Welcome back to another Chicks Gold WoW Guide. The latest expansion, The War Within, has got off to a great start, introducing many new features to WoW, including Delves, crafted PvP gear, and much more. Of course, with any new expansion and season, one of the most hotly anticipated releases are the raids. Today, we’ll be covering the first raid of WoW: TWW season one, the Nerub-ar Palace Raid.
Nerub-ar Palace is an exciting new raid with eight bosses to discover, learn, and conquer. In this guide, we’ll be examining Nerub-ar Palace and going over all the details, including locations, bosses, and loot. We’ll also discuss the known release schedule and what else you can expect from TWW raids.
Nerub-ar Palace Raid Lore
This raid takes place in the arachnid-themed land of Azj-Kahet, a new area in The War Within. Here, you will find Queen Ansurek, who rules from her throne in the Nerub-ar Palace, located southwest of the City of Threads. Her Sureki disciples are loyal to her, and she reigns over them from her place of power. However, there is growing rivalry from the Severed Threads, who plan to end her rule over this land.
Important Raid Information
Let’s examine this raid and what players can expect from it.
Nerub-ar Palace release dates
Different raid types and difficulties will become available over time, with an additional story mode that can be played solo by players just wishing to progress through TWW’s story. Raid Finder Wing 1, Normal and Heroic difficulties, were released on September 10th, 2024, shortly after the release of TWW. On September 17th, Raid Finder Wing 2, Story and Mythic difficulty will be released, and then on September 24th, we will see the release of Raid Finder Wing 3.
Story mode
Players have the option to complete the raid as part of the story without the need to join other players. To facilitate this, you can have a maximum of 10 NPC party members. This means you won’t have to wait to start a raid and can begin or finish a raid at a time that suits you. However, completing Nerub-ar Palace Raid in story mode prevents any of the eight bosses from dropping loot. You’ll be able to start this raid in story mode after completing the first chapter of The War Within expansion. Then, visit Webster, who is located in Dornogal near the Horde Embassy, to begin the Our Chance to Strike Our Chance to Strike quest, which begins a questline culminating in To Kill a Queen to Kill a Queen. To begin the story mode raid, just speak to Kriz, the "Loyal" who resides in the City of Threads.
Quest rewards
Story mode raiding won't bring you any rewards in the typical sense, but there are some rewards for completing the final quest in this quest line. Successful players will receive 1400 Gold, 2500 Rep Vizier Commendation, 265x Valorstones Valorstones,
Severed strands buff
A new quest will arrive after the start of Season 1 of The War Within called The Finer Things. Players can collect Nerub-ar Finery, which is a new currency reward from raid bosses. This currency can then be exchanged for Severed Strands, which can be stacked and give you a maximum healing and damage raid buff of 18%. Please note that this buff is entirely optional.
Traveling to the Nerub-ar Palace
The exact location of the palace is /way 34.9 72.1, which is in the City of Threads in Azj-Kahet. The fastest way to travel there is by using the flight point located in the center of the City of Threads.
Nerub-ar Palace Raid Boss Overview
As mentioned, there are 8 Nerub-ar Palace Raid bosses, culminating in the main boss, Queen Ansurek. All bosses must be completed in linear order, except for two whose order you can decide when you reach that part. The boss encounters for this raid are as follows:
- Ulgrax the Devourer
- The Bloodbound Horror
- Sikran
- Rasha'nan
- Broodtwister Ovi'nax/ Nexus-Princess Ky'veza - these bosses have optional orders.
- Anub'arash and Skeinspinner Takazj
- Queen Ansurek
The following are outlines of the eight bosses and some strategies for overcoming them. We will be covering Normal and Heroic difficulties.
Ulgrax the Devourer
Named after its insatiable hunger, Ulgrax the Devourer is one of Queen Ansurek’s fearsome and grotesque guards. This boss is the first you’ll encounter during the raid and has two phases you’ll need to learn that alternate once it reaches zero energy. The boss always starts on the same phase, which involves throwing spider webs out that root you to the ground for eight seconds if touched. Ulgrax also casts Carnivorous Contest during this phase, which pulls players in towards it. You can mitigate this effect by grouping together to take the hit as a team, which reduces the strength of the effect per player. Lastly, Ulgrax will cast Brutal Crush, which reduces the effectiveness of incoming healing. During the second phase, Ulgrax will take 99% less damage while summoning Ravenous Spawn, which must be killed. These spawn drop Chunky Viscera, which you should then take to the boss to feed it. You will also need to dodge the Juggernaut Charge attack during this phase. That’s all there is to this boss; just repeat these phases until it’s defeated.
The Bloodbound Horror
The second boss of the Nerub-ar Palace WoW raid, the Bloodbound Horror, has one phase you will need to learn. Gruesome Disgorge targets the group tank and causes shadow damage. To minimize the damage, you should split your party into two equal groups and alternate tanking hits. The reason for this is because of The Unseeming, an alternative realm that you can be sent to and must defeat adds while preventing small adds from reaching the boss. Only those in The Unseeming can fight these adds, so it’s vital to split and maintain equal tasks in both realms. The Bloodbound Horror can also cast Grasp From Beyond, which causes two players to be debuffed each time, Goresplatter which creates a 60-yard AoE that you must escape from; and in the Heroic mode, Spewing Hemorrhage, which fires two arena-dividing laser beams.
Sikran, Captain of the Sureki
Sureki is a powerful blade duelist and the captain of Queen Ansureks lair. Sikran has one phase, and Phase Blades is the first attack Sikran will make during it. This attack involves players being marked and then Sikran lunging at them with blades out. Marked players that are hit will create a Cosmic Simulacrum, which causes shadow damage to surrounding players. In Heroic mode, even unmarked players who are hit by the attack will create a Cosmic Simulacrum. After the Phase Blades, Sikran casts Decimate, which will cause damage to marked players and cause any Cosmic Simulacrums to explode, creating further AoE damage. After two Decimates have been cast, you should avoid the damage resistance debuff-causing Shattering Sweep attack.
Rasha'nan
Rasha’nan, another of Ansurek’s grotesque creations, makes its way from the earlier encounter in the Dawnbreaker Dungeon and begins this fight in a wounded state with only 60% health. Rolling Acid is the first attack Rasha’nan will cast that marks players and inflicts them with a corrosive poison. Marked players should avoid the attack waves as best as possible to minimize damage. Spinneret's Strands pull players towards Rasha’nan while causing nature damage every second. Infested Spawn spawns adds that you should defeat quickly, and in Heroic mode, players that are targeted will also cause AoE damage to surrounding players. Rasha’nan will frequently fly around the arena, casting Acidic Eruption, which you should interrupt while chasing him down to inflict more damage. In Heroic mode, Rasha’nan will also cast Web Reave, which causes meteors to fall on the targeted player. You can group together to share the damage from this meteor shower.
Broodtwister Ovi'nax
Depending on the order taken, Broodtwister Ovi'nax is the 5th or 6th boss you’ll encounter during the raid. Another single-phase boss, this boss fight takes place in an arena divided into three sections, with each section containing eggs that spawn adds. The fight starts with Ingest Black Blood, which involves the Broodtwister Ovi’nax ingesting black blood to become more powerful. Eventually, black blood will spill, and when it comes into contact with an egg, it will cause the egg to hatch, releasing the adds. Other dangers you’ll have to deal with are Experimental Dosage, a Colossal Spider that hatches from one of the big eggs, a Voracious Worm that hatches from medium eggs, and four Blood Parasites that hatch from egg clusters.
Nexus-Princess Ky'veza
Nexus-Princess Ky'veza, a new arrival to the palace and confidante of Queen Ansurek, is a two-phase boss with intermissions that cause her to gain more power and become more difficult to defeat. This fight takes place in a hexagon-shaped arena. Essentially, the boss will fire an assassination attack at players, which will cause Nether Rifts to open at the location where the player is hit. These rifts pull players in, so the best strategy is to place them at opposite corners of the hexagon to cancel out the pulling effect. In Heroic mode, you should beware of Queensbane, which causes Dark Viscera to spawn if you’ve already been targeted. So if you’ve been hit by Queensbane, you should run as far away from your team as possible so they aren’t damaged by it. In phase two, Nether Phantoms will attack targetted players. In Heroic mode, the room will be divided into six equal segments, with two exploding every few seconds and moving clockwise throughout the arena.
The Silken Court
The final boss arena before you take on Queen Ansurek is the Silken Court. Here, you will find the Queen’s closest advisors, Anub'arash and Skeinspinner Takazj. These bosses have three phases and two intermissions. In phase one, two players will need to become bound by webs from Web Bombs; then, you can stop the boss's charge by making him hit the Binding Webs. For Heroic mode, you will need two Binding Webs to stop it. During the intermission, Skeinspinner Takazj teleports to the center of the arena and creates a shield; you must destroy this shield to progress. In phase two, Skeinspinner Takazj then creates an AoE and causes all players hit to be joined by Binding Webs. To break the web, just run as far from your bound player as possible. Also, Stinging Swarm will release swarms of insects at players. Intermission two will see the other boss, Anub'arash, teleport to the center and shield itself; once again, you must destroy this shield to continue. In the third phase, all previous attacks will take place, with the exception of Web Bombs.
Queen Ansurek
For the final battle of the raid, you will face Queen Ansurek herself. This fight has three phases and two intermissions. Phase one begins with Liquefy and Feast being cast on an active tank in your party. Next, a targetted player will be hit with Reactive Toxin; if that happens to you, you must move to the edge of the arena. Venom Nova will cause a ring to grow in size that heavily inflicts damage upon anyone in its path, and Silken Tomb will cause players to remain rooted in place. The first intermission sees the Queen creating a large shield and pulling players in toward her. After the shield is broken, phase two begins. During this phase, you won’t be able to damage the boss, and you will need to ascend on the outer platforms while killing Ascended Voidspeakers, who, upon death, will push you back and allow you to ascend further. You will have to defeat many adds during the phase, including Devoted Worshipper and Chamber Guardians. Finally, in phase three, you can damage the boss again. You should be wary of the Abyssal Conduit AoE effect, which will target players, and Summoned Acolytes, which you must kill immediately. Upon defeating Queen Ansurek, you’ll have the chance to receive some Nerub-ar Palace loot, including the mounts Reins of the Sureki Skyrazor, Reins of the Ascendant Skyrazor, weapons Ansurek's Final Judgment, Sovereign's Disdain, and the very rare Seal of the Poisoned Pact.
FAQ
Here are some frequently asked questions about this raid.
What is the first The War Within raid?
The War Within first raid is the Nerub-ar Palace Raid. It takes place in the City of Threads, located in the kingdom of Azj-Kahet.
How many bosses are in Nerub-ar Palace?
There is a total of eight bosses during this raid, including the main boss and ruler of the City of Threads, Queen Ansurek.
Are there any buffs for the Nerub-ar Palace raid?
Taking part in The Finer Things quest will allow you to obtain the new currency Nerub-ar Finery. This currency can then be exchanged for Severed strands, which buffs your damage and healing by up to 18%.
Nerub-ar Palace Raid Conclusion
Hopefully, you will be able to tackle this raid with ease and be in good standing for future seasons of The War Within. As a first raid, it isn’t too complicated, but it is a lot of fun, and there are variable difficulties to satisfy different skill levels. Furthermore, there is a lot of great loot to obtain, so this is worth giving a go. However, if you’d just like to continue through the story and aren’t interested so much in the raiding aspect of WoW, then you can complete this once in solo story mode with NPC party members - there really is something for everyone. If you enjoyed this blog and want to learn more about WoW Nerub'ar Palace and other content, raids, and more, then be sure to check out our WoW blogs. Additionally, if you’re looking for cheap WoW Retail gold, then head over to our WoWR gold page today and bask in our low prices!
