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Frost Death Knight Legion Mage Tower Legacy Challenge Guide
By Kalyne
Last Updated:
2021/12/06
Changelog
Patch: 7.3.5
Table of Contents
Rating: 4/5
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17
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Guide Navigation
Rating: 4/5
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Frost Death Knight Mage Tower Challenge Guide
This guide was written by
Kalyne
, and experienced Frost Death Knight player. The guide covers everything related to the Frost Death Knight Mage Tower challenge from Legion (unavailable as of the release of Battle for Azeroth), which includes an in-depth overview of the strategy, legendaries, useful tips, and more. You can follow Kalyne on
Twitter
or
Twitch
if you wish to see more Frost Death Knight gameplay or have any questions regarding the guide or the Mage Tower challenge.
This guide is about the Legion version of the Mage Tower Challenge, that isn't accessible anymore.
Click here for the updated Frost Death Knight Mage Tower Timewalking Challenge Guide
Artifact Skin
Frost - Soul Collector
Fight Overview
The encounter has two phases. In the first phase you'll be fighting Archmage Xylem and on the second phase you'll be facing Corrupting Shadows, a manifestation of the void energies that are controlling Archmage Xylem.
Phase one
In the First Phase of the encounter the boss will have two phases (Frost and Arcane) and an intermission phase which I will refer to as the Void phase.
He will start off the encounter with the Frost Phase. In this phase, he will constantly cast Frostbolts at you. He will also encase you Razor Ice around you, Razor Ice which is a set of crystals which you can kill, but that will instantly kill you on contact. There will also be an area of effect of crystals that spawn which will constantly do damage to you until you get out of them. He will do this ability three times and he will also continue casting Frostbolt during. After three Razor Ice, the boss will phase and the Void Phase will begin.
The Void Phase is a timed event which requires you to get to the boss before he finishes the cast of Arcane Annihilation which will instantly kill you. You will also begin to take damage from something called "Darkness" which is basically the purple area in the floor. To avoid this, you need to kill the clones that he spawned. They will drop a bubble on the ground after death which will prevent you from taking any Darkness damage, heal you, and make your cooldowns come back faster while you're in them. Be aware of the clones and their cast because every time the cast finishes they will do an explosion around them that knock you back, so you want to be ready to interrupt the clone in case you don't kill it fast enough.
After you get to the boss he will begin the Arcane Phase. During this phase he will cast Arcane Barrage a 3 second interruptible cast that deals quite a bit of damage. He will also cast Shadow Barrage, this will spawn a bunch of Orbs behind him that shoot in the direction the boss is facing. The orbs will most likely one-shot you if you get hit and you don't have a defensive cooldown active, so just avoid them. The boss will also cast something called "Draw Power!" during this phase. Draw power is an interruptible channeled ability that lasts 10 seconds and will give the boss a buff each second which will increase the damage he does by 5%, so it's very important that this ability gets interrupted as soon as possible.
Soon after the boss will go back to the Void Phase and, he will begin in either of the two phases (Frost or Arcane). He will then switch during the course of the phase in between the two before going back into the Void Phase except he will also now cast Shadow Barrage during the Frost Phase. This will repeat until the boss reaches 10% health which will then begin phase 2.
Phase two
This phase begins when the Archmage Xylem reaches 10% health and Xylem speaking to you. This will lead to the Corrupting Shadows spawning, this is the boss.
The Corrupting Shadows will spawn a puddle in the ground which will grow as the encounter goes on,
this
is the enrage timer. While in the puddle you're slowed and you constantly take huge amounts of damage, and if you drag the boss out of the puddle, he will spawn another one after. The boss will also start casting something called Seed of Darkness, an interruptible ability that puts a 8 second debuff on you that will spawn three adds called "Darkness Within". Once it expires, these adds will slowly travel towards the boss and will heal him if they reach him, if all three adds reach the boss he will be healed back to full health, causing you to most likely wipe since you probably won't have enough time to kill the boss.
Once the boss reaches 0% health the challenge is over, congratulations.
It is worth mentioning that this phase it's all about DPS and how fast you can kill the boss before the entire platform is covered and adds before they reach the boss, just be careful not to accidentally stand on the puddle because it deals a lot of damage and will kill you really quickly.
Legendary Overview
Name
Overview
Acherus Drapes
One of the most powerful legendaries, it allows you to absorb and heal from spells like Frostbolt and Arcane Barrage, and even survive in Darkness for a few seconds during the void phase
Consort's Cold Core
This legendary along with the Golden trait "Thronebreaker" and "Runic Chills" will allow you to have a 1:30 minute CD on average on Sindragosa's Fury which can be pretty useful. It can be used to kill the Razor Ice that spawns during the frost phase instantly, as well as the the clones during the void phase. You can also use it to stun the boss to delay his blink from being cast for a few extra seconds to allow for extra damage on the boss.
Prydaz, Xavaric's Magnum Opus
Prydaz works pretty much as the Acherus Drapes, except you won't get healed for the damage you take like the cloak, but it's still a solid choice since it'll allow you to mitigate quite a bit of damage. It's especially useful during the frost phase since you're going be taking a lot of damage from the Frostbolts along with the ice storm that the boss spawns along with the Razor Ice.
Toravon's Whiteout Bindings
This legendary will provide you with an extra burst each Pillar of Frost, which is pretty helpful when it comes to killing the clones during the void phase and also during the last phase of the encounter since it'll allow you to kill the adds that heal the boss and the boss itself. You should replace whichever defensive legendary you're using and equip this legendary when you get out of combat at the end of the first phase (when you get the Archmage to 10% health) if you have it, since there won't be much to mitigate in the second phase of the encounter.
Kil'Jaeden's Burning Wish
This legendary will come out pretty handy for when it comes to killing the Razor Ice that spawns during the Frost phase and the adds that the boss spawns during the second phase. It's not one of the best, but it's pretty useful if you're having issues with killing the adds or Razor Ice.
Perseverance of the Ebon Martyr
Just like the legendary trinket, this legendary will allow you to have more AoE damage for add spawns like Razor Ice or the adds that heal the boss in phase 2. It should only be used over other legendaries if you're having issues killing the adds or Razor Ice in time.
Koltira's Newfound Will
This legendary will allow you to have constant damage on the boss and it'll also heavily increase your damage. It is definitively one of the best legendaries to use as of Patch 7.3.0.
What Legendaries should I use?
All of the legendaries listed help with different issues, but the most helpful for Phase One are the Acherus Drapes and Consort's Cold Core if you are under-geared. You will be taking a lot of magical damage and having the ability to heal instead of taking damage is pretty good, while the leggings are a pretty good way of clearing out Razor Ice or clones and the stun. The stun from Consort's Cold Core also allows you to delay the boss from using blink, which means that you get to do damage to the boss for an extra 2 seconds everytime, which can actually be a big deal.
For Phase Two I recommend using the legendaries you normally use for DPSing since it's all about bursting down the boss and adds as fast as you can. I used the leggings along with the belt and found it to be pretty good because of the stun that the leggings provide which give you extra time to kill them before they reach the boss, HOWEVER I would recommend using the belt and the bracers since the bracers will allow you to burst both the boss and the adds down faster.
Ultimately though, any legendarys should do. They all provide some value those are just some of the more useful ones.
What should my stats be?
The stats you're using for the Obliteration build are fine. Having some extra mastery will benefit you because you'll be able to do more damage with Remorseless Winter / Howling Blast which will be pretty useful for when it comes to killing the clones and Razor Ice.
Leech and Avoidance are also really good for this challenge due to all of the damage you're constantly taking. So it's always good to have some gear with Leech and Avoidance equipped. However, you don't want to replace your gear with lower item level gear if it's just to get Leech/Avoidance/Mastery because losing other stats just to get extra of any of those is not worth it.
What Trinkets should I be using?
Any damage dealing trinkets should be fine, stat sticks are always good and any Antorus damage trinkets will help out immensely.
What Talents should I be using?
You will be running the regular Obliteration build along with Volatile Shielding due to it's synergy with the Acherus Drapes and also Winter is Coming since it's stun will be the most beneficial for this encounter. In the case that you're having issues killing the Razor Ice you can switch out Murderous Efficiency for Freezing Fog to help out with the AoE damage.
Food/Flask/Potion Buffs
I used
Nightborne Delicacy Platter
(Mastery food) since it'll provide you with the highest dps increase for when it comes to killing adds, but you can also use
Bear Tartare
which will give you extra movement speed which is also pretty useful. I also used a strength flask, and used two
Prolonged Power
potions during the encounter BUT you can use three if you want to:
The first Prolonged Power is used right before the encounter starts.
The second Prolonged Power must be used after the first void phase, since he'll start casting Arcane Barrage followed by the orbs which will grant you a DPS window in which you will be able to freely burst down the boss until he teleports away.
The third Prolonged Power is used along with your major cooldowns during phase 2 of the encounter.
(Defiled Augment runes are not required for the encounter even though they are used in the video)
Gear and Stats
These are the two sets of gear I used during my challenge in Patch 7.2 Frost DK's have changed alot since then, for example I was also running the BoS Build which was the best build back then, however the stats and legendaries are still relevant. At this stage of legion it is relatively easy to get far superior gear to the gear i used for this, as such it may be worth it to just go out and get some more gear before attempting this scenario if yo uare struggling. I would recommend attempting this scenario at around Item level 920 and 66 traits right now, that should be more than enough gear to deal with everything in this encounter.
First Phase
Equipped Legendaries: Acherus Drapes & Consort's Cold Core
Equipped Tier: Helmet, Shoulders, Chestplate, Gloves.
Equipped Trinkets: Entwined Elemental Foci & Convergence of Fates.
Second Phase
Equipped Legendaries: Koltira's Newfound Will & Consort's Cold Core
Equipped Tier: Helmet, Cloak, Chestplate, Gloves.
Equipped Trinkets: Entwined Elemental Foci & Convergence of Fates.
Fight Strategy
Phase one
Frost Phase #1
You want to start the fight by pre-potting as soon as you see the text "Xylem activates the Focusing Iris!" on your screen, then you want to start off with Remorseless Winter instantly.
(Note: You want to interrupt the Frostbolts when they have 0.5 secs left of cast-time) interrupt the first Frostbolt, then you want to use your cooldowns followed up by your Arcane Torrent (if you're a blood elf) on the second interrupt for the extra RP and to reduce the dmg taken. The boss will be stunned for the third Frostbolt because of Winter is Coming. Use your Sindragosa's Fury when the stun has 1 second left, this will give you an extra 2 seconds of damage.
Keep up BoS (If using BoS) by attacking the crystals and use the
Dark Succor
proc (Free Death Strike) that you get by killing them. Don't use any defensive abilities during the first set of Razor Ice, just get out of the Razor Ice area and then grip the boss towards you. Continue to Interrupt his Frostbolt cast with Mind Freeze each time you grip the boss as well.
Once he teleports use
AMS
to heal & absorb the damage from ice storm in the Razor Ice. Get out of it quickly and then grip the boss again. On the next Razor Ice you want to use
IBF
to fully heal. You will be taking a lot of damage during this. Kill crystals and grip the boss to you. Just keep killing crystals and using Dark Succor and instantly healing back to full, he should start the void phase shortly after.
Void Phase Intermission
On the Void Phase, find the nearest clone and start attacking it. Kill it and attack the other one with your Frost Strike by standing on the very edge of the bubble that the first one spawned on. If it's not in range, then spam Howling Blast and run to him once he's below 40% health and just finish him off. If you run near an add that is about to finish the cast it'll knock you back and you will die to the darkness, be sure to interrupt before running in if the cast is about to finish. Or you can wait for the cast to finish before moving, you have a decent amount of time to reach the end (though not infinite) Your goal is to reach the shimmering image of the boss, it'll be visible as a yellow dot on your mini-map. Repeat this process until you get near the boss.
Once you're in a clone bubble that is near the boss you can just AMS and Wraith Walk to where the boss is located, repeat this for any and all void phases.
Arcane Phase
You want to start the phase by gripping him to the nearest bubble from the clones (if any of them are still up) once his cast gets to 0.5 seconds left. If there's no bubble, then just interrupt the Arcane Barrage cast and save the grip. Follow it up by using your cooldowns along with your second potion and try to deal as much damage to him before he teleports away.
You will have to avoid the orbs, you have to take this part slowly, plan out your escape route and avoid getting hit by them. There's also a small chance that the orbs will be unavoidable - if that's the case then use AMS and try to get only hit by one, you should be able to survive it. Focus on dodging here, damage will come later.
Interrupt as many Arcane Barrages as you can BUT always have either grip or Mind freeze available.
NEVER
have both on cooldown because you will need to interrupt Draw Power immediately.
Get through this phase safely and the next Void Phase and you'll find yourself in the second Frost phase.
Frost & Arcane Phase
This phase is a combination of Frost and Arcane, except you will no longer have to worry about Draw Power, but you will still have to worry about the Orbs and Razor Ice. Just do everything you did on the other two phases, avoid orbs, and interrupt Frostbolt or Arcane Barrage.
Do notice though that the boss will blink REALLY far away and that you will need to save your AMS or IBF just to get to him. You will want to use Wraith Walk as much as you can and save the grip just so you can grip him to you when you're running towards him. You also want to use Death Strike and the Dark Succor proc as much as you can during this phase because you will be taking large amounts of damage due to the Razor Ice and the Frostbolts that the boss will be constantly casting, so try to always be at full health before he blinks again. Just do this until you get the boss to 10% health and Phase 2 will begin.
Don't use your Obliteration or Sindragosa's Fury if the boss is below 25% either, because you want to save those for Phase 2. You will need the extra damage provived by Obliteration to be able to burn down the boss and adds quickly, while your Sindragosa's Fury will be used on the second set of adds. If you do use these abilities, then try to wait until you get them back before you push the boss to 10% health.
Phase 2
Phase 2 Roleplay
When the boss starts Phase 2 he will start roleplaying and you will get out of combat during this period you should switch to your second gear set (The one you normally use for raiding) and heal up by eating food and be prepared, the last phase of the challenge is about to begin.
Corrupting Shadows
Grip the boss to the very edge of the room and slowly walk backwards, moving away from the puddle, but still staying in range of the boss. Save all your cooldowns until the first set of add spawns. When he puts Seed of Darkness on you, run as far away from the boss as possible and wait for the debuff to fall off.
Once the adds spawn, pop your cooldowns along with your third Prolonged Power and Drums of Fury (Bloodlust) and burst the boss down as hard as you can.
Don't
use Sindragosa's Fury here since you'll need it for the second set of adds that will spawn. Once he puts Seed of Darkness on you run out again and wait, and once the adds spawn use Sindragosa's Fury and kill them as fast as you can while gripping any that get near the boss.
Depending on the boss's health and your gear you may get a third set, if the boss is low enough you may want to burn him before they spawn, but remember if they do spawn they will instantly heal him. If not then run out and use whatever you have left to kill them. Remember you want to always use one of your cooldowns for a set of adds as although the room is shrinking the adds are the harder DPS check.
If you successfully kill them then you should be able to just kill the boss and get your appearance, congratulations.
Extra Tips
As mentioned in the fight strategy, you can switch sets of gear and talents once Phase 2 starts, so you can just switch to your normal raiding gear at the start of Phase 2 since you want to do the most damage possible.
During the first Frost Phase you can grip the boss if you're near the Focusing Iris in the middle of the room.
You can use Frozen Soul (The golden trait in your weapon that boosts the damage of your Remorseless Winter by 100% for each target hit by it) to instantly destroy any Razor Ice, so try to time Remorseless Winter properly.
You can use the Dark Succor proc you get from killing the clones during the Void Phases to survive for longer while standing in the Darkness.
Killing Razor Ice will grant you a Dark Succor proc, use it to kill even more Razor Ice and trigger even more so that you can heal to full Health without using Runic Power.
Don't move at all during the Frost Phases if you're in the range of the boss, because he might spawn Razor Ice around you and kill you instantly because you walked into it.
If you keep failing don't give up and keep trying! Practice and patience leads to success, you can do it!
Thanks for reading my guide on how to get the Frost Death Knight Appearance from the Mage tower! (Legion - Patch 7.3.5)
If you have any questions please message me on
Twitter
or come by my
Twitch
stream, I'll be happy to do my best to answer any questions you have regarding the guide, challenge, or Frost Death Knight! Good luck obtaining your appearance!
Share your comments about this guide in our Death Knight forum!
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