The Vortex Pinnacle

A fun, if annoying, instance. As a balance druid, we aren't a bad selection to have. Our CC is viable if used correctly, and we do great on all three bosses. Overall, it's pretty okay.

Trash Our only CC option here is Entangling Roots, but there are several melee-only mobs to choose from. In the first set of trash, your CC targets will be the Gust Soldiers. They're pretty standard to root down; just note that they do charge at the pull, so either the tank is going to have to move a little bit or you will need to start the pull. Use Solar Beam liberally on everything else, and Wild Mushroom is great for taking out the small adds spawned by the Cloud Princes.

On the dragons, there isn't anything special that you can do, but there is a tactic that too few groups use that they should. The healing field that the dragon drops heals everything, even you. The tank should move the dragon out of the field and then stand in it; the group should then all stack on top of the tank. The dragons hit very hard, but their standard attack is a cleave that splits the damage between all targets. With all five group members taking the damage, the field alone will heal all of the damage, with the healer only needing to do a single AoE heal to top everyone off after a breath.

The last set of trash packs is the hardest, and it's tricky to pull off due to the anti-magic fields they stand in. Our only CC targets are the Executioners, but Solar Beam is very powerful for taking out the Adepts and preventing the other mobs from casting. If your group is lacking in CC and having issues on these pulls, you can always do the skirmish tactic. Charge in, blow up a single target or two as quickly as you can, the jump off the ledge. Doing this will put you out of combat and back at the start of the zone, where you merely run back and now have a few fewer mobs to deal with. It takes longer, but it saves on repair bills significantly.

Grand Vizier Ertan Just the same as normal, really. Stand halfway between the boss and his swirling tornadoes, and you'll be fine. Don't stand too close to the boss or you'll get hit with the slowing debuff when he retracts his shield, and don't stand too far away or you'll take damage as they float by.

Altairus Probably the hardest and most annoying fight in the zone. The key to the fight is to always stay upwind of the boss; however, doing this can be tricky at times. Which portion of the room is upwind is determined by Altairus' body; however, sometimes it will be divided left/right and sometimes by front/back. It also gets a bit more confusing since the tank will be moving frequently. Stay close to the boss and move through him as needed to gain the right debuff.

I never took the time to doublecheck, but the casting speed slow should negatively affect your DoT ticks as well. Make sure to refresh any of your DoTs that you might have applied while you had the slow, once you get the haste buff.

Asaad Easy as pie for everyone. Shift out of Static Cling as needed, and just waddle your feathers to the triangle when he summons it. If you happen to be in a Solar Eclipse, then consider dropping Wild Mushroom in the triangle -- the damage is quite high, and he isn't going to move out it.

Stonecore

Almost my least favorite instance. The first set of trash can be very difficult if you don't have the right type of CC -- which, thankfully, is plentiful -- and the bosses leave no margin for error.

Trash The first pulls are the worst. You can root the Berserkers, but they generally aren't all that deadly. The main issues are always Millhouse and the Earthragers, which you sadly can do little about. Always focus Millhouse first; I've had a few groups that ignore him, but that's just silly. The Earthragers hurt, yes, but Millhouse is what's going to cause your group to wipe after he Shadowfury stuns then fears your healer. His Shadow Bolts do hurt, and those can be tanked -- I've seen several tanks claim otherwise, but they are wrong -- but his more annoying abilities are random targets. Use Solar Beam on him at the pull and burn him down before he can destroy you.

The only other trash worth mentioning are the Crystalspawn Giants that you run into. They aren't difficult at all, but I have seen numerous groups wipes against them. Their only ability is Quake, which deals a massive amount of damage to everyone in the party; two of them will probably kill you. The good news is that you can completely avoid Quake just by jumping. As soon as the cast bar comes up, start jumping. Do not wait for the cast to finish, as I've found it can bug sometimes due to latency; just jump right when you see it, and you should avoid all of the damage.

Corborus I deem Corborus the PUG-slayer. Apart from the bosses in two other instances -- experienced dungeoneers know which I'm talking about -- he is perhaps the hardest boss that you will ever encounter in a heroic. Mechanically, he isn't that difficult; however, a single mistake means an automatic one-shot. It's like Archimonde, but oh so much worse.

First are the crystal shards that he will spawn. These need to die fast; however, they explode on death and can gib a player who's too close. If you are not the target, instantly start dropping mushrooms on top of the shards, especially if you have Fungal Growth. As soon as the shards are up and the targeted player is out of harm's way, explode the 'shrooms. If done correctly, most of them should die instantly. After that, just burn them down, using Typhoon to knock them back and slow them if needed.

The burrow phase is the worst. Corborus will pop up at random times and one-shot non-tanks that he catches. Avoiding him shouldn't be too difficult in theory, but he doesn't exactly play nice. The direction of his jump is random. Strafing is generally the best way to avoid him; however, sometimes he still seems to simply catch players even after they've moved. You have no time to wait if you see Corborus start to borrow under you; move right away. Do not wait to finish a cast no matter what it is -- move.

Rebirth will be the best ability ever for this fight. Trust me.

Slabhide A nice break from Corborus. There's nothing difficult about Slabhide at all. Merely stick next to a spike, and hide behind it during Crystal Storm. That's all there is to it. Crystal Storm does have a minimum range that ignores LoS, however, so don't pick a spike that's close to the boss.

Ozruk Ozruk exists because Blizzard has to prove that it will find ways in which to break up PUGs. If players suck, the best way to enforce that lesson is to kill them over and over again, right? Kidding, kidding.

As a balance druid, this fight is ridiculously easy for you; just be ready to cry for your tank. The only mechanic that you have to watch out for is Elementium Bulwark. Once the shield goes up, stop casting everything and use Insect Swarm. The spell will reflect on to you and allow for you to break Paralyze. That's all. I have noticed that this mechanic is very bugged. Sometimes, EB will drop instantly after he casts it, preventing casters from reflecting anything on themselves. Other times, he'll simply cast Paralyze without using EB at all. It's fun times.

There is nothing you can do about the latter; however, if you get the former, then just go up and melee him when Elementium Spike Shield is up in order to get a DoT on you.

High Priestess Azil The pattern continues; another easy boss to tackle. The best thing about Azil is how destructively powerful balance druids are for this encounter. Your top priority is to remove Curse of Blood as soon as it goes out -- leaving it on will cause adds to reduce their target to a gooey mess quickly. Second is to use Solar Beam at every opportunity. Sith Lords apparently hate sunlight and won't be able to cast Force Grip when inside of it.

As for the adds themselves, oh how easy they all are. The general tactic that I have seen many groups use is to toss them all into a Gravity Well, which is the right thing to do. However, Gravity Well alone will not be enough to bring those pesky cultists down. Thankfully, balance druids have the only thing that any religious fanatic fears: magical mushrooms. Just plop three of them right into the middle of the Gravity Well and watch the cultists fly right into their explosive end!

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Every week, Shifting Perspectives: Balance treks across Azeroth in pursuit of druidic truth, beauty and insight ... from a moonkin's perspective. We'll help you level your brand new balance druid, analyze balance racials and abilities, and walk you through PvP as a balance druid.

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