Atal'alarion - Sunken Temple 20-Player Raid Guide (Season of Discovery)

Author: Passion
Date: April 8, 2024
Updated: April 9, 2024
Expansion: WoW Classic

Sunken Temple Raid Overview

Dreamscythe and Weaver

One of the first Dire Trolls players are likely to encounter, Atal’alarion is the sworn guardian of the idol of Atal’Hakkar and will protect it through any means necessary.

This guide will offer a detailed, step-by-step tutorial on how to deal with Atal’alarion, the Guardian of the Idol.

TL;DR

Keep your back towards a pillar
Don’t line of sight your healers
Use the tools you have available to stay at high health

Abilities

Atal’alarion

Atal’alarion will smash the ground, dealing heavy AoE damage to everyone, knocking them back a significant distance.

Players will need to be kept close to full health to survive being hit by this, so healers will need to stay on top of it!

Atal’alarions room will be full of rock pillars. These block line of sight for healers, making them a frustrating obstacle. If a player hit by Demolishing Smash collides with a pillar, it will shatter, destroying it and opening line of sight back up. Unfortunately, this will not stop your momentum, meaning you will continue to go flying even past the pillar.

Periodically a drake will attach itself to the pillar, buffing the boss. It should be a priority for everyone to be knocked back into these any time Demolishing Smash is cast, as they are a snowball mechanic that will make the fight a lot harder.

Raid Composition & Preparation

For this fight, you will need one tank and at least 4 healers, though some groups may opt for even more than that. AoE healers such as Shamans and Priests are particularly valuable. Melee DPS are at a disadvantage due to the movement required after each cast of Demolishing Smash.

The Pull

Before you can fight Atal’alarion, you will need to go to each of the surrounding balconies, killing the trash mobs there and interacting with a pillar on each one.

As the boss constantly knocks back, the tank will want to position themselves with their back towards the entrance stairs, keeping them safe from the knockback.

The Fight

The tank will fight with their back towards the stairs, making the fight a very simple, but high damage, tank and spank fight for them. Ranged DPS and Healers will want to plant themselves with their backs towards a pillar, trying to make sure they aren’t out of line of sight for healing. Melee DPS should also try to angle themselves so that they have a pillar behind them, but this can be a bit more tricky when trying to stay at the boss’s back.

Once you are knocked back, get back into range and reposition with your back to a new pillar. Rinse and repeat until he goes down!

Here are some of the main things that can typically go wrong in this fight:

Players aren’t kept healthy, causing them to die to Demolishing Smash.
Pillars aren’t handled, leading to the boss keeping its buff.
Players line of sight their healers with the pillars, preventing them from being healed.

Congratulations on defeating Atal’alarion! Next up is the Festering Rotslime, one of the more lengthy and confusing bosses in the raid.

About the Author

Passion

I love MMOs of all shades, especially the nitty gritty numbers parts of them. You might recognize me from the Shadow Priest discord, otherwise I play a little bit of everything, especially games with support roles available.