The Coiled Altar
The Venomous Abyss · boss 7 of 8
The spirit of Malacrass will not release his grip on Zul'jan so easily. At the Coiled Altar, the shaman commands the warrior to enact the final ritual to unleash Ula'tek on the Amani--for revenge, and to gain their promised reward.
Zul'jan, then Malacrass, then both together and soulbound. Each act has one thing you must destroy on time: Coalesced Venom, then Manifestations of Dread, then the Veil before Eternal Nightfall.
Fight the phases in order. Stage One is Zul'jan and his venom-clearing axes; Stage Two is Malacrass, his Dreadmarch manifestations and the Eternal Nightfall shield check; an intermission where he tries to revive Zul'jan; then both bosses at once, soulbound so a lone kill sends the other berserk. Bring them down together.
The spells that matter
The handful you actually react to. Hover for Blizzard's own text; click through for the full tooltip.
Toxic Deluge
Coalesced Venom
Sever
Dreadmarch
Manifestation of Dread
Soul Sever
Eternal Nightfall
Veil of Twilight
What actually kills you
Everything else is noise until these three are handled.
- Eternal Nightfall resolving with the Veil of Twilight still up. Break the shield to interrupt it or the raid dies.
- Coalesced Venom mishandled. It pulses raid damage while alive and ruptures (Venom Rupture) when destroyed, and stepping on it attaches Volatile Venom — so destroy it deliberately, at range, not by accident.
- Standing in Soul Sever's frontal cone. It stacks a vulnerability to itself and afflicts Gravebound.
Your job
If you tank
- Sever is a massive hit that also destroys Coalesced Venom — aim it usefully.
- Soul Sever is a frontal cone that afflicts Gravebound and destroys Manifestations of Dread. Point it where it helps.
- Corrupted Toxin (Stage Three Zul'jan) stacks a bleed and healing-absorb ground — plan swaps around it. Mind the Guillotine's split zones: Widow's Kiss detonates close, Widow's Touch hits everyone too far out, so hold a mid distance.
If you heal
- Fangs of the Coiled Altar (Zul'jan) and Defilement of the Coiled Altar (Stage Three) are massive raid damage plus healing absorbs — cooldown both.
- Venom Rupture fires every time a Coalesced Venom is destroyed — expect damage on every kill, not just on mistakes.
- Gravebound fractures a player's soul; they must reclaim Soul Fragments before the debuff expires or they cease to exist. Watch soul-fragment pickups in the shadow damage.
If you DPS
- Stage One: Toxic Deluge scatters Coalesced Venom — clear it deliberately with the rupture in mind.
- Stage Two: don't damage-race the Manifestations of Dread — stare them down. Unnerving Fixation only advances a Manifestation while its target isn't looking at it, and Soul Sever is what destroys them. Face your fixation.
- Break the Veil of Twilight before Eternal Nightfall resolves. This is the one non-negotiable damage check. In the intermission, stop Fragments of Malacrass reaching Zul'jan (Reclaim Essence heals him) while avoiding Spirit Erasure.
How the fight goes
| Part | What to do |
|---|---|
| Stage One: Serpent's Bargain | Zul'jan and his twin axes. Manage Coalesced Venom from Toxic Deluge and avoid the Guillotine's near/far detonations. |
| Stage Two: Usurper's Reprisal | Malacrass. Dreadmarch spawns Manifestations of Dread that fixate and advance when unobserved — stare them down and let Soul Sever destroy them. Break the Veil before Eternal Nightfall. |
| Intermission: The Claimed Vessel | Malacrass Soulbinds to Zul'jan — any healing Zul'jan takes is duplicated to Malacrass, and Fragments of Malacrass try to return to heal Zul'jan (Reclaim Essence). Stop the fragments; step on them only to trade Spirit Erasure raid damage for denying the heal. |
| Stage Three: Coiled Union | Both at once, Soulbound — kill one and the other berserks with increased attack speed and damage. Bring them down together while juggling venom, Dreadmarch, and Eternal Nightfall from both. |
Heroic vs Mythic
What changes on Heroic
- Venom Rupture now deals damage over time and stacks, so sloppy venom-clearing snowballs.
- Grim Guillotine (Stage Three Zul'jan) applies Guillotined.
- Gloombomb afflicts players it hits with Gravebound, so its placement matters far more.
What changes on Mythic
- Some Coalesced Venom warps into Virulent Mutations, and the next Toxic Deluge detonates any still alive — clearing venom becomes a hard timer.
- Manifestations of Dread are visible only to the player they fixate, and two colliding trigger Malevolent Resonance; interrupting Wail of Terror briefly reveals hidden ones.
- Guillotined becomes permanent, and Axegrinders no longer despawn — you have to actually kill them.
Loot
Everything The Coiled Altar can drop, from the Midnight Season 2 item database.
| Slot | Item |
|---|---|
| Shoulder | Soulslither Spaulders |
| Chest | Reckless Spirit Breastplate |
| Waist | Girdle of Toxic Regret |
| Waist | Sash of the Forlorn Vessel |
| Legs | Cuisses of the Uncoiled Union |
| Legs | Coiled Hex Legguards |
| Feet | Cackling Soultreads |
| Hands | Grasps of the Eternal Shadow |
| Trinket | Zul'jin's Guillotine Technique |
| Trinket | Hex Lord's Dooming Idol |
| One-hand | Baleful Hexblade |
| Back | Silken Voodoo Drape |
| Two-hand | Maze-roa, Warlord's Fury |
| Main hand | Aman'muso, Warlord's Vengeance |
Nothing matches that.
This boss drops 2 trinkets. Trinket value varies enormously by spec — see the simulated trinket rankings.
Worth a bonus roll?
That depends on how many items on this table you still want. A boss owing two or more is worth returning to; one owing a single piece is a vault pick, not a roll — the bonus roll guide explains why, and the planner works it out per spec.