Naxxramas: Plague Quarter (2)

Plague Quarter
A wing of strange fungus, ghouls, gargoyles, maggots and other plagued monstrosities. Three bosses. This wing is only very slightly more difficult than the Arachnid quarter, with Noth the Plaguebringer being arguably the easiest boss in the instance. The trash clear to Noth the Plaguebringer and Heigan the Unclean is medium length, with Loatheb having a short gauntlet of quickly respawning maggots and eye stalks rather than a trash clear.

Noth the Plaguebringer is the first boss of the Plague Quarter in Naxxramas.

10-man Abilities
-Noth the Plaguebringer has ~2.5 million hit points.

-Curse of the Plaguebringer: Curses three random players. If they are not decursed within 10 seconds they will inflict Wrath of the Plaguebringer on themselves and all allies within 30 yards.

-Wrath of the Plaguebringer:
For every missed curse everyone within 30 yards will suffer 3700 to 4300 immediate shadow damage and 1313 to 1687 shadow damage every 2 seconds for ten seconds. Unlike the 25-man version this is healable as you may not have any decursers.

-Summon Plagued Warriors - Every 30 seconds, Noth the Plaguebringer will summon two Plagued Warriors. These have ~100,000 hit points and melee for ~1,000 on plate. They can cleave.

-Berserk - Noth the Plaguebringer will Berserker Enrage after three skeleton phases. This will increase his damage by 1000%.

--Phase Two--
Every 110 seconds of combat Noth will teleport away to a balcony and become invulnerable while waves of skeletons attack the raid. Phase two lasts 70 seconds after which Noth will commence phase one again.

-Plagued Champions - These have ~105,000 HP and melee for ~2500 on plate. They have mortal strike. Two will come at a time with two waves total.

-Plagued Guardian - These will only appear in the second and third skeleton phases. They have ~75,000 HP and melee for ~1,000 on plate. They will cast Arcane Explosion which will deal ~4,000 damage to all targets within 30 yards. One of these will replace one Plagued Champion in each wave. Due to the fact it is quite possible to kill Noth before the second skeleton phase it is unlikely you will encounter these.

10-man Strategy
As with the 25-man encounter, prompt removal of the Curse of the Plaguebringer is critical. Cripple should also be dispelled as soon as possible, especially on the tank. It is possible to heal through one missed curse/wrath, but the total damage to the raid can be as much as 100,000 per application and this should be viewed as a last resort.
If no decursing is available, those targeted with the curse need to run to three separate locations more than 30 yards from the raid, so that Wrath only hits them.

Easiest for entry-level raids is to pursue a slow and steady strategy, where some dps is devoted to keeping the skeleton adds down to a reasonable number, and it is accepted that Noth will reach phase 2. This is most reliable if the raid has good healing endurance but overall dps is less than 14000. Assigning two dps (as well as a tank) to adds should be enough.

A quicker strategy, for raids with good dps (14000 or greater) and a suitable tank, is to tank all of the skeleton adds and just burn down Noth. In this case the goal is to kill Noth before he enters Phase 2, avoiding the Plagued Warriors entirely. If dps comes up short it is not necessarily a wipe, but as many as eight adds will be up at the beginning of Phase 2. Alternatively, this strategy can be done intentionally and the adds can be aoe'd down as a group at the start of phase 2. This tactic can be used for a group with two solid tanks and two heals focuses on each, as well as suitable aoe damage dealers.

In either case, two tanks are needed — one to pick up the adds as they spawn on the bone piles, and one for Noth. The better geared tank should be assigned to add tanking as the damage output of the skeletons will be greater than that of Noth once five or more of them are being held.

Heigan the Unclean is the second boss of the Plague Quarter in Naxxramas. This is the famous dance boss that is well-renowned all over the game. If you master the dance then you master the fight. Some may view this as an easy feat, while many players struggle to master the concept.

10-man Abilities
Heigan the Unclean has approximately 3,060,000 hit points. Note that unlike 40-man Naxxramas the tunnel before Heigan is no longer a gauntlet.

--Phase One--
-Spell Disruption:
This is a 20-yard aura around Heigan the Unclean. It will increase cast times by 300%.

-Decrepit Fever:
This is a disease applied to a random player which will do 3,000 Nature damage every 3 seconds and reduce the maximum hit points of every player within 20 yards by 50%.

--Phase Two--
After 90 seconds Heigan will teleport to the middle of the raised platform and begin channeling.

-Plague Cloud:
Deals 7,500 Nature damage a second to any player remaining on the raised platform during Phase Two.

-Eruption:
Three quarters of the remaining area of the room will be hit by eruption every few seconds during Phase Two. Does 6650 to 7350 Nature damage on a hit. Near the edge of a safe spot players will only be hit once. In the middle of unsafe spots they will be hit multiple times which is generally fatal.

-Strategy
-The RED square is safe from Eruption. During phase 1, all ranged DPS and healers stand here. During phase 2, a heavy damage disease DoT is placed on the platform.

-The BLUE dots and lines are where the boss is tanked and moved between every lava burst.

-The GREEN line is an approximate of where the lava bursts are split.

-The PURPLE dots represent the gauntlet from the old 40 man Naxx, and the YELLOW dot and line was where you were teleported and how you had to run back to the boss. The new 10/25 version does not involve that area in the encounter.

The fight goes as a 135 second cycle:
-Phase 1: Heigan is in the field for 90 seconds. Ground Eruptions move slowly, the tank has to move Heigan through the positions shown in the graphic.

-Phase 2: Heigan teleports on the platform for 45 seconds. Ground Eruptions speed up, the entire raid needs to move through the safe zones (see Heigan Dancing Lesson for detailed video tutorial). The platform has to be empty. Heigan will not use Spell Disruption, Teleport and Decrepit Fever during phase 2.

-Alternate Strategy
For those groups that have trouble dancing, are heavy on melee dps, and which have a druid healer, there is an alternate strategy (the "Lockard Maneuver") which can make this fight much easier.
This approach hinges on the fact that Heigan's Spell Disruption ability only affects abilities with a cast time. Due to this fact, there is no need to dance at all in Phase 1 as long as your druid(s) (and other healers) can keep the tank up with HoTs and instant heals and you have sufficient melee dps to make good progress on the boss.
To execute the strategy, simply tank Heigan on the platform during the entirety of Phase 1. Make sure to tank him far enough on the platform that your melee dps won't be hanging off the edge, otherwise they'll take eruption hits.
When he teleports to begin Phase 2, quickly get off the platform to avoid the platform AoE and to prepare for the fast dance. Run the dance through to completion, and when he transitions back to Phase 1, once again rush the platform to take him down. A well-geared group that is heavy on melee dps should be able to take him down in two platform phases, three at the outside.

Although you will still be dancing in Phase 2, the major advantage of this approach is that you don't need to worry about moving Heigan around during Phase 1. The Phase 2 dance is faster, but you only have to concentrate on moving yourself, not trying to dps or position a boss as well.

Tips
Whenever a phase change occurs, the safe zone is reset to zone 1.
Safe zones move in the following order: 1 - 2 - 3 - 4 - 3 - 2 - 1 - 2 - ...
Aggro does NOT reset between phases.
Due to latency, other players may or may not appear in the correct position for you. Move at your own pace, do not try to follow other players.

One of the most common reasons for death is running too far on either side of the room. If you are running from section 3 to section 4, you only need to take a few steps (between other pieces, you need to cross the entire next section, something not necessary for their sections one or four). It is possible to cast in the time this buys.
Safe zone cycle is, for phase one: 1-2-3-4-3-2-1-2~3. So, it is the way to 4, back to 1, and then almost to 3. It is this way at least for 10man. At the moment Heigan teleports, move QUICKLY back to zone 1. It will reset the cycle to zone 1 again.

In phase two, move forward as soon as you see the lava coming up (not too quick, though). The best timing is to move to safe spot, stop ONE second, then move to the next safe spot. JUST one second.
There is no enrage timer on this fight, so it can go on as long as you can keep some sort of DPS up. Heigan has been killed in fights taking longer than 15 minutes (due to deaths.)

Loatheb is the third and final boss of the Plague Quarter in Naxxramas.

10-man Abilities
Loatheb's melee is relatively weak. Loatheb has approximately 6,690,000 hit points.
-Necrotic Aura:
Every 20 seconds Loatheb will cast Necrotic Aura on the raid, reducing all healing done by 100% for 17 seconds. This means you get 3 seconds to heal every 20 seconds.

-Deathbloom:
Every 30 seconds Loatheb will cast this on the raid. Does 200 Nature damage a second for six seconds followed by a 'Bloom' of death for 1200 damage as a reverse Lifebloom. Undispellable.

-Inevitable Doom:
Loatheb begins to cast it after two minutes of combat. Inflicts 4000 Shadow damage after 10 sec. 100 yards, every 30 secs. 5 mins after engaging, this will be every 15 secs. This debuff can not be dispelled, cleansed, or decursed and the damage can not be resisted. Ice block, Cloak of shadows and divine shield will remove it.

-Fungal Creep:
This is a beneficial "debuff" on players gained during the encounter. Critical chance increased by 50%. Spells and abilities cause no threat. 90 secs duration. Loatheb summons spores approximately every 30 secs. Killing the spore (which has very low HP) allows five people within 10 yards to receive this buff.

10-man Strategy
Group construction: One group should be made of 4 DPS + 1 AOE-capable Healer. Any remaining DPS in the raid should be instructed to follow this group. The second group should have all tanks, remaining healers, and any extra DPS.
Assignments: One member of the DPS should be assigned to locate, announce, and pop spores. All other DPS should focus soley on moving, and DPS. A second player should be assigned to announce pre-casting for healers.
Positions: Loatheb should be tanked in the center of the room with healers positioned half-way between Loatheb and the entry door. The DPS group will be roaming.

Spores: When a spore appears the assigned player should announce its location. All DPS in the raid should move within 10 yards of the spore, and then resume DPS on Loatheb. The assigned player then pops the spore. All DPS should focus on being in range of a spore, and hitting the boss - that's it. The assigned player should be the only member looking for spores and popping them.

Healers: An assigned healer should announce "Precast!" when there are 3 seconds left on the Necrotic Aura. All healers should then cast a 3-second spell that will succeed the moment the healing window opens. Healers should then focus on their assigned targets using the fastest spells available.
Healers with spells that heal over time (HoT) may be able to "load" spells onto members of the raid before the precast announcement. This will enable the HoT to tick during the healing window.

Notes
The Fungal Creep debuff will affect 5 members of the group, at maximum. The AOE Healer assigned to follow the DPS group should ensure that they are not one of those 5, until later in the fight.
Later in the fight, spores may appear very far from the DPS group. In these cases, the spore may be allowed to float to the tanks, and healers, where they can benefit from the debuff. If 100% of the raid have the debuff, then zero (0) threat is generated, and Loatheb will continue hitting the designated tank. However, the DPS group should move to intercept the very next spore, or you risk creating a change in threat.

Stacking method
The debuff given by the spores causes 100% loss of threat from all attacks. Because of this, most raids are reluctant to allow the debuff to reach the tank. Use the Divided Method for the first two spores that enter the room. This allows the raid to sustain their DPS with the increased crit chance, but also completely diminishes their threat. During the first two spores, the tank focuses solely on raising his threat on Loatheb as high as possible (tanks doing 4k+ TPS have no problem reaching insurmountable amounts of threat within the first two spores). Positioning of Loatheb and healing assignments are the same as found above.

Once the third spore enters the room, all players in the raid stack on the tank, and no one chases after spores from this point on. The spores are then allowed to crawl their way to where the entire raid is standing, and the spore is popped giving the entire raid the increased critical chance and 100% loss of threat debuff. At this point, there is no downtime from DPS having to run around the room, and all raid members, including the tank, begin to crit non-stop. Because everyone in the raid has 100% loss of threat, there is no need to worry about the tank losing threat (unless someone taunts Loatheb, which should be avoided at all cost). Loatheb can be demolished with this strategy by roughly doom #10, #15 maximum.

Affliction Warlocks
An affliction-spec'd warlock with the 51-pointer Haunt will be able to save the raid healers some effort. Watch the debuff that prevents healing and when it ticks from 13 to 12 seconds remaining, start casting your Haunt. This will increase your DPS as Haunt always does, but it also means that the healing effect will return to you with 1500-2000 health during the three seconds when healing can take place.

Death Knights
All Death Knight's have an attack called Death Strike - if timed properly and with 2 sets of [death, frost, unholy] runes you can heal yourself for 3500-5000 total with 2 strikes. Death Knights may also summon a ghoul and then immediately use Death Pact to restore another portion of their health.
Death Knights may also use Anti-Magic Shell and Icebound Fortitude during Dooms to help reduce the amount of incoming damage.

Paladin Tanks
Don't be shy about tossing a heal WHILE you are tanking - a heal to yourself or a DPS during the last 20% is golden.
In addition, if the raid is having trouble healing, the paladin should consider using Seal of Light, instead of a typical tanking Seal. Since dps with the Fungal Creep debuff will not generate any threat, maintaining a tanking Seal for threat generation should be unnecessary. The additional healing from Seal of Light during the 3 seconds that Necrotic Aura is not up may help slightly to reduce the load on healers. Notably, though, some Paladin tanks will continue to prefer using a tanking Seal, if only to generate additional dps to expedite the end of the fight.
Paladin tanks should also be certain to maintain Judgement of Light, to further enhance overall healing on the raid during the 3 seconds that Necrotic Aura is not up.

Paladin tanks should maximize their stamina and block value (and block rating, if not already block-capped) during this fight, rather than avoidance. Loatheb's melee strikes are so modest that the majority of his melee damage can be entirely mitigated simply through blocking.