This guide will lead you through the heroic difficulty Magisters’ Terrace 5-man instance. Magisters’ Terrace, released in patch 2.4, is in the northeastern corner of the Isle of Quel’Danas. It has become the residence of the Blood Elf Lord Kael’thas Sunstrider since his defeat in The Eye to the forces of Shattrath. His body has become twisted and deformed. He may be finally succumbing to his magical addictions and becoming one of the Wretched or it might be that he was resurrected by the Burning Legion using the power of the Sunwell.
Magisters’ Terrace is a relatively short instance with four bosses but it can be rather difficult for some players on heroic difficulty. A competent group without wiping should expect to complete the zone in about an hour. The loot on heroic difficulty is Karazhan quality with each boss dropping iLevel 110 epics and Kael’thas dropping iLevel 120 epics.
Compared to normal difficulty most NPC’s in heroic Magisters’ Terrace do not have many new abilities, just more powerful versions of the same spells. The most notable exception is that the final boss Kael’thas Sunstrider will use a Shock Barrier + Pyroblast combo similar to his raid counterpart. His pyroblast has not been tuned down and will one-shot any player it hits for around 50,000 points of damage.
Heroic Attunement
To be allowed in the heroic difficulty Magisters’ Terrace you must complete a short quest chain in normal difficulty. You may accept the first quest in the chain, Magisters’ Terrace, from Exarch Larethor in Sun’s Reach at location (48, 30). This step is shareable if you or your party members missed accepting it.
In addition to giving you heroic attunement you will also be rewarded with your choice of an epic quality red gem:
Quests involving Heroic Magisters’ Terrace
As you enter the zone you’ll find yourself on a raised causeway spanning a courtyard below. There are several groups of 2-4 mixed class Blood Elves on this bridge:
Sunblade Magister
- Frostbolt -- Deals 2125-2875 frost damage. Stacked with spell haste this can get nasty.
- Arcane Nova -- Deals 943-1057 arcane damage in a 10 yard radius. Same as normal difficulty.
- Spell Haste -- Every time a magister casts a spell they gain a stackable 10% haste buff that can stack up to 40% spell haste. This is a good buff for mages to spellsteal.
Sunblade Blood Knight
Sunblade Warlock
Sunblade Physician
- Prayer of Mending -- Heals ~5000 per jump. Up to 30,000 total.
- Inject Poison -- Deals 1885-2115 nature damage every 3 seconds. Very important to heal or dispel.
Sunblade Mage Guard
- Glaive Throw -- Similar to a Chain Lightning this spell will hit up to 5 players for 3770-4230 physical damage and stunning them for 2 seconds. Mitigated by armor.
- Magic Dampening Field -- Casts a Magic Dampening Field on a player. Anything inside the field takes 75% less damage from spells but receives 75% less healing. These can sometimes be worked to your advantage but are usually best to stay away from.
After killing the first pair of door guards and the wandering patrol you will have your choice of two groups of 4 Blood Elves. Pick the left or right set and have your group skirt around that side to save a little trash clearing. There is one final group of 4 at the end of the bridge guarding entry into the Assembly Chamber.
This room contains 3 groups of mixed class Wretched that are feeding their magical addictions on the demonic energy of the Fel Crystals stationed around the room.
Wretched Bruiser
- Wretched Strike -- Similar to Mortal Strike but less duration. Reduces healing to target by 50% for 5 seconds.
Wretched Husk
- Wretched Fireball -- An “inconsistent” fireball this can hit for anywhere between 75-2500 fire damage.
- Wretched Frostbolt -- Another “inconsistent” spell that deals 50-1500 cold damage. Also snares for 4 seconds.
Wretched Skulker
Boss: Selin Fireheart
Selin Fireheart was a Blood Elf that has succumbed to the fel energy coursing through him. He has developed several demonic features such as horns and wings and stands in the center of the Assembly Chamber channeling the crystals’ magic into himself. Make sure your entire party is inside the room before engaging as the door will lock behind you.
Selin fights much like Warlord Kalithresh in the Steamvaults of Coilfang Reservoir. He begins the fight with no mana and will periodically run to the closest Fel Crystal and begin siphoning mana from it. When he does this your group should switch DPS to the crystal to deprive him of its power. When either the crystal is destroyed or his mana bar becomes full he will begin chain casting Fel Explosion until he is again out of mana. This AE is the same strength as on normal difficulty but the crystals have more hit points meaning you will take more of them. If his mana bar charges to full he can deal over 10,000 damage to each member of your group in one round of AE’s.
Selin will also casts a very damaging Drain Life which should be interrupted whenever possible. It is a short, three second channel that siphons 2000 HP per second.
Selin Fireheart's Loot Table
- Heroic Difficulty
- Normal Difficulty
Continue east down the hallway leading from the Assembly Chamber. There are a few Brightscale Wyrms in the hallway but they pose no threat solo.
Brightscale Wyrm -- These have a considerable amount more health than on normal difficulty.
- Energy Infusion -- On death the Brightscale Wyrms will buff your party with a short-duration, stackable damage increase that lasts for 20 seconds.
The Halls of Theory contains 5 groups of 8-10 Brightscale Wyrms. Although the groups are very close to one another they are not social and can easily be pulled one group at a time. On heroic difficulty it becomes vitally important to pull single groups. Each group will last much longer than on normal difficulty so make sure your group’s AE classes watch their threat and are kept alive.
There is one Sunblade Keeper that patrols in and out of the Halls of Theory.
Sunblade Keeper
Boss: Vexallus
Vexallus is a voidwalker that appears to have been consumed by lightning energy. He glows with a hot, white light and deals only arcane damage. All DPS cooldowns should be reserved for the end of the fight.
Vexallus melees for arcane damage, casts Chain Lightning, and summons Pure Energy adds two at a time every 15%, beginning at 85%. The Pure Energy have extremely low HP and fly about the room casting a powerful Energy Bolt that deals 2828-3172 arcane damage. When each Pure Energy dies they place a stackable Energy Feedback effect on their assailant dealing 300 DPS per stack and increasing that player’s damage dealt by 50%. It is imperative that DPS classes take turns killing the Pure Energy to spread out the damage buff and avoid stacking the DoT too high.
At 10% health Vexallus will Overload and deal 1000 arcane damage to the group every 2-3 seconds until his death. Each time Overload lands it places a stackable debuff that increases arcane damage by 10%. This is extremely dangerous because only arcane damage is dealt in this encounter. At this point use all DPS cooldowns to burn him down as fast as possible. After Vexallus dies healers will need to continue to heal through the Energy Feedback DoT until it has run its course.
Vexallus' Loot Table
- Heroic Difficulty
- Normal Difficulty
Exiting the Halls of Theory you land on the Solar Vigil, a viewing platform on the outside of Magisters’ Terrace that offers you a glimpse at the Sunwell Plateau and its demon inhabitants below. There’s nothing to fight on the Solar Vigil but there are a few things to do there.
Scrying Orb
Clicking on the Scrying Orb will play a stunning cinematic that leads to the interior of Sunwell Plateau and ends with a preview of the Sunwell itself. Make sure your music is on to get the full effect.
Kalecgos
Although he is no longer a quest NPC on heroic difficulty the blue dragon Kalecgos still maintains his presence on the Solar Vigil in his half-elf, half-human form.
Re-enter the building on the southern side of the Solar Vigil to find yourself at one end of a long hallway that contains two Sunblade Sentinels that may be pulled separately.
Sunblade Sentinel -- A new type of Arcane Sentry running on Fel energy.
- Fel Lightning -- Chain Lightning with a green particle effect that deals 2313-2687 fire damage per jump. Spread out to reduce its effect.
Rounding the corner at the end of the hallway you will re-enter the courtyard area. There are many mixed groups of enemies in the next two courtyard rooms leading to the third boss. They are a mixture of the Blood Elves seen earlier in the Upper Observation Grounds with a few new kinds thrown in.
Ethereum Smuggler -- These deal high amounts of AE damage if left unchecked. Kill them first or otherwise lock them down.
- Blink -- Blinks to a random member of your party.
- Arcane Explosion -- Will fire off several of these AE’s after every blink dealing 900-1100 damage per cast. If your healers and ranged DPS are grouped up this can be devastating. Spread out to reduce the damage taken.
Coilskar Witch -- Basic hunter NPC with a special, ranged, frost attack.
- Auto-shot
- Frost Arrow -- Powerful, frost, ranged attack that snares.
- Forked Lightning -- Deals 1800-2300 nature damage in a large, 30-yard frontal cone.
Sister of Torment
- Lash of Pain -- Basic shadow attack dealing 1130 damage.
- Deadly Embrace -- Six second crowd control ability similar to the succubus’ Seduce. Also deals 500 damage per second for the duration.
Carefully pull around the wandering patrol and clear a path through the left or right side of the room. Only clearing the NPC’s you need to will save your group valuable time. When the path is clear charge the Sunblade Sentinel ahead of you and kill him in the entryway to the second courtyard, the Observation Grounds.
The Observation Grounds contains the same groups of NPC’s as the first courtyard. In this room you only actually need to clear 1 group to reach the boss but if you are up against fearing bosses (Ellrys Duskhallow or Warlord Salaris) you may want to clear some extra room. Be careful pulling at the beginning of the Grounds because there are additional, hidden groups of NPC’s hiding in the alcoves on the left and right sides.
Boss: Priestess Delrissa
Priestess Delrissa is a six-armed Shivarra demon. She is a priest that can Flash Heal, Renew, Dispel Magic, Power Word: Shield, and Shadow Word: Pain. She is accompanied by a council of four NPC’s that are randomly selected from a pool of 8 potential bosses that each carry their own set of abilities.
The kill order will vary depending on what set you are up against but in general you should take out the Priestess first. Her heals are the strongest of the group so eliminating her will make the others much easier. Warlord Salaris and Ellrys Duskhallow should be high in your kill/crowd control order because of their fears.
The Priestess and her entire council are difficult to tank because they are immune to taunt. They often appear to wipe their threat list and bounce their aggro from player to player. Mage’s Polymorph and hunter’s Freezing Traps are the best crowd control during the fight but the Priestess herself is immune. A rogue’s Sap can offer some temporary crowd control towards the beginning of the fight. The entire group may also Drink Healing Potions during the fight that heal about 4k HP.
Apoko -- Shaman -- Combination of heals, damage, and buffing makes him very annoying.
Ellrys Duskhallow -- Warlock -- If you have not cleared the entire Observation Grounds then kill this NPC first or crowd control it. A fear into a set of adds will often wipe a group.
Eramas Brightblaze -- Martial Artist
Garaxxas -- Hunter
Kagani Nightstrike -- Rogue
Warlord Salaris -- Warrior -- Like the warlock kill this NPC first or lock it down. A fear into adds will probably spell doom for your party.
Yazzai -- Mage
Zelfan -- Engineer -- Uses only engineering items for attacks. All are AE and can hit multiple members of your group.
After the council is slain you may pass between the final two groups in the room and enter the Grand Magister’s Asylum.
Priestess Delrissa's Loot Table
- Heroic Difficulty
- Normal Difficulty
There is only one group of trash in the Grand Magister’s Asylum before you can prep for the big fight.
Final Boss: Kael'thas Sunstrider
This version of the Kael’thas Sunstrider encounter bears more resemblance to its 25-man predecessor in The Eye than on normal difficulty. It is divided into 2 phases and all DPS cooldowns should be reserved for Phase 2.
Phase 1
During Phase 1 Kael’thas mostly casts spells dealing only minor physical damage. Fireball will be Kael’s standard attack and deals 4950-6050 fire damage per cast. This should be interrupted whenever possible. He will also occasionally AE with Flame Strike. Before it lands there will be a large, glowing, runic circle on the ground that you must move away from. If you are caught in the Flame Strike you will take 9250-10750 fire damage initially and the ground will burn for 8 seconds causing an additional 1800 damage per second to any players on it.
During Phase 1 Kael’thas will summon a Phoenix to assist him. All ranged DPS should switch to the Phoenix immediately after it spawns and melee should stay away if possible. The Phoenix will choose a randomly selected player to follow and will pause every few seconds to cast Burn, a damaging, fire AE that will hit any players within melee range for 1750-2250 damage. The Phoenix will sometimes cast Fireball and Fire Blast.
When the Phoenix dies it will release an Ember Blast AE and turn into a Phoenix Egg. You must continue DPS on the egg and kill it or the Phoenix will be reborn. Phase 2 will begin when Kael’thas is at 50% life and you should make sure both the Phoenix and its egg are destroyed before it happens.
Sometime towards the end of Phase 1 Kael’thas will use his Shock Barrier that absorbs 10,000 damage and makes him immune to interrupts. After casting this barrier he will immediately begin casting the Pyroblast. This pyroblast deals 45000-55000 fire damage and will instantly kill a member of your group if not interrupted. Your group will have 6 seconds to break down the shock barrier and interrupt the casting. Note: This appears to be time-based, meaning if your DPS is high enough, you can probably avoid him doing this at all.
Phase 2
When Phase 2 begins at 50% Kael’thas will immediately cast Gravity Lapse. This launches all players into the air and allows you to float freely as if in water. During Gravity Lapse each player will take a steady 300 DPS and three Arcane Spheres move about the room. Touching one of these spheres will deal ~2000 DPS so they must be avoided at all costs. Note: Their collision box for dealing damage is larger than their model -- don't let them near you!
This phase is about survival and it’s up to each player to stay away from the Arcane Spheres to stay alive. The small DoT during Gravity Lapse is easily manageable by a healer and all ranged DPS should keep the burn on Kael’thas while dodging the spheres. If the spheres are far enough away from Kael melee may get close enough to deal some damage. Just make sure to keep your feet off the ground or you will be knocked away again, possibly into the spheres.
After one minute the party falls back to the ground and Kael’thas weakens for a short period allowing you to attack him without retaliation. At 25% he will cast a second Gravity Lapse and at 10% a third. High DPS is key during this phase because if he is under 25% after his first weaken then he will only cast the final Gravity lapse at 10%.
Don’t forget you may exit the dungeon quickly by clicking on the teleportation orb in the back of the room after Kael’thas is dead.
Kael'thas Sunstrider's Loot Table
- Heroic Difficulty
- Normal Difficulty
