Guide to successfully running Azjol-Nerub on Heroic

As you enter the dungeon, you’ll see a path in front of you patrolled by 2 nerubian mobs. Kill the Webspinner first if one is present. Once they are dead, keep heading down the tunnel and take out the group of 3 nerubians in front of you, killing the Skirmisher first since it has a random aggro table and tends to go after the healer if not killed quickly. Once these 3 mobs are dead, the first boss encounter is right in front of you.

You’ll notice there are 3 groups of 3 mobs in front of the boss, each with a Watcher. Have your tank aggro one of the groups, killing Skirmishers and then Shadowcasters first. After the most dangerous mob is destroyed, kill the Watcher in the group and then finish off the last nerubian. **DO NOT pull the other groups unless your tank and healer overgear the encounter by quite a bit** After a few seconds, the second group will come to you on its own. Keep the same strategy until all the groups are dead. It is now time for the boss: Krik’thir the Gatewatcher.

This boss is essentially a tank-and-spank fight except he will summon little adds periodically. Have the dps aoe them down and then burn the boss until he falls. **Watch out for the larger beetles since, once they die, they put a poison on all players around them**

After Krik’thir, follow the path forward, down the bridge to a platform. With a quick look-around, you’ll see a large nerubian flanked by 2 smaller ones.

**Note: If you have a hunter, have them dismiss their pet. With everyone standing on the platform, have the hunter go down, shoot one of the nerubians, and feign death. This will glitch the encounter, allowing you to run all the way down the web to confront Hadronox, a giant bone spider, and receive an achievement on heroic. You will need to start running down the web as soon as the mobs disappear so you make it on time. Make sure you do not jump through the small hole in the web at the bottom near where you will fight the boss until it is dead and looted.**

Have your tank pull all 3 back to the top of the web near the platform. The reason for the pull-back is because once they are aggro’d, 2 more groups of 3 appear right next to where the first one was and they will aggro if you are too close. Kill the big add first and then take out the other 2. While you are fighting, more nerubians will be swarming down the web to fight Hadronox while 1 at a time they come to you as well, usually at the healer. The adds are very squishy and can usually be taken out within a few hits.

After the first 3-pull is dead, have your tank pull 1 of the other 2 of them. Rinse and repeat with the third and then move back to the platform you were on when you came into this room. Wait until Hadronox shoots web up the long stairs to prevent more nerubians from coming into the room and also wait until he kills all of those near him since, with his poison, each time they die he gains 10% of his health.

Once the adds are dead, Hadronox should aggro onto someone from your group. Just make sure nobody stands in the poison he sprays out and, if someone in your group is able to, cleanse the poison he puts directly onto people. Overall it’s an easy fight if people don’t stand in the poison.

With Hadronox dead, it is time to move down the web to the right. You will come to the bottom and there will be a hole in one side, allowing the group to jump down. There are many tiny adds here, but they can be killed with 1 aoe tick. You will notice a giant hole in the middle of this area. Jump down this hole and enjoy the fall into water. When you “land” head east onto the shore. If there is an herbalist in your group, there are usually a few herbs in this area. Keep heading east down the steep stairs until you come across 2 royal guards. They both pull, so make sure the dps focuses down 1 at a time. Further east of you is the final boss: Anub’arak.

Before pulling the boss, make sure everyone is on his platform inside the outer gold ring. If this is so, have the tank pull the boss and make sure he is facing away from the group. If Anub’arak charges Pound, anyone in front of him needs to move about 10 yards away so they do not get hit by it and take about 25,000 damage. (On heroic) A lot of tanks don’t like to move from the pound, which makes it more difficult on the healer. Anub’arak might also summon carrion beetles. These should just be aoe’d down since they die with 1 tick usually. Once Anub’arak reaches 75% health, he will burrow. Little adds will spawn and eventually one add will come down from the west. Have your tank pick it up and then everyone needs to kill it ASAP. There will be 2 of these in the first burrow phase. While he is burrowed, Anub’arak also shoots up spikes at people. These can be avoided by moving away from spots where the ground looks like it is churning. After the second larger add is dead, Anub’arak will emerge from where he burrowed and will need to be picked up by the tank immediately. Each ground phase is the same, so use the same strategy to burn him another 25%, after which he will burrow again. This second burrow phase is the same as the first except that in addition to the initial 2 large melee adds, 2 venomspitters will come down as well. These need to be killed quickly or their poison debuff can stack to do a lot of damage. Once they are dead, Anub’arak emerges again. Rinse and repeat until he burrows at 25% health. The final burrow phase is the same as the second except there will also be little adds called Anub’ar Darters that will swoop down from the air to put a bleed on someone. Once the venomspitters are dead again, Anub’arak will emerge for the final time. Burn him down and the empire of Azjol-Nerub will be without a king yet again.

Congratulations, you have just completed Azjol-Nerub!