Dark Shaman Rotgouge: how to beat

Dark Shaman Rotgouge — dungeon “Quillspike — The Thorny Barrow”, level 28. The deck: phases, turn cycle, damage and healing by mode, cold, test strike, role…

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Dungeon Quillspike — The Thorny Barrow, boss 2 of 4, level 28.

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, 25–35), Keystone +10 (Mythic+, at level 60).
2 phases, 6 cards in the deck. Schools: ⚔ Physical 3, ⛰ Earth 2, 🩸 Blood 1.
“Fresh Pit” cold: every enemy turn, everyone through shields — heroic 840, keystone +10 700 to each before Hardiness. No cold in normal mode.
“Handle to the Forehead” test strike — on boss turns 9 and 16: heroic 7,000, keystone +10 8,000; 40% weaker with a defensive card on yourself.
The heaviest hit is “Handle to the Forehead”: 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. “The Job” — from the start of the fight

Down to 40% Health.

Cycle step	What the boss plays
1	⚔ Shovel
2	⚔ Shovel + ⛰ Lie There for Now
3	⚔ Leaning on the Shovel
4	⚔ Shovel + ⛰ Dirt Down the Collar
5	⚔ Shovel

2. “Overtime” — below 40% Health

Below 40%: buries more often.

On entering the phase the boss plays at once: 🩸 One More Pit.

Cycle step	What the boss plays
1	⚔ Shovel + ⛰ Lie There for Now
2	⚔ Leaning on the Shovel
3	⚔ Shovel + ⛰ Dirt Down the Collar
4	⚔ Shovel + ⛰ Lie There for Now

The “Handle to the Forehead” test strike is not part of the cycle: the boss announces it on its turns 8 and 15 and hits on turns 9 and 16.

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
⚔ Handle to the Forehead · Physical, 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 9th and 16th 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.
⚔ Shovel · Physical, hit	A hit on whoever holds the boss’s attention (usually the tank).	2,350	500	4,100	A plain hit.
⛰ Lie There for Now · Earth, swallows a fighter	Swallows a damage dealer for 2 turns: they cannot act or be healed and take a hit through shields every turn. Take 5% of the boss’s Health and it spits them out sooner.	235 per turn	50 per turn	410 per turn	The fighter is buried for 2 turns: cannot act or be healed, slowly loses Health. Take 5% of the digger's Health and dig him out sooner.
⚔ Leaning on the Shovel · Physical, opening: more damage to the boss	The boss is open: damage to it ×1.3 for 2 turns.	—	—	—	Resting: +30% damage to him for 1 party turn. Easier to dig your friend out too.
⛰ Dirt Down the Collar · Earth, damage over time	Damage over time past the tank: on a damage dealer or the healer. The number is per turn, for 3 turns. A repeat refreshes it.	353 per turn	75 per turn	615 per turn	Cold earth for 3 turns. Outheal it.
🩸 One More Pit · Blood, boss empower	The boss’s hits ×1.1 until the fight ends.	—	—	—	Stronger by 10% until the fight ends.

“Fresh Pit” cold

It breathes cold. He did not dig it for you, but it will do.

Heroic: 840 to each per enemy turn, before Hardiness.
Keystone +10: 700 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

“Handle to the Forehead” — on boss turns 9 and 16, 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 “Handle to the Forehead” test strike lands on the boss’s 9th and 16th 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.
“Shovel” hits you. Keep Taunt on rhythm: while the boss hits the tank, the rest stay whole. The heaviest is “Shovel” (“The Job” 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

“Fresh Pit” cold hits everyone through shields every enemy turn: heroic — 840, keystone +10 — 700 to each before Hardiness. Heal everyone every turn; healer cards do it best — they heal Health only.
“Dirt Down the Collar” (a damage dealer or the healer) hits past the tank. Watch everyone, not just the tank.
“Dirt Down the Collar”: damage over time — outheal it; a cleanse helps.
“One More Pit”: the boss hits harder — keep crystals and heals in reserve for those turns.

Damage dealers

“Leaning on the Shovel”: the boss is open and takes more damage — save your strong cards for that turn.
“Lie There for Now”: damage dealers save the swallowed one — take the required share of the boss’s Health and it spits them out sooner.
Do not drag it out: heroic — enrage from turn 40.

The heaviest hits

“Handle to the Forehead” — test strike, through shields.
“Shovel” — on the tank; “The Job” phase, cycle step 1.
“Dirt Down the Collar” — on a damage dealer or the healer; “The Job” phase, cycle step 4.

Loot

All of the boss’s loot with rough drop chances is in the item atlas; rules and items by boss are on the Quillspike — The Thorny Barrow page.

Previous boss — Snoutgnasher Sharpspike. Next boss — Dire Boar Crookedfang.

All bosses of the place — Quillspike — The Thorny Barrow. Rules of a fight against a boss with a deck — How to beat: every boss.