Naxxramas

Naxxramas

Floating above the Plaguelands, the necropolis known as Naxxramas serves as the seat of one of the Lich King's most powerful officers, the dreaded lich Kel'Thuzad. Horrors of the past and new terrors yet to be unleashed are gathering inside the necropolis as the Lich King's servants prepare their assault. Soon the Scourge will march again...

NOTE: This instance will be included in the patch "Shadow of the Necropolis".

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Template:Raid Dungeons

General

• Level: 60+
• # of Players: 40
• Location: Raid instance located above the ruined city of Stratholme in Eastern Plaguelands
• Abbreviation: NAX
• Coming Soon : 1.11

History:

An ancient Nerubian ziggurat, Naxxramas was torn free from the ground by agents of the Lich King to serve as Kel'Thuzad's base of operations as he spread the plague throughout Lordaeron.

All sorts of new undead monstrosities roam the halls of Naxxramas...

Due to Kel'Thuzad fighting a war against:

• the Scarlet Crusade and their demon puppet-masters,
• the Argent Dawn,
• the Forsaken, who are stealing ghouls to transform into independent, sentient soldiers, and
• the humans of the Alliance intent on avenging the dead of Lordaeron.

as well as constant incursions of adventurers from every race and nation into the Scourge-controlled Plaguelands on a daily basis, his forces have been severely taxed to maintain the security of his necropolis. But soon the gates of Naxxramas will open, and Kel'Thuzad's new forces will be poised to sweep away all opposition to the Scourge.

Road to Damnation

Blizzard has posted a short backstory to Naxxramas on the official site: Road to Damnation

Entrance

Like Blackrock Depths and Blackrock Spire, Stratholme contains a green raid entrance deep in the instance, in the square with the Slaughterhouse. This will presumably be an entrance to Naxxramas. As attunement quests and alternate entrances were added for both the Molten Core and Blackwing Lair, it is likely the same will be done for the necropolis. According to current information attunement will be through purchasing a key from Argent Dawn.

However it is still unknown what the cost of the attunement will be for different reputation with Argent Dawn. First it was told that you can only buy the attunement if you are honored with them which will cost 30 gold and if you are exalted you can get it for free, but websites like www.whataboutpp.com shows that for Honored rep you have to get 5 Arcane Crystals, 2 Nexus Crystals, 1 Righteous Orb and 60 Gold and for Revered rep you have to get 2 Nexus Crystals, 1 Arcane Crystal and 30 Gold in order to get the attunement. As for www.curse-gaming.com, it stated that in Honored Rep you have to pay a fee of 30 Gold and in Revered rep you can get it for free.

Nax. attunement information resources:

What About PP Curse gaming

Resistance: Frost and Shadow

Typical high-end raid instance has a resistance flavor (e.g. MC is FR, AQ is NR, etc). Naxx is expected to be both Shadow and Frost. Players will very likely need a lot of frost resistance to fight the last boss in Naxxramas, Kel'Thuzad as he is a lich, and all liches use a lot of powerful ice spells. One boss in perticular, a frostwyrm called Sapphiron, is confirmed to be frost based.

Current Information

File:BlackCitadel.png

The Necropolis model (that will apparently be visible from the Plaguelands) has been in the game files for several months now.

Structure

According to sources at BlizzCon, Naxxramas will have four "wings" like Dire Maul, each dominated by different creatures of the Scourge, including an undead wing, a Nerubian wing, an Abomination wing, and a death knight wing. There will be 18 Bosses. Prepare for a Frost Wyrm battle and the final showdown with Kel'Thuzad. In the intro story posted at official site, the four wings of Naxxramas are:

• Spider wing, with Nerubians guarding it. A Crypt Lord can be seen in the preview video, and will probably be the boss of this wing.
• Laboratory
• Armoury, with flying swords
• Plague-producing facility, with grubs and zombies

Map

This is a map from BlizzCon how Naxxramas looks like: Necropolis Naxxramas instance

Monsters

• Abomination Wing
  • Bile Retcher
  • Patchwork Golem
  • Sewage Slime
  • Embalming Slime

• Deathknight Wing
  • Shade of Naxxramas
  • Risen Deathknight
  • Deathknight
  • Deathknight Captain
  • Necro Knight
  • Dark Touched Warrior
  • Bony Construct
  • Skeletal Smith

• Ghoul Wing
  • Infectious Ghoul
  • Plague Slime
  • Stoneskin Gargoyle

• Spider Wing
  • Infectious Skitterer

• (Unsorted)
  • Living Monstrosity
  • Unholy Swords

Bosses

• Abomination Wing
  • Thaddius (Most likely location)
• Deathknight Wing
  • Highlord Mograine (Most likely location)
• Ghoul Wing

• Spider Wing
  • Anub'Rekhan
• (Unsorted)
  • Thane Korth'azz
  • Instructor Razuvious
  • Dame Blaumeux
  • Thaddius
  • Sapphiron
  • Sir Zeliek
• Final Chamber
  • Kel'Thuzad

Loot

Naxxramas will include the Tier 3 raid set.

Rumours

Loot

• It was rumoured that this was the instance where could obtain the quest items for the Legendary weapon, Ashbringer. However, CM Eyonix has said that Ashbringer won't be available until there is a legendary weapon for casters.

• Also the last time the Book of Medivh was seen was when Kel'Thuzad summoned Archimonde - the demonlord of the Burning Legion - into Azeroth at Dalaran. The last boss of Naxxramas will be Kel'Thuzad which means he most likely will drop the Spellbook of Medivh, which will probably be an important item to open the Dark Portal in Blastedlands when the expansion, World of Warcraft: Burning Crusade is released. However, Jeff Kaplan in his May 10th interview to NY Times stated that there won't be anything to do for players to reach Outland, meaning no world event nor requirements.

• It is rumoured to contain a legendary caster weapon. Or at least some parts of it.
  • Archmage Tarsis Kir-Moldir in Naxxramas has the following to say about the legendary staff:

Atiesh, Greatstaff of the Guardian. The staff handed down through the ages to each of the Guardians of Tirisfal. The staff corrupted by Sargeras. The staff of the last Guardian. The staff of Medivh.

I held it once... I held it despite the warnings of the Kirin Tor. I held it, mortal... Power unending. Power to do what I desired, as I desired. And just as quickly, it was taken from me. But I had tasted... And that taste was all that it took.

It was lost when the Violet Citadel fell... splintered into forty-two pieces.

Kel'Thuzad has put forth considerable effort in attempting to reform the staff. The pieces were once scattered across this world, from Kalimdor to the South Seas. I myself held twenty of the pieces at one point in time - until they were stolen from me by Kel'Thuzad's minions. It is why I am here.

Haven't you been listening? No. I very much doubt we would be having this conversation had Kel'Thuzad formed the staff. Kel'Thuzad holds the head. His underlings hold forty splinters of Atiesh. The last piece - the base - was uncovered by Brann Bronzebeard. He was last seen in the Silithus desert, undoubtedly doing his best to stay as far away as possible from the relentless seekers Kel'Thuzad has dispatched into the world.

• • Archmage Angela Dosantos also shares the following background behind the staff:

It is said that Kel'Thuzad seeks the legendary Atiesh, greatstaff of the Guardian.

Yes the very staff once held by Medivh.

Like Kel'Thuzad, I too was once a mage of the Kirin Tore. And like Kel'Thuzad, I seek the legendary Atiesh, greatstaff of the Guardian. Our fates are intertwined as such, priest.

Progeny of Aegwynn, he that would be the last Guardian of Tirisfal... Medivh.

It is a story of legend and one that I do not have the time nor the inclination to retell, just know that Medivh was the last of the Guardians. The greatstaff of Atiesh was a focal point of his power and a focal point of corruption.

The corruption of a fallen titan. The corruption of the Destroyer. After all, the staff was forged from the seed of hate. That is, of course, what has brought me here...

After the fall of Karazhan, the Kirin Tor dispatched an assembly of mages to search the tower and seize all items of import... for the purposes of "research." It was then that the fabled staff was discovered and brought back to Dalaran.

What followed were a series of tragic events, leading to the death of every Kirin Tor mage that came into contact with Atiesh.

You see, it was an artifact with sentience. A sentience granted to it by Sargeras...

After the deaths, the Six decided that the best course of action was to seal the staff behind impenetrable barriers of magic and appoint a watcher: A guardian of the staff... I would be that watcher.

There is not much more to tell. Dalaran was nearly wholly destroyed by Archimonde, the staff lost, presumably shattered by the barrier's fail-safe mechanisms.

There are those that believe the staff to be the cause of Archimonde's reprisal.

After the fall of Dalaran, I took my leave from the Kirin Tor. I spent years watching over Atiesh, only to have my purpose amongst the Kirin Tor taken from me in one fell swoop. I would find the staff, though it might take a lifetime. That is how I came to join the Argent Dawn and why I am here now.

I have tracked the various fragments of the staff across this world and in doing so, discovered Kel'Thuzad's plans to reform the staff. He has already collected several of the staff's fragments - which are being held by his most trusted lieutenants.

I cannot emphasize enough the importance of keeping the greatstaff of the Guardian out of Kel'Thuzad's grasp. Frankly, I do not know what the result would be, other than a catastrophe of epic proportion.

Media and statements

World of Warcraft Forums

Shane Dabiri, Lead states that Naxxramas will come up to the 1.11 patch: "In patch 1.11: Naxxramas! – the massive necropolis floating above Stratholme, home to Kel’Thuzad."

From New York Times:

NYTimes: "What can you tell me about Naxxramas?"

Tigole: "Naxxramas is going to be the most difficult thing in the game until the expansion pack comes out. It will be the pinnacle, and it's absolutely massive. You'll see this big necropolis floating above Eastern Plaguelands. It's a 40-man raid zone, and it's bigger than the Undercity [one of the main cities in the game]. Things could change, but we're up to something like 18 bosses in there, and they are really cool, too. But it's going to be hard. Really hard. We're hoping to release it in the spring."

NYTimes: "Will we need to open Naxxramas with a big farming event like Ahn'Qiraj?"

Tigole: "No. Naxxramas will just be open. But we do want to do a world event, which we want to call the Scourge Invasion, or hopefully something cooler than that, that would basically be something for everyone who's not going into Naxxramas. So they would see the impact without having to actually go in. [In other words, get ready for undead to pop up in some unlikely places.]"

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Info from Tigole

More info posted by Tigole on forums:

Naxxramas will come out in Patch 1.11 and will be previewed at E3 in a couple of weeks. This raid dungeon is massive and hosts more bosses than you can wave a stick at. And a really big stick at that. Currently, Naxxramas is in internal testing. After a few more weeks of internal testing, well put it on the PTRs for an extended test period so that you guys have time to hammer the encounters and provide us with feedback. We'll also be doing a lot of tuning during internal testing and during the PTR time. Expect the difficulty of encounters to fluctuate a lot on the PTRs. Expect a lot of info regarding Naxxramas to come out during E3.

http://forums.worldofwarcraft.com/thread.aspx?fn=wow-dungeons&t=485094&p=1&tmp=1#post485094