Naxxramas Loatheb 25 Man Raid Guide

Loatheb is (as you might have read in our 10 man WoW Naxx Guide) one hell of a difficult fight for disorganised raid groups. The main reason for this is that your healers only have a 3 second window for heals to take affect, please note that HoT's will no continue past the three seconds.

This is the only difficult part of the fight itself, the Wrath of the Lich King boss is pretty easy and his damage is weak, the true challenge of this fight is simply healer co-ordination, something not really tested to teh max often in World of Warcraft fights!

Loatheb has a hefty 20,200,000 hit points and low melee damage, he beserks after 12 minutes so the boss fight MUST be finished by this point!

Unlike the majority of WoW bosses, Naxx or otherwise, Loatheb creates spores which actually buff your raid very nicely, it is imperative that you learn how to use these buffs correctly to win the fight. First however, lets do a quick run down of the abilities of Loatheb in 25 man Naxxramas.

• Necrotic Aura - This is the spell which makes the fight against Naxx Boss Loatheb so damn difficult. Necrotic Aura covers the entire taid and reduces all healing done by 100% for 17 seconds, 3 seconds after it expires it is recast, so three seconds is all the healers get in this fight!
• Deathbloom - The reverse of druids 'Lifebloom' Deathbloom does 400 nature damage a seconds for five seconds followed by a final 1500 nature damage hit. Just to give priests warnings, the DoT ticks will not be absorbed by your Shield, however the final 1500 will be. This is undispellable.
• Inevitable Doom - Loatheb will begin to cast Inevitable Doom two minutes after the fight begins. After this has been cast there is a ten second pause before it inflicts 5000 Shadow damage. This is cast every 30 seconds thereafter, 5 minutes after the fight begins this will increase to every 15 seconds. This cannot be dispelled however Ice Block, Cloak of Shadows and Divine Shield will remove it!
• Fungal Creep - This is a beneficial debuff which gives 50% and removes all threat generation plus wipes all previous threat) from those affected to up to 5 players standing within 10 yards. A new spore spawns every 20 seconds and the buff lasts for 90 seconds, so careful co-ordination is required to ensure that all DPS and then healers get full use of this fantastic buff. The tank should always stay well clear of these spores so he does not lose their threat.

Naxxramas Loatheb 25 Man Strategy Guide

The Loatheb boss fight is quite simply a DPS race with some rather intensive healing needed every 20 seconds. When the healers are not healing they should be fulfilling several other roles to help ensure the smooth running of the fight.

The spores are key to a fast wipe free take down of the naxx boss Loatheb. Your DPS should be organised in to groups, with the highest DPS in the first group and then in decreasing order in the other groups. This will ensure you are taking full advantage off the crit buff, and allowing your DPS to go on all out damage, since they generate no threat.

The healing is the hardest part of this fight, two healers are normally required to top up the tank during the three second period, the other healers should focus on raid healing. Priests can cast Power Word: Shield, likewise the Paladins Sacred Shield, during the healing debuff period, this can be a lifesaver, especially if you are having trouble keeping the tank up!

It is sometimes suggested that one priest keeps up a shield on the tank while any others cast it on other raid members who may die otherwise when Inevitable Doom or the final Deathbloom damage are coming up.

For the healers this is all about timing and getting the most out of the three second healing gap. HoT's should be stacked on the raid before the gap and a raid warning should be announced 3 seconds before so that healers can begin to cast their large heal/long cast spells.

Healthstones and potions will do nothing until the healing debuff is removed, so wait until this point before you chug these!

Shadow Protection potions are useful, since they prevent damage. not heal you.

To help healers everyone but the tank should chug a potion and/or start bandaging during the three seconds. While this may not seem like much it can help save a raid group who have low healing.

Follow all these tips and before you know it your raid group will have downed the Wrath of the Lich King Boss Loatheb in the 25 man version of Naxxramas!