Nexus-Prince Shaffar Strategy

Final Boss of Mana-Tombs in Auchindoun and second Nexus-Prince to rule in Outland (the others being Nexus-Prince Razaan in Blade's Edge Mountains and Nexus-Prince Haramad, leader of the Consortium). He leads another faction of ethereals in the Mana-Tombs against the Consortium.

Attacks and abilities

Melee: Melees for 350-450 on a decently geared warrior and frostbolt/fireball for ~1000-1200 damage; occasional frost nova and blink.
Ethereal Beacons: Begins the fight with three Ethereal Beacons and regularly spawns one approximately every 10 seconds. These beacons cast an Arcane Bolt. After a while, they will disappear and spawn a humanoid...
Ethereal Apprentice: The Ethereal Beacons spawn humanoids if they are not taken down promptly, which alternate between casting Fireball and Frostbolt.

Strategy

Nexus-Prince Shaffar starts with three Ethereal Beacons surrounding him. These must be killed quickly or an Ethereal Apprentice will spawn in its place. Depending on how many damage-dealing classes the party consists of, each member should be assigned one beacon to kill. Each beacon has approximately 2600 health. Additional beacons will spawn one at a time as the fight progresses and should also be killed. Shaffar will yell, "I have such fascinating things to show you!" when one appears. This happens approximately every 10 seconds, so be ready for one even if he does not yell. If a beacon is not killed quick enough, an apprentice will spawn in its place. The apprentice can be crowd-controlled if necessary, such as being polymorphed by a mage. The apprentices do not have much health and can be killed, but they inflict a lot of fire and frost damage very quickly if not dealt with immediately. When there are no beacons or apprentices to deal with, players should focus their damage on Shaffar.

Nexus-Prince Shaffar does not deal a lot of physical melee damage, but does deal a lot of spell damage: fire, frost, shadow, and arcane. Paladins can use Frost or Fire Resistance Auras and priests can cast Shadow Protection to minimize incoming spell damage, also his spells can be reflected with a warriors Spell Reflection. He occasionally casts Blink. This does not clear aggro and he will not teleport far away. However, he often casts Frost Nova to snare players in melee range just before he Blinks, allowing him to cast spells uninterrupted. Warriors are able to use Spell Reflection to minimize spell damage taken. The tank must be ready to run toward him and maintain aggro when Frost Nova wears off or is removed, though aggro is generally not an issue because the other players will also be focusing their damage on the Ethereal Beacons.

If the party consists of primarily melee classes, players should stay near Nexus-Prince Shaffar. This ensures players will not have to run far from Shaffar to be able to attack the Ethereal Beacons and then resume attacking him.

Note: Bug confirmed. Starting off the battle by sending in an Eye of Kilrogg will cause the initial 3 beacons to disappear altogether. (Tested on 7/19/2008, appears to be fixed)