Magmaw Raid Guide

Author: lettara
Date: May 30, 2024
Updated: June 1, 2024
Expansion: Cataclysm

Blackwing Descent Guide

Blackwing Descent Loot

Magmaw

Omnotron Defense System

Conjured from the Firelands, Magmaw unintentionally became Nefarians waste disposal, stopping a buildup of death from overtaking the laboratories.

(You can reference the Magmaw Loot list if you want to see all of the boss drops.)

The raid should be situated in three stacks: melee, ranged and the main tank.
All players should move to the opposite side of the room during Massive Crash.
Regardless of your role, save DPS cooldowns for Point of Vulnerability. No damage will be going out during this phase and nothing requires tanking, so tanks and healers should be blasting as well.

Stay stacked up in a clump with the rest of the ranged DPS.
Be ready to move as a group when Pillar of Flame is cast.
Have a plan to CC and/or AoE the Lava Parasites.
If you make contact with a Lava Parasite and are effected by Parasitic Infection quickly run out of the raid.
Save DPS cooldowns for Point of Vulnerability. Magmaw takes increased damage during this 30 second window.

Stay stacked up in a clump with the rest of the melee DPS.
Be ready to move as a group when Massive Crash is cast.
If you are assigned to handle Constricting Chains, ensure that any actionbar addons are not interfering with your Vehicle Bar.

This fight has both heavy tank and raid damage at all points outside of Point of Vulnerability. Manage your mana accordingly, using Point of Vulnerability windows to regenerate.
Be ready to move as a group when Massive Crash is cast.
Be ready to heal players effected by Parasitic Infection.

Tanks must swap each time he uses Mangle. At least one tank must always be in Magmaw’s melee range to prevent Molten Tantrum.
Ensure that Magmaw is positioned in such a way that the melee DPS can hit Magmaw’s back at all times.

Assign three melee players to handle Constricting Chains.
Designate two ranged stack points. One point where the ranged will begin the encounter in, and another for them to move to after Pillar of Flame is cast.
Assign Crowd Control abilities to be used against Lava Parasites. Freezing Trap and Earthbind Totem are solid choices.

Abilities

Magmaw picks up his current tank in his jaws, applying Sweltering Armor, and dealing strong physical damage every 2 seconds. This effect can be stopped by Impaling Magmaw, and failing to do so within 30 seconds will kill the target.

Reduces the targets armor by 50% for 2 minutes. Sweltering Armor is always applied to the Mangle target.

Magmaw spits at three random players, dealing heavy Fire damage to them.

With nobody nearby to attack, Magmaw goes into a frenzy, increasing Fire damage dealt by 100% and casting Magma Spit on all players. Stacks 10 times. Ensure that the primary threat target is always in melee range of Magmaw to avoid this.

Magmaw will periodically deal raid wide fire damage to all targets. This is unavoidable and must be healed through.

Magmaw hurls magma at the ground beneath a random player’s feet. The resulting impact triggers eruptions that launch nearby players into the air within a 5-yard radius, dealing massive fire damage. Move out of this. These impacts, regardless if a player hits them or not spawns several Lava Parasites.

Lava Parasites are deadly adds that will need to be slowed, kited and AoE’d down. After they spawn, all the ranged should move to a predetermined location so the adds all move in the same direction to facilitate kiting. It is imperative that no player makes contact with the Lava Parasites, or the Parasite will burrow inside of them causing Parasitic Infection.

If a Lava Parasite reaches a player, it will burrow inside them. The infection lasts for 10 seconds and inflicts moderate damage over time. When the debuff expires, the player will vomit up the parasite, leaving it to search for a new host.

Magmaw slams his body onto the floor, impacting about half of the room. Deals massive physical damage to all players in the affected area and stuns them for 3 seconds. All players will need to move to the opposite side of the room when it occurs.

After Magmaw uses Massive Crash, he briefly stays on the floor, allowing two players to jump onto him (as if he were a vehicle). While on top of Magmaw, the players gain the ability to use a hook to chain Magmaw to the spike on the floor in front of him. This also stops Mangle.

While chained to the spike, Magmaw cannot attack and takes double damage from all players. Lasts 30 seconds. Save Bloodlust/Heroism/Time Warp for this moment.

On Heroic difficulty, Nefarius will join in, observing and occasionally throwing a wrench into the raids plans.

Nefarius summons a meteor of fire at the ground beneath a random player that they will need to quickly move out of. The meteor deals fire damage to those it hits and stuns them for 4 seconds. On collision the meteor creates a Blazing Bone Construct, and spawns fast moving flames that spirals out from the impact point.

Blazing Bone Constructs are dangerous adds that must be picked up and tanked by whichever tank is not currently tanking Magmaw. Note that they must be tanked facing away from the raid as they have a frontal Cleave ability. At 20% health they begin casting Armageddon, a self destruct ability that will deal heavy AoE damage to all players. This can be handled by killing the Blazing Bone Construct before the Armageddon cast finishes.

When Magmaw reaches 30% health, Nefarius will begin attacking players with volleys of shadowflame. This deals moderate Shadow damage to all players within 5 yards of the target. Avoid stacking too close to make sure this doesn’t hit more players than necessary.

Raid Composition & Preparation

It is recommended to bring 4-6 healers for this encounter.

Since the raid will be positioned primarily in two stacks (a melee stack and a ranged stack), healers that can heal a group of people will shine here. Restoration Shaman with Chain Heal, for example, as well as a Holy Paladins with Light of Dawn.

You are going to want a balanced composition for this encounter.

You’ll want enough AoE ranged DPS to handle the Lava Parasites as well as classes capable of slowing the Lava Parasites. Hunters with Freezing Trap and Elemental Shaman with Earthbind Totem are the best at this.

Once you have enough ranged to handle the Lava Parasites, melee DPS will be superior. Melee DPS don’t have to dodge Pillar of Flame or deal with Parasites, so they will have more uptime than ranged DPS.

You will want two tanks for this encounter.

Any class of tank will work, but Protection Warriors are particularly useful as they can Shockwave stray Lava Parasites.

Strategy

Ranged players and healers should gather on either the left or right side of the room in a tight stack. When Pillar of Flame is cast by Magmaw, all ranged players should swiftly move to the opposite side of the room and reform their stack.

Several Lava Parasites will spawn from the Pillar of Flame which will need to be dealt with. If Lava Parasites make contact with a player they will infect them with Parasitic Infection and spawn more parasites, so these adds will need to be kited and killed in a controlled fashion. Use AoE crowd control abilities such as Freezing Trap or Earthbind Totem to slow them down and eliminate them before they can reach any players.

When Magmaw executes Massive Crash, all raid members must quickly move away from the affected area denoted by white smoke on the ground.

Three melee players should be spam right clicking Magmaw and mount him (like a vehicle), utilizing Launch Hook to anchor him to the spike. If done successfully, Magmaw will smash onto the ground and be CC’d for 30 seconds while taking increased damage under the effect of Point of Vulnerability. All players should use their DPS cooldowns to burn him as much as possible during this window.

Heroic Mode

Instead of the ranged group forming a tight stack, they will want to congregate in a general area but stay roughly 5 yards from one another to avoid chaining the damage from Shadow Breath.

Ranged players should be aware of fire spawning underneath them from Blazing Inferno and quickly move away from it. Players will need to be sure not to stray too far from the ranged clump while dodging fire or you risk a Pillar of Flame spawning in an inopportune location.

Tanks should be on the lookout for Blazing Infernos and the subsequent Blazing Bone Construct that spawns from them. All ranged DPS should quickly switch to the Blazing Bone Construct and kill it quickly. Note that if it stays alive for longer than 8 seconds after reaching 20% it will cast Armageddon, dealing massive AoE damage to the raid, so once it gets low execute it quickly.