Karazhan - Shade of Aran

The Shade of Aran is a boss in the abandoned tower of Karazhan. He is the spirit of Nielas Aran, the father of Medivh, killed in a battle to contain the future Guardian when the power inside him awakened. How his spirit became trapped inside his son's tower is unknown.

Aran is located in the Guardian's Library in Karazhan. He must be fought in a very small arena which is a circle approximately 45 yards in diameter. He is completely untankable, almost never melees, doesn't have a standard aggro list, and if he is pulled away from the center of his arena he'll run right back.

Spells and Abilities

All of Aran's basic spells are semi-randomly targeted and none of them can be outranged - however, they can be interrupted. He is intelligent and will keep nuking a target that's low on health. He is also immune to Casting Speed-increasing debuffs.

• Frostbolt - 3 second cast, about 4400 frost damage, also causes a slowing effect if it hits a player.
• Fireball - 3 second cast, about 4400 fire damage.
• Arcane Missiles - 5 second channeled, 1500 arcane damage each (7500 total).
• Chains of Ice - 10 second root, does not break on damage. Most regular root breaking abilities like Vanish also work. Aran will cast this on totems. Dispellable
• Conflagration - Deals 5000 fire damage over 6 seconds to the affected player and up to 3 nearby players. Affected players are disoriented and cannot use any spells or abilities. Cannot be dispelled.
• Counterspell - 10 yard radius area effect around Aran, occurs very often. Any caster in range is quickly rendered useless. Note that this will only interrupt, it doesn't silence, so casters can still use instant spells. People are free to stand next to Aran as long as they are not actively casting any spells.
• Melee - Aran has a weak melee attack that he will only use if all 3 spell trees (Fire/Frost/Arcane) are locked out by silencing abilities.

Special Abilities

Every 30-35 seconds, Aran uses one of three special abilities: Arcane Explosion, Flame Wreath, or Blizzard. He never seems to use the same ability twice in a row. These special abilities cannot be interrupted or locked out by interrupt or silence abilities. For example, if you lock out a fireball he can still use flame wreath.

Flame Wreath - 5 second uninterruptible cast. Targets 3 random people in the raid. If there is no one close to them, nothing happens. If there are any other players near the target, it creates a circle of fire on the ground for 15 seconds. Anyone who crosses the flame wreath will trigger a 3-4k explosion that hits everyone in the room. It is important that everyone in the raid hold still as his flame wreath finishes casting, even if standing in a blizzard. Players who are moving when he finishes casting may step across a wreath before it becomes visible on screen.

Circular Blizzard - 1700 damage per second, large area of effect that moves slowly clockwise 360 degrees around the edge of his arena. The blizzard has a large area of effect and it covers one side of the room. You will still be hit by the blizzard if you are in melee range. If you get caught in the blizzard run counterclockwise through it, you will take less damage than attempting to outrun it.

Massive Magnetic Pull & Arcane Explosion - Pulls everyone to the center of the room, slows everyone and starts a 10 second uninterruptible cast. The arcane explosion deals 9,000-11,000 damage in a 20 yard radius. Note that the room is only 45 yards in diameter, 22.5 yards in radius. If you start running as soon as you're pulled, you can avoid the explosion even while slowed. Most spells and items that remove snares or boost run speed can be used to aid escaping the explosion.

Water Elementals - At 40% health, Nielas Aran summons 4 elite Water Elementals. They have about 30,000 health and will despawn after 90 seconds. They shoot a constant stream of frostbolts for about 1000-2000 damage. They can be banished and feared. Frost resistance gear may be desired to aid in tanking these elements.

Note: If the water elementals are ignored they will target healers first, due to healing aggro.

Enrage - When Aran gets down to 20% mana or less he will emote ("Give an old man some time for a refreshing drink"), polymorph the entire raid, Conjure Water, and start drinking. After he drinks for 10 seconds he will start casting an area effect Pyroblast. If Aran is interrupted while drinking, he will simply use a potion and cast Pyroblast. The blast does about 7000-7500 damage. Due to the polymorph, all players should be near full health. If you wipe after the enrage he will not polymorph again, he will simply drink a potion and continue fighting.

Shadows of Aran - If you don't kill him in 15 minutes he will call Shadows of Aran and cause a wipe.