This page covers a healer-focused strategy for The Council of Blood in Castle Nathria in Shadowlands. 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, combat log information, and Dungeon Journal information. I'll continue to update it as-needed.

General Mechanics and Abilities

Normal and Heroic

This encounter alternates between stage one and the intermission each time a boss is reduced to 50% health.

Stage One - The Council

This stage begins the encounter and ends when a boss is reduced to 50% health. It begins again following ~20-seconds in the intermission.

• All players take steadily increasing damage over time throughout the encounter from Oppressive Atmosphere.
  • The damage increase resets each time a boss is brought to 50% health or killed.
• Each boss gains a new ability once one or both other bosses have been killed, noted below.
• When a boss is killed, all other bosses are healed to full health.
• Castellan Niklaus
  • The tanks will be dealing with Duelist's Riposte, which will eventually force a tank switch.
  • Periodically summons a Dutiful Attendant.
    • Dutiful Attendant
      • While alive, makes the boss with the lowest health immune to damage with Unyielding Shield
  • With one other boss killed, Dredger Servants periodically summons Begrudging Waiters.
    • Begrudging Waiter
      • Deals light damage to random players with Throw Food.
  • With both other bosses killed, Castellan's Cadre summons two Veteran Stoneguards.
    • Veteran Stoneguard
      • The tanks will be dealing with stacks of Sintouched Blade, which increases the Stoneguard's damage dealt.
      • On Heroic, when killed, Castellan's Fury increases the damage dealt of all lesser enemies within 12-yards.
• Baroness Frieda
  • Interrupt Dreadbolt Volley to prevent the damage dealt to all players.
  • Targets random players with Drain Essence, dealing heavy damage over time.
  • With one other boss killed, when Prideful Eruption is cast, stay at least 6-yards away from other players.
  • With both other bosses killed, the tanks will be dealing with heavy damage from Soul Spikes, as well as light damage dealt to all players.
    • On Heroic, Twisted Pain causes damage from any of Frieda's abilities to leave behind a Manifest Pain pool.
• Lord Stavros
  • The tanks will be dealing with positioning to keep Evasive Lunge from hitting other players.
  • When affected by Dark Recital, stay within 8-yards of your partner while avoiding the impact locations.
  • With one other boss killed, avoid the paths of Waltzing Venthyr's Waltz of Blood as they quickly move across the room.
  • With both other bosses killed, Dancing Fools covers the area in Waltzing Venthyr.
    • Waltzing Venthyr
      • All but one will be immune to damage.
      • The one Venthyr must be killed to create a safe area to avoid Violent Uproar.
    • On Heroic, Two Left Feet applies stacks of movement speed reduction when moving or jumping.

Intermission One - The Danse Macabre

This intermission begins each time a boss is reduced to 50% health and ends after ~20-seconds.

• Players must move to their designated position to perform the Danse Macabre.
  • Players that fail to reach their designated position in 8-seconds are killed.
  • Once in position, follow the instructions to move left, right, forward, or backward using your normal movement hotkeys.
    • Each successful move grants a stack of Fancy Footwork, increasing haste.
    • Failing a move removes all stacks of Fancy Footwork and deals moderate damage with Wrong Moves.

Mythic Differences

Stage One - The Council

• When affected by Dancing Fever, jump in a controlled manner to remove all stacks before it expires. Removing a stack deals moderate damage to all players.
• Castellan Niklaus
  • Upon death, Afterimage of Castellan Niklaus continues to summon Dutiful Attendants.
• Baroness Frieda
  • Upon death, Afterimage of Baroness Frieda continues to cast Dreadbolt Volley.
• Lord Stavros
  • Upon death, Afterimage of Lord Stavros continues to use Dark Recital.

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
  
  • (Mythic) while players remove stacks of Dancing Fever
  • as-needed as damage from Oppressive Atmosphere increases
• Use Minor Cooldowns
  
  • on Soul Spikes
  • as-needed as damage from Oppressive Atmosphere increases
• Pre-heal Before (mainly for heal over time classes)
  • Soul Spikes
  • (Mythic) players remove stacks of Dancing Fever
• Potion of Spiritual Clarity use
  • likely just after an intermission
• Other things to watch for
  • I'll update this section as soon as possible.

Debuffs to Track

Major

• Several abilities cause players to need additional healing over time.
  • Drain Essence
  • Dark Recital
• Duelist's Riposte can cause the tanks to need additional healing.

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Useful Addons

Below are the DBM settings I'll be using for The Council of Blood in Castle Nathria. 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 The Council of Blood

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