Dawnbreaker
About the Dungeon
Dawnbreaker is a large open dungeon that requires some knowledge of the location of the bosses. Tanks must be highly communicative to indicate the next location the party will move to.
⚔️ Know Your Role: Tactical Briefing for Victory
"The difference between a clean run and a wipe is knowing your job before the fight begins."
Step into the dungeon prepared with role-specific insights curated from our top Mythic+ raiders.
- Slow pulls in the first room — enemies hit harder than expected
- Use cooldowns on the second boss phase
- Be sure to position the third boss away from the group
- Save burst heals for drill AOE phases
- Dispels are a must on the tank in Robot Dog Fight
- Be sure to interrupt Footmen
- Watch your positioning — pulls are tight
- Arcane Mages: plan orb placements carefully
Speaker Shadowcrown
To start out the dungeon you will need to make your way to the Dawnbreaker airship, at which point it takes off. Shortly after this happens, you’ll be given the ability to ride your flying mounts and move to 2 ships stopping your progress, which after clearing and planting explosives on you’ll find the first boss waiting for you on the Dawnbreaker.
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Nightfall Curseblade
Darkblade targets the tank, beware of the stacking Magic buff and purge it if possible
Nightfall Shadowmage
Ensnaring Shadows targets a random player, interrupt this cast or dispel the Curse debuff
Night Bolt targets a random player, use spare interrupts on this
Nightfall Ritualist
This mob is immune to CC
Stygian Seed debuffs a random player, move away from your allies and dispel the Magic debuff
Tormenting Ray deals heavy damage to 2 players, focus healing into these targets and use defensives as needed
Nightfall Commander
This mob is immune to CC
Make sure to interrupt every cast of Abyssal Howl, if missed try and use purges to remove the shield it applies
Tainted Slash targets the tank, use defensives or bleed cleanses as needed
Sureki Webmage
This mob is immune to CC
Bursting Cocoon targets a random player, move away from your allies and use defensives as needed
Web Bolt targets the tank, use spare interrupts on this
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Throughout this fight the boss will cast Shadow Bolt at your tank between other abilities, try and keep an interrupt rotation on this to reduce tank damage.
Intermittently Shadocrown will use Collapsing Night, spawning 2 void zones under random players that slowly grow in size over 30s before disappearing. This prioritizes ranged players, so ideally you want to have any ranged in your party bait these void zones away from the boss who can be difficult to move.
The reason you want to have the area around the boss clear is for the Obsidian Beam mechanic. This deals a large hit to both the tank as well as the entire party, and then spawns 3 beams that rotate in a random direction for 7s. Touching these beams is lethal, so you want to make sure you have room to move with the beam rotation while still allowing melee to maintain uptime.
For other party damage, the boss will occasionally debuff a random player with the Burning Shadows Magic DoT, which upon being removed applies the Shadow Shroud healing absorb to non-tank players, so healers make sure you are ready to heal through this and dispel the initial DoT as soon as you are prepared.
At 50% health the boss will begin casting Darkness Comes, becoming immune to damage and creating a large bubble that grows around the Dawnbringer that kills any players inside it after 15s. When this happens you’ll want to get on your flying mount and run away from the bubble, returning to the deck of the ship after the explosion detonates. If needed you can fly through the gold orbs around the ship to regain vigor. After this happens the Obsidian Beam mechanic is now empowered, gaining a 4th rotating beam.
After pushing the boss to 0% health she will once again cast Darkness Comes, though this time you do not need to return back to the deck of the ship and can instead fly straight to the city below and begin clearing trash for the next boss fight.
Anub'ikkaj
In this area of the dungeon you’ll need to fly around the city and defeat 3 mini bosses before engaging Anub’ikkaj, as leaving them alive gives the stacking Empowered Might buff to the boss. Each mini boss previews one of Anub’ikkaj’s abilities to make you familiar with them before engaging the boss. Also beware of the boss himself as he patrols through the city and can easily be pulled by accident if you aren’t paying attention.
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Deathscreamer Iken'tak
This mob is immune to CC
Dark Orb shoots in a line towards a random player, aim this such that the orb travels as far as possible before hitting terrain to reduce the group damage and be sure to avoid the orb itself
Abyssal Blast targets a random player, prioritize healing this target and use defensives as needed
Ascendant Vis'coxria
This mob is immune to CC
Use defensives and healing CDs when Shadowy Decay is channeled
Abyssal Blast targets a random player, prioritize healing this target and use defensives as needed
Ixkreten the Unbreakable
This mob is immune to CC
Terrifying Slam targets the tank, make sure players get out of the 15yd AoE and tanks position yourself against a wall or prepare abilities like charge to prevent the knockback
Abyssal Blast targets a random player, prioritize healing this target and use defensives as needed
Nightfall Darkcaster
Tormenting Beam targets a random player, use an interrupt or CC after the channel has started to stop the cast
Umbral Barrier creates a Magic shield on the mob, interrupt this cast or purge it off
Nightfall Tactician
Tanks point the Black Edge frontal away from your group and step out of the effect
Soothe the Tactician's Rage Enrage if possible, otherwise tanks will need to use defensives or kite these mobs until the buff falls off
Manifested Shadow
This mob is immune to CC, interrupts, and silences thanks to the Resolute passive
Abyssal Rot targets a random player, prioritize healing this target and use defensives as needed
Avoid the swirlies spawned by Black Hail
Be aware of extra group damage from the Dark Floes cast
Nightfall Shadowalker
Umbral Rush targets the tank, use defensives as needed
Animated Darkness
Congealed Shadow targets a random player, be sure to interrupt these casts
In addition to these trash mobs, there are also lieutenant mobs that patrol around the edges of the city that I recommend you avoid.
Sureki Militant
This mob is immune to CC
Move out of the 20yd AoE Tacky Nova, use freedom effects on anyone immobilized by it
Entwining Threads targets a random player, be prepared to run out if followed by Tacky Nova
Make sure to interrupt every cast of Silken Shell or purge it off if you can
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After defeating all 3 mini bosses, I recommend making your way towards the long path upwards in the North-Eastern part of the city and fight the boss near the top or bottom of the hill, depending on the current patrol timing.
This makes it significantly easier to handle the Dark Orb ability, which is similar to the one used by Iken’tak, however this will always target the furthest player. I recommend having 1 ranged player bait the orbs and aim them straight down or up the hill (depending on if you are at the top or bottom respectively) to reduce the group's damage intake as much as possible. Note that any players hit by the orb itself will gain the stacking Dark Scars DoT, so it’s important to avoid it.
For tanks, make sure you defensive every Terrifying Slam cast and position yourself such that you get knocked into the cliff wall instead of up or down the hill. This is unnecessary if you have ways to avoid the knockback such as transcend, charge, death’s advance, etc.
Healers will need to make sure they are ready for the heavy group damage from Shadowy Decay, which lasts 1s longer than Vis’Coxria’s version of the ability and increases in damage by 10% with each tick. Saving defensives and healing CDs for this channel is recommended.
Outside of these familiar abilities, the boss will sometimes Animate Shadows, spawning several Animated Shadow mobs that are similar to the Animated Darkness trash mobs, just occasionally casting Congealed Shadow at random players. Make sure to interrupt or use CCs to delay these casts while you cleave them down under the boss.
Rasha’nan
Once Anub’ikkaj is killed, you’ll need to fly your way back to the deck of the Dawnbreaker, where you’ll find a single mini boss that you must defeat in order to spawn the final boss.
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Nightfall Dark Architect
This mob is immune to CC
Tanks be aware as the attacks of this mob deal shadow damage thanks to Dark Fervor
Stay spread to avoid splashing Tormenting Eruption, the 2 targets will need extra healing focus and defensives to survive
Usher Reinforcements is cast at 75%, 50%, and 25% health, adding 3 random Nightfall trash mobs to the fray, however they are weakened by Rapid Summoning
Night Bolt targets a random player, keep this cast interrupted
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This encounter has 2 phases separated by a flying intermission. Note that this boss is stationary, so tanks will want to stay near at all times in order to prevent it from casting Tacky Burst.
Starting with phase 1, Expel Webs shoots lines at 2 random players that you’ll want to avoid, which can be easier if your group is generally grouped up to cluster the ground effects. Being grouped up is also helpful for the Rolling Acid attack, which targets one player and shoots waves across the platform either to their right or left, depending on where the animation is pointing. When this happens you’ll want to have the targeted player move such that the rest of the party is on the safe side of them, resulting in the wave harmlessly moving off the ship. Note that the player targeted by this ability is not able to avoid the wave themselves, so they will take an additional DoT and be stunned briefly, potentially requiring extra healer attention or a defensive.
In terms of group damage, the boss will occasionally channel Erosive Spray, stacking up a DoT on the entire party. This deals pretty heavy damage on its own, but can be extremely dangerous when combined with the Rolling Acid DoT or the Arathi Bombs. These bombs are thrown on the deck in sets of 3 and must be removed within 20s otherwise they explode for heavy group damage. To remove them players just need to interact with them, then run up to the boss and use their extra action button to throw it onto them, dealing 5.8% of the bosses health in damage.
While carrying the bomb you do take ticking fire damage, which is why it can be dangerous when combined with other sources of unavoidable damage. I recommend having your DPS players each pick up a bomb whenever a wave is spawned, as boss damage is mostly irrelevant in P1, your healer has a lot of damage to stay on top of, and your tank must remain in melee.
After pushing the boss below 64% HP it flies away and the intermission begins. You’ll be able to ride your flying mounts once again, following the boss to a new platform. While chasing the boss you’ll want to make sure to collect some of the gold orbs along the path, as they will extend the Radiant Light debuff which protects you from dying to the Encroaching Shadows around you. After arriving at the new boss platform make sure to interrupt the Acidic Eruption cast as quickly as possible to prevent any excessive group damage and begin phase 2.
During Phase 2 the boss maintains all of their abilities from P1, while also gaining Spinneret’s Strands. This debuffs 2 players and does a 10yd AoE around them on top of spawning webs underneath them, so you’ll want to have these players move to either side, meaning generally you want to have your party grouped in the centre area of the platform. After creating the webs players become tethered to them, which can be broken by moving out of the puddle itself, triggering a raid hit. Just make sure you aren’t breaking these tethers when group damage is already high. Also be aware that these web puddles will shrink into smaller acid pools when hit by Rolling Acid, which can help with space. Once the boss reaches 60% health they fly away, ending the encounter.