Yogg-Saron (tactics)

For the character biography, see Yogg-Saron.

Yogg-Saron
Race	Old God (Aberration)
Level	?? Boss
Reaction	Alliance Horde
Location	The Prison of Yogg-Saron, Ulduar
Status	Defeatable
Ulduar The Siege of Ulduar Flame Leviathan Ignis the Furnace Master Razorscale XT-002 Deconstructor (lore) (lore) (lore) (lore) The Antechamber of Ulduar Assembly of Iron Kologarn Auriaya (lore) (lore) (lore) The Keepers of Ulduar Mimiron Freya Thorim Hodir (lore) (lore) (lore) (lore) The Descent into Madness General Vezax Yogg-Saron (lore) (lore) The Celestial Planetarium Algalon the Observer (summoned) (lore) Other Ulduar instances Halls of Stone (5) Halls of Lightning (5)

Yogg-Saron is the final boss encounter of the Ulduar raid dungeon. It is mainly a DPS race, but also requires high situational awareness.

The fight is lighter on healing than Mimiron, one healer per five raid members is enough. Extra DPS reduces raid damage taken.

Entering Yogg-Saron's room immediately starts the encounter. The fight has three phases, engaging Sara and her guardians first, then defeating the Brain of Yogg-Saron and finally its body. 15 minutes after the first raid member enters Sara's room, Yogg-Saron casts Extinguish All Life, which one-shots the raid.

Background

Bosstiary

Long ago the titans imprisoned Yogg-Saron deep within Ulduar to save Azeroth from the Old God's destructive power. But after years of plotting, Yogg-Saron has succeeded in corrupting its guards, and now the monstrous creature is finally breaking free.

Adventure Guide

The lucid dream. The monster in your nightmares. The fiend of a thousand faces.

All must bend to the master's will. Your petty quarrels only make him stronger.

Overview

Sara must be damaged by Guardians of Yogg-Saron's Shadow Nova, once damaged significantly, Yogg-Saron will reveal himself and begin to attack the sanity of his enemies, which is depleted will turn his enemies against one another. Periodically portals will appear which grant players access to the Brain of Yogg-Saron, while inside they must dispel illusions in order to escape, before they are afflicted with Induce Madness. When the Brain of Yogg-Saron reaches 30% health remaining, Yogg Saron's Shadowy Barrier will fall and he can be assaulted directly.

Damage Dealers

• During Stage One defeat the Guardians of Yogg-Saron nearby Sara in order to damage her.
• Enter the Descent into Madness and defeat the illusions to gain access to the Brain of Yogg-Saron.
• Avoid losing all of your Sanity.
• Stand close to your allies when connected by Brain Link.

Healers

• Avoid losing all of your Sanity.
• Enter the Descent into Madness and defeat the illusions to gain access to the Brain of Yogg-Saron.
• Stand close to your allies when connected by Brain Link.

Tanks

• Position Guardians of Yogg-Saron near Sara to damage her with Shadow Nova.
• Avoid losing all of your Sanity.
• Be quick to grab the attention of Crusher Tentacles and Immortal Guardians as they spawn.
• Prevent Immortal Guardians from healing by moving ones with Empowering Shadows away.

Abilities

The Keepers of Ulduar

Speak to the Keepers of Ulduar and they will join the battle and provide additional buffs and benefits while engaged with Yogg-Saron.

• Freya
  •  Resilience of Nature — Increases all damage done by 10% and healing received from all sources by 20%.
  •  Sanity Well — Standing in the well brings you back to your senses, regenerating 20% Sanity every 2 sec. Damage done is reduced by 50% while you remain in the well.
• Hodir
  •  Fortitude of Frost — Increases damage done by 10% and reduces damage taken from all sources by 20%.
  •  Hodir's Protective Gaze — Allows Hodir to save a friendly target who sustains fatal damage by encasing them in a nearly impenetrable block of ice for up to until cancelled. Hodir must rest after performing this action.
• Mimiron
  •  Speed of Invention — Increases all damage done by 10% and movement speed by 20%.
  •  Destabilization Matrix — Channels a beam of titan energy that destabilizes the molecular structure of certain Saronite based creatures, reducing attack speed by 100% and casting speed by 300%. Lasts 30 sec.
• Thorim
  •  Fury of the Storm — Increases all damage done by 10% and total health by 20%.
  •  Titanic Storm — Channels a powerful storm of titan energy that periodically strikes at enemy targets with bolts of lightning strong enough to destroy weakened immortal creatures.

Stage One: The Lucid Dream

As Sara assaults her enemies Guardians of Yogg-Saron will periodically join the battle.

• Sara
  •  Sara's Fervor — Increases a friendly target's damage by 20%, but also increases damage taken by the target by 100%. Lasts 15 sec.
  •  Sara's Blessing — Heals a friendly target for 27000 to 33000, but causes 60000 Shadow damage over 20 sec.
  •  Sara's Anger — Inflicts 12500 Shadow damage every 3 sec, but increases Physical damage done by 12000. Lasts 12 sec.
• Guardian of Yogg-Saron — Casts Shadow Nova when defeated.
  •  Dark Volley — Hurls missiles of dark magic, inflicting Shadow damage and wounding nearby enemies, reducing the effectiveness of any healing by 25% for 10 sec.
• Ominous Cloud  — Ominous Clouds slowly move through the Prison of Yogg-Saron and will Boil Ominously if an enemy strays too close.
  •  Boil Ominously — Ominous Clouds begin to boil ominously when players stray too close, summoning a Guardian of Yogg-Saron.

Stage Two: Descent Into Madness

Yogg-Saron reveals himself and begins his assault on his enemies mind.

•  Sanity  — Indicates your overall level of Sanity. If Sanity reaches zero your mind will be permanently under the control of Yogg-Saron.
• Sara
  •  Psychosis — Inflicts 7500 Shadow damage. Also reduces Sanity by 9%.
  •  Brain Link  — Links the brains of two enemy targets. Afflicted targets suffer 3000 Shadow damage and lose 2% Sanity every 1 sec. whenever they are more than 20 yards apart.
  •  Malady of the Mind — Inflicts 5000 Shadow damage and causes the enemy target to run in horror for 4 sec, then attempts to jump to another enemy within 10 yds. Also reduces Sanity by 3%.
  •  Death Ray — Unleashes four streams of deadly energy that destroy any enemy targets they touch.
• Crusher Tentacle
  •  Diminish Power  — Weakens enemy units in a large area around the caster, reducing the damage they do by 20%. Channeled.
  •  Crush — Crushes enemy targets along the path of the tentacle's attack, dealing 15200 to 16800 Physical damage to affected units.
  •  Focused Anger — Enrages the caster when hit by attacks and spells, increasing attack speed and damage dealt. Stacks.
• Corruptor Tentacle
  •  Draining Poison  — Inflicts 21000 Nature damage to an enemy and drains 21000 Mana over 18 sec.
  •  Black Plague  — Infects an enemy target with the plague, causing it to periodically retch uncontrollably.
  •  Apathy  — Reduces the attack and casting speeds of an enemy target by 60% and slows its movement by 60%. Lasts 20 sec.
  •  Curse of Doom  — Dooms the target, inflicting 20000 Shadow damage after 12 sec.
• Constrictor Tentacle
  •  Squeeze  — Grabs a nearby enemy and squeezes the life out of them, inflicting 6000 Physical damage every second.
• Descent into Madness — When entering the Descent into Madness you will witness memories of the past. Defeating all Influence Tentacles will break the illusion and allow access to the Mind's Eye, where the Brain of Yogg-Saron resides.
  • Influence Tentacle — Able to take many forms.
    •  Grim Reprisal — All attacks against you cause 60% of the damage taken to the attacker as well.
  • Laughing Skull
    •  Lunatic Gaze  — Looking into the laughing skull unhinges your mind, inflicting 1750 Shadow damage and reducing Sanity by 2% every 1 sec. for as long as you are facing the caster.
  • Brain of Yogg-Saron
    •  Induce Madness  — Drives all nearby targets insane, reducing Sanity by 100%.

Stage Three: True Face of Death

When the Brain of Yogg-Saron reaches 30% health remaining, Yogg Saron's Shadowy Barrier will fall and he can be assaulted directly.

•  Sanity  — Indicates your overall level of Sanity. If Sanity reaches zero your mind will be permanently under the control of Yogg-Saron.
• Yogg-Saron
  •  Lunatic Gaze — Looking into the maw of madness unhinges your mind, inflicting 5700 to 6300 Shadow damage and reducing Sanity by 4% every 1 sec. for as long as you are facing the caster.
  •  Shadow Beacon — The target becomes a beacon for Yogg-Saron's Empowering Shadows.
    •  Empowering Shadows — Empowers friendly units within 20 yds. of the target, causing them to regenerate 225000 Health over 20 sec.
• Immortal Guardian — Immortal Guardians can only be killed by Thorim's Titanic Storm.
  •  Empowered — Empowers an Immortal Guardian, increasing the damage it deals when its health value is high.

Hard Mode

Battling Yogg-Saron without the aid of some or all of the Keepers of Ulduar for assistance is possible, but extremely dangerous.

• Stage Three: True Face of Death
  •  Deafening Roar — Deals 7600 to 8400 physical damage and silences enemies for 4 sec.

Strategy

Phase One: Sara

Sara

Sara cannot be attacked directly, and casts the following spells randomly on the raid and the Guardians:

•  Sara's Fervor — Increases a friendly target's damage by 20%, but also increases damage taken by the target by 100%. Lasts 15 sec.
•  Sara's Blessing — Heals a friendly target for 27000 to 33000, but also causes 60000 Shadow damage over 20 sec.
•  Sara's Anger — Inflicts 12500 Shadow damage every 3 sec, but increases physical damage done by 12000. Lasts 12 sec.

Sara is stationary in the center of the room. The only way to damage her is the AoE damage from dying Guardians (see below). Green-yellow clouds move in a circular pattern through the room (always the same path at the same speed), but they are faster than it seems. When players (not pets or totems) touch a cloud, a Guardian of Yogg-Saron spawns. This must be avoided at all cost. The golden rule of this phase is to immediately stop everything if a cloud comes close, and move away to a safe spot. 5 seconds DPS / Healing lost doesn't matter at all, while an extra Guardian means a substantial increase in difficulty. As with many such rules, it sounds simple, but actually doing it requires high situational awareness from everybody, and leads to many failures.

Guardians also spawn automatically at an increasing rate, starting at about one per 40 seconds, increasing up to one per 10 seconds. Since 8 Guardians have to be killed close to Sara in order to end the phase, it may be practical to cause one (or even two) voluntary extra spawns early in the phase - this reduces the number of Guardians left over at the start of phase 2. It is ok to have 2 Guardians up after the transition, 3 is still possible, 4 is a likely wipe.

Guardians of Yogg-Saron

Abilities:

• 950,000/220,000 HP.
•  Shadow Nova — When a Guardian dies, it inflicts 25,000 shadow damage to all targets (including Sara and other Guardians) within 15 yards.
•  Dark Volley — Inflicts 8500 to 11000 shadow damage to the entire raid. Reduces healing effects by 25%. Lasts 10 seconds. Interruptible.

Shadow Nova is the only way to damage Sara. Eight Guardians have to be killed close to her to start the next phase.

Dark Volley should be interrupted.

Ferrying

The safest method is to have one tank in the center of the room, a small ranged group (3-4 damage dealers plus one healer) within range of that tank and the majority of the raid at the outer edge, near the door, where it's safe from clouds. The offtanks bring Guardians to the raid where they are nuked down to about 25% (don't use DOTs). Then, the offtanks bring the Guardians to the tank near Sara, who taunts them. When the Guardian is close enough to Sara, the small ranged group kills it. It's possible to have the tanks trade places (and not taunt the Guardians). Taunt can be resisted, but it reduces the distance which the tanks have to move through the clouds.

This method is fairly safe because only the tanks and the dedicated ranged group must dodge clouds. Unfortunately, DPS output is low. For this reason, it's hardly ever used in 10 player or hard modes, but it's normally used by 25 player groups learning the encounter.

Standard

The normally used method is to put tanks and melee on top of Sara (tanking and killing Guardians there), while ranged and healers move around the outside. This method increases effective DPS on the Guardians but requires everyone in the raid to dodge clouds.

Phase Two: Tentacles and the Brain

Quickly kill any remaining Guardians from phase 1.

There are two areas, outside and inside the Mind's Eye (Yogg-Saron's brain). During this phase, Yogg-Saron regularly opens portals to the Mind's Eye. After four portal phases, the spawn rate of the tentacles outside increases substantially. Phase two ends when the Brain of Yogg-Saron's health inside the Mind's Eye hits 30%. Throughout the phase, all raid members not inside should concentrate close together while killing Crusher Tentacles.

Outside: Tentacles

Abilities: Crusher Tentacle:

• 2 million/ 400,000 hit points
•  Diminish Power — Weakens enemy units in a large area around the caster (50,000 yards), reducing the damage they do by 20%. Channeled. Stacks up to 4 times. Being hit by a melee ability disrupts this cast.
•  Focused Anger — Enrages the caster when hit by attacks and spells, increasing attack speed and damage dealt. Stacks up to 99 times. Damage dealt is increased by 3% and attack speed is increased by 3%. Lasts 1 second. Refreshes upon being hit by melee.

Corruptor Tentacle:

• 600,000/100,000 hit points
•  Curse of Doom —  A debuff which inflicts 20,000 Shadow damage after 12 sec. Curse, dispellable.
•  Apathy — 20 second debuff which reduces attack, casting and movement speed by 60%. Magic, dispellable.
•  Black Plague — 24 second debuff which periodically stuns for 2 seconds. Disease, dispellable.
•  Draining Poison — 18 second debuff which causes 3500 Nature damage and drains 1400 Mana every 3 sec. Poison, dispellable.

Constrictor Tentacles:

• 100,000/8,000 hit points
•  Squeeze — Grabs a nearby enemy and inflicts 7500 Physical damage every second.

The tentacles should all be killed as quickly as possible.

• Ranged focus on the Crusher Tentacles
• Melee focus on the Corruptor Tentacles
• Constrictor Tentacles can be ignored until they grab someone, then they can be nuked quickly by a few damage dealers

Everybody capable of doing so must dispel the debuffs from the Corruptor Tentacles. They do not deal melee damage and should be interrupted and stunned while being killed by melee.

Melee damage dealers should generally stay away from Crushers. One melee damage dealer should carefully hit the Crushers regularly, to disrupt their damage reduction cast (but not too frequently, so they don't gain the damage increase buff).

Constrictor Tentacles randomly pick up players from the raid. Victims may continue to cast and are freed by killing the tentacle. They do not cancel or prevent Druid ShapeShifting anymore. ( 3.2.2 )

Sara hovers above Yogg-Saron's main body and casts various spells:

•  Psychosis — 5000 Shadow damage and reduce Sanity by 12.
•  Brain Link — Link two random players with a beam. Targets take 3000 Shadow damage and lose 2 Sanity per second while they are more than 20 yards apart.
•  Malady of the Mind — 4 second debuff. Target takes 5000 Shadow damage, loses 3 Sanity and gets feared. The debuff jumps to another target within 10 yards upon expiration.
•  Death Ray — Slowly moving green beams which deal 20k Nature damage every 0 sec. Malady of the Mind renders players immune to this effect.

She spams Psychosis without pause on random raid members unless she casts something else. The other three abilities each have a 30-second cooldown and are used randomly when available.

Brain Linked players get a linking beam between them which is red when they are too far apart and yellow when they are safe. Entering a portal ends Brain Link.

Portals

60 seconds into phase 2, and then regularly after 80 seconds (= 20 seconds after the preceding portal phase), Yogg-Saron emotes: "MADNESS WILL CONSUME YOU!" and opens portals into the Mind's Eye (4 for 10 players, 10 for 25). They spawn in equal distances around Yogg-Saron's body. Each portal can be used by only one player, and they despawn after a rather short time. Using all the portals quickly and efficiently is the key to this phase.

Since ranged are more effective outside, mostly melee DPS should enter. In 25 player, one healer should also join. The assigned players should make sure their sanity is high enough. It's a good idea to pre-assign portals so that players can move to the portal spawn points before they actually appear.

Inside: The Mind's Eye

The Brain of Yogg-Saron

Abilities: Laughing Skull:

•  Lunatic Gaze — Looking into the laughing skull inflicts 1750 Shadow damage and reduces Sanity by 2% every 1 sec.

Influence Tentacle:

• 40,000 hit points.
•  Grim Reprisal — All attacks against Influence Tentacles cause 60% of the damage taken to the attacker as well.

Brain of Yogg-Saron

• 6.85/1.3 million HP.
•  Induce Madness — Drives all nearby targets insane, reducing Sanity to 0. 60 second cast time.

After the portals are open, Yogg-Saron's brain starts a 60-second cast of Induce Madness, which turns everybody in the Mind's Eye insane upon completion.

After passing through the portals, players enter one of three possible illusions. Each of them is a circular room with a door to the brain room right at the spot where players enter. The door is blocked, in order to open it, the Influence Tentacles in the first room need all to be killed. Additionally, laughing skulls float around. Characters looking at one of the skulls are affected by Lunatic Gaze (a purple beam) and lose sanity. To avoid this, players should look towards the outside wall of the room, and strafe. Use the camera controls to look around; don't physically turn your character.

Influence tentacles are disguised as neutral mobs and always stand along the outer wall around the room. All attackable mobs in the room are tentacles. Depending on the vision, the tentacles are disguised as Deathsworn Zealots; Suits of Armor; or Azure, Emerald, Obsidian, and Ruby Consorts. Damage dealers should take one quick tour around the room (along the wall), and hit each Influence tentacle once or twice. After moving a full circle, all tentacles should be dead, and players are back at the door.

Killing all influence tentacles has several positive effects. Inside, the door to the brain room opens. Outside, all tentacles are stunned, Sara stops casting and no additional tentacles spawn until the Induce Madness cast is finished. It's essential to kill the influence tentacles very quickly.

After entering the brain room, players should look for the portal back outside near the rear wall. It's a good idea to stand next to that portal before nuking the brain. When about 5 seconds are left on the Induce Madness cast timer, quickly use it.

Phase Three: The Head of the Beast

Abilities:

• Yogg-Saron starts this phase at 30% of its original HP (= 16.5/3.3 million).
•  Lunatic Gaze — Looking into the maw of madness unhinges your mind, inflicting 5700 to 6300 Shadow damage and reducing Sanity by 4% every 1 sec. for as long as you are facing the caster.
•  Empowering Shadows — Empowers friendly units within 20 yds. of the target, causing them to regenerate 750,000/225,000 Health over 20 sec.
•  Shadowy Barrier — Protects the caster from all attacks and spells.
•  Extinguish All Life — Extinguishes all life. Kaput. Wipes the raid 15 minutes after the start of phase 1.

Heroic 3 Keepers or Less Only:

•  Deafening Roar — Deals 7600 to 8400 physical damage and silences enemies for 4 seconds. Throw the shattered fragments of Vala'nyr into Yogg-Saron's Maw while he casts this spell then defeat Yogg-Saron to reforge the legendary mace Vala'nyr.

Note: the epic music and voicework that begin when the phase is initiated are worth turning on game sounds at least once.

When phase 3 starts all tentacles left over from phase 2 remain active. Therefore, no Crushers must be up - some communication is needed, don't kill the brain until all Crushers are dead. A few Corruptor Tentacles can be ignored as long as the debuffs are dispelled.

Phase 3 ends when Yogg-Saron dies. Yogg-Saron has no aggro list and is unable to move.

Players should stand near the green pillars if Freya is helping to be able to restore sanity. All healers should face away from Yogg-Saron at all times. The caster camp is best located about 20 yards away from the melee camp. Melee DPS can get knocked back by Yogg-Saron if they run into his body.

Lunatic Gaze is used every 12 seconds, it creates purple beams between Yogg-Saron and the players facing it. Healers should turn away the whole time, while tanks and DPS should get into the habit of regularly turning away.

Yogg-Saron spawns (and heals) increasing numbers of Immortal Guardians, which eventually kills the raid. Ranged DPS should focus on Yogg-Saron through the whole phase, while melee and tanks deal with the Guardians, although melee may require help from ranged on the Guardians.

If the raid is using three or fewer Keepers in 25 player mode Yogg-Saron emotes, "Yogg-Saron opens his mouth wide!" while casting Deafening Roar (about once per minute). This is the cue to throw the [Shattered Fragments of Val'anyr] into Yogg-Saron's maw to recover the [Reforged Hammer of Ancient Kings] upon his defeat. Deafening Roar is best dealt with by Holy Paladins rotating [Aura Mastery] with [Concentration Aura] up.

Immortal Guardians

Abilities:

• 500,000/100,000 HP.
• Melee for ~20-25k on plate at start with a full Empowered stack
•  Drain Life — Transfers 3,333 health per second from a random player to the Immortal Guardian for 5 seconds. Heals the Immortal Guardian for 33,330 per second.
•  Empowered — Empowers an Immortal Guardian, increasing the damage it deals when its health value is high. Damage increased by 180% per stack. Begins at 9 stacks. Every 10% HP the Immortal Guardian loses/gains will remove/add a stack.
•  Shadow Beacon — The Immortal Guardian becomes a beacon for Yogg-Saron's Empowering Shadows. It will receive the buff after 10 seconds.
• Immortal - Immortal Guardians cannot be slain except by Titanic Storm while at 1% HP.

Yogg-Saron spawns Immortal Guardians every 10–15 seconds. These have to be picked up by the tanks and DPSed down quickly. At full health, they hit a well-geared tank for 25k. When their health deceases, so does their damage output.

Immortal Guardians can only be killed if Thorim is helping. Without him, they need to be tanked through the whole phase. Every 45 seconds, Yogg-Saron marks one or more Guardians with Shadow Beacons. 10 seconds later, it launches shadow missiles at the marked Guardians. Upon impact, the missiles explode and give the Empowering Shadows buff to all Guardians and Yogg-Saron within 20 yards. This means that at the moment when the missiles are launched, all marked Guardians must be 20 yards away from Yogg-Saron, else it gets healed. The healing Guardians receive can be reduced by a rogue with [Wound Poison] and [Fan of Knives].

To keep the Guardians at low health (and thus at low damage output), they should be tanked in a tight group near Yogg-Saron, so that one or two ranged DPS can AoE the Guardians and Yogg-Saron. When the Guardians get beacons, they must be quickly dragged away until the missiles explode, then they can be brought back.

Solo strategy

In order to be able to solo this encounter, players must have an ability that does not have a facing requirement (like a paladin's [Judgment]), or an area-of-effect spell to handle the Constrictor Tentacles in phase two. If that requirement is met, the encounter is a race to do enough damage before the character's sanity is lost.

The first time soloing the encounter, consider having at least Freya active, as her Sanity Well will help make the encounter go much smoother while learning it. However, to have a chance at getting  [Mimiron's Head], players must run the encounter in  [Alone in the Darkness (25 player)] mode. To deactivate a keeper after activating it, exit Ulduar and reset the instance.

In the Sara phase, run around through gas clouds to force-spawn Guardians of Yogg-Saron in addition to the guardians that spawn naturally. Gather eight, then stand underneath Sara and AoE all the adds to get their Shadow Nova ability to kill her.

In phase two, start killing tentacles, as Yogg-Saron's body is immune to damage until phase three starts. When a Constrictor Tentacle inevitably grabs the character, target the tentacle, and use any ability that does not have a facing requirement on it or target the ground under it with an AoE. Druids may wish to keep a [Starfall] up and stand in it.

As soon as a portal to the Mind's Eye opens up (after 60 seconds and every 80 seconds after that), enter it. Face away from the Laughing Skull's Lunatic Gaze and kill all of the Influence Tentacles in the main room with quick attacks. Once they're all dead, enter the second room (the door of which is right where the player spawns) and start attacking the Brain of Yogg-Saron. As soon as the outside portals to enter mind's eye open, the brain begins a 60-second Induce Madness cast, which will instantly cause all players still in the mind's eye to lose what's left of their sanity. Do as much damage to the brain as possible and exit the room using the portals to the surface with a few seconds before the cast completes. Getting the brain to 30% will start phase three.

In phase three, focus on Yogg-Saron and kill it as quickly as possible. Every 12 seconds the body will cast Lunatic Gaze, so be sure to physically phase away from the body while the cast is in progress to retain what little sanity the character has left.

Loot

Abaddon Item Level 35Disenchants into: Not disenchantable Binds when picked up Sword Two-Hand Speed 3.60 7 – 13 Damage (2.8 damage per second) +4 Strength +6 Stamina +4 Critical Strike +3 Haste Durability 120 / 120 Requires Level 30 Sell Price: 26 42 64 Blood of the Old God Item Level 35Disenchants into: Not disenchantable Binds when picked up Unique Trinket +5 Critical Strike Equip: Chance on melee and ranged critical strike to increase your attack power by 1284 for 10 secs. Requires Level 30 Sell Price: 11 39 40 Chestguard of Insidious Intent Item Level 35Disenchants into: Not disenchantable Binds when picked up Mail Chest 11 Armor +3 Agility or Intellect +6 Stamina +4 Critical Strike +2 Haste   Prismatic Socket Prismatic Socket Socket Bonus: +3 Agility   Durability 165 / 165 Requires Level 30 Sell Price: 15 25 27 Chestguard of the Fallen God Item Level 35Disenchants into: Not disenchantable Binds when picked up Mail Chest 11 Armor +4 Agility or Intellect +5 Stamina +4 Critical Strike +3 Haste   Prismatic Socket Socket Bonus: +5 Spell Power   Durability 165 / 165 Requires Level 30 Sell Price: 13 41 33 Chestguard of the Wayward Conqueror Binds when picked up Classes: Paladin, Warlock, Priest Requires Level 30 Sell Price: 5 Chestguard of the Wayward Protector Binds when picked up Classes: Shaman, Hunter, Warrior Requires Level 30 Sell Price: 5 Chestguard of the Wayward Vanquisher Binds when picked up Classes: Druid, Rogue, Death Knight, Mage Requires Level 30 Sell Price: 5 Cowl of Dark Whispers Item Level 35Disenchants into: Not disenchantable Binds when picked up Cloth Head 3 Armor +3 Intellect +5 Stamina +3 Critical Strike +4 Versatility   Meta Socket Prismatic Socket Socket Bonus: +5 Spell Power   Durability 100 / 100 Requires Level 30 Sell Price: 11 75 69 Deliverance Item Level 35Disenchants into: Not disenchantable Binds when picked up Crossbow Ranged Speed 3.00 6 – 10 Damage (2.7 damage per second) +3 Agility +7 Stamina +4 Critical Strike +3 Haste Durability 120 / 120 Requires Level 30 Sell Price: 21 70 11 Devotion Item Level 35Disenchants into: Not disenchantable Binds when picked up Staff Two-Hand Speed 3.60 4 – 6 Damage (1.4 damage per second) +17 Intellect +6 Stamina +5 Haste +6 Versatility Durability 120 / 120 Requires Level 30 Sell Price: 22 24 62 Earthshaper Item Level 35Disenchants into: Not disenchantable Binds when picked up Mace Two-Hand Speed 3.60 8 – 11 Damage (2.6 damage per second) +4 Strength +6 Stamina +4 Critical Strike +3 Haste Durability 120 / 120 Requires Level 30 Sell Price: 21 78 88 Faceguard of the Eyeless Horror Item Level 35Disenchants into: Not disenchantable Binds when picked up Plate Head 12 Armor +3 Strength or Intellect +4 Stamina +4 Critical Strike +3 Versatility   Meta Socket Prismatic Socket Socket Bonus: +4 Versatility   Durability 100 / 100 Requires Level 30 Sell Price: 8 53 34 Garona's Guise Item Level 35Disenchants into: Not disenchantable Binds when picked up Leather Head 5 Armor +3 Agility or Intellect +5 Stamina +3 Critical Strike +4 Haste   Meta Socket Prismatic Socket Socket Bonus: +4 Agility   Durability 100 / 100 Requires Level 30 Sell Price: 11 37 50 Godbane Signet Item Level 35Disenchants into: Not disenchantable Binds when picked up Unique-Equipped Finger +2 Agility +4 Stamina +2 Critical Strike +2 Haste Requires Level 30 Sell Price: 7 56 23 Kingsbane Item Level 219Disenchants into:  [Abyss Crystal]: 1-2 Binds when picked up Dagger One-Hand Speed 1.40 58 – 88 Damage (52.1 damage per second) +12 Agility +17 Stamina +10 Critical Strike +6 Haste Durability 80 / 80 Requires Level 80 "The blade carries with it a sense of deep sorrow." Sell Price: 22 33 57 Leggings of the Insatiable Item Level 35Disenchants into: Not disenchantable Binds when picked up Mail Legs 9 Armor +4 Agility or Intellect +6 Stamina +67 Hit +4 Critical Strike +4 Haste Durability 120 / 120 Requires Level 30 Sell Price: 13 16 55 Mantle of the Wayward Conqueror Binds when picked up Classes: Paladin, Warlock, Priest Requires Level 30 Sell Price: 5 Mantle of the Wayward Protector Binds when picked up Classes: Shaman, Hunter, Warrior Requires Level 30 Sell Price: 5 Mantle of the Wayward Vanquisher Binds when picked up Classes: Druid, Rogue, Death Knight, Mage Requires Level 30 Sell Price: 5 Pendant of a Thousand Maws Item Level 35Disenchants into: Not disenchantable Binds when picked up Neck +2 Strength +2 Stamina +35 Hit +2 Critical Strike +2 Haste Requires Level 30 Sell Price: 7 56 23 Royal Seal of King Llane Item Level 35Disenchants into: Not disenchantable Binds when picked up Unique-Equipped Trinket +6 Stamina Use: Increases parry by 112 for 20 sec. (2 Min Cooldown) Requires Level 30 "Covered in blood that doesn't seem to wash away." Sell Price: 11 39 40 Sanity's Bond Item Level 35Disenchants into: Not disenchantable Binds when picked up Unique-Equipped Finger +2 Intellect +3 Stamina +2 Haste +3 Versatility Requires Level 30 Sell Price: 7 56 23 Shawl of Haunted Memories Item Level 35Disenchants into: Not disenchantable Binds when picked up Back 3 Armor +2 Intellect +3 Stamina +2 Critical Strike +2 Versatility Requires Level 30 Sell Price: 11 63 Soulscribe Item Level 35Disenchants into: Not disenchantable Binds when picked up Unique-Equipped Dagger One-Hand Speed 1.80 1 – 2 Damage (0.8 damage per second) +11 Intellect +3 Stamina +2 Critical Strike +3 Haste Durability 80 / 80 Requires Level 30 Sell Price: 22 58 83 Touch of Madness Item Level 35Disenchants into: Not disenchantable Binds when picked up Axe One-Hand Speed 2.60 3 – 8 Damage (2.1 damage per second) +1 Agility +4 Stamina +2 Critical Strike +2 Haste Durability 110 / 110 Requires Level 30 Sell Price: 20 74 57 Treads of the Dragon Council Item Level 35Disenchants into: Not disenchantable Binds when picked up Cloth Feet 3 Armor +3 Intellect +4 Stamina +3 Critical Strike +2 Versatility Durability 80 / 80 Requires Level 30 Sell Price: 6 20 6

Related Achievements

•  [The Descent into Madness (10 player)]
•  [The Descent into Madness (25 player)]
•  [Kiss and Make Up (10 player)]
•  [Kiss and Make Up (25 player)]
•  [Drive Me Crazy (10 player)]
•  [Drive Me Crazy (25 player)]
•  [He's Not Getting Any Older (10 player)]
•  [He's Not Getting Any Older (25 player)]
•  [They're Coming Out of the Walls (10 player)]
•  [They're Coming Out of the Walls (25 player)]
•  [In His House He Waits Dreaming (10 player)]
•  [In His House He Waits Dreaming (25 player)]
•  [Three Lights in the Darkness (10 player)]
•  [Three Lights in the Darkness (25 player)]
•  [Two Lights in the Darkness (10 player)]
•  [Two Lights in the Darkness (25 player)]
•  [One Light in the Darkness (10 player)]
•  [One Light in the Darkness (25 player)]
•  [Alone in the Darkness (10 player)]
•  [Alone in the Darkness (25 player)]
•  [Realm First! Death's Demise]

Quotes

Aggro

Sara yells: The time to strike at the head of the beast will soon be upon us! Focus your anger and hatred on his minions!

Sara's Fervor

Sara yells: Yes! YES! Show them no mercy! Give no pause to your attacks!

Sara's Anger

Sara yells: Let hatred and rage guide your blows!

Killing a player

• Sara yells: Could they have been saved?
• Sara yells: Powerless to act...

Phase One wipe

Voice of Yogg-Saron whispers: Weak-minded fools!

Coming in Phase Two

Sara yells: I am the lucid dream.

Sara yells: The monster in your nightmares.

Sara yells: The fiend of a thousand faces.

Sara yells: Cower before my true form.

Yogg-Saron yells: BOW DOWN BEFORE THE GOD OF DEATH!

Taunt

• Sara yells: Tremble, mortals, before the coming of the end!
• Sara yells: Suffocate upon your own hate!

Insanity reaches to zero

• Voice of Yogg-Saron whispers: Your will is no longer your own.
• Voice of Yogg-Saron whispers: Destroy them minion, your master commands it!

Creating a vision

MADNESS WILL CONSUME YOU!

"I will break you... as I broke him!"

• The Tortured Champion vision:

The Lich King says: Your resilience is admirable.

Immolated Champion yells: Arrrrrrgh!

Immolated Champion says: I'm not afraid of you!

The Turned Champion walks up to the Lich King and salutes him.

The Lich King says: I will break you... as I broke him!

Yogg-Saron says: Yrr n'lyeth... shuul anagg!

Yogg-Saron says: He will learn... no king rules forever; only death is eternal!

"It is a weapon like no other. It must be like no other."

• The Forging of the Demon Soul vision:

Neltharion says: It is done. All have given that which must be given. I now seal the Dragon Soul forever.

Ysera says: That terrible glow... should that be?

Neltharion says: For it to be as it must, yes.

Malygos says: It is a weapon like no other. It must be like no other.

Yogg-Saron says: His brood learned their lesson before too long. You will soon learn yours!

"The orc leaders agree with your assessment."

• The Assassination of King Llane vision:

Garona says: Bad news, sire.

Garona says: The clans are united under Blackhand in this assault. They will stand together until Stormwind has fallen.

Garona says: Gul'dan is bringing up his warlocks by nightfall. Until then, the Blackrock clan will be trying to take the Eastern Wall.

Yogg-Saron says: A thousand deaths... or one murder.

King Llane says: We will hold until the reinforcements come. As long as men with stout hearts are manning the walls and the throne, Stormwind will hold.

Garona says: The orc leaders agree with your assessment.

As she speaks, Garona suddenly thrusts both her daggers forward, impaling Llane through the chest and he falls at her feet immediately.

Yogg-Saron says: Your petty quarrels only make me stronger.

Phase Three

Look upon the true face of death, and know that your end comes soon!

Deafening Roar

Eternal suffering awaits!

Death

Your fate is sealed. The end of days is finally upon you and ALL who inhabit this miserable little seedling. Uulwi ifis halahs gag erh'ongg w'ssh. ("The shadow of my corpse will choke this land for all eternity.")

Sound Files

See Sound Files of Ulduar: Yogg-Saron

Videos

10-man encounter

• Play video

10-man Hard mode encounter

• Play video

25-man encounter

• Play video
• Play video

Additional Videos

YouTube TankSpot's Guide to Yogg-Saron; 10-man normal

YouTube Wrath of the Righteous (Moon Guard-US); 10-man normal

YouTube Ninjapartio (Darksorrow PvP Alliance-EU); 10-man Alone in the Darkness; music soundtrack, no in-game audio

YouTube FTW Yogg-Saron 10man (One Light in the Darkness) + Commentary

YouTube TankSpot's Guide to Yogg-Saron 25-man

Notes

•  [Alone in the Darkness (25 player)] is considered by many to be the most complicated and difficult encounter currently in the instance, more difficult even than  [Firefighter (25 player)] and Algalon the Observer, though the one hour timer on Algalon means that raids will have much more time to work on Alone in the Darkness.

World firsts

• 2009-04-16:  [The Descent into Madness (25 player)] was first completed by Ensidia.
• 2009-04-28:  [One Light in the Darkness (25 player)] was first completed by Irae AoD using Thorim as the only Keeper up.
• 2009-05-18:  [Alone in the Darkness (10 player)] was first completed by Ensidia.
• 2009-07-07:  [Alone in the Darkness (25 player)] was first earned by the guild Stars.

Patches and hotfixes

• Patch 7.3.5 (2018-01-16): Loot from defeating Yogg-Saron with one or fewer keepers has been moved to the Cache of the Old God.
  
• Patch 7.0.3 (2016-07-19): The Assassination of King Llane vision has been updated to show Garona wielding the Kingslayers instead of two generic daggers.
  
• Hotfix (2016-07-19): Players should once again be able to attack Yogg-Saron's Constrictor Tentacles while in their grasp.
  
• Hotfix (2014-10-17): Constrictor Tentacle's damage has been reduced to a more reasonable amount.
  
• Hotfix (2013-09-23): Fixed an issue with the Yogg-Saron encounter, where players were unable to proceed to phase 2 of the fight by damaging Sara.
  
• Patch 3.2.2 (2009-09-22): Increased the cooldown on Immortal Guardians' Drain Life ability in the Yogg-Saron encounter.
  
• Patch 3.2.0 (2009-08-04):
  • Players can now use [Blink], [Shadowstep], and Demonic Teleport while participating in the illusion events in the Yogg-Saron encounter.
  • Ominous Clouds in the Yogg-Saron encounter are now more vocal about touching players and should no longer sometimes appear to be in the wrong place for certain players.
  • An Immortal Guardian targeted for Empowering Shadows in the Yogg-Saron encounter will now become a 'Marked Immortal Guardian' while targeted.
  • Crusher Tentacles in the Yogg-Saron encounter spawn a little slower in 25-player mode allowing a bit more time for players to clear out the Illusion room.
  • Empowering Shadows in the Yogg-Saron encounter now targets a maximum of three Immortal Guardians in 25-player mode.
  • Yogg-Saron's health has been reduced by 20% in the final stage of his 25-player mode.
    
• Hotfix (2009-07-02): We've made one additional change to a specific element of the Yogg-Saron fight. Since the fight went live, there has been a hidden protection for players that prevents the casting of Psychosis and Malady of the Mind on targets with less than 30 Sanity. However, because Malady of the Mind has a slow missile speed and the hidden protection could take a second or two to apply, it was quite possible for the 30 sanity targeting threshold to be breached by these two random unavoidable effects.
  To try to address this we're raising the threshold to 40 sanity, and increasing the missile speed of Malady of the Mind. Note that the spells are still being cast just as often, so the net sanity loss to the raid will still be the same. This hotfix just evens out the random targeting of the spells across the raid. Also note that the threshold is for targeting purposes of those two spells only, and this fix means Psychosis or Malady of the Mind can still bring you below 40 sanity. If you have 41 sanity, you're a valid target and can then be brought to 32 sanity by a casting of Psychosis on you.
  
• Hotfix (2009-06-30):
  • Immortal Guardians are now able to target players in the "illusion room" of Yogg-Saron with their summoning ability.
  • We're also in the process of deploying a hotfix for an issue with Immortal Guardians that could cause them to pause their movement before reaching melee range. This fix will also prevent the Immortal Guardian from running away if their target is stunned.
    
• Hotfix (2009-06-17): Once the Yogg-Saron encounter is started players outside of Yogg-Saron's area will begin to go Insane, after 15 seconds.
  
• Hotfix (2009-06-15): Focus Anger, on Yogg-Saron’s Crusher tentacles, will no longer result from pet attacks.
  
• Hotfix (2009-06-11): The Yogg-Saron encounter has received the following changes: Death Ray no longer hits players who are under the effect of Malady of the Mind, Guardians of Yogg-Saron no longer use Dominate Mind, the spawn rate of Guardians of Yogg-Saron is more forgiving, and these Guardians will no longer spawn if a player that is protected by Hodir's Flash Freeze hits an Ominous Cloud.
  
• Hotfix (2009-06-01): The tentacle creatures and floating skulls in Yogg Saron’s brain rooms should now load faster.
  
• Hotfix (2009-05-14): In the Yogg Saron encounter, Paladin Judgement spells will no longer cause Diminish Power from Crusher Tentacles to cease channeling.
  
• Hotfix (2009-04-21): The Yogg-Saron encounter has received the following changes: Guardians of Yogg-Saron in phase 1 and Immortal Guardians in phase 3 have had their health reduced by 15% in heroic mode, the Destabilization Matrix cast by Mimiron will now correctly hinder the casting speed of Crusher Tentacles in both normal and heroic modes.
  
• Patch 3.1.0 (2009-04-14): Added.
  

External links

• Wowhead
• WoWDB