If you're looking for a WoW Karazhan Raid Guide for Shade of Aran, you've come to the right place!
Shade of Aran is an optional boss, and along with Terestian Illhoof and Nightbane may be done in any order after The Curator. However, most people choose to skip past Nightbane and Illhoof to do Shade of Aran immediately after Curator. This is because once Shade of Aran is defeated, players may teleport up to his room by talking to Berthold just inside the main entrance to Karazhan.
Ideal Group Composition:
1 Tank (or less)
2-3+ Classes that can interrupt Shade's main attacks (see below)
1-2 Warlocks (useful, though not fully necessary)
Fill the rest with the best DPS you have
The entire raid needs to have a bare minimum of around 7,600 health when raid buffed, preferably 8,000+. This is because aggro is semi-random with Shade of Aran, so everyone needs to be able to absorb his main attacks without dying. Because of this, threat reduction buffs (like Paladin's Blessing of Salvation) are useless, and tanks should switch out to the best DPS gear they have. Healers need to be on their toes, constantly healing the entire raid.
Shade of Aran is on a 12 minute timer. After 12 minutes, the raid will be destroyed. This is usually not a concern. I have personally never failed to either kill him or wipe before the timer runs up.
For most of the fight, Shade of Aran will stand towards the center of the room casting Fireball, Frost Bolt and Arcane Missiles at seemingly random members of the raid. Your raid members need to interrupt the Fireballs and Frost Bolts, but allow the Arcane Missiles to go off so that Shade of Aran uses the most mana.
Druid Feral Charge, Rogue Kick, Warlock Spell Lock, Mage Counterspell, Shaman Earth Shock, and Warrior Pummel and Shield Bash can all interrupt Shade of Aran's spells.
Shade of Aran will also use three other important spells throughout the fight. I will go over them each individually here:
Flame Wreath
When Shade of Aran uses Flame Wreath, you will see flames erupt on the ground in circular shapes. When he does this, everyone in the raid must STOP MOVING immediately. Everyone in the raid needs to stand still, or several members of the raid may take severe damage. Flame Wreath is simple to avoid, but it's one of the main reasons I've seen raids wipe on Shade of Aran. As far as I can tell, pets do not trigger Flame Wreath.
Blizzard
Blizzard is a storm raining down ice that circles around the edge of the room slowly in a clockwise motion. It is easy to see and avoid, but also easy to accidentally get caught in if you aren't on your toes!
Arcane Explosion
Every once in a while, Shade of Aran will pull everyone to the center of the room, slow them, and start casting an Arcane Explosion. Arcane Explosion will most likely kill you. As soon as he pulls you to the center of the room, you must immediately dash towards the wall. Druids may get rid of the slow by shapeshifting, and it may be dispelled as normal, though there is enough time to make it to the wall even if you are slowed. Many raids wipe to Arcane Explosion.
Also of note, Shade of Aran has a permanent AoE Counterspell up around him. Because of this, all casters must keep their distance. There is no other significant effect.
When Shade of Aran reaches 20% mana, he will polymorph the entire raid for a few seconds, sit down and drink to regain his mana. When he finishes drinking, he will Pyroblast the entire raid for around 7.5k damage. There is nothing that can be done to avoid this. The reason that you don't interrupt his Arcane Missiles is so that he loses mana the fastest while still not taking much damage, that way he Pyroblasts early in the fight. If he reaches 20% mana again, he will not Pyroblast.
When Shade of Aran's health reaches 40%, he summons four water elementals. The elementals last for 90 seconds. There are several ways of dealing with them. First of all, a good warlock can functionally crowd control two of them (fear and banish) until they simply despawn. They can be chain stunned by a rogue, or warrior/priest feared. They can also be tanked and killed - they have around 13k health so they aren't that difficult to kill. Our raid usually likes to bring two warlocks to crowd control them as we find it easier and less chaotic that way.
Just a last few notes before I finish this up. First of all, this is a healing and mana intensive fight. Everyone should have stamina (food) buffs. Everyone should have mana and healing potions, as appropriate. Healers really need to be on their toes, especially in keeping the entire raid topped off at full health. Second of all, be aware that shapeshifting, mages using Blink, accepting a rez, and shaman totems can all trigger flame wreath, so be very careful to not fall victim to the deadly flames.
All in all once your raid gets the fight down, Shade of Aran isn't that hard. Your raid needs to have strong DPS and be able to crowd control the elementals. Also, one idiot running around during Flame Wreath can wipe your entire raid - hence all huntards must be removed from the raid before attempting Shade of Aran.
That's all for today, check back soon for more World of Warcraft Raid Guides & Walkthrus!
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