Enhancement Shaman DPS Battle of Dazar'alor Raid Guide — Dragonflight 10.2.5
On this page, you will find tips, tricks, and strategies tailored to your Enhancement Shaman for each boss of the following raid: Battle of Dazar'alor. All our content is updated for World of Warcraft — Dragonflight 10.2.5.
Introduction for Enhancement Shaman Boss Advice in Battle of Dazar'alor
This page will be a rough outline of the bosses and mechanics in the Battle of Dazar'alor raid from an Enhancement Shaman perspective. This is currently aimed at Normal and Heroic difficulties, and as the Tier progresses additional Mythic specific tips will be added.
This page is currently written with the data gathered from a mix of PTR testing and the first few days of data from kills on live servers. This means that some notes may be updated in the future if new information appears over the next few weeks.
Note on Battle of Dazar'alor Faction Encounters
The first 3 bosses within Battle of Dazar'alor have some superficial differences depending on the faction you are playing as. The bosses that this occurs on will simply be refered to as a more neutral name (for example, Jadefire Masters will be referred to as the Mage and Monk, as opposed to their unique character names). Specific spells that need details added will have both linked initially, and then will just use the Horde name thereafter.
Note on Enhancement Build Diversity
Due to Enhancement now having multiple divergent builds based on Azerite, the recommendations will require extra detail. Currently, an ideal build will be recommended based on the fight archetypes, and Talents + Azerite will be added. This is very likely to change in the coming weeks as more information is gathered and players gather the gear to put it into play. Take these recommendations with a heavy grain of salt currently.
Talent Cheatsheet for Enhancement Shaman
Champion of the Light
Azerite: Primal Primer x3, Natural Harmony x3, optional: Ancestral Resonance x1, Roiling Storm x1, Thunderaan's Fury x1.
Talent and Build Notes
Currently, Champion of the Light is a very single-target oriented fight, with a modest amount of cleave. You will only be hitting the adds when Seal of Reckoning is active on the boss, so you should aim to deal as much damage to one target as possible. This means that Primal Primer builds currently take the spotlight, if you have the gear to enable it.
- Forceful Winds can be used here, if you are in need of more flexible damage when it comes to hitting the adds. In that case, one point of Thunderaan's Fury can also be useful. Otherwise, Totem Mastery will provide the most boss damage.
- The Level 30 tier is mostly useless, but you can make limited use of Spirit Wolf to counteract the explosion from Judgment: Reckoning, if you are having trouble surviving the burst of damage.
- Level 40 can make use of all 3 options. Feral Lunge allows for quick and efficient swaps between the boss and adds for higher DPS. Nature's Guardian will provide a safety net from Judgment: Reckoning, in case you are not topped when it is cast. Lastly, Wind Rush Totem allows you to assist your fellow melee by speeding you and them up for the target switch.
Tips
You should make sure to look at the Champion of the Light guide to make sure you have a strong bearing on the mechanics of the encounter, as this section will cover small specific tips related to Enhancement.
- Make absolutely sure to turn away from the Crusader when Blinding Faith is cast, as this results in a 5 second CC on your character. You can position comfortably at the side of the boss with your back to the adds if they are tanked at opposite sides of the room. This saves you having to adjust too frequently and allows you to focus on damage.
- When using Elemental Spirits, your cooldown timer should line up with each window of Seal of Retribution, which is when you should be using it.
- When hitting adds, make sure to Purge any adds that have Wave of Light applied to them. This should be done as soon as possible due to the large amount of healing it provides when the buff is active.
- Make sure to get Crash Lightning up as often as possible when hitting adds. If any adds are in range of the boss briefly when spawned, take this chance to get it active too.
- If you do not have any other movement tools, make use of Spirit Walk to switch back and forth between the adds and boss during the Seal switches.
- Astral Shift is best used when the boss casts Judgment: Reckoning, as there is little else that is dangerous in the encounter.
Grong
Azerite: Primal Primer x3, Natural Harmony x3, optional: Ancestral Resonance x1, Roiling Storm x1.
Talent and Build Notes
While Grong does have adds that spawn, they are kept separate from each other, meaning that the fight is entirely-single target. This means that currently the ideal option is a Primal Primer oriented build, although Strength of Earth builds also have a place for priority add damage.
- The Level 30 tier is low impact, but Earth Shield can be used to help counteract a small amount of damage from the Tantrum hits. Spirit Wolf can also be used, but will cost damage to gain value due to the setup requiring to stack the buff up in Ghost Wolf.
- Level 40 can make use of all 3 options. Feral Lunge allows for a quick swap to the adds for quick DPS. Nature's Guardian will provide a safety net from both Tantrum and Bestial Throw hits. Lastly, Wind Rush Totem allows you to assist your fellow melee by speeding you and them up for quick switches to adds.
Tips
You should make sure to look at the Grong guide to make sure you have a strong bearing on the mechanics of the encounter, as this section will cover small specific tips related to Enhancement.
- Try to make sure you stack with other melee on one side of the boss. This means that when Reverberating Slam is cast, you can quickly adjust and keep uptime on the boss.
- You can make use of Tremor Totem to counteract Ferocious Roar, if any players are feared. Make sure you stay in the melee group to avoid being feared yourself.
- Pooling a small amount of Maelstrom when playing Primal Primer can be beneficial to allow for you to funnel damage quickly into the adds that spawn. This is a minor benefit though due to the pace of Enhancement generation.
- If at any time the adds spawn nearby Grong, quickly use Crash Lightning to apply the buff before the boss is moved away for some bonus damage.
- If you do not have any other movement talents available, make use of Spirit Walk aggressively to switch to the adds and kill them as quickly as possible.
- Astral Shift should be saved for high Rage Tantrum casts, as it deals extremely heavy damage to the raid. This keeps you healthy and helps out your healers who have a lot to worry about during this period.
- If you are tasked with using the Apetagonizer Core, try to use it when the raid has established a good time to trigger a Tantrum.
- Make sure to interrupt Apetagonize with Wind Shear, especially when other players are out of range.
Jadefire Masters
This recommendation is preliminary, and will be updated in the future as more data related to the fight comes in. This is caused by a large amount of variance in the fight makeup and a lack of different playstyles appearing in current logs.
Recommended Build: Primal PrimerAzerite: Primal Primer x3, Natural Harmony x3, optional: Ancestral Resonance x1, Roiling Storm x1, Thunderaan's Fury x1.
Talent and Build Notes
Jadefire Masters has a very high uptime of two targets, with occasional extra adds added into the mix. This heavily leans toward Enhancement due to the additional Crash Lightning uptime, alongside allowing you to heavily invest in pure boss damage.
- Forceful Winds can potentially outperform Totem Mastery due to the high uptime of two targets, which encourages extra Crash Lightning casts. Due to this, ai single point of Thunderaan's Fury can slot into your Azerite choices.
- Level 30 has both Earth Shield and Spirit Wolf as options. Earth Shield allows for additional intermittent healing over the course of the encounter, as there are frequent small hits. Spirit Wolf on the other hand can be used in downtime periods to reduce hits, and increase movement speed during mandatory movement periods. This is especially useful during Ring of Hostility, and when the Mage ports across the room.
- Level 40 can make use of all 3 options. Feral Lunge lets you keep up with both the Mage and the Monk when they leap away for higher boss uptime. Nature's Guardian is great due to some very high bursts of raid damage, providing a backup health bump. Wind Rush Totem is specifically useful for helping the raid navigate the rings during Ring of Hostility, or re-adjusting after the phase ends.
Tips
You should make sure to look at the Jadefire Masters guide to make sure you have a strong bearing on the mechanics of the encounter, as this section will cover small specific tips related to Enhancement.
- Make sure to keep Crash Lightning active as much as possible due to having two targets available throughout the encounter. Also try to refresh it just prior to targets teleporting away to cover the downtime periods.
- Make sure to hit both targets with each Sundering cast. You can also try and hold it for Spirits of Xuen to hit an extra target, but do not waste casts.
- Use Feral Lunge to quickly re-engage the Mage whenever they port away and begin a Pyroblast cast to break the shield quickly. Follow this up with an interrupt using Wind Shear.
- If you are using Wind Rush Totem, make sure to drop it instantly when Ring of Hostility is cast to speed up the entire raid. You can cast this ahead of the group for higher uptime to allow for a speedier end to the phase.
- Spirit Walk has a variety of uses in the encounter (all of which should
be planned to give you the most uptime on targets):
- to re-engage quickly after a boss teleports;
- to quickly navigate the Ring of Hostility maze;
- to switching quickly to Living Bomb spawns.
- Astral Shift can be used fairly liberally if any heavy raid damage is occurring, but there are no strict moments when it will have extra value.
Opulence
This recommendation is preliminary, and will be updated in the future as more data related to the fight comes in. This is caused by a large amount of variance in the fight makeup and a lack of different playstyles appearing in current logs.
Recommended Build: Primal PrimerAzerite: Primal Primer x3, Natural Harmony x3, optional: Ancestral Resonance x1, Roiling Storm x1, Thunderaan's Fury x1.
Talent and Build Notes
Opulence is a unique encounter that is comprised of a lengthy gauntlet ending in a single boss burn phase. Due to the gauntlet having very heavy movement and comprising a large amount of the fight, it does make some talents less ideal.
- Due to the extremely high movement and line of sight issues in the gauntlet, Totem Mastery is pushed out during this period compared to the more versatile Forceful Winds. This also allows for options such as Thunderaan's Fury as a one point option. If you want to heavily focus on boss damage in the final phase however, Totem Mastery will still be ideal.
- Level 30 has Earth Shield that provides constant healing throughout both the gauntlet and final phase due to the frequent ticking damage. Spirit Wolf on the other hand can be used for additional quick movement to stay active on targets alongside some free damage reduction in emergencies.
- Level 40 provides a defensive option and a group movement tool. Nature's Guardian is really useful due to the high burst damage that can happen as a safety net so is a good catch all choice. Wind Rush Totem on the other hand helps your group quickly transition between chambers in the gauntlent, but has few uses in the final boss phase.
Tips
You should make sure to look at the Opulence guide to make sure you have a strong bearing on the mechanics of the encounter, as this section will cover small specific tips related to Enhancement.
- Throughout the gauntlet, you are purely focused on single target. In the final phase, make sure to hit Sundering on as many targets as possible when Spirits of Gold spawn, and get Crash Lightning active immediately after. Try to aggressively hit Crash Lightning and its activators during this window until the adds are dead.
- When using Wind Rush Totem, cast it pre-emptively as a chamber is about to complete during the gauntlet to buff your group. This will speed up the transition into the next room.
- Spirit Walk use in this encounter is very liberal. Make use of it whenever you need to stick to a target, as there are no heavy mechanics that demand extra movement from you.
- Astral Shift should be used in the final phase to survive Wail of Greed. This will be available for every other cast, so if necessary use Healing Surge to keep yourself topped in the casts in between.
- Enhancement has a wealth of crowd control options for the Spirits of Gold when they spawn. Capacitor Totem will stun them, and Sundering will also incapacitate them very briefly when hit. Having Frostbrand active when you cast Crash Lightning will slow any hit, and Earthbind Totem can be used to slow any that are moving too close to the edge.
- When it comes to which gems to use during the encounter, there are
three options for Enhancement (which are all valid, depending on what you
want to focus on during the fight).
- Ruby of Focused Animus: the support gem — This will provide a stacking debuff to your target that applies every hit (with a 1 second internal cooldown). Only one is necessary each side of the room, so if no-one else is taking it this is the best overall choice.
- Opal of Unleashed Rage: late boss phase gem — This grants 2% increased damage for each new target you hit. This increases in power over the course of the final boss phase due to the add waves, meaning that you are focusing mostly on the last burn of the boss with high stacks of this. The longer the fight lasts, the better this is.
- Emerald of Earthen Roots: consistent damage gem — This grants 1% increased damage every few seconds when standing still, but rapidly decays if you have to move. This will provide the most damage during the last portion of the gauntlet, and for most of the final phase assuming you are not targeted by too many mechanics.
Conclave of the Chosen
This recommendation is preliminary, and will be updated in the future as more data related to the fight comes in. This is caused by a large amount of variance in the fight makeup and a lack of different playstyles appearing in current logs.
Recommended Build: Primal PrimerAzerite: Primal Primer x3, Natural Harmony x3, optional: Ancestral Resonance x1, Roiling Storm x1.
Talent and Build Notes
Conclave of the Chosen does have multiple targets, but should be treated as a single-target encounter. You will be prioritising one Aspect at a time, and any damage dealt to the other is unimportant. There are intermittent switches to adds, but your primary focus is usually on one enemy.
- While it may seem appealing to opt into cleave and AoE options, any damage spread to other aspects will not provide any tangible gain to boss damage above just playing a purely single-target build. This means a full single target Primal Primer build serves best.
- Level 30 provides Earth Shield which can be helpful as there are frequent periods of raid damage, but it is going to provide very little tangible health due to how high those hits are. Spirit Wolf on the other hand provides much needed movement during Ghost Wolf to traverse the boss arena.
- Level 40 can make use of all 3 options. Feral Lunge can be used aggressively to switch to Ravenous Stalkers, or switch back to an aspect when they are dead. Nature's Guardian provides an invaluable safety net due to the high amount of lethal damage that can come quickly throughout the encounter. Wind Rush Totem can be used to quickly adjust the raid (especially the melee) to each safe zone during Pa'ku's Wrath.
Tips
You should make sure to look at the Conclave of the Chosen guide to make sure you have a strong bearing on the mechanics of the encounter, as this section will cover small specific tips related to Enhancement.
- Any opportunity you get to apply Crash Lightning and gain the buff when multiple targets are in range should be taken. This is likely to be rare, so pay attention to Raptor pathing and boss range.
- Make sure to try and aim Sundering to hit both a Raptor and the boss if possible. Do not sit on the cooldown too long however.
- If Feral Lunge is taken, use it to aggressively switch to out of range Ravenous Stalkers and kill them quickly. This can be paired with Spirit Walk to move between other Raptors, or back to the current target Aspect.
- Be aware of when Pa'ku's Wrath is being cast, and if necessary use Spirit Walk to quickly adjust. If unavailable, shift quickly into Ghost Wolf to get to the safe zone safely.
- Use Astral Shift if you have Bleeding Wounds applied to you from Kimbul's Wrath. This DoT is extremely painful, and you should consider using Healing Surge as well to keep yourself stable. This is especially true if you have multiple stacks applied.
- You can use Cleanse Spirit to remove the Crawling Hex casts if it is applied to an important player in your group.
- Aggressively Purge all targets that have Gift of Wind applied to them. This includes the Raptors, as they will be able to hunt down their target much faster when this buff is active.
- You can use various crowd control effects to help control the Raptors if they start to get out of hand. Capacitor Totem can stun, Sundering will provide a brief disorient, melee hits with Frostbrand active will slow, and you can cast Earthbind Totem at range to slow any Raptor far away from you.
King Rastakhan
This recommendation is preliminary, and will be updated in the future as more data related to the fight comes in. This is caused by a large amount of variance in the fight makeup and a lack of different playstyles appearing in current logs.
Recommended Build: Primal PrimerAzerite: Primal Primer x3, Natural Harmony x3, optional: Ancestral Resonance x1, Roiling Storm x1.
Talent and Build Notes
While Rastakhan begins as a cleave encounter, it quickly transitions into one that encourages single target. You can opt into cleave options that are recommended elsewhere in the guide, but for the purposes of defeating the boss, the ideal choice should be maximising your boss damage.
- Much like Conclave, while the opening parts of the fight may encourage AoE, this is not a fight that is decided by it. Due to that, it is recommended to focus on as much boss damage as you can to make the final phase of the fight easier.
- Level 30 provides Earth Shield which can be very useful throughout the encounter due to an extremely high amount of slow ticking damage. This can provide a lot of periodic health if used efficiently. Spirit Wolf conversely can be used for higher movement, which is very useful due to the amount of space that sometimes needs to be covered. The damage reduction is difficult to make use of however.
- Level 40 can make use of all 3 options. Feral Lunge will allow for very quick transitions between targets if you are forced out of range (which will be often). Nature's Guardian provides an extremely useful safety neti, as toward the end of the fight things can get very hectic. Wind Rush Totem can be used to help your entire group re-adjust during the final phase when Death's Door spawns become too problematic.
Tips
You should make sure to look at the King Rastakhan guide to make sure you have a strong bearing on the mechanics of the encounter, as this section will cover small specific tips related to Enhancement.
- During the beginning of the fight, you should aggressively cast Crash Lightning as much as possible to take advantage of the additional targets. Also be quick to use Sundering early, as you will likely get a second cast before the adds are killed.
- You can make use of your mid range abilities when out during Inevitable End channels to continue dealing a small amount. This includes Rockbiter, Flametonguei, and Lightning Bolt.
- Note that the Zombie Dust Totem does not react to AoE, so you cannot trigger Crash Lightning from it. You should switch to this quickly when it spawns to free any players mind controlled. You can make use of Tremor Totem to break nearby players out of the charm, but it will attempt to re-apply the mind control if the Zombie Dust totem is not killed quickly enough.
- Spirit Walk should ideally be saved for situations when you need to move out to drop Death's Door if applied to you. While it may be tempting to use it aggressively, this is a crucial part of the fight.
- Astral Shift should be used when the raid is under stress, particularly during the final phase when a large amount of Death Rifts are spawning orbs. This will likely stress your healers, so any damage reduction is helpful.
- Some additional notes are needed depending on whether
you are up or down in the third phase.
- Upstairs — Make sure to maintain Crash Lightning as much as possible while focusing the target Phantom. You should be funneling as much damage as possible into them, one by one to kill them quickly.
- Downstairs — Do not be afraid to use Healing Surge aggressively to keep yourself alive during the phase if you have to delay clearing your Deathly Withering stacks. Just remember to clear them at a reasonable level (10-15 stacks) so you are not at high stacks at a bad moment.
High Tinker Mekkatorque
This recommendation is preliminary, and will be updated in the future as more data related to the fight comes in. This is caused by a large amount of variance in the fight makeup and a lack of different playstyles appearing in current logs.
Recommended Build: Primal PrimerAzerite: Primal Primer x3, Natural Harmony x3, optional: Ancestral Resonance x1, Roiling Storm x1.
Talent and Build Notes
Mekkatorque is a purely single-target fight with some small opportunities to leverage additional targets to gain Crash Lightning uptime. Your focus here is entirely on dealing as much damage to him as possible, while being as durable as you can be due to the high raid damage happening.
- Level 30 has two options, the first being Earth Shield. This can be used due to the frequent small hits that will trigger it. Spirit Wolf on the other hand is much more versatile due to the damage reduction it grants when you are forced to move out of the group, and the additional mobility to get you to safe spots when needed.
- Level 40 can make use of all 3 options. Feral Lunge can be used to re-engage Mekkatorque quickly when you are forced out of range by the many mechanics that require this. Nature's Guardian is an incredibly useful safety net because of the number of potentially lethal hits that can occur throughout the encounter. Wind Rush Totem also has a myriad of uses to help the raid spread after a number of mechanics, and speed up the process of some dangerous periods of the fight.
Tips
You should make sure to look at the High Tinker Mekkatorque guide to make sure you have a strong bearing on the mechanics of the encounter, as this section will cover small specific tips related to Enhancement.
- Do not under any circumstances get hit by Buster Cannon. This is not only a heavy hit to you, but will reduce your Haste significantly for 10 seconds drastically reducing your damage.
- You can try to get some Crash Lightning uptime by hitting the Spark Bots that spawn throughout the room. These will usually move away from the boss quickly, so try to activate it as soon as possible before they do.
- When targeted by Gigavolt Charge, make sure to enter Ghost Wolf (especially when using Spirit Wolf) to get out of line of sight quickly and make use of the damage reduction.
- If you are shrunk by World Enlarger you should get out of the group quickly and head toward a Spark Bot. It is best to get into Ghost Wolf or use Spirit Walk to avoid being Trampled.
- During the intermission, if using Spirit Wolf, sit in Ghost Wolf as much as possible to minimise the damage taken from Spark Pulse hits. If you are going too low, top yourself up with Healing Surge.
- Spirit Walk can be used on the majority of mechanics if you are targeted due to how movement intensive the fight is. Generally, you should use it on the first of these applied to you. If you have not got Spirit Walk available, make use of Ghost Wolf more aggressively instead.
- Astral Shift should be used if you are out of range of the healers when having to drop a Gigavolt Charge. This is due to how vulnerable you will be from the subsequent DoT applied when it detonates.
- Wind Rush Totem is best used when the raid is transported via Wormhole Generator and then immediately Shrunk in the intermission and final phase. This allows the shrunk people to get out quickly and safely.
- Earthbind Totem can be used to slow down Spark Bots that are in a good spot in the room so they are clumped for the Shrink/Tamper phases.
- Be very aggressive using Healing Surge as often as possible, especially in the intermission and final phase. There are a significant amount of damage sources that can put you in danger, so make sure to think about survival first.
Stormwall Blockade
This recommendation is preliminary, and will be updated in the future as more data related to the fight comes in. This is caused by a large amount of variance in the fight makeup and a lack of different playstyles appearing in current logs.
Recommended Build: Primal PrimerAzerite: Primal Primer x3, Natural Harmony x3, optional: Ancestral Resonance x1, Roiling Storm x1.
Tips will be added as soon as possible for this encounter!
Lady Jaina Proudmoore
This recommendation is preliminary, and will be updated in the future as more data related to the fight comes in. This is caused by a large amount of variance in the fight makeup and a lack of different playstyles appearing in current logs.
Recommended Build: Primal PrimerAzerite: Primal Primer x3, Natural Harmony x3, optional: Ancestral Resonance x1, Roiling Storm x1.
Tips will be added as soon as possible for this encounter!
Changelog
- 25 Jun. 2019: This page has been reviewed for the release of Patch 8.2 and no changes are necessary.
- 28 Jan. 2019: Added Enhancement Shaman tips for Battle of Dazar'alor.
More Shaman Guides
Guides from Other Classes
This guide has been written by Wordup, a frequent theorycrafter involved in a number of class communities. He is also an experienced player who has been in the world top 100 since the days of Sunwell, currently raiding in Echoes. You can also follow him on Twitter.
- World of Warcraft Teams Up with Mountain Dew for Exclusive 20th Anniversary Rewards!
- Rare World Quest “Courier Mission: Ore Recovery” Live on NA Realms—Get Your Achievements!
- Guardian Druid Mage Tower Quick and Easy Guide in the War Within
- Master the Devour Affix in The War Within: Essential Spells and Strategies
- Dragonflight Vs. War Within Mythic+ Runs Per Week and Player Population Comparison Charts Since Legion!
- War Within Hotfixes, October 10th: Major Mythic+ Reward and Affix Shakeup
- Crests From Lower Keystones, Affix Changes and More: Major Mythic+ Progression Changes Live Now and More to Come
- WoW’s 20th Anniversary: Blizzard Clarifies Bronze Celebration Token Acquisition Rates in Patch 11.0.5