Grand Magistrix Elisande Strategy/Tactics for Normal/Heroic

Table of Contents

• +Introduction
  • 1. Contents
  • 2. Lore
  • 3. Outline
  • 4. TL;DR
    • 4.1. Tanks
    • 4.2. Healers
    • 4.3. DPS
    • 4.4. Everyone
  • 5. Mythic Notes
  • 6. Bloodlust/Heroism/Time Warp
  • 7. Changelog
• +Abilities
  • 1. Outline
  • 2. All Phases — Echo of Elisande
  • 3. All Phases — Time Elementals
    • 3.1. Expedient Elemental
    • 3.2. Recursive Elemental
  • 4. Phase One: Time Layer One
    • 4.1. Arcanetic Ring
    • 4.2. Spanning Singularity
  • 5. Phase Two: Time Layer Two
  • 6. Phase Three: Time Layer Three
• ×Normal/Heroic Strategy/Tactics
  • 1. Positioning
  • 2. Phase One: Time Layer One
  • 3. Phase Two: Time Layer Two
  • 4. Phase Three: Time Layer Three

General Information

On this page, you will find a working strategy to defeat Grand Magistrix Elisande in The Nighthold for both Normal and Heroic modes, which usually only differ by the tuning of the boss.

Here, we assume that you have read our descriptions of the abilities for this encounter.

The other pages of our Grand Magistrix Elisande guide can be accessed from the table of contents on the right.

In all phases the raid should always prioritize killing the Time Elementals before attacking Elisande. The Recursive Elemental should be killed first.

When Elisande is engaged, she will disappear for a moment and cast Leave the Nightwell. The raid should be wary not to be in the large purple circle that appears as Elisande will crash to the ground a few moments later, dealing heavy Arcane damage to anyone caught inside. Elisande will then engage the raid in combat.

Approximately 10 seconds after Leave the Nightwell, the first pair of Time Elementals will spawn. As soon as they appear, all DPS should immediately switch to the Recursive Elemental and ensure it dies as fast as possible. Simultaneously, one of the tanks should pick up the Expedient Elemental — ideally, a Death Knight should Death Grip it onto the boss. The Expedient Elemental will attempt to cast Exothermic Release, which should always be interrupted. Similarly, the Recursive Elemental will spam Blast, which should also be kicked every time.

As the Recursive Elemental is being killed, the tanks should drag Elisande and the Expedient Elemental nearby, so the Fast Time and Slow Time zones will be close together. The first Recursive Elemental should take no longer than 15 seconds to kill. Immediately, all DPS should switch to the Expedient Elemental as well as cleaving onto Elisande. Once the Elementals are dead, all DPS should acquire a Fast Time buff. DPS should continue to maintain as high an uptime as possible on this buff throughout the phase to ensure it ends as soon as possible.

Ideally, both Time Elementals should be dead by the time the first Arcanetic Rings happen (approximately 35 seconds after Leave the Nightwell). If the tanks position correctly, the fast and slow time zones should be adjacent to each other with a small gap in between, which will create a large pocket of safe space in the ring of orbs. Players should take care not to stand between the path of the orbs and the Fast Time zone, however, as it will accelerate the Arcanetic Rings quickly towards their destination. The Slow Time zone, however, will greatly decrease the speed of the orbs that pass through it. The raid group should use this disruption in the Arcanetic Ring to escape through the gap unscathed.

If you are caught in a bad position and cannot dodge the Arcanetic Ring, ensure that you are only hit by a single orb. This is survivable on all difficulties if you are at full health and appropriately geared. The ring begins to overlap as it reaches Elisande, however, meaning it is more likely to be hit several times. Characters with Blink type abilities are also able to escape over the ring without taking any damage.

As Spanning Singularitys begin to spawn they should be soaked by players with available defensive cooldowns. Healers should pay special attention to these players as they will take high damage over several seconds. Mages are good candidates as they are highly mobile and have Ice Barrier available often. In the event that an Arcanetic Ring occurs while they are soaking, they can easily Blink out of the ring to safety.

The tanks should trade aggro every 4 stacks of Ablation or so. When the Expedient Elemental is active it is unnecessary to taunt swap; if one tank goes higher on stacks it is not a cause for concern. Trade back again once the Elemental is dead and resume taunt swapping every 4 stacks.

The phase ends when Elisande reaches 10% health.

At the end of the first phase Elisande will disappear for a moment and heal back to 100% health. After a brief delay she will cast Leave the Nightwell. The raid should be wary not to be in the large purple circle that appears as Elisande will crash to the ground a few moments later, dealing heavy Arcane damage to anyone caught inside. Elisande will then engage the raid in combat.

Positioning in this phase is similar to Phase One. Continue to deal with the Time Elementals in the same fashion. DPS should continue to maintain a high uptime on the Fast Time buff for maximum damage.

The tanks will now have to deal with Ablating Explosion — when this is applied, the tanks should perform a taunt swap. The debuffed tank should get away from the group as the debuff expires; a huge span is unnecessary, and 15-20 yards of distance should suffice.

Delphuric Beams will begin in this phase. The easiest way to handle the beams is to quickly position so that none of the arrows are overlapping, then have all debuffed players plant their feet. The rest of the raid can then predictably move in the space that remains without fear. This mechanic tends to deal very high raid damage as it will often overlap with other abilities; cooldowns should be coordinated for such eventualities.

When Elisande summons the Epocheric Orbs ranged players should fan out and ensure they are all soaked. It is helpful to assign specific players or classes to this duty ahead of time; Mages and Hunters are a great choice, for example, due to their mobility and personal cooldowns.

The echoes of Arcanetic Rings and Spanning Singularitys will appear at identical times to Phase One. There is no special trick for dealing with the echoes; the raid should handle these mechanics in exactly the same fashion as Phase One. They will occasionally overlap with the new mechanics; when this happens, immaculate personal play and raid cooldowns must be relied on for the group to survive.

The Spanning Singularitys are not an exceptionally high priority in this phase. Your raid should make an effort to soak when possible, but not if it creates risk for the soakers or overlaps with another mechanic. As long as the group keeps the critical areas clear (near your bubbles and in the group) you should be able to get by without being overwhelmed.

The phase ends when Elisande reaches 10% health.

At the end of the second phase Elisande will disappear for a moment and heal back to 100% health. After a brief delay she will cast Leave the Nightwell. The raid should be wary not to be in the large purple circle that appears as Elisande will crash to the ground a few moments later, dealing heavy Arcane damage to anyone caught inside. Elisande will then engage the raid in combat.

Bloodlust should be used at the beginning of the phase, as movement is very minimal and it will overlap with the first spawn of Time Elementals.

Phase Three is a true test of a raid group's skill; it is a personal responsibility phase, a soft damage check, and it requires good coordination with your fellow raiders. The main change to this phase is the addition of new mechanics to further complicate the fight, however, the general positioning and priorities from previous phases stay intact.

• Kill the Time Elementals immediately.
• Dodge the Arcanetic Rings.
• Soak the Epocheric Orbs.

The main difference in this phase is you can ignore the soaking of most of the Spanning Singularitys, as the raid damage is already very high. Keep critical areas clear if possible, otherwise, ignore the singularities.

When Elisande applies Conflexive Burst your group will need to react quickly. This is usually applied to 3 players; one of your players should immediately acquire a Fast Time buff, while another should acquire a Slow Time buff. The last player should avoid taking a buff. The result of this is that all 3 debuffs will explode on the raid at different times. Ideally, a healer should get the Slow Time debuff if they are one of the debuffed players. If several Conflexive Bursts explode within a short period, it will likely result in fatalities for your group. Raid cooldowns are advised if the Conflexive Bursts will overlap with other raid damage.

Elisande will also debuff a handful of players with Permeliative Torment. Healers should keep an eye on these players as they will take high damage over 10 seconds, and these players must avoid taking a Fast Time buff. If you are already buffed with Fast Time, be ready to quickly swap to Slow Time if you are ever in danger.

Tanks will now have to deal with Ablative Pulse, which should be interrupted whenever possible. If a pulse or two goes off, a taunt swap can be performed to ensure the safety of the tanks.

Your group must be careful not to be too greedy with the Fast Time buffs in this phase, as they are constantly being used to deal with the mechanics of the phase. The priority in the final phase is always survival.