Overview and Requirements
Siege of Niuzao Temple is the second longest Challenge Mode dungeon in Mists of Pandaria. It's got extended duration combined with multiple potential failure points that'll force full resets. Don't jump into this one first. The length and scripted sequences mean you should tackle other Challenge Modes before attempting gold here.
Location and Access
You'll find the dungeon entrance in Townlong Steppes at coordinates 34.7, 81.7. The nearest flight point for both factions sits at Shado-Pan Garrison (50.0, 71.8).
Completion Objectives
You need to kill exactly 65 enemies throughout the dungeon plus all four bosses: Vizier Jin'bak, Commander Vo'jak, General Pa'valak, and Wing Leader Ner'onok. Gold completion means finishing everything in 17 minutes 30 seconds or less.
Challenge Mode Scaling Mechanics
Challenge Mode dungeons mirror their Heroic versions in layout and enemy composition, but they scale all your equipped gear down to item level 463. Anything above that gets reduced to match item level 463's power budget.
There's one exception: Hit Rating. If you're hit capped before entering, you'll stay hit capped after scaling. The system adjusts your other secondary stats to make this work.
Group Composition
Siege of Niuzao Temple doesn't heavily favor specific classes or specs. Many encounters have bonus mechanics that anyone can use to save time.
Stealth and Movement Utilities
Rogues bring serious value through Shroud of Concealment, which gives the entire party AoE stealth. But since this dungeon only has one major skip opportunity, you can substitute with Invisibility Potions for everyone instead.
Required Buffs
Every group needs Bloodlust. Grab a Shaman with Bloodlust or Heroism, a Mage with Time Warp, or a Beast Mastery Hunter with Primal Rage.
Route Strategy and Enemy Count Management
The dungeon follows a mostly linear path with long mandatory waiting periods during scripted sequences. Success comes down to pulling precisely enough enemies throughout the run to hit the 65-kill requirement.
Opening Section: Building Residue Stacks
The first area contains Amber-Weavers and Resin Flakes that set you up for an aggressive first boss strategy. When Resin Flakes die, they drop a debuff called Residue. Each stack gives you 10% increased damage dealt.
Resin Flake Mechanics:
- Each Resin Flake that dies applies one Residue stack to players
- The debuff increases damage dealt by 10% per stack
- You also take increased damage from Resin Flakes based on your stack count
- Explosions from dying Resin Flakes deal progressively more damage to players with higher stacks
The smart play involves pulling and killing Resin Flakes strategically to build Residue stacks before you engage Vizier Jin'bak. Advanced groups can push for 16 stacks, though this needs careful management of defensive cooldowns and healing throughput. Groups hitting 9-10 stacks can still execute the burn strategy effectively, killing the boss in roughly 30 seconds compared to 20 seconds with maximum stacks.
Groups that successfully reach 16 stacks gain 160% increased damage, which completely trivializes the Vizier Jin'bak encounter. But even 10 stacks provides enough damage (100% increase) to skip boss mechanics, with the boss dying in 30 seconds instead of 20.
Amber-Weaver Pack Management
The first and third trash packs have two Guardians and two Amber-Weavers.
Amber-Weaver Priority Mechanics:
- Amber-Weavers channel Resin Weaving on random players, stunning the target after three seconds if you don't interrupt or dispel it
- Guardians cast Malleable Resin, applying a 50% movement speed reduction for six seconds that needs dispelling
- Guardians also activate Protective Shield, reducing their damage taken by 90%
- Move targets out of Protective Shield zones instead of attacking through the mitigation
Focus interrupts on Amber-Weavers since Guardians have dispellable effects rather than interruptible casts.
Post-Vizier Stealth Skip
After defeating Vizier Jin'bak, groups can use Invisibility Potions or Shroud of Concealment to bypass the next several enemy packs. The skip eliminates a clump of eight Resin Flakes positioned outside the boss chamber and a pack of three additional enemies shortly beyond them.
This skip is not extensive but contributes to the exact 65-kill requirement for the dungeon. Groups could potentially skip different enemy groups earlier if desired, as the eight Resin Flakes die quickly and the skip only saves moderate time.
Stealth Skip Hazards
During the stealth section, Sap Puddles spray from walls throughout the hallway. Touching these puddles breaks stealth and can cause a dungeon reset.
Safe Navigation:
- Stay on the right side of the hallway
- Jump frequently to reduce the chance of touching Sap Puddles
- Coordinate with the group to ensure everyone moves together
When exiting stealth near the end of the narrow hallway, a pack of five Resin Flakes awaits. Kill these while moving toward the next section containing identical enemy compositions to those already encountered.
Pre-Commander Vo'jak Trash
The stretch between Vizier Jin'bak and Commander Vo'jak contains minimal difficulty. Groups must kill 39 enemies total before the Amber Door, which leads to the second boss area.
Movement Efficiency:
- Kill enemies while continuously moving forward
- The section imposes minimal healing stress
- Open the Amber Door immediately when reached
- Engage the Warden as soon as possible to start the gauntlet event timer
The Warden before Commander Vo'jak can be pulled and killed even while finishing nearby trash. Faster Warden elimination leads to earlier gauntlet start times. Some groups have experimented with keeping Resin Flakes alive to stack Residue for the Commander Vo'jak fight, but this provides limited value since the gauntlet spawns operate on fixed timers.
Boss Encounter: Vizier Jin'bak
Vizier Jin'bak patrols beyond the mantid's natural bridge entrance, harvesting sap from tree roots. He uses alchemical knowledge to transform this substance into weapons and siege tools.
Strategy Overview
The entire strategy revolves around accumulating sufficient Residue stacks before engaging the boss. With adequate stacks (9 or more), groups can completely ignore all boss mechanics and burn through his health before he executes any dangerous abilities.
Boss Abilities (When Fight Extends)
If groups fail to maintain Residue stacks, they must execute the fight conventionally:
- Sap Puddle: Grows continuously over time, dealing Nature damage every second to players who touch it. Contact also shrinks the puddle size.
- Sap Residue: Applied when players touch the Sap Puddle. Deals Nature damage every second and stacks.
- Summon Sap Globule: Vizier Jin'bak summons three Sap Globules from the tree.
- Sap Globule (Add Behavior): These adds attempt to merge with the Sap Puddle, increasing its size.
- Detonate: The boss detonates the Sap Puddle, dealing damage proportional to the puddle's current size.
Execution
Pull Vizier Jin'bak immediately after achieving 9-16 Residue stacks. The accumulated damage bonus allows groups to kill him within 20-30 seconds, completely skipping his mechanic sequences. If attempting the high-stack strategy (16 stacks), the boss dies almost instantly but requires significant preparation and risk management during the Resin Flake pulls.
Boss Encounter: Commander Vo'jak (The Gauntlet)
Commander Vo'jak compensates for limited strategic thinking with overwhelming ferocity. His devastating strikes proved crucial in exploiting the mantid bridge that allowed enemy infiltration of the temple.
Fight Structure
This encounter is heavily scripted and time-gated. The main method of reducing completion time involves ringing the gong repeatedly to advance through wave spawns as quickly as possible.
Starting the Encounter
An NPC will announce "Let's give these Mantid a taste of their own medicine." Immediately after this line, speak with Yang Ironclaw to start the gauntlet.
Wave Management
The encounter has multiple waves that spawn on a fixed timer. The gong becomes clickable immediately after each wave finishes spawning (not when enemies die, but when they stop appearing).
Positioning Strategy
Tank Position: Stays downstairs at the bottom of the stairs, immediately picking up each wave as it spawns and becomes attackable.
Ranged DPS Position: Stays upstairs, positioned to throw Caustic Tar bombs onto the corner after the second flight of stairs. All enemies must pass through this specific location to reach the tank, so they'll always walk through the tar.
Caustic Tar Usage:
- Designate a specific spot for tar placement
- Ranged players should mark this location before the fight
- Fight Commander Vo'jak on top of the tar spot when he becomes active
- Tar nullifies the boss's attack speed increase (Rising Speed)
Healer Responsibilities
The healer manages three distinct jobs during this encounter:
- Maintain healing on the tank from the top platform edge
- Throw Caustic Tar jars to the designated spot
- Ring the gong immediately when available
Paladin tanks typically need minimal attention, but other tank classes may need more active healing.
Wave Composition and Timing
Wave 1 (Swarmers): The gong becomes available shortly after an NPC mentions the Amberwing. Tank and melee DPS position at the correct distance from the tar spot so enemies stand in tar without exposing your group.
Wave 2 (Demolishers): Group backs up to avoid explosion damage. Demolishers die rapidly, and the main focus becomes waiting for the gong.
Wave 3 (Warrior): Contains a warrior with more health and damage output. Proper tar positioning matters more for this wave. Make sure tar is positioned correctly and prepare for active tank healing.
The gong timing varies but becomes available during specific points in the NPC dialogue. Missing the right timing adds several seconds to each wave.
Stage One Abilities
- Sik'thik Swarmer: Lightly armored mantid forming the core of Vo'jak's forces.
- Sik'thik Amberwing: Flies to the top platform and bombards players with Bombard, firing explosive volleys dealing moderate Fire damage to all creatures within 4.5 yards.
- Sik'thik Demolisher: Carries volatile explosive charges. Explodes when damaged or killed (Unstable Blast), dealing damage to all targets within 16 yards.
- Sik'thik Warrior: Slowly advances toward player positions with higher health pools than Swarmers.
Player Ability, Caustic Tar: Li and Lo Chu position mantid tar kegs for player use. Caustic Tar deals Nature damage per second, reduces movement speed by 50%, increases damage taken by 10% (stacking), and removes all movement speed and attack speed increases from affected targets.
Commander Vo'jak (Stage Two)
Once all waves complete, Commander Vo'jak himself becomes active.
- Rising Speed: The boss focuses his determination, increasing attack speed by 15% every 2 seconds. This effect stacks indefinitely but gets completely nullified by Caustic Tar.
- Dashing Strike: Charges a random player, dealing moderate Physical damage to all enemies in the path and knocking back the current target for additional heavy Physical damage.
- Thousand Blades: Immediately follows Dashing Strike. Spins rapidly, sending blades outward that inflict Physical damage to all targets within 8 yards. This ability removes Caustic Tar from the ground.
Combat Strategy:
- Stack Caustic Tar in a designated location before the boss activates
- Tank positions the boss on top of the tar
- Ranged players must move slightly when Dashing Strike goes on cooldown
- Keep only the tank near the tar pile. Other players should maintain distance to preserve tar coverage
The boss dies quickly with proper tar management and damage focus. The Mage Blink ability provides an effective escape from Dashing Strike if you're targeted while stationary.
Post-Fight Waiting Period
After Commander Vo'jak dies, over one minute of mandatory roleplay occurs before you can progress. This represents one of the most frustrating time gates in the dungeon. Use this period for drinking and preparation.
Section Between Second and Third Boss
Once the gate finally opens, proceed left toward the tree. You can and should skip all trash before General Pa'valak.
Patrol Navigation
A static enemy pull stands directly in front of the opened door. Navigate around the left side of this group. Three mantids patrol this area.
Two Navigation Options:
- Wait near the tree until the patrol moves, then pass on the near side
- If the patrol blocks the path, ride around the tree to the opposite side
Groups on tall mounts may need to dismount briefly to pass under a tree branch. After clearing this section, ride directly to General Pa'valak.
Boss Encounter: General Pa'valak
General Pa'valak views both pandaren and their allies with pragmatic indifference, willing to use personal strength or his mantid armies interchangeably to achieve victory. He tolerates no failure from his subordinates.
Strategy Overview
This encounter centers on using Siege Explosives dropped by adds to clear trash waves while simultaneously damaging the boss and removing his shield. Every player must actively throw explosives. This isn't optional for gold completion times.
Positioning and Pull
Start in the corner to avoid accidentally pulling trash before you're ready. The first phase involves only dodging Blade Rush while DPS focuses on the boss.
Core Mechanics
Blade Rush: General Pa'valak throws his sword at a random player's location, dealing heavy Physical damage to all players within 4 yards on impact. He then charges to the sword, dealing heavy Physical damage to all players within 8 yards and knocking them back.
Tempest: Unleashes a tempest dealing heavy Nature damage to all players within 60 yards and negating the next 45,000 points of healing on affected targets.
Groups with enough damage can trigger the first Bulwark phase before Tempest casts, completely skipping this mechanic.
Bulwark Phases (65% and 35% Health)
When General Pa'valak reaches 65% and 35% health, he activates Bulwark and summons reinforcements.
- Bulwark: Surrounds the boss in a damage-absorbing shield.
- Aerial Bombardment: Sik'thik Amber-Sappers drop Siege Explosives throughout the area.
Siege Explosive Mechanics:
- Arm themselves after 3 seconds
- Explode 3 seconds after arming
- Deal heavy Fire damage in a 7-yard radius
- Apply a stacking 5% increased damage taken debuff for 15 seconds
Throw Explosive (Player Ability): You can throw Siege Explosives at enemies before they arm. Thrown explosives deal massive Fire damage to all mantid within 7 yards and increase their damage taken by 5% for 1.5 minutes (stacking).
Ground Assault: General Pa'valak summons waves of Sik'thik Soldiers.
Sik'thik Soldier Ability:
- Serrated Blade: Slices a player, dealing Physical damage every 3 seconds for 12 seconds. This effect stacks.
First Bulwark Phase Execution
Timing the Pull: Wait as long as possible after Bulwark activates before pulling trash. This allows multiple bombs to spawn on the ground, maximizing the burst damage when trash is grouped.
Trash Management:
- Pull trash packs near the boss
- Detonate trash and boss together using thrown explosives
- Use crowd control and stuns to manage the 11 enemies
- Tank takes heavy damage during this phase and needs active healing
You should end this phase with 51 out of 65 enemies killed.
Second Bulwark Phase (35% Health)
The second Bulwark phase follows identical mechanics. By this point, stacking debuffs on the boss mean he dies within seconds after breaking the shield. You must continue avoiding Blade Rush during transitions between phases.
Completion Benchmark
Defeating General Pa'valak with roughly five minutes remaining provides ample time for the bridge sequence and final boss. This leaves a comfortable buffer for gold completion.
Bridge Section to Wing Leader Ner'onok
The bridge takes roughly two minutes to cross without rushing, followed by two minutes for the final boss encounter. Groups ahead of schedule at General Pa'valak's death will comfortably achieve gold.
Bridge Enemy Types
Builders: Have a random ranged physical attack. They rarely move due to their ranged capability, making large pulls difficult.
Engineers: Cast two problematic spells:
- Burning Pitch: Applies a damage-over-time effect to a target that can be dispelled.
- Crystallize: Stuns any player currently affected by Burning Pitch and applies a slow effect.
Bridge Strategy
Interrupt Priority: Focus interrupts on Engineers to prevent Crystallize casts.
Dispel Priority: Remove Burning Pitch immediately when applied.
Pull Strategy: Due to Builders' ranged attacks keeping them stationary, pulling multiple packs together proves difficult. The standard approach involves:
- Focus fire the Engineer in each pack
- When the Engineer dies, advance to the next pack
- Pull additional enemies while Builders die
- Repeat this process across the bridge
Fighting multiple Engineers simultaneously increases stun risk and slows completion. The linear progression of killing Engineers then advancing represents the most efficient approach.
Healer Considerations
Between bridge packs, healers should position for drinking opportunities. Plan these drinking windows before combat ends by moving to the right positions. This prevents delays while your group sets up the next pull. Groups ahead on time (which should be standard with five minutes remaining after Pa'valak) can afford brief drinking periods without rushing.
Boss Encounter: Wing Leader Ner'onok
Wing Leader Ner'onok has achieved victory in hundreds of battles. He believes General Pa'valak's minor successes pale compared to what he could accomplish as commander. His aerial assaults have devastated temple guardians, yet he yearns to prove his superiority over the general.
Strategy Overview
This encounter is mechanically simple with two critical execution requirements: sending a player (ideally the healer) ahead to interrupt Gusting Winds, and maintaining constant jumping to counter Quick-Dry Resin.
Core Mechanics
- Hurl Brick: Throws rubble dealing Physical damage equal to 100% of weapon damage to his target.
- Caustic Pitch: Throws Caustic Pitch at a random location, dealing moderate Nature damage per second and reducing movement speed by 50% for players touching it.
- Quick-Dry Resin: Sprays a target with heated resin that deals Fire damage every second. If the process completes, the target becomes encased in resin, unable to move or act for 6 seconds.
Flight Phases
Twice during the fight, Ner'onok flies to the opposite end of the bridge and channels Gusting Winds until interrupted.
Gusting Winds: Creates a powerful gale that pushes enemies away from the boss at high speed.
Interrupt Strategy:
- At least one player must cross the bridge ahead of time
- The healer represents the ideal choice since they lack continuous damage requirements
- Alternative classes with interrupts can also fill this role
- The designated player should move to the opposite side well before Ner'onok takes flight
- Position to interrupt the cast at the first possible moment
- Remaining DPS players continue fighting until forced to move
First Phase Execution
The first phase concludes rapidly with Bloodlust active. DPS typically completes this phase before Bloodlust expires. The boss takes no additional flights after returning the second time. You simply finish the encounter at the final location.
Completion
Groups reaching this encounter with proper time management will finish with significant time remaining for gold completion. The encounter itself poses minimal threat with proper execution.
Class-Specific Tips and Advanced Strategies
Healer (All Specs)
Commander Vo'jak: You're the best choice for ringing the gong due to positioning at the top of the stairs with healing range to the tank.
Death Knight
Resin Flake Management: Consider using Anti-Magic Zone when killing Resin Flakes to mitigate group damage from on-death explosions, particularly important when building high Residue stacks.
Monk
Wing Leader Ner'onok: Transcendence allows instant repositioning when the boss flies across the bridge, providing a serious mobility advantage.
Mistweaver Monk
General Pa'valak: Tempest's healing absorption can be removed by casting Revival if Chi is insufficient to remove it through standard healing.
Priest
Commander Vo'jak: Use Leap of Faith as an emergency defensive cooldown for tanks or melee DPS positioned downstairs, bringing them to safety at the top platform out of danger range.
Wing Leader Ner'onok: Angelic Feather excels in the final boss fight, allowing players to sprint through wind sections efficiently.
Rogue
General Strategy: Smoke Bomb provides exceptional value throughout the latter dungeon sections, forcing caster enemies to approach your group even without line of sight breaks.
Druid
Movement: Use Stampeding Roar frequently, particularly during the cavern section before Commander Vo'jak. This ability significantly accelerates group movement through long running sections.
Pet Classes (Hunter, Warlock, Death Knight, Mage, Shaman)
Advanced Healer Tips
Restoration Druid Stat Priority
For dedicated Challenge Mode progression, Restoration Druids should reforge aggressively toward Mastery, which provides the best throughput stat for the spec.
Stat Distribution:
- Reforge everything possible to Mastery
- Target roughly 6,000 Mastery rating
- Maintain the 3,043 haste breakpoint if running with an Elemental Shaman
- Spirit can safely drop to roughly 4,600 for Challenge Modes
- Spirit matters significantly less in Challenge Modes than raids
Trinket Choices:
- Zen Alchemist Stone (provides passive Mastery)
- Shinje's Polarizing Seal (provides Spirit that can be reforged to Mastery with powerful proc)
- Both trinkets offer throughput-focused stats ideal for Challenge Mode healing
Challenge Modes need frequent power healing on tanks. Throughput stats maximize healing output, particularly important for Restoration Druids whose primary tank healing spell (Regrowth) is mana-inefficient. Standard raid gear works perfectly fine for Challenge Modes, but dedicated reforging provides measurable improvements for progression groups.
Managing Lifebloom Amber
Restoration Druids must create a macro to cancel Lifebloom Amber in combat. Without this macro, the user interface may experience taint issues preventing manual cancellation, potentially causing dangerous healing delays. The macro guarantees emergency healing capability when needed.
Challenge Mode Completion Rewards
Completing Siege of Niuzao Temple Challenge Mode with Gold time awards two rewards:
- Achievement: Siege of Niuzao Temple: Gold
- Teleport Ability: Path of the Black Ox allows teleportation to the dungeon entrance on demand with an 8-hour cooldown. This ability provides serious utility for world traversal and enables quick returns for additional speed runs or time improvements.
Strategic Practice Recommendations
Learning Philosophy
Complete full dungeon runs during practice rather than resetting after mistakes. This approach ensures familiarity with all sections before attempting serious gold runs. The tendency to reset early creates a dangerous situation where groups know early sections perfectly but lack experience with later mechanics.
Practice Priorities:
- Clear the entire dungeon multiple times to understand all pulls from start to finish
- Develop confidence in execution for every section
- Only begin resetting for minor mistakes once the entire route is memorized
- Remember that every practice reset means re-running 8+ minutes of content before reaching later sections again
Time Investment Reality
Siege of Niuzao Temple's extended length makes practice more time-consuming than other Challenge Modes. The dungeon's length doesn't reflect increased difficulty. It contains similar combat intensity to other dungeons but with extensive mandatory scripted sequences.
Main Failure Points
The dungeon has relatively few difficult moments where runs typically fail:
- Residue Stacking (First Boss): Improper management of Resin Flake explosions and defensive cooldowns during high-stack attempts
- Commander Vo'jak Execution: Players mishandling Thousand Blades positioning or failing to maximize gong timings
- General Pa'valak Transition: Trash management mistakes during the first Bulwark phase when the tank takes heavy damage from 11 enemies
- Patrol Skip (Third Boss): Accidentally pulling stationary or patrolling enemies during the ride to General Pa'valak
Each of these failures needs replaying the lengthy scripted sequences, making mistakes particularly costly in terms of time investment.
Completion Benchmark
Finishing General Pa'valak with nearly one minute remaining before moving to the bridge indicates a successful pace for gold completion. This benchmark ensures comfortable time allowance for the bridge section and final boss.
Summary of Critical Execution Points
Pre-Pull Preparation
- All pet classes dismiss pets before invisibility sections
- Healers prepare drink breaks during RP sequences
- Restoration Druids verify Lifebloom Amber cancel macro functionality
- Confirm gong-ringer assignment for Commander Vo'jak
Residue Management
- Build 9-10 stacks minimum, 16 stacks for advanced groups
- Use defensive cooldowns during high-stack Resin Flake pulls
- Kill final Resin Flakes individually above 10 stacks
- Pull Vizier Jin'bak immediately after reaching target stacks
Commander Vo'jak Tips
- Ring gong immediately when available after each wave
- Position tar at designated spot for consistent group coordination
- Tank stays downstairs for immediate enemy pickup
- Fight boss on tar to nullify Rising Speed
General Pa'valak Bomb Management
- Delay initial trash pull to accumulate bombs
- Every player must throw bombs actively
- Focus on tank healing during first Bulwark chaos
- Shift to bomb throwing once trash count decreases
Bridge Efficiency
- Interrupt Engineers consistently
- Dispel Burning Pitch immediately
- Advance after killing each Engineer
- Take brief drink breaks only when ahead on time
Wing Leader Ner'onok Execution
- Send interrupt-capable player ahead early (ideally healer)
- Jump continuously to counter Quick-Dry Resin
- Position for immediate interrupt of Gusting Winds
This guide provides all necessary information to achieve Gold completion in Siege of Niuzao Temple Challenge Mode for Mists of Pandaria Classic.