World of Warcraft: How to Solo Spine of Deathwing

As more content has been added to World of Warcraft and more expansions have been released, there has been a new playstyle that has become a lot more popular due to how viable it is. Soloing old raids from previous expansions has become a popular activity for players looking to expand their transmog, pet, toy, and mount collections.

It takes some raids longer to be soloable than others, especially in the case where there are mechanics that make it impossible for a player to solo (mind control, actions that require two or more players, etc). While these encounters are eventually changed so that they can be soloed, there is one encounter that can still be tricky even after all these years. The encounter in question is Spine of Deathwing, the second to last encounter of the Dragon Soul raid in Cataclysm. If you are struggling to solo this encounter, here is how you can complete it.

How to Solo Spine of Deathwing in World of Warcraft

The entrance to Dragon Soul is located in the depths of the Caverns of Time. It is in the northeastern part of the Caverns of Time where all of the Cataclysm-related content can be found. There are no skips like in more recent raids, so you will need to clear every single encounter to reach Deathwing.

As you begin the encounter, you will land on Deathwing’s back as he flies toward the Maelstrom. There will be four fiery tentacles called Corruption, destroy three of them, and then stand in one of the spots where the tentacle was. Standing here will put a debuff on you that keeps you from falling off of Deathwing’s back as long as you stand on that spot. Leave the last tentacle alone for now.

At this point, wait while smaller enemies called Corrupted Bloods spawn from the same glowing spots that the Tentacles do. Tentacles will occasionally respawn, so make sure to take them out while leaving at least one alive so that more Corrupted Bloods can spawn quickly. Do not kill the Corrupted Bloods yet.At Level 80, they will do one point of damage to you per attack at most and will not be able to kill you.

While you are waiting, you will notice that Deathwing will roll a lot as he tries to get you off of his back. If you are not standing in one of the spots where a tentacle spawns when Deathwing rolls, you will instantly die. The Corrupted Bloods do not fall off of Deathwing when he rolls, but the Hideous Amalgamations that spawn when killing tentacles do.

Wait until at least nine Corrupted Bloods have spawned and are attacking you. Wait until after Deathwing has completed a roll and then kill the tentacle to spawn another Hideous Amalgamation. This is where the encounter will start to become tricky due to the sheer amount of things you need to manage at once.

Either before or just after spawning the Hideous Amalgamation, kill the Corrupted Bloods. They will leave fiery balls on the ground where they died. Aggro the Hideous Amalgamation and lead it toward the fiery balls, but do not kill it yet. By now, you may have noticed a counter next to the nameplate for the Hideous Amalgamation. This counter goes up to a maximum of nine every time the Hideous Amalgamation goes through the remains of a Corrupted Blood and absorbs it.

When the counter reaches nine, a flaming sphere will appear on the Hideous Amalgamation. Bring it as close as possible to the plate that is closest to Deathwing’s head and then kill the Hideous Amalgamation. If this is done close enough to the plate, it will come loose and reveal a Burning Tendon. Quickly target and destroy the Burning Tendon or hit it with an AoE ability. If done correctly, the plate will fly off of Deathwing.

At this point, you will repeat the process above two more times. With each plate removed, you will have more space to work with and there will be more spots for the Corrupted Bloods to spawn at a faster rate. As a result, the second and third plates will come off faster since you’ll be able to charge the Hideous Amalgamation faster. But while you are doing this, you will need to pay attention to which direction Deathwing is about to roll. The spots that tether you are too far away, and even if you use them you will lose your Hideous Amalgamation that you are building stacks on.

If you keep running all the way to the left and then running all the way to the right, you can prevent Deathwing from rolling altogether. While running back and forth, you will also need to make sure that you are killing Corrupted Bloods and kiting a Hideous Amalgamation through their remains. Make sure you are always running in the opposite direction of the way that Deathwing is about to roll. So if he is about to roll left, go right. If he is about to roll right, go left.

Keep moving back and forth while destroying Corrupted Bloods, leading a Hideous Amalgamation through them, killing the Hideous Amalgamation, and then destroying the Burning Tendon. If you can keep up with all of this, you will have successfully finished the encounter and will be on your way to the final battle with Deathwing.

Does Deathwing Drop a Mount?

While the Spine of Deathwing encounter does not drop any mounts, there are two that drop in the encounter after it, Madness of Deathwing. The Blazing Drake drops on Normal and Heroic difficulty, while the Life-Binder’s Handmaiden drops from Heroic only. But in order to reach this significantly easier encounter, you must first clear the Spine of Deathwing.

Systems

Released

November 23, 2004

Multiplayer

Online Multiplayer

Engine

Unreal Engine

ESRB

T for Teen: Blood and Gore, Crude Humor, Mild Language, Suggestive Themes, Use of Alcohol, Violence (online interactions not rated)

Steam Deck Compatibility

yes

X|S Optimized

yes

Cross Save

yes

Cross-Platform Play

pc, ps

Expand