Court of Stars Dungeon Guide

The Court of Stars is a unique dungeon from WoW’s Legion expansion, which has been revisited as a Mythic Plus instance in the opening season of Dragonflight. It is somewhat divisive because of its unusual complexity, involving many unusual and partly randomized gameplay systems. Depending on the party’s luck, this instance can be either surprisingly easy or extremely difficult. It also requires careful planning to get through efficiently due to being set in a wide open cityscape. Read our guide to learn how to properly use its numerous opportunities and complete the objective in time.

Dungeon Overview and Special Mechanics

Court of Stars is set in Suramar on the Broken Isles. While there are only three fully-fledged boss encounters, the instance features several mini-bosses and a variety of special challenges that can be completed for achievements or to simplify progress. Most of it plays out on one map, except for the RP minigame section that leads to the last encounter and takes place inside the Jeweled Estate - a lavish building with both upstairs and downstairs sections. The main map features many possible routes for players to take and a large number of foes in all directions. However, detours can prove costly for anyone seeking to beat the timer. This guide describes the most efficient route players can take to clear this instance while killing enough enemies to fulfill the objective.

Court of Stars is distinguished by its large amount of character-specific mechanics. Throughout the map, players might find various objects or other opportunities that can give their party a buff or some other advantage. Each opportunity is normally available only to characters belonging to specific classes, races, or professions. Heroes who die in the final fight can pick up buffs that would usually be unavailable to any of their current teammates (for example, a Paladin-specific buff could then be acquired by anyone assuming there is no Paladin in the party). One opportunity is always present, while five others are randomly selected for each run. Here are things players should look for:

• Flask of the Solemn Night: Rogues or Alchemists could poison it to assassinate the starting boss when he drinks it when down to around one-quarter health, allowing such cunning heroes to sidestep the hardest stage of his encounter. This is the opportunity that always shows up;
• Arcane Power Conduit: Gnomes, Goblins, and Engineers can sabotage it to stun Guardian Constructs at regular intervals and nerf their offensive capability;
• Bazaar Goods: Rogues, Warriors, and Leatherworkers can interact with this pile to lure out one of the mini-bosses that would otherwise appear in the second encounter. Killing the mini-boss early removes the need to fight them in the subsequent showdown with their leader. Those mini-bosses may also be lured out by killing Evokers or with one of the next three opportunities. All three mini-bosses can be fought early by relying on such methods;
• Lifesized Nightborne Statue: Like Bazaar Goods, but for Jewelers or Miners;
• Wounded Nightborne Civilian: Like Bazaar Goods, but for Tailors, First Aid specialists, or any Healer specialization heroes;
• Discarded Junk: Like Bazaar Goods, but for Hunters and Blacksmiths. However, this method also places a trap. If the summoned mini-boss moves over the marked spot, they lose one-tenth of their health and are rendered more vulnerable to attacks for half a minute;
• Fel Orb: Demon Hunters, Paladins, Priests and Warlocks could blow it up to give the party a Critical Strike chance buff;
• Infernal Tome: Demon Hunters, Paladins, and Priests can burn it to lower the harm taken by the party from all sources;
• Magical Lantern: Mages, Enchanters, Evokers, and Elves of any kind could reroute its power to raise the party’s damage output;
• Nightshade Refreshments: Cooks, Herbalists, and Pandaren can feed them to their allies, raising the party’s maximum health;
• Starlight Rose Brew: Death Knights and Monks can offer it to their allies, increasing everyone’s health and mana regeneration speed by 3% and 2% respectively;
• Umbral Bloom: Druids and Herbalists can hasten their party with these spores;
• Waterlogged Scroll: Shamans, Skinners, and Scribes can invoke its blessing to boost their group’s movement speed by 35%.

Selected opportunities always spawn in their unique fixed spots. They are not always worth a detour, but if they appear nearby, they can save the party a lot of time. Items that grant profession skill bonuses, like the Gnomish Army Knife, can let characters without the right profession meet the relevant requirements. As of this writing, partywide buffs are all 10% except for the regeneration and movement bonuses.

Mobs before Patrol Captain Gerdo

After accessing the dungeon and getting on the boat, the party will arrive at the dock in the south of the instance. From there, they will need to make their way to the northwestern square to confront Patrol Captain Gerdo, their closest major opponent. Along the way, heroes will find six Sentry Beacons, though most of them are clustered nearer to the boss’ location. Each Beacon that remains active when the heroes engage the Captain will allow him to call in extra allies during the encounter. Make sure to sabotage each one, keeping him from getting any help.

There are several types of enemies encountered repeatedly during this maneuver, beginning with Duskwatch Guards who hit and stun targets in a small cone that can be easily sidestepped by watchful players. They can also give themselves a Haste and damage reduction buff. This effect could be interrupted or dispelled. Duskwatch Sentries may be more troublesome. They throw torches to set targets on fire, but more dangerously, they might raise an alarm by running towards the nearest Sentry Beacon, summoning additional foes that do not count towards the objective. Keeping this from happening is a top priority whenever Sentries are encountered. Fortunately, they can be stunned to disrupt the attempt.

Duskwatch Arcanists are another problematic mob. Seal Magic lets them attack and silence all nearby heroes, while Nightfall Orb summons a sphere that bounces to hit up to two additional victims after its initial target. The numerous Mana Wyrms explode on dying, but are fairly easy to sidestep. Mana Sabers jump at randomly-chosen heroes and cause serious damage over time on top of the initial hit, so they are somewhat trickier, if still flimsy. Bound Energy has a frontal blast that heroes can disrupt with counterspells. Guardian Constructs can stop a random hero from attacking or casting spells with their attack. Their Charging Station ability heals and damage buffs all of their allies (but not the caster).

The solitary Guard by the dock is not worth fighting, so the party ought to try sneaking around him instead. They should initiate first combat with the Construct standing on the bridge and the two packs directly east, making sure to disrupt Charging Station (a priority both now and in later encounters with this mob). Heading downstairs, the heroes will find three packs. Ambitious players can take on all of them at once, while others may prefer to deal with the Arcanist and her retinue separately. Stopping the Nightfall Orb is essential here. Going up the western stairs will allow the heroes to pick up cheap objective progress by killing the Wyrms in addition to the nearest Construct.

A Sentry and a Guard with another group of Wyrms are next, opening the way to the northern bridge. There is one more Sentry nearby that might be avoided in the next fight, which would be slightly more efficient. If she does get pulled in, it should make little difference so long as the alarm is stopped. The bridge itself is guarded by another Sentry, a Guard, and a Saber, while on the far side the heroes will find a Construct, a Guard, and a Bound Energy. After defeating all those foes, disabling the remaining Sentry Beacons, and possibly tampering with the Flask of the Solemn Night, the heroes will be all set to face the first boss. The nearest Wyrms and Guard can be cleaved down with him without too much trouble.

Patrol Captain Gerdo Boss Fight Tips

Gerdo’s Resonant Slash strikes in two large cones at once, one aimed at the tank and the other going in the opposite direction. Every hero hit by either cone suffers heavy damage and gets stunned for 4 seconds. His Streetsweeper hits everyone in a line after a 3-second delay. It is usually aimed at the farthest hero in the group. Arcane Lockdown gives each adventurer three stacks of a debuff that eats away at their health and slows down their movement. Jumping removes one stack. If at least one Sentry Beacon remains, Gerdo can also summon Vigilant Duskwatchers, who will attempt to stun the heroes. At quarter-health, the boss will go for the Flask of the Solemn Night, which gives him a major Haste and damage increase unless it has been poisoned.

Obviously, heroes should try and deny the boss his reinforcements and his last-stand buff. Apart from that, there are a few tricks that can be used to outlast his attacks:

• The tank can aim the Resonant Slashaway from the party, keeping in mind that it goes both forward and backward. Everyone else should be prepared to scramble. It may prove safer to stand near the Captain since the cones are thinner there;
• Ranged adventurers can try aiming the Streetsweeper away from the others by standing as far back as they can;
• Arcane Lockdown should be shaken off as fast as possible since it makes it harder to avoid the other attacks. Everyone who has it should jump immediately. Note that other kinds of movement will not remove stacks;
• The healer should dispel Arcane Lockdown from whoever seems most vulnerable (probably a spellcaster, but it depends on current health and positioning as well);
• For the same reason, if the reinforcements have not been prevented, prevent or dispel any stuns they inflict. Also, try to kill them quickly. The tank can lure them towards the boss for efficient cleaving;
• If the Flask of the Solemn Night is left untouched, prepare for a tougher fight in the end. Save key defensive, offensive, and healing cooldowns for when it activates to ensure that everyone can survive the onslaught and finish the boss quickly.

Mobs before Talixae Flamewreath

To confront the next boss, the party will need to get into the Midnight Court. They should keep going east, smashing the lone Construct on the stairs along the way. After passing through the building, the heroes will emerge in a large open courtyard full of varied patrolling enemies, many of whom ahve nasty surprises up their sleeves. For example, Blazing Imps are frail but numerous and their channeled spell bombards heroes with fire at random, with damage that can add up quickly if enough Imps are involved. Ideally, they should be allowed to start casting before being hit by mass interruptions or stuns. Legion Hounds pounce at random victims, leaving a hazard in their wake that might be hard to avoid.

In addition to their standard ranged attack, Watchful Inquisitors can channel a firestrom that burns heroes at random. Unlike the imps’ similar ability, this one hits harder and may not be interrupted, so timely healing will be critical. Shadow Mistresses can debuff their enemies’ Haste and movement. However, their more dangerous ability is an attack that reduces received healing, which is particularly troublesome in combination with other mobs’ abilities and should be interrupted. Felbound Enforcers can cause massive immediate and continuous damage to all heroes within 60 yards. Fortunately, this ability can be stopped by blocking line of sight. Enforcers are also notable in that killing one causes a mini-boss from Talixae’s retinue to attack the party.

Mini-bosses always respond to killed Enforcers or other mechanics that draw them out in a fixed order: Imacu’tya, Baalgar the Watchful, Jazshariu. Fighting them is relatively straightforward, but there are a few tricks to remember:
Imacu’tya’s Scream of Pain harms all adventurers and disrupts their spellcasting. Casters should time their abilities around it or risk getting locked up. Healers must be prepared to assist their allies immediately afterwards. Her Whirling Blades inflict severe immediate and continuous damage to everyone in the mini-boss’ immediate vicinity. Fortunately, adventurers can just step out of the short radius when the ability is used and then resume attacking;
Baalgar channels a Disintegration Beam that harms the target and places a stacking damage debuff on top of one slowing effect. Unlike in earlier versions, this ability can be interrupted, and so heroes should take turns doing just that. He also marks two random heroes with Impending Doom, which hurts them continuously before blowing up on everyone when removed. The healer should dispel one and then heal the party so they are ready for when the other debuff expires;
Jazshariu jumps on enemies with Crushing Leap, hitting and knocking back everyone near impact, then follows up with the Shockwave frontal cone attack and stun aimed at the tank. Both abilties can be dodged, but the latter requires some careful prior positioning.

Prior to provoking any mini-bosses, the players ought to work on their forces count. Imps are good for that so long as proper precautions are observed. The heroes should attack the packs of Imps they encounter while securing the area in front of the arena, together with tougher mobs that stand nearby. Constructs and nearby mobs are best avoided. Once the Imps are cleared away, the first mini-boss should be summoned, preferably using one of the character-specific opportunities. Eventually, though, the heroes will likely need to start attacking Enforcers together with the closest mobs. Make sure to kill the Enforcer only when you are ready to fight the mini-boss, leaving no other dangerous opponents in the fight by the time it arrives.

Talixae Flamewreath Boss Fight Tips

The boss only has a few abilities, but all of them hit hard. Infernal Eruption explodes simultaneously underneath each hero, leaving behind a fiery hazard and an Infernal Imp on every blasted spot. The Imps are basically identical to previously encountered Imps and will hit heroes in no particular order with their channeling and basic spells. Withering Soul is a stacking debuff targeting all adventurers and lowering their maximum health and moving speed. Burning Intensity regularly inflicts unavoidable partywide harm, growing in power with each stack of this effect the boss receives.

If the mini-bosses survive to take part in this encounter, each of them buffs Talixae and the others, vastly increasing their health and damage. Taking them out in advance is practically necessary. Other than that, the key to the fight is beating the boss before the attacks become overwhelming:

• Have the tank position Talixae near the column in the middle to avoid drawing in patrols;
• Interrupt or else dispel Withering Soul at every opportunity;
• When Infernal Eruption occurs, heroes should stack together while taking care to avoid the initial explosion. Doing so contains the hazard and also helps with the next tip;
• Imps must be removed from play as fast as feasible. The tank can herd them near the boss for cleaving attacks. Spare crowd control abilities should go towards disrupting their channeling;
• Healers will have their hands full topping up the party, especially around Burning Intensity casts. Strong cooldowns can be saved for this source of harm.

Jeweled Estate Minigame and Mini-Boss

After beating Talixae, the heroes will be free to infiltrate the building behind the previous encounter’s platform, aided by Lyleth Lunastre at the entrance who will provide them with a disguise spell. The building features no combat except towards the end. Instead, the party must identify and confront a randomly-assigned spy among the guests. Unless one hero is a Paladin wielding Truthguard, that must be done by speaking to Chatty Rumormongers - five NPCs with speech bubbles found both upstairs and downstairs. Players can split up to talk with them. Each will give a physical descriptor. When put together, they will allow the adventurers to pinpoint the spy, a disguised Dreadlord.

Confronting the incorrect person causes the adventurer to be ejected to the courtyard and stunned for 20 seconds. They will need to reapply the disguise before going back in. Nonetheless, doing so once can be desirable, since it will result in a shorter cutscene before the final encounter. Once the real spy has been confronted, the party will fight another mini-boss: Gerenth the Vile. He will fire a Shadow Bolt Volley at all nearby heroes, hit the tank with painful Vampiric Claws that heal the Dreadlord for a portion of the damage caused, and deploy a Hypnosis Bat that will turn a random adventurer against the party unless its casting is interrupted. Mitigating the effect of claws with harm reduction abilities and stopping the bat is key to winning the fight.

Advisor Melandrus Boss Fight Tips

With the key dropped by the penutltimate opponent, the heroes should gain access to the Advisor’s room downstairs. The fight will commence after a cutscene. Casting Blade Surge, Melandrus leaps to the most distant adventurer’s location, stabbing and bleeding adventurers near the target and leaving an Image clone where he stood before. Up to five such Images can exists at a time, and all of them will copy his other powers whenever he uses them. Slicing Maelstrom is a channelled ability that harms the entire party continuously for a few seconds, with extra damage for those near the channelers, while Piercing Gale strikes everyone in lines going forwards and backwards from all casters.

This is definitely the hardest fight in this adventure, but with the right tactics, it can become more manageable:

• Make sure to save Bloodlust and similar effects for this encounter;
• The hero with the longest range must direct the boss’ repositioning during Blade Surge and the subsequent clone deployments. Specifically, they should try and position all the Images in the same two spots to minimize their impact. Other heroes should stick close to the boss whenever they can, except for when Slicing Maelstrom is being played;
• Tracking the boss and the clones at all times is necessary to ensure that one does not end up in the most dangerous parts of the arena whenever abilities are activated;
• Healing and defensive abilities should be deployed to mitigate Slicing Maelstrom.