Ruby Life Pools Dungeon Guide

Ruby Life Pools is one of the original WoW Dragonflight dungeons featured in the expansion’s first-season Mythic Plus rotation. With only three boss encounters, it is the shortest of those instances. In theory, people should be able to get through it quicker than the others. However, it has also received a reputation as the expansion’s most frustrating and difficult dungeon, to the point where it is widely expected to receive a nerf. Our guide will show you how to avoid a wipe and overcome this short but intense Mythic Plus dungeon with maximum efficiency.

Dungeon Overview

Ruby Life Pools can be found in the far southeast of the Waking Shores zone, in the subzone of the same name. The dungeon consists of two maps with three boss encounters, in addition to numerous lesser foes, such as several mini-bosses. Progress through the instance is largely linear, but there are many fights that can be avoided for greater safety and speed. There is a conveniently-placed checkpoint after the first boss, enabling players to return to the action quickly in case of a wipe in later parts of the dungeon.

Mobs before Melidrussa Chillworn

Heroes arrive in the southern end of the Infusion Chambers map and must make their way through two chambers to the first boss arena. Along the way, they will encounter several pools with large clutches of eggs. Those eggs spawn Infused Whelps if the heroes or their enemies step on them (both in the course of regular movement and with charge abilities). Players should do everything in their power to avoid that, because the Whelps have relatively weak but fast attacks that also apply a stacking slowing Primal Chill debuff. Once eight stacks have been accumulated, their victim becomes frozen, incapable of moving and forced to take damage over time for ten seconds.

Frequently recurring enemies in this area include Flashfrost Earthshapers and Chillweavers. They deploy area-of-effect attacks and shield buffs that also block crowd control effects, respectively. Both of those spells must be stopped as a matter of priority. Primal Terrasentries launch painful knockback missiles that heroes should dodge. Primal Juggernauts are few yet tough and have strong single-target and multi-target attacks that can overwhelm unprepared tanks. The latter can be evaded, the former needs to be endured with mitigation or healing. Adventurers have no way to avoid fighting one Juggernaut, but they can sneak past the other’s patrol, which is strongly recommended for efficiency.

Most parties will want to proceed through the area cautiously, dealing with smaller groups rather than pulling everyone in sight at once. Hugging the wall on the right is the best way to avoid the second Juggernaut. At the exit, heroes will face Defiler Draghar, the instance’s first mini-boss. His powers include a flurry of attacks that also leaves dangerous fragments on the floor, and a charge that hits and bleeds everyone in its path. Tanks will need all the help they can get to endure the first ability. The path of the charge is set when the three-second cast starts, so adventurers can simply avoid it. Ideally, though, they should take care to aim the mini-boss away from the eggs.

Melidrussa Chillworn Boss Fight Tips

At regular intervals, the boss casts a spell that awakens five Infused Whelps, who attack heroes in the same way they would have outside. Mythic Plus difficulties aggravate their onslaught by having her start to channel Frost Overload. This spell causes pulsating Frost damage and covers her in an Ice Bulwark shield that must be broken for the channel to be interrupted. Occasionally, she will throw Hailbombs at all heroes. These bombs go off on proximity, but can linger on the ground until then. Chillstorm pulls heroes towards the middle, damaging everyone, but especially those in the middle. After a few seconds, it explodes for greater damage and adds more Hailbombs. Finally, she has a fast single-target Frigid Shard attack reserved for tanks.

Victory requires timely and precise management of all those dangers:

• When Whelps awaken, they should be destroyed as fast as possible. The best way to do so is for the tank to lure them all towards the boss and then cleave both;
• Until Whelps are destroyed, they should be stunned or otherwise interrupted whenever possible to prevent them from overloading the tank or other heroes with Primal Chill. Area-of-effect and single-target abilities can both be used to minimize the Whelps’ effectiveness;
• Offensive cooldowns should be saved up to break the Ice Bulwark swiftly whenever it appears;
• Primal Chill stacks must be tracked and addressed promptly. Cooldown abilities should be used to remove them whenever possible. Healers in particular must take care to assist characters with the most stacks. Interface tweaks may be in order to ensure they can detect the stacks in time and dispel them without delays;
• Healers also need to pay special attention to tanks’ health, since they are likely to receive the brunt of various attacks from both Melidrussa and the Whelps;
• Naturally, characters should try to steer clear of Hailbombs at all times. To assist this effort, they should try to “herd” them in discrete areas by moving there when the cast comes up, then move away;
• Likewise, adventurers have to start fleeing from the Chillstorm as soon as it appears, to minimize the damage that it causes.

Mobs near Kokia Blazehoof

After defeating Melidrussa, the party is free to fly the nearby drake to the other map: Ruby Overlook. They will arrive in a large round area populated by various mobs. To summon the next boss, they will need to defeat four Blazebound Destroyers. Those elementals have several powerful multi-target Fire-based attacks, beginning with Inferno, which burns adventurers in a 100-yard radius immediately and over time. Random heroes will be struck with the Living Bomb effect, burning friendly and hostile targets in their vicinity while it is active. When dying, they will try to take adventurers in a 20-yard radius with them using Burnout. Heroes can avoid the last spell by moving away quickly, but the rest of their powers may be easier to just endure with mitigation or healing.

Blazebound Destroyers are accompanied by other mobs, including Primalist Flamedancers, whose Flame Dance burns one target several times while channelled, then scorches the entire party. Not all interruptions work here, but stuns or disruptions do, and should be used. Primalist Cinderweavers flick firebolts at random adventurers and buff themselves with Burning Ambition, which increases their Haste but also makes them take more damage. The attack should be interrupted, but they should be allowed to use the buff, since it makes them much easier to kill. Lastly, there are Scorchlings, both already present or summoned by Blazebound Destroyers, but they only have a fairly weak damage-over-time effect. Apart from dispelling it, they are low-priority.

On Mythic Plus difficulties, heroes also need to deal with two unique dragon mini-bosses: Thunderhead and Flamegullet. Thunderhead is stationary in the northwest of the area. He has a surprisingly wide conical breath attack and a devastating single-target bite that deals Physical and Nature damage and knocks back its victim. Additionally, he can inflict Rolling Thunder on two random targets, dealing damage over time that culminates in an explosion hitting all nearby heroes. Flamegullet patrols the eastern side of the ring, and is relatively weaker. He also has a fire breath, a single-target attack that deals immediate and gradual damage, and Molten Blood that starts to inflict escalating damage on nearby heroes after half-health.

The party should advance in counterclockwise order to efficiently sweep up all the mobs they must destroy. It is safer to lure Blazebound Destroyers and their packs towards the party to avoid prematurely pulling in patrols. Thunderhead will need to be disposed of, dodging his breath, helping the tank survive his bite, and dispelling Rolling Thunder. Flamegullet can actually be avoided by staying out of the path of his patrol. On the other hand, defeating him is not too difficult and may help in the boss fight. The tactics for him are similar to Thunderhead, except cooldown attacks should be readied in advance of Molten Blood activating. Once it does, the dragon should be finished off as fast as possible.

Kokia Blazehoof Boss Fight Tips

The boss can be fought throughout the ring, and space for maneuver may well be necessary. Whenever her energy bar reaches 100, she spawns a Blazebound Firestorm near one of the characters, dealing immediate damage. The Blazebound Firestorm is a stationary monster that radiates constant partywide Fire damage and launch additional partywide attacks. It explodes when destroyed, damaging nearby enemies. She also spawns Molten Boulders, spheres that roll in one direction near a random target hero, burning and stunning everyone in the way and exploding once they get to a 40-yard distance. Firestorms and Boulders both leave behind fiery environmental hazards on Mythic Plus difficulties. Finally, she can channel Searing Blows, a flurry of single-target attacks that inflict stacking bleed effects.

Positioning and deliberate movement are the keys to success here:

• By sticking together before the cast, heroes can lure Firestroms and Boulders to go in one direction, limiting the terrain damaged in their aftermath and retaining freedom of maneuver;
• Whenever the Firestorm spawns, all attention should be focused on it. Its abilities must be interrupted, and it should be whittled down with all possible speed. The tank can lure the boss closer towards it, enabling cleave attacks. When it is about to blow up, characters will have to scramble to escape the explosion;
• Conversely, Boulders should be avoided scrupulously once they appear, or ideally anticipated;
• Always make sure there are escape routes to avoid either of the above effects without running into the hazards. Retreat along the ring if too little terrain remains in the current location. Make sure not to run into Flamegullet is he is still active;
• Tanks must be prepared to mitigate Searing Blows;
• Healers will need to heal the entire party when the Firestorm begins. They should also keep careful track of the tank’s status, since the tank is likely to bear the brunt of Kokia’s attacks, and top them up in time.

Mobs before Kyrakka and Erkhart Stormvein

Following Kokia’s defeat, the party will need to head northwest through a corridor into the final chamber. Both the corridor and the chamber have numerous opponents, including several varieties of Channelers. Flame Channelers strike random targets with Flashfire, burning them over time while healing themselves. They also use Burning Veins, a more impactful version of Cinderweavers’ Burning Ambition. Tempest Channelers can summon an area-of-effect damage-over-time Lightning Storm and snipe with Thunder Bolts. High Channeler Ryvati is a mini-boss version of a Tempest Channeler, possessing their usual abilities and Tempest Stormshield, which absorbs all harm then explodes at the heroes, inflicting leftover capacity as damage.

All Channelers must be killed to unlock the final boss encounter. They are assisted by Primal Thunderclouds, who attack with avoidable charges and use protective Tempest Barriers. All remaining barriers are added to the Stormshield when it is cast, increasing its absorption capacity. More of those elementals can be summoned by Tempest Channelers and Ryvati. While relatively weak, taking them out with shield dispells and multi-target attacks should be a priority in the fight with the High Channeler to weaken the Stormshield. Channelers are further protected by Storm Warriors, who debuff the heroes’ Haste and movement speed with their area-of-effect Thunderclap strikes. Melee adventurers should take care to avoid them.

The same tactic used against Cinderweavers applies to Flame Channelers - they should be kept from attacking, but allowed their buff to take them out quicker. Mass healing will be needed to outlast the more dangerous Tempest Channelers and their Lightning Storms, as well as Ryvati. When fighting the latter, weakening and then destroying the Stormshield is the key objective. As for strategy, groups with Channelers are best engaged one by one. After clearing the corridor, lure out the forces near the chamber entrance, but avoid the High Channeler. Defeat the group in the corner next as a breather, and save Ryvati for last.

Kyrakka and Erkhart Stormvein Boss Fight Tips

This encounter features two bosses and two phases. During the first phase, Erkhart fights on foot, while Kyrakka flies around and occasionally lands in different locations to flank the party. Kyrakka uses Roaring Firebreath to scorch adventurers in a frontal cone and inflict the stacking Infernocore effect. It is also inflicted by the single-target Flamespit. Infernocore causes Fire damage over time to all nearby heroes. When expired, it explodes, spawning Flaming Embers that move around and burn on contact, inflicting Infernocore again on Mythic Plus difficulties. Each stack creates one Ember.

Erkhart’s frequently deployed Winds of Change push all adventurers and Flaming Embers in one direction. The direction can vary with each cast. The wind also damages the party during each second in which it is active. His Stormslam inflicts massive Physical and Nature damage to one target, in addition to a stackable debuff that makes the target more vulnerable to Nature. This effect can be dispelled. Mythic Plus expands his arsenal with Interrupting Cloudburst, which damages all heroes and interrupts their spellcasting, locking them down for four seconds.

Once either boss has been reduced to half-health, Kyrakka lands near Erkhart, and he fights on from the dragon. The bosses retain their individual abilities without many changes during this second phase. However, Flamespit is modified to strike everyone in the party, giving each character Infernocore when it does. They also still have separate health bars, allowing the heroes to kill them separately.

A large part of this dungeon’s reputation for difficulty rests upon this fight. However, paying attention to the battlefield and utilizing the right tactics can see the party through it:

• Try to whittle Kyrakka down first in both phases. Taking the dragon and fire spells out of the fight makes it much easier to finish off the other boss. Attack Kyrakka whenever he is on the ground, and try to lure Erkhart nearby to create cleaving opportunities;
• Keep an eye on Kyrakka’s movements, both to let yourself attack quickly and so you can avoid the breath. The latter should be easy to evade if one is paying attention, but makes the fight much harder otherwise. In the second phase, try not to stand in front of the dragon unless you are a tank, or at least make sure you can get away quickly;
• Maneuver carefully to avoid the Embers and make sure you do not get boxed in with them in time for Winds of Change. Always leave yourself an escape route, like in the previous fight;
• When Infernocore is about to expire, move away from the group to spawn the Ember out of their way. The entire group can dump Embers in one place that will then be avoided, but this requires close coordination to avoid mishaps;
• Do not stand near the edge of the platform, as the Winds might throw you off. The exception may be to spawn the Ember there and then quickly move away;
• Time your spellcasting around the Interrupting Cloudburst;
• Tanks and healers need to work together to keep the former safe from Stormslam. Ready mitigation in time and dispel the debuff once it is inflicted. Otherwise, the tank may not have the health to survive everything else in this fight.