Baradin Hold is a Cataclysm Classic raid instance in Tol Barad, a PvP zone that is available to both the Alliance and the Horde. This Baradin Hold guide will give you all the information you require before setting your foot on this dangerous fortress. Whether you’re looking for boss strategies or the best loot drops, we have you covered. Also, check out our Bastion of Twilight Guide.
What is Baradin Hold?
Baradin Hold is a 3-boss raid instance located in Tol Barad which is a Battleground type of zone. Fight for Tol Barad happens every 2.5 hours, control over Baradin Hold would go to the winner. At the beginning of the game, only one boss is in this prison; the other two bosses are gradually introduced as the game progresses.
| Boss | Raid Tier | Release Date | Phase |
|---|---|---|---|
| Argaloth | Tier 11 | June 4, 2024 | Phase 1 |
| Occu’thar | Tier 12 | October 2024 | Phase 3 |
| Alizabal | Tier 13 | February 25, 2025 | Phase 4 |
The last boss, Alizabal, arrives at February 25, 2025 in Phase 4, with the start of Season 11, one week after the release of the patch. Cataclysm Classic offers Baradin Hold in two raid sizes: 10-player and 25-player. Unlike other raids that have a Normal and Heroic mode, Baradin Hold is only available in the Normal mode.
Baradin Hold Location
Tol Barad Peninsula
Tol Barad Island
Tol Barad Map Explained:
- A – Bridge to Faction Controlled Area;
- B – Bridge to Neutral Area;
- C – Raid Entrance.
Baradin Hold is located on the main Tol Barad island, opposite the Peninsula. This area is reserved for the faction that currently controls the island. To get to the raid, go to the central swamp of the island and find the facility there. On the west side of this building, there is a trapdoor that opens and serves as the entrance. The summoning stone for the raid is located just to the left of this trapdoor.
How to Get to the Baradin Hold?
First, you need to reach Tol Barad Peninsula. There are two ways to do this:
- Portals: The Alliance players can find the portal in Stormwind and the Horde players can find the portal in Orgrimmar.
- Mage Teleport/Portal: Players of level 85 and above can use Mage teleport or portal skills to get to the Peninsula.
To teleport directly to the island where the Baradin Hold raid entrance is located, players can use Baradin’s Wardens Tabard for Alliance and Hellscream’s Reach Tabard for Horde. To buy that tabard, it is necessary to achieve Honored status with their respective Tol Barad faction.
What Level is Needed for Baradin Hold?
You need to be level 85 to access Baradin Hold in World of Warcraft Cataclysm Classic. This is the maximum level attainable in the game. With our Power Leveling you can reach the level cap in the shortest possible time.
Baradin Hold Layout
Baradin Hold, once a fearsome prison, has become a ruin. The facility consists of three large rooms each containing a boss and connected to a central area. It is reached by a trapdoor on the western side, in the swamp area.
Baradin Hold Map Explained:
Baradin Hold Resets
📌 Note: This Reset Timer was relevant for Phase 1.
Baradin Hold follows a weekly reset schedule, similar to other raid instances. Weekly raid lockouts in Cataclysm Classic resets every Tuesday. This means players can defeat each boss for loot once a week in either 10-player or 25-player mode. Here is the Baradin Hold raid reset timer:
| Date | US Reset Time | EU Reset Time |
|---|---|---|
| June 4, 2024 | 8 p.m. PST | |
| June 5, 2024 | 9 a.m. CET | |
| June 11, 2024 | 8 p.m. PST | |
| June 12, 2024 | 9 a.m. CET | |
| June 18, 2024 | 8 p.m. PST | |
| June 19, 2024 | 9 a.m. CET | |
| June 25, 2024 | 8 p.m. PST | |
| June 26, 2024 | 9 a.m. CET |
Loot in Baradin Hold
Baradin Hold, like Vault of Archavon in Wrath of the Lich King Classic, provides players with a variety of loot. PvP gear and pieces of armor can be received from bosses, as well as PvE tier legs and gloves. The raid is available only in the 10-player and 25-player Normal modes with bosses becoming available at specific points during the expansion. The size of the raid does not affect the loot table or the item level of the loot but 25-player raids get more loot per boss kill.
| 10 & 25 player Normal | Item Level | Release |
|---|---|---|
| Argaloth | 359-365 | Phase 1 |
| Occu’thar | 378-384 | Phase 3 |
| Alizabal | 397-403 | Phase 4 |
Now let’s look at the Baradin Hold loot tables for each boss.
Argaloth Drops
Accessories
Cloth Armor
| Slot | Item |
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| Feet | |
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| Feet | |
| Hands | Firelord’s Gloves |
| Hands | Mercurial Gloves |
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| Legs | |
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| Waist | |
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| Wrist | |
| Wrist |
Leather Armor
| Slot | Item |
|---|---|
| Feet | |
| Feet | |
| Feet | |
| Feet | |
| Feet | |
| Feet | |
| Hands | |
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| Legs | |
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| Waist | |
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Mail Armor
Plate Armor
Occu'thar Drops
Accessories
Cloth Armor
Leather Armor
Mail Armor
Plate Armor
Alizabal Drops
Accessories
Cloth Armor
Leather Armor
Mail Armor
Plate Armor
Achievements
There are three Baradin Hold achievements you can earn by conquering this raid:
You can also earn the Baradin Hold Guild Run achievement. To do this, you need to kill all three bosses in a group where at least 8 out of 10 players are guild members in a 10-man raid, or at least 20 out of 25 players are guild members in a 25-man raid.
Baradin Hold Best Classes
Here is the list of the best classes for the Cataclysm Classic Baradin Hold raid. These classes are popular because they are versatile and perform well in both PvE and PvP, which is crucial in Baradin Hold, a PvP-claimed raid instance. They bring the package of high damage, sustain, utility, and healing that is valuable in this setting. To prepare your character for a raid, equip him with Pre Raid Gear.
- Restoration Druid: Very good raid-wide healing with spells like Wild Growth and Tranquility. High mobility and usefulness with such powers as Rebirth and Innervate.
- Fire Mage: It has high burst damage with Combustion, and good AoE with Flamestrike and Living Bomb. Ice Block for survivability and Blink for mobility.
- Protection Paladin: High single-target threat and mobility. Good when combined with Blessing of Kings, Blessing of Might, and Lay on Hands. Also has raid-wide cooldowns such as Divine Guardian.
- Arms Warrior: High burst damage and sustained damage with abilities like Mortal Strike and Colossus Smash. Has strong raid debuffs such as Demoralizing Shout and utility in the form of Rallying Cry.
- Discipline Priest: Single target healing and shield-based play with Power Word: Shield and Penance. Offers good auras and absorbs, and good cooldowns such as Pain Suppression and Power Infusion.
- Enhancement Shaman: Able to deal with both melee and spell attacks. Has abilities that benefit the entire raid such as Windfury Totem and Bloodlust/Heroism. Healing capabilities with spells like Healing Surge and a utility ability such as Tremor Totem.
- Affliction Warlock: Heavy constant damage with damage over time abilities such as Corruption, Unstable Affliction, and Haunt. Offers Healthstones and Soulstones (combat resurrection) and has good AoE with Seed of Corruption.
The Best Baradin Hold Consumables
Baradin Hold in Cataclysm Classic is a raid that players should prepare for very carefully. When it comes to consumables, it is important to use the best ones so as to achieve the best results. Here’s a list of the best consumables for Baradin Hold you should use, categorized by role:
All Bosses Strategies for Baradin Hold
Here are brief descriptions of each of the boss encounters in Baradin Hold to give you detailed boss strategies and help with all the information that you need to know about the raid. You can also defeat these and all other Cataclysm Classic bosses with our All Raids Bundle.
Argaloth Strategy
The Argaloth fight has only one Phase, but there are two major shifts in the combat. The raid has to split into two groups to handle one of Argaloth’s main skills, Meteor Slash. The fight involves the right positioning and the right timing when switching between the different Phases to avoid some of the deadly moves.
Argaloth’s abilities are simple, but if not controlled, they could be extremely dangerous.
- Consuming Darkness: Argaloth casts a spell that affects three players and deals Shadow Damage that increases over time until dispelled.
- Meteor Slash: Argaloth performs a massive fire attack on his target and applies a debuff that causes all players in front of him in a cone to take increased Fire Damage for 20 seconds.
- Fel Firestorm: Argaloth forms burning Fel Flames around the area, which deals Fire Damage to players who remain in the area.
Here is how to kill Argaloth:
- Argaloth’s Meteor Slash, which is essentially a temper tantrum of fire, is the core of this encounter. It creates a burning spot that requires collaboration to address.
- Break your raid into two equal teams, each of which will have a tank, healers, and DPS players. This makes sure that only one group will be receiving the brunt of Meteor Slash at a time.
- Position the groups in a manner that when Argaloth performs Meteor Slash, it only targets a single group. This makes it possible for the debuff to get worn off before the next blast of fire.
- When a group receives a Meteor Slash, the other group’s tank engages the boss in taunting. This just cycles who takes the damage and gives for maximum damage, melee DPS can stand behind Argaloth and only stack with their group when Meteor Slash is incoming.
- Meteor Slashes have a break of about 45 seconds and during this time everyone is brought back to full health. This is the time to use mana-efficient spells.
- Healers, be wary! Get rid of the Consuming Darkness debuff as soon as you can in order to protect your friends.
- At 66% and 33% of health, Argaloth casts a Fel Firestorm which lasts for 15 seconds. This results in the creation of patches of burning Fel Flames on the ground.
- In Fel Firestorm, mobility is the name of the game! Always avoid the flames and at the same time, attack Argaloth when you have the chance to do so.
- Use your raid buffs at the right time, such as Heroism, Bloodlust, or Time Warp. Do not use their duration during Fel Firestorm. Ideally, use them after the second Fel Firestorm when many classes gain more damage at lower health (often below 20%).
With cooperation and controlling the heat, your raid group can defeat Argaloth!
Occu’thar Strategy
Occu’thar is a single-phase encounter that challenges your raid’s ability to handle two key mechanics: quickly eradicating adds and synchronizing a tank exchange. The boss occasionally uses Eyes of Occu’tar, which are actually very easy to kill because they have very low health. If this is not done, the raid will be swamped with high amounts of damage. However, if your raid is able to handle these mechanics properly, the fight is considered to be relatively simple.
Occu’thar packs two main attacks:
- Focused Fire: Occu’thar attacks a random player and unleashes a scorching gaze that burns for 2.5 seconds. Targets within 12 yards of the intended location suffer heavy Fire Damage and then even greater Fire Damage every second.
- Searing Shadows: Occu’thar conjures a cone-shaped blast of Shadow Energy in front of him, dealing a large amount of Shadow Damage and increasing the target’s Shadow Damage taken by a lot.
But Occu’thar doesn’t fight alone. He summons an Eye of Occu’tar, that brings its own set of problems:
- Gaze of Occu’thar: Occu’thar calls for the Eye of Occu’thar on each player. These eyes cause suffering to their hosts for 10 seconds, dealing Shadow Damage every few seconds.
- Occu’thar’s Destruction: If Eye of Occu’tar stays on the player until its full duration, it detonates causing heavy Shadow Damage to enemies around the player.
Here is how to defeat Occu’thar:
- The main tank positions Occu’tar in a way that it is facing the opposite direction to prevent Searing Shadows from hitting anyone else.
- Following the initial Searing Shadows, the off-tank engages Occu’thar in the process of taunting him and ensuring that he is facing away from the raid. The main tank turns his back to the boss to prevent the debuff from affecting the raid.
- The raid should be slightly spread out to prevent too many players from being hit by Focused Fire void zones.
- When the Eyes appear, all players including the off-tank have to move in unison to a safer ground (out of a void zone).
- You should use AoE attacks to clear all the Eyes of Occu’tar before 10 seconds elapse.
- The tanking off-tank will also have an Eye on themself, so they need to join the raid to kill it with AoE.
- The first priority should be to kill the Eyes as quickly as possible. Raid damage will increase if any of the Eyes are alive at 10 seconds.
Communication is key! Organize the tank swaps and make sure that everyone pays attention to the Eyes and tries to eliminate them as fast as possible.
Alizabal Strategy
Alizabal is a simple fight with no tricky moves to perform or avoid. During the fight, tanks will have to switch between focusing on attacking her and pulling her attention back to them by using taunts at regular intervals. The rest of the raid group will also need to change formation tactfully, huddle together at some point, and then scatter at the other.
Alizabal only has 3 abilities:
- Skewer: Alizabal stuns her current target for 8 seconds while impaling them. The poor victim is attacked and takes a large amount of Physical Damage every couple of seconds and is left open for more damage.
- Seething Hate: Alizabal releases a wave of intense hatred at a random target and deals Fire Damage to all party members. The victims trapped in the blast must bear the heat of the fire.
- Blade Dance: Alizabal spins into a deadly dance, slashing through the air with a storm of blades that pierce any player in reach. During the dance, she is immune to any kind of attack or harm that may be inflicted on her.
Here is how to fight Alizabal:
- The tanks should taunt the boss off each other every time the current tank is under the effect of Skewer.
- The whole raid should stack on Alizabal’s melee range. This makes healing easier and ensures everyone gets the damage from Seething Hate.
- When Alizabal begins casting Blade Dance, all members of the group must disengage themselves from each other.
- If any players are in the range of Alizabal during Blade Dance, it is advised that they run as far away from her as possible to minimize the amount of damage received.
- Healers should expect high tank damage, both on the current tank and the one taking damage from the Skewer Disease Touch. Moderate raid damage will also occur.
- Seething Hate is usually used twice in a turn after each Blade Dance. If two Seething Hates go off, your raid can spread out in anticipation of Blade Dance.
Baradin Hold is one of the most interesting raids in World of Warcraft Cataclysm Classic. Due to the PvP-controlled access and the bosses that become available at a progressive rate throughout the expansion, it is a challenge for players throughout the expansion. The mechanics of each encounter and the strategies that should be used by the raid group are described below to help you successfully complete the raid on Baradin Hold and get the rewards.
