Loatheb Encounter Guide: Strategy, Abilities, Loot

Last updated on Sep 27, 2022 at 18:43 by Sinzhu 1 comment

Loatheb is the third and final boss of The Plague Quarter in Wrath of the Lich King Classic's version of the Naxxramas Raid and is commonly the sixth encounter of the instance as a whole. Do not forget to be aware of the various Raid Buffs and Debuffs as you work to optimize your Raid Composition for this encounter's mechanics!

1.

Overview of Loatheb in Wrath of the Lich King Classic's Naxxramas

Loatheb — coincidentally an anagram for the word "healbot" — is the third and final boss of The Plague Quarter that you will come across in Naxxramas. This encounter is noteworthy for allowing no healing to take place for the majority of the fight, instead giving players a massive empowerment to quickly defeat the boss before they themselves wither away.

2.

Role-Specific Tips for Loatheb

2.1.

DPS Tips

  • Ensure you are one of the five closest players to a Spore when it is defeated so that you can obtain the Fungal Creep IconFungal Creep debuff and maximize your damage output.
2.2.

Healer Tips

  • Coordinate with your other healers to determine who will be handling what during the four seconds where healing is allowed between casts of Necrotic Aura IconNecrotic Aura.
  • While healing effects are prevented with Necrotic Aura IconNecrotic Aura aura, absorbs are not. This means a Discipline Priest in particular will do astoundingly well on this encounter with Power Word: Shield IconPower Word: Shield.
2.3.

Tank Tips

  • While it might be tempting to stand near a dying Spore to obtain the Fungal Creep IconFungal Creep buff, remember that it will prevent you from dealing threat!
  • Due to being unhealable for the majority of this encounter, consider optimizing for more defense than you normally would.
3.

Loatheb Abilities

  • Summon Spore IconSummon Spore — Loatheb will periodically spawn Spores around the edge of the room. When these Spores are defeated they will cast Fungal Creep IconFungal Creep on the five nearest players.
    • Fungal Creep IconFungal Creep — This debuff gives a bonus 50% Critical Strike chance to all spells and abilities, but also causes them to deal no threat.
  • Necrotic Aura IconNecrotic Aura — This aura prevents all healing effects from working for 17 seconds and is cast every 21 seconds (starting around 10 seconds into the encounter). What this means is that there is only a 4-second window that healing can be provided every 21 seconds, and will require coordination to play around.
  • Deathbloom IconDeathbloom — Loatheb will apply a damage-over-time effect to all players for 6 seconds that will then erupt for additional damage when it expires.
  • Inevitable Doom IconInevitable Doom — When this ability is used the entire raid will be hit for a large amount of Shadow damage after 10 seconds. It is first cast after 90 seconds of the encounter have elapsed, with an additional cast every 30 seconds after that.
4.

Strategy for Loatheb

There is no special positioning required when fighting Loatheb. Instead, the main difficulty of this encounter will come from having to maximize the brief windows where healing is allowed. Remember, however, that absorb effects like Power Word: Shield IconPower Word: Shield and Sacred Shield IconSacred Shield will work at all times. Due to the short nature of these healing windows, it is especially important to asssign healers appropriately.

When it comes to the Spores created by Loatheb's Summon Spore IconSummon Spore, remember that they will gradually move closer to the boss on their own and do not require you to fully disengage from the boss to be killed and apply Fungal Creep IconFungal Creep. With that being said, be very careful to not let a tank receive this debuff, and generally avoid having healers receive it as well.

5.

Loatheb Loot

5.1.

10-Player

Item Type/Slot
Spaulders of the Lost Conqueror Icon Spaulders of the Lost Conqueror Tier 7 token (Shoulders)
Spaulders of the Lost Protector Icon Spaulders of the Lost Protector Tier 7 token (Shoulders)
Spaulders of the Lost Vanquisher Icon Spaulders of the Lost Vanquisher Tier 7 token (Shoulders)
Sulfur Stave Icon Sulfur Stave Staff
Loatheb's Shadow Icon Loatheb's Shadow Trinket
Fungi-Stained Coverings Icon Fungi-Stained Coverings Leather Chest
Helm of the Corrupted Mind Icon Helm of the Corrupted Mind Plate Helm
Legplates of Inescapable Death Icon Legplates of Inescapable Death Plate Legs
5.2.

25-Player

Item Type/Slot
Mantle of the Lost Conqueror Icon Mantle of the Lost Conqueror Tier 7 token (Shoulders)
Mantle of the Lost Protector Icon Mantle of the Lost Protector Tier 7 token (Shoulders)
Mantle of the Lost Vanquisher Icon Mantle of the Lost Vanquisher Tier 7 token (Shoulders)
The Hand of Nerub Icon The Hand of Nerub Off Hand Fist Weapon
The Impossible Dream Icon The Impossible Dream Main Hand Mace
Fading Glow Icon Fading Glow Wand
Boots of Impetuous Ideals Icon Boots of Impetuous Ideals Cloth Feet
Cowl of Innocent Delight Icon Cowl of Innocent Delight Cloth Helm
Vest of Vitality Icon Vest of Vitality Leather Chest
Footwraps of Vile Deceit Icon Footwraps of Vile Deceit Leather Feet
Grotesque Handgrips Icon Grotesque Handgrips Mail Gloves
Greaves of Turbulence Icon Greaves of Turbulence Plate Legs
Girdle of Unity Icon Girdle of Unity Plate Belt
6.

Further Reading

Loatheb is just one of the 15 encounters present in the Naxxramas raid. 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.

7.

Changelog

  • 27 Sep. 2022: Page added
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