Balance Druid DPS The Eternal Palace Raid Guide — Dragonflight 10.2.5

Balance Druid is looking to be one of the strongest ranged classes in the coming raid tier. It provides great utility, amazing single target, and has strong DoTs for cleave bosses. This could change in Heroic week.

The power of each of these Essence depends on fight length and cooldown usage. If you are looking to do guaranteed burst damage in a certain window such as fights like Orgozoa phase 1 and Ashvane shield/vuln phases. Condensed will be more beneficial for progression.

On farm, fight durations get shorter and damage checks in some of the tougher phases of fights become more underwhelming. In these situations, Vision proc randomness can lead to sometimes even significant damage increases over the alternative in Condensed Life-Force.

That being said, all recommendations are given with progression in mind and not farm.

Also note that, until you have Rank 3 Condensed Life-Force, you can use Rank 1 and Rank 2 Vision of Perfection in its place on these Essence recommendations.

We advise you to use the following essences against Abyssal Commander Sivara.

• Major Slot
  • Condensed Life-Force — Rank 3: Guardian of Azeroth + Condensed Life-Force
• Minor Slots
  • Essence of the Focusing Iris — Rank 3: Focused Energy
  • Conflict and Strife — Rank 3: Strife

A very straight-forward single-target fight. While afflicted with Frost Mark, make sure to stutter step between Starsurge and DoT casts to avoid being Frozen. Be sure to use your superior quick movement with Wild Charge disengage to help soak others targeted with Overflow.

Dodge Frostshock Bolts by maintaining a reasonable distance between yourself and the boss, and sidestep any incoming bolts to avoid generating additional stacks of your mark or triggering Unstable Mixture.

For more information, please refer to our Abyssal Commander Sivara strategy guide.

This fight does not change for Balance Druids on Mythic Mode. Just put more emphasis on the above mentioned fight mechanics and assist with off-healing when possible.

We advise you to use the following essences against Blackwater Behemoth.

• Major Slot
  • Condensed Life-Force — Rank 3: Guardian of Azeroth + Condensed Life-Force
• Minor Slots
  • Essence of the Focusing Iris — Rank 3: Focused Energy
  • Conflict and Strife — Rank 3: Strife

Warcraft's very first underwater boss is very easy for all Druids. Burst down the first Shimmerskin Pufferfish and apply your DoTs to the second fish to lower its Health and kill it quickly when needed. Pool for every Shock Pulse to negate the downsides of the pushback and stay spread for Bioelectric Feelers. If you are ever debuffed with the Darkest Depths debuff and are taking incoming damage, use Barkskin.

Use Aquatic Form Wild Charge to swim quickly through or over the Darkwater Jellyfish every intermission.

For more information, please refer to our Blackwater Behemoth strategy guide.

Use your increased mobility via Wild Charge to spread far and still help soak Piercing Barb.

We advise you to use the following essences against Radiance of Azshara.

• Major Slot
  • Condensed Life-Force — Rank 3: Guardian of Azeroth + Condensed Life-Force
• Minor Slots
  • Essence of the Focusing Iris — Rank 3: Focused Energy
  • Conflict and Strife — Rank 3: Strife

A split single-target fight with some priority add focus during the intermissions. If you are focusing on multi-target damage, drop the Essence of the Focusing Iris minor for Blood of the Enemy.

During the intermission, focus the bulk of your damage on the Stormwraith and use Solar Beam to silence the Stormlings. Use Wild Charge to negate the knockback of Gale Buffet.

For more information, please refer to our Radiance of Azshara strategy guide.

This fight differs little from its other versions. During the intermission, cast Barkskin on the second Gale Buffet cast to mitigate any additional incoming damage.

We advise you to use the following essences against Lady Ashvane.

• Major Slot
  • Condensed Life-Force — Rank 3: Guardian of Azeroth + Condensed Life-Force
• Minor Slots
  • Essence of the Focusing Iris — Rank 3: Focused Energy
  • Conflict and Strife — Rank 3: Strife

On Lady Ashvane, you will want to use your cooldowns on pull and save for the second non-shielded phase. If you are lusting on the first non-shield phase, consider saving your first cooldown usage for that.

Wild Charge finds a good amount of use as a short-duration movement cooldown. Use it to meet up with your other Briny Bubble members, to dodge Upsurge off the global, or bring your end of the Arcing Azerite line out to a far Coral Growth. You can use the following macro to leave Moonkin Form and cast the human version of Wild Charge to meet up with other Briny Bubbles, if disengage will not get you far enough.

• /cancelaura Moonkin Form
• /cast [@mouseover] Wild Charge

It will take two button presses to activate it.

For more information, please refer to our Lady Ashvane strategy guide.

There are several ways to use your cooldown on this fight. First we will talk about Condensed Life-Force. If using Condensed Life-Force, you have two options. You can either cooldown at 0/3/6 or at 1/4/7. Cooldowning using the first order gives you additional burst to break the third shield with Bloodlust. Cooldowning using the second order helps you burst the boss down into execute range for some classes during the vulnerable phase and then help finish the boss off in the final phase.

If you use Vision of Perfection, you cooldown 1/3.5/6. This cooldown option is very comp versatile and offers some of both worlds. It does a decent amount of vulnerable health damage as well as having Celestial Alignment up for Bloodlust.

If you soak an early Rippling Wave, you will need to watch your Health extra closely. Learn the timings well and try to set yourself up with a rotation of Defensives, Potions, and self-healing. Towards the end you will find yourself low often and needing to top yourself if there are any additional incoming waves.

You can also burst the boss in two vulnerability phases. In cases like this, Condensed Life-Force is most definitely the choice to guarantee you make the checks to the best of your ability instead of relying on Vision of Perfection randomness.

We advise you to use the following essences against Orgozoa.

• Major Slot
  • Condensed Life-Force — Rank 3: Guardian of Azeroth + Condensed Life-Force
• Minor Slots
  • Worldvein Resonance — Rank 3: Lifeblood
  • Conflict and Strife — Rank 3: Strife

Orgozoa is a single-target encounter with a steady flow of adds that spawn throughout the encounter. Make sure to use your second cooldown on-cooldown if you lust on pull. If you lust in Phase 2, save your second cooldown usage for that.

The add spawn timings do not line up well enough to use Fury of Elune, so we do recommend Shooting Stars instead. Pool for the add spawns and burn them down. Make sure to keep DoTs applied to all targets. In Phase 2, make sure to focus down the Azshari Witch first and interrupt Conductive Pulse. Prioritize the Dreadcoil Hulk over the Zan'jir Myrmidon and use Barkskin when targeted by abilities or soaking smashes.

In the intermission, if you take a tumble, use Wild Charge and pray you can land back on the platform.

For more information, please refer to our Orgozoa strategy guide.

This is not a particularly strong Balance Druid fight but we can still find use in our single-target damage. The choice between Twin Moons and Stellar Flare is dependent on your add damage. If your group has low add damage, you can fully DoT all Zoatroids with both DoTs. If you have high add damage, just Sunfire them. If you are looking for add damage you can take Purification Protocol as a minor for a small damage boost.

Balance Druid can help provide good bursts of off-healing on every Arcing Current as Swiftmend is available for each cast. Using it on yourself, if you do not have Barkskin available or on another raid member if you do can help save them from the DoT ticks following every Arcing Current.

We advise you to use the following essences against The Queen's Court.

• Major Slot
  • Condensed Life-Force — Rank 3: Guardian of Azeroth + Condensed Life-Force
• Minor Slots
  • Blood of the Enemy — Rank 3: Blood-Soaked
  • Conflict and Strife — Rank 3: Strife

During Repeat Performance, you can just maintain an alternating spell cast rotation. This mechanic follows all the same rules that Streaking Stars does. Beware of Moonfire, which does not count in your spell sequence — meaning that if you cast a spell, then cast Moonfire, and then the same spell again, you would "fail" the decree and be silenced.

Keep your DoTs applied to both targets at all times and only to two of the three Potent Sparks, while focusing down whichever spark was called by your raid leader. Use Barkskin when targeted with the Frenetic Charge and Violent Outbursts, especially when overlapping with Potent Spark explosions. When under the effects of Deferred Sentence, stutter step your debuff off during Starsurge and DoT casts.

For more information, please refer to our The Queen's Court strategy guide.

This fight is also largely similar to the other difficulties but all the damage is turned up to 10. Barkskin can be used during any damaging mechanic that overlaps with a Potent Spark explosion. Use the extra durability from Bear Form to help soak Frenetic Charge when possible.

We advise you to use the following essences against Za'qul, Harbinger of Ny'alotha.

• Major Slot
  • Condensed Life-Force — Rank 3: Guardian of Azeroth + Condensed Life-Force
• Minor Slots
  • Purification Protocol — Rank 3: Purification Protocol
  • Conflict and Strife — Rank 3: Strife

This is a great Balance Druid fight in all phases. We have strong multi-DoT spells, good self-healing, and great burst, all of which is desired on this encounter.

In the normal phase, your main focus is single-target damage and killing Horrific Visions. In the Fear Realm, you focus on killing Horrific Summoners and Horrific Visions. In the final phase, swap to the boss during every Dark Pulse cast to prevent massive raid damage, regardless of what your main priorities are.

In the Delirium Realm, focus on single-targeting down the boss at all times and self-healing when needed. If you multi-DoT the Horrific Visions in this realm, they will most likely chase you and force you out of the realm more quickly. Typhoon them away, kite them, or just focus on hitting the boss. When deciding when you want to leave, judge your stacks and either stop healing yourself or run into a mechanic and force yourself back up to the normal realm. Call for a dispel and maybe an external, depending on how many Hysteria stacks you have accrued.

For more information, please refer to our Za'qul, Harbinger of Ny'alotha strategy guide.

The first thing to do for this Mythic boss encounter is to swap to Vision of Perfection. Your cooldown usage on this fight is important and you need the cooldown reduction from the minor trait to meet the timing checks.

For cooldowns, you use Celestial Alignment during the first Punctured Darkness. This means you cannot use it early on, as damage on the opener of this fight is largely irrelevant. The first cooldown of the fight is done to maximize boss damage. Your next casts are on cooldown to make sure you get two more uses throughout the encounter.

After Phase 3 is over, you then can choose to shift your damage to either boss or add damage as add control is very important in the final phase. If you have a big meat grinder under the boss, you may just be able to tag them inward and focus the boss unless otherwise called. If not you might be forced to spend Astral Power and Empowerment charges to kill them quickly while they are at high stacks. As you will most likely be in the Fear Realm, your damage on the add spawned by Psychotic Split is not particularly important but do not ignore it.

You should stay under the boss in all phases for predictable add movement and more efficient healing. Every Dread cast should be Barkskined and that will keep you healthy if you have a single Ursoc's Endurance but you will need to be topped after.

We advise you to use the following essences against Queen Azshara.

• Major Slot
  • Condensed Life-Force — Rank 3: Guardian of Azeroth + Condensed Life-Force
• Minor Slots
  • Essence of the Focusing Iris — Rank 3: Focused Energy
  • Conflict and Strife — Rank 3: Strife

In Phase 1, focus on keeping your DoTs applied to both bosses. When the Overzealous Hulk spawns, be sure to swap to it immediately and try to have a pool of resources before it spawns to burst it down quickly.

In the first intermission, help off-heal anyone soaking Arcane Orbs. Follow your decree to avoid taking additional damage.

Phase 2 begins and you will start fighting Queen Azshara herself. Maintain max range during all Beckon casts and help soak depleting Ancient Wards or energizing Wards of Power. Generally, it is safe to take 5-7 stacks of Drained Soul as a Balance Druid in Phase 2. If you are targeted with Arcane Burst or are in line of sight of a dispelled Arcane Burst and you have over 5 stacks, press Barkskin and enter Bear Form to survive the hit.

In Phase 2, you can chose to use your cooldown immediately and have it up at the beginning of the final phase, or save it for the adds in Phase 3 and at the end of the final phase.

There are two sets of adds in Phase 2. Azshara's Devoted spawn in three groups of four and make their way towards the center rune. These should be crowd controlled when they reach the center and you should apply DoTs and Starfall when they converge. Typhoon them off the rune to interrupt their casts if they are not being crowd controlled otherwise. If your group has very low multi-target burst damage, you can use Essence of the Focusing Iris as a Major to burn down the targets quickly in one big burst. The second add is Azshara's Indomitable, which must be burst down similarly to the add in Phase 1.

In the second intermission, follow your given decree and continue to hit the boss. At this point in the fight, any soaking you do should not be above 5-stacks as raid damage increases significantly from here on out. After the decrees are out, shift your focus to the first Tidemistress. If you have chosen to save your cooldowns for this phase, use it on the first Tidemistress. If targeted with Charged Spear, move in-line with the shielded Tidemistress.

In the final phase, clean up the leftover adds and start focusing on boss damage. Bait the Nether Portals towards the edge of the room and dodge away from the Piercing Gaze. You want to avoid taking additional damage or additional minus Health stacks in this phase, as there is consistent bursts of damage while depleting the console of energy. In the event that you get the Essence of Azeroth buff from the console, burst the boss as hard as possible. When you have 10 seconds remaining on the buff, run into a rune and stand in it until you die when the buff expires to most optimally abuse the buff.

For more information, please refer to our Queen Azshara strategy guide.

You will need to swap to Vision of Perfection to line your cooldowns up better on this fight. You will normally use cooldowns in your opener, at the start of Phase 2, on the second add of Phase 3, and on cooldown in the Final Phase. If you do not need those cooldown timings or are possibly looking to do a harder burn in Phase 2 and Phase 4, you can run Condensed Life-Force.

As on Normal and Heroic, Balance Druid is very durable and can take 5 stacks in Phases 2 & 3, and then even 6 stacks in Phase 4. The damage on this fight is very scripted. Assuming you line of sight every shield break in Phase 3 and have removed your stacks of Arcane Vulnerability before getting you Arcane Burst dispelled, you should not die to anything. In the event you are targeted with Charged Spear in Phase 3, you should use a personal and even Bear Form. Keep in mind the Charged Spear damage happens 2-seconds after the cast, not instantly.

When managing your Arcane Vulnerability, keep in mind the more that you drop your stacks, the less damage you will deal. In Phase 2, you can hold off from clearing your stacks until the Arcane Detonation or if you need to be dispelled. In Phase 3, you generally wont be in line-of-sight of the boss but you should keep your DoTs up on the boss. In the Final Phase, drop your stacks before every console explosion as it will buff that damage as well as during every Nether Portal bait.

In terms of improving your output, you must learn your limitations in various parts of the fight. Knowing that you can survive not lining a shield break in Phase 3 or when run out to apply your DoTs to the boss on the opposite side of the pillar. In Phase 4, knowing if you need to stand behind a console for a set of clicks or if you can eat arcane missiles with a defensive. Azshara tends to be about all the little things you can do to push out that bit of extra damage.