1.
How to find the Tank Mage Tower Challenge
Patch 10.0.5 has re-opened the Mage Tower Challenge, meaning you can onceagain complete and collect the various rewards offered! As it stands, the MageTower will remain open until the end of the expansion, so there should be plentyof time.
The Highlord's Return is meant for all the tank specializations:Blood Death Knight,Brewmaster Monk,Guardian Druid,Protection Paladin,Protection Warrior,and Vengeance Demon Hunter.You can queue for it in the Broken Shore main hub area by talking to War Councilor Victoria.
To reach this area, you can take a portal from Orgrimmar / Stormwind'sportal room to Azsuna and then fly or take the flight path to the Broken Shorehub, Deliverance Point. You can also use the Dalaran Hearthstoneto quickly reach Dalaran and then fly to Deliverance Point.
2.
The Highlord's Return Challenge Overview
The tank challenge known as The Highlord's Return is a 2-phase encounterwhere you need to deal with various enemies while keeping Prophet Velenalive. In Phase 1, your main enemy is Inquisitor Variss; after hedies, Phase 2 starts, and your main target will be Highlord Kruul.If Velen or Kor'vas Bloodthorn dies at any point in the encounter, it willautomatically end.
The main struggle points of this encounter are paying attention tovarious knockback effects so you do not get knocked off the platform, and using your defensives properly.
If you wish to take a quick refresher course on the tank you are about to dothe Mage Tower Challenge on, you can take a look at the guides below.
Blood Death Knight guideBrewmaster Monk guideGuardian Druid guideProtection Paladin guideProtection Warrior guideVengeance Demon Hunter guide
3.
Gear for the Tank Mage Tower Challenge
There are no items that are mandatory for you to complete the Tank MageTower Challenge. That said, there are ways you can optimize your gear a bitif you wish to.
Whenever you enter the Mage Tower, your gear will be downscaled to item level120. Due to this reason, any gear that has multiple sockets on it can be more usefulthan your currently equipped gear.
Some old trinkets are mighty in theChallenge. Pocket-Sized Computation Device with
Cyclotronic Blastis a solid burst of damage that you can deal to the enemies.
3.1.
Gear Restrictions
Something to keep in mind is that there are a lot of gear effects and systemsthat have been disabled during the Challenge.
- Dragonflight Embellishments
- Shards of Domination;
- Legendary Powers from Shadowlands or Legion;
- Battle for Azeroth and other previous expansion systems (Azerite Gear, Traits, Essences, Shards);
- Tier set bonuses;
- Mists of Pandaria Legendary Meta Gems.
3.2.
Crafted Gear for Timewalking
Crafting Mists of Pandaria Dreadful gear with Relic of the Past IV or
Relic of the Past V is an excellent alternate source of Timewalking gear asit will have sockets and will be of a low enough item level to receive legacygems/enchants.
3.3.
Gems and Enchants for Timewalking Gear
If you are using Shadowlands gear, you should use the current expansiongems and enchants, as the ones linked below will not work for you. If you areusing Timewalking gear, you should instead use the enchants and gems listed below.
- Meta Gems for Head slot:
- Strength:
Chaotic Skyflare Diamond
- Agility:
Agile Primal Diamond
- Strength:
- Strength: 1x
Sovereign Tanzanite and rest
Bold Queen's Garnet
- Agility: 1x
Nightmare Tear and rest
Delicate Queen's Garnet
Slot | Strength tank recommendation | Agility tank recommendation |
---|---|---|
Neck | ![]() | ![]() ![]() |
Shoulder | ![]() | ![]() |
Cloak | ![]() | ![]() |
Chest | ![]() | ![]() |
Wrists | ![]() | ![]() |
Gloves | ![]() | ![]() |
Legs | ![]() | |
Boots | ![]() | ![]() |
Rings | Shadowlands Tenet Enchants | |
Weapon | ![]() | ![]() |
4.
Strategy for The Highlord's Return (Kruul)
Over the 2 phases of the encounter, your main focus should be on avoidingthe various knockback effects while simultaneously keeping Prophet Velenalive and dealing damage to either Inquisitor Variss or Highlord Kruul.Although there are many different types of adds that spawn, most of them have low health and can be cleaved down.
One important thing to note is to try and keep as many big defensives forthe second phase of the encounter as you need them to survive the Annihilatestacks.
Feral Hide Drums should also be saved for the second phaseas that phase is on a timer due to the damage intake increase fromHighlord Kruul.
4.1.
Phase 1 of the encounter
During Phase 1, you have to deal with Inquisitor Variss and 3 types ofadds that spawn throughout the phase. Your goal is to defeat Variss while keepingProphet Velen alive, which will then trigger the start of Phase 2.
Prophet Velen is active during both phases of the encounter, and youneed to make sure he stays alive. He will stand still and not move, so takenote of his position. He will sometimes heal you a little bit. Still, generally, his biggest contribution is the Holy Ward Orbs he spawnsroughly every 30 seconds. These orbs can be triggered by walking over them. Theywill instantly heal you to full health while disorienting and interruptingall enemies for 5 seconds.
Generally, the Holy Ward Orbs are best used depending on thecirc*mstances. You do not need to use them as soon as they spawn, as they willonly disappear after roughly 2 minutes. This means that you can have multipleorbs up at any given moment. Try to have multiple orbs up once Phase 2starts to make the transfer easier to manage. Some of the more criticaluses of the orbs are listed below.
- Healing yourself while you are on low health
- Interrupting
Drain Life from Inquisitor Variss if you do nothave anything else available
- When overwhelmed by enemies and in need of time to stabilize the situation
4.1.1.
Inquisitor Variss
Inquisitor Variss is your main enemy in Phase 1. He will constantlybe casting Mind Rend that deals some magic damage, and
Drain Life,which heals him if not interrupted. He also has an
Aura of Decay around him, which puts a stacking debuff on you as long as you stay inside the area. The debuffreduces your maximum health, so be sure to keep an eye on it and get out at around5 stacks to be safe.
Add name | Ability name | Short information | Countermeasures |
---|---|---|---|
Inquisitor Variss | ![]() | Pool around Variss; debuffs you when in its area, reducing your maximum health | Pay attention to the stacks; the safest bet is to walk away at around 5 and let them reset |
Inquisitor Variss | ![]() | Channel that heals Variss | IMPORTANT — Use your interrupt or any CC to stop the cast from going through |
Inquisitor Variss | ![]() | Constantly casting this deals Shadow damage | Interrupts and CC abilities will stop this, but it is not important to interrupt as the damage it deals is minimal |
4.1.2.
Tormenting Eye
Multiple Tormenting Eyes will spawn throughout Phase 1. They willchannel Inquisitive Stare at you, which will knock you away if you are notfacing them at the end of the cast. They have very low health, so you can killthem fairly easily. If you cannot kill them all, then try to kill the ones that arenot as grouped up with the rest, so all the Inquisitive Stares come fromthe same direction and are easier to face.
If you are playing this challenge as a Guardian Druidor Blood Death Knight then the Tormenting Eyesare IMMUNE to Physical damage.
Add name | Ability name | Short information | Countermeasures |
---|---|---|---|
Tormenting Eye | ![]() | Channel that is targeted at you; if you do not face the channel when the cast ends, you are knocked away | Either kill the Tormenting Eye or face the Eye as the channel ends to avoid the knockback |
4.1.3.
Smoldering Infernal
Multiple Smoldering Infernals will spawn and then constantlyresurrect throughout the encounter. They have a debuff on themselves, continuously damaging them, so you do not need to focuson them actively. Every time they die, they start "respawning" at the same position,eventually returning to life. The main thing they do is Smash; this is a straight-line knockback targeted at you. If you get hit by it,you are knocked back by a fair amount, most likely off the platform ending theencounter. It is important to sidestep it. If you do get hit, you can use
Goblin Glider Kit or any charge/leap abilities to get you back on the platform.
Add name | Ability name | Short information | Countermeasures |
---|---|---|---|
Smoldering Infernal | ![]() | Casts in a straight line; if you get hit by it, you get knocked back | Step aside from the line before it is cast; if you do get hit, use![]() |
Smoldering Infernal | ![]() | Deals damage to enemies nearby at the cost of its health | Mostly ignorable; pay attention when they are low health to finishthem off quicker |
Four Nether Horrors will continuously spawn from gates throughout theencounter. When they spawn, they will most likely go straight toProphet Velen, so grab threat on them as fast as possible to avoid Velendying. They have very little health so you can cleave them down relatively fastwith your abilities.
Add name | Ability name | Short information | Countermeasures |
---|---|---|---|
Nether Horror | ![]() | Their melee attacks debuff you with ![]() | They have very little health so you can cleave them down fastbefore the debuff can stack |
Nether Horror | ![]() | Inflicts magic damage to enemies | Interrupt or CC, kill the adds as soon as possible |
4.1.5.
Phase 1 strategy
The best way to deal with Phase 1 is by managing the adds that spawn properly.In the beginning, rush on Inquisitor Variss and damage him until you havearound 5 stacks of Aura of Decay, after that start dealing with theadds that have spawned. Once the adds have died, or you no longer have a stackof Aura of Decay, you can go back on Variss.
- Damage Inquisitor Variss until you have around 5 stacks of the
Aura of Decay debuff
- Be sure to interrupt or CC
Drain Life
- Do not waste your interrupts on
Mind Rend, usedefensives if you need to
- Face Tormenting Eyes as they finish their cast of
Inquisitive Stare
- Keep an eye on Smoldering Infernal
Smash casts andsidestep them
- Pick up any Nether Horrors that spawn so they do not kill Velen
- Be sure to interrupt or CC
- Once you have around 5 stacks of
Aura of Decay, walk out ofVariss' aura and start dealing with the adds
- Tormenting Eyes and Nether Horrors have really low health soyou can most likely cleave them down without having to hard swap
- You do not need to focus hard on Smoldering Infernal as they willslowly die from
Fel Resonation
- Use Velen's
Holy Ward Orbs to heal you or to interrupt anycasts as needed
- After the debuff from Variss' aura has worn off, go back to damaging himand repeat the steps above until he is dead
4.2.
Phase 2 of the encounter
After you kill Inquisitor Variss Phase 2 will start. Highlord Kruulwill fly down and become the active boss. Use Feral Hide Drumsduring this Phase. Nether Horrors and Smoldering Infernalswill continue to spawn throughout this phase, in addition to somenew abilities you need to look out for. Tormenting Eyes nolonger spawn, so you do not need to worry about them.
One of the new abilities to look out for are the purple beams that periodicallymove through the encounter area. These beams slow and push you back if youhappen to be hit by them. You can use movement speed abilities to walk throughthem; otherwise, try to avoid them, or you will be pushed off the platform.
4.2.1.
Highlord Kruul
Highlord Kruul has various abilities that he will cast on you, butthe most important of them is Twisted Reflection. This castneeds to be interrupted as if it goes through, it will keep healing theboss, and the fight will become impossible to finish.
Annihilate isa simple Physical damage nuke that stacks a debuff on you, which increases thedamage taken from him. At first, this is not that deadly, but you need to use stronger cooldowns to survive as the debuffs stack up.
Add name | Ability name | Short information | Countermeasures |
---|---|---|---|
Highlord Kruul | ![]() | Hard-hitting Physical damage ability that debuffs the target, increasing damage taken | Use your main mitigation tool and start using bigger cooldowns as the debuffs stack |
Highlord Kruul | ![]() | Leap attack that deals damage knocks targets back and leaves a hard-hittingfelfire puddle on the ground | Move out of the leap area and felfire puddle as soon as possible |
Highlord Kruul | ![]() | Cast that will heal the Kruul and put a debuff on the target, which alsoheals Kruul every time he attacks | Interrupt/CC it every time; if this goes through the fight is lost |
4.2.2.
Phase 2 strategy
Phase 2 is all about managing your cooldowns for Annihilate,interrupting
Twisted Reflection and avoiding being knocked off by theSmoldering Infernals'
Smash or by the new purple linesmoving across the platform. Think ahead about how you will use yourcooldowns to prevent getting one-shot by
Annihilate when it hasmultiple stacks.
- Start focusing down Highlord Kruul and put as much damage into himas you can
- Be sure to interrupt
Twisted Reflection or it will be a wipe
- Use a combination of defensives for
Annihilate as the stacksstart to go higher
- Avoid the felfire pools that are left behind by
Nether Storm
- Be sure to interrupt
- Pick up any Nether Horrors that spawn and cleave them down with Kruulso Prophet Velen is not in danger of dying
- Avoid
Smash from Smoldering Infernals by sidestepping it
- Use the
Holy Ward Orbs to heal you or to help you stabilizethe add situation — the disorient also works on Kruul
5.
Rewards for the Tank Mage Tower Challenge
Once you complete the Challenge, you will be rewarded with a transmog setwhich is a re-color of your class Tier 20 (Tomb of Sargeras) set.
5.1.
Demon Hunter
5.2.
Death Knight
5.3.
Druid
If you complete the Challenge as aGuardian Druid, youwill also obtain the special fel variant of the "werebear" shapeshift form.
5.4.
Monk
5.5.
Paladin
5.6.
Warrior
5.7.
Additional obtainable rewards
If you manage to complete all 7 of the Timewalking Mage Tower Challengesat least once, you will also be rewarded with a mount: the Soaring Spelltome
If you wish to obtain additional mounts, you can look at our Mount guideto help you get started collecting all the various mounts.
Patch 9.1/9.1.5 Mount Collection Hub
There is also the achievement Tower Overwhelming which will be rewardedto you, if you manage to complete the Timewalking Mage Tower Challenge on all 36specializations.
6.
Changelog
- 17 Feb. 2023: Updated for Dragonflight Patch 10.0.5
- 07 Dec. 2021: Added extra sources of viable timewalking gear.
- 01 Dec. 2021: Guide added.
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