Nek'zali the Soulcoiler Raid Guide in the Venomous Abyss for Midnight Season 2

In this section of the guide, we will break down each individual mechanic of the fight and provide recommendations on how to deal with them, either individually or as a raid group.

• Soulcoil Ignition (Energy Gain + Big DoT)
  1. Nek'zali teleports to the centre of the room and applies 5 stacks of Soulcoil Rite to all players.
  2. Heroic: The cast also applies Ritual Burn.
  3. Healers: Use healing cooldowns to cover the initial overlap of the two debuffs.
  4. Anguished Echoes will spawn during the cast and move through the room. Avoid being hit by them.
  5. Each cast grants Nek'zali 25 Energy. The boss will reach 100 Energy on the fourth cast unless additional Energy has already been gained from adds reaching the Well.

• Restless Amani (Adds)
  1. Coffins in two areas of the room will begin to glow before the adds spawn. Move Nek'zali towards the area with the largest number of glowing coffins so that the adds can be cleaved with the boss.
  2. The adds will walk towards the Well in the centre of the room while protected by a magic absorb shield.
  3. Deal magic damage to the adds to remove their shields. Once the shield has been broken, the adds will stop walking directly towards the Well and gain a normal threat table.
  4. Ranged players (not Hunters as they deal Physical damage) should prioritise breaking the magic absorb shields.
  5. Death Knights should use Death Grip to bring stray adds into the boss for cleave DPS.
  6. Each Restless Amani that reaches the Well grants Nek'zali 5 Energy.
  7. Heroic: Defeated adds leave behind a Vessel of Awakening and apply Corpse Blight to players within 15 yards.

• Essence Rend (Dispel Pool)
  1. Targets random players and pulls them towards the centre of the room for several seconds, before applying a dispellable debuff.
  2. Targeted players should move towards the outside edge of the room before being dispelled.
  3. Healers: Do not dispel Essence Rend immediately. Wait until the targeted player has reached the edge of the room.
  4. Dispelling the debuff leaves behind a Latent Cultist that will act as area denial for the rest of the fight.

• Possession Barrage (Tank Frontal)
  1. Possession Barrage targets the active tank and deals raid-wide damage based on the tank's distance from the raid.
  2. This damage comes from ghosts fired towards the tank. The ghosts detonate when they reach their target and spawn Restless Amani adds at the location.
  3. If another player stands between the boss and the tank, the ghost will detonate early and deal more raid-wide damage because it traveled a shorter distance.
  4. The active tank should move directly away from the raid before the cast finishes. All other players must remain out of the path between Nek'zali and the tank.
  5. Heroic: Each echo applies Hollowing Strikes to the player it hits.
  6. Once the tank returns to the raid, they should prioritise gathering any Restless Amani that no longer have shields and support with crowd control on any adds that are still shielded.

• Tank Mechanics
  1. Each melee attack from Nek'zali applies Hollowing Strikes, reducing the healing received by the tank and dealing Shadow damage.
  2. Swap at approximately 5-6 stacks.
  3. This timing should allow the active tank to receive their final stack shortly before being targeted by Possession Barrage, creating a natural point for the other tank to taunt when the mechanic has finished.
  4. Move Nek'zali towards the largest group of glowing coffins whenever Restless Amani is cast.

• During this phase Restless Amani will continue to spawn and should be dealt with the same as during Phase 1.

• Soul Transfer (Intermission Minibosses)
  1. Soul Transfer summons two Echoes of Jawae that must be killed.
  2. Testing Observation: The first Echo spawns on the western side of the room.
  3. The second Soul Transfer begins when the first Echo dies, and it spawns on the opposite side of the room from the first.
  4. Focus damage on the active Echo while cleaving any nearby Restless Amani.

• Hungering Pyre (Group Soak + Corpse Burn Circle)
  1. Hungering Pyre creates a group soak centred on the active tank.
  2. The raid should soak the mechanic while the active tank is positioned on top of a group of corpses.
  3. Any corpses hit by the soak will be destroyed.
  4. Tanks: Move the active Echo onto a corpse pile before Hungering Pyre is cast.

• Heroic Slithering Flame (Mini Corpse Burn Circle)
  1. Applied to players who do not enter the Hungering Pyre soak.
  2. Affected players can destroy any stray Vessel of Awakening corpses that were not cleared by the main soak.
  3. Ranged DPS should aim to not soak the group soak to burn corpses of any adds which were not in the main clump.

• Nek'zali's Energy resets to 0 when the boss becomes active.
• Use Bloodlust / Heroism here.
• Defeat Nek'zali before the boss reaches 100 Energy and casts Uncoiled Rage.
• This phase functions the same as Phase 1 with one key change.

• Invoke (Stacking Debuff)
  1. Invoke applies Soulcoil Rite to all players.
  2. Healers: This means that Soulcoil Rite will no longer drop off and continue to stack until the end of the fight.
  3. Raid damage will increase with every cast as Ritual Burn continues to stack for the remainder of the encounter.
  4. Invoke also causes the Essence Rend images around the room to reposition.

Here we will list the most important aspects of the encounter. Keep in mind that we will not be listing every mechanic here, instead focusing on the ones that we deem the most important and impactful.

• Move Nek'zali towards the largest group of glowing coffins.
• Use magic damage to break the shields on Restless Amani and prevent them from reaching the Well.
• Drop Essence Rend around the outside edge of the room.
• Healers: Only dispel Essence Rend after the targeted player has reached the edge.
• Use healing cooldowns for Soulcoil Ignition and avoid Anguished Echoes.
• Tanks: Move away from the raid during Possession Barrage.
• Never stand between Nek'zali and the active tank during Possession Barrage.
• Tanks: Swap at approximately 5-6 stacks of Hollowing Strikes.

• Kill the two Echoes of Jawae one at a time.
• Continue breaking the shields on Restless Amani and cleave them with the active Echo.
• Soak Hungering Pyre with the active tank.
• Tanks: Position Hungering Pyre on a group of corpses.
• Heroic: Mobile Ranged DPS should not soak with the group and burn stray corpses with Slithering Flame.

• Use Bloodlust / Heroism when Nek'zali becomes active.
• Defeat the boss before Energy reaches 100.
• This phase is the same as Phase 1.

Below you will find information on the most important changes on Mythic difficulty. Naturally many abilities will deal more damage or affect more players, while enemies have more HP, so we will be focusing on mechanical changes.

• Grasping Depths
  1. The entire raid gets pulled towards the Well and takes Shadow damage until the Drowned Echo is defeated.
  2. Players pulled into the Well are sent into Immortal Coil for up to 1 minute.
  3. Defeat the Drowned Echo and avoid the Swirling Spirit beams, players will not be able to enter the Well again for 1 minute ( Soul Exhaustion).
  4. 3 teams of 4 DPS and 1 Healer will need to rotate going into the Well.

• Invoke
  1. Invoke now interrupts all spell casts.
  2. Any player interrupted by the cast is silenced for 3 seconds.