DREAMBREATH

Cooldowns and saves

A save is a button you hold for a moment you can see coming. In these runs they go out later than most guides suggest, and with far more variation.

Press Obsidian Scales on the tank, not on yourself

Obsidian Scales reduces your damage taken by 30% for 12 seconds on a 1.5 minute cooldown. Lifecinders changes what it is: with that talent it also lands on your target, or on a nearby injured ally, at half value. That makes it an external for most of the people reading this page rather than a personal defensive. Lifecinders is in 87% of recorded builds overall, 87% at +10 to +14 and not measured at +18 and up. The higher the key, the more certainly it is an external.

6 abilities are genuine saves

Each figure is the earliest press of that ability in the 30 seconds before a damage spike, measured one spike at a time.

Log-verifiedn=1335 runs with cast data
Every save lands after the ramp. Ramp abilities are 36.2% of everything recorded in the window and 46.5% of what you actually press; the saves together are 11,281 casts, 3.2% and 4.1%. Build first, then defend.
This is the one ordering statement on the page that survives the method. Each ability's median is drawn from a different set of ramps, so the medians cannot be laid end to end as a sequence. What they can do is separate into two groups, and they do: the 7 ramp abilities sit between 17.1s and 21.0s before the spike, and the latest save median is 14.4s. No save overlaps the ramp band at all.

Read each row on its own. These are not steps, and you cannot press them down the column: every row is timed against a different set of pulls, so putting them in order would invent a sequence nobody used. Casts counts every press. Ramps counts how many spikes it turned up for, which is lower because pressing something twice before one spike still only counts once. The middle half is the range the middle 50% of those presses fell in.

The five save abilities, with how often each was pressed before a damage spike and how far ahead of the spike it went out.
AbilityCastsRuns it appeared inRampsMedian before spikeMiddle half
Tip the Scales3,87193% (1238 of 1335)3,87113.2s6.0s to 21.0s
Obsidian Scales3,12486% (1150 of 1335)2,97914.4s6.6s to 22.4s
Time Dilation2,48577% (1034 of 1335)2,45612.9s6.2s to 20.9s
Zephyr1,01150% (665 of 1335)1,01112.4s5.1s to 22.8s
Rewind77945% (599 of 1335)77914.2s5.6s to 22.2s
Dream Flight110% (4 of 1335)117.4s3.3s to 15.3s

Obsidian Scales

Renewing Blaze is a passive in 12.1 that adds a heal over 8 seconds equal to the damage Obsidian Scales prevented, so it is not a button of its own. Lifecinders shares the whole thing with your target or one nearby injured ally at 50% value. Target the tank before you press it, and do not press it early just because it is up, because with Lifecinders you are spending an external somebody else may need.

Do not read the 14.4s median as a cue. The middle half runs from 6.6s to 22.4s, which is most of the window we looked in. Players press Obsidian Scales when something specific is about to land, and that lands anywhere.

Tip the Scales

It makes your next empowered spell cast instantly at its maximum empower level. Instant, 2 minute cooldown. Maximum is rank III unless you have Font of Magic, which 1% of recorded builds take, and then it is rank IV.

Point it at Dream Breath. That is reasoning rather than measurement: the logs do not record which empowered spell followed each Tip the Scales. The reasoning is that Dream Breath's total healing does not change with empower rank, so what you buy is the 2.5 second cast time rather than a bigger heal. Icy Veins takes the other view and says Tip the Scales gains most of its value through Chronowarden.

The timing supports the cast-time reading. Tip the Scales goes out at a median 13.2s, about 6 seconds after Dream Breath's median of 19.3s. It is being used to rescue a ramp that started late rather than to open one. Its middle half is 6.0s to 21.0s, so it is not a fixed step either.

Time Dilation: put it on the tank and press it late

Time Dilation defers 50% of the damage a target takes over an 8 second window, on a 1 minute cooldown. It does not remove the damage, it spreads it out, so the moment you press it is the whole decision. Eight seconds is short.

Log-verifiedn=1335 runs with cast data
Half of every Time Dilation goes out inside the last 12.9s before the spike, and a quarter inside the last 6.2s. It is the clearest timing signal on this page: 2,485 casts across 77% (1034 of 1335) of the runs with cast data.
An 8 second window pressed a median 12.9s out only reaches the spike because the press is already close to it. Every ramp ability is out by 17.1s or earlier, so this is not a setup step sharing that band. It is an answer to an incoming hit, and it is being used as one.

So 301 logged runs never pressed it near a spike at all. If you are casting it at the top of your ramp, the window is closed before the spike arrives.

Put it on the player the spike is aimed at. The logs do not record who it was aimed at, so nothing here can confirm that for you. What it does say is that most autoattack damage lands on the tank.

Zephyr is for area damage only

Zephyr cuts area-of-effect damage by 20% for 8 seconds on you and your 4 nearest allies within 20 yards, adds 30% movement speed, and lifts all of you into the air. Three things follow from that. It does nothing for the tank's melee intake. Your party has to be stacked. And the lift is a real cost in the middle of a mechanic you were standing still for.

It was pressed 1,011 times, in 50% (665 of 1335) of the runs with cast data. The talent itself is in 99% of recorded builds, one of 42 talents taken in 95% or more of them, so almost everyone brings it and fewer than half press it near a spike. That explains the low usage rather than condemning it. A cooldown that only answers area damage does not apply on most pulls, so 50% (665 of 1335) may be correct play.

The closest thing the logs record to an area-damage flag is the biggest non-melee source in each spike window, which in Kings' Rest names Arc Lightning on The Council of Tribes, Serpentine Gust on The Golden Serpent, Forked Lightning on Guard Captain Atu and Shadow Barrage on Shadow of Zul. Those are the shapes to hold it for.

Zephyr goes out at a median 12.4s before the spike, with a middle half of 5.1s to 22.8s. Half of every recorded Zephyr lands in the final 12.4s. Hold it until the damage is about to arrive.

Rewind answers damage you have already taken

Rewind reverses 30% of the damage the party took in the last 5 seconds, on a 4 minute cooldown. A 5 second lookback means it can only ever answer a hit that already landed, so press it in the 5 seconds after the party eats something. There is nothing to plan into a setup here.

It is the thinnest usage of any save: 779 casts in 45% (599 of 1335) of the runs with cast data. On a 4 minute cooldown that is one or two presses in a key, so that coverage is not an error rate.

Its recorded median of 14.2s before a spike, is an artifact of how casts are filed. Every press is attributed to the spike that follows it, so a Rewind answering one hit is counted against the next one. Its upper quartile of 22.2s also sits near the 30 second collection boundary, so earlier presses were cut off entirely. Do not read that number as a plan.

Temporal Barrier is not a save

Temporal Barrier is Chronowarden's version of Temporal Anomaly: the same 7.5% of base mana, the same 1.5 second cast, the same 15 second cooldown, an absorb that applies Echo at 30% effectiveness to your target and up to 4 allies within 40 yards. Applying Echo is the ramp, so it is a ramp button.

Its raw count looks alarming: 842 casts in only 46 of the 1335 runs with cast data, which is 18 presses per run it appears in. On a 15 second cooldown that is ordinary use, and it appears in so few runs because so few of the runs with cast data are Chronowarden. Its timing agrees with the classification: a median 19.6s before the spike, at the early end of the ramp band and earlier than every genuine save. Do not read the raw cast count as enthusiasm.

Rescue

Rescue is filed as utility rather than as a save, so it does not appear in the table above. It is in the logs: 433 casts across 25% (336 of 1335) of the runs with cast data, at a median 17.9s before the spike with a middle half of 9.9s to 23.9s. That is the setup band, not the last few seconds. In these logs Rescue goes out while the ramp is being built rather than as a reaction, which is worth knowing if you have been holding it as an emergency button.

Stasis: you store it far more often than you release it

Stasis duplicates your next 3 helpful spells and stores them. The 30 second reactivation clock starts when the third spell goes in, not when you cast Stasis, so you can hold a part-filled bank indefinitely.

Stasis was stored 3,991 times across 91% (1211 of 1335) of the runs with cast data, and released 1,972 times across 71% (945 of 1335). Stores outnumber releases by about 2.0 to one inside spike windows.

Be careful with that gap. The window is only the 30 seconds before a spike, so a release that lands 45 seconds later, or on a pull that never spiked, is not counted at all. The gap is suggestive. It is not proof that charges go to waste.

The two timings are worth more than the gap. Stores go out at a median 13.0s before the spike, middle half 6.3s to 20.9s. Releases go out at 12.8s, middle half 5.2s to 21.3s. They land at almost the same point in a ramp. A release is not a panic button people fire as the hit arrives; it goes into a setup the same way the store did.

Decide what the release is for before you fill the third slot. That press starts a 30 second clock.

What goes in the bank

This part of the page is much thinner than the rest of it, and it is worth saying so plainly before the table rather than after. Stasis contents were resolved on 73 pulls, 8447 uses in total, and every one of them comes from Altar of Fangs, Den of Nalorakk, Kings' Rest, Murder Row, Ruby Life Pools, Temple of Sethraliss, The Blinding Vale and Voidscar Arena. No pull behind the table has more than 163 runs in it. Read the whole section as one player's habit in one dungeon rather than as a measurement of the spec. It is here because it is the only direct evidence of what anyone banks, not because it is enough evidence.

Dream Breath is in 73 of the 73 recorded banks. The most common bank is Dream Breath + Temporal Anomaly + Emerald Blossom, on 54 of them.

Every row is one or two runs. Hold times run from 14s to 44s: the short ones are the 30 second release clock, and the long ones are a third slot left unfilled for minutes while somebody carried a part-built bank to a boss.

What Stasis held going into each pull, how long it was held, and how many runs are behind each row.
PullDungeonRunsHeldBanked
Ritual ChieftainAltar of Fangs14214sDream Breath + Temporal Anomaly + Emerald Blossom
Twinfang HarrowerAltar of Fangs16320sDream Breath + Temporal Anomaly + Emerald Blossom
Rav'iAltar of Fangs15020sDream Breath + Temporal Anomaly + Emerald Blossom
Rattling WritheAltar of Fangs15516sDream Breath + Temporal Anomaly + Emerald Blossom
The Writhing CoilAltar of Fangs12033sDream Breath + Temporal Anomaly + Emerald Blossom
Blade of the AltarAltar of Fangs8629sDream Breath + Temporal Anomaly + Emerald Blossom
Ascendant SerpentAltar of Fangs12222sDream Breath + Temporal Anomaly + Emerald Blossom
Zul'janAltar of Fangs15623sDream Breath + Temporal Anomaly + Emerald Blossom
Spirit of HungerDen of Nalorakk12726sDream Breath + Temporal Anomaly + Emerald Blossom
The HoardmongerDen of Nalorakk13122sDream Breath + Temporal Anomaly + Emerald Blossom
Thornclaw GathererDen of Nalorakk4726sDream Breath + Temporal Anomaly + Emerald Blossom
Territorial MatriarchDen of Nalorakk9130sDream Breath + Temporal Anomaly + Emerald Blossom
Avatar of DeterminationDen of Nalorakk10822sDream Breath + Temporal Anomaly + Emerald Blossom
Sentinel of WinterDen of Nalorakk12126sDream Breath + Temporal Anomaly
Grizzled WarbringerDen of Nalorakk10520sDream Breath + Temporal Anomaly + Emerald Blossom
Loa Speaker NaneaDen of Nalorakk8419sDream Breath + Temporal Anomaly
NalorakkDen of Nalorakk12021sDream Breath + Temporal Anomaly + Emerald Blossom
Animated GuardianKings' Rest12420sDream Breath + Temporal Anomaly + Emerald Blossom
Shadow-Borne ChampionKings' Rest8024sDream Breath + Temporal Anomaly + Emerald Blossom
The Golden SerpentKings' Rest14421sDream Breath + Temporal Anomaly + Emerald Blossom
Guard Captain AtuKings' Rest3840sDream Breath + Temporal Anomaly
King A'akulKings' Rest6723sDream Breath + Temporal Anomaly
King TimaljiKings' Rest2344sDream Breath + Temporal Anomaly
Queen PatlaaKings' Rest2929sDream Breath + Emerald Blossom + Emerald Blossom
Purification ConstructKings' Rest11120sDream Breath + Temporal Anomaly + Emerald Blossom
Interment ConstructKings' Rest5234sDream Breath + Temporal Anomaly
Mchimba the EmbalmerKings' Rest10731sDream Breath + Temporal Anomaly + Emerald Blossom
Royal BerserkerKings' Rest5823sDream Breath + Temporal Anomaly + Emerald Blossom
Ghostly BruteKings' Rest10924sDream Breath + Temporal Anomaly + Emerald Blossom
The Council of TribesKings' Rest14024sDream Breath + Temporal Anomaly
Shadow of ZulKings' Rest8021sDream Breath + Emerald Blossom + Emerald Blossom
King DazarKings' Rest16220sDream Breath + Temporal Anomaly + Emerald Blossom
Bribed CaptainMurder Row9126sDream Breath + Temporal Anomaly + Emerald Blossom
Bribed GuardMurder Row9433sDream Breath + Temporal Anomaly + Emerald Blossom
Massive FelwyrmMurder Row9420sDream Breath + Temporal Anomaly
Kystia ManaheartMurder Row15320sDream Breath + Temporal Anomaly + Emerald Blossom
Keen TaskmasterMurder Row6920sDream Breath + Temporal Anomaly
Zaen BladesorrowMurder Row13920sDream Breath + Temporal Anomaly + Emerald Blossom
Felmaster LucseiMurder Row11626sDream Breath + Temporal Anomaly + Emerald Blossom
Shivan PunisherMurder Row8725sDream Breath + Temporal Anomaly + Emerald Blossom
Xathuux the AnnihilatorMurder Row15322sDream Breath + Temporal Anomaly + Emerald Blossom
Defiled GolemMurder Row14619sDream Breath + Temporal Anomaly + Emerald Blossom
Lithiel CinderfuryMurder Row16220sDream Breath + Temporal Anomaly + Emerald Blossom
Defier DragharRuby Life Pools13023sDream Breath + Temporal Anomaly + Emerald Blossom
Melidrussa ChillwornRuby Life Pools13526sDream Breath + Temporal Anomaly + Emerald Blossom
FlamegulletRuby Life Pools13425sDream Breath + Temporal Anomaly + Emerald Blossom
Blazebound DestroyerRuby Life Pools10027sDream Breath + Temporal Anomaly + Emerald Blossom
Kokia BlazehoofRuby Life Pools13524sDream Breath + Temporal Anomaly + Emerald Blossom
High Channeler RyvatiRuby Life Pools14523sDream Breath + Temporal Anomaly + Emerald Blossom
Kyrakka and Erkhart StormveinRuby Life Pools14619sDream Breath + Temporal Anomaly
Sandfury StonefistTemple of Sethraliss14018sDream Breath + Temporal Anomaly + Emerald Blossom
Adderis and AspixTemple of Sethraliss11629sDream Breath + Temporal Anomaly
Sand-Sworn RiderTemple of Sethraliss14122sDream Breath + Temporal Anomaly + Emerald Blossom
MerekthaTemple of Sethraliss12126sDream Breath + Temporal Anomaly + Emerald Blossom
Agitated NimbusTemple of Sethraliss14221sDream Breath + Emerald Blossom + Emerald Blossom
GalvazztTemple of Sethraliss14221sDream Breath + Temporal Anomaly + Emerald Blossom
Orb WatcherTemple of Sethraliss12321sDream Breath + Emerald Blossom + Emerald Blossom
Avatar of SethralissTemple of Sethraliss15014sDream Breath + Echo + Verdant Embrace
Virid GrovekeeperThe Blinding Vale5821sDream Breath + Temporal Anomaly + Emerald Blossom
Lightblossom TrinityThe Blinding Vale12927sDream Breath + Temporal Anomaly + Emerald Blossom
Sporeblight BelcherThe Blinding Vale14624sDream Breath + Emerald Blossom + Emerald Blossom
Ikuzz the Light HunterThe Blinding Vale13420sDream Breath + Emerald Blossom + Emerald Blossom
Lightwarden RuiaThe Blinding Vale13522sDream Breath + Temporal Anomaly + Emerald Blossom
Potatoad MatriarchThe Blinding Vale9219sDream Breath + Temporal Anomaly + Emerald Blossom
ZiekettThe Blinding Vale15018sDream Breath + Temporal Anomaly + Emerald Blossom
Voidtouched MagiVoidscar Arena6724sDream Breath + Temporal Anomaly + Emerald Blossom
Raj'kess the SpellstormVoidscar Arena5822sDream Breath + Temporal Anomaly
BrutokVoidscar Arena14121sDream Breath + Temporal Anomaly + Emerald Blossom
Taz'RahVoidscar Arena14619sDream Breath + Temporal Anomaly + Emerald Blossom
Watchful HarrowerVoidscar Arena8622sDream Breath + Temporal Anomaly + Emerald Blossom
AtroxusVoidscar Arena15119sDream Breath + Temporal Anomaly + Emerald Blossom
Devouring BrutalizerVoidscar Arena14518sDream Breath + Temporal Anomaly + Emerald Blossom
CharonusVoidscar Arena15317sDream Breath + Temporal Anomaly + Emerald Blossom

Treat the contents column as a rough guide. We worked out what went into each bank by taking the next three spells cast after the store, but Stasis only takes helpful ones, so Hover and a trinket ended up on the list. Those are stripped back out, which means a row with fewer than three spells is one we could not fully recover rather than a bank that went out half empty.

How these numbers were measured

Runs come from Warcraft Logs. Preservation Evoker only, Mythic+ only.

Only one report counts per key. Two players in the same group each upload the same run, so the raw data holds that key twice. 0 of 1336 logged rows are a second copy of this kind, and only one of each pair is counted. That is where 1336 comes from.

Runs whose event stream was cut short are excluded, because their totals would be low by an amount nobody can measure. None have hit that yet.

A pull is listed only if it appears in at least 60 percent of that dungeon's runs. What you see is the dungeon's spine, not one group's exact route. If your group skips a pack listed here, or takes one that is not, nothing is wrong.

An ability is called part of the ramp only if it appears in at least 60 percent of the runs with ramp casts for that pull. One player's habit on one key does not reach the page.

Casts are only collected from the 30 seconds before a damage spike. That is a setting, not a finding, so nothing here can tell you whether a ramp starts earlier than that. Where you see a window, it is the window we looked in.

Ramps are worked out one run at a time and then compared, rather than by taking each ability's average timing separately. Doing it the second way produced ramps of six casts inside four seconds, which is faster than the game allows anyone to press buttons.

Damage figures are the whole party added together. Nothing here records who took the damage, and most autoattack damage lands on the tank. Use these numbers to compare one pull against another. They are not an amount you have to heal.