TheWoWDBDragon Soul
Spine of Deathwing Guide
Spine of Deathwing in Dragon Soul, quoted from the Adventure Guide. Database holds the raw abilities and the full loot table.
30-second TL;DR
Adventure Guide says
- Stages named in the Adventure Guide: Elementium Reinforced Plates, Burning Tendons, Deathwing's Immune System.
Encounter phases
Adventure Guide says
- Elementium Reinforced Plates The glancing strike from the Dragon Soul destroyed one of the large armor plates on Deathwing's back and loosened another three. Players must remove all of these plates to give Thrall a chance to get a clear shot.
- Burning Tendons Players expose Burning Tendons when they pry up one of Deathwing's armor plates. Destroying these fibrous strands is the key to removing an armor plate.
- Deathwing's Immune System The creatures that comprise Deathwing's Immune System emerge from the holes left by torn off armor plates. Deathwing defends himself with increasing intensity as more plates are torn off.
Interrupts and dispels
Adventure Guide says
Dispels named in the journal
- Blood Corruption: Death: Deathwing's corruption courses through your veins. This corruption takes hold if it is not removed quickly, infecting the player with the Blood of Deathwing. When dispelled this effect jumps to a new target and can mutate into Blood Corruption: Earth.
- Blood Corruption: Earth: A shadow of Neltharion courses through your veins. This corruption takes hold if it is not removed quickly, infecting the player with the Blood of Neltharion. When dispelled this effect jumps to a new target and can mutate into Blood Corruption: Death.
Boss abilities
| Ability | Adventure Guide | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| Roll | Throughout the encounter, Deathwing tries to throw players from his back when he senses that they are all standing on the same side of his spine. During a roll, Deathwing throws off all players and other creatures not attached to his back. | |
| Seal Armor Breach | After the players pry up an armor plate, the Burning Tendons rapidly pull the plate closed, protecting the tendons from further damage and preventing the plate from flying off. | |
| Grasping Tendrils | These tendrils sprout from holes in Deathwing's back that aren't currently occupied by Corruption tentacles. until they move away. This effect prevents players from being thrown off Deathwing's back. | |
| Searing Plasma | The Corruption coats the victim in the searing blood of Deathwing. | |
| Fiery Grip | The Corrupton grips victims with a whip-like cord of plasma, stunning them for up to 30 sec. The corruption must channel to maintain this effect, and players may break the channel by inflicting significant damage to the tentacle. This effect prevents players from being thrown off Deathwing's back. | |
| Absorb Blood | The Amalgamation absorbs nearby Corrupted Blood residue. | |
| Superheated Nucleus | If the players destroy the Amalgamation in this state, then it will trigger a Nuclear Blast. | |
| Nuclear Blast | This powerful blast pries up one of Deathwing's Elementium plates if it is within range. | |
| Degradation | ||
| Blood Corruption: Death | Deathwing's corruption courses through your veins. This corruption takes hold if it is not removed quickly, infecting the player with the Blood of Deathwing. When dispelled this effect jumps to a new target and can mutate into Blood Corruption: Earth. | dispel |
| Blood Corruption: Earth | A shadow of Neltharion courses through your veins. This corruption takes hold if it is not removed quickly, infecting the player with the Blood of Neltharion. When dispelled this effect jumps to a new target and can mutate into Blood Corruption: Death. | dispel |
| Burst | ||
| Residue | Destroying a Corrupted Blood leaves behind an indestructible residue. It slowly creeps toward the nearest hole in Deathwing's Back where it reconstitutes into a new Corrupted Blood. |
Loot
Every name is a TheWoWDB item page. Hover the row for the first-party tooltip.
Backbreaker SpauldersBackbreaker SpauldersBackbreaker Spaulders
Belt of Shattered ElementiumBelt of Shattered ElementiumBelt of Shattered Elementium
Essence of Destruction
Eye of UnmakingEye of UnmakingEye of Unmaking
Gauntlets of the Golden ThornGauntlets of the Golden ThornGauntlets of the Golden Thorn
Gloves of Liquid SmokeGloves of Liquid SmokeGloves of Liquid Smoke
Heart of UnlivingHeart of UnlivingHeart of Unliving
Molten Blood FootpadsMolten Blood FootpadsMolten Blood Footpads
Resolve of UndyingResolve of UndyingResolve of Undying
Will of UnbindingWill of UnbindingWill of Unbinding
Wrath of UnchainingWrath of UnchainingWrath of Unchaining
Elementium Back PlateMounts, toys, achievements, transmog
Only rows the journal loot table or an achievement title can prove for this encounter.
Mounts
Blazing Drake · Experiment 12-B · Life-Binder's Handmaiden
Achievements
Heroic: Hagara the Stormbinder · Heroic: Madness of Deathwing · Heroic: Morchok · Heroic: Spine of Deathwing · Heroic: Ultraxion · Heroic: Warlord Zon'ozz · Heroic: Warmaster Blackhorn · Heroic: Yor'sahj the Unsleeping
Entrance and instance
Dragon Soul is a raid in the Adventure Guide. See the Dragon Soul database page for the raw journal, map, and loot grid. This guide does not invent coordinates or a walking path.
Related bosses
Player strategy
This page quotes the Adventure Guide. It does not add player strategy such as positioning, assignments, stack or spread calls, or cooldown timings unless that sentence is already in the journal.
Questions
What does the Adventure Guide say about Spine of Deathwing?
Stages named in the Adventure Guide: Elementium Reinforced Plates, Burning Tendons, Deathwing's Immune System.
What does Spine of Deathwing drop?
The Adventure Guide lists 32 drops. Each name links to its TheWoWDB item page. The full table also lives on the Dragon Soul database page.
Does Spine of Deathwing change on Heroic or Mythic?
The current Adventure Guide text for this encounter does not include separate Heroic or Mythic sentences we can quote. If a later client build adds them, they appear here automatically.
Does Spine of Deathwing drop a mount?
The journal loot table includes Blazing Drake, Experiment 12-B, Life-Binder's Handmaiden. Each links to its TheWoWDB mount page.
Where does this guide's text come from?
Quoted Adventure Guide sections come from TheWoWDB's retail datamine (client build 12.1.0.69587, ingested 2026-09-01). Player strategy such as positioning, assignments, and cooldown timings is omitted unless that sentence is already in the journal.
Source and build
This page quotes the Adventure Guide. It does not add player strategy such as positioning, assignments, stack or spread calls, or cooldown timings unless that sentence is already in the journal. Quoted sections come from TheWoWDB Adventure Guide datamine (client build 12.1.0.69587, ingested 2026-09-01). Ability names link to first-party spell pages. When a newer retail build is ingested, this page updates with it.