Naralex the Sleeping Seer: how to beat

Naralex the Sleeping Seer — dungeon “Howling Caverns”, level 20. The deck: phases, turn cycle, damage and healing by mode, cold, test strike, role tips.

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Dungeon Howling Caverns, boss 5 of 6, level 20.

The boss plays its own deck: every turn it plays the next line of its phase’s cycle, with no randomness. Learn the cycle and you know what is coming. The numbers on this page are the same as in the card tooltip in combat: before Hardiness and Defender’s Stance. Mechanics in detail — Boss mechanics.

In short

Modes: Heroic (at level 60), Normal (at the place’s level, 15–21), Keystone +10 (Mythic+, at level 60).
3 phases, 5 cards in the deck. Schools: 🌿 Nature 2, ⚔ Physical 2, 🩸 Blood 1.
“The Stove Burnt Out” cold: every enemy turn, everyone through shields — heroic 1,200, keystone +10 1,000 to each before Hardiness. No cold in normal mode.
“I Told You” test strike — on boss turns 9 and 17: heroic 7,000, keystone +10 8,000; 40% weaker with a defensive card on yourself.
The heaviest hit is “I Told You”: heroic 7,000, keystone +10 8,000.

Phases and turn cycle

The phase changes with the boss’s Health. In each phase the boss goes round its own cycle: at the end it starts again. The boss’s next turn shows on its portrait.

1. “Dozing” — from the start of the fight

Down to 66%: a shout every 4 turns.

Cycle step	What the boss plays
1	🌿 Muttering
2	🌿 Muttering
3	🌿 Muttering
4	🌿 Keep It Down!

2. “Tossing and Turning” — below 66% Health

From 66% to 33%: a shout every 3 turns.

Cycle step	What the boss plays
1	⚔ Crooked Stick
2	🌿 Muttering
3	🌿 Keep It Down!

3. “Got Up” — below 33% Health

Below 33%: up, a shout every other turn.

On entering the phase the boss plays at once: 🩸 Got Up.

Cycle step	What the boss plays
1	⚔ Crooked Stick
2	🌿 Keep It Down!

The “I Told You” test strike is not part of the cycle: the boss announces it on its turns 8 and 16 and hits on turns 9 and 17.

Cards and numbers

The number is what a hit takes before Hardiness (through shields — from Health only), how much the boss heals itself, the shield it puts up, a minion’s Health. A dash means the card is not in that mode or has no number. Keystone: +10 numbers; hits are the same from +7 to +9 and weaker per level below +7.

Card	What it does	Heroic	Normal	Keystone +10	How to answer
⚔ I Told You · Physical, test strike	A test strike on whoever holds the boss’s attention (usually the tank). The boss announces it on its own, outside the cycle, and hits on its 9th and 17th turn; one turn before, there is a countdown on the portrait and a warning above your hand. The target plays a defensive card on themselves before the hit — it is 40% weaker. Not in normal mode. Through shields.	7,000 · with a defensive card 4,200	—	8,000 · with a defensive card 4,800	Test strike, one turn of warning. The tank plays a defensive card, the healer tops him up in advance.
🌿 Muttering · Nature, hit on everyone	A hit on everyone: the number is for each. Shields hold half.	194	30	246	Small hits on everyone half through shields. Party healing.
🌿 Keep It Down! · Nature, charge	A charge: in 1 turn it hits everyone, the number is for each. Shields hold half, ignores 50% of Hardiness.	710	110	902	One turn of warning. Raise everyone's Health.
⚔ Crooked Stick · Physical, hit	A hit on whoever holds the boss’s attention (usually the tank).	2,150	500	4,100	A plain hit.
🩸 Got Up · Blood, boss empower	The boss’s hits ×1.15 until the fight ends.	—	—	—	Stronger by 15% until the fight ends. From here on pace decides.

“The Stove Burnt Out” cold

He kept meaning to get up and add more. He has been meaning to for a hundred years.

Heroic: 1,200 to each per enemy turn, before Hardiness.
Keystone +10: 1,000 to each per enemy turn, before Hardiness.
Hits every fighter in the party through shields; Hardiness reduces it — better gear takes less.
The answer is healing every turn: shields do not stop cold. Healer cards do it best — they heal Health only.
No cold in normal mode.

Test strike

“I Told You” — on boss turns 9 and 17, through shields, on whoever holds the boss’s attention (usually the tank). On heroic, while the party’s tank is alive, it goes to the tank. Not in normal mode.
Heroic: 7,000 before Hardiness; 4,200 if the target answered with a defensive card.
Keystone +10: 8,000 before Hardiness; 4,800 if the target answered with a defensive card.
One turn before the hit there is a countdown on the portrait and a warning above your hand. The target plays a defensive card on themselves: a self-shield, damage reduction or “cannot be killed”. A card someone else plays on the target does not count.

Enrage

Heroic: from party turn 40, every boss turn is 4% stronger, and it stacks.
Normal: as before — if the fight drags on past its expected length, the boss hits harder every turn.
Keystone +10: as before — if the fight drags on past its expected length, the boss hits harder every turn.

Roles

Tank

The “I Told You” test strike lands on the boss’s 9th and 17th turn (heroic and keystone +10). One turn before, play a defensive card on yourself — a self-shield, damage reduction or “cannot be killed”: the hit becomes 40% weaker. Keep such a card in hand for those turns.
Shields do not stop this hit: the healer tops up your Health before it.
“Crooked Stick” hits you. Keep Taunt on rhythm: while the boss hits the tank, the rest stay whole. The heaviest is “Crooked Stick” (“Tossing and Turning” phase, cycle step 1).
Do not fall: on heroic, mythic and in keystones, without a living tank the boss’s hits on its focus go through shields. A resident can be the tank too.

Healer

“The Stove Burnt Out” cold hits everyone through shields every enemy turn: heroic — 1,200, keystone +10 — 1,000 to each before Hardiness. Heal everyone every turn; healer cards do it best — they heal Health only.
“Keep It Down!” and “Muttering” hit everyone. Before such turns, get everyone above half Health; they all go half through shields: shields hold half, the rest hits Health.
“Got Up”: the boss hits harder — keep crystals and heals in reserve for those turns.

Damage dealers

Do not drag it out: heroic — enrage from turn 40.

The heaviest hits

“I Told You” — test strike, through shields.
“Crooked Stick” — on the tank; “Tossing and Turning” phase, cycle step 1.
“Keep It Down!” — on everyone, half through shields, ignores 50% of Hardiness; “Dozing” phase, cycle step 4.

Loot

All of the boss’s loot with rough drop chances is in the item atlas; rules and items by boss are on the Howling Caverns page.

Previous boss — Fangor the Scaled. Next boss — Mutanus the Devourer.

All bosses of the place — Howling Caverns. Rules of a fight against a boss with a deck — How to beat: every boss.