Cenarius Raid Boss Strategy Guide

By Wowhead Updated: 2018/07/05

The Emerald NightmareTormented GuardiansNythendraElerethe RenferalUrsocIl'gynothDragons of NightmareCenariusXaviusLoot and RewardsEarly Legion Gearing Guide

Cloak: Evergreen Vinewrap Drape

Cloth Armor: Cozy Dryad Hoof-Socks, Mantle of Perpetual Bloom

Leather Armor: Grove Keeper's Robe, Forest-Lord's Waistwrap

Mail Armor: Thorny Bramblemail Pauldrons, Laughing Sister's Pouch-Chain

Plate Armor: Fitted Ironbark Gauntlets, Crown of Steely Brambles

Trinket: Horn of Cenarius, Nature's Call

Holy: Radiant Dragon Egg

Life: Blessing of Cenarius

Storm: Uplifting Emerald

Gear and Artifact Recommendation Guides

Ranks 1 and 2 for Vantus Rune: Cenarius drop for Scribes

Herbalists must complete The Emerald Nightmare: Felwort Mastery for Herbalism Technique: Felwort (Rank 3)

Accolade of Achievement: 250 LFR

Accolade of Victory: 400 Normal

Accolade of Heroism: 500 Heroic

Accolade of Myth: 600 Mythic

Quick Tips

Damage Dealers:
Interrupt cast by the Scorned Sister.
Defeat the Rotten Drakes before becomes lethal.
Use Malfurion's to avoid damage from .
Malfurion's fully clears stacks of from any players near the chosen target.

Healers:
The Nightmare Drake's deals heavy raid damage.
Use Malfurion's to avoid damage from .
Malfurion's fully clears stacks of from any players near the chosen target.

Tanks:
Be mindful of when positioning Cenarius.
Be quick to grab the attention of Forces of Nightmare as they spawn.
Use Malfurion's to avoid damage from .
Malfurion's fully clears stacks of from any players near the chosen target.

Notable Trash MobsDreadsoul CorruptorDreadsoul Defiler

Erupting Terror deals damage to all players within 10 yards of the Corruptor

Darkfall spawns a shower of stars that pelt the area around a random player's location

Players should move out of the Darkfall to avoid taking heavy damage

Both Erupting Terror and Darkfall can be interrupted or stunned

Healers should use cooldowns to recover from this damage

Shadow VolleyHaunting Nightmare

Haunting Nightmares deal moderate melee damage

Every 10 seconds, each Haunting Nightmare attempts to cast Haunting Burst near a random player

Haunting Burst deals a large amount of damage divided evenly amongst all targets within 10 yards of the impact location

Players should stack close to the Haunting Nightmares to split the damage evenly

Use AoE CC and stuns to control the Haunting Nightmares and prevent casts

Cenarius Abilities & StrategyCenariusBloodlustHeroismTime WarpMalfurion StormrageCleansingPhase 1: Forces of Nightmare!Forces of NightmareForces of Nightmare

There are four types of Nightmare Seeds, each producing a different type of add when it "hatches":
The Tormented Souls form in the northeast corner and spawn a set of 10 Corrupted Wisps

The Corrupted Emerald Egg forms in the northwest corner and spawns a Rotten Drake

The Corrupted Nature forms in the southwest corner and spawns a Twisted Sister

The Nightmare Sapling forms in the southeast corner and spawns a Nightmare Ancient

Forces of NightmareForces of NightmareForces of NightmareForces of NightmareForces of NightmareCorrupted Wisps

Each Corrupted Wisp will choose a target at random and begin pursuing it

If the Corrupted Wisp reaches its target, it will cast Destructive Nightmares, dealing moderate damage to all players within 8 yards

The Corrupted Wisp will then choose another target and pursue it

This behavior repeats until the Corrupted Wisps are defeated

There is no debuff associated with being targeted by a Corrupted Wisp

Players should spread out while Corrupted Wisps are alive so it is easier to see if a specific player is being targeted

This will also limit the splash damage from Destructive Nightmares

Corrupted Wisps are vulnerable to CC, so players should also stun, slow, root, or use knockback abilities on the Wisps to keep their damage manageable

Rotten Drake

The Rotten Drake will occasionally choose a random target for Rotten Breath

The Drake turns to face the target while casting the Rotten Breath cast

When the cast completes, the Drake channels Rotten Breath for 4 seconds, dealing moderate Shadow damage to players in a cone

The raid should stay close to the Rotten Drake so the cone is easier to escape

Spread out in a tight circle around the Drake so not too much DPS is lost to movement

Nightmare BuffetRotten BreathTwisted Sister

The Sisters cast Twisted Touch of Life every 15 seconds, which will heal an enemy unit

The healing is delivered as a small up-front heal and an 8-second HoT effect

Twisted Touch of Life should be interrupted each time the Sister attempts to cast it

If a Twisted Touch of Life cast is successful, the Twisted Touch of Life HoT can be removed from enemies with offensive dispels like Dispel Magic

Sisters will frequently target random players with a Nightmare Javelin hurled at the target's location

Players within 4 yards of the targeted location will gain the Nightmare Javelin DoT, dealing light damage every second for 6 seconds

Nightmare Javelin preferentially targets players at range, so the ranged DPS and healers should spread out to limit splash damage

Every 20 seconds, Twisted Sisters will target three non-tank players with Scorned Touch

These players are slowed by 30% while affected by Scorned Touch

After 12 seconds, Scorned Touch will detonate, dealing heavy damage to the target and all other players within the Scorned Touch radius

Any other players struck by this damage will gain a Scorned Touch debuff themselves

Scorned TouchNightmare AncientDesiccating StompDesiccating StompDesiccationDesiccating StompForces of Nightmare

Corrupted Wisps

Twisted Sister

Rotten Drake

Nightmare Ancient

Cenarius

Cleansing Ground

Cleansing the Tormented Souls creates 5 friendly Wisps
Wisps use Cleansing Detonate to create 5 small zones of Cleansed Ground in random locations

Players can use this Cleansed Ground to reset stacks of the Creeping Nightmares debuff (see below)

Emerald Drake

Emerald Drake will target a random tank with Ancient Dream

Ancient Dream lasts 30 seconds and functions similarly to Guardian Spirit

The buffed tank will receive extra healing, and upon taking a fatal blow, Ancient Awakening will heal the tank for 50% of his/her maximum health instead

This tank can taunt Corrupted Wisps in to keep them off the raid without fear of dying to Destructive Nightmares

Redeemed Sister

Redeemed Sisters buff random players with Unbound Touch, granting them movement speed and immunity to shadow damage and movement-impairing effects

When the effect expires, players within 4 yards of the original target gain Unbound Essence, which also grants movement speed and immunity to shadow damage and movement-impairing effects

Players with Unbound Touch or Unbound Essence can run through patches of Nightmare Brambles to clear them (see below)

Cleansed Ancient

The Cleansed Ancient will cast Replenishing Roots, restoring up to 45% of players' mana

Cleansing GroundForces of NightmareForces of NightmareCenariusForces of NightmareCreeping Nightmares

This is a stacking debuff that deals light Shadow damage when it is applied

Each stack of Creeping Nightmares increases the damage taken from subsequent Creeping Nightmares by 20%

Creeping Nightmares has no duration, and can stack infinitely

The debuff will eventually be dealing extremely heavy damage to the entire raid every 2 seconds

Creeping NightmaresCleansed Ground

Each time a patch of Cleansed Ground removes a player's stacks of Creeping Nightmares, it shrinks slightly

If a player stands in the Cleansed Ground for an extended period of time, it will shrink with each tick of Creeping Nightmares!

Players should briefly step into the Cleansed Ground just long enough to reset their stacks, then get out

A good rule of thumb is to cleanse your Creeping Nightmares at 15-20 stacks, though classes with frequent damage reduction cooldowns (e.g. Divine Protection, Barkskin) can last a little longer

Do not drag Cenarius into the Cleansed Ground - it appears that doing so causes the Cleansed Ground pool to shrink dramatically

Cleansed GroundCleansed GroundCleansed GroundCleansing DetonateCreeping NightmaresNightmare BramblesBramble Swarm

The Bramble Swarm will fixate on a randomly chosen player and begin creeping toward them

Bramble Swarm leaves a patch of Nightmare Brambles in its location every 2 seconds

Players who are touched by the Bramble Swarm or who step into a Nightmare Brambles patch become rooted and take heavy periodic damage

If the Bramble Swarm reaches its target, it will choose a new target and begin to follow that player

Like the Corrupted Wisps mechanic, the Bramble Swarm's fixate does not have an in-game debuff or other indicator

Players should stay loosely spread out so it is easier to tell if the Bramble Swarm is chasing a particular player

If you are targeted by Bramble Swarm, kite the Nightmare Brambles away from the raid

If you get rooted by Nightmare Brambles, use a defensive CD to help healers with the damage, or use a root-breaking ability to break out of it

Healers can dispel Nightmare Brambles from affected players to clear the roots and DoT

Move quickly away from the trail of Nightmare Brambles patches to avoid being rooted again

Nightmare BramblesDivine ShieldCloak of ShadowsAnti-Magic ShellNightmare BramblesBlessing of FreedomUnbound TouchUnbound EssenceAura of Dread ThornsForces of Nightmare

The Aura of Dread Thorns will buff all enemies within 20 yards of Cenarius with Dread Thorns

This includes Cenarius himself!

Dread Thorns causes the buffed enemy to reflect 50% of all damage dealt to it back to its attacker

This can be extremely dangerous, if not fatal, when the raid is already suffering damage from the Forces of Nightmare's existing mechanics

The adds tank must keep the adds more than 20 yards from Cenarius at all times!

Players should be very careful about multi-DoTting/attacking Cenarius while he is buffed by his own Aura of Dread Thorns

Aura of Dread ThornsForces of NightmareAura of Dread ThornsForces of NightmarePhase 2: Your Nightmare Ends!NightmaresNightmaresBloodlustHeroismTime Warp

Cenarius will no longer use Forces of Nightmare or Aura of Dread Thorns during this phase

Cenarius will continue to cast Nightmare Brambles

Players will keep accumulating stacks of Creeping Nightmare

Spear of Nightmares

Spear of Nightmares targets the current tank and deals extremely heavy damage

A pool of Nightmares will form at the tank's feet, dealing moderate damage every second to players standing in the area

The size of the Nightmares pool depends upon the amount of damage the tank took from Spear of Nightmares

Tanks and healers should coordinate to ensure tanks are protected with strong cooldowns for each Spear of Nightmares

Spear of Nightmares also debuffs the affected tank to take 100% additional damage from Spear of Nightmares for the next 45 seconds

Cenarius uses Spear of Nightmares every 33 seconds, so tanks must swap for each Spear of Nightmares cast

NightmaresNightmaresCleansing GroundCleansed Ground

Melee DPS and ranged DPS/healers should stack in two separate groups to limit the chance of Nightmare Brambles being kited through the melee pile

But the two groups should be close to one another so that melee DPS do not have to run far to reset stacks of Creeping Nightmares

As before, reset Creeping Nightmares at approximately 15-20 stacks

Tanks can pull Cenarius away from the edge when it is time to reset Creeping Nightmares stacks so melee DPS do not have to run as far

Healers should use raid CDs to efficiently heal the Creeping Nightmares damage when the raid's stacks are getting high

Entangling NightmaresEntangling Roots

While trapped in Entangling Roots, Malfurion cannot cast Cleansing Ground

He will also take 1.5% of his total health in damage every second from Entangling Nightmares

Entangling Roots is a creature and can be killed

Ranged DPS should switch to the Entangling Roots quickly to free Malfurion

Melee DPS should stay on Cenarius since Malfurion is often standing in a pool of Nightmares when he gets trapped

Nightmare BramblesNightmaresStrategy SummaryNightmare Seed Locations

Forces of Nightmare Schedule & Suggested Cleanses

Wave

Forces of Nightmare

RecommendedCleanse

Notes

Wisp

Drake

Treant

Wisp

Dodge Rotten Breath, but stay closeto share Desiccating Stomp

Wisp

Drake

Sister

Wisp

Spread out for Nightmare Javelinand Scorned Touch

Treant

Sister

Use Unbound Touch toclear Nightmare Brambles

Wisp

Drake

Tank with Ancient Dream canround up stray Corrupted Wisps

Treant

Sister

Treant

Stack near Cleansed Ancientfor healer mana

Wisp

Sister

Wisp

Clear Creeping Nightmares often

Phase 1:
Tank Cenarius close to an edge of the room to help the raid avoid the Aura of Dread Thorns mechanic

Tank adds at least 20 yards away from Cenarius

Mark each of the 4 corners of the room for easy Cleansed Ground call-outs

See the table to the right for recommended Cleanse targets for each wave of Forces of Nightmare

Always prioritize killing adds over attacking Cenarius

Kill priority is Corrupted Wisps > Twisted Sister > Rotten Drake > Nightmare Ancient
Kite Corrupted Wisps and have ranged DPS kill them quickly

Interrupt Twisted Sister's Twisted Touch of Life and run away with Scorned Touch

Move out of Rotten Drake's Rotten Breath, and kill it quickly once it begins using Nightmare Buffet

Stack on the Nightmare Ancient to share Desiccating Stomp damage

Forces of Nightmare

Position Cenarius near the edge of the platform, with ranged in the middle for Cleansing Ground

Use Bloodlust/Heroism/Time Warp at the start, or after any existing adds are dead

Tanks must swap for each Spear of Nightmares

Tanks and healers should coordinate CDs to ensure each Spear of Nightmares deals as little damage as possible

Move Cenarius along the edge of the platform after each Nightmares pool forms

When Malfurion is caught in Entangling Nightmares, ranged DPS should free him

Creeping NightmaresCreeping NightmaresNightmare BuffetDesiccating StompForces of NightmareDeath KnightGorefiend's GraspForces of Nightmare Summary

Nightmare Seed

Force of Nightmare (Uncleansed)

Ally of Nature (Cleansed)

Tormented Souls

Corrupted WispCasts Destructive Nightmares

WispProvides additional Cleansed Ground

Nightmare Sapling

Nightmare AncientDesiccating Stomp damages nearby targets

Cleansed AncientCasts Replenishing Roots

Corrupted Emerald Egg

Rotten DrakeCasts Rotten Breath and Nightmare Buffet

Emerald DrakeBuffs a tank with Ancient Dream

Corrupted Nature

Twisted SisterScorned Touch, Nightmare Javelin, Twisted Touch of Life

Redeemed SisterGrants Unbound Touch to random player

Tank Responsibilities

Keep Cenarius at least 20 yards away from the Forces of Nightmare

Choose an adds tank and a Cenarius tank

When all adds are dead, the adds tank should briefly taunt Cenarius so the Cenarius tank can reset Creeping Nightmares stacks

Use CDs when at high stacks of Creeping Nightmares

The adds tank should help interrupt Twisted Sisters' Twisted Touch of Life casts

Move adds away from nearby Nightmare Brambles patches, but try to stay near the Cleansed Ground

During phase 2, tanks should taunt swap for each Spear of Nightmares

Use powerful CDs for Spear of Nightmares damage, to reduce the size of the Nightmares pool

Move Cenarius away from Nightmares pools

Damage-Dealer Responsibilities

Prioritize adds over the boss at all times

Kill order is Corrupted Wisps > Twisted Sister > Rotten Drake > Nightmare Ancient

Clear Creeping Nightmares at approximately 15-20 stacks by running into Cleansed Ground

If Corrupted Wisps are active:
Kite any Corrupted Wisps that are targeting you

Ranged DPS should kill Corrupted Wisps

Stuns, slows, roots, and knockbacks are useful

Stack up in melee range to share Desiccating Stomp damage

Move out of Rotten Breath

Focus DPS on him once he reaches 50% health, to limit Nightmare Buffet damage

Interrupt Twisted Touch of Life when possible

Stay spread out to limit splash damage from Nightmare Javelin

If targeted with Scorned Touch, move away from other players

Nightmare BramblesNightmare BramblesBloodlustHeroismTime WarpNightmaresEntangling NightmaresHealer Responsibilities

Use raid CDs for Desiccating Stomp, Nightmare Buffet, or raid-wide high stacks of Creeping Nightmares

Clear Creeping Nightmares at approximately 15-20 stacks by running into Cleansed Ground

If Corrupted Wisps are active:
Kite any Corrupted Wisps that are targeting you

Stack up in melee range to share Desiccating Stomp damage

Move out of Rotten Breath

Stay spread out to limit splash damage from Nightmare Javelin

If targeted with Scorned Touch, move away from other players

Nightmare BramblesNightmare BramblesNightmare BramblesSpear of NightmaresCreeping NightmaresLooking For Raid Difficulty

Creeping Nightmares now increases its damage by 10% per stack, rather than 20%

Whenever Malfurion casts Cleansing Ground/Cleansing Ground, he will clear all players' Creeping Nightmares stacks immediately, even if they are not standing in the Cleansed Ground effect

The Twisted Sisters will not cast Scorned Touch

Creeping NightmaresCleansed GroundForces of NightmareCleansed GroundHeroic Difficulty

Cenarius's Aura of Dread Thorns now applies to targets within 30 yards of him, rather than 20 yards

Twisted Sisters' Scorned Touch debuff now slows the affected players by 60%, rather than 30%, and detonates after 8 seconds rather than 12 seconds

Mythic DifficultyForces of NightmareForces of Nightmare

Corrupted Wisps will cast Corrupted Detonate when they die, causing a Destructive Nightmares that damages all players, rather than just the ones within 8 yards of the Wisps.
The raid must kill the Corrupted Wisps in stages rather than all at once

The Destructive Nightmares damage may be fatal in conjunction with other add mechanics, such as Desiccating Stomp or Nightmare Buffet

Consider cleansing Corrupted Wisps when they appear, so that the Wisps become hostile after other adds are dead and their mechanics are eliminated

Desiccating Stomp

Players who take Desiccating Stomp damage on Mythic difficulty will be debuffed, causing Desiccating Stomp to deal 100% additional damage for 6 seconds

The raid should rotate two groups of players to soak each Desiccating Stomp, so no player has to soak two in a row except the tank

The adds tank should use a cooldown for the second Desiccating Stomp

Healers are likely to need cooldowns to recover from Desiccating Stomp since fewer players will be splitting the damage pool

Scorned Touch

Each Twisted Sister may target up to 10 players with Scorned Touch

The debuff detonates after 4 seconds, rather than 8 as in Heroic difficulty

Players debuffed by Scorned Touch have their movmeent speed reduced by 75%

The raid must be spread out in advance of the Scorned Touch cast

Players who are not targeted by Scorned Touch should move out of nearby Scorned Touch circles, since the debuffed players cannot react quickly

Nightmare Blast

Nightmare Blast deals heavy Shadow damage to players in the area of effect

Tanks should face Cenarius away from the raid so no players are ever struck

Cenarius uses Nightmare Blast every 33 seconds

Players struck by Nightmare Blast will take 100% increased damage from subsequent Nightmare Blast attacks within 45 seconds

Nightmare BlastNightmare BlastNightmare BlastBeast of NightmareGripping FogGripping FogAbout the Author:Restoration Shaman@healiocentrichealiocentric ... a blog that revolves around healing

Comments

Comment by Faelystiri

I'm curious if we actually kill him, or he's horribly wounded, but the corruption gets cleansed

Comment by Nulgar

For maximum DPS, play as an Orc with Gorehowl mogged as your weapon.

Comment by 1707440

Encountered a glitch on this fight, wherein Cenarius will not switch to phase 2 at 30% health or after all 6 waves of adds clear, but at any health (up to at least 50%) at the beginning of the last wave of adds. This makes him much more difficult to kill. Has anyone else seen this?

Comment by SaltLB

Hectic fight. This one was harder than Xavius to be quite honest, especially as a Shadow Priest. Too much movement.

Comment by selerik

Tip - If you get hit by the scorned touch mechanic and are a druid, you can shapeshift to immediately dispel the effect.

Comment by Hordearmy

guys there is a friendly tree which return healers mana. but after first wipe with my guild that tree does not appear again.

Comment by Abohassan

after some wipes , we did kill him. However, if u get 20x stacks clean them by stand on green. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=w3YzPDNeku4

Comment by ArgentSun

Having the add names and spawn locations color-coded really helped me lead my raid tonight, thank you for that!

Comment by Ur5layer

Spear of Nightmares is an interesting mechanic. It causes a bigger pool based on how much damage is taken. Bubbles from priests and ignore pain do not seem to lessen this effect. This is a big problem for DKs (maybe other tanks too, I'm not as familiar with their active mitigation) as they don't have active mitigation but rather self heals. In hindsight last night, it would have been better for a resto Druid (or feral/boomkin) to go bear form, taunt and pop survival instincts and barkskin. Throw in an iron fur if you can get the rage. Hit frenzied regeneration once the spear lands and go back to healing after the taunt off. Would have made made the pool significantly smaller.

Comment by asloversgo

Am I the only one heartbroken at the dialogue during this boss encounter?

Is that you, Thero'Shan?

You fight with noble hearts! Could it be true? Could the darkness be inside of... me?

Father? Father, is that you?

Cenarius being able to see what's actually happening, even when blinded by the Nightmare, is so sad. The Nightmare has corrupted so many powerful beings and it absolutely horrible that you have to put most of them to rest. I'm glad Malfurion was able to cleanse Cenarius from the Nightmare after he was defeated - I just wish we could've done the same with Ursoc and Ysera.

Comment by swifty2016

A really good guide. Thanks dude.

Comment by NikMoore

I can't GET to him - how do I get there? I've defeated the opening boss, then the four bosses in the four openings around the entrance, but I'm stuck back in the centre with Malfurion Stormrage and the pulsing mass - presumably the entrance to Cenarius - with no clue how to progress?

Cenarius Raid Boss Strategy Guide

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