Lord Valthalak

Lord Valthalak is a drakonid warlock, the general of Blackrock Spire before Drakkisath, whose spirit players summon in Upper Blackrock Spire. Added in patch 1.10, he is the final boss of the long Dungeon Set 2 quest chain, and one of the hardest fights in any Classic dungeon: a long battle of life drains, spectral assassins and shadow bolts.

Background

Valthalak was a drakonid noble and a warlock of great power, lord and general of Blackrock Spire before General Drakkisath rose to the post. His death is the story behind the patch 1.10 quests. A goblin smuggler from Booty Bay hired a mercenary company, the Veiled Blade, to steal Valthalak's spellbook. The mercenaries, led by Anthion Harmon, fought their way into the upper spire and killed him, but as they were prying the book from his fingers, his necromancy struck back. Not all of them made it out of the spire, and his spectral assassins later killed the goblin who hired them.

One of the dead, the gnome mage [[forever:npc:16033]], still haunts the spire's entrance as a ghost that only players with a special device can see. He sends them across Azeroth to set things right by returning Valthalak's spirit to rest.

Abilities

• Shadow Wrath: a shadow life drain that jumps between nearby players and doubles in damage with each jump. By the fourth jump it can kill most players, and everything it drains heals Valthalak.
• Spectral Assassins: two [[forever:npc:16066]] appear at a time in the first part of the fight. Each runs to a player and starts Defile, a beam that stuns its target for ten seconds. If it finishes, the target dies and becomes another assassin.
• Enrage (at 40% health): he switches weapons, stops summoning assassins and starts hitting much harder in melee.
• Shadow Bolt Volley (at 15% health): shadow damage to everyone, again and again.

Strategy

The fight is long, often seven to ten minutes, and healers need to be ready for that. Players spread out at least 20 to 30 yards apart so Shadow Wrath can't jump. A warrior tanks him alone in the first stage, and melee who join stay behind him, out of the drain's reach. His life drain can be interrupted, and his small mana pool can be drained by warlocks, priests and hunters, which slows his healing.

Every assassin must die as soon as it appears; they have little health, but their Defile can only be stopped with stuns and similar effects, not regular interrupts. Ranged players, who can reach them anywhere in the room, matter most here. In the last stages the group burns him as fast as possible, with shadow protection from priests and Greater Shadow Protection Potions to soften the final volleys. Disarming him helps the healers during his enrage.

Loot

Drop chances are from our database (patch 1.12).

Lord Valthalak's Staff of Command is a caster staff and the Draconian Aegis of the Legion a shield. [[forever:item:22339]] is a ring and [[forever:item:22340]] a necklace. The [[forever:item:22302]] is part of the Ironweave set, also added in patch 1.10.

Quests

The summoning comes at the end of the chain that begins with [[forever:quest:8960]], in which players first see Bodley, and it runs through every major dungeon of the time:

• [[forever:quest:8961]]: gather relics of three fiery foes, including the Ember of Emberseer from Pyroguard Emberseer.
• The Left and Right Piece of Lord Valthalak's Amulet: summon and kill spirits in Dire Maul, Scholomance, Stratholme and Lower Blackrock Spire, such as Mor Grayhoof in [[forever:quest:8966]].
• [[forever:quest:8994]]: collect forty [[forever:item:22138]], carried by the Blackhand and Bloodaxe orcs of the spire, and a [Flask of Supreme Power].
• [[forever:quest:8995]]: use the [[forever:item:22056]] to summon Valthalak, kill him, and use [[forever:item:22048]] on his corpse. Then return the amulet to the [[forever:npc:16073]].

Completing the chain rewards the [[forever:item:22057]], which can summon these bosses again, and leads to the Dungeon Set 2 upgrades.

Sources

• Lord Valthalak - Warcraft Wiki
• Bodley - Warcraft Wiki