Venomfall Deeps is the Nemesis Delve for Midnight Season 2, released as part of WoW Patch 12.1, but only available once Midnight Season 2 has started. This Season’s Nemesis Delve boss is called Azta’rec, and similar to previous Nemesis Delve bosses, he has two difficulties “?” and “??”. The recommended item level for the “?” version is 309.
This encounter is very difficult and punishing, so you will probably die a lot while progressing through it, especially at lower gear item levels. However, it could be worth doing especially as defeating him for the first time rewards 30 Hero Mistcrest, which do not seem to count towards the season maximum.
In this guide we show you where the Venomfall Deeps Delve is located and how to defeat Azta’rec, the Midnight Season 2 Nemesis Delve Boss, on both difficulties.
- Venomfall Deeps Delve Location
- Azta’rec Nemesis Delve Overview
- Azta’rec Nemesis Delve Strategy
- Best Valeera Setup
- Venomfall Deeps Delve Rewards
Venomfall Deeps Delve Location in WoW Midnight
The Venomfall Deeps Delve is located on the North side of The Coiled Isle, inside one of the snake buildings.
/way #2512 51.22 30.27 Venomfall Deeps Delve Location
Azta’rec “?” Difficulty Overview
If you have been doing delves you may have already encountered Azta’rec, as he can randomly appear in any Tier 8 or Higher Delve. He can also be summoned using the Scalebound Herald's Flute inside the delve.
If you have already encountered him you may have seen some of his mechanics. But we’ll break them down below so you know what you’re looking out for.
Base Mechanics
The Azta’rec fight is split in two: a main phase and an intermission which happens at 90%, 60% and 30%, he will take 99% reduced damage during the intermission.
During his main phase he will use the following abilities:
- Noxious Bile - Is a frontal cone that deals heavy damage if you remain inside it. It will also leave puddles of venom on the floor. Aim this to the outside of the room and step out of it when he has aimed it.
- Void Toxin - A dispellable magic debuff that deals heavy ticking damage and reduces the damage you deal by 40%.
- Soul Extinction - An interruptable cast that deals lethal damage if it goes off.
- Venom Storm - Summons venom waves that move slowly across the arena, they deal heavy damage if you are caught by them.
- Serpent Strike - Only used when the player is in Tank Specialization, it deals a small amount of physical damage.
Intermission
At 90%, 60% and 30% Azta’rec will move to the center of the arena and start channeling Sermon of Ula’tek. During which, the room will be split into quarters and he will cover 3 of the quarters in venom that deals heavy damage if you remain inside them. There will be an animation showing the three that will be covered and which is the safe zone.
He will do this three times (5 times on ?? difficulty) and finish channeling the Sermon of Ula’tek. After a very short duration the boss repeats the sequence of areas that were covered, and the respective safe zone for each pattern, this time without the animation, requiring you to remember the order of where is safe.
Each intermission will increase this by one for ? and ??, to make it 3,4 and then 5 for ? and 5, 6 and then 7 for ??.
Azta’rec “??” Difficulty
The “??” version is very similar to the easier version. The only major differences are that everything hurts significantly more and during the intermission phase Azta’rec will summon an Echo of Azta’rec. The Echo doesn’t have massive amounts of health, but it uses all of the same abilities that Azta’rec uses in his main phase.
Also during the intermission, there will be 2 additional times that the boss covers the floor with venom zones. This means you need to remember a pattern of 5 safe zones for when the boss repeats the sequence without showing you where the safe zones are.
Azta’rec Nemesis Delve Strategy
The Azta’rec encounter can be a little overwhelming when you first engage him, so we have outlined what we think is the best way to tackle this encounter. Before you start the fight we recommend placing 4 world markers on each of the four quarters of the room (maybe not the green one).
Main Phase
The main phase of the fight is fairly straightforward.
You should pull Azta’rec towards the edge of the room so that you can position the Noxious Bile cone away from the middle of the room to keep the center clear of venom pools.
Depending on if you have Valeera set to Healer or DPS, you will either need to keep Soul Extinction interrupted (Valeera will do this if she is DPS) or remove Void Toxin whenever it is applied (Valeera will do this if she is a Healer).
You will repeat this until Azta’rec reaches 90%, 60% or 30% health, at which point the boss will move to the middle of the room and the Intermission starts.
Intermission
The best way to deal with the intermission is to stand close to the boss. This lets you quickly get to each safe area as quickly as possible. You should try to remember where the safe zones were for each set of the Sermon of Ula’tek mechanic; marking the four quadrants with a world marker can be very helpful for this part of the boss fight.
The Azta’rec intermission goes as follows:
- The boss marks 1 safe zone and 3 covered zones.
- You then have a few seconds to quickly run into the safe zone.
- This will happen 3 times in total on ? difficulty and 5 times in total on ?? difficulty.
- He will then repeat this pattern in sequence, but without showing you the safe zone, so you need to remember the order of the previous safe zones and keep moving to the next safe zone based on memory.
- Each intermission will increase the pattern by 1 so ? Difficulty will be 3, 4 then 5 and ?? difficulty will be 5, 6 then 7.
Our recommendation is to remember the safe zone pattern based on the world markers that you placed at the start of the fight. But find what works for you.
Difficulty ?? Only: If you are doing the ?? difficulty version of the Nemesis Delve fight, then make sure you switch to the Echo of Azta’rec; keep it interrupted if Valeera is a Healer, as it will cast Soul Extinction which will one shot you if it goes off and make sure to dispel Void Toxin if you have Valeera set to DPS. Try to CC and kill the Echo as quickly as possible, as it makes the intermission much harder.
We would recommend using Heroism / Bloodlust after the final intermission on the “?” difficulty or during the final intermission on the “??” to kill the echo quicker.
Once the intermission has ended, you will repeat the main phase and enter intermission again at 60% and 30% boss health. After the final intermission at 30% you will stay in the main phase until the boss is dead.
Best Valeera Setup for the Azta’rec Nemesis Delve Boss
Depending on what role you are playing when facing Azta’rec you will probably want to change whether Valeera is a DPS, Tank or Healer.
DPS and Tank
If you are trying to defeat Azta’tec as a Tank or DPS we recommend setting Valeera to Healer. She will dispel the Void Toxin, meaning you don’t have to deal with this mechanic. But, you will have to make sure you interrupt Soul Extinction yourself.
Healer
As a healer you will need to set Valeera to DPS, this is so she will interrupt Soul Extinction. However, you will need to dispel Void Toxin.
Best Valeera Curio Build for the Azta’rec Nemesis Delve Boss
Valerra now has an additional slot, she has a Damage curio, Utility Curio and a new Poisons slot. What you choose in each slot will not really change depending on what you are playing.
Best Valeera Poison Choice
The best choice here is Frosthearth Venom, which reduces the enemy's attack and cast speed by 20%. This makes it easier to deal with Soul Extinction as a DPS or Tank, while also giving healers more time to prepare for Void Toxin Dispell.
Best Valeera Combat Curio
With only three choices available, we recommend taking Corrosive Bilespear, as it provides a significant amount of additional damage. You could also consider Ouroboric Curse; however, much of the damage in the Delve can one-shot you, making it difficult to reliably proc its effect.
Best Valeera Utility Curio
The only utility curio we recommend is Soul-Cracking Dreamcatcher. Since you need to interrupt the boss regularly, it provides a nearly permanent damage increase. Because the debuff is applied to the boss, Valeera's interrupts can keep it active even when you are playing a healer specialization.
At Rank 3 or higher, this provides a 30% damage increase. Remember that you can also crowd control the Echo of Azta’rec on “??” difficulty, causing it to take additional damage.
Venomfall Deeps Delve Rewards
Defeating Azta’rec on any difficulty during Midnight Season 2 Rewards the My Venomous Nemesis Feat of Strength, which has the additional reward of the Apophic Patagia cloak transmog.
You will also complete the Fangs For The Memories quest which will reward the Corrosive Victory Toy.
If you manage to defeat Azta’rec on “??” Difficulty you will earn the Purging The Poison achievement which rewards “the Poisonous" Title. If you manage to do it solo you will earn the Let Me Solo Him: Azta'rec achievement which rewards the Apophic Soul Crusher Mount.
Players will be able to earn the Fabled Let Me Solo Him: Azta'rec achievement by Defeating Azta'rec in his lair on Tier ?? without any other players in your party, within the first week of Midnight Season 2, which rewards the "Fabled Vanquisher of Azta'rec" title.
The Midnight Season 2 Nemesis Delve Boss, Azta’rec, looks like a fun encounter with an interesting memory game component. We hope this guide helped you better understand how to take on this encounter and earn some of the exclusive rewards.
If you are looking for more Midnight Patch 12.1 content make sure to check out our WoW Guides Hub.
