How To: Be a Rogue in Karazhan

Raiding as a Rogue isn't exactly the most stressful position in the world to be in. When you really break it down, your role is to stay alive and keep maximum damage output on your target. But if being a raider in World of Warcraft has taught me anything, it's that boss fights are very good at throwing even the most experienced of Rogues curve balls.

That's why I've decided to start making quick, easy to digest guides to help anyone that might have any questions on a fight. I'll be explaining (in a nutshell) what the fight consists of, your role, and any loot that you're going to want to keep an eye out for.

First up is Karazhan. Every raider has to start here eveuntally, and this dungeon contains the building blocks of end game Rogues.

Let's get started!

Attumen the Huntsman and Midnight:
What Happens: Attumen isn't the first person that you'll see here, but rather his steed, Midnight. Midnight is neutral, so you don't need to worry about anyone foolishly getting proximity aggro.

When Midnight is pulled, she (not sure why she's a she, but it's just mentally always been that way for me) will be alone until 95%. At 95% Attumen will also show up. The tank(s) of the raid group will pick up Attumen as quickly as they can. When either Midnight or Attumen hits 25%, Attumen will mount Midnight, and will remain that way until he is defeated.

What You Need To Do: DPS the target that has the most threat on it.

What You Want: [Gloves of Dexterous Manipulation], [Worgen Claw Necklace], [Steelhawk Crossbow] (let this go to a Hunter first), [Fiery Warhorse's Reins]

Moroes:
What Happens: Moroes will be standing on what appears to be a stage, with a few honored guests. Among Moroes' honored guests will be four NPC's that will add to the potential difficulty of this fight. There are six possible adds that can spawn, so never count on this fight to be the same as the last time you've seen it (if you have).

There will often be a kill order set up on the NPCs, usually (but not always) ending with Moroes himself. Be sure to pay attention to this. You're in a 10 man group fighting five mobs as part of a boss encounter, so coordination is crucial.

Moroes will Vanish from time to time, and he'll throw a very big, very nasty Garrote on a member of your raid.

What You Need To Do: Follow the kill order, and don't pull aggro.

What You Want: [Emerald Ripper], [Edgewalker Longboots]

Maiden of Virtue:
What Happens: Your raid group will create a circle around Maiden, and your tank will pull her and keep her in the center of the room. She has a nasty Consecration type spell that will deal damage to all of the melee DPS (including the tank), so your role in this fight is admittedly less than that of the ranged DPS.

She has a silence and a Repentance that will periodically incapacitate your entire raid, but this breaks on damage so as melee DPS it's very possible that you won't even notice it.

What You Need To Do: Be smart! You're a part of this raid group, so make sure that you do damage but don't become an unneeded stress on your healers. If you find yourself getting to roughly 30%-40% health pop Cloak of Shadows, run out and bandage yourself.

What You Want: [Bracers of Maliciousness]

Opera Event:
What Happens:
• Wizard of Oz: You will be faced with five mobs, Dorthee, Strawman, Tinhead, Roar and Tito. This boss fight, unlike Moroes will allow you to fight the same mobs, and take them down in the same order that you wish to each and every time.
Allow your tanks to choose which mobs they wish to tank, and in what order to take them down. This encounter, like Moroes requires lots of coordination. Follow a kill order and listen in on Ventrilo for any orders that change on the fly.
Once Dorthee and her friends have been defeated, The Crone will spawn. She will send a cyclone around the room, knocking players up into the air, rendering them useless. If you see it going towards someone, be sure and let them know.
• The Big Bad Wolf: The Big Bad Wolf will be taken by your tank right away, and held in the middle of the room. From time to time a player will be turned into a Gnome dressed in red (who could this be?). The Big Bad Wolf will lock onto this player, and try to kill them so it's essential that they stay alive any way that they can. Running around the edge of the room is generally the best bet to stay alive.
• Romulo and Julianne: Romulo and Julianne will spawn separately in the beginning. You'll fight Julianne first, on her own. She's primarily a spellcaster with a healing spell called Eternal Affection. It's pretty clear when she's casting it, because her hands start to glow like nobody's business. It's your job, as a Rogue, to kick this and make sure that she doesn't cast it.
Romulo is a melee DPS powerhouse, so he's a bit more difficult for you. If you're careful, you can DPS from directly behind him. If you're too far to one side or the other, you're going to get cleaved and die.
Once both Romulo and Julianne have been defeated on their own, you fight them together. They both have to die at the same time, so be mindful of how much damage you're outputting. Also, be sure to keep your eyes open for Julianne's heals. Remember, it's your job alone to kick these!

What You Need To Do:
• Wizard of Oz: Kill the target that is being main tanked, and don't stray. Like any other fight, drawing aggro can be detrimental to your raid's efforts.
• The Big Bad Wolf: DPS the Big Bad Wolf, and keep your distance when a player is about to get turned into the red Gnome. If you get turned into the red Gnome, just Vanish.
• Romulo and Julianne: DPS Julianne, and watch yourself when you're on Romulo. I personally just stay out and let the ranged DPS kill him. Whenever Julianne is alive, it's your responsibility to make sure that she doesn't heal.

What You Want:
• The Big Bad Wolf: [Wolfslayer Sniper Rifle] (this should go to a Hunter first as well), [Big Bad Wolf's Paw]
• Julianne: [Romulo's Poison Vial], [Blade of the Unrequited]

The Curator:
What Happens: The Curator will be pulled by the tank, with his back facing the end of the hallway that you came from. He will send out Astral Flares that will deal damage to any target that come close to. As melee DPS it's your job to make sure that these don't get into the healers and start pushing back with their cast times. The Curator can deal some heavy melee damage, so keeping the healers in the free and clear is essential.

The player second in aggro will also get hit by Hateful Bolts. This job is usually reserved for a ranged DPS with high HP, like a Warlock.

Once The Curator has used all of his mana on Astral Flares, he'll begin Evocating. It's during this time that you've got to go all out DPS, because it's the main chance that you have to deal damage to him. Once he hits 30% he will enter an enraged state, and will stop sending Astral Flares at the raid. Just go all out damage on him now. Your tank should have plenty of aggro.

What You Need To Do: Kill Astral Flares unless told otherwise, and save your cooldowns for the evocation stage of this fight.

What You Want: [Gloves of the Fallen Champion], [Garona's Signet Ring]

Shade of Aran:
What Happens: Shade of Aran can be a tricky fight. He has plenty of aces up his sleeve, and is the only fight in Karazhan that doesn't require a tank. He'll swap between shooting random members of the raid with a Frostbolt, a Fireball, and Arcane Missiles.

On top of that, he will do a Magnetic Pull to bring your entire raid next to him, and begin casting a very deadly Arcane Explosion. When this happens, just run to the outside of the room as quickly as you can! You'll be slowed, but if you begin running to the outside right away, you'll be fine.

He also has a Blizzard spell that he accompanies with Chains of Ice, to make sure someone gets trapped in it. As melee DPS, you'll be in the center of the room (presumably) where he is. The Blizzard will be of no concern to you there.

What you absolutely need to watch for is the Flame Wreath. There's no interrupting this spell, and once it's cast it'll stick around for a good 15 seconds. While this spell is around, DO NOT MOVE OR USE CLOAK OF SHADOWS! It doesn't matter if you're in it or not, don't move or cloak! It will cause a large detonation right on your feet, and you'll cause a wipe. Wouldn't want that to happen, would we?

When he hits 40%, he will mass polymorph your entire raid and refill his mana. This can be prevented if enough of his spell casts are interrupted, causing him to use less mana. He will also summon four Water Elementals. These are easily dealt with by either having a tank hold aggro on them until they despawn (after 90 seconds) or have a Warlock banish and fear them until they despawn.

What You Need To Do: DPS Aran with all you've got. There are no concerns with aggro here, so unload everything. Usually raids will ask that players interrupt different schools of magic, generally Frost and Fire, but this can easily get disorganized. Just do what you can to interrupt his Frost and Fire spells when you can, but not Arcane. His Arcane Missiles really aren't that big of a threat, so let him cast those as much as he wants.

What You Want: [Drape of the Dark Reavers], [Saberclaw Talisman], [Rapscallion Boots]

Terestian Illhoof:
What Happens: Illhoof will be standing in the middle of a room with a slightly larger, orange imp named Kil'rek, and a good deal of of smaller white imps, called Fiendish Imps. Ideally, your group will pull just the smaller white imps initially, leaving on Illhoof and Kil'rek before you start the fight.

The basis of this fight is simple: when Kil'rek dies, Illhoof will be weakened for a short amount of time. There will be a constant stream of Fiendish Imps, and Illhoof will attempt to sacrifice a member of your raid through Demon Chains. These chains will be the number one kill target when they appear.

What You Need To Do: Be mindful of your raid's situation before you go all out DPS on Kil'rek. His death will weaken Illhoof, but making sure that he dies at a time that's convenient (i.e. no Demon Chains, very few Fiendish Imps alive) is ideal.

Be prepared for Demon Chains as well, targeting them in the heat of battle can be a bit difficult, so making a "/target Demon Chains" macro can help drastically. Killing them is your number one priority!

What You Want: [Xavian Stiletto], [Fool's Bane]

Chess Event:
What Happens: All of your skills as a Rogue are basically useless here. What you're going to do is jump into the shoes of another character, who is basically a giant chess piece. Make sure that you have people that are very watchful in the shoes of the healers, the Orc Necrolites.

Communication here is key. Make sure that everyone can agree on which piece they are going to use, and make sure that they understand the role of that piece. This isn't anything like the actual game of chess, so make sure that the player that gets the King understands that if he dies, you lose out on free loot.

What You Need To Do: Choose a piece that you can handle (a great starter piece is the Orc Grunt), and listen to your raid leaders. Work as a team!

What You Want: [Bladed Shoulderpads of the Merciless], [Girdle of Treachery]

Netherspite:
What Happens: Netherspite is a fight that requires everyone in your guild to absolutely have their head in the game. If there's even a single person that gets lazy, you will wipe. I'd go so far as to say that this fight is more difficult than Prince Malchezaar!

When Netherspite is pulled three portals will spawn around the room. One red, one green and one blue. The red beam will cause whoever stands in it to become the tank, regardless to how much aggro they, or the rest of the raid, produces. The green beam causes anyone that stands in it to cast heals for more, and their spells cost less mana. The blue beam will cause whoever stands in it to deal more damage.

These beams will ideally be held by players, and not go to Netherspite. If they do, he will gain buffs from them that will make it impossible for you to win. Generally each beam will require two people. Those two people will have to alternate between banish phases (mentioned a bit later) for when they take the beam. I know, it sounds a bit complicated, but it's actually pretty easy to keep track of.

He will deal periodic AoE damage in the form of Nether Burn, and he will spawn Void Zones all around the room, generally underneath a player.

After this phase, he will go into a banished phase. He will still be veunerable to damage (including melee), but he will melee players that get to close to him, and use Netherbreath. Netherbreath will target four players at random and knock them back.

What You Need To Do: Make sure that you stand in your assigned portal, if you get one. Chances are good that you'll be in the blue beam, because as a pure DPS class you can really shine here. Though, if you get assigned to the green portal you can also do some pretty outstanding damage with the lowered spell cost (yes, it applies to your abilities!). Don't be afraid to use Healthstones or Healing Potions to stay alive.

What You Want: [Skulker's Greaves], [Cowl of Defiance], [Spiteblade]

Prince Malchezaar:
What Happens: Prince Malchezaar is considered to be the last fight of Karazhan, mostly because of the desirable loot that he has.

The fight is very straightforward, and contains three phases. Phases 1 and 2 are the most difficult, due to how random they can be. The randomness comes in the form of infernals that fall from the sky, causing AoE damage where they land. Their placement is based on chance, so it's best that your raid group place itself somewhere central, providing plenty of room for error.

During phase 1 he will Enfeeble five random raid members (excluding the tank), reducing their hit points to 1, and their healing effects received to 0. He will immediately follow this up with a Shadow Nova. Ideally, you'll have gotten 30 yards away from Prince Malcheezy if you find yourself enfeebled, preventing a swift death, but if you are unsure of your distance from him, and think that there's any chance that you might be within his range, pop Cloak of Shadows to (hopefully) resist this.

Phase 2 will bring a new era of pain for your tank, as Prince Malchezaar will begin dual wielding axes. Other than that, the fight will remain the same.

Phase 3 causes his axes to leave his hands and float around the raid, damaging to a random target. If you find that the axes have you targeted, pop Evasion. Evasion should last long enough for the axes to move on to another target. He will also stop Enfeebling in this phase, but he will continue Shadow Novas. The Shadow Novas will happen indiscriminately, so avoiding them becomes nearly impossible.

What You Need To Do: DPS Prince, but make sure that you don't get stuck in the fire of an Infernal or get killed by a Shadow Nova. If you find yourself stick within the 30 yard range of Shadow Nova while Enfeebled, pop Cloak of Shadows and cross your fingers.

What You Want: [Helm of the Fallen Champion], [Malchazeen], [Ring of a Thousand Marks]

Nightbane:
What Happens: The reason I have Nightbane listed last is because he is an optional boss. In order to summon him you'll need a raid member that has a Blackened Urn. In order to get that, you'll need to complete the Medivh's Journal quest line, starting at Archmage Alturus.

The fight is very straightforward, with only two phases. The first phase consists of a basic tank and spank. Nightbane will occasionally cast a Fear in the form of Bellowing Roar. You also need to watch for Charred Earth. It can really cause some big damage to you or anyone standing on it, and its damage cannot be prevented by Cloak of Shadows.

While damaging Nightbane during this phase make sure to stand near his back leg. He has a very nasty Cleave if you're standing too close to his face, and he will Tail Sweep you if you're standing too close to his rear. He will occasionally cast Distracting Ash on a random member of the raid, but this, and the effect of Tail Sweep, can be Cloaked.

Phase 2 will roll around at each 25% interval (75%, 50%, 25%). During this phase he will take off, where he can still be damaged by ranged attacks, and begin to cast Rain of Bones. This will spawn a good deal of Restless Skeletons, who should be killed before Nightbane lands again.

What You Need To Do: DPS Nightbane near his back leg, and make sure that you're not getting Cleaved or hit by Tail Sweep. Watch the ground for any Charred Earth, and if it spawns right on you, just run through Nightbane and damage him from the other side.

During Phase 2 you'll want to use your cooldowns when all of the Restless Skeletons have spawned. Popping Adrenaline Rush, Blade Flurry and Evasion will allow you to deal some big damage on the skeletons without being a liability to your healers.

What You Want: [Chestguard of the Conniver]