With the opening of Mogu’shan Vaults, the first raid in WoW MoP Classic has finally been unveiled. While the developers state that Mogu’shan Vaults raid is merely a pre-game for players to gain more gear and prepare for the upcoming Throne of Thunder, we all know that unexpected events can happen before our schedules, so it’s always a good idea to be prepared.
Here, we’ll focus on the bosses we’ll encounter in Mogu’shan Vaults. These bosses are the main culprits that hinder our progress in the raid, so we must be fully prepared to defeat them immediately.
1. Stone Guard
Stone Guard is the first boss in Mogu’shan Vaults. It consists of four bosses:
- Amethyst Guardian
- Cobalt Guardian
- Jade Guardian
- Jasper Guardian
Note: If a boss is near another, they will each gain energy. When they reach 100 energy, they will damage the entire raid. However, if they are alone, you will not take any damage from them.
These bosses will take turns casting Petrification. Once you are hit, you will turn into stone and become indestructible. Therefore, your raid must have a caster at maximum energy to interrupt them.
Simply put, have one tank hold the boss casting Petrification while you deal with the other boss to prevent them from gaining energy. Next, have two off-tanks deal with the other two bosses, rotating every 25 energy points to prevent the bosses from reaching 100 energy too early.
All tanks receive a stacking DoT, but each boss’s energy is unique, so when you switch bosses, the energy will drop, but just keep an eye on the main tank.
Additionally, each boss has a bonus ability, but these abilities deal less damage if the boss is casting Petrification.
Jade Shards from Jade Guardian deal raid-wide damage, so it’s crucial to ensure your healers are on time to avoid accidental deaths. Amethyst Guardian’s Amethyst Pool spawns at your feet, so stay away from it. Cobalt Guardian’s Cobalt Mine deals area damage. If you come into contact with it, you’ll be rooted, so you need to clear it immediately.
When a Cobalt Guardian is casting Petrification, it’s recommended that a tank or a tank-type DPS clear it first, then clear the path. If it’s not casting Petrification, you can join the healer’s group.
However, be careful not to stand too far apart, as Jasper will chain two players together, dealing damage over time.
So, stand close together with your partner. If Jasper is casting Petrification, you can break the chain by standing apart for 15 seconds.
2. Feng The Accursed
Feng the Accursed is the second boss in Mogu’shan Vaults raid. He has different phases depending on his weapon.
In Normal mode, his phase sequence is fixed, changing every 33% of his damage, but in Heroic mode, his phases change every 25% of his damage, and you can control which phase he enters by moving him closer to his weapon around the room.
First, have the tank pick up the two Crystals in the room to gain additional skills to counter the mechanics. One is a damage reduction barrier that prevents magic effects, and the other applies Shroud to Synchro, allowing you to unleash the next skill they’re hit with.
During Fists phase, Feng will fire lightning at the main tank on the ground, so move out of the way to avoid being hit. In Heroic mode, it will fire three lightning bolts in a cone and cast Epicenter every 30 seconds or so, dealing massive Nature damage to the entire raid.
You can use a barrier with a healing cooldown, then have the main tank’s Shroud hit by Lightning Fists, then use the extra button to interrupt and cancel Epicenter cast.
Then, during Spear phase, drag the boss to the edge of the room so the area of effect stacks in the middle. Wildfire Spark will hurl flames at enemies after a few seconds, so place it to the side. Draw Flame absorbs the flames, granting the boss a stack, causing each attack to deal massive damage. If you place the barrier before the flames reach the boss, you can prevent him from gaining stacks, but you can only cast it once per second. Otherwise, use the healing cooldown and increase your manpower.
Finally, you’ll enter his Staff phase. Its Arcane Shock deals pulses of area-of-effect damage to several players, increasing the more players it hits, which is why you need to spread out your attacks.
Arcane Velocity channels damage to the entire raid, increasing with distance. Simply stay below the boss and allow your healing cooldown to deplete. If you have Arcane Resonance, avoid getting too close, or you might die.
In Heroic mode, Feng enters his Shield phase, gaining a stacking damage buff. He then drops his shield, randomly spawning 10 mods. These mods are dealt to players who come into contact with it, causing adverse effects. It’s best to move away before the mods spawn, giving you time to eliminate them before they come into contact with the shield.
If you place a Barrier on top of his shield while he’s casting, the mods won’t spawn, allowing you to bypass this mechanic each time you cast it.
Note that Feng’s weapon phases can occur in any order, so choose the one that’s most convenient for you.
I recommend starting with Staff, then Spear, Shield, and Fists, in this order of increasing difficulty. You can slowly absorb increasing damage until you finally defeat the boss. However, it’s recommended to invest some WoW MoP Classic gold in your armor in the later stages to continuously improve your survivability.
3. Gara’jal The Spiritbinder
Gara’jal is the third boss in Mogu’shan Vaults and has a phase related to Shadow Realm.
During the fight, the boss summons totems. Destroying these totems can send up to five nearby players into the Shadow Realm, where the totems damage the raid. Therefore, you’ll need to assemble a raid team of four DPS and one healer to eliminate them.
Any player who enters Shadow Realm will have their health reduced to 30%. Healing them will grant them a buff, increasing their DPS damage and healer’s mana regeneration. Therefore, rotate healers based on who has the most health.
Once you’re back to full health, you can exit Shadow Realm, but if you don’t exit within 30 seconds, you’ll all die. So, destroy the totems quickly and recharge everyone.
In Heroic mode, you can’t reenter within 30 seconds. So, split into two teams and take turns eliminating the enemies.
Punctured Voodoo Doll causes the boss to lock onto the main tank and debuff several other players, causing them to take 70% of the damage taken by the tank. So, keep some debuffs handy to save your friends.
However, if you’re debuffed, you can’t enter Shadow Realm, so assign backup players to replace them if needed.
When Punctured Voodoo Doll ends, the tank is also exiled, allowing them to enter Shadow Realm to kill their own adds, but it has less life than a Make-A-Wish Arizona, so taunting and killing it will allow you to return.
Heroic difficulty encounters require high DPS. If you frequently enter Shadow Realm, the damage bonus will become a damage penalty. However, mana regeneration is still important for healing.
Continue to dive into Shadow Realm until your health reaches 20%, at which point the boss stops spawning totems and gains increased damage. When your health approaches 30%, eliminate all the adds within, then attack and kill the boss before it spawns more totems.
4. The Spirit Kings
The Spirit Kings are the fourth boss in the Mogu’shan Vaults. This encounter consists of four phases, each with its own unique abilities:
- Zian of the Endless Shadow
- Meng the Demented
- Qiang the Merciless
- Subetai the Swift
In Normal mode, you can only fight one boss at a time, so you can use a tank to fight them.
In Heroic mode, however, the next boss spawns when the current one reaches 30%, so you may need to face two bosses.
Qiang is always the first boss, while the order of the other bosses is randomized each time. Each boss also has a skill that persists even after its death.
Qiang will use Flanking Orders, which summon Mogu enemies across the room to flank you. Avoid them even if you’re ahead; these orders persist throughout the fight.
In Heroic mode, it will spawn two lines of enemies, so avoid them whenever possible.
For Subetai, all the adds spread out and fire a hail of arrows, trapping you and anyone nearby. Release them or use Hand of Protection, Blink, or anything else that frees you.
Its Volley attack consists of three frontal shots, each of which reduces its range but increases its damage. Therefore, run away when the Volley begins.
In Heroic mode, it will also charge at the player and, at the end of the charge, cast Whirlwind, applying a debuff to anyone who gets too close, which persists even after it dies. However, just run away and you’ll be fine. However, you can also stun him with Whirlwind to escape the attack.
For Meng, his energy increases over time, switching between Crazed and Cowardice each time it’s full. Crazed causes him to deal more damage, while Cowardice causes him to dash around and reflect damage, each effect increasing based on his energy.
At high energy, Crazed is tough on tanks, and Cowardice is tough on DPS, so keep an eye on your tank’s health and try not to limit yourself.
Maddening Gaze causes everyone to become hostile towards you until you’ve taken 40,000 damage, so group up and deal some area damage to free everyone. This lasts until the end of the fight, so when it happens, act together if safe, or free everyone if possible.
In Heroic mode, he gains a buff that grants him more energy, though you can remove it with Soothes.
Finally, for Zian, he spawns a target, locks onto them, deals area damage around them, and collapses upon their death.
It will then respawn after 30 seconds, but only once, so it will disappear upon the second kill. This condition persists for the remainder of the fight, making it even more annoying if you kill this boss early.
In Heroic mode, Shield of Darkness deals significant surprise damage. If you attack while Shield of Darkness is active, dispel it quickly; if someone ignores the command to stop the damage, you’ll likely both die.
5. Elegon
Elegon is the fifth boss of Mogu’shan Vaults, and he cycles through three phases.
This boss room is divided into an outer and inner vortex. While inside the vortex, you gain damage and healing bonuses, but also a stacking damage debuff. You can dive outside the vortex to reset the bonuses, but it’s best to choose Enrage bonus.
In Heroic mode, the two vortexes interact, so don’t stay outside for too long, or you’ll die from the healer’s hate.
In the first phase, he has a frontal Celestial Breath, so keep your back to it. He’ll summon a monster that benefits from the vortex, but these monsters suffer a 90% damage debuff while outside the vortex.
So, keep him close to the edge of the vortex until he starts dealing white damage to the raid. Upon death, he explodes, so if you’re inside, you’ll likely all die when he explodes.
In Heroic mode, the explosion can be defused, but you need to hit at least three people, and it can’t be absorbed twice. So, form a team with immune classes to absorb damage, and take turns taking damage. But be sure to heal anyone taking damage, as if their health drops below 80%, they’ll occasionally be stunned by a DoT.
The second phase begins at 85%. At this point, the boss’s continuous spell-casting absorbs energy, creating waves of attacks that move outside the ring. If one of these waves reaches the ring, the phase ends.
Each spell cast increases the damage the boss takes and increases the speed of his attacks. So, the more waves you kill, the more stacks he gains.
Everyone spreads out within the ring to kill them, but remember to reset your stacks, as they deal area damage when they die.
When you enter the third phase, the boss will gain immunity. After the inner floor disappears, six gas tanks will spawn at the edge of the room. Split your team into two groups and head to the tanks to destroy them.
The boss will then deal pulse damage to the entire group and spawn a bunch of adds, so avoid attacking them as they spawn. Once all the gas tanks are destroyed, pick them up and use area attacks.
Once the floor reappears, restart the first phase. Drag all minions under the boss and split them while continuing to fight.
The second phase begins at 50% health. After two cycles, the exterior of the room will become electrified, making your debuffs ineffective.
Everyone will stack under the boss. Once you start taking damage, rotate your healing cooldowns and kill the boss before you all melt.
6. Will Of The Emperor
This is the final boss fight in the Mogu’shan Vaults raid and consists of two phases.
The first phase is all attack-only. You’ll encounter three types of attacks during the fight: Courage, Rage, and Strength.
Rage monsters spawn in groups of four and lock onto their targets, so simply kill them with area-of-effect attacks.
Strength monsters spawn in groups of two and require tank support, so assign two melee DPS to handle the attacks. Their stomp radius increases with each cast, so kill them before it expands. Remember, you only need to focus on them if you’re running low on melee tanks and DoTs.
Courage monsters have the highest priority and spawn on both sides of the room. They have frontal damage shields. They target the farthest tank and slowly move toward it, slowing you by 25% when they melee attack. Everyone should try to get behind their shields and kill them as quickly as possible.
Jan-xi and Qin-xi will spawn 90 seconds after the fight begins, marking the start of the second phase. All adds and effects from the first phase remain active, but the two Emperors will join the fight.
The two tanks can each pick up an Emperor and drag them to the side of the room entrance, where they will remain until the fight is over. Melee DPS will usually focus on the boss, splitting into two groups. When no adds remain, ranged DPS should actively assist the melee.
Each boss has a Devastating Arc and a Stomp, so watch their animations to know where they’re going and avoid getting hit.
At 100% energy, both bosses will unleash a five-hit combo of Stomp and Devastating Arc, which you’ll need to dodge. If you dodge all of them, you’ll get an extra button that deals 500,000 damage. Use it on minions to kill them faster, or if you want more damage, just use it on the boss. Go wild, then finish off the boss before you’re distracted by the minions.
That’s it. If you defeat Will of the Emperor, you’ve truly completed the Mogu’shan Vaults. Now it’s time to enjoy the crazy rewards. Good luck!
