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Frostwrym Lair
The Frozen Heart of Naxxramas, unlocked by completing the first four quarters. Two bosses.

* Sapphiron
* Kel’Thuzad

Sapphiron
Sapphiron is the penultimate boss of Naxxramas. He is accessible from the blue teleporter in the hub after the defeat of the first 13 bosses, and guards the gateway to Kel’Thuzad’s inner sanctum.

25-man abilities

• Sapphiron has approximately 13,000,000 hit points.
• The Wrath of the Lich King version of Sapphiron is no longer immune, but still highly resistant to frost spells.
• There is a 15-minute enrage timer.

Phase one

• Sapphiron is a standard dragon and will both cleave and tailslap. Note that due to his massive hitbox the area for melee to hit him safely is quite small and located near his hind legs. Sapphiron hits very hard compared to other bosses in the instance. ~12,000 on plate with cleaves for ~15,000.
• Frost Aura:

After Sapphiron is engaged everyone in the entire room will be hit for 1600 Frost damage every 2 seconds until Sapphiron is slain. After 15 minutes of combat, this will increase to 9600 Frost Damage every 2 seconds.

• Life Drain:

This is a curse that drains 4,500 to 5,500 health as Shadow damage and heals Sapphiron for 9,000 to 11,000 every 3 seconds for 12 seconds. Afflicts 5 random players every 24 seconds.

• Chill:

Chill is an ice storm that drifts around the room at all times after Sapphiron is engaged. There will often be multiple ice storms up. It will deal 5,550 to 6,450 Frost damage every 2 seconds to everyone within it and slow their movement speed by 50% for 10 seconds. The animation of Chill is considerably more obvious and intense than Mage Blizzard.

Phase two

Every 45 seconds Sapphiron will take to the air, everyone within his hitbox will be sent flying against the wall of Sapphiron’s lair by his beating wings.

• Ice Bolt:

Sapphiron will cast this on three players per air phase. Encases the target in a solid block of ice which blocks line of sight, stunning the target until the ice block is shattered and dealing 6,300 to 7,700 Frost damage to the target and nearby players within 10 yards.

• Frost Breath:

After casting three Ice Bolts Sapphiron will emote, “Sapphiron takes in a deep breath…” and begin a seven second Frost Breath cast. At the end of the cast everyone in the entire room within line of sight of Sapphiron will be hit for 112,500 to 187,500 Frost damage. To avoid this, just hide behind the ice blocks. Following this Sapphiron will land and once again commence phase one. This is not a threat wipe.

10-man abilities

• Sapphiron has approximately 4,250,000 hit points.
• The Wrath of the Lich King version of Sapphiron is no longer immune, but still highly resistant to frost spells.
• There is a 15-minute enrage timer.

Phase one

• Sapphiron is a standard dragon and will both cleave and tailslap. Note that due to his massive hitbox the area for melee to hit him safely is quite small and located near his hind legs.
• Frost Aura:

After Sapphiron is engaged everyone in the entire room will be hit for 1,200 Frost damage every 2 seconds until Sapphiron is slain. After 15 minutes of combat this will increase to 7,200 Frost Damage every 2 seconds.

• Life Drain:

This is a curse that drains 2188 to 2812 health as Shadow damage and heals Sapphiron for 4,376 to 5,624 every 3 seconds. Afflicts 2 random players every 24 seconds.

• Chill:

Chill is an ice storm that drifts around the room at all times after Sapphiron is engaged. There will often be multiple ice storms up. It will deal 3,500 to 4,500 Frost damage every 2 seconds to everyone within it and slow their movement speed by 50% for 10 seconds. The animation of Chill is considerably more obvious and intense than Mage Blizzard.

Phase two

Every 45 seconds, Sapphiron will take to the air and everyone within his hitbox will be sent flying against the wall of Sapphiron’s lair by his beating wings.

• Ice Bolt:

Sapphiron will cast this on two players per air phase. Encases the target in a solid block of ice which blocks line of sight, stunning the target until the ice block is shattered and dealing 2625 to 3375 Frost damage to the target and much more (approx 15k without Frost Resistance) to nearby players within 5 yards.

• Frost Breath:

After casting two Ice Bolts Sapphiron will emote, “Sapphiron takes in a deep breath…” and begin a seven second Frost Breath cast. At the end of the cast everyone in the entire room within line of sight of Sapphiron will be hit for 112,500 to 187,500 Frost damage. To avoid this, just hide behind the ice blocks. Following this Sapphiron will land and once again commence phase one. This is not a threat wipe.

Note that once Sapphiron goes below 10% health, he will not fly back up into the air. This is almost certainly to prevent any error with a corpse in the air that may be unlootable. However, he will life drain below 10% health, and if you have him at 10% health, its likely you’ll kill him anyway.

25-man strategy

The first time you engage Sapphiron there will be a short entrance animation in which Sapphiron will come together from bones on the ground. In subsequent attempts he can be engaged without watching him form. This encounter is considerably easier with 300 Frost Resistance but by no means impossible without. You will want more healers to go the second route. You will need one tank.

The tank should engage Sapphiron and point him towards the door to Kel’Thuzad’s chamber. Healers and DPS should spread out on one side of Sapphiron. Do not have people on both sides or they may be unable to reach the ice blocks in time during Frost Breath. Melee should stack up near Sapphiron’s hind leg and be ready to move out should an ice storm drift towards them. Decursers and healers will need to be in a position to reach everyone in the raid. Missed curses not only may kill a player but will also heal Sapphiron a considerable amount. Be aware of the massive hitbox of Sapphiron’s cleave. It is advisable to simply heal the tank through Chill should it be on him. Moving Sapphiron is very dangerous. Everyone else should take great care to avoid being hit by Chill as the slow effect may prevent you from escaping and Chill hits quite hard.

After Sapphiron takes to the air, everyone (including the tank) should spread out around the first player to be Ice Bolted. It is important not to immediately stack on top of the Ice Block as the second Ice Bolt’s AoE will then hit multiple players causing a lot of unnecessary damage. It is also quite possible a Chill will drift over the first block meaning the raid should run behind the second. As soon as Sapphiron casts his last (third) Ice Bolt the entire raid must get behind one of the Ice Blocks and ensure they are out of line of sight of Sapphiron for his deep breath. As soon as the ice blocks are shattered the tank must run and pick up and reposition Sapphiron as he will land immediately and phases one & two repeat again until Sapphiron is dead.

NOTE: As mentioned above, it is recommended to have at least 300 frost resist for the 25-man version of Sapphiron. Keep in mind that Sapphiron’s frost aura is hitting for more damage and is hitting even more players, giving frost aura a huge boost to total damage done. A player’s aura or totem only gives 130 frost resistance which equals roughly 23.5% frost damage reduction. This means, Sapphiron’s frost aura will be hitting the raid for 30,604 damage every second. A player with 300 frost resist, which is easily obtainable at level 80 (All armor crafting professions make 3 bind on equip pieces of frost resist gear), reduces Sapphiron’s frost aura damage by 54.2% which equals to 18,316 damage every second, making this fight “considerably easier” for the healers. It is also recommended that the tank should not use frost resist gear, unless he or she can do so while remaining at 540 defense.

Chill kiting

Chill is possibly the most dangerous ability in the Sapphiron fight because it can easily wipe the raid in the event that one or both ice blocks are caught in it and it spawns with some deal of randomness. Chill Kiting can limit the damage caused by Chill, allowing healers to conserve their mana.

Using the tactics above, the ranged group will also be responsible for coordinating the Chill Kiting which can require some coordination between the tank, melee group, and ranged group. As Chill approaches the ranged group they should attempt to keep the Chill blizzard to their left shoulder while maintaining DPS and heals. They should start DPS from the back side of Sapphiron and slowly move towards the head as the Chill blizzard follows them.

As the ranged group approaches the head, the tank should slowly rotate Sapphiron a quarter of the way around, putting the ranged group back towards the back quarter of Sapphiron.

When Sapphiron enters Phase 2, the ranged, melee and tank should converge and make their way around the room, counter clockwise (keeping their distance to avoid AoE from the Ice Bolt), until they are a sufficient distance from the Chill blizzard or until the first Raid member is Ice Blocked. At that point, they should wait for the second member to be Ice Blocked and run behind either one (whichever is the safest distance from the Chill blizzard).

When Sapphiron lands, the Chill Kiting continues from the beginning and follows the same procedures until Sapphiron is downed.

Note: Chill has a 10 second duration and may spawn at another random location in the raid, which could be on top of one of your ice blocks, but in most cases Chill Kiting will save all, if not a few seconds, of healing required due to Chill, which can mean a big difference in your end result.

Kel’Thuzad
The Last Boss in Nax! Kel’Thuzad, once a sorcerer of the Kirin Tor of Dalaran, is the chief lieutenant of the powerful Lich King. He rules over the Dragonblight from his citadel of Naxxramas. He was originally voiced by Michael McConnohie but the current voice actor is unknown. He is the final boss of the re-tuned raid dungeon Naxxramas in Wrath of the Lich King.

25-man abilities

Phase one

Kel’Thuzad begins the encounter invulnerable, and you need to kill adds which come from the seven alcoves of the room. This includes the entrance.

• Soldier of the Frozen Wastes – casts Dark Blast when it touches an enemy unit causing 3063 to 3937 Shadow damage to the raid, killing the Soldier itself. Dark Blast is not partially resistible. Surprisingly, these are shackleable. Slow move speed. 4,400 hit points. 71 will attack through phase one, though more may be pulled.

• Unstoppable Abomination – periodically applies Mortal Wound to its target, which also applies a stacking -10% healing-received debuff. It will randomly choose one melee-range target, so multiple tanks work best for this mob. They spawn progressively faster as phase 2 approaches, so they must be killed as fast as possible to avoid having multiple abominations up when Kel’Thuzad becomes active. Normal run speed. 208,000 hit points. Eight will attack through phase one, though more may be pulled accidentally, or on purpose for achievements. Hits for ~7,000 on plate, ~12,000 mortal wound.

• Soul Weaver – casts Wail of Souls which inflicts Shadow damage and knocks back. 6375-8625 Shadow damage, knocks back 30 yards, hits 3 players. It will only do this attack when it is near its primary aggro target. Slow move speed. 151,000 hit points. Eight will attack through phase one though more may be pulled.

Phase two

Kel’Thuzad becomes active 3 minutes and 48 seconds after you engage him. Kel’Thuzad has approximately 14,660,000 hit points. He is tauntable.

Frost Bolt single

Two-second cast. Inflicts 29,250 to 30,750 Frost damage and reduces movement speed of primary aggro target for 4 seconds; must be interrupted. Frost Bolt is cast at random intervals and is often chain-cast; having multiple Rogues and Warriors meleeing Kel’Thuzad at all times is ideal. This spell cannot be reflected via Warrior Spell Reflection.

Frost Bolt multiple

An instant cast that inflicts 7200 to 8800 Frost damage and reduces the targets’ movement speed for 4 sec. Hits everyone in the room and cannot be interrupted. Used every 20-30 secs. Fully resistible.

Chains of Kel’Thuzad

Kel’Thuzad can mind control 3 people at once. Size increased by 200%. Charmed. Damage increased by 200%. Healing increased by 500%. They will buff and heal Kel’Thuzad. Can be CC’d by any ability that would normally work on humanoids. With the Ulduar patch this ability will no longer reset raid threat. Unlike Kel’Thuzad 40, this will not mind control the main tank. This ability lasts 20 seconds and cannot be removed by any means. This spell has a 90-second cooldown.

Chains of Kel’Thuzad are a specially crafted set of seven magical, spiked chains, given to him by Ner’zhul. The owner must wrap this artifact around his body to activate it, at which point the chains animate and move lazily to and fro in the air when not being commanded.^{MoM 174}

Mana Detonation

A debuff randomly applied to a mana-using player. The player will explode after 5 seconds, dealing Arcane damage based on maximum mana to all players within 10 yards (not to himself). Mana-based melee will only deal ~10,000 damage, while holy Paladins and Priests can cause ~25,000 damage or more. It will also drain ~2,000 mana from the affected player. This spell has a 30-second cooldown.

Shadow Fissure

Summons a very noticeable red fissure around the targeted player which does 62500-137500 Shadow damage after 5 seconds as Void Blast. Easily avoidable by running out of the fissure.

Frost Blast

Places an Ice Block effect on the targeted player and all players within 10 yards, rendering them unable to perform any action. This effect will continue to chain to anyone within 10 yards of anyone affected, as with C’thun’s Eye Beam. It will deal 104% of their maximum HP in damage over 4 seconds. If those affected are not healed within 4 seconds, they will die. Unlike 10-man, this ability can target the main tank. This spell has a 45-second cooldown.

Phase three

At 45% health, phase three will begin as Kel’Thuzad calls for aid and the Lich King sends four Nerubian Crypt Lords known as the Guardians of Icecrown to attack the raid.

• Guardian of Icecrown – These have as much HP as Kel’Thuzad (each) with the ability: Blood Tap, which is a self buff that does +15% all damage, + 10% size, and can stack up to 99 times. The Guardians will flee when Kel’Thuzad dies. Immune to CC. The Guardians stack Blood Tap every ~15 seconds, and it hits their aggro target for ~4,500. They hit for ~4,000 on plate to start but this increases rapidly over time.

10-man abilities

Phase one

Kel’Thuzad is invulnerable, and you need to kill adds which come from the seven alcoves, including the entrance.

• Soldier of the Frozen Wastes – Casts Dark Blast when it touches an enemy unit causing 3063 to 3937 Shadow damage to the raid and will kill the Soldier itself. Dark Blast is not partially resistible. Surprisingly, these are able to be shackled. Slow move speed. 1,600 hit points. 71 will attack through phase one, though more may be pulled accidentally.

• Unstoppable Abomination – Periodically applies Mortal Wound, a stacking “-10% healing received” debuff to its target. It will randomly choose one melee range target, so multiple tanks work best for this mob. They spawn progressively faster as phase 2 approaches, they must be killed as fast as possible to avoid having multiple abominations up when Kel’Thuzad becomes active. ~75,000 hit points. Normal run speed. Eight will attack through phase one, though more may be pulled accidentally or intentionally for achievements. Hits for ~4,000 on plate, mortal wounds for 6,000.

• Soul Weaver – Wail of Souls Inflicts 6375–8625 Shadow damage and does a 30-yard knock-back that hits 3 players. It will only do this attack when it is near its primary aggro target. ~55,000 hit points. Slow movement speed. Eight will attack through phase one, though more may be pulled.

Phase two

Phase two begins 3 minutes and 48 seconds after you engage Kel’Thuzad. He becomes active, and has approximately 5,660,000 hit points. He is tauntable.

• Frost Bolt single is a 2-second cast. Inflicts 10063–12937 Frost damage to primary aggro target and reduces its movement speed for 4 sec. This spell is not reflectable via Warrior Spell Reflection.

• Frost Bolt multiple inflicts 4500–5500 Frost damage and reduces the targets’ movement speed for 4 sec. Hits everyone in the room and cannot be interrupted – it is instant cast. Used every 20-30 secs. Fully resistible.

• Mana Detonation is a debuff randomly applied to a mana-using player. The player will explode after 5 seconds, dealing Arcane damage based on maximum mana to all players within 10 yards (not to himself). Mana-based melee will only deal ~10,000 damage, while holy Paladins and Priests can cause ~25,000 damage or more. It will also drain ~2,000 mana from the affected player. This spell has a 30-second cooldown.

• Shadow Fissure summons a very noticeable red fissure around the targeted player which does 62500–137500 Shadow damage after 5 seconds as Void Blast. Easily avoidable by running out of the fissure.

• Frost Blast places an Ice-Block effect on the targeted player, and all players within 10 yards, rendering them unable to perform any action. This effect will continue to chain to anyone within 10 yards of anyone affected as with C’thun’s Eye Beam. It will deal 104% of their maximum HP in damage over 4 seconds. If those affected are not healed within 4 seconds they will die. Unlike 25-man this ability cannot target the main tank. Instant casts, such as the priest’s Prayer of Mending or even Power Word: Shield may be more successful than fast heals such as the Priest’s Flash Heal, the Paladin’s Flash of Light, the Druid’s Regrowth, or the Shaman’s Lesser Healing Wave, depending on the server lag and individual healer’s latency. Party heals, such as Circle of Healing or Chain Heal may be more successful, as long as they proc on the player within the Ice Block. For people having trouble keeping melee alive, try to group two melee together and have each group stay 10 yds away from the tank. This way only two melee will be affected at the same time, and it’s much easier (and more healer friendly) to keep them alive, instead of healing through three Frost Blasts. This spell has a 45-second cooldown.

Phase three

At 45% health, Phase Three will begin as Kel’Thuzad calls for aid and the Lich King sends two Nerubian Crypt Lords known as the Guardians of Icecrown to attack the raid.

• Guardian of Icecrown – These have as much HP as Kel’Thuzad (combined) with the ability Blood Tap, which is a self buff that does +15% all damage, + 10% size, and can stack up to 99 times. The Guardians will flee when Kel’Thuzad dies. Immune to CC. The Guardians stack Blood Tap every ~15 seconds and it hits their aggro target for ~3,000. They hit for ~2,000 on plate to start but this increases rapidly over time.

25-man strategy

You will need one main tank and two to three Guardian-of-Icecrown offtanks for this encounter. It is worth noting that none of the abilities in this encounter can be removed by PvP trinkets or Ice Block/Divine Shield/Cloak of Shadows.

During phase one, the raid will stack in the centre of Kel’Thuzad’s room. Melee will engage and kill Unstoppable Abominations while ranged will kill Soldiers of the Frozen Wastes and Soul Weavers before they reach the raid. 15 seconds after Kel’Thuzad’s aggro emote, he will become active; it is essential that the entire raid spread out efficiently around the room before this occurs in order to mitigate the effects of the Mana Detonation and Frost Blast abilities. Mana Detonation will come approximately every 20 to 25 seconds, Shadow Fissure approximately every 15 to 20 seconds, Chains of Kel’Thuzad every 90 to 120 seconds, and Frost Blast every 45 to 60 seconds.

For phase two, the main tank should drag Kel’Thuzad to the center of the room, and melee classes should stack in the three cardinal points around Kel’Thuzad’s hitbox not occupied by the main tank (a bit more than 10 yards from each other). It is critical that they be at max range and spread out so that Frost Blast will only hit as few as possible. This is a diamond-shaped formation. If this positioning is not perfected, multiple melee will be frozen by Frost Blast which tends to result in the death of most of them. If it chains to the tank, it usually results in a wipe.

An interrupt rotation on Kel’Thuzad’s Frost Bolt should be established to reduce damage taken by the tank (30k damage per bolt without resistance). If/when Shadow Fissure is cast on the tank, the melee MUST reposition with the tank. The ranged DPS and healers should spread out in a circle around Kel’Thuzad with a space left for mana-based melee to run to should they be afflicted by Mana Detonation. Melee will need to move for Shadow Fissure but should move back to their original position afterward. The Guardian-of-Icecrown offtanks don’t need to do anything until phase 3 begins and can stay in the alcoves where the adds spawned in phase one to avoid spreading Frost Blast.

Usually at least once before phase 3 begins, Kel’Thuzad will cast Chains of Kel’Thuzad. All DPS must stop until the tank has reestablished threat on Kel’Thuzad. Interrupts need to continue. It is important that Mages polymorph and other classes CC the affected players very quickly as they will do extremely high damage (two-shotting raid members) and cast extremely large heals on Kel’Thuzad. It is also possible for Kel’Thuzad to be Bloodlusted and Hand of Protectioned, as well as any other buffs you can think of. When Chains of Kel’Thuzad ends, the affected players should return to their positions.

At 45% HP, the Lich King will send four Guardians of Icecrown to attack the raid. These appear one at a time. The Guardian offtanks will need to pick up the rest and offtank them in the alcoves for the rest of the encounter. All of Kel’Thuzad’s phase-2 abilities continue in this phase. Note that it is possible and probable that one of your Guardian offtanks will be mind controlled at some point, so it is advisable that the Guardians are tanked relatively close together so that the other offtanks can taunt the Guardians when they become loose. Guardians hit very hard and their melee hits will increase the longer you take to kill Kel’thuzad.

It is advisable to save DPS cooldowns and Bloodlust for phase 3 as the Guardians will become untankable if you take too long to finish the encounter.

10-man strategy

The 10-man version of Kel’Thuzad is significantly easier than the 25-man and should be manageable if your group can kill Sapphiron. Since the Guardians do not hit very hard on 10-man and Kel’Thuzad cannot target the main tank with Frost Blast, the main tank can pick up both Guardians and tank them along with Kel’Thuzad, eliminating the possibility of the offtank being Frost Blasted while tanking Guardians, which can often result in death.

(Pre-Patch) Kel’Thuzad’s abilities in a 10-man consist of single-target Frost Bolts (which can be interrupted), raid-wide Frost Bolts (which must be healed through; the slowing effect can be dispelled), Mana Detonation (positional), and Shadow Fissure (instant death if in the area of effect after 5 seconds).

Healers must keep the raid topped off, and heal the Frost-Bolted target immediately.

Optimally, designate one healer for the tank, healer(s) to watch for Frost Blast, and AoE/chain heals for the raid-wide Frost Bolts. The healer assigned to heal the multiple Frost Bolt should stand near the center of the raid to have access to the entire raid. Healers should also be ready to heal each other in case of Frost Blasts, and to fill in for each other as needed. Once the adds are picked up, this encounter is effectively a DPS race, because the guardians get bigger and bigger, and hit harder, until eventually your tank will die or your healers run out of mana.

While not as big a problem as on 25-man, restrict your melee DPS to three, including the tank. This allows them to form a triangle around Kel’Thuzad, which prevents frost bolts chaining onto the tank. The tank may have difficulty seeing the fissures once the Guardians grow to a certain size. To deal with this, try to move every time they form. This will not be an issue if your group has enough DPS to kill Kel’Thuzad before the Guardians get too big.

Kel’Thuzad’s can chain cast his single-target Frost Bolt on a tank for 10-12k each. Any form of melee interruption is greatly helpful here, including a Shield Bash, Rogue Kick, or Death Knight Mind Freeze/Strangulate.

Kel’Thuzad has a 19-minute enrage timer (from the beginning of the fight), at which point his Frost Bolts begin hitting for approximately 30k and he hits for 20k melee on plate.

Source: WowWiki, MMO-Champion, Wowhead