Artificer Xy'mox

Artificer Xy'mox is a broker boss located in Castle Nathria. Having broken into the vault of Sire Denathrius, Xy'mox wishes to steal away- and test the authenticity of the Sire's prized relics on the raid.

This 3-phase fight is a serious test of raid coordination and movement, which revolves around using the teleport-portals that Xy'mox spawns to dodge numerous deadly mechanics. The fight also requires quick response time from the tanks to avoid lethal overlaps with other abilities.

Adventure Journal
''Not everyone in Castle Nathria is loyal to Sire Denathrius. Some simply saw an opportunity and exploited it to their own ends. Artificer Xy'mox has worked with Denathrius but is mostly concerned with getting the better end of the deal, which may require the end of Nathria's invaders.''

Strategy
This fight requires two tanks. Bloodlust should be saved for the 3rd phase which is the most dangerous. The fight is centered on the Dimensional Tear spell, placing a debuff on two players that, after 8 seconds, drops a portal between their two locations at their feet. The raid should always have 1 portal next to their raid and another far away from the raid to use to escape certain mechanics.

Throughout the fight, tanks will be affected by Glyph of Destruction, causing the tank to explode after 8 seconds and cause about 15k damage to everyone in the raid. As the damage falls off with range, tanks will need to move as far away from the raid as possible. High-mobility tanks like Demon hunters and monks can move away with their own abilities, while death knights may need to use the portals to move far enough away in time to save the raid from massive damage. Ensure there are no DPS currently using the portals so that they do not take the full brunt of Glyph of Destruction.

The boss will periodically fire Rift Blasts at the raid, lines across the ground that shoot arcane damage at players who stood within them. Simply sidestep them. Healers will also need to watch out for Hyperlight Spark that deals damage to the raid that needs to be healed through.

Phase 1
For the first 30%, Xy'mox will create Fleeting Spirits, green ghosts that will fixiate on a non-tank player and rush towards them for 11 seconds. If a player does get hit by the ghost that is fixiated on them, they will be possessed and begin attacking the raid, forcing other players to deal damage to them to free them. Any targeted players can simply use the portal to step through to the other side of the room and kite the spirits until they despawn 11 seconds later. Note that players can touch ghosts that are not specifically targeting them without being possessed. This phase is not too difficult and mostly serves as an introduction to using the portals before the more difficult phases.

Note that the spirits can potentially overlap with the tank's Glyph of Destruction. If this happens, the players targeted should try their best to kite the ghosts until the Glyph explodes, using things like Stampeding Roar, then take the portal to avoid being 1-shot. Finally, the boss will also cast Soul Singe to deal light damage to the raid, simply heal through it.

Phase 2
At 70%, phase 2 begins. In place of the weak raid-wide Soul Singe, the boss will cast Withering Touch on random single players. This is a massive damage over time spell that can easily kill players, especially in addition to other sources of damage like the Hyperlight Spark and the Glyph of Destruction blast. Healers must focus-heal these players to keep them alive, and if there are multiple ones, it is prudent to call-out which healer is focusing which player to conserve mana.

Instead of Fleeting Spirits, the boss will cast Root of Extinction. This places 4 Seed of Extinction that will explode with lethal damage in a 50-yard radius after 20 seconds. One can use abilities will carrying the seeds without dropping them. To deal with this ability, players must pick up a seed and drop it a safe distance away from the raid with their extra action button. To facilitate this, 1 portal should be on one end of the room and the other next to the raid. This will allow players to grab the seeds, place them away from the raid, and enter the portal with enough time to get out of the blast.

Timing is key to this phase and it would be ideal to assign high-mobility DPS to carry the seeds while slower ones stay on the boss. Once again, overlap with Glyph of Destruction can be a problem here. To avoid the players running with the seeds from taking lethal damage, place a marker specifically in one back corner of the room where the seed-runners should drop the seeds, while the other back corner can safely be used by the tank to drop the Glyph blast while staying a safe distance away from all other players.

Phase 3
At 40%, the final phase begins. Withering Touch has been replaced by light ticking damage from the Aura of Dread. The sole other mechanic for this phase is the Edge of Annihilation, massive weapon that drops in the center of the room, creates a circle around itself, and creates a suction effect that pulls players inwards and increases in suction over time. After 10 seconds, the circle erupts around the weapon, killing anyone inside.

This phase can take some practice, as it requires perfect timing and portal placement in order to counter the Edge of Annihilation. The raid should place 1 portal up against a wall and another slightly off-center from the middle of the room. When the raid gets pulled in, they can stay inside until most of the timer has run out as they do not take any damage until the 10 second timer has finished. Once it is about to explode, they step into the portal to escape out of the circle. The timing is critical here, as leaving the portal too soon will result in the player being pulled back inside, but waiting too long will leave them not able to reach the portal in time. The only solution to this is practice and the ability to watch DBM timers closely. Once the players have mastered the use and timing of the portals, no one should die to this mechanic.

The final danger of this phase is the tank's Glyph of Destruction overlap, which is the most dangerous one of all 3 phases. When Xy'mox casts Glyph, tanks must rely on their own movement abilities to avoid the blast:


 * Demon Hunters and warriors can leap away from the circle in the opposite direction of the raid when it is about to explode.
 * Death knights can use Death's Advance to negate the suction.
 * Paladins can do the same with Divine Shield.
 * Monks can roll/Chi Torpedo or use Transcendence.
 * Druids will have a far more difficult time getting out of the ring, though it is possible by speccing into the talents Balance Affinity and Wild Charge, allowing them to leap out in Moonkin form.

Trivia

 * The name could be a reference to gothic rock band.