There are many demon lord commanders dedicated to the Burning Legion, but none display such loyalty as Lord Kazzak, as he is one of the deadliest commanders that showed Archimonde and Kil’Jaeden utter dedication. He remained behind on Azeroth to ensure that the Dark Portal would be opened once more, ushering in a new chance for the Legion’s invasion.
In the Classic Era, Lord Kazzak is seen as one of the hardest bosses encounters, being one of the two available World Bosses, as his abilities make him particularly deadly and hard to deal with. He was also responsible for many incidents back in the Classic Era before his “containment”, as players used to kite the boss into major cities, wreaking havoc among players and NPCs alike in the process. Nowadays kiting Lord Kazzak is no longer possible as his pull range has been limited to a specific area.
Lord Kazzak can be found in the Blasted Lands, specifically in the Tainted Scar. He will always spawn on the south side of the Tainted Scar, however, his respawn timer was never properly recorded, with players noticing random respawn timers that can last for days.
Abilities
- Shadow Bolt Volley
- Launches multiple Shadow Bolts to nearby targets, ignoring Line-of-Sight. This ability will hit all targets in a large radius, having no target limit.
- Void Bolt
- A deadly Shadow Damage-based spell that hits a single target.
- Mark of Kazzak
- A debuff placed on classes that use mana as a resource that drains 250 mana per second, resulting in an AoE explosion when the target remains out of mana which deals massive damage to all targets caught in the radius. This debuff can be dispelled.
- Capture Soul
- Lord Kazzak’s passive ability, heals him for 70000 Health Points whenever a player dies near him.
- Cleave
- Standard strike that damages one additional target in front of Lord Kazzak.
- Thunder Clap
- An ability that reduces the Attack Speed and Movement Speed of all targets caught in its radius.
- Twisted Reflection
- A debuff placed on random targets that heals Lord Kazzak for 25000 Health Points whenever he hits the marked target. The effect of the debuff can be activated by any of Lord Kazzak’s abilities, including Shadow Bolt Volley.
Strategies
In the Classic Era, Lord Kazzak is especially tough to defeat since players will only have 3 minutes to kill him until he reaches his Enrage timer. Due to the limited time, a full raid group of 40 players is advised. Groups should also bring plenty of healers as Lord Kazzak deals incredible amounts of damage in quick bursts. If players fail to kill Lord Kazzak before they hit the 3-minute Enrage timer, Lord Kazzak will start spamming Shadow Bolt Volley, quickly killing all nearby players.
The key to the fight is avoiding three specific mechanics, Capture Soul, Mark of Kazzak, and Twisted Reflection. Both Twisted Reflection and Mark of Kazzak can be instantly dispelled when placed, so groups should particularly watch out for them. Since Twisted Reflection synergizes with all attacks, including Shadow Bolt Volley, it’s very important to remove the debuff as fast as possible or else Lord Kazzak can quickly regain a massive chunk of his health. Mark of Kazzak should also be dispelled as fast as possible since it can quickly decimate a group of stacked players. Classes that use mana as a resource should keep a close watch on their overall mana pool as the mark can quickly turn them into bombs if they are not careful.
Capture Soul is the most important ability to keep in mind, especially when considering the 3-minute limit of the fight. Capture Soul works as a passive ability with a very large radius that heals Lord Kazzak whenever a player dies. Healers should aim to keep every member of the raid group as healthy as possible as the chances of hitting the Enrage timer grow each time a player dies, resulting in a guaranteed wipe.
Most of the damage dealt by Lord Kazzak is Shadow Damage, meaning that players should properly prepare for the encounter by bringing Shadow Resistance Gear, Greater Shadow Protection Potions, and by utilizing Shadow Resistance Aura and Shadow Protection.
Changes in Season of Discovery
Season of Discovery phase 4 brings forth a change that surprised many players, the introduction of the first instanced World Bosses! As such, Lord Kazzak will now be available to anyone who dares challenge his might. This change makes his loot widely available compared to the Classic Era version where multiple groups had to compete for the boss tag.
The instance will be designed for 20-man groups, however Blizzard has mentioned that up to 40 players may enter at once. While it is yet unknown what further changes will occur to Lord Kazzak, his abilities, and loot, we can safely assume that the boss will be adjusted just like the bosses in Molten Core.
Unlike Molten Core which will have a weekly reset, Lord Kazzak‘s raid instance will be available twice per week, ensuring that players can fully benefit from his loot, no longer being plagued by the random respawn timer and a one-group limited tag. The raid instance will be available on July 18, before the release of Molten Core and Onyxia’s Lair on July 25.
This section of the guide will be updated as soon as more information is available regarding Lord Kazzak in the Season of Discovery!
