Bosses in 5 Seconds: Hellfire Citadel LFR – Archimonde

It’s time to take on Archimonde himself. The final wing of Hellfire Citadel LFR, The Black Gate, opens up today on US realms. Our Bosses in 5 seconds series focuses on the core points you need to know going into LFR.

Keep in mind that you’ll need a minimum item level of 650 to queue for Hellfire Citadel LFR. This can be accomplished quite quickly by adventuring in Tanaan Jungle.

Archimonde

Like most fights in Hellfire Citadel, Archimonde is all about killing adds as fast as possible. Focus especially on Doomfire Spirits (green fire balls), Hellfire Deathcallers (doomguards), and Infernal Doombringers (infernals). Don’t stand in green fire (there’s a lot of it). Addons like Deadly Boss Mods will warn you when you should get out of the group or spread (highly recommended).

Since the final wing of Hellfire Citadel consists of a single complex boss, we’re going to go into a little more detail on the specifics (the 5 second rule doesn’t apply here).

The Defiler (100-70% health):

• Doomfire Spirits spawn green fire and need to be killed quickly. Random players will be fixated by the fire and should run away from the raid.
  • Archimonde will periodically cast Allure of Flames, tossing all of the fire on the ground towards random players. Move away from the green swirls. It’s best for the raid to move together as a group (left, right, left, etc.)
• Spread out for Shadowfel Burst (happens shortly after Allure of Flames) to minimize the number of people hit. Once someone is knocked up, stand in the purple on the ground to help split the damage.
• Hellfire Deathcallers spawn on a tank (Death Brand) and must be nuked ASAP. Tanks should swap between the Deathcaller and Archimonde when Shadow Blast reaches 3 stacks.
• Desecrate spawns fel spires which deal raidwide damage. You can gain immunity to this by touching one of the light orbs that spawn around the spires. Anyone within 15 yards will also gain the buff.

Hand of the Legion (70-40% health):

• The raid should stack right on top of Archimonde.
• Players who get Wrought Chaos or Focused Chaos need to move out of the group and ensure no other players are between them.
• Players who get Shackled Torment need to run 30 yards away from their starting position to break the chain, or else it will eventually kill them. The breaking deals raid wide damage so try not to break it when the raid’s health is low.
• Allure of Flames will continue, but new fire won’t spawn. Continue to move as a group for each one.
• Hellfire Deathcallers continue to spawn and are priority. After that focus on killing other adds before Archimonde.

The Twisting Nether (40-25% health):

• Archimonde will stop summoning new adds (yay!).
• Wrought Chaos and Shackled Torment will continue.
• Archimonde will target the current tank with Nether Banish. The other tank should taunt at this time because the tank with Nether Banish will soon be transported to the Twisting Nether. Since you kind of want your second tank back, you need to send down a few DPS and a healer with them. Anyone else within the green circle surrounding the tank will also be transported. If you don’t send down at least 3 people, Archimonde will heal 5% health.
  • The tank with Nether Banish should move near the edge of the room, but not so fast that others going down can’t keep up.
  • In the Twisting Nether, players must kill the Shadowed Netherwalker. Standard tank and spank, but make sure to interrupt Touch of Shadows.
  • Void Stars will also spawn on the edges of the platform and fixate a player inside. It is very important these are killed immediately as if they touch their target they knock them off (and anyone nearby).
  • Once the Netherwalker is dead, walk into the portal to return to Draenor.
• Nether Tears (big green swirls) are left on the ground after each Nether Banish. Don’t stand in them.
• Ranged DPS should focus on killing Living Shadows which spawn in the middle of Nether Tears. If they reach their fixate target, they apply a nasty healing debuff.
• Spread 6 yards for Demonic Feedback.

Rain of Chaos (<25% health):

• Rain of Chaos begins. Avoid the meteors!
• Infernal Doombringers will spawn. These are your highest priority. They cannot be stacked on top of each other or else they heal. Kill them off individually. They can be slowed and stunned.
• Nether Banishes will continue to happen. Living Shadows will spawn in increasing quantity.
• Don’t panic. Avoid the the copious amounts of green fire and kill Infernals.
• Pop Blood Lust and hope for the best.
• Enjoy the cinematic.

If you want more details on these fights, you may also want to check out our class-specific guides:

• Hellfire Citadel 101 for Rogues
• Hellfire Citadel cheat sheet for Hunters
• Priest healing the Upper Halls of Hellfire Citadel
• Holy Paladin tips for Bastion of Shadows, Destructor’s Rise, and Archimonde

Looking for more help through Hellfire Citadel? Check out our Bosses in 5 Seconds guides for Hellbreach, Halls of Blood, Bastion of Shadows, and Destructor’s Rise.