One of the stronger dragons of the Blue Dragonflight, Azuregos, is known as the safe keeper of ancient artifacts of Azshara, being directly tasked by Malygos to protect the area against any who wished to steal its secrets.
In the Classic Era, Azuregos is a World Boss that can be encountered, just like Lord Kazzak, being neutral to both factions unless specifically threatened to give up the magic artifacts under his care. Being a member of the Blue Dragonflight, Azuregos uses both Frost Magic and Arcane Magic, mastering both to a degree that poses a real threat to any who dare incur his wrath. Even among his magically gifted kin, Azuregos is especially tough, as he is immune to any form of Arcane Magic while also being resistant to Frost Magic.
Azuregos is found patrolling the woods of Azshara, on the far southeast side of the map, east of Lake Mennar. His spawn location is always the same, however his precise respawn timer is currently unknown with players stating that it can sometimes take days for him to respawn.
Abilities
- Cleave – A standard strike that damages one additional target.
- Chill – An ability that deals Frost Damage to nearby targets and reduces their Attack Speed and Movement Speed by a considerable amount.
- Frost Breath – A frontal attack that deals Frost Damage and slows all targets affected. This ability can freeze its targets.
- Mark of Frost – A unique debuff placed on a player upon death which encases the player in a frost tomb for 15 minutes.
- Mana Storm – An AoE ability that deals Frost Damage to all targets caught in its radius while also draining mana per second.
- Magic Reflection – An ability that places a buff on Azuregos that reflects all harmful spells for 10 seconds.
- Teleport – An ability that teleports all players in a 30-yard radius to Azuregos, removing all currently active aggro on Azuregos for all afflicted targets.
Strategy
Unlike the other World Boss in the Classic Era, Lord Kazzak, Azuregos doesn’t have a quick enrage timer, with some players mentioning facing him for extended periods of time. As such, the fight against Azuregos is much more of a marathon rather than a sprint, especially when considering one of his abilities which has a unique effect.
The key to defeating Azuregos is coordination and patience, mainly due to the Mark of Frost and Teleport mechanics. The first ability, Mark of Frost, is a unique effect when it comes to boss encounters, resulting in a 15-minute debuff placed upon death which blocks the player from rejoining the fight. This ability has been created in a way to avoid “cheesing” Azuregos with endless respawns, ensuring that the World Boss is difficult.
The second ability, Teleport, transports all players within 30 yards to Azuregos, dropping all of their generated Threat to 0. All players outside the 30-yard radius will retain their threat, resulting in Azuregos quickly targeting them. This is the ability that requires groups to properly coordinate as Azuregos can quickly decimate any target that was not teleported. Additionally, after Teleport occurs, all DPS must stop DPSing the boss to ensure that the tank can pick up aggro again.
All players except for the main tank should stay behind Azuregos during the encounter. Two tanks are required for Azuregos due to Chill and Frost Breath. When Frost Breath occurs, the main Tank has a chance to be frozen, with the other tank being required to taunt the boss and switch aggro.
Azuregos will also cast Mana Storm and Magic Reflection which are particularly dangerous for casters. All players should move out of Mana Storm‘s radius to avoid becoming OoM fast while all Caster DPS should stop using spells whenever Magic Reflection is up.
Most of the damage done by Azuregos is Frost Damage, meaning that Frost Resistance Aura, Frost Resistance Totem, and Greater Frost Protection Potions are a great way to mitigate any incoming damage and prepare for the encounter.
Changes in Season of Discovery
Season of Discovery brings forth a change that surprised many players, the introduction of the first instanced World Bosses! Azuregoswill now be available to anyone who wishes to uncover the artifacts he protects. This change makes his loot widely available compared to the Classic Era version where multiple groups had to compete for the boss tag.
The instance will be designed for 20-man groups, however, the devs mentioned that up to 40 players may enter at once. It is yet unknown what further changes will occur toAzuregos but we can safely assume that his loot and abilities will be adjusted just like the bosses inMolten Core and Onyxia’s Lair.
UnlikeMolten Core which will have a weekly reset,Azuregos‘s raid instance will be available twice per week, ensuring that players can fully benefit from his loot, no longer being plagued by the random respawn timer and a one-group limited tag. The raid instance will be available on July 18, before the release ofMolten CoreandOnyxia’s Lairon July 25.
This section of the guide will be updated as soon as more information is available regardingAzuregosin the Season of Discovery!
