Brackenspore (Highmaul Raid) Strategy Guide

By Wowhead Updated: 2018/05/12

BrackensporeHighmaulBrackensporeWarcraft LogsLoot and RewardsSeal of Tempered Fate Bonus RollsBrackenspore

LFR (640)

Cloth: Rotmonger Bracers
Leather: Carnage Breath Gauntlets
Mail: Shoulderguards of Perpetually Exploding Fungus
Plate: Grips of Burning Infusion
Neck: Tide-Caller's Gorget
Cape: Rotmelter Mosscloak
Ring: none
Trinket: Immaculate Living Mushroom
Weapons: none

Normal, Heroic, Mythic (655, 670, 685)

Cloth: Girdle of the Infected Mind, Robes of Necrotic Whispers
Leather: Deep Walker Paulders, Sandals of Mycoid Musing
Mail: Moss-Woven Mailshirt
Plate: Fleshchewer Greatbelt, Mosscrusher Sabatons
Neck: Collar of Wailing Mouths
Cape: Cloak of Creeping Necrosis
Ring: none
Trinket: Bottle of Infesting Spores
Weapons: none
Shield: Maw of Souls

Abrogator Stonelegendary questlineLegacy of the Sorcerer KingsHighmaulBlackrock FoundryGlory of the Draenor RaiderGorestrider GronnlingBrackensporeA Fungus Among UsHighmaulBlackrock FoundryMythic Draenor RaiderReturn to Table of ContentsNotable Trash MobsIron Blood MageIron Flame TechnicianIron WarmasterIron Battle-RageSootheTranquilizing ShotIron Flame Technician

Flame Technicians will frequently move to a random player's location and then activate a flamethrower, spinning slowly in place to sweep the flames over all nearby players.

The Flamethrower damage can easily kill a player in a few seconds, so players should be aware and move away from or stay behind the Technician at all times.

Additionally, the Technicians cast Corrupted Blood on random players, which deals moderate periodic damage to the player and restores health to the Technician; healers can dispel Corrupted Blood.

Corrupted BloodBlood BoltReturn to Table of ContentsBrackenspore Tips & Strategy

Healers have a special task in this encounter; they must manage the health of beneficial mushrooms to activate effects that will greatly assist the raid in defeating Brackenspore.

Two DPS players must also take on a special task of controlling the spread of Creeping Moss by using the Blackfuse Company 9000 Flamethrowers to remove Moss as it encroaches upon the raid.

While managing all of these extra tasks and killing adds, the raid must make slow but steady progress on killing Brackenspore himself.

Fungal Flesh-EaterDecayFlesh Eater

The other adds in the encounter, Mind Fungus and Spore Shooter, cannot be moved and are of lower priority when Fungal Flesh-Eaters are alive, but should be multi-DoTted or cleaved down when convenient.

Mind Fungus debuffs nearby players with Mind Fungus, so ranged DPS and healers must move away from these mushrooms once they spawn.

Spore Shooters target random players with Spore Shot, which will detonate upon reaching any player, dealing moderate to heavy damage to all players within 8 yards; these projectiles should ideally be intercepted by ranged players before reaching the melee pile.

Living Mushroom

Rejuvenating Mushroom

There are two types of beneficial mushrooms: Living Mushroom, which will provide strong AoE healing to players within 20 yards, and Rejuvenating Mushroom, which will grant Rejuvenating Spores to players within approximately 10 yards.

Healers must heal up one Living Mushroom before Brackenspore begins using his Infesting Spores ability, so that the Living Mushroom's Living Spores can help heal the raid through the highly damaging Infesting Spores. Once Infesting Spores is over, healers can let the Living Mushroom die. Healers should keep Rejuvenating Mushrooms alive as long as possible, ideally only letting one die when another one has spawned.

Tanks should move the boss and Fungal Flesh-Eaters close to the fully-healed beneficial mushrooms so that all players can take advantage of their effects.

Creeping MossCreeping Moss

Players standing in Creeping Moss will also take damage and be slowed.

It is important for the players assigned to the Blackfuse Company 9000 Flamethrowers to be proactive in clearing Moss away from the boss, and also to keep the Moss away from Living or Rejuvenating Mushrooms.

Return to Table of ContentsTank Responsibilities

Keep Brackenspore facing away from the raid for Necrotic Breath

Taunt Fungal Flesh-Eaters and interrupt Decay

Move Brackenspore and the Fungal Flesh-Eater out of Creeping Moss if it spawns near you, and do not tank enemies in the water

Move Brackenspore to Living and Rejuvenating Mushrooms by the time they are healed to full

Tanks should swap Brackenspore on 4 stacks of Rot, and should not tank both Brackenspore and the Fungal Flesh-Eater at the same time

Use survivability cooldowns when Brackenspore casts Necrotic Breath, or when tanking a Fungal Flesh-Eater with high stacks of the Flesh Eater buff

Return to Table of ContentsDamage-Dealer Responsibilities

All DPS should kill Fungal Flesh-Eaters quickly to avoid them reaching high stacks of Flesh Eater

Ranged DPS should kill Spore Shooters, move to intercept the Spore Shot they fire at the raid, and avoid the Mind Fungus' Mind Fungus

Melee DPS should kill Mind Fungus since the Mind Fungus debuff does not affect them

Interrupt the Fungal Flesh-Eater's Decay when possible

Move into Living Mushroom's area of effect when Brackenspore casts Infesting Spores

Move into Rejuvenating Mushroom's area of effect once it is activated

Two DPS players should be assigned to use the Blackfuse Company 9000 Flamethrowers to curb the spread of Creeping Moss

Return to Table of ContentsHealer Responsibilities

Heal Living Mushrooms efficiently so that they reach full health and activate Living Spores just before Brackenspore begins to cast Infesting Spores

Keep the Living Mushroom alive long enough to heal through one Infesting Spores ability, then allow it to die

Heal Rejuvenating Mushrooms to full as quickly as possible, and keep them alive as long as possible with the help of their Rejuvenating Spores

Tanks will take heavy damage, particularly when Fungal Flesh-Eaters have several stacks of Flesh Eater

Raid cooldowns will be needed if players do not interrupt Decay, or if there is no Living Mushroom to assist in healing through Infesting Spores

At least one healer should monitor the health of the players using Flamethrower to curb the spread of Creeping Moss, as they cannot always be grouped with the raid

Return to Table of ContentsFlamethrowers' Responsibilities

Loot the Blackfuse Company 9000 Flamethrower at the start of the encounter, and be sure you can access the Extra Action Button it creates

Curb the spread of Creeping Moss by using the Blackfuse Company 9000 Flamethrowers to burn away Creeping Moss near the raid

Use the DPS boost of Burning Infusion to help kill the highest-priority target (usually the Fungal Flesh-Eater or Brackenspore) when Creeping Moss is under control

Avoid overheating the Blackfuse Company 9000 Flamethrower by terminating the Flamethrower ability before you incur Pulsing Heat

When possible, stand in the Living Mushroom's area of effect during Infesting Spores; when not possible, use a personal damage-reduction CD or self-healing abilities

Creeping Moss is spreading

Player uses Flamethrower

Creeping Moss is gone!

Return to Table of ContentsWhen to Use Bloodlust/Heroism/Time WarpBloodlustHeroismTime WarpLooking For Raid DifficultyMythic DifficultyCall of the TidesExploding FungusCall of the TidesCall of the Tides

Exploding Fungus growing

... and detonating

Exploding Fungus

These mushrooms grow for the duration of the channel, then explode, dealing heavy damage to players within 3 yards of the detonation effect.

While most of these mushrooms are easy to avoid, the mushrooms that are spawned at the very end of the channel will detonate immediately, and it is very easy for players to die to these unexpected explosions.

Infesting SporesRejuvenating SporesLay on HandsLife CocoonClarity of WillthreeBurning InfusionMethod's Mythic Brackenspore GuideReturn to Table of ContentsHighmaul Raid Guides

Highmaul Raid Overview

Kargath Bladefist Strategy Guide

The Butcher Strategy Guide

Tectus Strategy Guide

Brackenspore Strategy Guide

Twin Ogron Strategy Guide

Ko'ragh Strategy Guide

Imperator Mar'gok Strategy Guide

Return to Table of ContentsAbout the Author:Restoration Shaman@healiocentrichealiocentric ... a blog that revolves around healingReturn to Table of Contents

Comments

Comment by ThunderbirdEonar

Very nice guide...however on none of the bosses in these guides is a ranged weapon (bow or gun) mentioned as drop. As far as i know Crystalline Branch of the Brackenspore should drop from this boss.

Comment by 443457

I can confirm the bow drops.

Also, we used BL toward the end (heroic). It's not mentioned in the dungeon journal, but at some point the creeping moss grows much faster than you can kill it. We just believe it was tied to his hp since we shortened the fight time and still had trouble killing him before running out of room.

Comment by TheBaron87

Can someone explain to me the point of waiting until Infesting Spores to top off Living Mushrooms when they begin withering before that point? Confirmation that reaching full hp speeds up withering?

Comment by EmberDione

Avoid overheating the Blackfuse Company 9000 Flamethrower by terminating the Flamethrower ability before you incur Pulsing Heat

Can you clarify how to do this?

Comment by Zhadow

Brackenspore has a hard enrage at 10 minutes - at least on normal.

Comment by 642815

Another Tip about the flamethrowers. As stated if you hit the button before you reach overheat you stop it from overheating and it cools faster.

HOWEVER, I also found that if you tap the flamethrower on and off, like just a second of flame, you can still get about 2 to 3 patches of moss burned up and get even more out of your flamethrower. Doing this kept nearly the whole arena clear for our fights, while just letting it burn and turning it off before it overheats seemed to make it so that we only had one little patch of no moss to kill the boss in, and the boss usually got healed form surprise moss under his feet.

But just turning the flamethrower on for a second then turning it off, letting the flame come out in short bursts, seems to be a great help. I am also now on Flamethrower duty for all further encounters because of that little trick.

Comment by 1411502

Hi
Please could someone state how tanks are able to avoid Necrotic Breath please.
Thanks in advance

Comment by lib20078

Handy dandy macro for those assigned to flamethrower:

/click ExtraActionButton1
/stopcasting Flamethrower

1. Click to activate
2. Click again to cancel
3. Slap it on your action bar and use it in small bursts.
4. ?
5. Profit.

Comment by 1412025

If u run the Flamethrower will reset more quickly. I've tested this in raid.

Comment by rankinstein

I hate flamethrower duty.

Comment by 435308

Could it not be possible for ranged to kill the Mind Fungus? or does ranged attacking it grant ranged the debuff? I had a thought about having hunters do the flame throwers and taking down the mushrooms while the rest of the raid focused on the boss and adds. You know because hunters can run and shoot meaning they can be all over the map and still have great range to hit things.

Also what is the HP (with a min of 10 ppl in raid) of the Mind Fungus and Spore Shooter. to tie into above if they dont have that much health the 2 hunters can sacrifice their dps to focus on the Shrooms and the moss (using the above 1sec on/1 sec off method for the FT's) and that way no other dps is sacrificed to down the boss. making the fight go even faster.

Comment by Zerati

I see a lot of people have posted about the flamethrower and all have been very good tips and helpful. My guild tried this boss last night and we did great, but it was hard to tell for the flamethrower people (myself as a Destruction Warlock, and our hunter) when it was best to use the flamethrower and dps stuff down as well. We would try to just hit the moss around the mushroom spawns but we where still overpowered quickly. Could someone please suggest when it is best to use the flamethrower? Do we have to use it as often as possible and forgo DPSing until the moss is controlled? Or is the strategy we had been doing, while difficult, the best there is?

*Ashika

Comment by 912882

So after 2 weeks the most important things we have learned about killing Brackenspore are:

Keep on top of moss all the time, it doesn't look very threatening at the start but it can become bad very quickly at the end.
Do not overheat your flamethrower as it will take 10 seconds before it starts to cool down as compared to cooling down right away.

Below tip is helpful.

By Rothide
HOWEVER, I also found that if you tap the flamethrower on and off, like just a second of flame, you can still get about 2 to 3 patches of moss burned up and get even more out of your flamethrower. Doing this kept nearly the whole arena clear for our fights, while just letting it burn and turning it off before it overheats seemed to make it so that we only had one little patch of no moss to kill the boss in, and the boss usually got healed form surprise moss under his feet.

This fight can be heavy movement so we chose to move as a group with the boss to maximize space/movement/etc.

This was helpful with Mind Fungus as we were all stacked behind the boss unless moving to a mushroom so melee just turned around and smacked the mind fungus and it died very quickly. This prevented us from having to move yet again.
Staying as a group also made it easier to manage Spore Shooter's and their Spore Shot as the two people assigned to move simply stepped 8 yards out of the group to soak the shot.

And finally the mushrooms, success hinges on these a little.
Do NOT underestimate the importance of the more rare Rejuvenating Mushroom heal these up immediately and take advantage of the buff as much as possilbe. It is a raid dps increase which means a shorter fight and your healers could spam their largest heals all day and not go oom with the mana return,
The Living Mushroom is important for healing but needs to be topped up right before the Infesting Spores managing this properly will make healing this fight much easier

We found to manage mushrooms best is to assign a healer to them (we have 3 healers) and with that our up times were amazing and the fight was a breeze. Don't be shy with LoH from pallies if you need a mushroom topped up pronto.

Comment by Oxithius

Bloodlust,

We used it on the blue mushroom, when you get the +30% haste buff and more mana regen, so dps is already high, for max profit

Comment by Mouzi

About flamethrower, best is to use some class with good sprint/runspeed enhancement (you can for example still use the flamethrower while transformed to travelform as druid). This will make you able to cover more spots of moss than at normal speed. Always make sure to clear around the newly sprouted shrooms as the raid will move the boss to them for shroom benefits and you don't want the boss to heal from the moss.

Comment by veselu

Iron Battle-Rage can also be removed with Shiv.

Comment by 754390

Shadow Priests glyphed into Silence can interrupt every other cast from the Flesh-Eaters - useful if your melee are otherwise occupied.

Brackenspore (Highmaul Raid) Strategy Guide

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