Magmadar

Magmadar is the giant two-headed core hound of Molten Core, the alpha of the hounds that roam the instance and the favorite pet of Ragnaros. He's the second boss most raids kill. The fight is a test of two things: keeping the raid out of range of his fear, and having the raid's hunters remove his frenzy with Tranquilizing Shot the moment it appears. He drops the Tier 1 leggings for every class.

Background

Core hounds are beasts of rock and magma, and Magmadar is the father of them all. Warcraft Wiki's account says that while Ragnaros was bound in the Elemental Plane, he fed the remains of his captured enemies to Magmadar's two heads, and the hound grew strong and loyal on them. Now he lives in his own cavern a short way into the Core, guarding the Rune of Kress, one of the seven runes that have to be doused before Majordomo Executus will appear. Lucifron and his guards stand watch at the cavern's mouth.

Magmadar also has an enemy inside the Core. Golemagg the Incinerator, a molten giant deeper in, has tamed two of Magmadar's offspring, the Core Ragers, as his own pets, which according to the same account has earned him the hound's lasting hatred.

Abilities

• Panic: fears everyone near him for eight seconds. If the tank is feared, Magmadar follows them, and often walks straight into the healers.
• Frenzy: a frenzy that raises his attack speed by 150%. Left alone, it kills the tank in seconds.
• Lava Bomb: throws a bomb at a player for 4,800 fire damage over 12 seconds.
• Lava Breath: a fire breath in a cone in front of him.
• Magma Spit: a fire attack that also burns the target over time.

He also leaves pools of fire on the ground that melee players have to step out of.

Strategy

The key is range. Panic reaches about 30 yards and healing reaches 40, so raids set up with the healers and ranged attackers in a ring just inside healing range of the main tank and outside the fear. The tank pulls Magmadar with a bow or gun and turns him so his breath points away from everyone. Melee attack from his sides and rear and step out of the fire when it appears.

The tank must not be feared. Dwarf priests cast Fear Ward on the tank before each fear, and a warrior without Fear Ward can switch stances to use Berserker Rage. Some guilds kept a second group of tank healers ready in case the first was feared.

Hunters handle the frenzy. Tranquilizing Shot removes it, so hunters take turns in a set order and call out whether their shot landed or missed. This was the first boss in the game where a hunter's utility decided whether the raid lived or died, and it's why the [Tome of Tranquilizing Shot] from Lucifron mattered so much.

Once Magmadar dies, the Ancient Core Hounds and core hound packs in the early part of the instance stop respawning until the next reset, which makes the rest of the clear much quieter.

Loot

Drop chances are from our database (patch 1.12).

Magmadar is the main source of Tier 1 legs, such as the warrior's [Legplates of Might] and the paladin's [Lawbringer Legplates]. His weapons were just as wanted. The [Striker's Mark], a bow, was the best ranged weapon many hunters would hold for months. The [Earthshaker] is a two-handed mace, and the [Eskhandar's Right Claw] is the right half of a pair of fist weapons; the left one drops from Azuregos. The [Medallion of Steadfast Might] is a tanking necklace. He also drops from the pool of rare epics shared by the non-flamewaker bosses, including the [Talisman of Ephemeral Power] trinket and the [Quick Strike Ring].

Patch 1.8 let skinners take Core Leather from his body.

Trivia

• Patch 1.6 stopped Magmadar's Lava Bomb from hitting warlock imps that were phase shifted.
• His model was updated in patch 7.0.3, so later screenshots show a more detailed hound than the Classic one above.

Sources

• Magmadar - Warcraft Wiki
• Molten Core (Classic) - Warcraft Wiki