Firemaw

Firemaw is the first of the three black drakes that guard the laboratories of Blackwing Lair, fought right after Broodlord Lashlayer. His stacking Flame Buffet hits everyone who can see him, so the fight is a lesson in line of sight: players duck behind walls to let the stacks fall off, and the tanks trade places around his knockbacks. He drops Tier 2 gloves.

Background

Nefarian keeps three adult black drakes, Firemaw, Ebonroc and Flamegor, as guardians of the Crimson Laboratories, where his goblin technicians and orc handlers work on the chromatic flight. Firemaw patrols the first part of the labs, beyond the gate the Broodlord defends. Like his brothers, he has the black flight's shadow-tinged fire, and all three answer to Nefarian and, through him, to Deathwing's plans.

Abilities

All three drakes share a set of abilities:

• Shadow Flame: a cone of shadow fire in front of him that deals about 4,000 to 5,000 damage. Before the fight was changed, it also left a deadly burn on anyone without an [Onyxia Scale Cloak], the cloak crafted from Onyxia's scales.
• Wing Buffet: knocks back everyone in front of him and cuts the threat of anyone it hits.
• Thrash: two extra attacks in quick succession on the tank.
• Summon Player: pulls a player to the front of the drake.

Firemaw's own ability is Flame Buffet. It hits everyone in his line of sight for fire damage and adds a debuff that raises the fire damage they take. Each new hit adds another stack, so the damage keeps climbing until the player breaks line of sight and lets the debuff run out.

Strategy

Raids clear a few packs of lab trash, then pull Firemaw back to the doorway where the Broodlord stood. The main tank holds him in the doorway, and most of the raid hugs the walls on either side, out of his sight. Players step out to attack and step back to drop their stacks of Flame Buffet, usually at about five to ten, depending on their health. Rogues and others bandage between trips.

The tanks can't hide, so they rely on fire resistance gear and constant healing. A second tank stands behind Firemaw to take him when Wing Buffet knocks the main tank back and cuts his threat. Some raids also kept a third tank ready to swap with a main tank whose debuffs were too high. Priests shield the tank just before each Shadow Flame, which comes every 15 to 18 seconds, and the raid makes sure nobody stands in front of him when it lands. Wing Buffet comes about every 30 seconds.

Positioning is everything. If Firemaw moves during the fight, players lose their hiding places, and if he breathes Shadow Flame while facing the raid, a large part of it can die in one breath.

Loot

Drop chances are from our database (patch 1.12). Firemaw shares Tier 2 gloves and a small pool of drake loot with Ebonroc and Flamegor.

The [Claw of the Black Drake] is a fist weapon. The [Scrolls of Blinding Light] is a paladin trinket and the [Natural Alignment Crystal] a shaman trinket, and the [Legguards of the Fallen Crusader] are plate legs for warriors. The gloves include the warrior's [Gauntlets of Wrath], the paladin's [Judgement Gauntlets], the rogue's [Bloodfang Gloves] and the mage's [Netherwind Gloves]. All three drakes can drop the two-handed axe [Drake Talon Cleaver] and the [Shadow Wing Focus Staff], a staff, at low odds.

Trivia

• Patch 1.8 fixed erratic taunt behavior on all three drakes.
• Shadow Flame's lasting burn without an Onyxia Scale Cloak made the cloak mandatory for tanks, tying Blackwing Lair to Onyxia's Lair.

Sources

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