Festergut Encounter Guide: Strategy, Abilities, Loot

• Melee DPS should be sure to stack together and move together to keep the room as clear as possible, similar to Algalon the Observer.
• Ranged DPS should spread around as much as possible to prevent the Vile Gas from hitting more than 1 person at at time.
• Wait for the tank to be in range of the Gas Spore before it explodes so they can also gain the buff.

• Be aware of when tank swaps will occur, as the boss hits very hard and this can easily cause a tank death if healers are not prepared.
• Coordinate defensive cooldowns for your tanks when Festergut reaches 3 stacks of Inhale Blight.
• Healers should spread around as much as possible to prevent the Vile Gas from hitting more than 1 person at at time.

• After the second tank taunts off you, make sure you stop attacking as you will easily pull threat back with your Gastric Bloat stacks.
• Make sure to be vocal about when you are in range of the Gas Spore before it explodes; you must get the buff always.
• Coordinate defensive cooldowns with your healers when Festergut reaches 3 stacks of Inhale Blight; you must always have a defensive cooldown up during this.

Before engaging the boss, have your ranged DPS and healers spread around the room by hugging the wall. This helps greatly as you will want to pop all offensive cooldowns instantly on pull to burn as much down on the boss as you can.

The main focus of the raid on this fight, aside from the massive incoming damage, is properly managing the Gas Spores. Periodically throughout the fight, Festergut will place 3 Gas Spores on random targets, which explode after 12 seconds. Players hit with this "explosion" are afflicted with Blighted Spores, dealing 3,900 to 4,100 Shadow damage every 1 second for 6 seconds. While this seems bad at first, players will also gain a stack of Inoculated, reducing ALL Shadow damage taken by 25% for 2 minutes, stacking up to 3 times.

It is crucial that the Gas Spores are handled properly, and every player gains stacks of the Inoculated debuff. This is required to survive the Pungent Blight that Festergut will use about every 2 minutes. This ability deals 73,125 to 76,875 Shadow damage to all players, reduced down to about 18,500 Shadow damage with 3 stacks of Inoculated. As you can see, it is required to have 3 stacks to even have a chance to survive the damage.

You will want to have 3 stack positions set before entering combat; one in melee range, and two split groups for the ranged DPS and healers. When the Gas Spores go out, players must quickly get into their groups, and the players with the spores attached to them must run into one of the groups that does not have a spore. This can be particularly hectic if there are multiple spores in the melee group; keep your communication channels open and allow these players to quickly and clearly call out where they are going. It is also vital that the tank stacks with the melee group and receives the Inoculated debuff as well. Properly handling the Spores is the largest part of this fight that will largely be what wipes your group.

Five seconds after entering combat, the room will be flooded with Gaseous Blight. This deals damage to the entire raid every 2 seconds, requiring very high healing output to keep up. This damage will be reduced every 30 seconds however, whenever Festergut casts Inhale Blight. He will "inhale" one-third of the gas in the room, reducing its damage proportionately; down to Gaseous Blight after one inhale, and Gaseous Blight after two inhales, and all damage stops after the third inhale. While this reduction in raid damage might seem great at first, Festergut replaces the lost raid damage taken by greatly increasing his damage output to tanks.

The second major part of this fight that will cause plenty of wipes is the tank damage taken. Festergut is one of the hardest hitting bosses in the entire raid. Whenever Festergut inhales the gas in the room, he gains a stack of Inhale Blight, increasing his damage dealt by 30% and attack speed by 30% per stack. This makes him extremely dangerous against tanks, and will require a constant rotation of defensive cooldowns on the current tank whenever Festergut has at least 2 stacks of Inhale Blight.

30 seconds after reaching 3 stacks of Inhale Blight Festergut will cast Pungent Blight, dealing 73,125 to 76,875 Shadow damage to all players and releasing all of the gas back into the raid, bringing back the high damage gas ticks of Gaseous Blight every 2 seconds. Coordinate raid-wide defensive cooldowns for each cast of Pungent Blight as the damage is still very high even with 3 stacks of Inoculated. The fight will rinse and repeat from this point forward until the short 5 minute enrage timer is reached, or the boss dies.

In addition to all of Festerguts damage dealt being increased, a new ability will also be added to the encounter. Every 10 seconds, Professor Putricide will try to help Festergut by throwing down a Malleable Goo from above. This will show a small green puddle on the floor where it will land, giving players time to move away from the landing location. Always be watching your feet for any green puddles as they can be difficult to see while the room is filled with Gaseous Blight.

• Gas Spore — You have the Gas Spore! You will explode and infect all nearby friendly players, dealing 3,900 to 4,100 Shadow damage and increasing their resistance to the Blight.
• Gaseous Blight — The Gaseous Plague inflicts 6,338 to 6,662 Shadow damage to all nearby players. Damage is reduced by 30% each time Festergut uses Inhale Blight.
• Gastric Bloat — Inflicts 14,625 to 15,375 damage and applies Gastric Bloat to the target, increasing damage done by 10% for 100 seconds and will cause a Gastric Explosion at 10 stacks, wiping the raid.
• Inhale Blight — Inhales the Gaseous Blight in the room, reducing the damage it deals by 30%, but increasing Festerguts' damage dealt by 30%.
• Malleable Goo — Inflicts 14,625 to 15,375 damage in a 5 yard radius and slows casting and attack speed by 250% for 20 sec.
• Pungent Blight — Festergut violently releases the Gaseous Blight he has inhaled, dealing 73,125 to 76,875 Shadow damage to all enemy players, and releases the deadly Blight back into the room.
• Vile Gas — Inflicts a Vile plague in targeted area, inflicting 4,875 to 5,125 damage every 2 sec for 6 sec. The plague causes the infected targets to vomit uncontrollably inflicting 5850 to 6150 damage to nearby allies.

Icecrown Citadel bosses have 4 varying difficulties that they can be engaged on, with each difficulty dropping geared tailored to match its' challenges. Below you can find a list of gear dropped on each and every difficulty for this boss encounter.

Item	Type/Slot
Precious's Putrid Collar	Neck
Bloodstained Surgeon's Shoulderguards	Cloth Shoulder
Cloak of Many Skins	Back
Wrists of Septic Shock	Leather Wrist
Festering Fingerguards	Plate Hands
Festergut's Gaseous Gloves	Plate Hands
Kilt of Untreated Wounds	Cloth Legs
Plague-Soaked Leather Leggings	Leather Legs
Taldron's Long Neglected Boots	Mail Feet
Signet of Putrefaction	Ring
Gutbuster	One-Hand Mace
Abracadaver	Staff

Item	Type/Slot
Precious's Putrid Collar	Neck
Bloodstained Surgeon's Shoulderguards	Cloth Shoulder
Cloak of Many Skins	Back
Wrists of Septic Shock	Leather Wrist
Festering Fingerguards	Plate Hands
Festergut's Gaseous Gloves	Plate Hands
Kilt of Untreated Wounds	Cloth Legs
Plague-Soaked Leather Leggings	Leather Legs
Taldron's Long Neglected Boots	Mail Feet
Signet of Putrefaction	Ring
Gutbuster	One-Hand Mace
Abracadaver	Staff

Item	Type/Slot
Faceplate of the Forgotten	Plate Head
Holiday's Grace	Neck
Horrific Flesh Epaulets	Mail Shoulder
Carapace of Forgotten Kings	Mail Chest
Fleshrending Gauntlets	Plate Hands
Unclean Surgical Gloves	Mail Hands
Belt of Broken Bones	Plate Waist
Lingering Illness	Cloth Waist
Gangrenous Leggings	Leather Legs
Leather of Stitched Scourge Parts	Leather Legs
Plaguebringer's Stained Pants	Cloth Legs
Plague Scientist's Boots	Cloth Feet
Might of Blight	Ring
Black Bruise	Main-Hand Fist
Distant Land	Staff

Item	Type/Slot
Faceplate of the Forgotten	Plate Head
Holiday's Grace	Neck
Horrific Flesh Epaulets	Mail Shoulder
Carapace of Forgotten Kings	Mail Chest
Fleshrending Gauntlets	Plate Hands
Unclean Surgical Gloves	Mail Hands
Belt of Broken Bones	Plate Waist
Lingering Illness	Cloth Waist
Gangrenous Leggings	Leather Legs
Leather of Stitched Scourge Parts	Leather Legs
Plaguebringer's Stained Pants	Cloth Legs
Plague Scientist's Boots	Cloth Feet
Might of Blight	Ring
Black Bruise	Main-Hand Fist
Distant Land	Staff

Achievement	Description
Flu Shot Shortage (10 player)	Defeat Festergut while none of the players in your raid group ever had 3 stacks of Inoculated in 10-player mode.
Flu Shot Shortage (25 player)	Defeat Festergut while none of the players in your raid group ever had 3 stacks of Inoculated in 25-player mode.

Festergut is just one of the twelve encounters present in the Icecrown Citadel raid of Wrath of the Lich King. If you would like to learn more about the others, please see our other pages for the raid below.