Protectors of the Endless

Protectors of the Endless, a three-target council encounter, is the first boss encounter in the Terrace of Endless Spring. It is also the first encounter since Ulduar back in patch 3.1 to have what is now referred to as an elite mode, which is distinct from Heroic mode as it uses boss mechanics to make the encounter more difficult rather than the raid leader changing modes in the UI.

Adventure Guide
''When the Sha of Fear invaded the Terrace of Endless Spring, three venerated jinyu protectors were corrupted, and they betrayed the other mortal sentinels, slaying them all. The twisted guardians have now turned their attention to any intruders who might interrupt the sha's attack on the area's last defenses.''

Protector Kaolan






Elder Regail








Elder Asani








Minions of Fear
Minions of Fear pour from the Terrace of Endless Spring, pursuing the Protector with the lowest remaining health.

Strategy
This is a council encounter, where the order of the kills reflects the difficulty level and the abilities the three protectors use. The easiest method is to kill Protector Kaolan first, then Elder Regail second, then Elder Asani last. Note that with Sha Corruption, using area of effect abilities to do damage to all three bosses is ill-advised, because as soon as one boss dies, the remaining bosses are healed to full health. To earn elite mode loot, kill Protector Kaolan last.

Phase one
At the beginning of the encounter, all bosses have an ability or two, and gain abilities upon the death of another boss. Kaolan uses Touch of Sha to do some damage over time to a random unit for the rest of the encounter. Regail casts Lightning Bolt for a decent amount of damage, but is interruptible, and summons Lightning Prisons that do damage to grouped players. Asani casts Water Bolts that do splash damage around his target and summons Cleansing Waters pools to heal the protectors. Cleansing Waters must be dispelled instantly, or it will heal for a decent proportion of the protector's health.

Start by focusing on Kaolan, as the Touch of Sha debuff does not have a set duration and will last the rest of the encounter unless he is killed early. Spread out to avoid splash damage from Lightning Prison and Water Bolts. Tanks should consider moving the current target when Asani casts Cleansing Waters, and dispellers should all try to remove the buff from the current target as well. Remember that damage dealt to the other bosses is erased by the full heal given on the death of another.

Phase two
Once the first boss is down, the remaining two retain their first-phase abilities, but gain new abilities. Kaolan casts Defiled Ground, which drops a void zone on the ground underneath a player for the rest of the fight. Regail starts casting Lightning Storm on a timer, which calls down pools of lightning in concentric rings 20 yards wide from his position with a little overlap. Asani casts Corrupted Waters, summoning a globe of water that grants the protectors 100% melee and casting speed until it is destroyed.

Lightning Storm is the big raid-wiping ability in this phase, as players will have to move to dodge lightning strikes. Regail will root himself in place then start winding up a very long channel. Those in melee range will have to run 20 yards away to get out of the initial strike, then get back inside to avoid the second. Players at range will have to move on one side of a 20-yard wide ring (moving with the melee out to 25 yards to avoid the first strike or in to 35 yards to avoid the third). Asani starts summoning Corrupted Waters, which becomes the primary target and must be killed as quickly as possible before moving back to the boss. However, attackers should stand within 20 yards of the water globule, as when it is destroyed, they are Purified and gain +25% melee, ranged, and casting speed for 20 seconds. Kaolan will summon Defiled Ground void zones that will start limiting the available space unless some creative positioning is employed.

Phase three
After the death of the second boss, the remaining boss is again healed to full health and gains one last ability. Kaolan will cast Expel Corruption beneath his position, dropping another void zone that lasts the rest of the encounter that deals damage to the entire raid. Regail and Asani both gain Overwhelming Corruption, which stacks a debuff dealing increasing Shadow damage to all players every three seconds for the rest of the encounter.

This turns into a DPS race, and long-duration cooldowns (Bloodlust, Heroism, Time Warp, etc...) should be used now. If Kaolan is the last protector up, his Expel Corruption ability means that players want to be as far as possible away from the void zones, as it does less damage the further away it is. Regail and Asani start stacking a debuff, acting as a soft enrage. Pull out all the stops and blow them away while dealing with their first- and second-phase abilities too.

Related Achievements

 * Terrace of Endless Spring (achievement)
 * Heroic: Protectors of the Endless
 * Power Overwhelming
 * Terrace of Endless Spring Guild Run

Quotes

 * Intro
 * yell


 * Aggro
 * yell
 * yell


 * Protector Kaolan dies first
 * yell
 * yell


 * Elder Asani dies first
 * yell
 * yell


 * Corrupted Waters
 * yell


 * Lightning Storm
 * yell


 * Expel Corruption
 * yell


 * Elder Regail dies second
 * yell
 * yell


 * Elder Asani dies second
 * yell
 * yell


 * Killing a player
 * yell
 * yell
 * yell
 * yell
 * yell
 * yell


 * Death
 * yell
 * yell
 * yell


 * Unused quote
 * Elder Asani: Drown in your fear!

10-man Heroic

 * (1080p) - Elemental Shaman

10-man Normal Elite

 * (1080p) - Elemental Shaman

25-man Heroic Elite

 * - Resto Shaman PoV

25-man Normal

 * (1080p) - Mage, Boss Voice, Vent

Trivia

 * Elder Asani is voiced by Barry Dennen.
 * Protector Kaolan is voiced by Jeremy Schwartz.