World of Warcraft is famous for its various raids and boss fights the players can experience as they travel the world of Azeroth. With the release of the Shadowlands expansion, more content has been added to the game. Castle Nathria is the very first raid for the latest addition, which will see gamers fight off 10 different bosses. The primary enemy in this dungeon is Sire Denathrius, an extremely powerful being. Players will need a guide to ensure their chances of clearing this raid.
What is Castle Nathria?
The bastion in the Revendreth is the residence of Venthyr Covenant, led by Sire Denathrius. The King of the Venthyr was an initial ally who asked players to do specific tasks around this realm of the dead. Later on, the heroes discover Denathrius's true allegiance and his hand in feeding souls to the Maw. The Castle Nathria raid is the culmination of this chapter of this arc as players seek to confront and overthrow the Master of Revendreth.
The castle features a dark and gothic theme. Gamers might think that the residents of the Revendreth are the true vampires of the game. In general, players will attribute the area to a dwelling of vampires. Unlike the Nathrezim's vampiric-demonic appearance, the Venthyr are more similar to modern portrayals of the vampiric race.
The castle is the first available raid content in the Shadowlands expansion. Despite being the opening dungeon for a significant update, Nathria is considered one of the most challenging raids currently live in WoW. Even Mythic guilds have a hard time clearing Heroic instances, which would be done through multiple attempts that would last through days. The difficulty of this raid is attributed to the complex mechanics and the scale of the fights.
The raid has 10 different bosses. Each has varying mechanics and abilities, which players will have to remember to ensure their survival throughout the challenge. The bosses themselves have hard-hitting abilities that can one-shot or instantly down raiders if they do not pay attention. The sheer difficulty of Castle Nathria shows how important it is for gamers to check guides like this before challenging the Revendreth bosses.
How to Enter Castle Nathria?
The Venthyr bastion can be found in the Revendreth and is the most prominent structure in the region. The towers of the castle if very hard to miss since they are evident in the area. The entrance to the castle is around the center zone of the region. Those looking for a flight path can take the one near the Menagerie of the Master.
All Castle Nathria Bosses
As players explore the Venthyr's stronghold, they will encounter various solid and powerful creatures. There is no specific order of who raiders will face since the sequence in which they are fought depends on the players. Here are all the bosses in the Castle Nathria raid:
- Shriekwing
- Huntsman Altimor
- Hungering Destroyer
- Artificer Xy'Mox
- Sun King's Salvation
- Lady Inerva Darkvein
- The Council of Blood
- Sludgefist
- Stone Legion Generals
- Sire Denathrius
While there is no specific order to follow, Nathria is divided into the lower areas and the Upper Spire. Before gamers can challenge enemies in the Upper Spire, they must fight and clear every boss in the lower zones. Members of the upper levels include Sludgefist, Stone Legion Generals, and Sire Denathrius.
Potential Clearing Sequences
Upon entering Castle Nathria, the Shriekwing will always be the first boss players face. After defeating the oversized bat, raiders can then choose which opponent they will fight next. There are two potential paths after defeating Shriekwing. Here are the possible routes for clearing the bosses in Nathria:
- Council of Blood Path – In this route, raiders can choose to proceed to face the Sun King's Salvation or Artificer Xy'Mox after defeating the first boss. These opponents need to be cleared to unlock the Council of Blood. The raiders' choice only determines the order in which they are defeated.
- Lady Darkvein Path - This route is pretty linear until players reach Lady Inerva Darkvein. After players choose this path after defeating Shriekwing, they will face Huntsman Altimor. After defeating the Huntsman, they will proceed towards the Hungering Destroyer area. After finishing off both of these bosses, they can then move to face off Lady Darkvein.
Once Darkvein and the Council of Blood have been defeated, the Upper Floors will be unlocked, allowing gamers to engage the last three bosses. The order in which they will be fought is already set, unlike the previous levels. Raiders will face off against Sludgefist. After this encounter, players will fight the Stone Legion Generals. Sire Denathrius will ultimately be the final boss in the whole raid dungeon.
Boss Skip Function
Defeating the first 7 bosses can be tedious since raiders will have to face each one in a non-linear setup. Fortunately, there is a way for players to skip the first seven opponents. Upon defeating the 7th Boss, Sludgefist, raiders can obtain the Sludgefist's Head. After collecting four heads, gamers can then complete the "Castle Nathria: Getting A Head" quest, which can be done without difficulty.
Once the quest has been completed, players can skip the boss fights in the lower levels and head directly to Sludgefist. This bypass can be done by talking to General Draven, who can be found at the entrance of the Huntsman Altimor section.
How to Beat Each Boss?
Since there are 10 bosses in this raid, players will have to learn all the mechanics for each one. Fortunately, gamers do not need to remember every last one since they can focus on specific aspects of the opponent. Here is how raiders can defeat each boss:
- Shriekwing – The giant bat will have two phases. The mechanics are pretty basic, and raiding parties only need to dodge them. Players should always be wary of Echolocation, Murder Prey, and Echoing Sonar skills since these abilities deal massive damage, with Murder Prey being a one-hit KO attack. The main gimmick here is to take advantage of the pillars during skills like Earsplitting Shriek, which allows parties to dodge specific mechanics.
- Huntsman Altimor – Altimor has three phases. The Huntsman will bring out summs to aid him during the fight in each stage. Defeating one will result in the next being summoned. The three hounds are Margore, Bargast, and Hecutis, who will appear in this order.
For Margore, tanks will have to switch every now and then to reduce the bleed stacks. For Bargast, the hound should be lured away from the Huntsman. Meanwhile, Hecutis should be fought near Altimor if the party is healthy. The most consistent mechanic throughout the fight will be the red arrow on members of the party. Players should avoid getting unnecessary damage by dodging the avoiding teammates marked with the indicator.
- Hungering Destroyer – The Destroyer's kit mainly revolves around leech abilities. Five party members should help mitigate the damage of the leech debuffs on two marked teammates. The ability indicators are easy to read. Members with the blue mark should move to the side, avoiding other marked players. Meanwhile, party members enveloped by circle indicators should stay away from each other to prevent stacking damage.
The only other main mechanic that players should know is the vacuum. When the boss starts pulling in the party, the raiders should keep running in the other direction until it is over.
- Artificer Xy'Mox - Xy'Mox also has three phases that players should not ignore. The main gimmick of this boss involves the portals that he summons. The two players affected by the initial cast of Dimensional Tear should move to the middle and the edge of the room. This will ensure that the wormholes formed will help players move quickly towards or away from the center. Players marked during Phase 1 should take advantage of the portals until the homing spirits despawn. Raiders should then move the seeds to the side using the wormholes during Phase 2 to mitigate the damage. Xy'Mox will be using a barrage of skills during Phase 3, so parties should employ their mobile skills and the portals to evade these attacks.
- Sun King's Salvation – For this boss encounter, the whole fight revolves around assisting and healing Kael'thas. There will be two phases in this encounter. Players have two things to do in the first phase. They need to defeat all ads summoned throughout the challenge. Kael'thas can be healed via the Essence Fonts, Soul Pedestals, and healing spells. The second phase will summon a specter of Kael'thas, who players need to beat. He will bring forth phoenixes to assist him in battle. It's ideal to stack the two fiery birds together to finish them off efficiently. The more damage players deal with the Shade of Kael'thas, the more they will heal the actual Sunstrider.
- Lady Inerva Darkvein – This boss can be an easy encounter depending on how well players execute the mechanics. Darkvein's gimmick is to summon jars, which represent different buffs. Whenever these jars are filled, they enhance their effects in combat. For this mechanic, the party should assign DPS to deal with the smaller adds, while tanks should soak up the attacks of the more giant jars. Every time Darkvein switches her focus to another jar, players should take the opportunity to drain the adds of their content to prevent them from getting more robust.
- The Council of Blood – This encounter is unique since players will face off against multiple bosses from the start. Every time a boss is defeated, the remaining ones will recover HP and gain new abilities. The key to this challenge is to eliminate the bosses in a specific order.
Kill Frieda first, followed by Niklaus, and then Stavros. Careful when the boss reaches 50% HP as a unique mechanic will occur. Specific mechanics will also be activated every time a boss is killed, so players should be prepared.
- Sludgefist – There is no central gimmick or theme. There are only several skill mechanics that players should prepare for. The ability that raiders should be wary of is the Chain Link since the skill kills the chained gamers when they move too far from each other.
- Stone Legion Generals - Two different gargoyle-like bosses appear simultaneously in this encounter (Kaal and Grashaal). You can only damage any target if they are on the ground. Furthermore, when they have less health, they could cast Stoneform, which reduces the damage. Give "candies" to Prince Renathal, and he will aid you in the fight.
- Sire Denathrius – Denathrius is the final boss and strongest in this raid. The King of the Venthyr has three phases and one intermission, which can one-hit every player. The first phase will keep summoning adds after every Cleansing Pain, so raiders need to take turns getting hit by the skill to mitigate the damage taken and take down the summoned minions right away. The intermission will occur between the first and second phases. The whole party needs to be inside the circle surrounding Denathrius before the animation ends, or else they will be instantly killed. For the 2nd stage, players will have to focus on the Cabalist adds and avoid the boss' vacuum ability. The third phase can be tricky since Denathrius can knock players off the platform. Tanks should also ensure that the boss does not leave the center of the arena.
Boss Rewards
Here is the list of loot and the item levels that players can acquire from clearing Castle Nathria:
For the first seven bosses per difficulty:
- 187 for LFR
- 200 for Normal
- 213 for Heroic
- 226 for Mythic
For the last three bosses per difficulty:
- 194 for LFR
- 207 for Normal
- 219 for Heroic
- 233 for Mythic
Legendary Recipes:
- Mystic Anima Spherule (Main Hand) dropped by Huntsman Altimor
- Abominable Anima Spherule (Main Hand) dropped by Sun King's Salvation
- Apogee Anima Bead (Shield/Off-hand) dropped by Artificer Xy'mox
- Venerated Anima Spherule (Main Hand) dropped by Hungering Destroyer
- Thaumaturgic Anima Bead (Shield/Off-hand) dropped by Lady Inerva Darkvein
- Zenith Anima Spherule (Main Hand) dropped by the Council of Blood
- Apogee Anima Beed (Shield/Off-hand) dropped by Stone Legion Generals
- Thaumaturgic Anima Bead (Shield/Off-hand) dropped by Stone Legion Generals
- Abominable Anima Spherule (Main Hand) dropped by Sire Denathrius
- Mystic Anima Spherule (Main Hand) dropped by Sire Denathrius
- Venerated Anima Spherule (Main Hand) dropped by Sire Denathrius
- Zenith Anima Spherule (Main Hand) dropped by Sire Denathrius
Special Items
- Portable Pocket Dimension
- Charm of Eternal Winter
- Precisely Calibrated Chronometer
- Most Regal Signet of Sire Denathrius
Mount upon completing Glory of the Nathria Rider Achievement:
- Rampart Screecher
Castle Nathria is one of the more challenging dungeons in the whole game, so players will need to party up to dominate this raid challenge. Fortunately, gamers don't need to be in guilds to queue up for this. Raiders can always pug with random players and queue up for different "wings" of the castle.
