From WoWWiki

The Shade of Aran is a boss in the abandoned tower of Karazhan. He is the spirit of Nielas Aran, the father of Medivh - the previous occupant of Karazhan. He is located in the Guardian's Library, which is a small, circular room (about 45 yards in diameter), with one door that closes and locks as soon as the fight begins.

The Shade of Aran is an optional boss. However, after he is defeated, a teleport to his room becomes available from Berthold <The Doorman>, and all trash mobs from the Curator to Aran (exc. one pack outside Illhoof's door) cease to respawn.

Contents 1 Abilities 1.1 Basic Spells 1.2 Special Abilities 1.3 Conjured Water Elementals 1.4 Polymorph / Drink / Pyroblast 1.5 Shadows of Aran 2 Strategy 2.1 Safe Zone 2.2 Gear 2.3 Interrupts 2.4 Circular Blizzard 2.5 Flame Wreath 2.6 Magnetic Pull / Slow / Arcane Explosion 2.7 Water Elementals 2.8 Polymorph / Pyroblast 3 Loot 4 Quotes 5 Patches and Hotfixes 6 External links

[edit] Abilities

• Very low armor
• Immune to Mind Numbing Poison, Curse of Tongues, and Silence

[edit] Basic Spells

• Frostbolt - Three second cast, 3500 to 4500 frost damage and four second slow. Interruptible
• Fireball - Two second cast, 3910 to 5290 fire damage. Interruptible
• Arcane Missiles - Five second channeled, shoots five missiles each dealing 1260 to 1540 arcane damage (6300-7700 total). Interruptible
• Chains of Ice - Ten second root, does not break on damage. Dispellable. Appears to be a chance on hit with frostbolt, similar to mage's Frostbite
• AoE Counterspell - Ten yard radius permanent AoE around Aran, locks out schools of magic for ten seconds

All of Aran's basic spells have infinite range (even through walls—they hit anywhere in the instance) and are randomly targeted. Pets are valid targets for these spells, including the snakes from Snake Traps.

All slowing and root effects are dispellable (magic), and can be broken by the usual methods.

It is possible to interrupt and lock out all his basic abilities to the point where he starts to use his melee attack. He sometimes takes a swing even when not all his schools are locked. When meleeing, he uses a normal aggro table. This can cause problems, as he can move out of the center of the room and leave the raid out of position.

Arcane Missiles seem to be semi-intelligently targeted at the raid member with the lowest percentage health, but this may simply be a random effect.

[edit] Special Abilities

Every 30-35 seconds, Aran uses one of his three special abilities (never the same twice in a row). The special abilities cannot be interrupted or locked out.

• Flame Wreath: Five-second cast which creates a fiery aura around three random characters for 20 seconds. When the auras are triggered by moving over them, they deal 3,000–4,000 fire damage to everyone in the room. They do not disappear upon Aran's death and can still be triggered after the fight
• Circular Blizzard: Large AoE that moves slowly clockwise around the room. Deals 1313 to 1687 frost damage every two seconds and slows movement speed by 65%, does not hit the center of the room
• Magnetic Pull / Slow / Super Arcane Explosion: Pulls everyone to the center of the room and Slows them. This is followed by a ten-second cast Arcane Explosion that deals 9,000-11,000 damage in a 20 yard radius.

[edit] Conjured Water Elementals

At 40% health, the Shade of Aran summons four elite Conjured Water Elementals with 13,000 health. They shoot a constant stream of Waterbolts for ~1000-2000 damage and despawn after 90 seconds.

[edit] Polymorph / Drink / Pyroblast

At 20% mana or less (about 30k), Aran mass Polymorphs the entire raid, conjures some water, and starts drinking. After about ten seconds, the polymorph breaks and the fight resumes. If his drinking is interupted, Aran does a pyroblast for 7000-7500 fire damage on the whole raid.

[edit] Shadows of Aran

After 12 minutes, he goes berserk and calls Shadows of Aran. They have various high-damage AoE abilities which wipe the raid within seconds. This is not a serious concern; the fight should never take that long.

[edit] Strategy

The key to success here is survival. The Shade of Aran's basic attacks are not very dangerous, but the special attacks are deadly. Each raid member must pay attention to which attack is upcoming; nobody can sit back and just do their usual routine. Once everybody learns how to move (or when not to move), the fight actually becomes rather easy.

In order to avoid the Magnetic Pull/Arcane Explosion everybody must run to the outer wall of the room, the Blizzard forces people towards the center (or the other side of the room), and Flame Wreath inhibits movement. Beyond this, casters want to stay outside the AoE silence and classes with spell interrupt abilities want to concentrate on what he's casting.

The encounter cannot be reset.

[edit] Safe Zone

There seems to be a "safe zone" that provides good positioning for healers and ranged DPS during the encounter.

Drawing a 3x3 grid using the floor tiles around Shade shows four corners that are out of range of both the AoE counterspell as well as blizzard. Although it's possible to find a safe spot there, Aran may moves a little and thus put players there in the counterspell. The blizzard may also sometimes affect these spots.

Blizzard has given no indication that they consider use of these safe spots to be an exploit.

[edit] Gear

Aggro is of almost no relevance, because Aran chooses his targets semi-randomly. Hence it is important to remember to replace all threat reducing buffs, such as the Paladin's Blessing of Salvation, with something offensive instead. The tanks should don damage-dealing gear. If the raid chooses not to interrupt arcane missiles, some arcane resistance can be useful. Everyone in the group should strive for at least 8,000 health after buffs. More is better. Even healers and ranged damage-dealers must be able to survive a wave of arcane missiles (7,000 damage), and everybody must be able to survive the Pyroblast (7,500 damage).

[edit] Interrupts

Aran's standard attacks (Fireball, Frost Bolt and Arcane Missile) can all be interrupted. By interrupting his spells, the raid can influence how fast Aran spends his mana. This is important, because the Polymorph/Pyroblast (at 20% mana) and the Water Elementals (at 40% health) must not occur close to each other. When either health or mana reach the critical percentage, the other must be clearly away from the threshold.

For a raid new to this encounter (with comparably low damage output), it is advisable to interrupt only Arcane Missile, and let him freely cast Frost Bolt and Fireball. This will maximize Aran's mana usage, and thus the Polymorph/Pyroblast occurs early, well before he reaches 40% health. After the Pyroblast, the raid can interrupt any of his spells, to minimize damage taken.

If the raid's damage output is high enough that Polymorph/Pyroblast and Water Elementals happen close to each other even though only the Arcane Missiles are interrupted, it's time to switch to letting Aran cast the Missiles freely, and interrupting Fireball and Frost Bolt. This conserves his mana, so that the Water Elementals occur first. If damage output is really high, the Polymorph/Pyroblast does not occur at all.

Fireballs and Frost Bolts should be interrupted near the end of their casting time, because he expends mana only at the end of the cast and does nothing else for nearly two seconds. Arcane Missiles should be interrupted early, as he spends the mana upfront anyway, and early interruption reduces the spell's damage output. It is useful to assign each player with an interrupt ability one type of spell. This avoids everybody interrupting at the same time and, therefore, having nobody left available to interrupt the next spell.

The following abilities interrupt a Shade of Aran cast:

• Rogues' Kick
• Warriors' Pummel and Shield Bash
• Shamans' Earth Shock
• Druids' Feral Charge
• Mages' Counterspell
• Warlocks' Spell Lock

The Druid, Mage, and Warlock abilities have long cooldowns, and are thus not very effective. Note that the Shade is immune to the silence, daze, and root effects of some of these abilities, so casting them produces an "Immune" message. However, the abilities still interrupt the spell cast.

Also, a Druid with the gloves from Vengeful Gladiator's Sanctuary can interrupt Shade of Aran with the Maim ability.

Particularly for Healers: To save mana, it is generally a good idea to understand when an interrupt is successful and a heal is not needed. There are two ways to achieve this:

• Watch Aran's cast bar
• Listen to distinctive sounds of interrupts

[edit] Circular Blizzard

This special attack materializes as a blue, translucent cloud on the floor that slowly moves clockwise along the outer perimeter of the room. It is trailed by a damaging Blizzard which fills up to half the room. The cloud and the Blizzard snare anyone caught in them. The Blizzard does not affect the center of the room.

Players in melee range to Aran normally do not have to worry about the blizzard (as long they stay in the center of the room). Ranged classes should always keep a lookout for the cloud and run away clockwise (but avoid running into the tail of the blizzard). When caught, players get snared and should immediately turn and move to the center of the room. The periodic AoE silence/counterspell there is the lesser of two evils.

[edit] Flame Wreath

If Flame Wreath is upcoming, the whole raid must immediately stop moving, simple as that. People must wait until the auras are clearly visible, and may only move again when they are sure they will in no way come near one of them. Meleers have a few seconds to move into melee range of Aran from the second Flame Wreath is announced and until he casts it, however this requires some practice and careful timing.

The effect is triggered by the following:

• Player character movement
• Accepting a resurrection (Rebirth or Soulstone)
• Mages' Blink
• Druids' shapeshifting
• Shaman Elemental Totems (Fire Elemental, Earth Elemental, etc..)

The following do not trigger the effect:

• Spell casting
• Movement resulting from a spell cast (like Mind Flay or Aimed Shot/Steady Shot for Hunters)
• Paladins' Divine Shield
• Rogues' Cloak of Shadows
• Warrior's Whirlwind
• Nether Protection
• Pets
• Companions

Flame Wreath is confirmed to crit, having an estimated crit chance of 10-15%, dealing 7.000+ damage to the target.

[edit] Magnetic Pull / Slow / Arcane Explosion

Magnetic Pull can be avoided by standing behind one of the tables near the wall - players fixed there do not need to worry about the pull or the explosion at all.

All other raid members must immediately run to the outer edge of the room - no turning or finishing up an attack. Even with the slow debuff everybody can reach the wall well before the Explosion.

If possible a priest in the raid should cast a Mass Dispel centered on the Shade immediately after Magnetic Pull. This automatically takes care of everybody reacting slowly and Chains of Ice. If mass dispel is not available (or the raid feels confident and wants to save priest mana), Priests and Paladins still should pay attention to slow reactions or Chains of Ice.

[edit] Water Elementals

The Water Elementals can be banished, stunned and feared, and are susceptible to Curse of Tongues. Crowd control, tank and kill them quickly, they have only 13.000 HP each. It helps if the tank wears some frost resistance gear. They despawn after 90 seconds, one warlock can keep two crowd controlled the entire time (fear and banish).

If the Elementals spawn at the same time as one of the special attacks takes place, it's difficult to control them properly. It is a good idea to control DPS and bring the Shade's health down to 40% at a time when there is no risk of a Flame Wreath, Blizzard, or Polymorph / Pyroblast.

Trinkets and abilities with cooldowns should be used when the Elementals spawn.

[edit] Polymorph / Pyroblast

If the raid's DPS is high enough and the interrupts work well, this phase may not occur at all. If it does, the healers have to be on their toes to heal the raid very quickly after the Pyroblast (preferably using AoE heals). The Polymorph breaks at the same time as Pyroblast is cast, so there's just spell's travel time to cast something before it hits. This effectively can be done only by healers outside melee range. After the blast, all raid members should use health potions and Healthstones to heal quickly.

This Polymorph works on characters who are normally immune. Only druids in Tree of Life form remain unaffected. If Aran is interrupted while drinking, he simply uses a potion and Pyroblasts anyway. PvP insignias do not break the Mass Polymorph, only the Water Elementals may break sheep during this time. The Pyroblast can be interrupted.

If Aran reaches 20% mana again after the first Mass Polymorph, he does not polymorph and pyroblast again. He just drinks a potion and continues.

[edit] Loot

Shade of Aran Loot

Boots of the Incorrupt Binds when picked up Cloth Feet 134 Armor +23 Spirit +24 Intellect +24 Stamina Durability 50 / 50 Requires Level 70 Equip: Restores 8 mana per 5 sec. Equip: Increases healing done by up to 57 and damage done by up to 19 for all magical spells and effects.	Boots of the Infernal Coven Binds when picked up Cloth Feet 134 Armor +27 Stamina +27 Intellect +23 Spirit Durability 50 / 50 Requires Level 70 Equip: Increases damage and healing done by magical spells and effects by up to 34.	Drape of the Dark Reavers Binds when picked up Back 97 Armor +24 Agility +21 Stamina Requires Level 70 Equip: Improves hit rating by 17. Equip: Increases attack power by 34.	Aran's Soothing Sapphire Binds when picked up Held In Off-hand +22 Intellect Requires Level 70 Equip: Increases healing done by up to 51 and damage done by up to 17 for all magical spells and effects. Equip: Restores 8 mana per 5 sec.
Pauldrons of the Justice-Seeker Binds when picked up Plate Shoulder 1087 Armor +23 Stamina +26 Intellect Durability 100 / 100 Requires Level 70 Equip: Improves spell critical strike rating by 22. Equip: Increases healing done by up to 57 and damage done by up to 19 for all magical spells and effects. Equip: Restores 7 mana per 5 sec.	Mantle of the Mind Flayer Binds when picked up Cloth Shoulder 146 Armor +33 Stamina +29 Intellect Durability 60 / 60 Requires Level 70 Equip: Increases damage and healing done by magical spells and effects by up to 35. Equip: Increases your spell penetration by 23.	Pendant of the Violet Eye Binds when picked up Unique Trinket +40 Intellect Requires Level 70 Use: Each spell cast within 20 seconds will grant a stacking bonus of 21 mana regen per 5 sec. Expires after 20 seconds.  Abilities with no mana cost will not trigger this trinket.	Rapscallion Boots Binds when picked up Leather Feet 250 Armor +26 Stamina Durability 60 / 60 Requires Level 70 Equip: Improves critical strike rating by 24. Equip: Increases attack power by 82.
Tirisfal Wand of Ascendancy Binds when picked up Wand Ranged Speed 1.50 169 - 314 Shadow Damage (161.0 damage per second) +10 Stamina +9 Intellect Durability 75 / 75 Requires Level 70 Equip: Improves spell hit rating by 11. Equip: Increases damage and healing done by magical spells and effects by up to 15.	Steelspine Faceguard Binds when picked up Mail Head 659 Armor +36 Agility +34 Stamina +34 Intellect Durability 85 / 85 Requires Level 70 Equip: Increases attack power by 62. Equip: Restores 9 mana per 5 sec.	Shermanar Great-Ring Binds when picked up Unique Finger 223 Armor +36 Stamina Requires Level 70 Equip: Increases defense rating by 23.	Saberclaw Talisman Binds when picked up Neck +21 Agility +33 Stamina Requires Level 70 Equip: Increases attack power by 46.
Formula: Enchant Weapon - Sunfire Binds when picked up Requires Enchanting (375) Use: Learn how to permanently enchant a Melee Weapon to increase the damage done by your arcane and fire spells by up to 50.	Medivh's Journal Quest Item	200200 Badge of Justice Binds when picked up Requires Level 70

[edit] Quotes

Aggro

• "Please, no more! My son... he's gone mad!"
• "Who are you? What do you want? Stay away from me!"
• "I will not be tortured again!"

Flame Wreath

• "Burn you hellish fiends!"
• "I'll show you this beaten dog still has some teeth!"

Blizzard

• "Back to the cold dark with you!"
• "I'll freeze you all!"

Arcane Explosion

• "Yes, yes, my son is quite powerful... but I have powers of my own!"
• "I am not some simple jester! I am Nielas Aran!"

Low Mana / AoE Pyroblast

• "Surely you would not deny an old man a replenishing drink? No, no I thought not."

Summon Water Elementals

• "I'm not finished yet! No, I have a few more tricks up me sleeve."

Player Death

• "Torment me no more!"
• "I want this nightmare to be over!"

Aran's berserk

• "You've wasted enough of my time... let these games be finished!"

Aran's death

• "At last the nightmare is over..."

[Atiesh, Greatstaff of the Guardian] is carried by a raid member

• "Where did you get that?! Did HE send you??"

[edit] Patches and Hotfixes

Hotfix (3/6/07): "Flame Wreath will now allow players to remain in the flame wreath while under the effect of immunity granting abilities such as Divine Shield, etc."
Patch 2.1.0 (5/22/07): Nether Protection will no longer cause "Flame Wreath" to detonate.

[edit] External links