Content:
The Venomous Abyss at a Glance
Updated 12 October 2026 for patch 12.1 "Curse of Ula'tek". Patch 12.1.5 arrives on 13 October. The raid has been open since 18 August.
The Venomous Abyss is the Midnight Season 2 raid: eight bosses in the Vaults of Atal'Utek on the Coiled Isle, ending with the serpent goddess Ula'tek. It is the only new raid of patch 12.1, so every Season 2 tier piece, every raid trinket and the raid mount come from it. This page covers each boss with the mechanics that decide a pull, item levels per difficulty, tier tokens, the eight achievements behind the Crimson Venomfang mount, and what has changed since launch.
The story, in short: guided by Hex Lord Malacrass, Zul'jan has freed the forgotten broods of Ula'tek from their prison, and Zul'jarra calls on the champions of Azeroth to stop him before the weapon is unleashed.
| Detail | Info |
|---|---|
| Location | Vaults of Atal'Utek, Coiled Isle. Icy Veins gives the entrance at 47.11, 28.30 on the Coiled Isle map |
| Bosses | 8. Final boss: Ula'tek |
| Difficulties | Raid Finder (4 wings), Story Mode, Normal, Heroic, Mythic |
| Group size | Normal and Heroic scale from 10 to 30 players, Mythic is a fixed 20 (standard for Midnight raids) |
| Raid Finder entry | Item level 273 minimum (Blizzard); Warcraft Wiki lists an average of 276 for the queue |
| Tier tokens | Five bosses drop one token each; Ula'tek drops the Slumbering Coil Curio, a token for any slot |
| Opened | Week of 18 August 2026 (Normal, Heroic, Mythic and Raid Finder wing 1) |
| Current status | Mythic Ula'tek fell on 3 September. A hotfix on 6 October cut one Ula'tek ability on Heroic and Mythic. Patch 12.1.5 adds Ascendant Venomstones from the week of 20 October |
When Does The Venomous Abyss Release?
It is already open. Blizzard opened the difficulties in stages, each at the weekly reset of the region:
| Week of | What opened |
|---|---|
| 18 August 2026 | Normal, Heroic, Mythic (all eight bosses) and Raid Finder wing 1: Nek'zali the Soulcoiler and The Twin Fangs |
| 25 August | Story Mode and Raid Finder wing 2: Entombed Sentinels and Vashnik the Malignant |
| 1 September | Raid Finder wing 3: The Lost Explorers and Sszorak |
| 8 September | Raid Finder wing 4: The Coiled Altar and Ula'tek |
What has happened since
- World First. Team Liquid killed Mythic Ula'tek on 3 September 2026 in 307 pulls. Echo followed about half an hour later (335 pulls). The race started on 18 August (Icy Veins).
- Hall of Fame. The achievement went to the first 200 guilds worldwide on Mythic.
- 6 October hotfix. Raid damage from Ula'tek's Circling Prey was reduced by 30% on Heroic and Mythic (Icy Veins hotfix report).
- Patch 12.1.5 (13 October). Adds the one-boss raid Unbinding of Kith'ix, a creature that was bound beneath the Venomous Abyss. From the week of 20 October, Ascendant Venomstones drop from every Heroic and Mythic raid boss, and the crest cap is lifted (Blizzard).
For everything else in the patch, see our Patch 12.1: Curse of Ula'tek overview.
Loot, Item Levels & Crests
Item level depends on the difficulty and on how deep the boss is in the raid. The last two bosses on Mythic drop gear above the normal Myth upgrade track.
| Bosses | Raid Finder | Normal | Heroic | Mythic |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1: Nek'zali | 279 | 292 | 305 | 318 |
| 2-3: Entombed Sentinels, Lost Explorers | 282 | 295 | 308 | 321 |
| 4-6: Vashnik, Sszorak, Twin Fangs | 285 | 298 | 311 | 324 |
| 7-8: Coiled Altar, Ula'tek | 289 | 302 | 315 | 344 |
Each boss drops 10 crests. Raid Finder gives Veteran Mistcrests, Normal gives Champion, Heroic gives Hero and Mythic gives Myth. The last two bosses can also drop a crest of the next tier up (Icy Veins). A crest upgrade costs 20 crests per rank, and the weekly cap is 100 crests per type. Blizzard lifts the crest cap in the week of 20 October.
| Upgrade track | Rank 1 | Rank 6 (max) |
|---|---|---|
| Veteran | 279 | 296 |
| Champion | 292 | 309 |
| Hero | 305 | 322 |
| Myth | 318 | 335 |
- Mythic 344. The Coiled Altar and Ula'tek drop Mythic gear that already sits at the level of a fully upgraded, Voidforged Myth piece, so those drops need no more crests.
- Voidforging. Warcraft Wiki lists +9 item level on a fully upgraded Hero or Myth item (322 to 331, 335 to 344). In patch 12.1.5, Blizzard describes the same idea with Ascendant Venomstones: collect 10 and use them near the Catalyst in Silvermoon City on a fully upgraded Season 2 Hero or Myth item.
- Great Vault. The raid row opens at 2, 4 and 6 Season 2 raid bosses defeated in a week.
The Venom Tier Set
Season 2 gives every class a new set with a 2-piece and a 4-piece bonus. There is no 6-piece bonus. Five bosses drop a token for one slot, and the token is shared by armor family:
| Boss (raid order) | Token slot |
|---|---|
| Entombed Sentinels | Hands |
| Vashnik the Malignant | Chest |
| The Lost Explorers | Shoulders |
| Sszorak | Legs |
| The Twin Fangs | Head |
| Ula'tek | Slumbering Coil Curio, any slot |
| Armor | Token family | Classes that use it |
|---|---|---|
| Plate | Forged | Warrior, Paladin, Death Knight |
| Cast | Shaman, Hunter, Evoker | |
| Leather | Cured | Rogue, Monk, Druid, Demon Hunter |
| Cloth | Woven | Warlock, Priest, Mage |
The Slumbering Coil Curio drops from Ula'tek on every difficulty. You trade it for a token of your choice from Kirana in Silvermoon, one at a time. Set pieces can also come from the Great Vault and the Catalyst, which converts eligible seasonal gear into a set piece of the same slot.
Each difficulty has its own appearance. The extra visual effects of the Season 2 sets are built into the Mythic versions, and lower versions can add them with the Insidious Venomstone from the achievement Sssensational! (defeat Ula'tek on Mythic, reach 2,500 Mythic+ rating, or earn Elite in PvP). The set names and what each 2-piece and 4-piece does are in our Midnight Tier Sets guide.
Boss Order & How to Approach It
The raid is a straight line of eight bosses: Nek'zali the Soulcoiler, Entombed Sentinels, Vashnik the Malignant, The Lost Explorers, Sszorak, The Twin Fangs, The Coiled Altar and Ula'tek. Raid Finder splits them into four wings of two bosses (see the schedule above).
Three kinds of fights repeat through the raid, and knowing them helps more than memorizing single abilities:
- Splitting the raid. Entombed Sentinels (two groups on two bosses), The Twin Fangs (three soak teams on Heroic), The Coiled Altar (two soak groups on Heroic) and Ula'tek (two teams in phases 1 and 2).
- Stacking venom debuffs. Eternal Venom on the Twin Fangs, Ritual Burn on Nek'zali, Corroding Venom on Sszorak. Each one has a way to clear it, and ignoring it ends the pull.
- Things to carry or place. Fish (Lost Explorers), cysts (Sszorak), poison orbs (Coiled Altar) and eggs (Ula'tek).
Midnight has a built-in boss ability timeline, and since patch 12.0 addons can show information but no longer react to combat the way they used to. Use the timeline plus the raid's marker plan, and assign interrupts and soak groups by name before the first pull. The mechanics below follow the Icy Veins raid guides written in August and September 2026 and cover Normal and Heroic unless stated.
Trash Packs & Pull Strategy
We do not list pack-by-pack routes here, because we could not verify them against a primary source. What holds in every raid of this size:
- Pull in sets the healers can cover and keep one marked kill target for the casters.
- Check the boss's room for what carries over from trash, such as the eggs and venom pools in the later fights, before you commit to a pull.
- Repair, refresh food and consumables, and confirm interrupt and soak assignments for the next boss while the raid regroups.
Nek'zali the Soulcoiler
A three-part fight about keeping adds away from the Soulcoil Well in the center. Every Restless Amani that reaches the Well gives Nek'zali 5 energy, and at 100 energy she casts Uncoiled Rage, which is a soft enrage.
Phase 1 and intermission
- Soulcoil Ignition applies 5 stacks of Soulcoil Rite to everyone and gives her 25 energy per cast. Anguished Echoes fly out of the Well during the cast, so dodge them. Healers should cover the overlap of the two debuffs.
- Restless Amani spawn from glowing coffins. Pull Nek'zali toward the side with the most glowing coffins so the adds die to cleave. They carry a magic absorb shield: break it with magic damage (not Hunters, who deal physical), and Death Knights can grip strays.
- Essence Rend pulls a player toward the center. The healer should wait until that player has reached the room's edge before dispelling, because the dispel leaves a Latent Cultist behind.
- Possession Barrage targets the tank. The raid damage depends on the tank's distance, so the tank runs directly away from the raid and nobody stands in the line between boss and tank.
- Tanks take Hollowing Strikes with every hit. Swap at 5 to 6 stacks, which lines up with Possession Barrage.
- Intermission: two Echoes of Jawae (Soul Transfer) must die, and Hungering Pyre is a group soak that burns corpses, so the tank stands on a pile of corpses.
Phase 2
Her energy resets to 0. Use Bloodlust here. The phase plays like phase 1, but Invoke adds stacks of Soulcoil Rite that no longer fall off, so raid damage rises with every cast and you need to finish her before she hits 100 energy.
Heroic: Ritual Burn comes with the ignition cast, killed adds leave a Vessel of Awakening and apply Corpse Blight within 15 yards, and Slithering Flame marks players who skip the soak so they can burn stray corpses.
Loot. Trinket: Soulcoiler Ritual Vessel (healer). Other drops from the dungeon journal: Tomb-Creeper's Claw, Strongblood's Ceremonial Cleaver, Hexing Spiritrender, Nek'zali's Spiritwalkers, Skullguard of the Risen Sacrifice, Soulslither Spaulders, Vestment of the Awakening, Amani Summoning Shawl, Cursed Reliquary Cincture, Initiate's Sacrificial Tights, Restless Spirit Shackles, Entombed Cultist's Sabatons.
Entombed Sentinels
Two bosses that do not share health. Each gets half the raid, and the two must stay at least 40 yards apart. If they get closer, Ula'tek's Dominance cuts their damage taken by 99%.
- Breath of Ula'tek sprays Toxic Droplets. Step on them to destroy them before they erupt. The big Venom Coagulation add is the DPS priority and deals raid damage while alive.
- Blood of Ula'tek applies Blighted Blood, a dispellable shadow DoT. Dispel immediately, so you can get a second dispel in before it expires. Unstable Miasma is a group soak.
- Tanks take Empowering Slam and Bloodvenom Injection, which grow stronger on the same tank. You only swap bosses at the intermission, so save defensives for the end of each sequence.
- Intermission: Vitriolic Stasis. Both bosses charge to the middle and even out their health to the higher one, so keep DPS balanced between the groups. Helical Toxins gives everyone 1, 2 or 3 linked orbs, and colliding with another player merges the counts. Find a partner so the total is exactly 4: a 1 needs a 3, and a 2 needs a 2.
Heroic: destroyed droplets release Living Venom that travels back to the Breath, so clear them near the sides, and a total above 4 on Helical Toxins kills the players instead of knocking them away.
Loot. Trinket: Keeper's Seething Core (DPS). Other drops: Caustic Keeper-Crusher (two-hand mace), Ancient Construct's Venomshiv, Spine of the Hissing Abyss, Crown of the Eternal Fang, Shadow Hunter's Warmask, Venom Warden's Greaves, Venom-Singed Cuffs, Sentinel's Vitriolic Chain, plus the Hands tier token.
Vashnik the Malignant
A positioning fight built around three venom fountains (Flame, Blood, Shadow) and the add waves they produce.
- Imbibe. Every 90 seconds or so, Vashnik drinks from the two fountains closest to him. Each infusion lasts 1.5 minutes, boosts his damage of that venom type by 100% and raises the health of the matching adds by 50% per stack. Rotate him around the room and avoid using one fountain more than twice in a row. A route Icy Veins suggests: Fire and Shadow, then Fire and Blood, then Blood and Shadow.
- Adds walk toward the Malignant Cavity in the middle and trigger Malignant Burst if they reach it. Kill them in this order: Burning Venoms (fire), Clotting Venom (blood), Shrouded Venoms (shadow). Clotting Venom ignores crowd control but splits into smaller copies that can be controlled. Shrouded Venoms can be rooted.
- Adaptive Infection comes in two forms. Exploding Infection sends the player away from the raid to explode, and the farther they are, the less damage the raid takes. Siphoning Infection puts a healing absorb on the player, who cannot be healed normally, and other players stand in the circle to remove it.
- Plague Wave (from Plague Froth) shoots lines in four directions when the debuff ends: aim it away from the raid.
Heroic: Caustic Surge, triggered when a Burning Venom dies, becomes a DoT, so killing two at the same time can be lethal.
Loot. Trinkets: Fang of Umbral Malignance and Vashnik's Sanguine Rancor (DPS). Other drops: Malignant Toothed Edge (two-hand sword), Venomancer's Winged Channeler, Frothing Venom Spaulders, Serpentine Mixing Belt, Scaled Fiend's Warboots, Vile Alchemist's Band, plus the Chest tier token.
The Lost Explorers
A three-boss council (Trader Gebbo, First Mate Nama, Scrollsage Iku) with Mor'zahi's energy bar running as a timer in the background. The bosses do not share health.
- United Defense. If all three bosses stand within 30 yards of each other, they take 99% less damage. Keep two together for cleave and rotate Nama between the others.
- Throw Junk and Grab Fish. Gebbo throws crates that players break by walking over them, which stacks a Splinters bleed. One crate holds the fish. Carry it into melee range of the boss you choose and use the extra action button when Mor'zahi is at 90 to 95 energy. This triggers that boss's ultimate and marks the boss so it cannot be chosen again. If nobody feeds a boss before Mor'zahi finishes his Empower cast, the raid wipes. Icy Veins recommends the order Gebbo, Nama, Iku.
- Interrupts. Assign a 2 to 3 person rotation on Scrollsage Iku's Icebound Flames.
- Shell Spin. Nama fires three turtle shells at a random melee player; anyone hit is stunned for 4 seconds. Bait it toward the edge.
- Ultimates. Gebbo: Explosive Surprise, with bombs placed at the edge and mushrooms to jump the Blast Wave. Nama: Mighty Thud, three marked players soaking circles that must not overlap. Iku: Frostfire Volley, a spread mechanic with heavy raid damage, so use healing cooldowns.
Loot. Trinkets: Gebbo's Bottomless Bag (DPS) and First Mate's Shellward (tank). Other drops: Venom-Slashed Scuteward (shield), Gebbo's Backup Blaster, Malevolent Spiritcudgel, Errant Scrollsage's Hood, Unpossessed Skullsash, Shellbound Bracers, Boots of the Reckless Wayfarer, plus the Shoulders tier token.
Sszorak
A wind fight where the order of knockbacks matters as much as damage.
- Apex Predator is a five-hit tank combo: two Ravage, two Mutilate and one Tempest in random order. Swap after the first Ravage or Mutilate so each tank takes one of each. Face Ravage away from the raid, soak Mutilate with the raid to split it (a Blood Death Knight can solo-soak it), and dodge the Tempest tornadoes.
- Venomous Surge. Players with this debuff drop Viscous Cysts at the marker opposite the wind motes on the room's edge. Put one cyst per marker and keep Sszorak away from them.
- Raging Crosswinds. Each player gets a wind direction. Find a partner with the opposite direction, so you hit each other in the air and fly back to where you started.
- Intermission: Howling Maelstrom. The wind tunnels fire in the order shown by the motes. Get pushed into the cyst opposite the tunnel and you are knocked back to the middle. During Dig In, Sszorak takes 30% more damage for 25 seconds, and the intermission comes about every 2 minutes, so plan cooldowns for it.
- Tanks: Corroding Venom stacks; swap around 6 stacks so it lines up with the combo.
Heroic: soaking Mutilate adds a 500% damage-taken increase, so two soak groups are needed unless a Blood DK soaks. Caustic Claws leaves Caustic Residue, which adds 30% damage taken while you stand in it.
Loot. Trinkets: Sszorak's Ferocity (DPS) and Idol of the Howling Nexus (tank). Other drops: Venomous Boneglaive (warglaive), Slithering Savage's Gavel, Apex Brute's Claw Ring, Caustic Chain-Wrapped Sash, Ferocious Scaleboots, Ruthless Slaughtergrips, plus the Legs tier token.
The Twin Fangs
Vexhul and Ithraz have separate health pools and should die together. The permanent debuff of the fight is Eternal Venom, and Ithraz's Ravenous Feast is the way to remove stacks.
- Vexhul. Caustic Deluge pushes the tank back, and the globules it spawns should be soaked by players with few Eternal Venom stacks. Venomous Emergence summons three Spawn of Vexhul in the center, which are the DPS priority, and Stir the Depths sends waves across the room that add a stack.
- Ithraz. Stone Breaker knocks the tank back and creates three soak zones in sequence: hit all three. Coiling Ichor drops permanent pools at the edge. Ravenous Feast is three split soaks, and each hit removes one Eternal Venom stack and knocks you back.
- Intermission. Both bosses submerge. Vexhul's Vile Flood is a rotating beam that always starts on his tank, so the raid can run opposite to the tank, and Ithraz fires Sanguine Storm impacts at the ground. A soft enrage comes after three cycles, about 8 minutes in.
Heroic: reaching 10 Eternal Venom stacks kills you, each Feast hit applies Feasted so a player can soak only one of the three (three teams), and standing in Congealed Gore slows you by 60%.
Loot. Trinkets: Vexhul's Everflowing Gland (DPS) and Preternatural Antivenom (healer). Other drops: Amulet of the Twin Fangs (neck), Ophidian Fangmail, Ornaments of the Eternal Coil, Scaleplate Strangulators, Bespittled Slitherslippers, Ravenous Feaster's Fang, plus the Head tier token.
The Coiled Altar
A two-boss fight: Zul'jan in phase 1 and Hex Lord Malacrass in phase 2, then both together in phase 3. The bosses do not share health, and the one that survives is enraged when the other dies, so keep them even.
Phase 1: Zul'jan
- Toxic Deluge drops poison orbs. Assigned players pick them up, carry them to one stack point and let them break. Each broken orb deals Venom Rupture damage to the raid, so do not break many at once.
- Sever (tank frontal) destroys any orb it passes through, so the tanks aim it through the stack and swap after every cast.
- Guillotine is a soak that has to hit at least 5 players. Axegrinder axes spin around the room, so watch your path.
- Venomfang is a poison DoT on random players: dispel it quickly.
Phase 2: Hex Lord Malacrass
- Dreadmarch mind control. Several players are controlled, get an absorb shield and walk to the edge to jump off. Breaking the shield spawns Manifestations of Dread that fixate on players. A fixated player must face their Manifestation to hold it still, and Soul Sever destroys them. On Heroic, a Manifestation that reaches its target puts Dreadmarch on them again.
- Soul Sever (tank frontal) gives Gravebound: the tank must collect three Soul Fragments immediately. Gloombomb sends ranged players away from the raid.
- Eternal Nightfall. Break the Veil of Twilight shield and interrupt the cast.
- Before Malacrass dies, kill every Manifestation and step away from the edge.
The intermission links Malacrass to Zul'jan, who takes 100% more damage while regenerating: use Bloodlust and potions, and soak the Fragments of Malacrass before they reach him. In phase 3, all mechanics from the two earlier phases are active.
Loot. Trinket: Hex Lord's Dooming Idol (DPS). Other drops: Maze-roa, Warlord's Fury (two-hand axe), Aman'muso, Warlord's Vengeance, Baleful Hexblade, Reckless Spirit Breastplate, Cuisses of the Uncoiled Union, Grasps of the Eternal Shadow, Silken Voodoo Drape, Cackling Soultreads, Sash of the Forlorn Vessel, Girdle of Toxic Regret. Zul'jin's Guillotine Technique appears in some loot lists, but we could not confirm its item type.
Ula'tek, the Serpent Goddess
The final boss has three phases and an intermission, and eggs are the thread through all of them. Eggs must be carried into a Spectral Coils impact to hatch as weak Blightscale Rawlings. If you are hit by Caustic Waves while carrying one, or fall into the water, a dangerous Blightscale Viper spawns, and every DPS should kill it first.
Phase 1
- Tank. Stay in melee range. Mother's Wrath knocks the active tank away, and the tank must run back into the red pool for a very large nature hit, a 1-minute DoT and Hobbled (remove it with a freedom effect). Swap after the first set of Caustic Waves.
- Caustic Waves. A wing pulls back, then waves sweep the platform from several sides. Read the first direction and run to the safe spot. The next cast comes from the opposite side.
- Rage of the Shackled. After two cycles of eggs and waves, the Venomous Heart is exposed for 20 seconds. It is a second target that shares the boss's health and takes 100% more damage. Use Bloodlust about 5 seconds before it appears, and save cooldowns and potions for the window. Avoid Falling Debris.
- Heroic: split the raid into two equal teams, one per Spectral Coils soak. On Normal the whole raid can soak each one.
Phase 2
Ula'tek submerges and the two teams jump to opposite side platforms. The Doomscale Warden is the only target: tanks position it on the glowing eggs. Grasping Fangs tethers three players per side, and breaking a tether applies a heavy DoT to the whole raid, so break two at a time and wait for the DoT to expire. After the Warden dies, deliver all eggs to the Doomscale Cauldron (small eggs first, the large Doomscale Egg last), then interrupt Anguished Cry and kill the Weakened Doomscale.
Intermission and phase 3
- Intermission. Six Spectral Coils slams, with team 1 soaking casts 1, 3 and 5 and team 2 casts 2, 4 and 6. The arena then shatters into four platforms.
- Phase 3. Tanks and melee stay on the boss's platform, ranged and healers on the platform counter-clockwise from it. Blightscale Clutches spawn on the platforms, and melee kill the one next to the boss. Serpent's Bite targets one melee, one ranged and one healer: each needs its own soak group, followed by Volatile Purge circles.
The hotfix of 6 October reduced Circling Prey raid damage by 30% on Heroic and Mythic.
Loot. Trinkets: Voracious Heart of Ula'tek and Font of Venomous Rage (DPS). Slumbering Coil Curio (token for any slot). Daggers Jan'thrazet, the Soul Fang and Zatha'tek, Breath of Corruption. Other drops: Abyssal Broodfiend's Bardiche, Caustic Repose Greatbow, Jaw of the Shackled Goddess, Venomkeeper's Horrific Cowl, Awoken Dreadfang Cuirass, Chausses of Unbound Rancor, Gaze of the Coiled Watcher, Aqirbane Reliquary. On Mythic she can drop the mount Primeval Skyfriend.
How Normal, Heroic & Mythic Differ
| Difficulty | What it is | What changes in the fights |
|---|---|---|
| Raid Finder | Four wings of two bosses, matchmade, item level 273 minimum | Loot 279 to 289 and Veteran crests. Guide sites report that Raid Finder kills give no Glory credit; check the achievement panel in game |
| Story Mode | Added the week of 25 August with Raid Finder wing 2 | Meant for following the story. Guide sites report that it does not count for Glory credit; check the achievement panel in game |
| Normal | The first full version, flexible 10 to 30 players | All eight bosses. Loot 292 to 302 and Champion crests. This is where the Glory achievements are easiest |
| Heroic | Flexible 10 to 30 players | Extra mechanics on every boss, e.g. Living Venom (Sentinels), Feasted (Twin Fangs), Gravebound (Coiled Altar), a kill on Helical Toxins above 4 stacks. Loot 305 to 315; Ahead of the Curve |
| Mythic | Fixed 20 players | Mythic-only changes on top of the Heroic kit (we do not list them boss by boss). Loot 318 to 344; Cutting Edge, Hall of Fame (first 200 guilds), the title Venom's End |
The Heroic differences in the table are the ones Icy Veins lists for the live raid. We do not list the Mythic changes boss by boss because we could not verify them here.
Role-by-Role Tips
Tanks
The swap points are fixed by the fights, not by feel. Nek'zali: around 5 to 6 stacks of Hollowing Strikes. Sszorak: around 6 stacks of Corroding Venom, ideally after the first Ravage or Mutilate. Entombed Sentinels: tanks swap bosses only at the intermission. The Twin Fangs: after each Stone Breaker set. The Coiled Altar: after every Sever and Soul Sever. Keep Vexhul's tank in melee range even while adds are up.
Healers
Dispel timing differs by boss: wait on Nek'zali's Essence Rend until the player is at the edge, dispel Blighted Blood on the Sentinels immediately, and dispel Venomfang on the Coiled Altar quickly. Save big cooldowns for Frostfire Volley (Lost Explorers), Burning Venom deaths on Vashnik (Caustic Surge) and the Venom Rupture stacking on Coiled Altar Heroic. A Shaman's Poison Cleansing Totem helps with Venomfang.
DPS
Interrupts decide fights: Icebound Flames on Scrollsage Iku, Eternal Nightfall on Malacrass and Anguished Cry on the Weakened Doomscale. Respect the burn windows: Sszorak's Dig In (+30% damage taken for 25 seconds), the exposed Venomous Heart on Ula'tek (+100%) and Zul'jan during the intermission (+100%). Mind add priority: Burning, Clotting, then Shrouded on Vashnik, and the Spawn of Vexhul on the Twin Fangs.
How to Get the Crimson Venomfang Mount
The Crimson Venomfang is a serpent mount awarded for the meta achievement Glory of the Venomous Raider. It needs eight achievements, one per boss, and each is earned on Normal difficulty or higher:
| Boss | Achievement | Requirement |
|---|---|---|
| Nek'zali | Well, Well, Little Sky | Defeat her after returning Kupamanduka to the Soulcoil Well |
| Entombed Sentinels | Is Venom Stasis A Joke To You? | Defeat them after each Sentinel uses Vitriolic Stasis to restore more than half its health |
| Lost Explorers | Accidental Inclusion | Defeat them including Hoji |
| Vashnik | Kept You Waiting Huh? | Defeat him after killing the Solidified Snake Venom |
| Sszorak | Jumping Through Hoops | Defeat him while jumping through each ring that appears |
| Twin Fangs | Taking a Bite out of Slime | Defeat them after feeding Ithraz four slimes in order during Ravenous Feast: Crunchy Appetizer, Sumptuous Soup, Tasty Blob, Jiggly Dessert |
| Coiled Altar | Watch Out Behind You | Defeat it while all players are afflicted by Unnerving Fixation |
| Ula'tek | No Egg Scramble | Defeat her before the Greasy Hatchling breaks (also gives the Ula'took pet) |
You do not need Ahead of the Curve or a Mythic kill. Icy Veins wrote its suggested approaches before launch, so treat them as ideas: feed Hoji a Disgusting Fish to include him, bring one slime-keeper per slime for the Twin Fangs, and expect Watch Out Behind You to depend on luck because the ghosts pick random players. Do the Sentinels and Sszorak ones once the bosses are on farm, because they change how you play the fight.
Ula'tek also has a second mount, Primeval Skyfriend, from Mythic. Icy Veins reports a raised drop chance until the next expansion and 1% afterward; we could not confirm the exact figure.
Housing Decorations
Warcraft Wiki lists these raid decor drops by boss. Decor is not guaranteed, so treat the table as a loot list and not as a schedule:
| Decoration | Boss |
|---|---|
| Soulcoiler's Ritual Candle | Nek'zali |
| Hexed Tomb Brazier | Entombed Sentinels |
| Lost Explorers' Mailbox | The Lost Explorers |
| Venomous Pyre | Vashnik |
| Vessel of the Howling Ossuary | Sszorak |
| Venom-Fanged Font | The Twin Fangs |
| Pillar of the Coiled Isle | The Coiled Altar |
| Rage of the Shackled Mural; The Venomous Abyss Trophy (Gleaming on Normal, Aureate on Heroic, Argent on Mythic) | Ula'tek |
If you are decorating, our housing guide covers house levels and Endeavors.
Achievements to Chase
| Achievement or reward | What it takes |
|---|---|
| Ahead of the Curve: Ula'tek | Defeat Ula'tek on Heroic or higher during Midnight Season 2 |
| Cutting Edge: Ula'tek | Defeat Ula'tek on Mythic during Midnight Season 2 |
| Hall of Fame: Ula'tek | Be among the first 200 guilds worldwide to kill her on Mythic. Title: Famed Slayer of Ula'tek. A race achievement, not something to plan around |
| Mythic: Ula'tek | Defeat Ula'tek on Mythic. Title: Venom's End |
| The Venomous Abyss (Normal), Heroic: The Venomous Abyss, Mythic: The Venomous Abyss | Complete the raid on that difficulty. Guild run versions exist for each |
| Glory of the Venomous Raider | Meta achievement with eight boss achievements. Reward: Crimson Venomfang |
| Sssensational! | Defeat Ula'tek on Mythic, reach 2,500 Mythic+ rating, or earn Elite in PvP. Reward: Insidious Venomstone |
The Raid Finder wings have their own completion achievements: Essence of Ula'tek, Beasts of Ula'tek, plus the Ula'tek achievement.
How to Gear Up & Clear It Faster
You can enter Raid Finder at item level 273. For Normal, bring Heroic dungeon or early Mythic+ gear. Then let the raid feed your upgrades.
- Tier first. Know which five bosses drop your slots (see the tier table) and use the Slumbering Coil Curio, Vault and Catalyst for the rest. A 2-piece and 4-piece set is the target, because there is no 6-piece.
- Crest budget. The weekly cap is 100 crests per type, lifted in the week of 20 October. Each rank costs 20 crests. Put them into your weapon and trinkets first if you cannot upgrade everything.
- Set up the room. Marker assignments for Sszorak's cysts, soak groups for Ula'tek and interrupt order for the Lost Explorers take two minutes to agree and save several pulls.
- From the week of 20 October, Ascendant Venomstones add item level to a fully upgraded Hero or Myth item, which gives Heroic and Mythic raiders a use for old kills.
If you want a guaranteed clear or Ahead of the Curve without a pickup group, we offer WoW raid runs. Our Midnight beginner guide and Omnium Folio guide cover the setup before you raid.
Weekly Plan for the Rest of Season 2
- Each reset: clear as many bosses as you can for the Vault row (2, 4 and 6 bosses).
- Spend tokens in order: trade Curios for the slots you do not get from tokens, then Catalyst the rest.
- Glory achievements once the bosses are on farm. Do one or two per night with a group that has read the requirement.
- From 20 October: collect Ascendant Venomstones from Heroic and Mythic bosses and upgrade your best pieces.
- Next season: expect a new set. The Season 1 and Season 2 sets already differ for every class, so plan to replace this one.
For class choices, see Midnight Best DPS, Best Tank and Best Healers.
FAQ
When did The Venomous Abyss open?
The week of 18 August 2026: Normal, Heroic, Mythic and Raid Finder wing 1. Story Mode and wing 2 followed on 25 August, wing 3 on 1 September and wing 4 on 8 September.
How many bosses does it have?
Eight, ending with Ula'tek. The Coiled Altar is a two-boss fight (Zul'jan and Hex Lord Malacrass), and the Entombed Sentinels and Twin Fangs are two bosses each.
What item level does each difficulty drop?
From the top: Mythic drops 318 to 324 (344 from The Coiled Altar and Ula'tek), Heroic 305 to 315, Normal 292 to 302, and Raid Finder 279 to 289.
How do I get the Crimson Venomfang?
Earn Glory of the Venomous Raider by completing the eight boss achievements, each on Normal or higher.
Which bosses drop tier tokens?
In raid order: Entombed Sentinels (hands), Vashnik (chest), The Lost Explorers (shoulders), Sszorak (legs) and The Twin Fangs (head). Ula'tek drops the Slumbering Coil Curio for any slot.
Is Raid Finder worth doing?
For catch-up gear, yes: it needs only item level 273 and drops 279 to 289. Guide sites report that it does not count toward Glory, and tier pieces are best farmed on Normal or higher.
Where is the entrance?
In the Vaults of Atal'Utek on the Coiled Isle, the zone added by patch 12.1. Icy Veins lists the entrance at 47.11, 28.30.
Can I still get Hall of Fame?
It is limited to the first 200 guilds worldwide on Mythic Ula'tek. Team Liquid took World First on 3 September, so treat it as a race achievement, not a goal for a new group.
What is Primeval Skyfriend?
The second mount of the raid, dropped by Mythic Ula'tek.
What changes with patch 12.1.5?
Ascendant Venomstones (from the week of 20 October) and a lifted crest cap. The new one-boss raid Unbinding of Kith'ix is separate from the Venomous Abyss.
Do I need voice chat?
For Raid Finder and casual Normal, usually not. On Heroic and Mythic, soak groups, tank swaps and interrupts are much easier to call on voice than to read from raid frames.