TheWoWDBBoss
Unleashed Nightmare
Za'qul, Harbinger of Ny'alotha - The Eternal Palace
Found In
Adventure Guide Entry
The in-game Adventure Guide text for the Za'qul, Harbinger of Ny'alotha encounter in The Eternal Palace.
The harbinger for the end of days, Za'qul shreds the last vestiges of sanity from a world in chaos, laying the foundation for Azeroth's new master.
Encounter Facts
Abilities & Strategy
What the in-game dungeon journal describes for this encounter. Every ability links to its spell page.
Abilities & Strategy
Overview
At health percentages, Za'qul assaults the players' minds, pulling them deeper into realms of insanity. While players are in these insanity realms, they continually gain stacks of Hysteria. The further they dive into these realms, the faster it stacks. Each realm employs its own method of assaulting players' minds. Within the Fear Realm, players continually spawn Horrific Visions from Manifest Nightmares. Within the Delirium Realm, everyone becomes hostile but has their haste increased. After all realms have opened, Za'qul gains empowered versions of his abilities that allow the players to move between realms in order to combat his mechanics.
Damage Dealers
- Defeat Horrific Summoners before the raid becomes overwhelmed.
- Defeat Horrific Visions before they transform into Unleashed Nightmares.
Healers
- Dispel allies effected by Dread and Manic Dread.
- Don't stop moving when affected by Manifest Nightmares to avoid Nightmare Pools.
Tanks
- Use damage reduction cooldowns when under the effect of Mind Tether.
- Move the boss into Maddening Eruptions to prevent the raid from taking damage.
- Don't stop moving when affected by Manifest Nightmares to avoid Nightmare Pools.
Stage One: The Harbinger
Mind Tether
Portal of Madness
Horrific Summoner
Summoned during the encounter by Za'qul.
Crushing Grasp
Dread
Stage Two: Grip of Fear
Za'qul pulls players into the Fear Realm at 85% health.
Fear Realm
Manifest Nightmares
Nightmare Pool
Horrific Vision
Emerge from the darkness as long as players are effected by Manifest Nightmares.
Maddening Eruption
Mind Tether
Crushing Grasp
Dread
Stage Three: Delirium's Descent
Za'qul begins pulling players into the Delirium Realm at 70% health.
Stage Four: All Pathways Open
When Za'qul reaches 60% health, Thalyssra returns players to reality.
First Arcanist Thalyssra
Pulls everyone back to reality to prevent them from succumbing to Za'qul's madness. Pulls everyone back to reality to prevent them from succumbing to Za'qul's madness, then falls victim to the whispers of the old gods.
Dark Pulse
Psychotic Split
Echo of Fear
Summoned during Psychotic Split and resides within the Fear Realm.
Echo of Delirium
Summoned during Psychotic Split and resides within the Delirium Realm.
Dark Shield
Mind Fracture
Dark Passage
Horrific Summoner
Summoned from the Fear Realm during the encounter by Za'qul.
Manic Dread
Mind Tether
Crushing Grasp
Ability Spells
Every ability the Adventure Guide lists for this encounter, with its spell's school, cast time and duration and the description the game gives it.
Hysteria
Shadow · Instant · Lasts 25 sec
Delving into the insanity realms increases hysteria, inflicting Shadow damage every 1 sec for 25 sec. This effect stacks.
Mind Tether
Shadow · 2.5 sec cast
Za'qul connects two targets together with a mind tether. 50% of damage done to either target is reflected to their partner as Shadow damage. Reflected damage is increased after the targets separate beyond 12 yards from each other.
Portal of Madness
Shadow · Instant · Lasts 6 sec
Dark Tear
Shadow · Instant · Lasts 2 min
The Horrific Summoner opens a tear, allowing creatures to continually come through to assault the players every 20 sec as long as the passage remains open.
Gathering Nightmare
Shadow · Instant
All damage taken increased by 5% and speed decreased by 2%. Caster starts with 30 stacks and loses a stack every 2 sec. When all stacks are removed, the creatures turns into an Unleashed Nightmare.
Quivering Claws
Shadow · Instant
Void Eruption
Shadow · Instant
Crushing Grasp
Shadow · 8 sec cast
Za'qul unleashes a tentacle that cascades across the space in a line, inflicting Shadow damage to players struck and knocking them back.
Dread
Shadow · 2.5 sec cast · Lasts 10 sec
Unleashes a psychic blast that induces fear to random enemies, inflicting Shadow damage every 1 sec for 10 sec. Upon expiration, inflicts Shadow damage to everyone.
Fear Realm
Shadow · Instant
Manifest Nightmares
Shadow · Instant · Lasts 6 sec
Upon expiration, summons a Horrific Vision at your destination.
Nightmare Pool
Physical · Instant · Lasts 30 sec
A nightmare pool forms, inflicting Shadow damage every 2 sec.
Maddening Eruption
Shadow · Instant
Za'qul causes a tear that will inflict Shadow damage to all enemies when it erupts.
Punctured Darkness
Shadow · Instant · Lasts 20 sec
Shadows wither around Za'qul, increasing all damage taken by 30% for 20 sec.
Delirium's Descent
Physical · 8 sec cast
Maddening energy pours from Za'qul, transporting enemies who bask in its light to the Delirium Realm. If not enough targets are found, Za'qul inflicts Shadow damage to the raid.
Delirium Realm
Shadow · Instant
Your mind shatters, causing you to go hostile to everyone, increasing haste by 80%.
Shattered Psyche
Shadow · Instant · Lasts 6 sec
Unable to cope with the encroaching horrors, your psyche shatters, stunning you for 6 sec.
Tentacle Slam
Shadow · 6 sec cast · Lasts 2 sec
A tentacle erupts from below and strikes the ground, inflicting Shadow damage to all targets caught within the area and stunning them for 2 sec.
3D Model
First-party render from the game files. Model © Blizzard Entertainment.
Drops
Loot the dungeon journal lists for this encounter in The Eternal Palace.
What is shown is the loot the game's own dungeon journal lists for this encounter.
What Each Drop Is
The Za'qul, Harbinger of Ny'alotha encounter lists 14 items in the dungeon journal, item level 72. Equip slots covered: Wrist, Trinket, Back, Chest, One-Hand, Shoulder and Head. Every piece binds when picked up, so none of it reaches the Auction House.
- Bindings of the Herald Wrist (Cloth), item level 72, requires level 50. Bind on Pickup. Stats: Intellect, Stamina, Haste and Versatility. A vendor pays 36g 78s for it.
- Chain of Suffering Trinket, item level 72, requires level 50. Bind on Pickup. Stats: Agility or Strength. A vendor pays 66g 56s for it.
- Cloak of Ill Tidings Back (Cloth), item level 72, requires level 50. Bind on Pickup. Stats: Agility or Strength or Intellect, Stamina, Mastery and Critical Strike. A vendor pays 58g 68s for it.
- Dark Passenger's Breastplate Chest (Plate), item level 72, requires level 50. Bind on Pickup. Stats: Strength or Intellect and Stamina. A vendor pays 77g 40s for it.
- Dream's End One-Hand (One-Handed Axe), item level 72, requires level 50. Bind on Pickup. Stats: Strength, Stamina, Mastery and Critical Strike. A vendor pays 105g 32s for it. Equip: Delirious Frenzy.
- Gardbrace of Fractured Reality Shoulder (Mail), item level 72, requires level 50. Bind on Pickup. Stats: Agility or Intellect and Stamina. A vendor pays 58g 36s for it.
- Pauldrons of Za'qul Shoulder (Plate), item level 72, requires level 50. Bind on Pickup. Stats: Strength or Intellect and Stamina. A vendor pays 56g 45s for it.
- Sever, Edge of Madness One-Hand (Warglaive), item level 72, requires level 50. Bind on Pickup. Stats: Agility or Intellect, Stamina, Versatility, Haste and Intellect. A vendor pays 105g 29s for it.
- Shackles of Dissonance Wrist (Mail), item level 72, requires level 50. Bind on Pickup. Stats: Agility or Intellect, Stamina, Mastery and Haste. A vendor pays 36g 50s for it.
- Shroud of Unmooring Whispers Head (Leather), item level 72, requires level 50. Bind on Pickup. Stats: Agility or Intellect and Stamina. A vendor pays 59g 20s for it.
- Vestments of Creeping Terror Chest (Cloth), item level 72, requires level 50. Bind on Pickup. Stats: Intellect and Stamina. A vendor pays 73g 72s for it.
- Vision of Demise Trinket, item level 72, requires level 50. Bind on Pickup. Stats: Agility or Strength. A vendor pays 66g 33s for it.
- Za'qul's Portal Key Trinket, item level 72, requires level 50. Bind on Pickup. Stats: Haste. A vendor pays 67s 63c for it. Equip: Void Negotiation.
- Nameless Octopode Miscellaneous, item level 1. Bind on Pickup. Tooltip: “Teaches you how to summon this companion.” Use: Learning.
Read from the current game build's item data. Listed prices come from our latest US Auction House scan; a drop that binds when picked up never has one.
Achievements for Defeating It
5 achievements list a victory over Unleashed Nightmare among their criteria.