The Prophet Skeram

The Prophet Skeram is the high priest of the qiraji, the voice of their god C'Thun, and the first boss of the Temple of Ahn'Qiraj. He preaches from a terrace just inside the temple gates, and every raid has to get past him. In the fight he splits into copies of himself, takes over players' minds, and blinks around the terrace, so it tests a raid's coordination far more than its gear.

Background

Skeram is a religious leader among the qiraji, the insect people of Ahn'Qiraj who serve the Old God C'Thun. He is credited as the author of the Prophecy of C'Thun, the qiraji scripture about their god. The temple's anubisath and qiraji guards gather around his terrace, the first thing players see once they're inside the gates.

His look, a hunched, many-legged qiraji in red robes, made him one of the faces of Ahn'Qiraj: Blizzard's official art for patch 1.9 showed him in front of the qiraji swarm. Warcraft Wiki notes that he appears on the cover of the World of Warcraft Dungeon Companion book.

Abilities

• zzOLDLearn Slumber: Skeram takes over a player's mind. The victim grows huge and gains instant spells, more damage, higher resistances and faster movement for 20 seconds. The effect can't be dispelled, but the player can be polymorphed, feared or stunned.
• zzOLDLearn Shadow Nova: at 75%, 50% and 25% health, he splits into three. The two images have his abilities and the same percentage of health as he does, but much less real health.
• Blink: he teleports to one of the platforms beside him, wiping his threat.
• [[forever:spell:26192]]: if more than a few players are in melee range, he hits them with an arcane blast. It can be interrupted, and Curse of Tongues slows it down.
• [[forever:spell:26194]]: if his target isn't in melee range, he casts Earth Shock at them about once a second, which kills most players quickly.

Strategy

The approach is five trash pulls: lone obsidian eradicators and packs of four anubisath sentinels. They respawn after half an hour, so raids that wipe on Skeram often wait for them rather than rushing back.

Skeram teleports between three spots: the middle of his terrace and the left and right staircases. Raids put two tanks on each spot, so that someone is always there to pick him up and keep him from spamming Earth Shock, even if one tank is mind-controlled. Rogues and other melee split among the three spots, never more than four at each, to avoid Arcane Explosion. Ranged players and healers stand at the top of the steps and spread out.

When he splits, the raid has to find the real Skeram. The images have less health, so they drop faster, but killing them first gets nothing done. Guilds learned to watch his health, the copies' behavior and his position, and to call out the real one quickly. Mind-controlled players are dealt with by crowd control rather than killed: a sheep, a fear or a stun, followed by a heal. A raid that panics and kills its own mind-controlled tanks rarely gets far.

Warcraft Wiki compares him to Majordomo Executus in Molten Core: a fight that rewards strategy more than gear.

Loot

From our database (patch 1.12):

The [[forever:item:21128]] is a caster staff with spell damage and resistances, which also has a chance to lower a target's resistances when its owner's spells land. The [[forever:item:21703]] is a two-handed mace with intellect and spell power, used by paladins and shamans. The [[forever:item:21814]] is plate for warriors who deal damage.

Quests

• [[forever:quest:8579]]: every boss in the temple drops a [[forever:item:21229]] for each player. Players hand them to [[forever:npc:15503]] near the temple entrance for reputation with the Brood of Nozdormu, the bronze dragonflight's faction. That reputation gates the temple's armor sets.
• [[forever:quest:8789]] and [[forever:quest:8790]]: the rare [[forever:item:21232]] and [[forever:item:21237]] are traded to the dragons for blessed Qiraji weapons, shields and staves.

Sources

• The Prophet Skeram, Warcraft Wiki
• Temple of Ahn'Qiraj, Warcraft Wiki