Baroness Anastari

Baroness Anastari is a banshee mini-boss found in Stratholme. She is the main antagonist of the Eastern Plaguelands storyline.

Baroness Anastari was once a baroness in life, but she was brutally murdered by the Scourge and is now under the control of the Lich King. She now guards a ziggurat in Stratholme and after the Cataclysm gave orders to Karthis Darkrune and Omasum Blighthoof to imprison Gidwin Goldbraids until she could try to turn him into a death knight.

Her most powerful ability is to dominate any individual she is touching, actually displacing the soul of her target. This domination temporary places the banshee's spirit within the individual thus affected. At this point, Anastari is no longer a banshee, but instead becomes a corporeal form of undead.

''While she lived, Anastari took what she wanted, no matter the cost. Death has done little to change that. Her soul ripped from her body, Anastari became a banshee, and she has abandoned her love of material trinkets in favor of possessions of a far more sinister kind.''

• When she is in her banshee form, nuke as fast and hard as possible. This will limit the number of possession cycles that she goes through.
• She will possess a random party member every so often, taking her out of combat. You have two choices to get her out of the party member:
• Damage the possessed party member until they reach 50% of their health. Don't worry—once possession ends, the party member will receive a full heal.
• Crowd control the possessed party member until possession fades. While possessed, the party member is susceptible to all forms of humanoid crowd control. This method is less of a strain on your party, but prolongs the fight. Also, her possession ability is on a timer, so the longer she spends possessing on each cycle, the less time you have to damage her before the next cycle.
• Mages can use Ice Block and Paladins can use Divine Shield to clear the possession on themselves.
• She has a tendency to use powerful cooldowns when she possesses a player. If you can, go ahead and use those cooldowns during the fight, since it's better to use them against her than against your party.
• In a similar vein, Priests, Warlocks, and Warriors should try to use their AOE Fear every time the timer is up. It will have no effect on the Baroness, but it can be disastrous if used against your party.
• Healers who are used to using big, mana-efficient heals when the tank is low on health may want to adjust their tactics for this fight. If the healer is possessed before he or she can cast that big heal, the tank can be in a dangerous position during that possession cycle. Keep a HoT up on the tank, and keep his health relatively high.

• Even at higher levels, the Baroness can possess you. Keep this in mind if giving a run-through.
• Furthermore, if you are soloing, and have a summoned pet, she will be able to possess you and force you to battle your pet. Dismiss any pets before engaging, or else both of you could pull more mobs or end up killing each other and making you an easy picking for her.