The Azure Vault Dungeon Guide

The Azure Vault is among the new dungeons introduced in WoW Dragonflight. It is also part of the Mythic Plus rotation for the expansion’s first season. Some people consider it the most difficult dungeon in the Dragon Isles. Although its layout is relatively linear and straightforward, there are several special mechanics and mobs that can frustrate players and even cause a wipe if not handled correctly. Read this guide to learn how to overcome those complications and complete your Mythic Plus run of the instance quickly! 

Dungeon Overview and Special Mechanics

You can find the entrance to the Azure Vault in the southwestern corner of the Azure Span zone. It consists of five levels: the Arcane Conservatory, the Upper Chamber, the Mausoleum of Legends, the Lower Chamber, and the Crystal Chamber. Adventurers experience those areas by descending from top to bottom, battling four bosses in linear order. In between those encounters, there are many lesser enemies to fight or avoid. They are detailed in the level sections below. Additionally, players should take note of several dungeon mechanics not directly connected to any mobs:

• Several areas have gaps that can only be crossed by using Books of Translocation found near the gaps. They teleport players to the other side;
• Using the first Book of Translocation to get to the floating ring in the Upper Chamber has a chance of providing each party member with a random buff that should last for about a minute or until they leave the area. Possible effects include Scornful Haste, Viscous Toads, Sluggish Adoration, Shrinking Form, and Hardening Scales. The first one is particularly tricky, since it gives increasing Haste buffs to allies within ten yards and bigger buffs of the same type to enemies in that radius, requiring careful positioning. Sluggish Adoration slows enemies down instead. Shrinking Form and Hardening Scale affect the character’s speed and damage received, increasing or decreasing both, respectively. Viscous Toads briefly stands nearby enemies. Upon re-entering the ring, characters can receive effects again;
• There are magic traps in the form of runic circles on the floor in many areas. After stepping into them, characters get polymorphed for 20 seconds into critters who are unable to attack. There is a short grace period in which they can leave the circle without being transformed;
• Dracthyr heroes or characters with at least 25 skill points in Dragon Isles Inscription can gain the Reverse Trap ability. This single-use ability may be deployed to activate inert polymorph traps, making them work against the mobs instead of the adventurers. This ability may be obtained by interacting with Tomes of Transmogrification, of which there are two (at the end of the corridor in the Upper Chamber and on the stairs behind the entrance to the Lower Chamber). Only one character gets the ability;
• After defeating each of the first three bosses, party members will receive a teleport that will take them near that boss’ location, saving time in case they need to return.

Mobs in the Arcane Conservatory

Heroes enter the dungeon in the northeast of this map. The round chamber shortly after the entrance contains many of the typical threats encountered in the first third of the dungeon, including the Shrieking Whelp. Those Whelps patrol along fixed routes and let out a Shriek when alerted, summoning nearby allies and awakening otherwise inactive mobs, such as the three Crystal Furies in the chamber. Furies are very tough and have devastating frontal cone attacks with added damage-over-time effects. Fighting them is generally not worth the trouble, so players are strongly advised to either sneak past the Whelps or stun them before they can Shriek, in this and other areas.

The other enemies in the chamber are Conjured Lashers. Their Mystic Vapor attack, which also inflicts a stackable damage-over-time effect, poses a major threat for tanks but can be interrupted. Parties should wait for the Whelp to move away and then quickly take down the Lashers, not letting them attack. It is possible to simultaneously engage the Lashers in the corridor beyond. However, they are joined by Arcane Tenders, who have a nasty channeling ability that turns the target into a sprout. The sprout is stunned and turns nearby allies into sprouts as well. Fortunately, the channel can be disrupted before it takes effect. They can also fire missiles that leave a hazard on the ground. Given those tricky powers, it may be wiser to deal with the two groups separately.

After crossing the corridor and defeating another group of Lashers, the heroes can go down the stairs to the first boss’ arena. However, the stairs are occupied by additional Lashers, a Tender, two Whelps, two Crystal Furies, and a Crystal Thrasher. The latter’s attacks can root party members or give them circles that bleed their allies. Defensive abilities can mitigate the damage, but it is better to skip the stairs altogether by jumping down to the arena. The boss is activated by defeating the three Tenders in the arena. Ambitious and skilled parties could sweep up all Tenders and their sapling herds in one fight, but otherwise, heroes can take care of Tenders one by one to minimize the risks posed by their powers.

Leymor Boss Fight Tips

The boss’ central mechanic involves spawning Ley-Line Sprouts throughout his arena. Those little trees radiate damage around them. On Mythic Plus difficulty, they spawn Volatile Saplings when destroyed. Although those mobs are weak attackers, they soon explode with great force. The number of currently active Ley-Line Sprouts determines the damage done by Consuming Stomp, a party-wide attack. Leymor also strikes with Erupting Fissure (a cone that knocks back heroes in front of him) and Explosive Brand (another party-wide attack that is followed by a delayed explosion that damages other nearby heroes). Those powers destroy Volatile Saplings in their radius as well. Lastly, Leymor uses Infused Strike to harm tanks both immediately and over time.

Consuming Stomp can easily result in a party wipe if there are too many sprouts around. Avoiding this outcome requires solid coordination and positioning:

• When Explosive Brand is placed, characters should quickly move away from each other and towards different clusters of sprouts. That way, the explosion will serve them instead. It would help if the heroes are already spread out widely;
• Erupting Fissure can be effective for clearing away particularly large concentrations of clusters. Tanks should try aiming the boss accordingly. Note that the direction of the attack’s cone no longer changes after the boss starts casting, so position it in advance and then get out of heh way;
• Players must be careful to avoid being hit by sapling explosions. Taking out nearby saplings quickly is advisable;
• Consuming Stomp and Infused Strike should be mitigated with defensive powers. Healers should also make sure their party can withstand such attacks.

Mobs in the Upper Chamber

After defeating Leymor, the heroes will go down the stairs into the Upper Chamber. They will encounter three patrolling Whelps and another group of Crystal Furies and a Thrasher. Rather than get bogged down with those powerful opponents, the party can avoid the fight simply by moving quickly while the Whelps are out of the way. They will arrive near Arcane Elementals guarding the way to the platform with the Book of Translocation. Those enemies can put characters to sleep (which can be dispelled) or simply attack tanks. Killing them is possible, but with invisibility, heroes can sneak past them as well and teleport to the ring.

There are several types of enemies in the ring, including Crystal Furies, Arcane Elementals, and Rune Seal Keepers. The latter are especially dangerous with their partywide Icy Bindings root attack, which exposes adventurers to roving area-of-effect mines created by another local mob, the Unstable Curator. Preventing the binding is top priority. The Curator and Elementals also have single-target attacks directed at the tank, who should definitely be extra careful in this area. Avoiding being pinned down should be a priority. All mobs on the ring should be destroyed, though Crystal ones in particular should be dealt with separately, without enemies from other groups joining the fight.

Mobs in the Mausoleum of Legends

Clearing the ring in the Upper Chamber will let the heroes move on to an identical ring on this level. There is no need to fight all the mobs on this ring. Instead, the party should pass through its northern half to the platform with the Book of Translocation. First, they can pull the patrolling trio of a Keeper, Elemental, and Attendant, the latter of which bombards areas with a barrage of arcane missiles. It could be fought at the same time as the two Arcane Constructs standing in the heroes’ way. Constructs have frontal cones with knockback effects that tanks should be careful to evade. There is another Construct and two Elementals on this path, but they would be relatively easy to defeat separately.

After reaching the Book of Translocation and shifting over to the eastern side of the map, heroes will soon enter the next boss arena. Here, Attendants and Keepers are joined by Vault Guards, who can shield themselves against magic and enchant their weapons with Froststrike, and Scalebane Lieutenants, who benefit from similar enchantments but also have a strong frontal cone attack. Defeating all the mobs here would be an efficient way to fill the enemy counter. The scattered mobs on the far side of the arena could be lured together with proper positioning. Tanks must be ready to bear a lot of strong attacks from different sources. Keepers are still the biggest danger here due to their synergy with other enemies, so they should be prevented from using bindings as a priority.

Azureblade Fight Tips

Azureblade goes back and forth between two “phases”. In the first one, she fights using the Ancient Orb (a sphere that heads towards a random hero, striking and knocking down others in its way) and Summon Draconic Image (an illusion mob that does real damage with its Illusionary Bolt attack). On Mythic Plus difficulties, destroying a Draconic Image creates Arcane damage hazards around its location, splattered in the directions of the adventurers. In melee, she deploys Arcane Cleave, a frontal cone attack.

The second “phase” of this fight involves the boss falling back to the middle of the arena, becoming invulnerable, and channelling Overwhelming Energy to cause steady damage to the heroes. She will also start throwing Ancient Orb Fragments, which work like the Ancient Orb except there are four of them at a time. Four Draconic Illusions appear at this time and must be defeated for the channel to stop and Azureblade to become vulnerable again. When they are removed, the boss will go back to the first “phase” until it can return to the second. Destroying those illusions likewise creates Arcane hazards.

Managing those threats is vital to success:

• When active, the Draconic Image should be interfered with through crowd control and destroyed as fast as possible;
• During the Overwhelming Energy phase, players must work together to destroy the Draconic Illusions without delays;
• Ancient Orbs and Ancient Orb Fragments can and should be sidestepped as soon as the spell begins to channel;
• Tanks should aim the Arcane Cleave away from their allies by standing apart from them;
• They should also try and lead the boss towards the Image, so they could cleave both at once;
• Healers must work quickly to patch up damage during Overwhelming Energy, as their allies can get worn down fast otherwise.

Mobs in the Lower Chamber

After defeating Azureblade, heroes can descend into the Lower Chamber. There are many comparatively soft and weak mobs in easy reach here, so the heroes should just wipe them out, perhaps in three groups (starting chamber, stairs and corridor, and the circle below). Nullmagic Hornswogs can jump at distant targets to remove their and nearby allies’ magic buffs, in addition to damage. Drakonid Breakers fight with charges and area-of-effect roars. They are backed up by Tarasek Looters, whose ability to inflict stackable bleeds can be perilous for tanks. However, attentive players should get through all challenges without too much trouble. There are two more Breakers to kill before the final two bosses (one on this level and the other in the Crystal Chamber below).

Telash Greywing Boss Fight Tips

This boss starts the battle with an energy bar that is slightly more than half-full. Whenever the bar is filled, he casts Absolute Zero. While it is active, he is virtually invulnerable, while players take continuous damage and are rooted. Adventurers can weather this 10-second channel by taking shelter on a Vault Rune spawned at the same time. The Runes cancel the root effect and halve the damage. Mythic Plus difficulties disable the spawned Rune after the channel ends. Three Vault Runes can appear over the course of the fight, leaving heroes at a serious disadvantage once they run out.

Apart from that, Telash hits random adventurers with Icy Devastator. This channelled Frost attack damages both the target and other heroes within an 8-yard radius. Sometimes he also attaches Frost Bomb to every hero. This bomb goes off after 5 seconds, damaging every adventurer within 5 yards and creating Frozen Ground, an environmental hazard that slows and harms the party whenever they cross it. It keeps expanding for roughly a couple of minutes and lingers afterwards, making it harder for Telash’s enemies to maneuver.

Once again, positioning is key to winning this fight:

• When Telash starts to cast Absolute Zero, the entire party should rush towards the active Vault Rune. Some damage is unavoidable, so healers should top up their allies in advance and prepare for emergency healing focused on more vulnerable party members. Top up the party again once the cast ends;
• Conversely, when Absolute Zero is not active, the heroes should maintain distance from each other to avoid getting clipped by each other’s effects. Yet they should also try to remain in roughly the same part of the arena to concentrate the Frozen Ground in one place and leave other paths open;
• Tanking next to the Frozen Ground also helps ensure this concentration of power;
• The targets of Icy Devastator can choose to mitigate this serious attack with defensive powers. Powers that take heroes out of combat, such as Invisibility, let one avoid this mechanic completely. Healers should be ready to help players without such options.

Umbrelskul Boss Fight Tips

At three-quarter, half, and quarter health, Umbrelskul becomes Brittle, spawning Detonating Crystals. Unless destroyed, those crystals explode to cause partywide damage-over-time after 15 seconds. Mythic Plus difficulties add one Hardened Crystal with extra protection. Umbrelskul hits tanks immediately and over time with Dragon Strike, uses a linear Crystalline Roar breath attack on random targets, and spawns Crackling Vortexes with Arcane Eruption whenever its energy bar is full. Vortexes move towards players based on healing aggro. Mythic Plus also adds Unleashed Destruction, which harms all players and pushes them back. Finally, Oppressive Miasma inflicts a stacking slow effect on each hero whenever they move. The debuff goes up to 50%, but decays over time. Whenever it is removed manually, the boss gets a damage buff.

Taking a lot of punishment in this fight is inevitable, but it can be effectively mitigated:

• Move as little as possible to keep the Oppressive Miasma at bay, and do not lift the debuff unless absolutely necessary;
• As an exception, healers should move far away from Vortexes whenever their speed debuff drops, then stop and wait until the new debuff drops again. Others should get out of these hazards’ way, but will probably not be hunted by them;
• Unleashed Destruction is inescapable, so the party should brace itself for it by topping up health and activating protective abilities before it activates. The same goes for Dragon Strike and tanks;
• Crystalline Roar could and should be evaded;
• Detonating Crystals are the single deadliest threat, so when they pop up, destroying them before they can go off is a priority. Ideally, the tank should position the boss near the crystals, exposing both to cleave attacks.