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This article is about the in-game raid boss. For character biography and Warcraft III appearances, see Illidan Stormrage.

Illidan Stormrage <The Betrayer> is the final boss of the Black Temple in Shadowmoon Valley. Until the release of patch 2.4, Illidan was the most powerful in-game boss in World of Warcraft.

For a video of his encounter starting, see Illidan Stormrage (video).

Contents 1 Abilities 2 Strategy 2.1 Phases 2.2 Quotes 2.3 Loot 2.4 External links

[edit] Abilities

Normal Form:

• Melee: Illidan melees from 6k to 8k on plate. He doesn't crush (so avoiding Shear is most important)
• Shear: Reduces the health of his current main aggro target by 60% for 7 seconds. Can be dodged, parried, and blocked, but cannot "miss". Shear has a 1.5 second cast time, so the main tank must be ready to use Shield Block.
• Flame Crash: Illidan jumps up high and lands in a patch of blue flames directly underneath his current position. The flames deal 5k fire damage per second. 10 yard radius. They remain on the ground for 2 minutes. 1.3 sec cast.
• Draw Soul: Illidan will drain targets in front of him in a similar way to Cone of Cold, dealing 5k shadow damage and healing Illidan for 100,000 HP. Shadow based spell. Resistible.
• Parasitic Shadowfiend: Random raid members will be targeted with a Parasites debuff lasting 10 seconds and dealing 3k shadow damage every 2 seconds. Once this debuff has ticked off, 2 Parasites will spawn at the affected player's location and attempt to melee whoever is highest on global threat (generally a healer). If they are successful in this melee attack, the targeted raid member will receive the Parasitic Shadowfiend debuff. Parasites have around 6k HP.
• Agonizing Flames: Illidan will randomly target a player and cast this, dealing 4000 initial fire damage to the target and anyone within 5 yards, and giving them a debuff which causes fire 3k damage every 5 seconds for 1 minute. He will only use this ability in night elf form in phase 3.
• Enrage: Increases damage and attack speed after a time during phase 5.

Demon Form:

• Shadow Blast: Illidan will Shadow Blast the target highest on threat for between 8k and 11k shadow damage. This Shadow Blast has a splash effect - raid members within 20 yards of the affected target will receive the damage from the spell. Resistible.
• Flame Burst: Illidan throws fire upon the entire raid for around 3.5k damage every 10 seconds. Players within 5 yards of each other will receive splash damage from this ability. Resistible.
• Shadow Demons: During this phase Illidan will spawn 4 Shadow Demons at his feet that target random raid members and paralyze (stun) them. The demons will then slowly move towards the players in question; if they reach one of the players then he/she will die and the demon will target somebody else. The demons have around 22k HP.
• Aura of Dread: A 15 yard aura surrounds Illidan dealing 1000 shadow damage every second to raid members within 15 yards of him, and also increasing Shadow Damage taken by 30%. This effect stacks over time.

Flying in air:

• Fireball: casting time 2 sec, Deal fire damage 2550-3450 in 10 yards radius.
• Eye Blast: Illidan will sweep a fiery blue beam, emanating from his eyes, across the platform every 30 seconds. This deals around 19750-20250 fire damage on initial hit and spawns Demon Fire on the ground for 1 minute.
• Demon fire: This is the blue fire trail left on ground by Eye Blast. It deals 2000 fire damage per second if you stand in it.
• Dark Barrage: Illidan randomly chooses a player and places a dark eye beam on him, which deals 3000 shadow damage per second for 10 seconds.

Flames of Azzinoth:

• Health: around 1 million
• Melee: Their base hit is roughly 15k fire damage. A fire-cap tank (365 fire resistance) will mitigate 75% damage, taking an average of 3750 / hit. They can crit, miss, be dodged, and be parried. They do not crush, and cannot be blocked.
• Blaze: The Flames will spawn a cloud of yellow flame on the ground under their current target, which deals 5000 fire damage (base) per second. Two different Blazes in the same location DO stack. This damage is mitigated by fire resistance
• Flame Blast: Frontal cone 15 yard AoE which deals 7000-9000 fire damage. This damage is mitigated by fire resistance
• Enrage/Charge: Each stationary blade on the ground has an invisible aura with 25 yard range that grants immunity to charge from *both* elementals (i.e. you only need to be under of affect of one of the auras). Anyone stepping outside this aura will cause an elemental to charge/enrage and wipe the raid.

Encounter Enrage Timer:

• Berserk (Hard Enrage): - After 25 minutes Illidan will go berserk, 500% damage increase and 150% attack speed, killing the entire raid in VERY short order.

[edit] Strategy

4 Tanks must be used for his encounter:

MT Warrior or Paladin

OT x2 In fire resistance gear and can be a Druid, Paladin, or Warrior

Warlock Tank with shadow protection gear

9 Healers are recommended, but the encounter can be completed with only 8.

Illidan is not attackable, nor will he aggro, until a player has talked to Akama. The encounter will begin with a verbal exchange between Illidan and Akama.

[edit] Phases

Phase 1 - Once Illidan yells his famous "You are not prepared!" line, he will become attackable, and will need to be picked up immediately by the main tank. The phase is fairly easy and straightforward. The main tank needs to remember to keep Illidan pointed away from the raid in order to avoid Draw Soul. Players that receive the Parasite debuff will need to be healed, and should run away from the raid, until the Parasitic Shadowfiends spawn. These spawns will immediately move to attack the person highest on global threat (most likely, a healer) and move quite fast. These adds are most easily dealt with by a couple mages using a Frost Nova -> Ice Lance combo (Frost mages work best for this, but any spec will work). When his health reaches 90%, Illidan calls for the help of his minions which will be dealt with by Akama. The first stage continues until Illidan reaches the 65% mark, at which point he will fly in the air, starting stage 2.

Phase 2 - Illidan will fly in the air and cannot be targeted or attacked. After 5-15 seconds, he will throw his 2 Blades of Azzinoth on opposite (east & west) sides of the circle/grill at the center of The Black Temple's summit. Each blade will spawn a Flame of Azzinoth (detailed above). Two tanks in crit-cap and fire-cap gear are required, each picking up one of the Flames of Azzinoth (one east, one west). All raid members must stand within 25 yards of either stationary Blade of Azzinoth. Typically, this involves the raid staying between the blades, avoiding the north and south tips of the circle, while flame-tanks maneuver around the far side of their closest stationary blade. The Flames of Azzinoth will charge any player more than 25 yards from BOTH stationary blades, enraging the Flame, and wiping the raid. Positioning in this phase is key: All players must remain within 25 yards of EITHER stationary blade at all times.

The flames spawn "Blaze" patches under their current target on a regular timer. A flame will typically use their Flame Burst attack, then drop a blaze. Tanks must ensure their flame is faced away from the raid at all times, and move only when a new blaze has spawned under them. A "kite path" must be established which keeps the tank within 25 yards of the nearest stationary blade, and which minimizes the fire the tank must stand in.

Illidan will occasionally use his Eye Beam ability, burning a line of blue fire into the ground. There are 4 possible paths for the Eye Beam: each path intersects one of the blades, and runs diagonally, tangent to the middle circle/grill. The Eye Beam will never intersect the middle circle / grill; this ability must be avoided by melee dps, and the flame tanks. The initial hit of the eye beam will instantly kill any player that it hits, so the tanks need to be made aware of where the beam is so that they can avoid it. It is possible (and often necessary) to stand in/ run through blaze patches to avoid eye beam. Such a move is acceptable, and manageable by healers. The blue flames left behind will cause less damage than blaze patches, but stacks with all other damage sources.

Illidan will continually bombard the raid with fireballs, causing AOE damage, so the players cannot all stand together. One good strategy is to have the players split into 4 groups, and have each group stand at one of the cardinal directions on the circle (North, South, East, West), in order to minimize AOE damage. The last ability to be aware of is Dark Barrage, in which Illidan selects a single target and bombards him with shadow bolts, hitting for large amounts of damage. This is extremely difficult to heal through, so any abilities that may help mitigate or prevent this damage are advised.

Phase 3: - Phase 3 will begin when both flames are dead. Phase 3 is extremely similar to phase 1, with the introduction of Agonizing flames, requiring players to spread out. Remember that players will still be getting the Parasite debuff during this phase, so it is vital to make a game plan for where people should run and where the mages should be.

Phase 4 This phase approximately 40 seconds after every phase 3. Illidan will cast The Demon Within and turn into Demon form, which should be tanked by a warlock with very high shadow resistance. The strategy is to DoT up and then cast Shadow Bolt/Searing Pain. This way the warlock will be highest on threat. During this phase, Illidan is going to cast a splash-damaging attack at every member of the raid, so it is important to spread out so it doesn't hit 2 people at once. Illidan will also spawn 4 demons that will paralyze a random raid member, and slowly move towards it. Once it touches the player in question, this player will die. Therefore, it is important to slow them. Hunters can use frost traps, shamans can use Earthbind totem. If a demon paralyzes the warlock tank, it is extremely important to kill his add first. Melee can go towards the back wall to increase the length demons will have to travel to reach them. DPS Illidan for about 40 seconds during this mess, at which point he will turn back to Night Elf form, starting another phase 3.

Phase 5 As Illidan reaches 30% health, Maiev Shadowsong enters the battle. She periodically blinks to a player in the raid and places a trap on the ground that can be used against Illidan. In this stage, Illidan enters an enraged state which significantly increases his damage to the point of being unhealable. The tank needs to drag Illidan towards the trap, click to activate it, and position Illidan on top of it. While trapped, Illidan takes additional damage from every player attacking him. Keep attacking him until he dies.

[edit] Quotes

Beginning of encounter:

• Illidan: "Akama. Your duplicity is hardly surprising. I should have slaughtered you and your malformed brethren long ago."
  Akama: "We've come to end your reign, Illidan. My people and all of Outland shall be free!"
  Illidan: "Boldly said. But I remain...unconvinced."
  Akama: "The time has come! The moment is at hand!"

Aggro:

• You are not prepared!

Summon minions to attack Akama:

• Come, my minions. Deal with this traitor as he deserves!

Attack Maiev:

• Feel the hatred of ten thousand years!

Kill:

• Who shall be next to taste my blades?!
• This is too easy!

Phase 2:

• I will not be touched by rabble such as you!
• Behold the flames of Azzinoth!

Beam During Phase 2:

• Stare into the eyes of the Betrayer!

Metamorphosis:

• Behold the power... of the demon within!

Phase 5 Enrage

• Feel the hatred of ten thousand years!

Hard Enrage:

• You've wasted too much time mortals, now you shall fall!

When Maiev enters the battle:

• Illidan: Is this it, mortals? Is this all the fury you can muster?
  Maiev: Their fury pales before mine, Illidan. We have some unsettled business between us.
  Illidan: Maiev... How is it even possible?
  Maiev: Ah, my long hunt is finally over. Today, Justice will be done!

Death:

• Maiev: It is over. You are beaten.
  Illidan: You have won... Maiev. But the huntress... is nothing without the hunt. You... are nothing... without me.
  Maiev: He's right. I feel nothing. I am nothing. Farewell, champions.
  Akama: The Light will fill these dismal halls once again. I swear it.

[edit] Loot

Tier 6 chest tokens

Chestguard of the Forgotten Conqueror Binds when picked up Classes: Paladin, Priest, Warlock Requires Level 70

Chestguard of the Forgotten Protector Binds when picked up Classes: Warrior, Hunter, Shaman Requires Level 70

Chestguard of the Forgotten Vanquisher Binds when picked up Classes: Rogue, Mage, Druid Requires Level 70

The Twin Blades of Azzinoth

Warglaive of Azzinoth Binds when picked up Unique Sword Main Hand Speed 2.80 214 - 398 Damage (109.3 damage per second) +22 Agility +29 Stamina Durability 125 / 125 Classes: Warrior, Rogue Requires Level 70 Equip: Increases hit rating by 21. Equip: Increases attack power by 44. Set: The Twin Blades of Azzinoth (1/2)

Warglaive of Azzinoth Binds when picked up Unique Sword Off-Hand Speed 1.40 107 - 199 Damage (109.3 damage per second) +21 Agility +28 Stamina Durability 125 / 125 Classes: Warrior, Rogue Requires Level 70 Equip: Increases critical strike rating by 23. Equip: Increases attack power by 44. Set: The Twin Blades of Azzinoth (1/2)

Other drops

Black Bow of the Betrayer Binds when picked up Bow Ranged Speed 3.00 201 - 374 Damage (95.8 damage per second) Durability 90 / 90 Requires Level 70 Equip: On successful melee or ranged attack gain 8 mana and if possible drain 8 mana from the target. Equip: Increases attack power by 26.	Bulwark of Azzinoth Binds when picked up Shield Off Hand 6336 Armor 174 Block +60 Stamina Durability 120 / 120 Requires Level 70 Equip: Increases defense rating by 29. Equip: When struck in combat has a 2% chance of increasing your Armor by 2000 for 10 secs.	Cowl of the Illidari High Lord Binds when picked up Cloth Head 205 Armor +33 Stamina +31 Intellect Meta Socket Blue Socket Socket Bonus: +5 Spell Damage Durability 60 / 60 Requires Level 70 Equip: Improves spell hit rating by 21. Equip: Improves spell critical strike rating by 47. Equip: Increases damage and healing done by magical spells and effects by up to 64.	Crystal Spire of Karabor Binds when picked up Mace Main Hand Speed 1.80 16 - 132 Damage (41.0 damage per second) +22 Stamina +15 Intellect Durability 105 / 105 Requires Level 70 Equip: Increases healing done by up to 486 and damage done by up to 162 for all magical spells and effects. Equip: Restores 6 mana per 5 sec. Equip: If your target is below 50% health, your direct healing spells will cause your target to be healed for an additional 180 to 220 health.
Cursed Vision of Sargeras Binds when picked up Leather Head 385 Armor +39 Agility +46 Stamina Meta Socket Yellow Socket Socket Bonus: +6 Stamina Durability 70 / 70 Requires Level 70 Equip: Improves hit rating by 21. Equip: Improves critical strike rating by 38. Equip: Increases attack power by 108. Use: Shows the location of all nearby demons on the minimap until cancelled.  Only one type of tracking can be used at a time.	Faceplate of the Impenetrable Binds when picked up Plate Head 1532 Armor +82 Stamina Meta Socket Red Socket Socket Bonus: +6 Stamina Durability 100 / 100 Requires Level 70 Equip: Increases defense rating by 30. Equip: Increases your dodge rating by 38. Equip: Increases your shield block rating by 29. Equip: Increases the block value of your shield by 45.	Memento of Tyrande Binds when picked up Unique Trinket Requires Level 70 Equip: Increases healing done by up to 118 and damage done by up to 37 for all magical spells and effects. Equip: Each time you cast a spell, there is chance you will gain up to 76 mana per 5 for 15 sec.	Shard of Azzinoth Binds when picked up Unique Dagger One-Hand Speed 1.90 161 - 242 Damage (106.1 damage per second) Durability 75 / 75 Requires Level 70 Equip: Increases attack power by 64. Chance on hit: Calls forth an Ember of Azzinoth to protect you in battle for a short period of time.
Shroud of the Higborne Binds when picked up Back 126 Armor +24 Stamina +23 Intellect Requires Level 70 Equip: Improves spell haste rating by 32. Equip: Increases healing done by up to 68 and damage done by up to 23 for all magical spells and effects.	Stormrage Signet Ring Binds when picked up Unique Finger +33 Stamina Requires Level 70 Equip: Improves hit rating by 30. Equip: Increases attack power by 66. Equip: Your attacks ignore 126 of your opponent's armor.	The Skull of Gul'dan Binds when picked up Unique Trinket Requires Level 70 Equip: Improves spell hit rating by 25. Equip: Increases damage and healing done by magical spells and effects by up to 55. Use: Tap into the power of the skull, increasing spell haste rating by 175 for 20 sec.	Zhar'doom, Greatstaff of the Devourer Binds when picked up Staff Two-Hand Speed 3.20 145 - 323 Damage (73.2 damage per second) +70 Stamina +47 Intellect Durability 120 / 120 Requires Level 70 Equip: Improves spell critical strike rating by 36. Equip: Improves spell haste rating by 55. Equip: Increases damage and healing done by magical spells and effects by up to 259.

[edit] External links

For Killmovies of this encounter, see the Bosskill Movies page.