
King Rastakhan, Healer Guide
Updated 3 years, 2 months ago for patch 8.1.5 by Preston. View the change log.
This page covers a healer-focused strategy for King Rastakhan in Battle of Dazar'alor. While it's tailored for healers, other roles may also find the information useful. If you have any suggestions or feedback, you can leave a comment below or tweet @PrestonDvorak.
This guide has been updated and maintained based on my own experiences with the encounter as well as Dungeon Journal information. I'll continue to update it as-needed.
General Mechanics and Abilities
Normal and Heroic
This is a multi-stage encounter during which players will be fighting through Rastakhan's guards to eventually face him and the power of Bwonsamdi.
This is a "flashback" encounter for Horde players, meaning they'll be completing it as Alliance races.
Stage One - Zandalari Honor Guard
This stage begins the encounter and ends when the two Honor Guards are killed.
King Rastakhan
- All damage taken is redirected to the Honor Guards through
Bind Souls.
- The tanks will be dealing with
Scorching Detonation.
- The affected tank should run as far away from the group as possible to minimize the damage the group takes.
- During
Plague of Toads, avoid the Toads hopping across the room.
- Players hit will be affected by
Toad Toxin.
- On Heroic, avoid the
Poison Toad Slime these leave behind.
- Players hit will be affected by
- On Heroic, avoid the
Serpent's Breath cones from Greater Serpent Totems.
Prelate Za'lan
- When targeted by
Seal of Purification, move away from the group.
Siegebreaker Roka
- Stack with the player affected by
Meteor Leap to split the damage dealt.
- The tanks get targeted by
Crushing Leap.
- This applies a stack of
Crushed and will likely force a tank swap.
- This applies a stack of
Headhunter Gal'wana
- Heroic only.
- Targets random players with
Grievous Axe, dealing damage over time until the player is healed above 90% health.
Stage Two - Bwonsamdi's Pact
This stage beings after the two Honor Guards are killed and ends when Rastakhan reaches 60% health.
King Rastakhan
- King Rastakhan now directly engages the group and takes damage.
Scorching Detonation and
Plague of Toads continue during this stage.
- During
Plague of Fire, stay at least 7-yards away from other players to minimize the number of jumps.
- Kill any
Zombie Dust Totems to free the mind-controlled players.
Bwonsamdi
- Immune to damage due to
Unliving.
- The tanks will be dealing with
Caress of Death, this deals damage over time and temporarily absorbs healing.
- Avoid the
Aura of Death 30-yards around Bwonsamdi.
- Player in the aura gain a stack of
Deathly Withering every 3-seconds.
- Player in the aura gain a stack of
- When affected by
Death's Door, move away from the group to drop the resulting
Death Rift.
Stage Three - Enter the Death Realm
This stage begins when Rastakhan reaches 60% health and ends when Bwonsamdi reaches 50% health.
To begin this stage, half of the group closest to Bwonsamdi will be pulled into the Death Realm.
Living Realm
Scorching Detonation,
Death's Door, and
Zombie Dust Totem continue during this stage.
- Rastakhan deals steadily increasing damage due to
Bwonsamdi's Boon.
- Phantom of Retribution
- Targets random players with
Grave Bolt.
- Stand in the impact locations of
Seal of Bwonsamdi to avoid them triggering
Bwonsamdi's Wrath.
- After 60-seconds, can no longer be crowd controlled due to
Undying Relentlessness.
- Targets random players with
- Phantom of Rage
- Don't stand in front of these to avoid
Necrotic Smash.
- After 60-seconds, can no longer be crowd controlled due to
Undying Relentlessness.
- Don't stand in front of these to avoid
- Phantom of Slaughter
- Heroic only.
- Targets random players with
Grave Bolt.
- When targeted by
Focused Demise, only you can interrupt the effect.
- After 60-seconds, can no longer be crowd controlled due to
Undying Relentlessness.
Death Realm
- All players in the Death Realm gain a stack of
Deathly Withering every 3-seconds.
- This can be cleared by touching a
Death Rift, which triggers a
Withering Burst.
- This can be cleared by touching a
- Bwonsamdi
- Targets random players with
Caress of Death, dealing damage over time and temporarily absorbing healing.
- During
Inevitable End, avoid being pulled into the death zone.
- Avoid the
Dread Reaping pools as they travel across the room.
- Any shards that hit a
Death's Door will travel to the Living Realm.
- Any shards that hit a
- During
Plague of Fire, stay at least 7-yards away from other players to minimize the number of jumps.
- Targets random players with
Stage Four - Uncontrollable Power
This stage begins when Bwonsamdi reaches 50% health and ends when Rastakhan is killed.
- All players are removed from the Death Realm and Bwonsamdi leaves the encounter.
- Any Phantom of Retribution, Phantom of Rage, or Phantom of Slaughter that weren't killed in the previous stage will still be present.
Caress of Death,
Plague of Toads,
Plague of Fire,
Death's Door, and
Inevitable End continue during this stage.
All Encompassing Death creates additional
Death's Doors near Rastakhan.
Mythic Differences
Stage Three - Enter the Death Realm
Phantoms now return to the Death Realm after being killed due to Empowered Spirit, leaving behind a
Death's Door.
Healing Notes
Quick Notes, All Difficulties
The notes below mostly pertain to progression difficulty, meaning if you out-gear the difficulty you're on or use extra healers they may not apply.
- Use Major Cooldowns on
- Use Minor Cooldowns
Meteor Leap
- as-needed on
Withering Bursts
- as-needed when
Deathly Withering stacks get higher
- Pre-heal Before (mainly for heal over time classes)
Scorching Detonation
Meteor Leap
- players touch
Death Rifts
Potion of Replenishment use
- immediately after stage three, before stage four ramps up
- Other things to watch for
- Players affected by
Caress of Death or
Necrotic Smash, they may need an external defensive cooldown.
- Players affected by
Grievous Axe need immediate healing to remove the effect.
- Players affected by
- Be aware of boss and add abilities overlapping, there is a lot of potential for difficult moments.
- Players affected by
Debuffs to Track
Major
Caress of Death prevents players from receiving healing.
Grievous Axe causes players to need to be healed above 90% health to remove the damage over time effect.
Focused Demise causes players to need additional healing.
Minor
Toad Toxin causes players to need additional healing.
Death's Door causes players to need additional healing.
Necrotic Smash reduces the healing players receive.
DBM Settings
Below are the DBM settings I'll be using for King Rastakhan. You can set them up however you'd like, but these ones should work well as a starting point. Some settings may be Mythic only.
Healer DBM Settings for King Rastakhan in Battle of Dazar'alor
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