Chromaggus

Chromaggus is a two-headed beast bred by Nefarian from the blood of several dragonflights, and the last guardian before Nefarian himself in Blackwing Lair. His breath attacks change with every raid lockout, and he covers the raid in five colors of Brood Affliction that turn any player who collects all five into a hostile drakonid. Many guilds spent weeks on him. He drops Tier 2 shoulders and some of the best weapons in the lair.

Background

Nefarian's great project in Blackwing Lair is a new chromatic dragonflight bred from the blood of all five flights (see Dragonflights). Chromaggus is one of its results. He looks like a giant two-headed hound, but he is classed as dragonkin, and his scales shimmer in the colors of the flights whose powers he carries. Warcraft Wiki notes that he resembles the core hounds of Molten Core, and some players have guessed that Nefarian bred him from a captured hound, though nothing in the game confirms it.

He waits in a chamber past the three drakes, Firemaw, Ebonroc and Flamegor. The laboratory before him is full of Blackwing Technicians and dragonkin packs, the last hard trash in the lair.

Abilities

Breaths

Each lockout, Chromaggus picks two of five breaths and keeps them until the instance resets. He alternates between them about every 30 seconds, and they hit everyone in his line of sight, not just those in front of him.

• Incinerate (red): heavy fire damage.
• Corrosive Acid (green): nature damage over time and a large armor reduction.
• Frost Burn (blue): frost damage and an 80% slower attack speed.
• Ignite Flesh (black): fire damage every three seconds for a minute, stacking.
• Time Lapse (bronze): a six-second stun that halves the target's maximum health. While players are stunned, Chromaggus attacks whoever isn't.

Brood Afflictions

Chromaggus also gives everyone in the room a steady stream of debuffs, one for each color:

• Brood Affliction: Red: a disease dealing fire damage.
• Brood Affliction: Green: a poison that cuts healing taken by half.
• Brood Affliction: Blue: magic that slows movement and casting and drains mana.
• Brood Affliction: Black: a curse that doubles fire damage taken.
• Brood Affliction: Bronze: random stuns, removable only with [Hourglass Sand].

A player with all five is transformed into a Chromatic Drakonid and has to be killed or controlled, which heals Chromaggus. He also frenzies every 10 to 15 seconds, enrages for good at 20% health, and periodically shimmers, becoming weak to one school of magic and resistant to the others.

Strategy

The fight is about line of sight. Raids tank him at one of a few spots, such as the top of the ramp from the drakes' room or the doorway of his chamber, where everyone except the main tank can step around a corner when a breath is due. Boss mods counted down to each breath.

Every class with a cleanse has a job: priests, paladins, shamans, druids, mages and warlocks' Felhunters each take a color, so that nobody stacks more than two or three afflictions. Healers, tanks and hunters remove the bronze affliction with Hourglass Sand, which drops from the lab trash, and hunters carried several per attempt. Hunters also keep up a Tranquilizing Shot rotation on his frenzy, since an unremoved frenzy quickly kills the tank.

Time Lapse made a lockout much harder. Off-tanks build threat and duck out of sight when it comes, so that Chromaggus turns to them instead of the healers while the main tank is stunned.

Loot

Drop chances are from our database (patch 1.12). Chromaggus drops Tier 2 shoulders.

The [Chromatically Tempered Sword], a one-handed sword, was one of the best weapons for warriors and rogues before Ahn'Qiraj. The [Ashjre'thul, Crossbow of Smiting] is a crossbow for hunters, the [Claw of Chromaggus] a caster dagger, and the [Elementium Reinforced Bulwark] a tank's shield. The shoulders include the warrior's [Pauldrons of Wrath], the paladin's [Judgement Spaulders], the hunter's [Dragonstalker's Spaulders] and the mage's [Netherwind Mantle].

Trivia

• Patch 1.8 made his breath hit anyone in front of him who could hit him with spells, closing a way to avoid it.
• In Cataclysm, patch 4.0.3a reclassified him as a beast and made him tamable by hunters as a core hound.

Sources

• Chromaggus - Warcraft Wiki
• Blackwing Lair (Classic) - Warcraft Wiki