Tempest Keep: The Arcatraz - Instance Guide

Arguably the most difficult of the Tempest Keep instances, The Arcatraz throws at your group some tricky bosses and powerful trash mobs. Still, if you've done what's necessary to gain access, you're very likely more than prepared to take on the instance's challenges.

Gaining Access to The Arcatraz

Obtaining the key to The Arcatraz involves a long quest line, starting at Area 52 in Netherstorm with the quest "Consortium Crystal Collection," taking you through Ecodome Midrealm, up to Stormspire, back to Shattrath, and into The Botanica and The Mechanar. Luckily, only one person in your group needs the key to unlock the door to The Arcatraz for everyone (A Rogue with 350 Lockpicking works as well). Still, like all Tempest Keep instances, in order to enter The Arcatraz you need a flying mount to reach it regardless of the key, and thus everyone will be level 70. Most of the trash in The Arcatraz is smaller pulls of stronger demons, so forming your group around crowd control isn't as necessary. Just take the best players you can get.

Trash in The Arcatraz

The trash in The Arcatraz can be considered the toughest part of the instance. It's not too difficult up to and including the room with the first boss. The Voidwalkers soon after come in two varieties: One absorbs the first magic attack that hits it and takes greatly reduced damage from further attacks of that school, and the other spawns columns of light on the ground under its feet that power it up greatly as long as it's standing on it -- the tank should pull it off. A couple rooms further, there are Succubi that are invisible, so have a Warlock cast Detect Invisibility if you can or else move very carefully through it not. The Gargantuan Abyssals in the last room cast a Meteor that does a set amount of damage spread between everyone it hits, so everyone should group up to minimize damage to the individual group members. Arcatraz Sentinels are peppered throughout the instance: with a chain lightning and a sizable aggro dump they do every once in a while, the whole group needs to be on their toes when fighting them. The Arcatraz trash mobs are challenging and can present groups with loads of problems if they aren't prepared.

Bosses in The Arcatraz

Zereketh the Unbound

The first boss in The Arcatraz is relatively basic, but the group still needs to pay attention. First off, he does a Shadow Nova that hits everyone in a large radius, a bit over 30 yards. Ranged need to make sure they're as far back as they can be, while melee probably need to take the hit, with healers being on the ball. He periodically spawns Void Zones beneath a random player, including the tank. When spotted, the player needs to move out very quickly, lest they be taken down fast. His last skill is a Seed of Corruption which does about 400 damage periodically before exploding to hit the affected and anyone around them for 2.5k; everyone in the group needs to spread out to avoid that. It's a pretty damage-intensive fight, but he's squishy and goes down quick, so it's not so bad.

Dalliah the Doomsayer

The first of a pair of bosses you fight in succession. As long as you know what to expect, she's a very simple fight. She will put a debuff on the tank called Gift of the Doomsayer that heals her whenever the tank is healed. Though it cannot be dispelled, it doesn't last long, so try to avoid healing the tank as long as you don't let him die. After a while she will do a damaging whirlwind while standing in place; simply move out of the way. The trick is, as soon as she finishes the whirlwind, she attempts to cast a heal on herself. As long as you're looking for it, there's plenty of time to get in there and interrupt it before she gets it off. At that point, just rinse and repeat until you get your loot. Enjoy the spoils of The Arcatraz!

Wrath-Scryer Soccothrates

Probably more difficult than Dalliah, if only because knowledge of his abilities doesn't give you an express pass to victory. Soccothrates occasionally triggers an Immolation spell that hits everyone in melee range for about 800 damage every three seconds, which much be tended to. He will use Felfire Shock on a random group member for about 1500 damage, followed by a DoT that must be healed through. He will randomly charge a group member before running back to the tank, leaving a trail of fire in his wake that ticks for 2000 damage as you stand in it -- definitely not a good idea. And finally, he does a knockback on the bank that sends him flying back and causes a small aggro loss, combatable by tanking him backed up against a wall. Before everyone is aware of what to watch for, he can output a lot of damage that may overwhelm your healer, but with a bit of practice you'll get him like all the rest of the bosses and mobs in The Arcatraz.

Harbringer Skyriss

Skyriss himself is a fairly simple, if not easy, boss, but before you're able to challenge him you have to contend with three randomly selected minibossess. Among them is a large Imp that acts like a Warlock imp on steroids, an air elemental that spawns a Hurricane cloud, a Drakonid that uses all five of the Brood Powers of Blackwing Lair fame, and a Phase Hunter that Shadowsteps behind random group members. In general they have one particular skill that's easy to recognize and deal with, and they all go down quickly regardless. Take them down and drink up before the real boss spawns.

Skyriss has three main abilities. First off, its main attack is Mind Rend, which targets a random group memeber, stuns them, and does about 6000 damage over five seconds. While most will be able to survive one hit from this relatively easy, the trouble comes when you get two in quick succession, which when combined with the fact that your healers can themselves be Mind Rended makes it preferable to have two full-time healers for this fight. Skyriss can also charm a random group member for about ten seconds, who can be dealt with through fear, polymorph, the usual ways. Finally, at 66% and 33%, Skyriss splits into two identical looking images, except one of them does less damage and has far, far less HP. The group should figure out whichever is the fake Skyriss and kill it as fast as possible, before one person gets Mind Rend from both of them at the same time (Tip: The group leader can put an icon on Skyriss as the battle begins. When the Harbringer splits, the real Skyriss will have the marker, while the clone will not). Overall, it's a healer's battle, requiring fast reaction time and good mana management to last until the DPS can kill the boss. After a couple tries, you'll certainly be able to take the Harbringer down, and with his fall comes your ascension, having conquered the most difficult of the Tempest Keep instances.

Even though The Arcatraz is the most challenging Tempest Keep instance the right group can come through victorious. Take the best players you can find and follow strategies like the ones presented in this guide and you'll surely be masters of The Arcatraz of Tempest Keep. Good luck and may your journey through The Arcatraz be the best of your Tempest Keep experiences!