Ascendant Council
Children forced into adulthood, the twin dragons Valiona and Theralion were destined for more, but find themselves at the mercy of the Twilight Hammer.
Abilities
Theralion
Grounded
Theralion will debuff up to three players with Engulfing Magic, increasing their damage and healing done by 100%. Each time the debuffed player deals damage or healing, they will pulse with an arcane explosion dealing damage to all nearby players.
Players will want to maintain spread at all times, and if caught near an engulfed player they will almost certainly die.
Theralion creates a large purple marker on the ground, dealing damage to all players in it. Move out of this.
Theralion will place a stacking debuff on his target, and upon reaching 5 stacks, that player and all nearby players will be sent to the Twilight Realm.
This ability is active on Normal difficulty, but tanks should avoid ever reaching 5 stacks. On Heroic difficulty, players will need to enter the Twilight Realm in order to complete this fight.
Flying
Theralion blasts a random player with an AoE blast, dealing damage to them and all nearby players. Avoid stacking to survive this.
Just as Theralion goes to land, he will create large purple swirls on the floor. Avoid standing in these. Anyone hit by these will take Shadow damage and be sent to the Twilight Realm. Players in the Twilight Realm will be killed instantly.
Valiona
Grounded
Valiona will debuff a random player, absorbing a large amount of healing received by them. When this effect is dispelled or runs out, the player will take a massive amount of Shadow damage, split between all nearby players. To survive this, the target should run into melee range of the boss, while all melee DPS converge on them to split the damage effectively.
Valiona will face a random player, breathing Shadowflame at them in an almost 180 degree cone. To mitigate this, as soon as Valiona turns, all players will want to run to the back half of the dragon to avoid the damage.
Valiona will place a stacking debuff on his target, and upon reaching 5 stacks, that player and all nearby players will be sent to the Twilight Realm.
This ability is active on Normal difficulty, but tanks should avoid ever reaching 5 stacks. On Heroic difficulty, players will need to enter the Twilight Realm in order to complete this fight.
Flying
Valiona will charge a Twilight Meteorite on a random player. This deals massive Shadow damage split amongst all players when it lands. Players targeted should move into the melee stack to split this damage effectively.
As Valiona goes to land, she will blanket one third of the room in fire. Anyone hit will take Shadow damage and be thrown into the Twilight Realm. The location of this is telegraphed by Valionas location as she goes to land, so players will need to keep an eye on her.
Raid Composition & Preparation
You will want to bring a higher amount of healers on this fight, 5-6 at a minimum. This fight becomes easier with more healers, and the enrage timer isn’t a big concern.
You need a mix of ranged and melee DPS on this fight to appropriately manage the stacking mechanics.
On Normal difficulty you only need a single tank, but on Heroic you will need two tanks.
Strategy
Phase 1: Valiona
At the start of the fight, Valiona will be on the ground and Theralion will be in the air. Bring Valiona to the middle of the room to simplify positioning for the raid. Ranged players should spread around the entire room, while melee players should try to be loosely spread where possible.
Valiona will cast Blackout on a random player regularly throughout the fight. The target of this needs to either move away from all players and use an immunity such as Divine Shield or Deterrence, or move into melee range. All melee players should converge on this player, as the damage from Blackout is split among all targets hit, and it is necessary to stack to survive a hit. Ranged players that are close by should also move in to assist in the stack. The other main ability during this Phase is Devouring Flames. Valiona will turn to face a random player and breathe a big cone of Shadowflame at them. Move towards the back half of the boss to avoid the damage from this.
Theralion will be flying above, throwing Twilight Blasts at the raid. These target a random player and are unavoidable, but deal splash damage. Players will want to be spread with at least 8 yards between each other to minimize the damage this deals. 20 seconds before Theralion lands and Valiona takes off, Theralion will cast Dazzling Destruction. This is cast 3 times in a row, with 5 seconds between. The ground will be marked with a very visible purple swirl, followed by a meteor 4 seconds later. Anyone hit will take Shadow damage and be sent to the Twilight Realm. Once all three have been cast, Theralion will land, initiating Phase 2.
Phase 2: Theralion
During this Phase, Theralion will cast Engulfing Magic on up to 3 players. These players will pulse with an arcane explosion every time they deal damage or heal. This means that any class with periodic effects will be constantly pulsing, even if they aren’t actively casting. Any time a player is targeted by this, everyone should make sure they are at least 10 yards away. This will very quickly kill players that are too close.
Theralion will also cast Fabulous Flames regularly, creating a void zone on a random ranged player. This deals heavy Shadow damage every second and players will need to quickly run out of it to stay alive. This limits the play area and makes dodging Engulfing Magic harder.
During this Phase, Valiona is flying, blasting the raid with Twilight Meteorites. Like Blackout before them, these should be stacked for, splitting the damage. Run towards the melee stack to split the damage.
40 seconds before landing again, Valiona will cast Deep Breath, flying horizontally across the arena and blanketing it in Shadowflame. This will hit one third of the arena, and anyone hit will be sent to the Twilight Realm. Players will need to keep an eye on Valiona to see where she is aiming, pulling Theralion away from the danger.
The Twilight Realm
Players inside the Twilight Realm will have to dodge the shadowy orbs floating around and find their way to a portal to get back to the fight. On Normal difficulty, no one should enter the Twilight Realm on purpose. On Heroic difficulty however, it is vital that a group goes down once per Phase. This is because of the Twilight Sentrys that spawn inside the Twilight Realm. As long as the Twilight Sentrys are alive, players will take heavy damage outside the Twilight Realm.
While inside the Twilight Realm, you will receive stacks of Twilight Zone, dealing heavy damage every tick, and increasing the damage for each stack. This will linger for 2 minutes, necessitating two separate groups rotating within the Twilight Realm. Ideally this group should be 4-5 ranged DPS players accompanied by a healer. The tanks will receive stacks of Twilight Shift as they fight the boss. At 5 stacks, they will be teleported into the Twilight Realm and the second tank will have to step in.
At 4 stacks of Twilight Shift, the assigned players will want to stack on the tank, while everyone else will want to maintain a solid distance from the tank to avoid being sent down accidentally. As soon as players are sent in, they will want to focus on killing as many Twilight Sentrys as possible, before taking a portal back to the surface. Make sure you don’t linger longer than you can survive, the damage ramps fast!
