Balance Druid DPS Vault of the Incarnates Raid Guide — Dragonflight 10.1

Below, you can find class and spec-specific advice for every fight in Vault of the Incarnates. If you are looking for a general overview of the Raid that is not spec-specific, check out our dedicated Vault of the Incarnates guides.

On this page, you will find Balance Druid specific information to deal with each boss in the Vault of the Incarnates raid. These are not complete encounter guides but specific tips for doing the bosses as a Balance Druid.

This page assumes that you already understand most of the mechanics of each encounter. These can be found on the full raid guide, so what is contained here are details specifically tailored toward Balance Druid and how you can deal with each fight as best as possible.

All recommendations are progression-based tips and will not necessarily be the best for an overall DPS ranking.

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A standard intro boss tank and spank. There are some adds, but those are cleaved down quickly, and you can crowd-control them if needed. Try to save some Astral Power or even a Primordial Arcanic Pulsar proc to help burst down an add during Army of Flame, which spawns at approximately 90-second intervals.

On Mythic, there is even more, cleave with the introduction of longer-lasting Flamescale Captain, which should be focused down while you also cleave onto the boss.

For more information, please refer to our Eranog guide.

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Use defensives liberally; there is a good amount of raid-wide damage, which can be especially dangerous after walking over Resonating Annihilation which will happen from time to time, given how much of it is on the floor. Renewal is excellent to top yourself off after taking extra damage.

There is much more raid damage on Mythic difficulty. Rock Blast now deals raid-wide damage, and you can, at times, be afflicted with Infused Fallout. It is good practice to use defensives when you have a DoT on you, as the raid-wide damage is much more dangerous when you are taking that much extra damage.

For more information, please refer to our Terros guide.

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This is a pure multi-target fight, and you should be focusing on keeping your DoTs up and getting out Starfalls and Starfires to maximize damage.

Given the frequency of damage, Barkskin and Bear Form will help to keep you alive through mechanics such as Meteor Axes. Stampeding Roar can be used on everyone Primal Blizzard.

Mythic Primal Council does not change the fight in any notable way for Balance Druids. Just focus on the basics from Heroic, as they are further reinforced on Mythic by punishing players who fail any mechanic.

For more information, please refer to our The Primal Council guide.

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Wild Charge can be used to negate or lessen the pull from Gossamer Burst or the push in phase two from Repelling Burst. If you have difficulty using Wild Charge due to the slippery ground mechanic, you can consider taking Tiger Dash to help you move up the encounter faster.

Caustic Spiderlings explode on death, clearing webs throughout the room and on players. Use spells such as Typhoon, Ursol's Vortex, and even Mighty Bash to make their death location more favorable for your raid. Be careful not to hit your teammates!

Watch out for the secondary environmental hazard with Gusting Rime. There is much more damage on this boss on Mythic. Use Barkskin during the large add spawn and burn it down as quickly as possible.

Once at the top, rotate through the remainder of your defensive cooldowns. The damage ramps up over time in this phase. While it operates functionally similar to the heroic version, you are likelier to flop over to ticking damage if unprepared.

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If you are on the add-killing team, you can swap to using multi-target talents.

On the main platform, there are large adds that you kill, but you are focusing them down and not cleaving. A point in Aetherial Kindling can help smooth out DoT uptime but may not be needed, in which case you can run full single target talents.

Wild Charge can be used to negate Blowback when the adds die. Stampeding Roar should be used during Cyclone.

If you are on the primary platform team, save Primordial Arcanic Pulsar or be ready to use Incarnation: Chosen of Elune to get your group off the platform more quickly.

If you are holding onto Conductive Mark for a long time, you will need to roll defensives to stay healthy if other mechanics overlap while you are still holding the debuff. Otherwise, the fight is similar to Heroic in how we play the encounter.

Balance Druids normally want to be in the second add group on this boss to line up better with your cooldowns. Additionally, if you are struggling with add damage, you can consider swapping back to Wild Mushrooms for higher platform but lower priority and single target damage.

For more information, please refer to our Dathea, Ascended guide.

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On Heroic and Normal, there are only add spawns in the intermission phases. I would play a single target-focused talent build with some cleave for the add phases. Otherwise, largely a tank and spank.

There are few threats on the lower difficulties for a ranged player. Depending on your strat, you may need to soak mechanics in Air or Frost phases or dodge void zones in Fire and Earth phases.

Mythic Mode has far more cleave uptime as there is almost always an add up with the boss. The mechanics of the add and boss cast are the same as the heroic ones and are handled the same way. Focus the boss down and cleave onto the add for the best results.

At the end of each phase, the damage ticks from the boss ramp up to absurd levels dealing well over half your total Health in the last several seconds. Make sure you top yourself and use Barkskin for these, as there is no better time to use it.

For more information, please refer to our Kurog Grimtotem guide.

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If the adds live long enough to be DoTed and then cleaved, this will be a great Balance Druid fight as there are many to kill, and they can live for a while. If you are on the boss, you should play primarily single-target talents while still taking Starfall in case you can be in range to cleave the adds as well.

On Mythic, the adds will live long enough to ramp into most packs. You can use cooldowns one of two ways in this boss, as you will likely only get three uses on progression. For groups with more initial add damage, your first cooldown should happen on pull, and if it does not, you can cooldown the first add pack at around 30 seconds.

Your second use is entirely up to you. You should try to use it before 5 minutes, so you get a full cooldown into the boss in the last phase. Your second cooldown can help smooth over a strong add wave later in the fight.

In the last phase, you can pre- Bear Form Frozen Shroud and then shift back into Moonkin Form to negate the root, heal absorb, and offer some additional tankiness. Rotate through defensives and Healing as necessary on every Empowered Greatstaff of the Broodkeeper.

For more information, please refer to our Broodkeeper Diurna guide.

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Phase one is straightforward on Normal and Heroic. Use Typhoon and Incapacitating Roar to destroy Volatile Spark. Typhoon is powerful as a mass disruption for this mechanic. Getting off to the edge of the group is recommended so you can hit the heaviest concentration of orbs.

During the intermission, stay inwards as you will always need to dodge the breath if you stand in the center of the room. The adds can be annoying to stack up and drag across the room, so time your globals well to get your DoTs up and maximize your damage on them.

In phase two, use Cat Form's' Wild Charge to negate Tempest Wing as it brings you fully through the pushback circle and to the center of the boss. The slow from Fulminating Charge can be shifted and removed from the group without external mobility.

During Stormsurge save cooldowns or have a Primordial Arcanic Pulsar primed for the shield. Put everything you have into this, or you wipe.

During the intermission, cleave the adds down, keeping them both DoTed. Refrain from using cooldowns here if they come up.

In the final phase, use your final cooldowns (with Bloodlust if your strat uses it here). This is a DPS race using many of the same mechanics from earlier in the fight with the caveat of less space. Rotate through your defensives and Healing when you get targeted with mechanics and kill the boss.

In phase 1, you can use Cat Form and Wild Charge to stay on the platform during every wind cast. Ensure you enter the intermission with full stacks of Wild Mushrooms and Fury of Elune.

In the first intermission, cast Incarnation: Chosen of Elune at the first breath of the phase. It is important to have your cooldown back up for the second shield of phase 2. Use Solar Beam to interrupt casters out of the breath.

Phase 2 is similar to the heroic phase. You take far more damage here, and you must shift Fulminating Charge to dispel the snare effect. Use human form Wild Charge on a reliable Death Knight, or just use the cat form leap to move through Tempest Wing quickly.

During Stormsurge, have multiple charges of Wild Mushroom, Fury of Elune, and try to be going into Incarnation: Chosen of Elune. Fungal Growth snapshots the damage of the initial mushroom so you can use it at the end of the shield to get more boss damage.

The second intermission, you will DoT up all three mobs and focus down the ranged add. You will likely need to use Mass Entanglement on the second or third small add waves. You should try to cleave multiple large adds with Starfall but do not take extra damage or let your add fall too far behind, as the first two adds should die together.

Dodging the Tempest Wing in phase 3 is more tricky as the platform will get progressively smaller as the phase goes on. It is highly recommended to use human form Wild Charge in this phase on a Death Knight.

For more information, please refer to our Raszageth the Storm Eater guide.