This page covers a healer-focused strategy for the Dragons of Nightmare in The Emerald Nightmare. 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 fight as well as Dungeon Journal information. I'll continue to update it as-needed.

General Mechanics and Abilities

Normal and Heroic

During this fight you will encounter three different dragons every week. One will always be Ysondre, and the other two will vary. For the purposes of organization, each dragon's mechanics will be explained separately. Some dragons have abilities they only use when grounded or flying, these will be noted.

Shared Abilities

• Each dragon has its own Mark of the Nightmare debuff that it will apply to players (Mark of Ysondre, Mark of Emeriss, etc).
• If you reach 10 stacks of any individual dragon's debuff you will be stunned for 30-seconds by Slumbering Nightmare. 
• All of the dragons will cast Corrupted Breath so don't stand in front of them.

Ysondre

• Avoid standing in the impact zone of Nightmare Blast.
  • On Heroic, Dread Horror adds have an aura called Wasting Dread, which reduces the damage players deal when with in 5-yards of the add.
• After impact, a Nightmare Bloom will spawn. Be prepared to stand in the bloom to prevent it from spawning Dread Horror adds.
• At 100 energy, Ysondre will cast Call Defiled Spirit which summons a druid add that will root nearby players and then explode.
• Dispel or otherwise remove Defiled Vines so you can escape Defiled Eruption. If you will be hit by the Eruption, use a personal defensive cooldown.

Emeriss

• (Grounded) Move at least 10-yards away from other players if you're affected by Volatile Infection.
• (Grounded) Essence of Corruption adds will periodically spawn, their Corruption spell needs to be interrupted.
• (Flying, Heroic Only) Emeriss activates his Corruption of the Dream aura, be prepared to avoid Corrupted Burst from the Corrupted Mushrooms any time an enemy add dies.  

Lethon

• (Grounded) Keep your distance from Ysondrea and Lethon as he reaches 100 energy to make it easier for DPS to kill Spirit Shades from Siphon Spirit.
• If a Spirit Shade reaches Lethon or Ysondre they will be healed by Dark Offering.
• (Grounded) Dodge the impact areas from Gloom.
• (Flying, Heroic Only) Avoid gaining too many stacks from Shadow Burst. If you don't have any stacks, you should move closer to the player that's affected by the ability. If you have too many, you should move away.

Taerar

• (Grounded) Avoid being hit by Seeping Fog clouds.
• (Grounded) At 100 energy, Taerar will cast Shades of Taerer, the shades should be killed quickly.
• (Flying, Heroic Only) Be aware of your positioning for Bellowing Roar. While you can't influence where you go, you can ty to be away from harmful spells on the ground.

Mythic Differences

The information below covers the new abilities and strategies introduced in Mythic difficulty. In addition to new things, you can expect all previous abilities to hit significantly harder.

• When the dragons reach 90%, 60%, and 30% health a Lumbering Mindgorger will spawn.
• The add is accessed by entering the active Dreamway Portal. The active portal is denoted by a large, flowing "wind" graphic that appears to be pulled into the portal.
• The add must be killed before 100 energy or it will cast Devour Nightmare, killing the entire group.
• It will periodically cast Crimson Moon, inflicting damage to the entire raid.
• Interrupt any casts of Collapsing Nightmare. If it is not interrupted and you are the target, move away from the rest of the group.
• In my experience, a team of 4 DPS and 1 healer was enough to kill the add inside the portal.

Healing Strategy

This fight has several debuffs that will cause the affected players to need additional healing. The entire group will naturally start taking more damage from their Mark of the Nightmare debuffs as the fight goes on.

• Dispel Defiled Vines quickly so the player can avoid the impending explosion.
• Players standing in Nightmare Bloom will need light to moderate healing.
• Players affected by Volatile Infection will need light healing.
• If an interrupt is missed on an Essence of Corruption, the entire group will need light to moderate healing.
• Players affected by Shadow Burst will need light to moderate healing, depending on how many stacks they take.
• Dispel players who are hit by Seeping Fog.
• On Mythic, if you're the healer inside the portal, be aware of the extra damage from Crimson Moon.

 Debuffs to Track

Below are debuffs you should track on your raid frames.

• Defiled Vines should be tracked so you can dispel it.
• Nightmare Bloom will cause players to need additional healing.
• Volatile Infection will also cause players to need additional healing.
• Shadow Burst is the final debuff that will cause players to need additional healing.
• Seeping Fog should be tracked because it also needs to be dispelled.

 DBM Settings

Below are the DBM settings I'll be using for the Dragons of Nightmare. 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 abilities, which will be added to this guide soon.

Healer DBM settings for Dragons of Nightmare

 Videos

Heroic, Restoration Druid PoV

Below is a video of me and my guild defeating the Dragons of Nightmare on Heroic difficulty. There is no commentary, only game sounds.

Mythic, Restoration Druid PoV

Below is a video of me and my guild defeating Dragons of Nightmare on Mythic difficulty. Again, there is no commentary, only game sounds.

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