An architect of the Scourge's biological weapons, Noth is the first line of defense against your incursion into the Plague Quarter of Naxxramas.
The Plague Quarter's introductory fight tests your raid's ability to decurse without omission, as well as your ability to handle adds. Keep Curse of the Plaguebringer off of everybody, and you'll beat him. Miss it on even one person, and you're toast. It's as simple as that.
Like most Wrath of the Lich King raid encounters, this fight is tuned for players who are using level 80 epic gear, as well as the best flasks and food buffs available. Getting the best possible gear for your character will make this fight a whole lot easier.
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HP: 2,750,000 (Heroic: 8,400,000)
Curse of the Plaguebringer: Without warning, Noth may afflict three (Heroic: ten) random members of the raid with a Curse that does no damage, but after ten seconds, will unleash Wrath of the Plaguebringer upon its target and any other player within 30 yards. Curse of the Plaguebringer can be decursed. Noth will only use this ability during Phase One.
Wrath of the Plaguebringer: Deals around 4,000 Shadow damage (Heroic: 6,000) immediately upon application, and another 1,500 (Heroic: 3,500) every two seconds for ten seconds. Wrath of the Plaguebringer cannot be dispelled.
Cripple: Every 25 seconds or so, Noth will Cripple the five players closest to him, reducing their movement speed and Strength by 50%. The time between their attacks will also be doubled. Cripple lasts 15 seconds, but is a Magic effect that may be dispelled. Immediately after casting Cripple, Noth will Blink. Used only during Phase One.
Blink: Noth will blink to another part of the room, wiping his threat table.
Summon Plagued Warriors: Every 30 seconds, Noth will summon two (Heroic: three) Plagued Warriors to attack the raid (HP and abilities are below). Used only during Phase One.
Teleport: 110 seconds after the beginning of Phase One, Noth will teleport to his balcony. Phase Two will begin and he will start to summon Plagued Guardians and Champions.
Summon Plagued Guardians/Champions: During Phase Two, Noth summons Plagued Guardians or Champions at a time to attack the raid (HP and abilities are below). He summons two (Heroic: three) immediately when Phase Two begins, and summons two more (Heroic: three more) 30 seconds later. Phase Two lasts 70 seconds overall, at which point Noth will teleport back to the ground floor of his lair, even if the skeletons have not been killed.
During the first iteration of Phase Two, each wave of summons will contain only Champions. In each subsequent iteration of the phase, one Champion per wave will be replaced by a Guardian, until you are facing nothing but Guardians, which are more dangerous.
Enrage: Nine minutes after he is engaged, Noth's damage will increase exponentially, and he will quickly slaughter anyone alive.
Plagued Warrior (Phase One)HP: 100,000 (Heroic: 125,000)Melee: Hits for light damage on a tank.Cleave: Similar to the Warrior ability, damages targets immediately in front of the Plagued Warrior.
Plagued Champion (Phase Two)HP: 105,000 (Heroic: 130,000)Melee: Hits for moderate damage on a tank.Mortal Strike: Similar to the Warrior ability, reduces healing received by the Plagued Guardian's target.Shadow Shock: Deals around 2,400 (Heroic: 3,200) Shadow damage to the Plagued Guardian's target.
Plagued Guardian (Phase Two)HP: 75,000 (Heroic: 100,000)Melee: Hits for light damage on a tank.Arcane Explosion: Similar to the Mage ability, deals 2,500 (Heroic: 4,000) Arcane damage to all players within 30 yards.
10-Man2 Tanks3 Healers5 DPS1+ Druids or Mages (more are better)
25-Man3 Tanks5 Healers17 DPS3+ Druids or Mages (more are better)
Raid Make sure that you are standing just inside the entrance to Noth's room. When the encounter begins, a gate will slam shut, locking you out of the room if you weren't already inside!
Main Tank When everyone's inside, simply run forward and attack Noth.
This phase lasts 110 seconds. After 110 seconds, Phase Two will begin.
Main Tank Build threat on Noth. Every 25 seconds or so he will Cripple you, Blink away, and drop threat. Get to him as fast as you can and re-establish aggro. You need to do this quickly, before he starts killing people in the raid; abilities that move you to him or vice versa like Charge, Intercept, Feral Charge, and Death Grip should be used. If none of these are available, try to at least generate threat at range with an ability like Heroic Throw or Avenger's Shield.
Offtank(s) Stand on the outside edge of your raid, and wait for Skeleton Warriors to spawn. When they appear, tank them. They can Cleave, so face them away from the raid. You'll be tanking them until Phase Two.
DPS Damage Noth once the Main Tank has aggro. Ignore the Skeleton Warriors when they spawn (but don't get too close to them). When Noth blinks, stop your DPS immediately and wait for the Main Tank to re-acquire aggro before you resume.
Hunter, Rogue When Noth blinks, the Main Tank has to re-acquire aggro. Use Misdirection or Tricks of the Trade to help him out.
Healers Only the tanks should be taking damage during this phase, and none of them will take very heavy damage. When Noth blinks, he also Cripples anyone who was standing near him, so dispel Cripple as quickly as you can. In particular, it's very important to dispel Cripple from the Main Tank immediately, so it's best to assign a healer who's always in charge of getting it off the MT.
Druid, Mage At random times, Noth will cast Curse of the Plaguebringer on three (Heroic: ten) members of the raid. Decurse it immediately. You've got ten seconds to get it off of every single member of the raid, and if you don't do it in time, this curse will probably wipe your raid. Pimpin' ain't easy.
In addition to the random uses, Noth also casts his Curse every time Phase Two ends and a new Phase One is just beginning. So, be ready to decurse when the transition arrives.
Noth will teleport to the safety of his balcony, and begin summoning Plagued Champions and Guardians. Most guilds use AOE to kill these adds. After 70 seconds has elapsed, Noth will return to the ground floor and Phase One will begin again.
Raid Move as close to the center of the room as you can without getting mauled by a Plagued Warrior's Cleave. When new adds spawn, this will help the tanks pull them off of you.
Tanks Tank all adds together near the center of the room, so that AOE can hit them all at once. If you're tanking Plagued Warriors from Phase One, remember to keep trying to face them away from other players if you can. It doesn't matter which way the Guardians and Champions face.
DPS Start using your AOE abilities as soon as the first wave of Guardians or Champions has been picked up by the tanks. You have about 30 seconds before more Guardians/Champions arrive. Then you've got 40 seconds to finish everything off, before Noth comes back down from his balcony.
Healers This is a hectic phase, where the tanks will take increased damage and be harder to heal due to Mortal Strike. Other random people will probably take damage, too. You may want to assign a healer to each tank to make sure nobody gets ignored. You won't, however, have to worry about any decursing or dispelling during this phase.
Continue damaging Noth until he's dead. Once Noth is down, you're ready to move deeper into the Plague Quarter and face Heigan's infamous dance studio.