Arcane Mage DPS Nerub-ar Palace Raid Guide — The War Within (11.0.5)

• Using Mass Barrier can be a great option right after Venomous Lash goes out. It will reduce the damage taken by your allies, but it will also heal you during the damage over time effect that comes out after the initial hit, via Diverted Energy. However, you can also use it for Carnivorous Contest. Use it depending on which mechanics your group is struggling with more.
• If you are full health before Hungering Bellows happens, use Alter Time and then re-activate it after Hungering Bellows has gone out and you are low hp. You can delay it a bit for the damage over time ticks that follow, but do not delay it too long as it might cause healers to waste heals on you when you can make yourself hull health again.
• In general, you have many defensives to deal with the various types of mechanics happening; do not be afraid to use them often; you do not need to hold any specific defensive for any specific mechanic.

• First set of cooldowns on pull
• Second set as they become available (~1:20)
• The third set either immediately as they become available (~2:45), or delay ~25 seconds until the boss is back (~3:10). Generally, delaying is safer, as getting a second set out before the boss goes away is very tight.
• The rest of cooldowns simply as they become available.

• There are no real mechanical tips or tricks you can apply on this fight.

Be sure to make use of the 'Export Talents' button to import the build directly into your game!

• Mass Barrier is great for Gruesome Disgorge as it lowers the damage allies take and heals you during the damage over time portion via Diverted Energy.
• Although generally not advisable, if you really need to take Gruesome Disgorge twice in a row (for example, if other people died and you do not have enough people left in the other group to kill the adds), you can use Ice Cold + Greater Invisibility to survive the hit of taking Gruesome Disgorge while having Unseeming Blight up.
• Using Alter Time right before Crimson Rain can be a good insurance policy in case healers are not able to remove the debuff quickly, as Alter Time can still heal you to full health even while the heal absorb is up.
• You can cast Alter Time before Goresplatter goes out, while still on the inside platform, then Shimmer to the outside platform. After the damage has gone out, and the inside platform is safe again, re-activate Alter Time to heal to full and place yourself safely on the inside platform again. If you do not have Alter Time ready, simply position yourself normally for this mechanic and use either Greater Invisibility or Ice Cold.

• Generally, the adds do not live long enough for you to apply your Touch of the Magi to them, especially on non-Mythic difficulty.
• Due to this, I recommend using your cooldowns on cooldown.

• Make sure you face your camera somewhere between the boss and the adds when both are up to ensure Arcing Cleave will actually cleave to both the adds and the boss.
• Generally, you should use Touch of the Magi on the boss. However, the moment Touch of the Magi is over; you can switch to the adds with the remaining duration on Arcane Surge to quickly kill them.
• You can cast Alter Time before Goresplatter goes out while still on the inside platform, then Shimmer to the outside platform. After the damage has gone out, and the inside platform is safe again, re-activate Alter Time to heal to full and place yourself safely on the inside platform again.
• You can Shimmer through Spewing Hemorrhage (Heroic and up only) to avoid having to move in circles around the boss. Just make sure to watch your range to your healers if you drop low.

Be sure to make use of the 'Export Talents' button to import the build directly into your game!

• If you get either Phase Blades or Decimate, use Alter Time before running away from the group. After Phase Blades or Decimate has gone out, re-activate Alter Time to heal back to full health and get back into the group. If you do not have Alter Time or are not full health, ensure you use a defensive when targeted. At the very least, Prismatic Barrier, but do not be afraid to use a bigger defensive.
• There are no specific defensive tips aside from that. Simply use your defensives for any mechanic if you are not full health. You have plenty of available defensives compared to the amount of mechanics that go out, so do not be stingy with them. When the shadowy adds are alive ( Cosmic Simulacrum) raid damage can get especially high if you are also targeted for Phase Blades or Decimate, in which case, make sure you use Ice Cold or Greater Invisibility.

• On cooldown.

• No mechanic tips available for this fight.

Be sure to make use of the 'Export Talents' button to import the build directly into your game!

• Use Mass Barrier for Web Reave to lower the damage taken by the group soaking it. Depending on the number of people soaking it, you might also want to pop another defensive while soaking it, like Greater Invisibility.

• Use cooldowns as they become available. It is especially important on this fight to not delay your cooldowns at all. If you consistently use your cooldowns immediately as they become available, you will automatically avoid using cooldowns as the boss teleports away. If you do end up delaying your cooldowns at some point, keep an eye on the energy of the boss. If the energy is almost full, delay your cooldowns until after the boss has teleported away. You can use Evocation while moving towards the new location so you can immediately start burning as you get there.

• If you get targeted by Spinneret's Strands, activate Alter Time and then Shimmer away. Then, re-activate it after the web is placed to immediately break the web and avoid all damage. You can also simply Shimmer out without using Alter Time, but Alter Time also prevents you from taking any damage and ensures you do not risk running out of Shimmers.
• Shimmer away with Corrosion. Make sure to Shimmer to the correct side so that the waves that follow move away from the raid.

Be sure to make use of the 'Export Talents' button to import the build directly into your game!

• If you are targeted by a Blood Parasite, use a defensive. Ice Cold is very strong for this, although it is probably overkill depending on how quickly your group kills these adds. Simply using Alter Time right as you get, it works as well, but usually, healers will keep healing you during it, making it mostly useless unless you can communicate this clearly with your healers, or they actively check for Alter Time.
• When the boss is about to cast Ingest Black Blood, activate Alter Time, if you drop low during this debuff, you can re-activate Alter Time to heal to full again, even through the heal absorb. Mass Barrier is also very good to use during this, as it will not only provide a safety blanket for nearby allies, it also heals you (and thus lowers the heal absorb) via Diverted Energy.

• Use on cooldown.

• You can Shimmer out with Sticky Web until you get dispelled.

Be sure to make use of the 'Export Talents' button to import the build directly into your game!

• If you get Queensbane (Heroic+ only), activate a defensive. Simply using Prismatic Barrier is usually enough, but you can also use Greater Invisibility in an emergency.
• If your group does not kill the boss before Eternal Night, you need to cycle your defensives very aggressively, as this phase does a very large amount of damage. Generally, I suggest starting off with Alter Time until you drop very low and then use Prismatic Barrier + Mirror Image into Ice Cold into Greater Invisibility into a final Alter Time. This will keep you alive for a decent amount of time, but you will eventually die in this phase as it is mostly unhealable.
• There are limited other mechanics to use your defensives for, so just use them if you ever drop low.

• On cooldown.

• If you are targeted by Twilight Massacre, use Alter Time at your current position, and then Shimmer to the image you are targeted by and aim it away properly. After it shoots the beam at you, re-activate Alter Time.

Be sure to make use of the 'Export Talents' button to import the build directly into your game!

This fight has lots of on-going damage, although none of it very burst oriented. Due to this, you will generally have to align cooldowns with your group to fill in the gaps where your healers are using fewer cooldowns. Below, we list some recommended usages, but ensure you align with your group if you are doing this boss on Mythic difficulty, but even at heroic it is also already hard to survive, so coordinate accordingly.

• Using Mirror Images before the pull is highly recommended to avoid using a global cooldown on it, as the Images will last through the first bunch of hard-hitting mechanics, like Venomous Rain.
• Use Prismatic Barrier and Mass Barrier aggressively, generally on cooldown, outside of your DPS cooldowns.
• Use your other cooldowns like Ice Cold and Greater Invisibility whenever you are not full health and a mechanic is incoming, like Venomous Rain.
• If your group fails to properly Ensnare the boss when it is charging the wall, you can survive the hit via Ice Cold on normal or heroic difficulty. On Mythic difficulty, this will wipe the entire group regardless of your personal defensives, so there is not much point to even try to survive it.

Note that "cooldowns" in the timers below refers to when you press Arcane Surge. Evocation should be pressed 5 seconds earlier to ensure you can use Surge at the timers listed.

There are 2 sets of cooldowns, depending on your group's Time Warp / Bloodlust timings.

• Use your first cooldowns on the pull.
• 1:30: Delay your cooldowns until 1:30 and use them on Anub'arash, who will take bonus damage.
• 2:50: Use your cooldowns after the first intermission ends.
• 4:30: Delay your cooldowns by around 10 seconds until ~4:30 and use them on Skeinspinner Takazj who will take bonus damage.
• 5:50: Use your cooldowns after the second intermission ends.
• 7:20: Delay your cooldowns until ~7:20 and use them on Skeinspinner Takazj who will take bonus damage.

With these timings, you will have to use your cooldowns immediately as they become available in various circumstances (see below). Ensure you do not delay them at all, or you will not be able to fit in your cooldowns at the required timings. This also means that your mini-burn Touch of the Magi has to be used immediately in between big burns, or it risks delaying your big burns.

• 0:40 Use your first cooldowns at 40 seconds on Anub'arash, who will take bonus damage.
• 2:00: Use your cooldowns as quickly as possible.
• 3:20: Use your cooldowns as quickly as possible.
• 4:40: Use your cooldowns on Skeinspinner Takazj, who will take bonus damage.
• 6:00: Use your cooldowns as quickly as possible.
• 7:20: Use your cooldowns on Skeinspinner Takazj, who will take bonus damage.

• Use Alter Time when webbed by Web Vortex, before being pulled in. Then, after being pulled in, simply re-activate it to get back to your original position. If you do not have Alter Time ready, you can use Shimmer instead of being pulled in, but keep in mind that the circle is slightly bigger than the Shimmer range, you will still have to move a bit.

Be sure to make use of the 'Export Talents' button to import the build directly into your game!

• Defensive usage on this fight is highly dependent on your strategy and coordination with healers. More generalized tips will follow shortly.

• Phase 1: Use on cooldown, so on pull and at 1:20.
• Intermission: Use it as it becomes available (~2:40). Generally, Evocation can be used during the initial big pullback and then the rest afterward.
• During Phase 2:
  1. Your exact timings will vary depending on how quickly you kill the adds on each floor; below are just recommendations based on average kill timings. The general rule to keep in mind is: use Evocation when walking one of the floor to the next and then Arcane Surge as you reach it. Usually, this means you will end up casting Evocation on the end of the first floor and then Arcane Surge on the second, but depending on your group's timings, it might be a different floor.
  2. Your cooldowns will not be available at the start of the first platform. Delay Evocation slightly until the first platform is over (~4:10), and then use Evocation while walking towards to second platform. Use Arcane Surge on the second platform's mini-boss. (~4:20)
  3. Depending on how quickly you kill the mini-bosses, Evocation might come up on the third platform. In this case, delay it until the next phase.
• Phase 3: If Evocation is up as Phase 2 ends, use Evocation while being knocked to the final phase platform. If not, simply use it as soon as available, and afterward use your cooldowns as soon as they are available.

• During Phase 2, make sure you target the high health adds and cleave to the rest.

Be sure to make use of the 'Export Talents' button to import the build directly into your game!