Kin'garoth Strategy/Tactics for Normal/Heroic

Table of Contents

• +Introduction
  • 1. Contents
  • 2. Lore
  • 3. Outline
  • 4. TL;DR
    • 4.1. Tanks
    • 4.2. Healers
    • 4.3. DPS
    • 4.4. All Players
    • 4.5. Positioning
      • 4.5.1. Up Phase
      • 4.5.2. Down Phase
  • 5. Bloodlust/Heroism/Time Warp
  • 6. Changelog
• +Abilities
  • 1. Overview
  • 2. Deployment/Up Phase
    • 2.1. Kin'Garoth
    • 2.2. Garothi Constructs
      • 2.2.1. Garothi Annihilator
      • 2.2.2. Garothi Decimator
      • 2.2.3. Garothi Demolisher
  • 3. Construction/Down Phase
    • 3.1. Kin'garoth
    • 3.2. Garothi Constructs
  • 4. Changelog
• ×Normal/Heroic Strategy/Tactics
  • 1. Positioning and Strategy
    • 1.1. First Up Phase
    • 1.2. Down Phases
    • 1.3. Subsequent Up Phases
  • 2. Tank Concerns
  • 3. Healing Concerns
  • 4. Useful Tips
  • 5. Bloodlust/Heroism/Time Warp
  • 6. Changelog
• +Mythic Strategy
  • 1. Mythic Mode Abilities
    • 1.1. Empowerments
      • 1.1.1. Ruination
      • 1.1.2. Reverberating Decimation
      • 1.1.3. Demolished
  • 2. Strategy and Positioning
  • 3. Bloodlust/Time Warp
  • 4. Changelog

General Information

On this page, you will find a working strategy to defeat Kin'garoth in Antorus, the Burning Throne for both Normal and Heroic modes, which usually only differ by the tuning of the boss.

Here, we assume that you have read our descriptions of the abilities for this encounter.

The other pages of our Kin'garoth guide can be accessed from the table of contents on the right.

In total, the very first up phase only lasts about 35 seconds from the time Kin'garoth is engaged until the conclusion of the Apocalypse Protocol cast. Your raid should begin the fight as the image below describes:

The raid should maintain at least a 5-yard spread at all times to avoid any unnecessary damage from Reverberating Strike. Any time Reverberating Strike is cast, the detonation zone should be avoided, when possible, for the remainder of the encounter.

The tanks should always remain on the far side of the platform, while the healers should space themselves so that everyone in the raid will be able to receive healing. Generally speaking, healing requirements in the first Up Phase are negligible. Healers preferring to heal single targets should be closest to the tanks while healers with strong raid healing should be spaced throughout the middle of the raid.

The tanks must always be at least 5 yards apart to avoid splitting damage and debuffs from Forging Strike. There is a dual reason for the tanks being so far away; primarily, this is done so the melee can stay behind the boss without losing damage. Another important reason, however, is so that the tanks can occasionally soak Diabolic Bombs as they travel around the platform while the raid takes significantly reduced damage due to their distance. This can be done very liberally in the first phase, as raid damage is low enough that the additional raid damage will not cause any mortal threat. This is magic damage and can therefore be easily mitigated with cooldowns such as Anti-Magic Shell. Diabolic Bombs should be soaked by the tank that is not actively tanking the boss.

Ruiner will be cast once, right before the end of the first up phase. Ruiner must be avoided by the raid at all costs, as it deals extremely high damage and ticks very quickly. It is safe to pass through Ruiner by any means of teleportation, for example, Shimmer and Demonic Circle. Once Ruiner concludes, Kin'garoth will immediately begin casting Apocalypse Protocol and enter the Down Phase.

The raid should split into 2 predetermined groups for each Down Phase. Unless your team grossly outgears the encounter, killing all 3 constructs before activation is not feasible. It is recommended you prioritize killing the Garothi Annihilator and the Garothi Demolisher, however, feel free to choose which abilities you wish to deal with from the remaining construct(s).

It is important the groups have a good balance of damage and healing, as the raid damage in this phase is respectable. A mix of melee and ranged is important due to Apocalypse Blast; too many ranged will cause a loss of uptime due to movement. For progression kills, it is recommended you save your DPS cooldowns for the beginning of this phase. Being in position before the end of Apocalypse Protocol is very important, particularly if you are saving damage cooldowns, as the constructs take maximum damage at the start of the down phase due to Initializing. With each passing second the damage buff decreases, adding additional emphasis to maximizing your early damage in the phase.

If your group has a Warlock or two, it is recommended you place Demonic Gateways from the Annihilator and/or Demolisher Construct Bays towards the Decimator. This can be helpful if you kill the other constructs early, allowing the raid to instantly portal to the Decimator and put some damage on it before the phase concludes.

Each Down Phase lasts exactly 40 seconds, although Initializing only lasts 30 seconds. The remaining time delta is allotted to a small grace period at the beginning and end of the phase, allowing you to position around the Construction Bays and get back in regular formation around Kin'garoth as Apocalypse Protocol ends.

All Up Phases following the very first will be slightly different. Kin'garoth will engage the raid once more, however, he will be accompanied by at least one of the constructs (providing they were not all killed during the down phase). If you chose to leave the Garothi Decimator alive, you will have to deal with Decimation in addition to all of Kin'garoth's regular abilities. Decimation is relatively easy to deal with, as the raid is already maintaining a loose spread. The healers should pay special attention to the raid during the period the construct is alive as raid damage will be high. If the raid is low the group should avoid triggering Diabolic Bombs until the raid team can be stabilized.

The construct should be prioritized over Kin'garoth, although the raid should keep up efficient cleave. Killing the construct(s) promptly is imperative, as dealing with their abilities during Ruiner or while Diabolic Bombs circle the arena can be very chaotic.

If the Garothi Demolisher is left alive during the Up Phase, all targets of Demolish must be quickly soaked by the raid. On Heroic and lesser difficulties at least 2-3 additional raid members will be required in order to survive safely, however, the more players available the better. The Demolish targets must be careful not to overlap with each other, however, as the debuff also increases Shadow damage taken.

If the Garothi Annihilator is left alive during the Up Phase the group must quickly soak all the Annihilation missiles before they reach the ground. The damage is not split, and therefore only one player per missile zone is necessary. Typically the missiles will spawn on the side of the platform closest to the Annihilator.

This encounter is relatively straightforward for tank players. Kin'garoth melees quite hard, and active mitigation will be necessary for each cast of Forging Strike. Additionally, tanks should be responsible for the majority of the Diabolic Bomb soaks. Light cooldowns are advised, such as Anti-Magic Shell.

When you are tanking the construct(s), it is important to keep them a little closer to the raid than you would normally stand. The active Kin'garoth tank should stay in position, while the other tank will hold the Garothi Construct closer to the raid. As Kin'garoth is in the center of the room this only serves to improve cleave but has no negative impact. When Forging Strike occurs the tanks can trade targets and continue as normal.

There is not a significant amount of premeditated burst damage affecting the raid throughout the fight with Kin'garoth. There is a fair amount of sustained damage to be healed, however, most of your cooldowns will be used reactively. Large spikes of damage typically occur when DPS or Healers are accidentally struck by orbiting Diabolic Bombs. Other points of significant threat are during the Up Phases when the constructs are active, and when their abilities ( Decimation/ Demolish/ Annihilation) are active on the raid. Healers will have to be quick on their toes to stabilize the raid in such situations.

Pay special attention to:

• avoiding Diabolic Bombs as they orbit the arena;
• the start point and directional rotation of Ruiner;
• zones left behind by Reverberating Strike;
• avoiding casts of Apocalypse Blast during the down phase;
• quickly reacting to the abilities of the Garothi Constructs.

For progression kills, we recommend Bloodlust/ Heroism/ Time Warp be used during the first Down Phase. Ambitious groups may choose to split into 3 groups and attempt to neutralize all 3 constructs, however, this is not necessary.

• 25 Oct. 2017: Page added.