadow damage every 2 seconds. 3 targets are linked. Triggers...
- Pact of the Darkfallen — Deals shadow damage to nearby targets. Instant
- Shroud of Sorrow — An aura of sorrow and despair emanates from the caster, inflicting 4500 Shadow damage every 3 sec. to nearby enemies. Instant. 40 yard radius
- Presence of the Darkfallen — The presence of vampyr kin infuses Queen Lana'thel, increasing the power of her Shroud of Sorrow by 5%. Heroic only.
- Swarming Shadows — A swarming void consumes the target, causing a mass of shadows to appear beneath the target and dealing 2,313 to 2,687 Shadow damage every 2 seconds. This creates a cloud of shadows on the ground that deals damage to players who stand in it.
- Twilight Bloodbolt — Hurls a bolt of dark blood at the target, dealing 9,250 to 10,750 damage to the target and surrounding allies within 6 yards.
Air phase
- Incite Terror — Magic dispellable four second fear on the entire raid to begin the air phase.
- Bloodbolt Whirl — Summons a maelstrom of whirling Bloodbolts every 2 seconds for 6 seconds.
- Bloodbolt Whirl — Hurls a bolt of dark blood at the target, dealing 9,250 to 10750 damage to the target and surrounding allies within 50,000 yards.
Preparation
She should be tanked right at her starting position. She requires two tanks, because she links her primary tank to the player standing closest to the tank (Blood Mirror), which means the linked target takes the same amount of damage as the tank. Shamans should use 
[Tremor Totem], and it's a good idea to have all healers in a group with a shaman. If no shamans are available, Priests should 
[Fear Ward] healers.
The raid needs to stay distributed throughout the encounter (6 yards away from everyone else). It's a good idea to keep a circle of about 10 yards free of players right in the center of the room, and also to have everyone stay away from the walls. Ranged DPS make a semicircle at maximum range.
Strategy
The fight has only one phase. Although every two minutes she performs a very short air phase, the mechanics of the fight remain basically the same at all times.
Every player constantly takes damage from her aura (initially 4.5k per tick, increasing with each vampire in the room).
At random intervals, a random raid member gets Swarming Shadows, which makes them drop Shadow Fire on the ground until the debuff expires. Affected players can avoid taking any damage by running. It's a good idea to keep the walls free of other players, so that players with Swarming Shadows can simply run along the walls.
Another ability which she randomly uses is Pact of the Darkfallen. This links 2/3 (10/25 man) players to each other, they take increasing amounts of damage until they stand on top of each other. Linked players should meet in the center of the room.
Every two minutes she takes off, fears the whole raid and launches three extra Blood Bolts at every player. When she takes off, ranged DPS should run to the walls of the room while melee spread out in the middle. Healers should be in a circle between melee and ranged. After the fear is over, players must spread out again very quickly, else the Blood Bolts can be lethal. Healers should move only minimally after the fear and instead start a massive spam of AoE heals right away.
Vampire debuff
The Blood Queen has an extreme amount of hitpoints and a 5:30 minute enrage timer. An average of 9.8k/7.8k (25/10 player) DPS is required to beat it (assuming 2 tanks and 5/3 healers). Virtually all raids use the Vampire debuff to boost their DPS (although it's theoretically possible to beat her without using it).
15 seconds after the start of the encounter Blood-Queen Lana'thel bites the highest threat player which is not tanking, dealing the Vampire debuff. Becoming a Vampire has the following effects:
- Targets deal 100% more damage while also creating no more threat
- Targets heal themselves for 10% of the damage they deal
- After 75 seconds, targets must bite other non-Vampiric players or become mind controlled after 15 sec
The Blood Queen bites only one player throughout the whole fight. After 60 seconds, this person must bite another raid member. After 60 more seconds, both need to bite two more players, next four, and so on. It's extremely important that damage dealers get bitten first (starting with the highest DPS first), and healers last. DPS cooldowns should only be used after all damage dealers are bitten.
Some raids establish a fixed bite order. One damage dealer can use all cooldowns while the others hold back a little, making sure who gets bitten first. Assuming 8 melee and 8 ranged DPS, everyone biting within 3 seconds after the Vampire debuff expires, an example bite order can go as follows:
- 0'15"
- Bite 1
- Melee 1 gets bitten
- 1'18"
- Bite 2
- Melee 1 bites Ranged 1 who comes into melee to get bitten then moves back to range
- 2'21"
- Bite 3 melee
- Melee 1 bites melee 2
- Bite 3 ranged
- Ranged 1 bites ranged 2
- 3'24"
- Bite 4 melee
- Melee 1 bites melee 3
- Melee 2 bites melee 4
- Bite 4 ranged
- Ranged 1 bites ranged 3
- Ranged 2 bites ranged 4
- 4'27"
- Bite 5 melee
- Melee 1 bites melee 5
- Melee 2 bites melee 6
- Melee 3 bites melee 7
- Melee 4 bites melee 8
- Bite 5 ranged
- Ranged 1 bites ranged 5
- Ranged 2 bites ranged 6
- Ranged 3 bites ranged 7
- Ranged 4 bites ranged 8
16 vampires are out, Bloodlust or Heroism now. It may be advisable to delay the first two rounds of biting a little, in order to avoid conflicts during the air phase - else it's possible that some players must bite during or shortly after the fear, which may mess up the bite order.
After the 5th round of bites, there's no need to bite anyone anymore, because she enrages at 5:30. With this organization no one should ever get mind controlled as long as they memorize their targets before the encounter begins. Healers should keep in mind that when a bite round is occuring, especially the final bite round people absolutely have to bite their targets even if they have Pact of the Darkfallen or Swarming Shadows. 
[Divine Sacrifice] or 
[Aura Mastery] Shadow can mitigate this if used at the right time, assuming they're available since they're also highly useful in the air phase.
Tips
- Hunters may use
[Deterrence] during Lana'thel's air phase to mitigate damage done to the raid. - Use Fear Ward on ranged DPS or a priest before she fears the raid to put in some extra damage or to dispel fear.
- For 10-man at least, it is possible to have a holy pally OT and heal by beaconing himself if your MT is over geared for the fight.
Heroic Mode
In heroic mode, Blood Queen Lana'thel gains a stack of Presence of the Darkfallen for each vampire present. Each stack of this buff increases the power of her Shroud of Sorrow for 5%.
Loot
Normal mode
Heroic mode
Related achievement
| 10-player mode | 25-player mode | Objective |
|---|---|---|
 [The Crimson Hall (10 player)] ( Heroic)
|
[The Crimson Hall (25 player)] ( Heroic)
|
Defeat the bosses of The Crimson Hall in Icecrown Citadel |
 [Once Bitten, Twice Shy (10 player)]
|
[Once Bitten, Twice Shy (25 player)]
|
Defeat the Blood Queen once as a vampire and again without becoming a vampire |
Quotes
- Aggro
- You have made an... unwise... decision.
- Vampiric Bite
- Just a taste...
- Know my hunger!
- Swarming Shadows
- SUFFER!
- Pact of the Darkfallen
- Can you handle this?
- Player mind controlled
- Yes... feed my precious one! You are mine now!
- Player killed
- Really...? Is that all you've got?
- Such a pity.
- Air Phase
- Here it comes.
- Berserk
- THIS ENDS NOW!
- Wipe
- How...unfortunate.
- Death
- But... we were getting along... so... well...
- Unused quote
- Death is no escape!
Sound files
See Sound Files of Icecrown Citadel: Blood-Queen Lana'thel
Videos
10 player Normal encounter
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10 player Heroic encounter
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25 player Normal encounter
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25 player Heroic encounter
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Patch changes
Patch 3.3.3 (2010-03-23): Pact of the Darkfallen now applies damage twice as often, but for half the damage. This change will make the removal of the spell a bit more responsive. - Hotfix (2010-02-10): Dying during the Blood-Queen Lana'thel encounter will no longer prevent you from gaining Once Bitten, Twice Shy achievement.
- Hotfix (2010-02-03): Blood Queen Lana’thel will now begin her flight phase a little earlier in 25 player mode, Vampiric Bite is no longer mitigated by armor, and the damage of Vampiric Bite has been reduced.
- Hotfix (2010-01-22):
- The Blood-Queen is no longer spawned until the Blood Princes dies. This will prevent any unfortunate entry of her highness while a raid is fighting the Blood Princes. The initial hotfix for this causes the Blood-Queen to not spawn at all in a particular circumstance, but this was also fixed last night.
- The duration of Essence of the Blood Queen to 60 seconds in 25 player difficulty, and 75 seconds in 10 player difficulty. A strategy developed for managing the Essences throughout the fight that involved intentionally killing a player, and this change addresses that strategy. The new timing does interact with some of her other abilities in new ways, but there are methods that players have to lessen that impact.
- Hotfix (2010-01-21):
- Blood Queen Lana’thel will only be available after the Blood Prince Council is defeated.
- Blood Queen Lana’thel's Essence has a longer duration.
- Kinetic Bombs no longer aggro Blood Queen Lana’thel during the Blood Princes encounter.
- Blood Queen Lanathel should no longer cast Vampiric Bite on pets.
- Patch 3.3.0 (2009-12-08): Added.
References
Icecrown Citadel: The Frozen Throne | 
Blizzard Entertainment
External links
wowinterface Blood Queen priority list addon that greatly simplifies decision-making in this fight.