Elemental Shaman DPS Nerub-ar Palace Raid Guide — The War Within (Season 1)
On this page, you will find tips, tricks, and strategies tailored to your Elemental Shaman for each boss of the following raid: Nerub-ar Palace. All our content is updated for World of Warcraft — The War Within (Season 1).
Introduction
Below, you can find class and spec-specific advice for every fight in Nerub-ar Palace. If you are looking for a general overview of the Raid that is not spec-specific, check out our dedicated Nerub-ar Palace guides.
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 Elemental Shaman 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.
Nerub'ar Palace Boss Guides for Elemental Shaman
Nerub'ar Palace Raid Builds, Tips, and Tricks for Elemental Shaman
Tips for Ulgrax the Devourer for Elemental Shaman
Damage
- Spiritwalker's Grace with Graceful Spirit perfectly counters Carnivorous Contest (the pull effect), but it is also nice to damage adds without being interrupted by Juggernaut Charge, so depending on raid assignment, you may want to hold it for the latter. Gust of Wind may occasionally be sufficient.
- MYTHIC ONLY: You may need to focus down the Bile-Soaked Spawns, possibly one by one and at the expense of AoE efficiency if the ongoing damage from Bioactive Spines is too high.
Defensives
- Try having both Astral Shift and Stone Bulwark Totem up for Hungering Bellows.
- Ancestral Guidance should be used during the add phase, especially in Mythic, to help deal with the ongoing damage. Pair it with Spiritwalker's Grace if needed, and try to have a Stormkeeper cycle during it.
- Remember to refresh Earth Shield when you can, especially when there is nothing to damage, or you have to move without an instant available. Do not hesitate to Healing Surge yourself if you feel at risk.
Utility
- Wind Rush Totem counters Carnivorous Contest nicely. It can also be used to get Meat to the boss Faster during the Hungering Bellows phase.
- In order to gather and control Ravenous Spawns, you can use Capacitor Totem, Thunderstorm, Earthbind Totem, and potentially other things, but this is likely more than enough.
Best Talents
Be sure to make use of the 'Export Talents' button to import the build directly into your game!
It may be worth getting Liquid Magma Totem to deal with the adds more quickly, especially in Mythic difficulty. It can also help with freeing unfortunate people trapped by Hardened Netting.
Tips for Bloodbound Horror for Elemental Shaman
Damage
- Spiritwalker's Grace is helpful to keep uptime while running ahead of Spewing Hemorrhage but is ideally used for Grasp From Beyond.
- Gust of Wind is best used to get away from Spewing Hemorrhage or to get out or back in when Goresplatter occurs.
- In the Shadow Realm, focus Forgotten Harbingers while cleaving down Blood Horrors, then make sure Lost Watchers and Blood Horrors die before the phase ends.
Defensives
- Astral Shift works nicely against Goresplatter.
- Ancestral Guidance is best used when affected by Gruesome Disgorge, try to line it up with a big burst on adds.
- Drop Stone Bulwark Totem whenever you are low on Health and about to receive another big hit, notably Blood Curdle in Mythic.
Utility
- In the Shadow Realm, you must immediately kick the Black Bulwark casts from Lost Watchers.
- In the Shadow Realm, crowd-control works on Blood Horrors, making Earthbind Totem handy and potentially Earthgrab Totem as well. Capacitor Totem may be worth using, and Thunderstorm as well, either planned or for emergencies.
- Wind Rush Totem has several potential uses; it can be especially handy to reposition from one add spawn to another, especially if Spewing Hemorrhage (the big laser) is being problematic. It could also be used to help deal with Grasp From Beyond or to go back to the boss after Goresplatter.
Best Talents
Be sure to make use of the 'Export Talents' button to import the build directly into your game!
If Capacitor Totem or Thunderstorm end up overkill (likely), get Mana Spring or/and Refreshing Waters to help out your healers.
Tips for Sikran for Elemental Shaman
Defensive Tips
- As you run to place your Simulacrum, you may want to use a defensive if you are at low HP since you may be running out of Healer range, and if you are not, they are probably busy running as well.
Damage
- Gust of Wind is very handy to get to the right spots with Phase Blades, get away from Shattering Sweep or get out of Decimate's path
- Spiritwalker's Grace use will vary here; feel free to use it whenever you need to move, typically because of Decimate or Phase Blades
Defensives
- Keep Stone Bulwark Totem in case you get targeted by Phase Blades, ideally pair it with Astral Shift, so you should be very safe.
- Ancestral Guidance should likely be used to recuperate after Shattering Sweep.
Utility
- Wind Rush Totem does not have any specific use, but there is a lot of movement in general, so it is nice to drop to help players reposition and dodge the boss' various abilities. By default, one can be used for as many Phase Blades as possible to help people get to their positions.
Best Talents
Be sure to make use of the 'Export Talents' button to import the build directly into your game!
Tips for Rasha'nan for Elemental Shaman
Damage
- Make sure you have Stormkeeper and some stored Maelstrom to nuke down the adds.
- Spiritwalker's Grace is great against Spinneret's Strands or if you get targeted by Rolling Acid. It can also be used to maintain full mobility while dealing with Infested Spawn.
- Gust of Wind can be quite sufficient to deal with many mechanics, notably to break Spinneret's Strands if you cannot or do not want to use Spiritwalker's Grace.
Defensives
- Astral Shift, Ancestral Guidance and healing consumables should be used whenever multiple abilities that will damage you will overlap. Spinneret's Strands and Infested Spawn are good candidates. There are some hectic overlaps after the boss' third move especially!
Utility
- You are one of the best candidates to kick Acidic Eruption as you will gain 15% damage reduction against Nature damage (basically everything) for 18 seconds. thanks to Seasoned Winds. Make sure to call this out!
- Wind Rush Totem is perfect for catching up to the boss as it flies away; make sure to use Totemic Projection to reposition it!
- Infested Spawn adds can be crowd-controlled in all the usual ways. If necessary you can stun them with Capacitor Totem, though other classes should probably be using theirs instead.
Best Talents
Be sure to make use of the 'Export Talents' button to import the build directly into your game!
Liquid Magma Totem is likely too slow to make much difference when dealing with the adds unless your raid really lacks AoE burst.
Tips for Broodtwister Ovi'nax for Elemental Shaman
Damage
- Always focus add, particularly Blood Parasites.
- If your tanks are suffering, focus Colossal Spiders.
- Spiritwalker's Grace and Gust of Wind are great to position yourself for Experimental dosage, getting away from the Blood Parasites Fixating on you and spreading for Sitcky Web.
Defensives
- Use Astral Shift and Stone Bulwark Totem for Ingest Black Blood. Use one or the other when targeted by Experimental Dosage.
- Ancestral Guidance should be used for every Ingest Black Blood but you should have time to throw it in on cooldown in between these abilities.
- If you get Infested, use defensives and healing consumables. But really, try not to get Infested.
Utility
- Important notes: Thunderous Paws and Spirit Walk let you get out of Sticky Web (but be careful no one is nearby because of Web Eruption!. Moreover, Wind Rush Totem with Jet Stream removes the root from Web Eruption. You may want to use it to help players with Experimental Dosage repositioning instead.
- You are one of the best candidates to kick Poison Burst from Worms, as you will gain 15% damage reduction against Nature damage (much of the damage in this fight unless things go very wrong) for 18 seconds thanks to Seasoned Winds. Make sure to call this out!
- Use all the crowd-control available to prevent Blood Parasites from reaching players. Earthbind Totem or Earthgrab Totem are very good at this, especially with Totemic Focus talented. Traveling Storms is also occasionally amazing when used properly on yourself or others to throw parasites back into the boss to get nuked down.
Best Talents
Be sure to make use of the 'Export Talents' button to import the build directly into your game!
Note that on this one fight, it is possible that Stormbringer will be preferred, notably due to possible issues with Ancestors' targeting/spell choice. In this case, you will want to use the following hero talents (other talents remain the same):
Tips for Nexus-Princess Ky'veza for Elemental Shaman
Damage
- Use Spiritwalker's Grace during Starless Night. You can use it elsewhere as long as you can make sure to have it during Starless Night.
- Use Gust of Wind as needed to keep repositioning.
Defensives
- Remember that you die at 10% Health due to Reaper. Do not hesitate to use healing consumables and defensives whenever you think you will be cutting it close. You can keep Stone Bulwark Totem in reserve for this purpose.
- Astral Shift should be kept for dealing with Queensbane.
- Ancestral Guidance should be used at least during each Starless Night.
Utility
- Wind Rush Totem will help against Nether Rift. If there are enough other abilities, it can also help during Starless Night.
Best Talents
Be sure to make use of the 'Export Talents' button to import the build directly into your game!
Tips for The Silken Court for Elemental Shaman
Damage
- Do not immediately smack adds as you want their stacks of Harden Carapace to drop before you can do real damage to them.
- Spiritwalker's Grace and Gust of Wind are great for dealing with Binding Web or dodging the many abilities in this fight, depending on how much you need to move during Binding Web.
- Gust of Wind works great to avoid being hit by Impaling Eruption.
Defensives
- Ancestral Guidance is likely best used during Burrowed Eruption or Binding Webs.
- Astral Shift is fantastic against Burrowed Eruption
- Stone Bulwark Totem is perfectly suited to deal with Venomous Rain.
Utility
- Poison Cleansing Totem should work and help tanks dealing with Poison Bolt
- Use Earthbind Totem, Capacitor Totem, Thunderstorm as needed to control the adds.
- Wind Rush Totem is likely needed to deal with Binding Webs. In Mythic difficulty, having a lot of mobility will help immensely to deal with the Motes.
Best Talents
Be sure to make use of the 'Export Talents' button to import the build directly into your game!
Depending on whether adds are dying too slowly or not, you can switch out Liquid Magma Totem for Elemental Equilibrium.
Tips for Queen Ansurek for Elemental Shaman
Damage
- Phase 1 — Use Spiritwalker's Grace to maintain maximum damage uptime while handling Reactive Toxin (the poison area that knocks you). Use it also to maintain uptime during the pull from Predation Threads.
- Phase 2 — Make sure Devoted Worshippers die before casting Cosmic Apocalypse.
- Phase 3 — Use Spiritwalker's Grace to maintain uptime while moving far and back with Royal Condemnation and/or during the pull from Glutton Threads.
- Phase 3 — Make sure Gloom Hatchlings (small spiders) die before reaching the Boss.
- Phase 3 — Make sure Summoned Acolytes die before Frothing Gluttony occurs.
Defensives
- NORMAL ONLY — Phase 1 — Use Stone Bulwark Totem as go through Venom Nova, ideally with Gust of Wind or Spirit Walk. Warlock Portals will be great if you do not have defensive/mobility cooldowns available.
- HEROIC ONLY — Phase 1 — Use Astral Shift Reactive Toxin explodes, so it will be up as you take damage from Frothing Toxin and might get hit by an Acid Wave or Concentrated Toxin's explosion as it expires (the big green circle people who trigger the Reactive Toxin get).
- Phase 2 — Use a defensive to mitigate the damage from Wrest (the yank at the end of the pull effect from Predation Threads).
- HEROIC ONLY — Phase 2 — Be extremely careful not to get yanked into Chamber Expellers' Expulsion Beam.
- Phase 3 — You probably want to use at least one defensive and/or healing consumables for each Royal Condemnation, especially later during the phase as damage increases.
Utility
- Phase 1 — Spirit Walk will get you out of Silken Tomb and the subsequent Grasping Silk. Note that in Heroic you will only have it available for the first and the third casts so you will have to go to melee for the second.
- Use Wind Rush Totem to help the raid fight the pull from Predation Threads.
- Phase 2 — Make sure you interrupt Ascended Voidspeaker's Shadowblasts. Use Wind Rush Totem at the bottom of each web bridge between platforms as they spawn. You will need to use Totemic Recall immediately after casting the first one, allowing you to cast Liquid Magma Totem on the adds.
- Phase 3 — Make sure you interrupt Summoned Acolytes' Null Detonations. Use Wind Rush Totem at the exit portal to help people spread out faster.
Best Talents
Be sure to make use of the 'Export Talents' button to import the build directly into your game!
We highly suggest using some Addon or WeakAura to track the estimated time to die of your target/boss target. Method Raid Tools has this as an option if you are already using this addon. By tracking time to die, if you know that you can only fit one more cycle of your cooldowns in before the boss dies, you can choose to hold these cooldowns to better line up with Bloodlust, your Potion, or even your other cooldowns, trying to look for opportunities to stack all of them.
Changelog
- 23 Sep. 2024: Added additional tips for Queen Ansurek.
- 16 Sep. 2024: Adjusted some talent recommendations. Adjusted some tips for Queen Ansurek and other bosses.
- 13 Sep. 2024: Added some tips for Queen Ansurek.
- 09 Sep. 2024: Guide added.
More Shaman Guides
Guides from Other Classes
This guide has been written by Stormy, Elemental main since Wrath of the Lich King and member of the Storm, Earth and Lava Elemental theorycrafting team.
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