WoW Classic Naxxramas Guide

            With the return of Naxxramas to classic WoW, we know that veterans are more than intrigued at the opportunity to take on one of the most difficult raids ever constructed. Not to mention to get your hands on some of the best rewards ever offered in the game. Players who purchase their WoW classic accounts may not be prepared for the challenges of Naxxramas.  Do you think you might be a little rusty?  A few tips will definitely give you an edge that you are going to need. Or did you forget the part where we said this one of the hardest raids of all time?

            A simple warning to start. Naxxramas is not meant to be attempted without a full level group with a 2 to 2.5 equipment rating. Anything less than that will simply not be able to survive. Additionally, you are going to need equipment with some specific resistances. Nature and Frost are going to be the most essential to your survival of the raid, with a less but still important emphasis on shadow and fire resistance. Set yourself up with these considerations in mind and you stand a fighting chance in this raid.  If you choose to sell a WoW classic account that is fully prepared for Naxx, it will fetch a good price since acquiring the proper resist gear is not easy.

            Naxxramas is designed like a giant wheel, with players entering in the center and getting to choose the order in which they progress. There are four initial wings, with four different bosses and themes. The wings do range in difficulty, so we will break them down in order from easiest to most difficult. We will also mostly cover the main boss since that is the fight that will require the most strategy on your part.

            The first wing your group should start with is the abomination wing. This wing is heavy with physical damage, thanks to all the abominations, and a healthy dose of nature damage from some slimes. The boss of this realm is Blizzard’s Frankenstein homage, Thaddius. Thaddius has two phases. The first phase has the party facing off against a pair of wights. Each wight has a unique ability that deals AoE damage, with one of them specifically being able to mana drain, so divide the group based on their need for mana. Kill them quickly, they can resurrect one another, and this will begin phase 2. Phase two requires planning on the part of the party, as Thaddius will debuff the entire party as either “positive” or “negative” charge. This debuff will do high damage to party members of the opposite charge and buff players of the same charge within ten yards so you need to organize spots for players before the start of phase 2. Your charge will also change mid-fight so keep an eye on that or you’ll kill your teammates. Stay focused on avoiding damaging each other and you’ll come out victorious.

            The second wing you should attempt is the plague wing, guarded by various diseased enemies and the powerful fungal monster Loatheb. Loatheb is deceivingly simple, as the key to beating him is surviving his massive amounts of DPS long enough to defeat him. Your healers should be focused on counter-acting Loatheb’s damage dealing aura and poison AoE, which means individual players need to focus on healing the other damage caused by spores and Impending Doom. You’ll need a lot of consumables prepared for this fight. Secondary groups will also be necessary to get rid of all the spores Loatheb constantly spawns the entire fight before they overwhelm the party. This is a tough fight but if you are vigilant and well-stocked you’ll make it out.

            Next is the spider wing and the beast of a boss, Maexxna. Two key points to the strategy of beating this big spider, timing, and positing. One main tank should be pulling Maexxna with the rest of the party positioned behind the boss with the wall to their back. This will not only make it easy to kill the spiders spawned by the boss but make sure that the knockback doesn’t push any party members outside of the healers’ range. Maexxna will cast their web stray ability every 40 seconds and much of the party’s attention will have to focus on not letting this ability kill other party members instantly and getting them unwebbed/uncocooned ASAP before the long term damage or spawned spiders kill them. Get the hang of the timing on this fight and you should make it through.

            The last of the original four wings is the deathknight wing and the Four Horsemen boss, an extremely challenging fight. The primary ability of the Four Horsemen is their ability to stack marks that inflict unavoidable shadow damage. The party’s tanks need to separate the Horsemen right away or their combined damage will overwhelm the party. Once the Horsemen are in separate corners, the tanks need to hold their attention but keep rotating between the four of them or stacked marks will kill the tank. The coordination on this one is essential and unforgiving, but if you stick to it you can beat these four, just don’t expect it to be easy.

            Once the four original wings are cleared out, it will open the way to the final and fifth wing. Only one thing stands between you and the final boss of Naxxramas and that is the undead frost wyrm Sapphiron. Sapphiron is truly an awesome fight. A battle that will require two very important things to overcome. The first is a lot of frost resistance. As much as you have access to, you are going to need it. The second is a lot of healers. Make sure to take advantage of the ice blocks to avoid Sapphiron’s damage or you won’t last long.

            You’ve made it to Kel’Thuzard, the hardest boss of the hardest raid in the history of WoW, arguably. Survive his first phase by gathering in the middle and avoiding the very possible party wipe caused by the undead soldiers he spawns. The 2nd phase is when Kel’Thuzard spawns and the party needs to be on top of their interrupt game of this boss can wipe you easily with a few different chain abilities. Spacing is also essential for this reason, space the party well or he will kill off tons of players at once. The last phase is the same as the 2nd except Kel’Thuzard will summon guardians, powerful minions that will require tank attention and divert them from Kel’Thuzard making this section even trickier than phase 2. Stick with the strategies and make sure to shackle the guardians and you should be able to finish off the necromancer.

            Follow these tips and you will be well on your way to conquering one of the hardest raids that the Blizzard team has ever conceived.