Shade of Eranikus

The Shade of Eranikus is the final boss of the Sunken Temple: the ghostly form of Eranikus, consort of the dragon Aspect Ysera, who was sent to guard the temple and was driven mad by the Emerald Nightmare instead. He is the hardest fight in the dungeon, and his death starts a quest chain that runs all the way to the Opening of the Gates of Ahn'Qiraj.

Background

Eranikus was one of the greatest of the green dragonflight, second in strength only to Ysera herself. When Ysera sank the Atal'ai temple into the swamp to stop the trolls from summoning Hakkar the Soulflayer, she sent Eranikus, his brother Itharius and four young drakes to guard the ruins. Eranikus and Itharius believed they had won.

They had not. The Emerald Nightmare, a corruption spreading through the green dragons' dream realm, reached Eranikus inside the temple, and he became one of the first dragons to fall to it. He is now a shade, caught between the Dream and the waking world. The Atal'ai under Jammal'an the Prophet moved back into the temple, and the dragons meant to stop them now attack anyone who comes near. When the fight begins he roars that "this evil cannot be allowed to enter this world" and calls his children to him.

Abilities

• Deep Slumber: puts a player to sleep for several seconds. They can't act, but they can't be hurt either.
• Acid Breath: Nature damage to everyone in front of him, then more over time.
• War Stomp: stuns everyone close to him for 4 seconds.
• Thrash: two extra attacks at once, which makes his melee hit in bursts.

Strategy

• The Shade can't be attacked until Jammal'an is dead.
• Kill all four drakes first: Dreamscythe, Weaver, Hazzas and Morphaz. Any still alive will join the fight, along with any dragonkin left in the pit.
• He hits hard enough that only a tank should ever hold him. When Deep Slumber takes the tank out, a second tank or a sturdy off-tank needs to taunt or grab him at once. A shaman's Grounding Totem can soak Deep Slumber, which makes the fight much easier.
• Keep the group out of his front for Acid Breath, and keep casters at range so War Stomp hits only the melee.
• Watch the ledges around his room. If a knockback lands the tank on a ledge where he can't reach them, he resets and regains health quickly.

Loot

The Shade always drops the [Essence of Eranikus], which starts a quest when looted. His six blue items each drop about one time in six in our data, and the epic sword [Dragon's Call] drops rarely.

Dragon's Call can summon an Emerald Dragon Whelp to fight beside its wielder.

Quests

• The Essence of Eranikus: touching the Essence of Eranikus, players hear the dragon beg them to place it in the Essence Font in his lair so its magic can purge his corruption. It doesn't work as he hoped: the gem becomes the [Chained Essence of Eranikus], a trinket that keeps his voice trapped inside.
• The Essence of Eranikus: the trinket can be handed to Eranikus's brother, Itharius, in the Swamp of Sorrows, who begins trying to redeem him. The follow-up, In Eranikus' Own Words, sends players to Umbranse the Spiritspeaker in Winterspring.
• [[forever:quest:8733]]: during the Scepter of the Shifting Sands chain, the spirit of Malfurion Stormrage waits near the Shade. Eranikus was guardian of one of the scepter's shards, and Malfurion sends players on a path that ends in Moonglade, where Eranikus, still the Nightmare's thrall, emerges from the Dream and Tyrande Whisperwind and her priestesses redeem him.

Later history

Patch 2.3.0 lowered his level to 50; Cataclysm raised it back to 55. In the novel Stormrage, the redeemed Eranikus sacrifices himself in the war against the Nightmare.

Sources

• Shade of Eranikus - Warcraft Wiki
• Eranikus - Warcraft Wiki