Sapphiron Encounter Guide: Strategy, Abilities, Loot

Sapphiron is the first boss of the Upper Necropolis wing of Naxxramas, accessible after you have defeated every boss in the four Quarters of the raid. He is particularly notable as the boss that players must defeat in order to acquire the means of entering The Eye of Eternity Raid, though this dragon will definitely not just be handing over the key.

• As Sapphiron is a Dragon, the usual rule for fighting dragons applies for DPS: do not stand directly in front of or behind the boss. However, in an emergency, you can run directly through the boss to reach one side from the other.

• Be ready to dispel Life Drain as soon as it is applied to players.
• While Frost Aura's damage is predictable throughout the entire encounter, do not underestimate the amount of healing strain it will add over time.

• Position yourself so that any DPS players can safely hit Sapphiron from the side

• Grounded
  • Frost Aura — A powerful chill pervades Sapphiron's lair, dealing Frost damage to all players for the duration of the encounter.
  • Tail Sweep — Sapphiron is still a dragon, which means he will often attack players directly behind him with this ability.
  • Cleave — Sapphiron will frequently cleave with his attacks, damaging anyone standing near his active target.
  • Life Drain — Sapphiron will occasionally Curse players, damaging them while healing himself; this debuff can be dispelled.
  • Summon Blizzard — A moving, more powerful version of a Mage's own Blizzard spell will appear and begin moving around the room. Avoid being caught by this ice storm.
• Airborne
  • Icebolt — While in the sky, Sapphiron will target a few players with this ability. Players that are hit by this ability and survive will be frozen in a block of ice for the remainder of this phase.
  • Frost Breath — Just before landing, Sapphiron will breathe extreme Frost damage throughout the whole arena. Players can only avoid this deadly breath by standing behind the ice block of a player who was frozen earlier by Icebolt.

The encounter with Sapphiron will begin with the boss slowly reforming as you enter the room, before immediately engaging the raid upon being restored. At this time, have your tank keep him relatively close to the center of the encounter space, while making sure to not face Sapphiron's head or tail toward the DPS or healers.

With this initial positioning established, the remainder of the ground phase will consist of rapidly dispelling any Life Drain debuffs that are applied to players and avoiding the moving ground effects from Summon Blizzard. It is wise to stay slightly spread so that an unfortunate Blizzard does not require too many members of the raid to move at once, all the while healing through the ever-present Frost Aura.

After approximately 45 seconds have passed, Sapphiron will take to the air, freezing a number of players with Icebolt. As soon as these targets have been identified, be prepared to move to their location so that you will be able to easily avoid the lethal Frost Breath cast before Sapphiron lands. At this point, the fight will repeat until Sapphiron is defeated.

Item	Type/Slot
Key to the Focusing Iris	Quest Item (access to The Eye of Eternity)
Cloak of Mastery	Cape
Shroud of the Citadel	Cape
Circle of Death	Ring
Circle of Life	Ring
Cowl of Winged Fear	Cloth Helm
Leggings of Sapphiron	Cloth Legs
Helm of the Vast Legions	Leather Helm
Helmet of the Inner Sanctum	Mail Helm
Massive Skeletal Ribcage	Plate Chest
Helm of the Unsubmissive	Plate Helm

Item	Type/Slot
Heroic Key to the Focusing Iris	Quest Item (access to The Eye of Eternity)
Murder	One-Hand Dagger
Bandit's Insignia	Trinket
Rune of Repulsion	Trinket
Extract of Necromantic Power	Trinket
Soul of the Dead	Trinket
Gatekeeper	Ring
Ring of Decaying Beauty	Ring
Icy Blast Amulet	Neck
Cosmic Lights	Neck
Ceaseless Pity	Neck
Sympathy	Cloth Chest
Gloves of Grandeur	Cloth Gloves
Legwraps of the Defeated Dragon	Cloth Legs
Gloves of Fast Reactions	Leather Gloves
Legguards of the Boneyard	Leather Legs
Boots of the Great Construct	Mail Feet
Breastplate of Frozen Pain	Plate Chest
Platehelm of the Great Wyrm	Plate Helm
Bone-Inlaid Legguards	Plate Legs
Noble Birthright Pauldrons	Plate Shoulders

Sapphiron 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.