Kel'Thuzad Encounter Guide: Strategy, Abilities, Loot

Kel'Thuzad, the Archlich of Naxxramas, Commander of the Dread Necropolis, Master and Founder of the Cult of the Damned, formerly of the Council of Six, Creator of the Abomination, Summoner of Archimonde the Defiler, Betrayer of Humanity, and majordomo to The Lich King himself, is the final encounter of Naxxramas, and will require great patience to defeat. This is due to a mandatory gauntlet of enemies that must be endured before Kel'Thuzad himself will decide to engage you directly. Of course, even if you defeat him, a lich always finds a way...

• Help stun and defeat the Unstoppable Abominations during Phase One.
• Avoid making contact with any Soldier of the Frozen Wastes or Soul Weaver adds.
• Do not stack with too many other players to reduce the risk of splashing Frost Blast onto others.
• Help kick Frostbolt.
• You can help control players affected by Chains of Kel'Thuzad with stuns or other crowd control effects.

• Be prepared to heal the active tank if a Frostbolt is not interrupted in time, alongside healing the raid after every AoE Frostbolt volley.
• Avoid stacking tightly with other healers in case of a splashing Frost Blast.
• Provide immediate healing to the victims of Frost Blast.

• Focus on getting the attention of any Unstoppable Abominations that spawn during Phase One.
• Once in Phase Two, move Kel'Thuzad to the center of the room and avoid stacking with any DPS or healers in case of Frost Blast splashing.
• When the Guardian of Icecrown adds appear, have one tank get their attention while the other remains with Kel'Thuzad.

• Phase One, Minions of the Cold Dark
  • Soldier of the Frozen Wastes — These footsoldiers will slowly approach players and trigger a Dark Blast upon contact, detonating in a massive explosion of Shadow damage. Defeat them from a distance.
  • Soul Weaver — These banshees will cast Wail of Souls if they reach their target, knocking back multiple players and dealing a large amount of Shadow damage.
  • Unstoppable Abomination — This enemy is meant to be tanked. It applies Mortal Wound, reducing the target's healing received by 10% and stacking. Upon reaching low health, these Abominations will also Frenzy and deal increased Physical damage.
• Phase Two, Kel'Thuzad Strikes
  • Frostbolt — One of two Frostbolt mechanics; this instant-cast version will hit the entire raid at the same time.
  • Frostbolt — One of two Frostbolt mechanics; this version has a 2-second cast time that will deal tremendous Frost damage to the tank if not interrupted.
  • Shadow Fissure — Kel'Thuzad will create a fissure underneath a player's feet. If they do not leave the area in time, they will be hit by a Void Blast and surely perish.
  • Detonate Mana — Kel'Thuzad will apply a 5-second debuff to a random player that uses Mana as a resource. After this debuff expires the player will lose a portion of their Mana, causing a Mana Detonation of Shadow damage to anyone within 10 yards.
  • Frost Blast — A random player will be targeted, along with anyone else within 10 yards of the victim. These players will be stunned and suffer 100% of their maximum health in Frost damage over the course of 5 seconds.
  • Chains of Kel'Thuzad — Up to two players will be charmed for 20 seconds, gaining increased maximum health and damage. However, they may be stunned or crowd controlled by other players until the mind control expires.
• Phase Three, Guardians of Ice Crown
  • During this Phase, Kel'Thuzad continues to use all abilities from Phase Two, while also summoning a number of Guardian of Icecrown adds depending on the difficulty of the encounter.
  • Blood Tap — Periodically used by Guardian of Icecrown, this ability buffs the damage and size of these adds, stacking.

Kel'Thuzad's encounter is a long endurance battle against the lich, beginning with first fighting off his armies of the damned. This will begin upon stepping foot into the central circle of the room, with the entrance being sealed off by more adds. During this time, stay in the center of the room and defeat the various Soldier of the Frozen Wastes adds, Soul Weavers, and Unstoppable Abominations. After nearly four minutes, Kel'Thuzad will become active.

Once Kel'Thuzad is active, have your tank drag him to the center of the room and spread your melee into multiple small clumps around the boss that are all at least 10 yards away from eachother. Ranged DPS and healers can simply spread themselves out from a distance. During this phase, you will need to interrupt the single-target Frostbolt, move out of any Shadow Fissures, get at least 10 yards away from other players if given the Detonate Mana debuff, and be ready to stun or crowd control victims of Chains of Kel'Thuzad. If you have positioned appropriately, then only the melee are ever going to be in danger of splashing many of these mechanics onto eachother. In particular, be very mindful of the Frost Blast mechanic, and make sure any players that have been stunned receive healing or they will die.

Upon reaching 45% health, Kel'Thuzad will cry out to The Lich King for help, and be bestowed with a number of Guardian of Icecrown adds. These additional forces should be grabbed by another tank and otherwise ignored as you work to defeat Kel'Thuzad before the Guardians' Blood Tap buff becomes too great. This Phase will otherwise play out identically to Phase Two when Kel'Thuzad originally began to directly fight.

Item	Type/Slot
Helm of the Lost Conqueror	Tier 7 token (Helm)
Helm of the Lost Protector	Tier 7 token (Helm)
Helm of the Lost Vanquisher	Tier 7 token (Helm)
Kel'Thuzad's Reach	Main Hand Fist Weapon
Death's Bite	Two-Hand Axe
Nerubian Conquerer	Gun
Anarchy	One-hand Dagger
Staff of the Plaguehound	Staff
Hammer of the Astral Plane	Main Hand Mace
The Soulblade	Main Hand Dagger
Wand of the Archlich	Wand
Cloak of the Dying	Cape
Gem of Imprisoned Vassals	Neck

Item	Type/Slot
Crown of the Lost Conqueror	Tier 7 token (Helm)
Crown of the Lost Protector	Tier 7 token (Helm)
Crown of the Lost Vanquisher	Tier 7 token (Helm)
Calamity's Grasp	Main Hand Fist Weapon
Betrayer of Humanity	Two-Hand Axe
Envoy of Mortality	Gun
Sinister Revenge	One-Hand Dagger
Journey's End	Staff
Torch of Holy Fire	Main Hand Mace
The Turning Tide	Main Hand Sword
Wall of Terror	Shield
Voice of Reason	Shield
Last Laugh	One-Hand Axe
Drape of the Deadly Foe	Cape
Cape of the Unworthy Wizard	Cape
Signet of Manifested Pain	Ring
Boundless Ambition	Neck
Leggings of Mortal Arrogance	Cloth Legs

Kel'Thuzad is just one of the 15 encounters present in the Naxxramas raid of Wrath of the Lich King Classic. If you would like to learn more about the others, or would like to see the loot tables of every boss at the same time, please see our other pages for the raid below.