Stone Gatekeeper Illyrium: how to beat

Stone Gatekeeper Illyrium — dungeon “The Dire Sanctum (West Wing — Corrupted Library)”, level 42. The deck: phases, turn cycle, damage and healing by mode,…

ReferenceBuilt from the game’s data

Loot referenceItem atlasWhat drops whereOpen the atlas

Dungeon The Dire Sanctum (West Wing — Corrupted Library), boss 2 of 4, level 42.

The boss plays its own deck: every turn it plays the next line of its phase’s cycle, with no randomness. Learn the cycle and you know what is coming. The numbers on this page are the same as in the card tooltip in combat: before Hardiness and Defender’s Stance. Mechanics in detail — Boss mechanics.

In short

Modes: Heroic (at level 60), Normal (at the place’s level, 39–49), Keystone +10 (Mythic+, at level 60).
2 phases, 7 cards in the deck. Schools: ⛰ Earth 5, 🩸 Blood 1, ⚔ Physical 1.
“Door Wide Open” cold: every enemy turn, everyone through shields — heroic 820, keystone +10 680 to each before Hardiness. No cold in normal mode.
“No Unauthorised Entry” test strike — on boss turns 7 and 15: heroic 7,000, keystone +10 8,000; 40% weaker with a defensive card on yourself.
The heaviest hit is “No Unauthorised Entry”: heroic 7,000, keystone +10 8,000.

Phases and turn cycle

The phase changes with the boss’s Health. In each phase the boss goes round its own cycle: at the end it starts again. The boss’s next turn shows on its portrait.

1. “No Entry” — from the start of the fight

Down to 35% Health.

Cycle step	What the boss plays
1	⛰ Boulder Fist
2	⛰ Boulder Fist + ⛰ Stones from the Cornice
3	⛰ Closing the Hall
4	⛰ Boulder Fist
5	⛰ Turned to Stone
6	⛰ Boulder Fist + ⛰ Stones from the Cornice

2. “Cracked” — below 35% Health

Below 35%: angrier, the doors more often.

On entering the phase the boss plays at once: 🩸 Cracked.

Cycle step	What the boss plays
1	⛰ Boulder Fist + ⛰ Stones from the Cornice
2	⛰ Closing the Hall
3	⛰ Boulder Fist + ⛰ Stones from the Cornice
4	⛰ Turned to Stone

The “No Unauthorised Entry” test strike is not part of the cycle: the boss announces it on its turns 6 and 14 and hits on turns 7 and 15.

Cards and numbers

The number is what a hit takes before Hardiness (through shields — from Health only), how much the boss heals itself, the shield it puts up, a minion’s Health. A dash means the card is not in that mode or has no number. Keystone: +10 numbers; hits are the same from +7 to +9 and weaker per level below +7.

Card	What it does	Heroic	Normal	Keystone +10	How to answer
⛰ No Unauthorised Entry · Earth, test strike	A test strike on whoever holds the boss’s attention (usually the tank). The boss announces it on its own, outside the cycle, and hits on its 7th and 15th turn; one turn before, there is a countdown on the portrait and a warning above your hand. The target plays a defensive card on themselves before the hit — it is 40% weaker. Not in normal mode. Through shields.	7,000 · with a defensive card 4,200	—	8,000 · with a defensive card 4,800	Test strike, one turn of warning. The tank plays a defensive card, the healer tops him up in advance.
⛰ Boulder Fist · Earth, hit	A hit on whoever holds the boss’s attention (usually the tank).	2,350	500	4,100	A plain hit.
⛰ Stones from the Cornice · Earth, hit on everyone	A hit on everyone: the number is for each. Shields hold half.	317	45	369	Half through shields, at everyone. Party healing.
⛰ Closing the Hall · Earth, charge	A charge: in 2 turns it hits everyone, the number is for each. Take 6% of the boss’s Health during the countdown and the charge breaks. Once broken, the boss plays “The Doors Jammed”. Shields hold half, ignores 50% of Hardiness.	1,058	150	1,230	2 turns of warning. Take 6% of his Health and the doors jam. Otherwise half through shields at everyone.
⚔ The Doors Jammed · Physical, opening: more damage to the boss	The boss is open: damage to it ×1.35 for 2 turns.	—	—	—	Yanking the doors: +35% damage for 1 party turn.
⛰ Turned to Stone · Earth, guard: less damage to the boss	The boss guards: damage to it ×0.5 for 2 turns.	—	—	—	For 1 party turn damage to him is halved. Hold your big cards.
🩸 Cracked · Blood, boss empower	The boss’s hits ×1.15 until the fight ends.	—	—	—	Stronger by 15% until the fight ends.

“Door Wide Open” cold

The hall is closed. Nobody has seen the doors shut in two hundred years.

Heroic: 820 to each per enemy turn, before Hardiness.
Keystone +10: 680 to each per enemy turn, before Hardiness.
Hits every fighter in the party through shields; Hardiness reduces it — better gear takes less.
The answer is healing every turn: shields do not stop cold. Healer cards do it best — they heal Health only.
No cold in normal mode.

Test strike

“No Unauthorised Entry” — on boss turns 7 and 15, through shields, on whoever holds the boss’s attention (usually the tank). On heroic, while the party’s tank is alive, it goes to the tank. Not in normal mode.
Heroic: 7,000 before Hardiness; 4,200 if the target answered with a defensive card.
Keystone +10: 8,000 before Hardiness; 4,800 if the target answered with a defensive card.
One turn before the hit there is a countdown on the portrait and a warning above your hand. The target plays a defensive card on themselves: a self-shield, damage reduction or “cannot be killed”. A card someone else plays on the target does not count.

Enrage

Heroic: from party turn 40, every boss turn is 4% stronger, and it stacks.
Normal: as before — if the fight drags on past its expected length, the boss hits harder every turn.
Keystone +10: as before — if the fight drags on past its expected length, the boss hits harder every turn.

Roles

Tank

The “No Unauthorised Entry” test strike lands on the boss’s 7th and 15th turn (heroic and keystone +10). One turn before, play a defensive card on yourself — a self-shield, damage reduction or “cannot be killed”: the hit becomes 40% weaker. Keep such a card in hand for those turns.
Shields do not stop this hit: the healer tops up your Health before it.
“Boulder Fist” hits you. Keep Taunt on rhythm: while the boss hits the tank, the rest stay whole. The heaviest is “Boulder Fist” (“No Entry” phase, cycle step 1).
Do not fall: on heroic, mythic and in keystones, without a living tank the boss’s hits on its focus go through shields. A resident can be the tank too.

Healer

“Door Wide Open” cold hits everyone through shields every enemy turn: heroic — 820, keystone +10 — 680 to each before Hardiness. Heal everyone every turn; healer cards do it best — they heal Health only.
“Closing the Hall” and “Stones from the Cornice” hit everyone. Before such turns, get everyone above half Health; they all go half through shields: shields hold half, the rest hits Health.
“Cracked”: the boss hits harder — keep crystals and heals in reserve for those turns.

Damage dealers

“The Doors Jammed”: the boss is open and takes more damage — save your strong cards for that turn.
“Turned to Stone”: less damage to the boss — hit the adds or hold your cards on those turns.
“Closing the Hall” can be broken: take 6% of the boss’s Health during the countdown and there is no hit.
Do not drag it out: heroic — enrage from turn 40.

The heaviest hits

“No Unauthorised Entry” — test strike, through shields.
“Boulder Fist” — on the tank; “No Entry” phase, cycle step 1.
“Closing the Hall” — on everyone, half through shields, ignores 50% of Hardiness; “No Entry” phase, cycle step 3.

Loot

All of the boss’s loot with rough drop chances is in the item atlas; rules and items by boss are on the The Dire Sanctum (West Wing — Corrupted Library) page.

Previous boss — Shadowmor, the Ghostly Librarian. Next boss — Spellslinger Ghost Ka'Driss.

All bosses of the place — The Dire Sanctum (West Wing — Corrupted Library). Rules of a fight against a boss with a deck — How to beat: every boss.