The Spirit Kings Encounter Guide: Strategy, Abilities, Loot

• This fight is all about positioning and movement. Prioritize doing mechanics and surviving over everything and you will quickly master this encounter.
• Hit the Escape key twice whenever Impervious Shield on Qiang the Merciless, or Shield of Darkness on Zian of the Endless Shadow are active, or are about to go off. Attacking these buffs will be one of the main causes of wipes and will make everyone dislike you for doing it.

• Raid-wide defensive cooldowns are not needed here much outside of the final Spirit King (Meng the Demented), so use them as needed to get through the fight.
• While 2 Spirit Kings are active, tanks will be taking massive damage, making this a great time for external defensive cooldowns or healing cooldowns in general.

• Movement is extremely important here, especially during Qiang the Merciless. Be very deliberate with your movements as Massive Attacks must be soaked by the raid before you keep moving.
• The second tank should be ready to grab the new boss once the current one reaches 30% health and position them accordingly.
• Whichever tank is free while Zian of the Endless Shadow is out and Subetai the Swift is dead can prioritize being the fixate target of the Undying Shadows by standing near the void zones that are about to spawn an add.

The Spirit Kings is the 4th boss found in the Mogu'Shan vaults, and is a council style fight with players facing off against 4 different bosses, one at a time. When one boss is defeated, one of its abilities will remain active for the rest of the fight, adding more and more of a challenge the further into the battle players get. The 4 bosses will always come out in the same order, meaning you will always know which boss is coming out next, as well as knowing when you will need to deal with different abilities. The boss order will always be as follows:

1. Qiang the Merciless
2. Subetai the Swift
3. Zian of the Endless Shadow
4. Meng the Demented

Whenever a boss reaches 30% health remaining, the next boss up will become active, requiring the raid to briefly handle 2 bosses at once. The combination of multiple mechanics, and some of the previous bosses mechanics remaining active, can cause players to be overwhelmed by the high amount of incoming damage and movement requirements on this encounter.

Qiang the Merciless is always the first boss players will face on this encounter, and is one of the most difficult to handle. Qiang the Merciless does not auto-attack like most enemies do, instead he attacks very slowly (roughly every 5 seconds) with Massive Attacks, dealing 2,800,000 damage to all players in front of him. This attack must be soaked by the entire raid by stacking together in front of Qiang the Merciless, splitting the damage evenly between all players hit. This is complicated by his second ability, Annihilate, which is a short cast shockwave-style, frontal-cone attack he will use every 40 seconds. The entire raid must be ready to quickly move through the boss whenever Annihilate is being cast, as this damage will not be split and any players hit will die. On Heroic difficulty, Qiang the Merciless will periodically use Impervious Shield, becoming invulnerable to damage and killing anyone who attacks him while this shield is up. Priests must use Glyph of Mass Dispel here and Mass Dispel the Impervious Shield buff whenever it goes up. All players (tanks, healers, and all DPS of course) should press escape and entirely un-target Qiang the Merciless whenever he casts this shield, as even 1 auto attack going through will likely kill you while the shield is up. Wait for the Priest to Mass Dispel the buff (reminder that Mass Dispel has a 15-second cooldown in MoP, so they must time the Mass Dispel properly), as the Priests might not be able to dispel the shield right away if they need to move to avoid a mechanic, or re-stack back with the rest of the raid; do not kill yourself because you could not wait an extra 2 seconds...

Qiang the Merciless' last ability is perhaps his most deadly, Flanking Orders; this is also the ability that will remain active throughout the rest of the fight once Qiang the Merciless has died. Every 30 seconds (and every 75 seconds after he has died), Qiang the Merciless will use Flanking Orders, creating a wall (2 walls on Heroic difficulty) of Mogu Warriors that will march forward in a straight line. These Mogu Warriors will relentless attack any players caught in their path of travel, killing them instantly. These lines of Mogu Warriors will have gaps in them on either side that can be used to pass through them harmlessly, requiring the raid to be quick on their feet to recognize the direction the Mogu Warriors are marching in, and where the gaps in the marching lines are.

With the raid needing to stay stacked constantly here to soak Massive Attacks, it is ideal to move together as a raid whenever possible. We recommend setting up 2 or 3 Boss Markers in the room and having a shot-caller calling out a direction to move as a raid; for example with the picture above, you would make a call "move to star" in this situation to avoid the Annihilate, as well as the Flanking Orders Mogu Warriors. Try to stick together as much as possible, using any movement speed abilities as needed to avoid these 1-shotting mechanics. Once Qiang the Merciless reaches 30% health Subetai the Swift will activate, forcing you to face 2 bosses at once for a brief period. This is when we recommend using all major DPS cooldowns such as Bloodlust, as Qiang the Merciless requires your raid to be stacked, while Subetai the Swift requires your raid to be spread.

Subetai the Swift is always the second boss that is active on this fight, and has multiple ranged attacks. Have a second tank grab Subetai the Swift while the raid quickly finishes off Qiang the Merciless, allowing the raid to spread out as all of Subetai the Swifts abilities are AoE based. First is Volley, a frontal cone shaped attack that Subetai the Swift will use 3 times in a row in a random direction (all 3 shots in the same direction). The 1st shot will cover a very wide area, dealing moderate damage; most of the time players will be hit by this one as they are moving away from the targeted area. The 2nd shot will hit a more narrow area, but deal higher damage; the 3rd shot will hit an even smaller area, but deals fatal damage to anyone in the area. Simply be ready for whichever direction Subetai the Swift targets with Volley and quickly move away from there before the 2nd and 3rd shots go off, as these will likely kill players; he will use this ability every 40-seconds.

Once Qiang the Merciless goes down it is crucial that all Ranged players spread out at least 8 yards from each other, as Subetai the Swift will target a random player with Rain of Arrows, dealing moderate damage and stunning all players hit with Pinned Down. Players hit will remained pinned to the ground by an attackable NPC ( Pinning Arrow), taking damage every second until the arrow is killed; DPS must quickly swap to the arrow and kill it to free the stunned player(s). On Heroic difficulty Subetai the Swift will use Sleight of Hand, debuffing players with Robbed Blind should anyone attack him during this 8 second buff duration. While Sleight of Hand is active, Subetai the Swift can be stunned, which will prevent players from getting the Robbed Blind debuff. Coordinate stuns here to guarantee he remains stunned for the entire 8-second duration of Sleight of Hand.

Subetai the Swifts final ability is Pillaged, which is the ability that remains active throughout the rest of the encounter after Subetai dies. Subetai the Swift will charge a random player and begin to cast Pillaged, a short duration spinning attack which debuffs players at the end of the cast. The raid should already be spread out for this ability, as well as Rain of Arrows, meaning at most this should hit only 1 player; with quick reaction times and movement speed, it is entirely possible to avoid the Pillaged debuff by moving away from Subetai the Swift before the attack ends, as the debuff is only applied at the end of the cast. Once Subetai the Swift dies, his spirit will continue to use Pillaged, which can (and should) still be avoided if possible, but will be harder to spot than when he is alive.

Zian of the Endless Shadow is the third Spirit King that will enter combat once Subetai the Swift reaches 30% health. Zian of the Endless Shadow is a caster based mob and will use several spells that require the raid to spread for. He will frequently attempt to cast Shadow Blast on a random player every few seconds, dealing very high Shadow damage to all players in the area; Shadow Blast should be interrupted every time it is cast and should never be allowed to go off. The raid will need to remain spread out for Charged Shadows, which will target a random player, dealing damage to them and bouncing to other nearby allies within 8-yards. On Heroic difficulty Zian of the Endless Shadow will buff himself with 11 charges of Shield of Darkness; which will deal 300,000 raid-wide Shadow damage whenever he is attacked while Shield of Darkness is active. All 11 stacks of Shield of Darkness must be dispelled as soon as possible, and all players should hit escape to stop damaging the boss completely when this occurs; even a single trigger of Shield of Darkness will likely cause a wipe, similar to Qiang the Merciless from earlier, don't be greedy and try to squeeze in just 1 more spell...

Zian of the Endless Shadows main threat is Undying Shadows, which he will use shortly after activating, every 40 seconds while he is alive, and every 85-seconds after he is killed. Each time Zian of the Endless Shadow uses this spell he will create a Undying Shadows, a dark skull that will fixate on the nearest player and chase them around the room, pulsing high Shadow damage to all nearby enemies. These Undying Shadows must be kited by whomever they fixate on out of the raid and away from other players, ideally near the outside of the room as they will create a large "void zone" wherever they are killed. These void zones will start off very large, and slowly grow smaller over 30-seconds until the dark energy has gathered back together, reforming the Undying Shadows add again. This new add will once again fixate on the nearest player, and must be kited and killed again. Once any specific Undying Shadows add has been killed twice, it will not re-materialize again after the void zone shrinks down. Position these away from the raid and try to kill them against the walls if possible, leaving the middle of the room open as much as possible.

Meng the Demented is the 4th and final Spirit King players will face. Meng has a unique mechanic called Insanity, which slowly fills up over time and changes his "personality" every time his Insanity reaches 100. Meng the Demented will start off Crazed, increasing his Physical damage dealt proportionately to his Insanity level; this will require the tank to use defensive cooldowns whenever Meng the Dementeds Insanity is high to stay alive. Once his Insanity reaches 100 he will change personalities again, removing Crazed, resetting his Insanity to 0, and gaining Cowardice. During Cowardice Meng the Demented will build up Insanity over time and will reflect damage back to players equal to half of his Insanity; for example, if Meng the Demented has 60 Insanity he will reflect 30% of all damage taken back to players. Once Meng reaches 100 Insanity again, he will drop Cowardice and regain Crazed, repeating the cycle between these 2 personalities for the rest of the encounter.

Meng the Demented will constantly attempt to cast Crazy Thought, increasing his current Insanity by 10. This should be interrupted as much as possible, except when Meng the Demented is in Cowardice and has very high Insanity already; allowing him to cast here will get him back to Crazed quickly, stopping the raid-wide damage reflection that can easily cause DPS players to die. Try to assign someone to interrupt only when needed, but you can also simply choose to always interrupt Crazy Thought every time to avoid any issues.

Meng the Dementeds most threatening ability is Maddening Shout (used every 45-seconds), which deals high Shadow damage every 3 seconds to all players, and turns everyone hostile to each other. To stop the damage-over-time and remove the Maddening Shout debuff, players must take 30,000 damage from other players in the raid. While Maddening Shout is active, players will be hostile towards each other (but not mind-controlled, you will retain full control of your character), preventing all helpful actions including healing. We recommend stacking quickly on top of Meng the Demented right before or after Maddening Shout occurs; remember to keep an eye out for Pillaged, Undying Shadows, and Flanking Orders while stacking and avoid any of these ongoing attacks. After the group is stacked, have a few designated players throw out 1 or 2 AoE attacks, with the goal of dealing a total of 30,000 damage to the entire raid. This will break the Maddening Shout debuff, removing the damage-over-time portion and making players friendly to each other once again. DPS players should be on the lookout here for anyone that is still attackable as not everyone will be able to stack and some players might have a defensive cooldown active, or even simply resist some of the AoE damage. Anyone still affected by Maddening Shout should be lightly single-target damaged down until the Maddening Shout debuff is removed. After the AoE occurs and most of the Maddening Shout debuffs are removed, we recommend loosely spreading back out to handle the rest of the mechanics.

During Cowardice DPS players must be very mindful of Meng the Dementeds Insanity at all times, as they will take more reflection damage the higher his current Insanity is. Once his Insanity is over 50-60, consider using a personal defensive cooldown as needed, and be sure to pause your damage every other attack, allowing the healers time to top you off before you continue attacking. On Heroic difficulty Meng the Demented will frequently gain Delirious, doubling all Insanity gains. This is an Enrage effect and should be removed as soon as possible by abilities such as Tranquilizing Shot. As Meng the Demented is the final Spirit King, defeating him will end the encounter once and for all.

3.

The Spirit Kings Loot

Celestial Normal Heroic

Below you will find all of the loot available for this boss encounter. Use the different buttons to view the different loot between both Normal and Heroic difficulties.

3.1.

Celestial Dungeon Loot

Item
Hood of Blind Eyes
Undying Shadow Grips
Bracers of Dark Thoughts
Bracers of Violent Meditation
Subetai's Pillaging Leggings
Meng's Treads of Insanity
Shoulderguards of the Unflanked
Breastplate of the Kings' Guard
Girdle of Delirious Visions
Amulet of the Hidden Kings
Zian's Choker of Coalesced Shadow
Mindshard Drape
Screaming Tiger, Qiang's Unbreakable Polearm
Steelskin, Qiang's Impervious Shield

Below you will find all of the loot available for this boss encounter. Use the different buttons to view the different loot between both Normal and Heroic difficulties.

3.2.

Normal Difficulty Loot

Item
Hood of Blind Eyes
Undying Shadow Grips
Bracers of Dark Thoughts
Bracers of Violent Meditation
Subetai's Pillaging Leggings
Meng's Treads of Insanity
Shoulderguards of the Unflanked
Breastplate of the Kings' Guard
Girdle of Delirious Visions
Amulet of the Hidden Kings
Zian's Choker of Coalesced Shadow
Mindshard Drape
Screaming Tiger, Qiang's Unbreakable Polearm
Steelskin, Qiang's Impervious Shield

Below you will find all of the loot available for this boss encounter. Use the different buttons to view the different loot between both Normal and Heroic difficulties.

3.3.

Heroic Difficulty Loot

Item
Hood of Blind Eyes
Undying Shadow Grips
Bracers of Dark Thoughts
Bracers of Violent Meditation
Subetai's Pillaging Leggings
Meng's Treads of Insanity
Shoulderguards of the Unflanked
Breastplate of the Kings' Guard
Girdle of Delirious Visions
Amulet of the Hidden Kings
Zian's Choker of Coalesced Shadow
Mindshard Drape
Screaming Tiger, Qiang's Unbreakable Polearm
Steelskin, Qiang's Impervious Shield

Achievement	Description
Heroic: Four Kings	Defeat the Four Kings in Mogu'shan Vaults on Heroic difficulty.
Getting Hot In Here	Have the entire raid dance with Subetai the Swift after being hit by Pillage.

The Spirit Kings is just one of the six encounters present in the Mogu'shan Vaults raid of Mists of Pandaria. If you would like to learn more about the others, please see our other pages for the raid below.