Summary: Underrot is a very linear dungeon that doesn’t really feel like it with how much trash in the place you get to skip. You have a lot of choice as to what specifically you skip, and almost every tank does this run a little bit differently route-wise. The only thing everyone seems to do the same in this place is when they use lust, being almost always on the first, second, and last boss. Some choose to lust the 3rd boss instead of the 2nd one on Fortified, but that’s up to your group. Some choose to take one of the final obelisks with the final boss, some don’t. As to obelisks though, most choose to take the first one to the first boss, and after that it’s random chance as to where they’ll take the other ones.
The timings in this dungeon are also very specific. You have 3 minutes before the first boss if you want 3 lusts in this dungeon, so if you have short cooldowns you can use them immediately when the key starts and have them up for the boss. After that most will pull as much trash as they have time for in the span between lust on the 1st and 2nd bosses, so ration your cooldowns in this timeframe as it is exactly 10 minutes. If you can get through all the trash up to the 3rd boss before 10 minutes are up, most pull the 3rd boss as that one will not be with lust anyway. Then go back to the 2nd boss as your lust will be back up. After that you have about 12-15 more minutes to get through the 3rd boss if you haven’t already killed it, and any obelisks and trash up to the 4th boss you need for percentage. Ration your cooldowns with this knowledge. Disclaimer – This is assuming Fortified timings and 3-minutes allotted for boss kills (which should be more than enough given Fortified kill-times are generally more around 1-2 mins).
General Route Map, non-teeming. Takes Blob with Final Boss
Trash Specifics:
A note before we begin, most mobs in this dungeon will appear in multiple places, so I’ll just be mentioning them in order of appearance, and any troublesome packs they appear in as they come up.
Fetid Maggot will do a frontal cone that’s more of a very long line spew of bad. Watch to not be in front of this mob, and if you can, stun this mob to interrupt its cast. Any cc works with this mob too, Like Imprison or Sap. This mob is not as important to stun as certain other mobs you can pull with it later, just watch its frontal cone. The Chosen Blood Matron will dash to a chosen player and do a cartoonish windup before doing a frontal cone of damage. To not stand in this attack, watch for where the Matron is standing when DBM tells you she’s casting Savage Cleave, or if you see her dash quickly to a player. If you’re targeted with this, sidestepping the frontal is the easiest way to get out of it. The Devout Blood Priest will be constantly casting, so any prolonged silence on this mob would be useful. The most important thing to kick on her is her Dark Reconstruction, which fills her health bar back to full. This is cast preceded directly by Gift of G’huun, which puts a 20-ish second buff on one of the other mobs you’re fighting her with. This buff can be consumed if the Priest gets her cast off. This buff prevents the mob it’s on from dying, and increases their damage done by 100%, so it’s very important to consume if it does get off, and if your party does not have a consume class it’s much more important to kick.
The Fanatical Headhunters will periodically root players for 4 seconds, doing some small damage to them. You could probably stun this but it’s not too important. Underrot Ticks should be burst down with AoE, unless you’re in Bursting week. Pull them on their own because they do a small bleed that starts to start to hurt if they stay alive too long. The final mob before the first boss is the Befouled Spirit. We used to pull this all the time, but we tend to skip the packs with these in them now with the obelisk. Still, for prosperity’s sake I’ll discuss what they do. If you ever pull a pack with one of these, they are the focus target because they do a single-target channeled DoT on a random player and every once and a while do damage to the whole party. Any player targeted with the channeled DoT (Dark Omen) should use a defensive or shadowmeld it off if they’re too low on HP.
Generally, after the first boss people thread the needle between the Fetid Maggot pack on the left and the large pack on the right, but if you want you can pull either or both of those packs. On Teeming you need stealth or VERY good timing to thread the same needle, as both of those packs are multiplied by teeming. I’d recommend either pulling one of those packs (Preferably the Fetid Pack as in my opinion it’s easier) or having a rouge cloak the group through or just using stealth pots. After getting past those packs you will enter the 2nd boss room, with multiple new enemy types.
Living Rot functions in a similar way to Embalming Fluid in Kings’ Rest, as it spews green bad on the floor in swirlies that then go away, and more permanent green bad under it. Stay light on your feet and you’ll be fine, though do watch for back-pulling more of the room when killing the first 3-pack of these mobs. Diseased Lashers have one ability, but it’s a nasty one. Called Decaying Mind, the lasher casts it every once and a while and if it’s not kicked it will silence and stun the player it’s being cast on for 30 seconds or until dispelled. Because of this I’d avoid pulling more than 2 at once in any pug, as any overlapping kicks would likely spell a wipe on more than 2. There is a 3-pack that some pull, and it’s entirely possible and even easy with good communication, but without it it’s a gamble. The final new mob in the 2nd boss room is the Feral Bloodswarmer, which has two abilities. First is Sonic Screech which interrupts any channeled ability or spellcasting. Second is Thirst for Blood, which will focus a random player and follow them, with any melee attacks this mob does to the focused player dealing a stacking DoT. Stuns, slows, roots and snares, as well as many cc effects like Imprison or Sap will stop this mob from hitting its target. Always focus this add first and try not to pull more than 1 at a time, 2 if absolutely necessary. If your group has cooldowns and wants to pull big, use stuns or roots to mitigate this mob’s ability to cause harm. I’m not sure if other cc effects do this but Imprison will often force the Bloodswarmer to swap targets, so if it’s on someone with low health that might be a good thing to use. Also – a note to if you’re running away from this Swarmer, DO NOT leap away, it will just charge you. If you can, use your movement abilities to stay just out of range of it, and keep moving.
There are 3 packs throughout this dungeon with 1 Fallen Deathspeaker and varying 3-5 Reanimated Guardians. They’re generally easy so I’d recommend pulling all of them cause they’re good for percentage. A mass silence would be good for this pack given they all use interruptible casts. The Deathspeaker will periodically summon more Guardians with Raise Dead, so kick that. And the Guardians will cast Bone Shield, which can either be kicked or consumed after it’s cast, though consuming that is generally a waste of time as it’s a very small shield. Another thing to note is the Fallen Deathspeakers’ enrage that he casts. It’s uninterruptable, but it is stunnable though he will end up just trying to cast it again most of the time. If you have a druid or hunter who can sooth this is a non-problem. If you don’t, just try to focus down the Deathspeaker and maybe stun the enraged Guardian to help out your tank. The Grotesque Horror spawns from blood pools on the floor and will not move. It constantly casts Death Bolt, and only pauses for a bit when kicked. It can also be stunned, but that will simply make it start right back up casting when the stun wears off. Bloodsworn Defilers are debatably the most annoying mob in this dungeon. Shadow Bolt Volley and Withering Curse need to be interrupted, and these mobs cannot be mass silenced. This means very specific coordination needs to be employed to get all these casts kicked, especially on the 2-pack of these before the 2nd boss. On Teeming this pack also comes with a Fallen Deathspeaker, so your group will have to watch casts on that mob too, though less important than anything the Defilers cast, Raise Dead can be an annoying time-sink that (I’m almost positive) doesn’t give percent. Summon Spirit Drain Totem can be kicked but it’s a fast cast and with all the other kicks on these mobs I’d just let it go out and then run away from the Totems before they go off. Outranging the Spirit Drain Totem is surprisingly easy, it’s only about a 10-yard range so simply backtracking a bit will do the trick.
The only new trash mob after the 3rd boss is the Faceless Corruptor, who has two main that cannot be stunned or kicked. These are Maddening Gaze and Abyssal Reach. The former is a narrow cone (more like straight line) in front of the mob that players must step out of. Sadly, the tank cannot simply point him away from the group, as he faces one of the players at random to cast this. Simply side-step this ability and you’ll be fine. Abyssal Reach spawns multiple tentacles near or at players’ feet. These tentacles will slam the ground towards the closest player, but it’s AoE is quite small. Just step out of range of the tentacles when they go off. If correctly done, these Corruptors can be very easily turned into an easy dance where everyone stacks together for Maddening Gaze, goes behind the adds, and then when Abyssal Reach goes out they all come back together away from the tentacles ready for the next Gaze cast. Thankfully the final two-pack of these sync up well together cast-wise, so you can just do mechanics as if you were dealing with only one of these mobs.
If you try to enter the final obelisk on the south side of the room instead of taking it with the last boss, there is some tricky placement with a Grotesque Horror, a Bloodsworn Defiler, and a pathing Faceless Corruptor. If your tank is not careful, he will wait for the Corruptor to path away and then pull the Horror and Defiler, and your group will likely not get those down before the Corruptor gets back, automatically chain-pulling that and maybe wiping your group. It’s important for your tank to pull the Corruptor first, without pulling the Horror or Defiler (if you’d like you can pair this with one of the Horrors outside that corner that’s okay, just be careful about kicks) and once those are down you can pull the Horror/Defiler pack before that obelisk safely.
Also, just a general note – be careful when pulling any Horror with a Defiler, as both need constant babysitting in the form of kicks that if you miss will start seriously hurting your group. Mass silence and stuns do work on the Horror but not the Defiler, so if your tank pulls both maybe just slap the Horror with a stun or silence of some sort and focus down the Defiler.
Affixes Effects:
Once again, Tyrannical takes the cake here as the more annoying of the two options for the first affix slot. Elder Leaxa is still a joke, but Cragmaw and Sporecaller can be team-breakers depending on whether your dps know mechanics and can bring themselves to stop dps for 2 seconds to do them. Abomination in my experience is less bad of a fight, but if anyone in your group stands in the wrong place it can wipe you. Though, in my experience if you can get through the middle two bosses your group is probably good enough to finish the last boss without too much trouble. For the second affix slot, I think the most annoying are the usual suspects, Bolstering and Bursting. Though maybe weighted a bit more towards Bolstering, as it makes big pulls a bit more tedious and chain-pulling the 2nd boss room is way too fun to not do. The only Bursting pack you need to worry about is the Underrot Ticks, and just dropping Darkness or an immunity can get you past that if your group refuses to stop dps. If you end up doing this on Teeming your biggest concern is the ‘thread the needle’ after Elder Leaxa. If you choose to pull the 4-Fetid Maggot pack, do watch where they’re pointing and use stuns liberally. Tanks if pulling this pack will likely want to pop defensives. Teeming doesn’t mess with this dungeon too much more than that, to the best of my knowledge. Just watch your percentage, as it is always with Teeming.
The rank 3 affixes generally follow how they are on the rest of the dungeons, nothing in this dungeon really makes any of those much worse than they already are. Of course, Grievous and Necrotic are generally accepted as the worst, but nothing in this dungeon exacerbates these problematic affixes too much. Just watch your damage taken and be liberal with defensives on the 2nd and 3rd bosses, especially if you’re running on Grievous week. Obelisks are generally placed okay in this dungeon, and I like that it makes us explore the south-west corner before the 4th boss we’d never really had any reason to go to. It’s entirely feasible to take an obelisk with the last boss, maybe even on Tyrannical, depending on the key level and your tank. Most take the south-west corner obelisk, only taking a different one if it’s the fear boss instead of the blob or spider.
Bosses:
Elder Leaxa
This boss is the easiest of all the bosses in this place. She has 3 mechanics and none of them are threatening, really. First is Blood Mirror where she spawns a clone of herself. Just cleave that down, no need to focus it. Next is Sanguine Feast – Don’t stand in the red around the boss when this goes off. Finally is Creeping Rot – watch for the green stuff and don’t stand in it. It moves at a snail’s pace though so don’t worry if you’re initially in its way, you’ll probably be able to sidestep it with minimal difficulty. Oh, and you can kick Blood Bolt if you feel like it. I genuinely don’t think there’s any good reason to kick this. Let me know if this actually hurts on higher Tyrannical keys.
Cragmaw the Infested
This boss’s major abilities all stem from its central mechanic – spawning blood ticks. The boss will charge a random player, cast Indigestion as a frontal cone, and every once and a while cast Tantrum, all spewing out small grubs that must be stepped on to be killed. If not stepped on, they will eventually do a short bubbling animation and then turn into Blood Ticks. You can have everyone stand between the boss and a wall to bait his charge – but that’s not necessary to kill this thing. As a dps or healer, try to save movement abilities for his Tantrum phase and each grab a slice of the room to cover for Ticks. As a tank you should also do that, but also make sure to bring the boss to any remaining blood ticks whenever possible, like for Indigestion and Charge. This will make it much more likely any dps will be willing to go and walk over the ticks before they spawn. This is a simple fight in theory, but if you don’t get the blood ticks down fast, they will kill your tanks with bleeds. Even if just one is up, focus it down before getting back on the boss if you can. This fight can get out of hand fast, do don’t be scared to stop dps to do mechanics. Oh, and don’t stand in front of his charge or frontal cone, those do hurt. Wait till they’re done to squish ticks.
Sporecaller Zancha
This guy’s entire fight consists of him spawning green mushrooms around the circumference of the circle in his boss room, and us trying to get rid of them however possible. The fight goes through cycles; the cycle starts when he summons mushrooms and ends when he casts Festering Harvest. Between his initial summoning of mushrooms and the Harvest cast you have about 2-3 of the tank clear ability (Shockwave), and 2-3 casts of Upheaval from the boss, targeting two random dps with their clear ability. You may have different amounts of Upheaval and Shockwave for the first or second cycle comparatively, because Shockwave and Upheaval are on different timers than the summoning of mushrooms and Festering Harvest, making it not line up perfectly. Festering Harvest will then have him channel sucking up all the mushrooms and for each one not destroyed he will put a DoT on the entire group as if everyone had run across the mushrooms.
Because his cast basically makes the damage across the raid group 5 times more than if one person had run over the mushrooms to destroy them, it’s generally good for people to run over any remaining mushrooms before this cast goes off. Be aware this hurts a lot, so either only take 2-3 mushrooms with a mild defensive or go full out and immunity walking over all the mushrooms. Something additional to mention about Shockwave – it is a frontal cone that does hurt players, and the tank must stand in it; so, watch the front of the boss and don’t stand there if you’re not the tank. The final mechanic to mention would be Volatile Pods for which he summons balls that float across the room in straight lines. It’s useful to orient your camera directly above your head for learning this mechanic, as there are a lot of balls coming at your character from all directions. After you’ve learned this a bit better you don’t strictly have to use this bird’s eye view, but it is helpful.
Unbound Abomination
This boss is certainly odd in the way we kill it. He cannot be damaged directly, as all damage we do to him goes into increasing his blood bar thingy, which makes him summon Blood Visages. Titan Keeper Hezrel will kill these given about 5 seconds, so we as players really don’t need to worry about downing them. Each one of these Visages killed results in 17% of the boss’s health being knocked off, and multiple Blood Visages spawn every time we fill his blood energy bar. This means that we need to fill his energy bar about 5ish times, with the last time you fill it before he dies always happening at 29%. The next mechanic this boss has is that it applies a stacking DoT called Putrid Blood to the party members, which can and should be cleared by everyone standing in the Cleansing Light circle targeted on a random player. DO NOT try to clear the floor with this ability if you are targeted with it. Stack on the tank and wait until it goes off.
Vile Expulsion will do a very large cone of bad in front of the boss, facing a random player. After casting this cone, he will also randomly drop pools of bad where players were standing when he was casting. Because of all this, the accepted strategy is for everyone to stack on the tank, with the boss facing at an angle towards the outside of the room. Then, when he casts Vile Expulsion he will stay facing at an angle towards the outside of the room – at this time the group should move though his legs to avoid the initial cone. After he’s done casting, the tanks should move the boss out of any remaining stuff and face him back towards the bad he’s just put on the ground. Everyone should stack back up with the tank, and the process repeats. Generally, everyone should try and stay in melee range to make this and the Cleansing Light circle work. If you’re at range, it’s likely you’ll either get no heals or stand in bad.
An additional note for if you end up doing this with an obelisk. Make sure you’re focusing down the obelisk boss first, but also make sure you keep doing the dance I described for the main boss just now. If you let the obelisk boss distract you or disorient you, it can spell a wipe. The only Obelisk Boss that makes this too much harder is the Blob, for which you kind of need to keep moving. My best advice with this one is to watch your DBM timers and make sure you’re stacked on the tank (or close to him) when Vile Expulsion starts casting. If you get the blob down fast though, this doesn’t end up being too much of a problem. Just stay nimble and you’ll be fine.