The Blinding Vale Guide: Midnight Season 2 Mythic+ Bosses, Route

Quick summary

• What it is: a four-encounter Harandar dungeon from launch, now in the Season 2 Mythic+ pool. The encounters are Lightblossom Trinity (Meittik, Lekshi, Kezkitt), Ikuzz the Light Hunter, Lightwarden Ruia, and Ziekket (Method).
• Timer: 31:00 (Wowhead). Since Blizzard's August 25 hotfix, you need 686 enemy forces (was 655).
• First decision: the opening fork. Going left leads to the Trinity and the Light-Starved Blossom haste buff. Going right leads to Ikuzz and the Baby Grovecrawler pet.
• Biggest Season 2 change: the Potatoad Matriarch before Ziekket was reworked on August 25. It now gives 60 forces (was 30), and its eggs hatch even if it dies first (Blizzard).
• Teleport: time it at +10 or higher (Icy Veins).

Find it and plan the run

The first-clear quest, The Blinding Vale: Lightbloom Roots, opens at level 88 and gives extra loot the first time you finish.

Fact	Value	Source
Encounters	4 (the first is a council of 3)	Method
Mythic+ timer	31:00	Wowhead
Enemy forces	686 (was 655 before Aug 25)	Blizzard
Path choice	Left (Trinity first) or right (Ikuzz first)	Method
Travel	A bird near the second boss flies you down to Ruia	Method
Portal	Time at +10	Icy Veins

Plan the run around three questions. Which side do you open on? Who kicks the Spellsowers and Petalwings? Who soaks the Trinity circles? The rest of this guide answers each one.

Pick left or right at the fork

At the start you choose a direction. That choice sets which of the first two bosses you fight first. It also sets which buff you can collect (Method).

Path	First boss	Buff	Who can use it	Effect
Left	Lightblossom Trinity	Light-Starved Blossom	Paladins, Priests, or Herbalists with at least 25 Midnight skill points	Flourishing Stride: +20% movement speed and +5% haste for 2 minutes
Right	Ikuzz the Light Hunter	Baby Grovecrawler	Hunters and Druids	The freed Grovecrawler fights with you for 1 minute

Method calls the Blossom buff the stronger one. It also says the left side has easier trash packs, so it recommends that most groups go left. Both routes reach both bosses, so the real question is your group makeup.

• No Paladin, Priest, or skilled Herbalist? You can't use the Blossom, so the main reason to go left is gone. If you have a Hunter or Druid, go right for the Grovecrawler.
• You have a Blossom user? Go left and use the 2-minute haste window on a big pull.
• You're a herbalist alt? The 25-point requirement is Midnight Herbalism skill. See our professions hub for leveling it.

Clear the opening trash

Most of these mobs show up again later in the dungeon, so learn them once (Method).

Mob	Key ability	What to do	Source
Lasher	Spore Spines DoT on the tank	Defensives, freedom, or magic dispel	Method
Lightgorged Lasher	Lightbloom Pollination	Burst the shield, or kick the cast (Icy Veins)	Method, Icy Veins
Radiant Spellsower	Light Bolt Volley, Light Bolt, Call the Grove	Kick every Volley, CC or kill before Call the Grove wakes Dormant Lashers	Method
Underbrush Stalker	Thornblade (random target)	Heal the target; bleed cleanses help	Method
Virid Grovekeeper	Earthrupture Strike, Uproot (knockback)	CC-immune; drop the puddle away from the group	Method
Sporeblight Belcher	Spouting Floret pulses, Belch Spores	CC-immune; plan healer cooldowns	Method
Thorny Saptor	Hunting Leap frontal channel	Dodge it or CC the mob	Method
Lightfeather Petalwing	Disorienting Screech	Kick every cast	Method
Leafy Grovecrawler	Seed Shot	Spare kicks	Method
Overgrown Hydra	Lightmaw Beams (3 players), Bullet Seeds	CC-immune; aim beams away from allies, or use defensives	Method
Spineshield Beetle	Spiny Shield	It damages attackers, so watch your health	Method

Icy Veins also warns that walking near a Lasher camp can wake it with Frantic Blooming. Pull those on purpose, not by accident. Blizzard's August 18 hotfix made the ground visual for the Saptor's Hunting Leap easier to see.

Beat the Lightblossom Trinity

You fight three bosses at once: Meittik, Lekshi, and Kezkitt (Method).

1. Kick Kezkitt. Keep a kick rotation on Light Bolt, which hits a random player.
2. Handle Thornblade. If Lekshi targets you, move so you don't cleave allies. Leave the area when Lekshi jumps to you. Use a defensive or bleed cleanse for the DoT.
3. Place the circles. Bedrock Slam hits the tank and spawns 3 Fertile Loam circles. Tank the bosses near one of them, but watch for Lightsower Dash, a line attack that crosses all 3 circles.
4. Soak during the beam. When Lightblossom Beam is cast, the circles become soaks that deal damage over time. If no one soaks them, the group takes Lightbloom Overgrowth AoE damage. Method has the tank plus 2 players step in right away.
5. Move after. The circles then turn into Light-Scorched Earth. Drag the bosses out before the next Bedrock Slam.

Icy Veins tells you to "avoid" the green Fertile Loam swirls, and also to soak the Lightblossoms. Read together, the advice is: stay out of the circles until the beam starts, then soak them.

Beat Ikuzz the Light Hunter

• Healers: Thorncaller Roar deals pulsing group damage. It gets worse after Lightcrazed Frenzy at 50% health (Method).
• Roots: Bloodthorn Roots cover the floor. If one roots a player, cleave it down or use a freedom effect, which can clear several at once (Method, Icy Veins).
• Verdant Stomp: this knocks players back. Don't get pushed into a root or off an edge. Afterward, every player gets a root; group near the boss so the group cleaves them down.
• Bloodthirsty Gaze: Ikuzz fixates a random player. Run, and kite him across existing roots to destroy them. On August 19, Blizzard fixed a bug that stopped Death Knights from casting Consumption after Gaze picked them up.
• Disorients: since August 25, disorient effects no longer affect Bloodthorn Root (Blizzard). Don't plan to use them on roots.

Fly down to Lightwarden Ruia

After both opening bosses, use the bird near the arena to fly down to Ruia's area (Method). The mobs are mostly ones you've seen, but many carry Lightwarden's Blight. These mobs deal AoE damage when they die and leave a puddle, so kill them away from where the group stands. The new lieutenant here is the Luminous Thornmaw. It's CC-immune, puts a Grievous Gash bleed on the tank, and casts a random-target frontal called Solar Breath.

Beat Lightwarden Ruia

Icy Veins describes Ruia as a Haranir druid who swaps forms. Method gives the health thresholds:

Phase	Health	Abilities	What to do
Moonkin	100–70%	Warden's Wrath, Lightfall, Lightfire (3 players)	Kick Warden's Wrath; dodge Lightfall circles; Lightfire targets stack so the tornadoes are easier to dodge
Bear	70–40%	Mangling Claws, Grievous Thrash, Pulverizing Strikes	Tank uses self-healing or bleed cleanses; spread for the Strikes frontal
Haranir	40–0%	Spirits of the Vale	Every 8 seconds it uses one ability from the earlier phases: Lightfire, Thrash, Lightfall, or Strikes

The table shows which tools you need in each phase. Save healer cooldowns for the final 40%.

Kill the Potatoad Matriarch

The group is ambushed by this mini-boss on the way to Ziekket. Blizzard's August 25 hotfix changed it more than anything else in the dungeon:

Change (Aug 25)	Before	After
Enemy forces	30	60
Health	—	Reduced by 10%
Toxic Spew initial damage	—	Reduced by 50%
Toadspawn target radius	10 yards	3–7 yards
Eggs	—	Finish hatching even if the Matriarch is dead

It's CC-immune. Tongue Toss launches the tank into the air, so watch your positioning. Toxic Spew puts a DoT on the group; dispel the poison where you can. Toadspawn lays eggs that hatch into Newborn Potadpoles, which hit with Potad-Toss and push players (Method). Icy Veins says it spawns 3 Toadspawn at a time. Because of the hotfix, killing the Matriarch no longer stops the eggs. Destroy them every time.

Beat Ziekket

1. Healers: Oozing Xylem deals pulsing group damage for the whole fight (Method).
2. Adds: Awaken the Lightbloom spawns Lashers. Cleave them, and kick or CC Lightspore Shot.
3. Corpses: once the adds die, aim the Concentrated Lightbeam frontal at their bodies to destroy them for good. Icy Veins says this stops them from respawning. Each hit leaves a large puddle, so fight near the edge of the platform.
4. Orbs: soak the Lightbloom's Essence orbs before they reach the boss. Spread the soaks so no one player's DoT gets too high. Blizzard cut the periodic damage by 25% on August 18.
5. Tank: Thornspike hits hard and knocks back. Use a defensive or bleed cleanse.

Blizzard's August 25 hotfix also removed one Radiant Spellsower before Ziekket and spawned fewer mobs in the last area. Season 1 routes through that area overcount the trash.

Compare the routes

Approach	Opening	Strength	Weakness	Source
Left, Trinity first	Blossom buff	2 minutes of haste and speed; easier trash (Method)	Needs a Paladin, Priest, or Herbalist	Method, MDT import https://wago.io/HLI3Wq7sA
Pug route	Either side	Easy to follow	Check its forces count against 686	Method calls its route "PUG Friendly"

Pick the one that fits your pull plan. Because of the August 25 changes, a route made before then will be short of the 686 forces. Check the total in MDT.

Assign kicks

Cast	Mob	Priority	Source
Light Bolt Volley	Radiant Spellsower	Every cast	Method
Disorienting Screech	Lightfeather Petalwing	Every cast	Method
Lightbloom Pollination	Lightgorged Lasher	Kick it, or burst the shield	Icy Veins, Method
Light Bolt	Kezkitt (Trinity)	Kick rotation	Method
Warden's Wrath	Ruia, Moonkin form	When possible	Method, Icy Veins
Lightspore Shot	Ziekket's adds	Kick or CC	Method
Seed Shot, Light Bolt	Grovecrawler, Spellsower	Spare kicks	Method

For setting up a kick rotation, see our interrupt coordination guide.

Know the hotfixes and loot

Date	Change	Source
Aug 18	Saptor Hunting Leap visual improved; Ziekket's Lightbloom's Essence periodic damage -25%	Blizzard
Aug 19	Death Knight Consumption fixed during Bloodthirsty Gaze	Blizzard
Aug 25	Forces 686 (was 655); last area less dense; a Spellsower removed; Matriarch rework; disorients no longer affect Bloodthorn Root	Blizzard

Wowhead lists three trinkets: Lightspire Core (Ruia), Sapling of the Dawnroot (Ziekket), and Seed of the Devouring Wild (Ikuzz). It also lists the Teldrassil's Sacrifice shield and the Amirdrassil's Reach crossbow. Check the in-game Adventure Guide before you farm one specific item. To place the decor, see our housing guide.

Avoid the common mistakes

• Going left with no Blossom user. You lose the main reason to choose that path.
• Standing in Fertile Loam too early. Wait until Lightblossom Beam is cast to soak, and then move the bosses off the scorched ground.
• Running from Bloodthirsty Gaze without a plan. Kite Ikuzz across roots, which also clears the floor.
• Killing Blight mobs in the group. Each one leaves a puddle when it dies.
• Ignoring Toadspawn eggs. Since August 25 they hatch even if the Matriarch dies.
• Dodging Concentrated Lightbeam on Ziekket. Aim it at the Lasher corpses. Don't just move out of it.
• Using an old route. Season 1 routes are short of 686 forces.

Run it on alts or after a break

• Returning for 12.1.5: Season 1 videos show 655 forces, the extra Spellsower, and the 30-forces Matriarch. From October 20, +10 runs drop Venomstones (Blizzard, via our Season 2 Mythic+ guide).
• Alts: each character unlocks its own +10 teleport (Icy Veins). A Priest or Paladin alt makes the left path worth taking. Leatherworkers can farm Ziekket for the two patterns.
• Pushing: see our push guide. Our Den of Nalorakk and Murder Row guides cover two more dungeons in the pool.

Want a hand with this?

If you would rather not grind this part yourself, World of Warcraft dungeon and Mythic+ services are listed on FullBoosts. Read Blizzard's End User License Agreement before you buy any service from anyone, FullBoosts included — a marketplace listing isn't publisher permission.

FAQ

What is The Blinding Vale timer? 31:00 (Wowhead).

Should I go left or right at the start? Go left if you have a Paladin, Priest, or Herbalist with 25 Midnight skill points. Method recommends left.

How many enemy forces does The Blinding Vale need? 686 since August 25 (was 655) (Blizzard).

How do I handle Lightblossom Beam? Have the tank and 2 players soak the Fertile Loam circles while it casts (Method).

What are Lightwarden Ruia's phases? Moonkin to 70%, Bear to 40%, then Haranir form, which repeats the earlier abilities every 8 seconds.

Why do Ziekket's Lashers keep coming back? You need to hit their corpses with Concentrated Lightbeam (Method, Icy Veins).