Shazzrah

Shazzrah is the arcane caster among the flamewakers of Molten Core. He fights alone, but he blinks across the room, wipes his threat list each time, and fills the area around him with Arcane Explosions, so a raid that isn't spread out properly takes heavy damage. He guards the Rune of Mazj next to Baron Geddon and drops Tier 1 gloves and boots.

Background

Of all the flamewakers who followed Ragnaros into Azeroth, Shazzrah is the most skilled with arcane magic. He is also the most ambitious. Warcraft Wiki's account says he knows Baron Geddon suspects Garr of wanting both halves of Thunderaan's prison, and is happy to let them distrust each other, because Shazzrah himself is the one who wants the whole talisman so that he can draw on its power. Ragnaros, the same account suggests, probably knew this, which is why he gave the halves to Geddon and Garr instead.

Shazzrah's own superior, Sulfuron Harbinger, keeps a close watch on him for the same reason. He shares his part of the Core with Baron Geddon and stands near one of the seven runes that must be doused before Majordomo Executus appears.

Abilities

• Arcane Explosion: a blast of arcane damage around him, about 1,000 per hit, cast over and over.
• Shazzrah's Curse: a curse on nearby players that doubles the magic damage they take for five minutes. With the curse on, Arcane Explosion hurts twice as much.
• Deaden Magic: halves the magic damage Shazzrah takes for 30 seconds. Priests and shamans can dispel it if a mage has cast Detect Magic on him.
• Counterspell: an area counterspell that locks nearby casters out of a school of magic for ten seconds.
• Blink: about every 45 seconds he teleports to a random player and resets his threat.

Strategy

The fight is about distance and decursing. Shazzrah can be fought in his own area or pulled back to Garr's room, which is roomy. Raids spread out in a wide ring at maximum range around the tank, often in four groups, each with its own decursers and an off-tank. When Shazzrah blinks to someone, the nearest tank picks him up and walks him back to the middle, and the players he landed on move away from his explosions.

Mages and druids remove Shazzrah's Curse right away, starting with the tank, who takes a steady stream of Arcane Explosions. Druids can stand five yards outside the curse's range and still heal. Dispellers keep Deaden Magic off him. Melee usually waits until he's at low health, then moves in to finish him; warriors save their Execute for the end.

Because Shazzrah has no adds and no runaway mechanics, a raid that knows its positions kills him in a couple of minutes. A raid that bunches up loses a lot of health and mana to the curse and explosions.

Loot

Drop chances are from our database (patch 1.12).

Shazzrah drops Tier 1 gloves for hunters, druids and mages, and boots for priests, rogues and warlocks. He also has the smallest chance of any flamewaker at the shared epics such as the [Crimson Shocker], a wand, and the [Robe of Volatile Power].

Quests

Shazzrah always drops the [Hand of Shazzrah], one of the four hands that Duke Hydraxis asks for in Hands of the Enemy. Hydraxis and his Hydraxian Waterlords live on an island off the coast of Azshara and oppose Ragnaros; their chain starts with The Molten Core and continues with Agent of Hydraxis.

Sources

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