Balance Druid DPS Castle Nathria Raid Guide — Shadowlands 9.0.5
On this page, you will find tips, tricks, and strategies tailored to your Balance Druid for each boss of the following raid: Castle Nathria. All our content is updated for World of Warcraft — Shadowlands 9.0.5.
Disclaimer
This page is currently undergoing preparation for the release of Castle Nathria. It will be filled with information on how best to play against each boss of the raid, as well as talent advice for each fight.
Introduction
This section will go over the talent choices, encounter tips and Legendary selection that are specific to Balance Druid. For a more general idea of how the bosses function, head over to our Castle Nathria overview.
Talent and Legendary Cheatsheet
We advise to use the following talents on Shriekwing.
- Level 15:
Nature's Balance (or
Force of Nature, situationally)
- Level 25:
Wild Charge
- Level 30:
Restoration Affinity
- Level 35:
Heart of the Wild
- Level 40:
Starlord
- Level 45:
Stellar Flare
- Level 50:
Solstice
We advise you to use the following Legendary on Shriekwing: Balance of All Things.
We advise to use the following talents on Huntsman Altimor.
- Level 15:
Nature's Balance
- Level 25:
Wild Charge
- Level 30:
Restoration Affinity
- Level 35:
Heart of the Wild
- Level 40:
Soul of the Forest or
Starlord
- Level 45:
Twin Moons
- Level 50:
Solstice
We advise you to use the following Legendary on Huntsman Altimor: Balance of All Things.
We advise to use the following talents on Hungering Destroyer.
- Level 15:
Nature's Balance (or
Force of Nature, situationally)
- Level 25:
Tiger Dash or
Wild Charge
- Level 30:
Guardian Affinity or
Restoration Affinity
- Level 35:
Heart of the Wild
- Level 40:
Starlord
- Level 45:
Stellar Flare
- Level 50:
Solstice
We advise you to use the following Legendary on Hungering Destroyer: Balance of All Things.
We advise to use the following talents on Artificer Xy'Mox.
- Level 15:
Nature's Balance (or
Force of Nature, situationally)
- Level 25:
Tiger Dash or
Wild Charge
- Level 30:
Restoration Affinity
- Level 35:
Heart of the Wild
- Level 40:
Starlord
- Level 45:
Stellar Flare
- Level 50:
Solstice
We advise you to use the following Legendary on Artificer Xy'Mox: Balance of All Things.
We advise to use the following talents on Sun King's Salvation.
- Level 15:
Nature's Balance
- Level 25:
Wild Charge
- Level 30:
Restoration Affinity
- Level 35:
Heart of the Wild
- Level 40:
Soul of the Forest (or
Incarnation: Chosen of Elune, situationally)
- Level 45:
Twin Moons
- Level 50:
Solstice
We advise you to use the following Legendary on Sun King's Salvation: Balance of All Things.
We advise to use the following talents on Lady Inerva Darkvein.
- Level 15:
Nature's Balance
- Level 25:
Wild Charge
- Level 30:
Restoration Affinity
- Level 35:
Heart of the Wild
- Level 40:
Starlord
- Level 45:
Stellar Flare
- Level 50:
Solstice
We advise you to use the following Legendary on Lady Inerva Darkvein: Balance of All Things.
We advise to use the following talents on The Council of Blood.
- Level 15:
Nature's Balance
- Level 25:
Wild Charge
- Level 30:
Restoration Affinity
- Level 35:
Heart of the Wild
- Level 40:
Starlord
- Level 45:
Twin Moons
- Level 50:
Solstice
We advise you to use the following Legendary on The Council of Blood: Balance of All Things.
We advise to use the following talents on Sludgefist.
- Level 15:
Nature's Balance
- Level 25:
Renewal
- Level 30:
Guardian Affinity
- Level 35:
Heart of the Wild
- Level 40:
Starlord
- Level 45:
Stellar Flare
- Level 50:
Solstice
We advise you to use the following Legendary on Sludgefist: Balance of All Things.
We advise to use the following talents on Stone Legion Generals.
- Level 15:
Nature's Balance
- Level 25:
Wild Charge
- Level 30:
Guardian Affinity (or
Restoration Affinity, situationally)
- Level 35:
Heart of the Wild
- Level 40:
Soul of the Forest
- Level 45:
Twin Moons
- Level 50:
Solstice
We advise you to use the following Legendary on Stone Legion Generals: Balance of All Things.
We advise to use the following talents on Sire Denathrius.
- Level 15:
Nature's Balance or
Warrior of Elune
- Level 25:
Wild Charge
- Level 30:
Guardian Affinity (or
Restoration Affinity, situationally)
- Level 35:
Heart of the Wild
- Level 40:
Soul of the Forest or
Starlord
- Level 45:
Twin Moons
- Level 50:
Solstice
We advise you to use the following Legendary on Sire Denathrius: Balance of All Things.
Shriekwing
We advise you to use the following talents against Shriekwing.
- Level 15:
Nature's Balance (or
Force of Nature, situationally)
- Level 25:
Wild Charge
- Level 30:
Restoration Affinity
- Level 35:
Heart of the Wild
- Level 40:
Starlord
- Level 45:
Stellar Flare
- Level 50:
Solstice
We advise you to use the following Legendary against Shriekwing: Balance of All Things.
Tips
Shriekwing is a single-target fight with little movement if played right.
Position yourself close to a pillar in the center area if possible allowing you to easily
dodge rings as well as line of sight when needed. Use Stampeding Roar
too move between pillars during the intermission when needed.
Mythic Mode
There are no major additional tips for Mythic Shriekwing; just focus on your
single-target rotation and use mobility to quickly move around and in between
pillars so you can have high uptime on the boss. If you are Night Fae,
stack your cooldowns together as, even if there is a third phase, you will get your
third Convoke the Spirits.
For more information, please refer to our Shriekwing guide.
Huntsman Altimor
We advise you to use the following talents against Huntsman Altimor.
- Level 15:
Nature's Balance
- Level 25:
Wild Charge
- Level 30:
Restoration Affinity
- Level 35:
Heart of the Wild
- Level 40:
Soul of the Forest or
Starlord
- Level 45:
Twin Moons
- Level 50:
Solstice
We advise you to use the following Legendary against Huntsman Altimor: Balance of All Things.
Tips
All three dogs share Health with the main Boss, so use Starfall whenever
you are not at risk of breaking Crowd Control. The only other time it
would be wise to save Astral Power is to triple-
Starsurge the Shades of
Bargast as they take increased damage.
Mythic Mode
On progression, you will still only get two full cooldown usages. If you feel
you are killing the boss quickly, do not pair your cooldowns unless you are
using double on-use, as you will lose a usage. Save your Celestial Alignment
for the third
Convoke the Spirits and use your second Convoke on cooldown.
For more information, please refer to our Huntsman Altimor guide.
Hungering Destroyer
We advise you to use the following talents against Hungering Destroyer.
- Level 15:
Nature's Balance (or
Force of Nature, situationally)
- Level 25:
Tiger Dash or
Wild Charge
- Level 30:
Guardian Affinity or
Restoration Affinity
- Level 35:
Heart of the Wild
- Level 40:
Starlord
- Level 45:
Stellar Flare
- Level 50:
Solstice
We advise you to use the following Legendary against Hungering Destroyer: Balance of All Things.
Tips
This is another single-target encounter with very little Balance specific tips. Look
to save mobility to come back in to the group to help soak or be soaked. Use
instant cast globals to soak orbs to clear the room up. We do not recommend
running Well-Honed Instincts on this fight, as it will often proc when
healing immune. This goes the same for
Restoration Affinity, which can
be almost useless on some pulls, but the off-healing can still be useful.
Mythic Mode
Maximize uptime on the boss by making good use of your mobility and pooling.
Preparing Astral Power and sometimes even delaying (only a few seconds) an
Eclipse so that it lines up with the very predictable movement on this fight and then
using Wild Charge to get back in afterwards.
For more information, please refer to our Hungering Destroyer guide.
Artificer Xy'Mox
We advise you to use the following talents against Artificer Xy'Mox.
- Level 15:
Nature's Balance (or
Force of Nature, situationally)
- Level 25:
Tiger Dash or
Wild Charge
- Level 30:
Restoration Affinity
- Level 35:
Heart of the Wild
- Level 40:
Starlord
- Level 45:
Stellar Flare
- Level 50:
Solstice
We advise you to use the following Legendary against Artificer Xy'Mox: Balance of All Things.
Tips
There is a good amount of single-target at the start of this raid and this
fight is no exception. Balance Druid's mobility will help carry mechanics such
as Seeds of Extinction or the portals from
Dimensional Tear to
the far end of the room from your raid. Use
Barkskin on
Withering Touch, as it will kill you quickly if left unattended.
In the last phase, you can use Dash or
Tiger Dash to easily
escape the pull of
Edge of Annihilation, which can make it easier to dodge any
additional mechanics instead of taking the portal.
Mythic Mode
Balance Druid is very good at running the seeds on this boss and will likely
be filling that role. If you are Night Fae, you will also have access to
Soulshape, which will play a vital role on tough overlaps.
When positioning on this boss, place yourself opposite to the
Dimensional Tear to give you time to kite your fixated spirit and save
your other mobility.
Cooldowns on the fight can be hit or miss. On progression, this fight will
take roughly 6-minutes, so you can try to get three Celestial Alignments
in. If you are not using double on use, slam
Convoke the Spirits on
cooldown and it will line up with your third cooldown set. If you are worried
you will only get two Celestial Alignments, hold it until your third Convoke.
For more information, please refer to our Artificer Xy'Mox guide.
Sun King's Salvation
We advise you to use the following talents against Sun King's Salvation.
- Level 15:
Nature's Balance
- Level 25:
Wild Charge
- Level 30:
Restoration Affinity
- Level 35:
Heart of the Wild
- Level 40:
Soul of the Forest (or
Incarnation: Chosen of Elune, situationally)
- Level 45:
Twin Moons
- Level 50:
Solstice
We advise you to use the following Legendary against Sun King's Salvation: Balance of All Things.
Tips
This is the first boss that will really make use of our uncapped and spread
multi-target potential. Starfall and
Stellar Drift are
mandatory for both damage and mobility during the intermission. Try to
get far kicks with
Solar Beam as well as using
Heart of the Wild
to burst heal the boss if necessary.
Mythic Mode
Try to get permission to use your cooldowns on the first damage shield of the fight so that you can have it up for the second shield of the second shade phase.
Use Heart of the Wild to help burst heal the boss in the second healing
phase and even using three
Regrowths and one
Swiftmend on the
shields that you can assist with.
Typhoon and
Ursol's Vortex can
be used to help kite the Phoenixes.
For more information, please refer to our Sun King's Salvation guide.
Lady Inerva Darkvein
We advise you to use the following talents against Lady Inerva Darkvein.
- Level 15:
Nature's Balance
- Level 25:
Wild Charge
- Level 30:
Restoration Affinity
- Level 35:
Heart of the Wild
- Level 40:
Starlord
- Level 45:
Stellar Flare
- Level 50:
Solstice
We advise you to use the following Legendary against Lady Inerva Darkvein: Balance of All Things.
Tips
Make use of your plethora of movement abilities to make the far soaks, so that others can DPS.
Mythic Mode
On Mythic, we should swap over to Stellar Drift as add damage is much
more prevalent in this difficulty. Not much changes on this boss from our
perspective otherwise. This boss will normally die in under 6-minutes, so, much
like the other bosses, pair your cooldown usages as you see fit depending on
what you are running.
For more information, please refer to our Lady Inerva Darkvein guide.
The Council of Blood
We advise you to use the following talents against The Council of Blood.
- Level 15:
Nature's Balance
- Level 25:
Wild Charge
- Level 30:
Restoration Affinity
- Level 35:
Heart of the Wild
- Level 40:
Starlord
- Level 45:
Twin Moons
- Level 50:
Solstice
We advise you to use the following Legendary against The Council of Blood: Balance of All Things.
Tips
While this is a council-style fight where when one add dies the rest regain
Health, there is still enough adds to warrant taking Stellar Drift.
Those adds are spreading out often so we are also going to be taking
Starlord.
The cast-while-moving perk is great to handle the mechanics of Lord Stavros, who has you dodging and could have you pairing up with allies and be unable to stay still.
Mythic Mode
Attendants are priority number one on this boss and should be killed as
quickly as possible. Try to hold the Balance of All Things window if it
does not delay you too much. If other members of your raid can handle them, it
is preferred to only hit these with
Starsurge inside that window.
We will spend two-thirds of this fight multi-dotting and casting
Starfalling. Attempt to spread
Sunfire as best you can, but it
will not really get much value from maybe only two or three targets. Try to
not get turned around during
Dark Recital; always know where you are going.
For more information, please refer to our The Council of Blood guide.
Sludgefist
We advise you to use the following talents against Sludgefist.
- Level 15:
Nature's Balance
- Level 25:
Renewal
- Level 30:
Guardian Affinity
- Level 35:
Heart of the Wild
- Level 40:
Starlord
- Level 45:
Stellar Flare
- Level 50:
Solstice
We advise you to use the following Legendary against Sludgefist: Balance of All Things.
Tips
Sludgefist is a single-target encounter with a damage amplifier every minute of the fight. Save your cooldowns for the first and fourth pillar of the fight.
Mythic Mode
As a high armor class, you will be one of the prime targets for Chain Slam,
so save
Barkskin for the initial hit and the following bleed. If your
Balance of All Things window will not line up with a slam, it is essential
that you try to save that window for the slam to take advantage of the
vulnerability. Since the vulnerability is 10-seconds and Eclipse is 15-seconds,
you will rarely have to hold it longer than 5-seconds.
This is the best fight to use double on-use. A good way to
remember when to use your Empyreal Ordnance is to use it directly after
the
Chain Slam.
For more information, please refer to our Sludgefist guide.
Stone Legion Generals
We advise you to use the following talents against Stone Legion Generals.
- Level 15:
Nature's Balance
- Level 25:
Wild Charge
- Level 30:
Guardian Affinity (or
Restoration Affinity, situationally)
- Level 35:
Heart of the Wild
- Level 40:
Soul of the Forest
- Level 45:
Twin Moons
- Level 50:
Solstice
We advise you to use the following Legendary against Stone Legion Generals: Balance of All Things.
Tips
Use Wild Charge to negate the number of knockbacks in this encounter.
Use
Barkskin when targeted with
Wicked Blade as it does a good
amount of initial damage.
During the intermission, use your mobility to get far out orbs and bring them
to the Prince. You can generally position directly in the middle during this
phase, but make sure to avoid Wicked Blade. You must apply DoTs to the
flying mobs as they must have taken damage to be hit by
Starfall.
Mythic Mode
This is a pretty difficult fight for Balance Druid to play optimally and on progression ultimately relies on moments of sacrifice to make the right decisions and use the right spells.
For the most part, Starfall can be rolling most of the fight.
During intermissions where you are focusing Commandos and in the regular phases
with the Skirmishers, you will find yourself needing to send
Starsurge
on these priority targets to help kill them. If possible, play to your strength
of keeping your burst damage in the
Balance of All Things window, but you
may not always be able to play like that because the alternative is wiping.
Cooldown usage is also largely up to what you need during the fight. Normally, you will be using it on just the boss, or the boss and the Goliath. If your group needs Skirmisher damage you can use it there as well, but as the damage is not predictable, it may be unreliable.
For more information, please refer to our Stone Legion Generals guide.
Sire Denathrius
We advise you to use the following talents against Sire Denathrius.
- Level 15:
Nature's Balance or
Warrior of Elune
- Level 25:
Wild Charge
- Level 30:
Guardian Affinity (or
Restoration Affinity, situationally)
- Level 35:
Heart of the Wild
- Level 40:
Soul of the Forest or
Starlord
- Level 45:
Twin Moons
- Level 50:
Solstice
We advise you to use the following Legendary against Sire Denathrius: Balance of All Things.
Tips
During Phase 1, pre-cast Starfall before every cleave to maximize
damage on the little adds. Druids can use
Dash and only need to take
two cleaves and easily make it into the center.
Stampeding Roar can save
other allies if cast with the
Front of the Pack that have 3-stacks as
well, but it will be very close.
In Phase 2, you should slam your cooldown as soon as you can so it is up in Phase 3. Keep both boss targets DoTed up and focus on the outside Cabalists.
Use your Stampeding Roar to help with soaking or running out of the
explosion. Position yourself well to avoid falling off during the knockback as
Wild Charge will be unlikely to save you given the speed and angle it knocks
you. Otherwise, just focus on your boss uptime even through the heavy movement, as
the last phase is a single-target burn.
Mythic Mode
This fight is pretty linear as far as Balance cooldowns go. You instantly cooldown after DoTs and then again on Sinseer in Phase Two. You also want to cooldown instantly in Phase Three so you can get a second one.
Warrior of Elune finds some use on this boss for Phase One and Two
cleave and Phase Three movement. Phase Three has a large amount of movement, as
you are constantly getting knocked, baiting, and running to soaks. You will
often be using
Starfall on some of the broader movements to continue
casting and Warrior of Elune can fill that mobility gap.
Changelog
- 27 Mar. 2021: Finished Mythic Mode.
- 01 Feb. 2021: Added Mythic Mode and cleaned up basic tips.
- 09 Dec. 2020: Added Normal and Heroic basic tips.
- 01 Dec. 2020: Added placeholder Castle Nathria page.
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This was written by Borabank, a Balance Druid theorycrafter and raider in Muscle Memory. You can watch him on his Twitch channel or in the Dreamgrove Discord server.
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