Keristrasza (tactics)

Keristrasza was a servant of Alexstrasza the Life-Binder, captured by Malygos, who keeps her inprisoned inside the Nexus.

Adventure Guide
''Whether the tortures inflicted on Keristrasza were revenge for the death of Saragosa or a misguided attempt to turn her into an ally is known only to Malygos. Regardless of his intent, her allies have heard her cries of anguish and disturbing whispers of her diminishing mind.''

Abilities

 * (Heroic)
 * (Heroic)
 * (Heroic)
 * (Heroic)
 * (Heroic)

Strategy
Keristrasza is frozen in ice at the beginning of the instance. There are three usable orbs around her. Once the area is clear of any patrols, click on the orbs and she will be released. It's best to have your three DPS use the orbs, so the Tank can can pick her up right away. Keep her parallel to the rest of the group. She has a tail sweep, casts Crystal Chains, Crystalfire Breath that does frostfire damage and slows attacks, and has a stackable debuff called Intense Cold that can stack up to nine times.

As with most dragons she have both frontal and rear cone attack, so everyone but tank should make sure to stay either on her left or right. Everyone also should jump at all times to prevent Intense Cold from stacking, stopping only briefly to finish casts with casting time if really necessary. Trying to kite her around to allow casters to stay and cast long spells will make fight slower and harder to complete. The mage spell Frost Ward absorbs damage from Intense Cold, allowing the mage to jump less often and thus maintain a higher DPS.

A Paladin healer may have difficulty healing the tank and moving to avoid Intense Cold. To solve this problem, the paladin healer can put Beacon of Light on himself. When he heals the rest of the group, he will heal himself through the Intense Cold damage.

Hunters, Warlocks, and Death Knights may have trouble keeping their pets alive, as Intense Cold will stack several times. You can dispel Intense Cold on your pet by clicking the "follow" button, and having them move. For Warlocks using an Imp and frost Mages using a Water Elemental (or any other ranged pet), you will need to move a few steps away from your pet for this to work. There is no way to keep guardian pets alive during this fight.

Crystalfire Breath can be dispelled. It helps if there is someone in the party that can either dispel or cleanse so that they will be able to remove Crystal Chains. It will keep the targeted party member rooted for ten seconds and prevent them from clearing their Intense Cold debuff. Mages can blink out, and a PvP trinket also clears Crystal Chains. Having a Shaman in the group will help immensely here, as continuous use of Grounding Totem will eat every cast of Crystal Chains.

Heroic
Fighting her on heroic is just like fighting her on normal except for a few minor changes:
 * Intense Cold ticks harder.
 * Crystal Chains hits the entire group rather than a single target and is used much more frequently.
 * Her melee attacks hit for 5-7k on plate.

Keristrasza on heroic is just like Keristrasza on normal with the added difficult of not being able to dodge the Intense Cold damage all the time. Having the tank jump in place turns the fight largely into a typical dragon tank 'nd spank.

Heroic Tips
An Earthen Power-enhanced Earthbind Totem will not affect Crystal Chains, because it does not affect root effects.
 * If you have a dispeller have them remove the chains from the tank and the healer at the very least whenever Keristrasza casts Crystal Chains.
 * Hunters (Tranq Shot) and Rogues (Anesthetic Poison II) can remove Keristrasza's Frenzy effect.
 * If you don't have a way to remove Keristrasza's Frenzy effect make sure everyone knows to save their big CDs for 25%.
 * Tanks should save Shield Wall, Icebound Fortitude, Divine Protection or Barkskin for between 30-26%. You don't want to eat even one full power melee attack from Keristrasza when she's frenzied.
 * Especially if the damage spike might be more than your healer can handle.
 * Especially considering that you will be eating her increased damage at some point if your group can't take her down 25% in under 15 seconds.
 * If you have a way to buff the party's Frost Resistance (totem or paladin), do it.
 * Intense Cold is easiest to do with a Priest in the group that is able to use Mass Dispel to get rid of the Crystal Chains, since the achievement requires no more than 2 stacks.

Objective of

 * Prisoner of War

Related Achievements

 * The Nexus (achievement)
 * Heroic: The Nexus
 * Heroic: The Nexus Guild Run
 * Intense Cold

Quotes

 * Aggro
 * yell


 * Crystal Nova Root
 * yell


 * Killing a player
 * yell


 * Enrage
 * yell


 * Death
 * yell

Trivia

 * Keristrasza is voiced by Kelly McGarry.