Heroic Resto Cheat Sheet: The Nexus

This guide is part of a series on healing Heroic bosses and gaining achievements. They are straightforward, quick guides designed to give an overall idea of what to expect.

The Nexus
Bosses
Commander Kolurg/Commander Stoutbeard
These bosses are optional, and they are exactly the same as each other except one is a dwarf and one is an orc, and one is only for Horde and the other, only for Alliance. Otherwise, they do the exact same things: Whirlwind, Charge and Fear. The Whirlwind has a ridiculously large radius and hits like a truck; the Charge also hits like a truck, though a slightly smaller one, and there’s a possibility of being feared into other frozen packs. The boss comes with two healer adds that must be killed first. An interesting note: since this is a side-boss, if someone dies they can release and run back in without getting locked out of the instance or not receiving loot. He still drops an Emblem and Stone Shards (as long as you have Wintergrasp, of course). This boss is only on heroic, but he’s relatively easy to heal through so long as your melee run out of the Whirlwind and you keep an eye on those who get Charged.

Grand Magus Telestra
This fight operates in three stages. Fortunately, they all come down to: heal everyone. There tends to be a lot of random ancillary damage, and the main tank will not always be the person being hit hard. This is especially in the second stage (and possibly the third), where the Magus will split into three separate mobs. Between each stage she’ll draw everyone into her and then throw them out several times like a yo-yo; try to time your Wild Growth (if you’ve spec’d into it) for when she pulls you in so that you hit as many of your teammates as possible. The key to this fight is prioritizing on the fly; who is taking a high amount of damage and who needs healing quickly, and keeping HoTs up during the three-split phase due to the possibility of Time Stop. If you can do this, then you can kill her. Also, as long as you are in Tree of Life form, you are immune to her polymorph (called ‘Critter’) and have an advantage over other healers.

Side Achievement: Split Personality
This requires a lot of control on your DPS’s part, and a lot of attention on your own. It may take longer to kill the adds attempting this achievement due to the need to micro-manage their health. This makes it even more important for you to keep HoTs rolling and prioritize your targets. Also, an interesting side note: the Frost form cannot be killed while casting Blizzard. It must either be interrupted or you must wait until it is over.

Anomalus
This is another “omg everyone’s getting hit” fight. Rifts spawn periodically that do an AoE around them; move away. They can also summon adds if not killed fast enough. When Chaotic Rifts become “charged,” however, you cannot outdistance the AoE, so it is more important to keep everyone HoTed and healed while keeping the MT up. You will often be the first target of spawned Wraiths, anything you can do to keep yourself alive is important, including Barkskin, Health Pots (if your mana pool can handle it), and Shadowmeld if a Night Elf. If you can mitigate this high amount of AoE damage (Tranquility can also help in an emergency), then you’ll be able to pull through.

Side Achievement: Chaos Theory
This achievement requires a lot of kiting, so make sure your group clears a large area around and leading to the boss. Kiting him away from the spawned rifts will allow for no damage taken from non-charged rifts, no Wraiths attacking, and the ability to stand still and soak through the damage while the charged rifts AoE their range-less damage. It will be at this point that you must keep everyone topped off, until Anomalus becomes vulnerable again and you can keep kiting. Just repeat until he dies, and you should have your achievement. Remember, too, that Wraiths can be killed, just not the rifts.

Ormorok the Tree Shaper
This boss is an interesting devil. If at all possible, one should never stand on the ice spikes; they do a good chunk of damage when they hit underneath you, and a small chunk when you land. However, they’re not always avoidable. During the fight, Ormorok will summon little lashers who, when they hit you, will entangle you in place. You cannot shift out of this entangle. Thus, anyone who is trapped in the roots needs to have HoTs on them in case they are spiked. They won’t launch into the air, but they will take a decent chunk of damage. Otherwise, simply heal the main tank and whoever lags into the ice spikes.
EDIT: Flawlless in the comments had this to add: "Omorok, Spikes are completely avoidable, Just stand directly under him at all times, have the tank tank him in the middle of the room, you can practically stand nose-to-nose with your tank, and keep all casters and melee there too, noone will get hit by spikes." Thanks very much!

Keristrasza
The Nexus is full of bosses who hit almost every single member of the group all the time, and Keri is no different. Keep jumping and use insta-casts as much as possible to avoid the stacking cold debuff, and keep people healed during the massive frost nova (which you can shift out of). Keep the main tank up, and you should down her quickly. Stay away from her tail, also.
EDIT: Anonymous reminded me; Keri also enrages near the end of the fight, needing more healing on the tank!

Side Achievement: Intense Cold
This is perhaps the easiest achievement for any druid. Simply keep jumping or moving as much as possible, and shift out of the AoE frost nova. This is an entirely personal achievement; even if no one else in your group obtains it, you can still gain the achievement if you do not get two stacks of the debuff.