The release of the latest patch for World of Warcraft: Battle for Azeroth brought the long-awaited return of one of Azeroth’s most powerful villains, Queen Azshara. With countless references and shrouded appearances over the past decade, the Queen of the Naga is famed for her extreme magical prowess and legions of devout followers. With Patch 8.2 releasing under the title “Rise of Azshara,” it comes as no surprise that the Azshara’s Eternal Palace raid will see players venturing through The Eternal Palace, the residence of Queen Azshara, her strongest Naga followers, and even denizens of Azshara’s new master, the old god N’Zoth.
The raid features eight bosses, spanning from Azshara’s military commander and her personal guard to otherworldly beasts and Queen Azshara herself. For each boss, our friends over at Icy Veins have prepared guides, accompanied by a lore preview and an overview of the fights in-game.
Abyssal Commander Sivara
With what can only be described as a vicious combination of magical and physical abilities, Abyssal Commander Sivara is the first boss of the Eternal Palace and rightly so. Having served for millennia as the leader of Azshara’s military vanguard, she has ensured countless victories for her queen and has a myriad of abilities at her disposal to prevent any adventurers from venturing further into the palace.
Her magical skill is demonstrated in-game through her mastery over poison and frost, inflicting players with two different debuffs, forcing them to move apart, and sending barrages of magic that deal copious amounts of damage.
While this magical combo is certainly enough to cause chaos in a raid group, the Abyssal Commander is equally lethal in her physical prowess. Even with the might of Azeroth’s finest tanks ready to soak her blows, she is strong enough to send out reverberating shockwaves that can knock the entire raid back with their strength.
Blackwater Behemoth
To the inhabitants of Azeroth, the Naga are said to crawl up from the depths of the seas; the Blackwater Behemoth comes from depths beyond even those. This beast was thought to be uncontrollable, but Queen Azshara has once again proven her power by taming it. This former scourge of the depths has now become a loyal guard dog, ensuring the safety of the treasures of its queen.
The fight in-game encapsulates the feeling of a deadly predator perfectly. Players are underwater, following the beast through multiple caves in dark, murky waters that are filled with jellyfish and pufferfish. Small platforms are dotted around the area, and players must stay on them for as long as possible. They will find themselves eaten whole if they spend too much time in open water.
The entire setting of the fight feels foreign, with poor visibility, creatures that have barely been seen on other parts of Azeroth, and raid members being killed instantly by large creatures that appear from the pitch black waters below. Despite players becoming the hunters of this beast, there are constant reminders of just how dangerous the waters it lives in are.
Radiance of Azshara
After defeating the Pride and Wrath of Azshara in Stormsong Valley, players will yet again be faced with a fragment of Azshara’s being, this time personifying her radiance. As a mass of storm and arcana, the Radiance of Azshara was brought to life with a ritual of sacrifice. Just as twice before, one of Azshara’s handmaidens willingly gave her life to have her soul reforged into the elemental and can be seen in the center of its chest.
The fight is just as chaotic as the being at the heart of it, with players being forced to fight their way through swirling tornadoes and swarming Stormlings, while ensuring that they avoid the Arcane Bombs being thrown out. With the power of the winds, the Radiance of Azshara ensures that it uses them to blind players and lower their visibility while they try to navigate the raging storm.
Lady Ashvane
As most players that have quested through Battle for Azeroth already know, Lady Ashvane has been a prominent figure throughout the story for the Alliance, but few likely know her in her new form.
As the head of the Ashvane Trading Company and House Ashvane, Lady Ashvane was once a close friend of Katherine Proudmoore, the mother of Jaina Proudmoore. She was one of the most vocal in calling for the execution of Jaina for her role in the deaths of the Kul Tirans at Theramore. It was later revealed that she had hoped to overthrow the Proudmoores and become the next leader of Kul Tiras, but her attempts failed and led to her imprisonment in Tol Dagor.
The Horde broke her out, with Sylvanas hoping to strike a deal with her, but the intervention of the Naga led to Lady Ashvane revealing her new master: Queen Azshara. She was found in a position of authority among the Naga, and after nearly being killed by adventurers, Azshara intervened to save her. Evidently, the bargain she struck with her new queen came at a cost and the power she sought was granted, but not in the fashion she likely imagined.
The fight against Lady Ashvane shows off a number of Naga-themed abilities, as would be expected of someone that has failed numerous times to complete her goal and has now been granted a huge amount of power that she wants to show off. From summoning corals to throwing out waves of water, the fight revolves around masses of abilities being thrown out onto the ground for players to avoid. The only real link to the old Lady Ashvane is a single Azerite-themed ability, a nod to her quest to mine the Azerite in Kul Tiras and use it to become the leader of the land.
Orgozoa
For Azshara, cultivating her legion of followers was a prime goal over the past millennia, and Orgozoa was vital to its success. As the tender of her hatchery, it ensures the creation and survival of new additions to her armies, waiting for the day that they are required on the surface for Azshara’s war against the races of Azeroth.
As expected of the hatchery’s master, the fight against Orgozoa features a large number of adds, most of which are the inhabitants of the hatchery. Even before these minions join Azshara’s legion, they fight back from their eggs, exploding and throwing back any adventurers that are foolish enough to stand too close.
The Queen’s Court
The Queen’s Court has spent millennia defending their Queen, and with their unwavering dedication showing no signs of faltering, any adventurers wishing to face Azshara will have to do so after her personal guard have taken their last breaths.
Just as for the past 10,000 years, Azshara will engage in battle from behind the defense of her guard. While dealing with Silivaz the Zealous and Pashmar the Fanatical, players will have to endure the onslaught of magic that the queen sends forth, but make no mistake, defeating the Queen’s Court is no small feat.
Their experience fighting side by side has led to the formation of a bond between the Court, increasing their strength when they are brought close together. Players will have to ensure that they keep them apart, lest they face the full wrath of the Court and its Queen together.
While dealing with arguably one of the most elite Naga forces in the Palace, adventurers will have to be careful not to involve Azshara too much. When the Queen gives her decrees, all must obey, and any that are found not doing so will be punished accordingly. To face the Queen’s wrath as a group is one thing, but to be singled out for breaking one of her decrees is to truly experience her power.
Za’qul, Harbinger of Ny’alotha
With chaos sown among the mortal races of Azeroth and a deadly war that has already claimed numerous casualties between the Alliance and Horde, the world is now ready for a new master. N’Zoth is staking his claim by sending Za’qul, the Harbinger of Ny’alotha, to ensure the destruction of any remnants of sanity that remain.
Ny’alotha was mentioned multiple times in the past as the “sleeping city,” but the true nature of it is still under speculation. Given that these mentions have almost all come from sources associated with the old gods, the most likely theory points to it being the city or prison of N’Zoth that is now “sleeping” since the fall of the Black Empire.
Regardless of its true meaning or nature, Ny’alotha is populated by “only mad things,” according to the Puzzle Box of Yogg-Saron, another old god. This lends further credence to the theory that this city is that of N’Zoth, given his history of driving mortals insane and his warping of the Emerald Dream.
Za’qul was sent to ensure the transformation of Azeroth in N’Zoth’s vision, so it should come as no surprise that he is extremely skilled in the manipulation of sanity, or the destruction of it. The in-game fight features multiple minions of N’Zoth that all seek to warp the minds of players, with Za’qul eventually forcing the raid into the Fear and Delirium realms multiple times. Players will not only have to fight against the boss and his countless minions, but also fight to maintain their own sanity as Hysteria sets in.
Queen Azshara
Even before she became Queen of the Naga, Azshara was the beloved leader of the Kaldorei before the Sundering; as their Queen, she made the choice to allow the Dark Titan Sargeras to cleanse Azeroth of all inferior races. Given her divine beauty and leagues of adoring followers, it was clear that she considered herself better than other mortals, without even mentioning her extreme magical abilities. Sargeras fed her ego, manipulating her, and she truly believed she would sit alongside the Dark Titan as his queen, ruling over the world that he would reforge.
The intervention of the races of Azeroth led to the explosion of the Well of Eternity, a font of unlimited magical power, which became known as the Sundering. The explosion would have killed Azshara and all of her followers had N’Zoth not stepped in to save them, her desperation sealing a bargain that would turn Azshara and her Highborne into Naga.
From under the sea, she created a new legion of followers with the aid of N’Zoth’s minions and waited, biding her time until she would resurface to wage war on the mortal races of Azeroth.
The Eternal Palace is her own personal abode, where she has spent the majority of her time underwater. Players will be fighting arguably one of the most powerful magic-wielders in Kaldorei history, who has had 10,000 years to hone her craft and grow in power on her own terms after her bargain with N’Zoth.
At first, Azshara still believes it is beneath her to engage the adventurers, so instead players will have to first kill two guardians; their deaths will finally force Azshara to enter the fight directly, rather than simply joining in from the background.
Once the fight against her is truly underway, her followers will still spring to her aid, willingly sacrificing their own lives simply to grant power to their queen. The same beauty that entranced so many of her followers is also on display throughout the fight, with players being lured into devoting their life to Azshara instead.
The fight is long, difficult, and very complicated, but it is the perfect setting for one of the strongest mages to have ever lived.
Loot and Rewards from Azshara’s Eternal Palace
As with every new raid, Azshara’s Eternal Palace will release with a swath of new gear, achievements, and mounts to obtain, such as the Azshari Bloatray. This mount is obtained by completing the meta achievement for The Eternal Palace, Glory of the Eternal Raider.
While the new cosmetics are great fun to collect, Azshara’s Eternal Palace will also allow players to obtain a new Essence for their Heart of Azeroth, with each role being given a new choice. All of them have the same method to obtain them, which requires players to kill any of the following bosses and collect an item from them: Radiance of Azshara, The Queen’s Court, or Queen Azshara.
For DPS, there is Condensed Life-Force, which will summon a Guardian of Azeroth to help them in combat. For Tanks, there is Azeroth’s Undying Gift, which will grant damage reduction. Lastly, for the Healers, there is Vitality Conduit, which will transfer health between targeted allies and those with the most health currently.
