Unique Strategies for Efficiently Clearing Naxxramas

Naxxramas is a really big raid with a lot of boss mechanics and difficult trash pulls. In World of Warcraft Classic, many raiders have found clever and unique strategies to deal with these formidable elite bosses that can lead to more efficient and occasionally faster kill times. We’ll go through some of these strategies in this article!

Sapper Down Faerlina Trash

One of the most exciting trash pulls your raid can put together in Naxxramas is going to be this unique pull before Grand Widow Faerlina. If you’re playing Alliance, you can have a Paladin run in with Divine Shield and aggro the entire room, once everything is stacked up tight on the Paladin, the rest of the raid can come into the room with Invisibility Potion, stack up nice and tight on the pack, and then pop 40 Goblin Sapper Charge on the entire pack!

To see this done with perfect execution, look no further than this youtube clip by from China, which are currently the world’s fastest guild in Naxxramas! For Horde however, this pull is much more difficult, requiring a Mage to try and Blink through the room and use Flask of Petrification to gather up the Faerlina Trash! It’s very difficult to do, as you can see from ‘s attempt in their most recent speedrun (they still got World #1 for Horde, #12 overall).

Heigan “Safespotting”

One of the more debated strategies is the Heigan “Safespottting”, where the raid can position themselves in a few different spots in Heigan’s room and avoid all mechanics entirely. While this is somewhat of a gray area on if this is bannable or not (some people argue that it is), Blizzard hasn’t taken action against anyone, as far as we know.

While this isn’t really a unique strategy or clever use of mechanics, it is somewhat of a clever use of the geometry of the room, allowing for an easier kill on Heigan the Unclean. But who doesn’t want to actually learn the Heigan dance? It’s one of the most iconic fights in all of Naxxramas! Get out there and dance, baby!

Major Recombobulator on Loatheb

Let’s get the obvious out of the way. Yes, Major Recombobulator heals for practically nothing. BUT if every Healer in the raid group has one equipped and has it ready for an “oh shoot” moment during the encounter, it can be a massive last resort heal. Because if you didn’t know, a Healer can use Minor Recombobulator even when under the effects of Corrupted Mind!

Druid Kiting Zombie Chow

The idea here is to take advantage of how threat is calculated. Essentially, a Druid will put a Healing over Time ability on the entire raid and get enough healer aggro to get all Zombie Chow in the room to chase the Druid, allowing the Fire Mages to pump on the boss instead of trying to deal with Zombie Chow. While this is a really unique strategy, some raid groups have had success with this strategy. Recently, User captain_partypooper wrote their own guide on the WoWClassicDruid reddit!

Cleaving Thane and Mograine

This one is not for the faint of heart. This is most definitely the riskiest and most dangerous “unique strategy” for Naxxramas. With full world buffs, a bunch of Warriors that have Recklessness off cooldown, and a raid prepared to wipe if it doesn’t work out, it’s possible to actually cleave down both Thane and Mograine in one corner of the Four Horsemen room, making the rest of the might infinitely easier.

You probably don’t need much convincing of how dangerous this strategy is and how quickly a raid group can wipe if it doesn’t work out. , who got world first Kel’Thuzad, actually did this last month, and popularized the strategy amongst other speedrunning guilds.

Prayer of Healing on Sapphiron

Sapphiron is without a doubt one of the most difficult fights for most raid groups in Naxxramas. Because of the high barrier of entry when it comes to Frost Resistance and the immense pressure put on Healers to keep the raid up through Sapphiron’s Frost Aura. Clever Priest’s have been using a new talent build for this fight, picking up Improved Prayer of Healing, wearing a bunch of +Healing gear, and then spamming Rank 1 Prayer of Healing for basically the entire fight.

Of course, this strategy only works if you have enough Priests in the raid that can be sprinkled throughout each group, as well as keeping the groups close together, allowing for the AOE Heal to hit everyone in the group. This can quickly become an issue when people are running away from Blizzard or during the Air Phase, when people split up to look for Ice Cubes to hide behind! One tip is to mark each of the Priests with a mark and tell each group to follow that mark around!

Lightwell for all of Naxxramas

Yes. Believe it or not, LIGHTWELL, one of the most meme talents in all of World of Warcraft is actually useful in Naxxramas. To be fair, this is probably one of the only raids where the talent can actually see useful play! Let’s break down the fights where it is most impactful:

• Patchwerk: Because the fight is so long, dropping a Lightwell for your raid’s Warlocks can do wonders for them, allowing them to Life Tap down to really low health before picking up the Lightwell heal.

• Four Horsemen Chest: Dropping a Lightwell in the safe spot on the stairs during the Four Horsemen encounter can be a huge help for your raid, allowing them to recover to full health before moving on to the next boss in their rotation.