Shadow Resistance for Mother Shahraz

Mother Shahraz is the seventh boss in Black Temple and the only TBC Classic encounter where raid-wide resistance gear is recommended. She has several abilities which affect random members of the raid. All of which inflict shadow damage. Resistance gear significantly reduces this damage, making the fight more manageable for healers and keeping more DPS alive. This guide will go over the options available to reach the shadow resistance cap for the Mother Shahraz encounter.

Updated December 30, 2021 – This post has been significantly updated to reflect the reports and recommendations coming out of Phase 3 PTR. It now recommends aiming for ~150 shadow resistance rather than planning to hit the resistance cap.

How Much Shadow Resistance Do I Need?

Early Shadow Resistance Set | Rocket Boots

Later Shadow Resistance Set | Shadow Resistance Cap

Shadow Resistance Gear Recipes | Heart of Darkness Bottleneck

Cauldron of Major Shadow Protection

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How Much Shadow Resistance Do I Need for Mother Shahraz?

~150 Shadow Resistance from gear to start, less later on

Most original Burning Crusade guides advocated for resistance cap (295 unbuffed), which is doable with the new shadow resistance gear introduced alongside Black Temple. But testing on the Burning Crusade Classic PTR (public test realm) is showing guilds getting past Mother Shahraz with 100-150 shadow resistance unbuffed.

Two things to keep in mind as you read PTR reports:

1. Mother Shahraz appears to be in a post-nerf state. Currently, Blizzard is stating this is known and intended. So until they say otherwise it is safe to base plans on current PTR data.
2. The guilds clearing Black Temple on PTR are typically among the top raiders in the game. Players who put in enough time and effort to run PTR content in addition to normal content. They’ll have faster kill times than most and can get away with less shadow resistance as a result.

Setting your initial gearing goal for ~150 is a good start for either current PTR data or old guides. You’ll be limited on how much shadow resistance your entire raid team can reasonably collect before Phase 3 launches.

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Recommended Shadow Resistance Gear – Early Set

Here is the recommended set of shadow resistance gear you should aim for having during your first weeks raiding Black Temple.

Medallion of Karabor = 40 SR

• Quest reward neck received while gaining Black Temple attunement
• The quest isn’t available until Phase 3, DO NOT VENDOR
• Later upgraded to Blessed Medallion of Karabor with the same shadow resistance by killing Illidan

Everyone attuning for Black Temple will get this quest reward after the start of Phase 3. It comes from a Shadowmoon Valley quest after the Mount Hyjal quest we’re on now.

Random Green of Shadow Protection head item = 28-37 SR + Glyph of Shadow Warding = 20 SR

Trying to collect a bunch of random green shadow resistance pieces gets expensive and hurts your primary stats. A headpiece with the best shadow resistance enchant available is your single best item before the new crafted gear is available.

Search the auction house for head items with “shadow protection” levels 61-70. On Pagle-Alliance I’ve seen plate ones for ~100 gold or less, but cloth ones are starting at ~300 gold. News from the PTR can affect prices. Likewise, prices may go up when Phase 3 dates are announced, and I would expect prices to come down after Phase 3 is released.

Night’s End = 40 SR + Enchant Cloak – Greater Shadow Resistance = 15 SR

Total mats to gather now:

• Bolt of Imbued Netherweave x1
• Primal Life x2
• Primal Shadow x10
• Large Prismatic Shard x4
• Void Crystal x1

This is the crafted shadow resistance cloak from Black Temple. It does require the new and likely bottlenecked Heart of Darkness, but it only requires 1 per cloak. Full clears of Hyjal and Black Temple on the PTR are reportedly dropping between 7-15 per run.

The alternative is for every raider to buy 2 random green “of Shadow Protection pieces (in addition to the head below) to make up the numbers. That will cost individuals more gold and the raid will have less DPS/healing output.

~150 Shadow Resistance Achieved

With these three pieces (and enchants) you’ll have 143-152 shadow resistance unbuffed. Right in the sweet spot being reported by PTR kills of Mother Shahraz.

Raiders can collect materials for their cloak + enchant now and everyone will have the neck by the time they get into Black Temple.

The helm will be pricy if you’re just now shopping for one, but you have time to earn extra gold if needed.

Guild leaders will want to allocate the first 24 Heart of Darkness (the main tank on Mother Shahraz doesn’t wear resistance gear) to cloaks. If you’re not reaching Mother your first week I would wait and make sure those go to raiders who are present for your first attempt.

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Alternative Early Shadow Resistance Gear

There are other paths toward ~150 shadow resistance, but these will be less doable or desirable by many raiders.

Repurpose Tier 4 Armor

If you still have a full set of armor from the Burning Crusade Phase 1 you can look into turning it into a shadow resistance set. You’ll need to swap out a lot more pieces, but each piece will give you better stats than just stamina and resistance.

Void Sphere = 4 SR each

Replace all your gem sockets with Void Spheres. With ~10 sockets from a full set of armor, you’d be looking at 40 shadow resistance total.

Shadow Armor Kit = 8 SR each

Apply Shadow Armor kits to your old chest, hands, legs, and feet armor. All four give you 32 shadow resistance total. You could also go back to Azeroth for Shadow Guard for your legs, giving you another 2 SR.

Glyph of Shadow Warding = 20 SR

Enchant your old helm.

Enchant Cloak – Greater Shadow Resistance = 15 SR

Enchant your old cloak.

Include the Medallion of Karabor quest reward and you’re looking at ~147 shadow resistance unbuffed. With every piece of armor also giving you beneficial stats.

Plan Out Before You Commit

You should plan ahead before committing to this gearing path.

One, you need nearly a full set of replacement armor available. If you disenchanted your old gear it is gone. If you vendored it you can get it back, but only one piece every 15 days. You could re-run Phase 1 raids, but there isn’t a lot of time before Phase 3’s launch. If you don’t already have the needed armor go with another approach.

Two, there is little gold savings compared to the recommended set. The cost of Void Spheres and armor kits equals the more expensive shadow resistance helms.

Two Other Shadow Protection Items Instead of a Helm

If you can’t find any “of Shadow Protection” helms you can use most any two 61+ “of Shadow Protection” green items to get the same effect.

When looking at other shadow resistance gear keep these things in mind:

• Must be for a slot other than neck or back, you should also avoid wrists as that is the next crafted slot
• Combined shadow resistance should be 48 or more

You can use shadow resistance enchants to help hit your target number with random green items.

• Shoulders: Inscription of Endurance = 7 SR (for shadow resistance shoulders)
• Chest, Hands, Legs, Feet: Shadow Armor Kit = 8 SR each
• Legs: Shadow Guard = 10 SR (if going back to Azeroth is worth the extra 2 points for you)

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Rocket Boots

You might see rocket boots mentioned as recommended gear for Mother Shahraz. This is for her Fatal Attraction ability. When cast three random players are teleported together and given a debuff which causes shadow damage to everyone around them. The debuff can be removed once the original three players get 25 yards away from each other.

The various rocket boots grant a sudden boost in running speed, allowing one to clear the distance much more quickly. This in turn reduces total damage given to the raid. The more players who use rocket boots the less Fatal Attraction causes raid-wide damage.

Given the engineering profession is required, most guilds can’t rely on this strategy instead of shadow resistance gear. But all engineers in the raid should consider using rocket boots for this encounter as a bonus.

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Recommended Shadow Resistance Gear – Later Set

Focus on crafting the back and either the wrist or waist for everyone

After your guild has been running Mount Hyjal and Black Temple for a few weeks you can look at crafting more shadow resistance gear.

Going by PTR reports we don’t expect to need a full set for the entire raid. A few crafted pieces should be a more ideal setup to maximize DPS and minimize deaths.

The back should be the first priority, as it provides the most shadow resistance per Heart of Darkness (once enchanted). Aim for that your first week or two of Phase 3 content.

The wrist or waist should be your next priority. The wrist only requires one Heart of Darkness, while the waist needs two. The wrist is a more efficient early use of HoD, but if you stop using your green helm you’ll end up with a bit less shadow resistance. That may not be an issue a few weeks in, as your raid team will have received new upgrades during that same time.

Going with the waist costs more HoD, but you can remove your helms (which is a significant boost in performance) and still have 149 shadow resistance across the team.

The feet and legs will likely not be required for most raiders. They are good pieces for anyone wanting to hit shadow resistance cap. But given we’re expecting a post-nerf version of Mother Shahraz from the start it is probably too much.

No More Shadow Resistance Later On

With enough upgrades, many guilds will find they need less or even no shadow resistance for Mother Shahraz. It all comes down to your kill time. The faster she dies the fewer RNG events she can execute. Causing less raid damage overall and less chance of targeting a more critical member of your team.

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Shadow Resistance Cap for Mother Shahraz

A quest reward and five crafted pieces will let you hit the resistance cap

Guides dating back to the original Burning Crusade recommended the entire raid go for the shadow resistance cap, which is 295 before buffs. Based on newer data from the Burning Crusade Classic PTR that no longer appears to be required. Primarily because Mother Shahraz is in a post-nerf state, causing less damage overall.

That said, those wishing to achieve the shadow resistance cap can do so fairly easily. It only takes some crafting mats and enough time to collect Hearts of Darkness.

Quest Rewards

Medallion of Karabor = 40 SR

• Quest reward neck received while gaining Black Temple attunement
• The quest isn’t available until Phase 3, DO NOT VENDOR
• Later upgraded to Blessed Medallion of Karabor with the same shadow resistance by killing Illidan

Crafted Gear

Craft shadow resistance gear in this order: cloak -> wrist -> waist -> feet -> legs

That order makes the best use of early, but limited Heart of Darkness supplies. The legs alone increase the number of hearts you need by 33%.

Skip Leg Day

You can skip the crafted legs altogether if you like. You’ll need to make additions to your resistance set.

• Random Green of Shadow Protection head item (level 61+) = 28-37 SR
• Glyph of Shadow Warding = 20 SR
• Enchant Cloak – Greater Shadow Resistance = 15 SR
• Shadow Armor Kit = 8 SR (applied to crafted feet)

These changes plus the quest necklace and the rest of the crafted gear will get you over 295 shadow resistance unbuffed. Saving a significant amount of materials by not making the matching legs.

Total Shadow Resistance = 370

All pieces combined give you 300 shadow resistance. Add Prayer of Shadow Protection II (70 SR) from your priests and you’ll be 5 over the cap.

All shadow resistance items can use your BiS enchants. All other slots can have your regular raid gear. And you can use your usual raid consumables. Optimal performance while hitting shadow resistance cap.

Required Materials

All raiders planning to go into Black Temple should start collecting mats for their shadow resistance set ASAP. Prices and competition will only increase as we get closer to Phase 3.

All sets use mostly the same kind and amount of materials. Each armor type only has one unique item (cloth use extra Bolt of Imbued Netherweave). Hold on to the mats, for now. You will not be able to craft any of the gear until you’re done at least a partial run of Black Temple.

Best Ways To Collect Your Mats

Fel Hide – Leather Armor

• Skinners can farm these mobs:
  • Spawn of Uvuros
  • Artifact Seeker
  • Blackwind Warp Chaser
  • Void Terror
  • Warp Chaser
• Inexpensive on most servers to buy

Fel Scales – Mail Armor

• Very cheap on most auction houses, just buy (even if a skinner)

Adamantite Bar – Plate Armor

• Price check the bars vs the ore (2 ore = 1 bar), provided a guild miner is willing to smelt for you
• Adamantite prices might drop significantly closer to Phase 3; new epic gems will be replacing rare gems, making Adamantite Ore less valuable

Bolt of Imbued Netherweave

• Neatherweave Cloth x18
• Arcane Dust x2
• Farm humanoids for the cloth and ask a guild disenchanter to break down any green items you get for dust
• It is usually cheaper to buy the raw mats and then ask a guild tailor to create the bolts for you

Primal Life

• Farm any creature in Zangarmarsh for Mote of Life (10 motes = 1 primal)
• The Dead Mire (NE) and the area south of Zabra’jin will have a high density of giants with the best drop rates, but may also be heavily farmed
• If buying price out both Primal Life and Mote of Life x10 for the best deal
• It is not worth transmuting, you’ll get better results with selling the item from a more profitable transmutation and buying what you need

Primal Shadow

• Farm voids southwest from the Dark Portal and west of Expedition Armory
• Can also farm voids around Oshu’Gun in Nagrand
• If buying price out both Primal Shadow and Mote of Shadow x10 for the best deal
• It is not worth transmuting, you’ll get better results with selling the item from a more profitable transmutation and buying what you need

Void Crystal

• Created by disenchanting Outland epics
• Check with your guild leaders to see if some are available from unwanted raid loot
• Inexpensive on most servers to buy

Heart of Darkness

• Will be collected by your raid inside Mount Hyjal and Black Temple, don’t worry about them until Phase 3 arrives
• They are also used for some non-resistance epic crafting, so expect your guild to control your supply for a while

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Shadow Resistance Gear Recipes

Recipes for the shadow resistance gear you’ll want for Mother Shahraz are all tied to the Ashtongue Deathsworn faction. You’ll start gaining rep with them by working on the Black Temple attunement quests. Once you complete that quest series (after Phase 3 releases, as you need to go into Mount Hyjal) you’ll be Friendly. Further rep gains are made by running Black Temple.

Each profession can get half of their shadow resistance recipes at Friendly and the other half at Honored.

Tailoring (Cloth Armor)

• Wrist – Friendly
• Waist – Friendly
• Back – Honored
• Legs – Honored
• Feet – Honored

Leatherworking (Leather Armor)

• Waist – Friendly
• Legs – Friendly
• Wrist – Honored
• Feet – Honored

Leatherworking (Mail Armor)

• Wrist – Friendly
• Feet – Friendly
• Waist – Honored
• Legs – Honored

Blacksmithing (Plate Armor)

• Wrist – Friendly
• Waist – Friendly
• Legs – Honored
• Feet – Honored

Recipe Vendor

All recipes are sold by Okuno, who is inside the Black Temple near Shade of Akama and alongside a reagent vendor and quest giver. On your first run through you’ll work your way to him. If your raid has killed Supremus (second boss) then the Spirit of Okuno, located at the start of the instance before the first pull, will teleport you to Okuno.

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Heart of Darkness Bottleneck

Some guilds won’t collect enough Heart of Darkness their first week in Mount Hyjal and Black Temple to craft cloaks for everyone

Black Temple content provides a means for getting all the shadow resistance gear you need, mostly through crafting. A vendor sells tailoring, leatherworking, and blacksmithing recipes for shadow resistance armor. But those recipes all require Heart of Darkness, an item found in Mount Hyjal and Black Temple. Much like Frozen Runes from Naxxramas, your guild will need to collect and distribute them to the raid team.

Guilds chewing through Black Temple content in their first week or two may not get enough hearts to outfit the entire raid. PTR reports have 7-15 dropping per full clears of both raids. At that rate, it’ll be the second week before everyone can get a cloak. Longer for other resistance gear.

Most guilds will be using their own supply, limiting how many make it to the auction house, which in turn will raise their price. Heart of Darkness is also used for other recipes out of Black Temple for regular epics, prolonging their value to raiding guilds.

This will cause a bottleneck for shadow resistance gear and possibly progression for some guilds, at least for the first few weeks. Eventually, guilds will either farm up enough running what bosses they can. While other guilds will have too many hearts and the price will come crashing down.

If you’re aiming for a full clear of Black Temple early on you’ll need to work around this bottleneck. The best single thing you can do is to have raiders purchase a shadow resistance head item. That with a quest reward and crafted cloaks will allow you to start your Mother Shahraz attempts.

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Cauldron of Major Shadow Protection

Get your guild alchemists to learn this recipe and start stockpiling mats.

In addition to gearing up, your guild should also stock up on Cauldron of Major Shadow Protection and deploy them at Mother Shahraz. Each raider will receive a Major Shadow Protection Potion, which absorbs 2800 to 4000 shadow damage. Players can bring their own potions, but the cauldron is much more economical for the group.

Stock Up On Mats As a Guild

Each cauldron uses:

• Primal Shadow x2
• Mana Thistle x7
• Fel Iron Ore x6

You’ll want one for each pull, especially while learning the fight. So stock up enough materials in advance to get you through a lot of attempts in your first few weeks. Once Mother Shahraz is on farm status you’ll only need one cauldron a week at most.

Cauldrons are available in-game now. Alchemists can farm up Recipe: Major Shadow Protection Potion from Shadow Council Warlocks in Shadowmoon Valley (grouped up together in Legion Hold). Note the recipe is BoP, so each alchemist needs to farm up their own copy. Once learned craft Major Shadow Protection Potions until you discover the cauldron recipe.