Netherspace Abyssal — Pet of the Month: July 2016

A demon invasion sent by the Burning Legion will be upon us Soon™, however it would seem that the Legion has already infiltrated our pet collections. This month we're taking a look at the Netherspace Abyssal.

Collecting the Netherspace Abyssal
The Netherspace Abyssal is a battle pet that drops from Prince Malchezaar, the last boss in the Karazhan raid zone.

Who is this prince and what is he doing occupying Karazhan? All we know for certain is that he claims to have ties with the Burning Legion, and must maintain The Legion's influence over Medivh's old residence.

Players at max level should have no problem defeating Malchezaar. Lower level players will want to bring some friends to assist, not only with the encounter but also clearing the rest of the raid instance up to Prince Malchezaar.

To reach the last boss, players will need to defeat four raid encounters.

• Moroes
• Opera Event
• The Curator
• Chess Event

The remaining bosses in the zone are optional and are not required to unlock Malchezaar.

Prince Malchezaar's encounter is a fairly straight forward one. He has three phases, each one progressively more challenging than the last, with the his last phase being a 'soft enrage' (watch out for those falling infernals).

The Netherspace Abyssal is not a guaranteed drop from Malchezaar, so it may require a few raid clears and attempts before acquiring this pet. Collecting it will add to a player's progress in the Raiding with Leashes II: Attunement Edition achievement.

Hopefully the upcoming expansion will shed some light on Prince Malchezaar's involvement with the Burning Legion and Karazhan. In the meantime, his summoned infernals are free for the taking...but just the very, very small ones.

Battling with the Netherspace Abyssal
The Netherspace Abyssal has a dynamic kit which makes for an interesting pet. Its moves span several different family types, and have a lot of utility to boot.

Its one completely straightforward move, Crush, deals Humanoid damage. Immolate, an Elemental move, also deals damage but has a damage over time aspect as well. Both share slot one.

In slot two is Immolation, which deals damage to the opponent’s front pet as long as the Abyssal is alive and the buff persists, even if it swaps to the back row. Its other slot two choice, Explode, deals huge damage and kills the Abyssal, even overriding its Magic family trait preventing more than 35% of their life being taken away in one attack.


Slot three hosts a couple of interesting moves. Meteor Strike (pictured above) makes the Infernal fly into the air for a turn, then come back down. It’s a mechanic similar to Burrow or Lift-Off, but it deals Magic damage. Lastly, there’s Nether Gate, which doesn’t deal much damage but acts as a force swap, making a different pet join the battle.

Together, these moves make for a pet which deals decent DPS and can dodge a bit, but doesn’t have a lot of longevity otherwise. Its flashiness means that you’re best served planning ahead a bit and playing deliberately. After all, you don’t want to get burned.

Check out our forum thread discussion on the Netherspace Abyssal and submit your own thoughts on this pet.

Battling Discussion on the Netherspace Abyssal

Pet of the Month is co-written by Liopleurodon, an experienced pet battler and long-time WoW player. She maintains her own Pet Battle blog and is a Pet Battle columnist on the fansite Blizzard Watch.