Nightbane – Secret Karazhan Boss

Nightbane is a Secret Summonable Boss in the Karazhan dungeon that drops a mount of the same model. Smoldering Ember Wyrm was added in the game in order to give the players the unique mount model that has been asked for since the discovery of Nightbane in the old Karazhan raid.

The main difference between the boss in the Karazhan raid and Return to Karazhan dungeon is the fact that the former was a lengthy quest-chain, and the latter a time-based challenge. If you manage to complete the time-based challenge, you will be able to engage Nightbane.

The drop chance for the Smoldering Ember Wyrm is not 100% and you should check Blizzard's Article to learn more about how the loot system works for this mount.

One Night in Karazhan

Once you enter the dungeon on Mythic difficulty the following emote appears in the chat:

This starts the timer, and from that point you will have a limited time to find and click on the crystals.

Obtaining The Crystals

There are 5 crystals which you need to interact with and obtain Medivh's Echo, a stacking buff which will turn into Medivh's Presence when it reaches 5 stacks. Every buff lasts for 5 minutes and adds time to the previous one, and all party members can get the buff if they are in the vicinity of the crystal once it's been interacted with. For this reason it's suggested that all 5 party members get all of the buffs because it disappears upon death.

• The first crystal is located in the middle of the platform opposite to the Opera Stage, among the spectators.

There are a lot of mobs preceding the crystal as well as around the crystal. The ones around the crystals aren't too dangerous, and can usually be killed off in mass AoE under 1 or 2 stuns. The ones before can be lethal, so be careful about the quantity of packs.

• The second crystal is located in the last room on the left in the hallway leading up to the Maiden of Virtue.

Just keep following the path onward through the dungeon and instead of engaging the Maiden of Virtue, turn to the left, clear the room, get the crystal and backtrack out of the hallway. As mentioned above, be careful about the amount of mobs you pull and just to be safe, wait for all of your party members to be in the vicinity so that all of you can get the second buff.

• The third crystal is located behind the table in the dining room where Moroes is.

The best path to take upon exiting the hallway from the Maiden of Virtue would be to hug the wall to the right and jump over the railing into the dining room. Remember to first kill off the adds (and CC if necessary) and then defeat Moroes, in order to take a safer route and not risk wiping and losing the buffs.

• The fourth crystal is located underneath the dining room, in the spider cellar.

The two routes that you could take are to the right of the dining room, through the kitchen, clearing some mobs and jumping down over the railing, or going through the left side, killing off a few mobs and going down the stairs to the right toward the stables, but turning left instead of going to Midnight and Attunemen. The latter route is the more used one. Continue going forward, killing mobs on the way until you reach the room with a portal at the end. It's important to note that the tank should never face any of the spiders towards the group, as they do a frontal-cone attack that might result in less-defensive classes dying. Clear the room, walk around the webs as there is a clear path, interact with the crystal and use the portal which will take you to the entrance of the dungeon.

• The fifth and final crystal is located where you defeat The Curator.

Just go up the stairs and clear everything until you reach The Curator's room. This boss needs to be defeated as the crystal spawns underneath wherever he is defeated. Be sure to clear the room pack by pack and be careful of The Curator's abilities.

Spawning Nightbane

After you've collected all 5 crystals, you will get Medivh's Presence. Run back down to the entrance, but instead of turning right at the end of the stairs, turn left and head to the balcony/terrace. In the middle of the terrace, you will see an npc called Echo of Medivh. You can interact with Medivh to start the role play in order to summon Nightbane and get the One Night in Karazhan achievement.