Author: lettara
Date: January 9, 2024
Updated: January 10, 2024
Expansion: WotLK Classic

Halion is the only boss encounter in the Ruby Sanctum raid. Alongside him are three formidable lieutenants: Saviana Ragefire, Baltharus the Warborn, and General Zarithrian—all of whom must be vanquished before the ultimate confrontation with Halion unfolds. Each drake lieutenant offers their own mini-boss encounter, with their own abilities and mechanics.

This guide will offer a detailed, step-by-step tutorial on how to defeat Halion as well as the three mini bosses that precede him.

Abilities

Halion

Phase 1

Inflicts 75% weapon damage to all players standing on front of the boss. This should only ever hit the main tank, with everyone else standing beside the boss.

Halion breathes fire in front of him, dealing massive damage to everyone caught in the cone. This should only ever hit the main tank, with everyone else standing beside the boss.

Just like most dragon fights, Halion will swipe players behind him, dealing damage and stunning them. Avoid this by never being behind a dragon!

A stacking debuff is randomly assigned to a player. When affected, the targeted player must quickly run to the edges of the room and be dispelled or decursed (either will work). Once dispelled, a fiery void zone materializes at their feet. The void zones size increases proportionally with the duration of the debuff on the target, so it is important to react quickly. On expiration, this ability knocks all nearby players back, dealing damage to them in the process.

Selects a random player and, after a 5-second countdown, detonates in a wide radius, emitting flames in all directions around the chosen player. Once Meteor Strike selects a player and the animation appears on the ground (it looks visually similar to a warlock’s Hellfire), the entire raid should move through the boss to the opposite side of the Dragon where they will remain until the next Meteor Strike.

Phase 2

Halion breathes shadowy flames in front of him, dealing massive damage to everyone caught in the cone. This should only ever hit the main tank, with everyone else standing beside the boss.

Halion deals constant, unavoidable Shadow damage to everyone in the Twilight Realm every 2 seconds.

Around the perimeter of the Twilight Realm are two orbs that will slowly rotate in a clockwise fashion. At 30-second intervals, they generate a lethal beam between them, instantly eliminating anyone it contacts. Players must monitor the cooldown of Twilight Cutter and take care to avoid being caught between the orbs when it is unleashed.

A stacking debuff is randomly assigned to a player. When affected, the targeted player must quickly run to the edges of the room and be dispelled or decursed (either will work). Once dispelled, a blue void zone materializes at their feet. The fire’s size increases proportionally with the duration of the debuff on the target, so it is important to react quickly. On expiration, this ability sucks all nearby players towards the void zone, dealing damage to them in the process.

Saviana Ragefire

Saviana breathes fire in front of her, dealing massive damage to everyone caught in the cone. This should only ever hit the main tank, with everyone else standing beside the boss.

A buff placed on Saviana that can be countered by a Hunter’s Tranq Shot or a Rogue’s Anesthetic Poison. If left on the boss it will increase her attack speed by 150% and cause Fire Nova‘s to erupt from the boss every 2 seconds.

During her air phase, she will target 6 players and after a brief delay deal massive to them and anyone around them. To counter this, all players should spread as soon as she takes flight. Those players afflicted with Flame Beacon should try their best to avoid cleaving damage onto any nearby players and use movement abilities such as Disengage or Nitro Boosts if possible.

Baltharus the Warborn

Baltharus twirls his weapons in front of him dealing massive damage. Only the tank should be positioned in front of the boss.

At 50% Baltharus will summon a clone of himself. This clone should be ignored and the raid should continue to attack the original Baltharus.

While summoning a clone, Baltharus will knock all players back, dealing fire damage and stunning them for 3 seconds. This is unavoidable and players should simply prepare for some momentary downtime.

Targets a randomly selected player, siphoning damage from both the chosen player and nearby allies. This diminishes the affected players’ damage by 2% while concurrently increasing Baltharus’ damage. To avoid ramping Baltharus’ damage, players targeted by this ability should quickly spread from allies.

General Zarithrian

Reduces the tanks armor by 20% per stack, stacking up to 5 times. Divine Shield & Hand of Protection can be used to be remove the stacks, otherwise an off-tank will need to taunt the boss to alleviate the main tank.

Stuns all players for 4 seconds.

Summons 6 Onyx Flamecallers that enter from the left and right sides. These will need to be picked up by a tank.

Onyx Flamecaller will cast two abilities:

Blast Nova deals AoE damage to all players within 40 yards
Lava Gout deals single target damage to its target. Can be interrupted.

Raid Composition & Preparation

Make sure to bring at least two players that can either Dispel Magic or Remove Curse. Either will work to Dispel the Fiery Combustion & Soul Consumption debuffs.

Paladins are also invaluable on this encounter for Shadow Resistance Aura & Fire Resistance Aura, as well as Divine Sacrifice and Aura Mastery.

Since the raid will be split into two groups (one half in the Twilight Realm and the other half in the Physical Realm), it’s important to consider the necessary buffs and debuffs in each group.

In the melee dominant Twilight Realm, consider that your melee will want the following buffs:

Abominations Might from a Blood DK or Trueshot Aura from a Marksman Hunter
Improved Faerie Fire from a Balance Druid or Misery from a Shadow Priest.
Sunder Armor from a Warrior or Expose Armor from a Rogue
Icy Talons from a Frost/Blood DK or Windfury Totem from a Shaman

There are several other buffs for melee DPS, but these three are by far the most important.

In the caster dominant Physical Realm, consider that your casters will want the following buffs:

Demonic Pact from a Demonology Warlock
Improved Faerie Fire from a Balance Druid or Misery from a Shadow Priest.
Wrath of Air Totem from a Shaman
Moonkin Aura from a Balance Druid or Elemental Oath from an Elemental Shaman

There are several other buffs for caster DPS, but these three are by far the most important.

When dividing your raid into groups for the Twilight Realm and Physical Realm, make an effort to ensure that each team has as many of the specified buffs listed above as your composition will allow. In many situations, it is advisable to deviate from the conventional guideline of assigning melee to the Twilight Realm and casters to the Physical Realm if it ensures one of these critical buffs. For example, if your melee are lacking the 10% Attack Power buff, it is advisable to send a Marksman Hunter in the Twilight Realm. Even though the Hunter will struggle to do damage while staying mobile, the DPS they provide the rest of the melee will more than make up for it.

You will want to bring between 5-7 healers for this encounter. Mobile healers such as Priests and Druids are particularly effectively at healing in the movement intensive Twilight Realm.

Your raid will want to strike a balance between ranged and melee DPS for this encounter. The Twilight Phase requires heavy movement where melee DPS shine. Conversely, in the Physical Realm, ranged DPS are typically superior as they will have to run a shorter distance to get out of the raid with Fiery Combustion.

You will want at least 2 tanks for this fight. One tank will be responsible for tanking Halion in the Physical Realm while the other tanks her in the Twilight Realm.

The Fight

Phase 1: Physical Realm

A few seconds after the pull, a circle of flames engulfs the perimeter of the arena. Ensure that all players move in simultaneously to prevent anyone being left behind. The boss should be tanked in the center of the room, with the entire raid loosely stacked on her side.

Fiery Combustion will periodically be placed on a random player. That player will very quickly need to run to the edge of the room closest to them and be dispelled. When dispelled, a circular fiery void zone will be left at the players feet; the diameter of which is determined by how long this process takes. To prevent running out of playable space, this process should happen as quickly as possible. Movement increasing abilities such as Nitro Boosts or Blink should be saved for this mechanic.

The only other notable ability in the Physical Realm is Meteor Strike, which targets a random player and explodes in a massive area around them. It also shoots fire in a 4-way cross formation around them. To counter this, all players should be stacked up on one side of Halion and move to the opposite side after Meteor Strike has selected its target, but before it hits the ground. Note that Meteor Strike can target the tank, in which case the tank will need to run through the dragon, quickly spinning him around. This presents an extremely small chance of Tail Lashing or Flame Breathing the raid, but it is essentially unavoidable.

Phase 2: Twilight Realm

At 75% health, Halion will phase out from the Physical Realm (becoming unattackable) and open a portal to the Twilight Realm. It is of critical importance that the tank enters the portal first, with healers and the rest of the raid entering quickly afterwards. The tank should use his biggest defensive cooldown upon entering the portal to help bridge the gap in healing while the healers make their way down.

In this phase, Fiery Combustion is replaced with Soul Consumption, which behaves the exact same way, but pulls players into its AoE instead of knocking them back.

The primary mechanic of the Twilight Phase are the Twilight Cutters. Two orbs (four in heroic) zip around the room, creating a purple death beam every now and then. If you touch that beam, you’re pretty much toast. The trick is to stick to one side of Halion, but don’t go spinning around too fast or too slow, or you might catch a nasty cleave or tail swipe. The tank’s job is to keep things steady by rotating consistently.

Phase 3: Twilight Realm & Physical Realm

In Phase 3, Halion will be active in both realms simultaneously. To combat this, you’ll need to split your raid into two somewhat even forces. Melee DPS are heavily favored in the Twilight Realm, since they will be less affected by the constant movement needed to maneuver around the Twilight Cutters.

This phase is all about keeping the boss’s health as even as possible in the physical phase and the twilight phase, to manage her stacks of Corporeality. Corporeality is a buff placed on the boss that rises or falls as the boss’s health in one realm gains a disparity over the boss’s health in another. The higher the stacks of Corporeality, the less damage the boss will take and the more damage the boss will deal. If left unchecked, half of your raid will be unable to do any DPS and the tanks damage taken will quickly become unmanageable.

The two teams will need to coordinate their respective boss percentages and move between the two realms if one team is too far ahead. If someone dies in one realm and is unable to be resurrected, a DPS from the opposing realm will need to quickly takes their place. Be sure to call for DPS stops if one team is out-damaging another significantly.

Heroic Mode Changes

In Phase 1, each Meteor Strike will spawn a Living Inferno and several Living Embers. These will need to be picked up (ideally with misdirection and/or tricks of the trade onto a tank. From there they can be cleaved down and pose little threat.

In the Twilight Realm, there are 4 cutters instead of 2, forming a cross formation whenever Twilight Cutter are cast. This narrows the area that players have to stand in during this phase and makes it significantly harder to make it in and out with Soul Consumption.

To make matters even worse, on heroic mode, Soul Consumption continually reapplies its slow effect, making it difficult to escape without the help of Dispel Magic or Hand of Freedom. Players will need to be sure that they drop their Soul Consumption at the edge of the cutter moving away from them to give themselves enough time to escape the oncoming cutter.

The most difficult change that you’ll notice on heroic difficulty is that the void zones from both Fiery Combustion and Soul Consumption appear in and affect both the Twilight and Physical Realms, not just one. The two teams will need to coordinate throughout Phase 3 to determine where the best place to drop a void zone is as to not limit the opposing teams movement.