Delves
Venomfall Deeps & Azta'rec Nemesis Delve Guide
Entrance location, unlocking both Azta'rec difficulties, full ability breakdown, the blind-repeat Sermon of Ula'tek intermission, and Season 2 rewards.
Venomfall Deeps is the third new Delve on the Coiled Isle and this season's Nemesis Delve, home to the boss Azta'rec. The delve itself opened with the Patch 12.1 prep week on August 11, but Azta'rec's Nemesis fight, its two difficulties, and Bountiful Delve tiers all unlock when Midnight Season 2 begins on August 18. This guide covers the entrance location, how to unlock both of Azta'rec's difficulties, his ability kit, and the rewards on offer.
🕯 Overview & Location
Venomfall Deeps sits in the northern part of the Coiled Isle, inside one of the large serpent-shaped structures at the top of the Serpent's Tail area. The entrance coordinates are /way #2512 51.23 30.70.
🔑 Unlocking Azta'rec's Difficulties
Both of Azta'rec's difficulties unlock through Delve clears during Midnight Season 2, not through Venomfall Deeps itself:
| Difficulty | Unlock Requirement |
|---|---|
| Tier? | Clear a Tier 7 Delve with at least one life remaining during Midnight Season 2. |
| Tier?? | Clear a Tier 10 Delve with at least one life remaining during Midnight Season 2. |
⚔ Recommended Loadout
Addons that track boss casts and mechanics are strongly recommended for this fight, given the memory-based intermission phases described below.
Valeera Companion Setup
Set Valeera as a Healer for the extra poison dispel on top of her healing — Azta'rec's melee hits hard enough that the sustain matters. If you have reliable self-healing and dispel coverage of your own, running Valeera as DPS instead adds an extra interrupt.
Poisons & Curios
- Poison: Phantasmal Spore Toxin or Soulthirst Venom
- Combat Curio: Corrosive Bilespear
- Utility Curio: Soul-Cracking Dreamcatcher
Corrosive Codex Abilities
The Corrosive Codex from the Vaults of Atal'Utek works inside Delves, including this fight. Recommended picks are Accursed Poison, plus one of Virulent Mucus, Lithic Plumage, or Plague of Corrosion.
⚡ Azta'rec Strategy
On Tier?, Azta'rec cycles through a fixed rotation of abilities before entering an intermission phase. Throughout the fight, he has access to:
- Noxious Bile — a cone of poison aimed at the player, dealing heavy Nature damage and leaving pools of poison behind. Sidestep the cone and avoid standing in the pools.
- Void Toxin — an interruptible DoT cast that reduces Shadow damage done and deals heavy Shadow damage. Easier to dispel than to interrupt if your interrupt is needed elsewhere.
- Soul Extinction — an interruptible cast that deals lethal Nature damage. This must be interrupted every time.
- Venom Storm — slow-moving poison waves that cross the arena. Easy to see coming; dodge them.
- Serpent's Strike — used only against tanks, dealing heavy Physical damage. Keep a defensive cooldown ready for it.
The ability order repeats as: Noxious Bile → Void Toxin → Soul Extinction → Venom Storm → Serpent's Strike (tank only), until the next intermission.
Intermissions — Sermon of Ula'tek
Azta'rec's room is split into four quadrants separated by chains. At 90%, 60%, and 30% health, he becomes near-invulnerable, moves to the center, and channels Sermon of Ula'tek. During the channel, quadrants are telegraphed with poison that explodes 1-2 seconds later — move to a clean quadrant each time.
- 90% health: telegraphed 3 times
- 60% health: telegraphed 4 times
- 30% health: telegraphed 5 times
Tier?? Changes
Azta'rec deals more damage and has more health on Tier??, with the real difficulty increase concentrated in the Sermon of Ula'tek intermissions:
- At the start of every intermission, Azta'rec summons an Echo of Azta'rec with the same ability kit and lethality. Kill the Echo before the Sermon finishes, or you'll be dealing with two lethal casters at once.
- The memory sequence gets longer: 5 hits at 90%, 6 at 60%, 7 at 30%.
- Save long offensive cooldowns (Bloodlust/heroism-type effects and personal cooldowns) for the first Sermon at 90%, since each Sermon takes longer as the fight progresses.
- Use crowd control rather than hard interrupts on the Echo's Soul Extinction cast, so your interrupt stays available for the real Azta'rec, who is immune to CC.
🏆 Achievements & Rewards
- My Venomous Nemesis — defeat Azta'rec in his lair before the next Delve season releases. Rewards the Apophic Patagia cosmetic cloak.
- Completing the seasonal quest Fangs for the Memories awards the Corrosive Victory toy.
- Let Me Solo Him: Azta'rec — defeat him on Tier?? solo, with no other party members, before the next Delve season. Rewards the Apophic Soul Crusher mount.
- Purging the Poison — defeat him on Tier?? before the next Delve season. Rewards the Poisonous title.
- Fabled Let Me Solo Him: Azta'rec — solo him on Tier?? during the first week of Midnight Season 2. Rewards the Fabled Vanquisher of Azta'rec title.