Mr.WoW Gold - WoW Class Guides - The Frozen Throne Guide
The Frozen Throne Guide
The Lich King
Arthas, the Lich King is the last and hardest encounter in Icecrown Citadel and one of the most complicated encounters in the game. There are three distinct phases to the fight as well as a transitional phase that occurs twice in the fight. Almost anything you can think of that could occur in a boss encounter seems to be going on in this fight. There are adds, debuffs, movement, adds, tank swaps, and much more. Like I said, it is very complicated so pay close attention and you just may get him down. Oh, and you only have 15 minutes before he enrages and wipes the group.
Phase One
When the fight starts the main tank needs to establish agro on the Lich King and position him along the outer edge of the platform, this becomes important later on. All DPS and healers should stack up on Arthas, other than the off tank. Players need to be careful of threat right away as the tank will take a while to gain threat as Arthas is slow moving to the outer ring, being busy casting spells and abilities. In this phase he casts a spell called Infest roughly every 30 seconds that hits everyone for damage and places a DoT on them. The DoT can only be removed by healing players over 90% health. The DoT stacks and does more damage the longer it stays on a person, so it is important to get it off everyone quickly.
The Lich King also casts an ability called Necrotic Plague on a random target which is a DoT that inflicts huge damage after being on the player for 5 seconds. The trick here is that when dispelled or when it kills its target it jumps to the next nearest target, friend or foe. This is how you deal with the adds, which we will talk about next. Important to note though is that the Lich King gets stronger each time the plague is dispelled.
Arthas awaits
The best way to deal with the shambling horrors is to have have them all tanked at range with the off tank then whoever gets the plague runs to get close to them and have it dispelled. The plague will then jump to them, kill them, and then jump to the off tank. This way it can be cleansed off of them to another tanked creature and you rinse and repeat until you get the Lich King down to 70% health at which point you enter a transitional phase.
Transition
In the transitional phase Arthas will run towards the center of the platform and start casting Remorseless Winter. This spell does damage over time to anyone on the platform, and does enough to kill anyone very quickly. To escape it you need to step out onto an extension of the main platform that will spawn in this phase. This spell is why you tank Arthas near the edge in phase one, so that you have a little more time for everyone to gather at the edge while he runs to the center.
In the transitional phase there will also be three raging spirits summoned, one every 20 seconds, that silence anyone in their front arc, these need to be DPSed very quickly. Also frost orbs will be launched at you from the center of the room, and need to be DPSed before they reach the group or they explode knocking players off. Lastly Arthas applies a DoT called pain and suffering to a random player and it does damage to that player and spreads to anyone close by each time it ticks. It also stacks, so staying close together can lead to wipes very quickly. The transition lasts for one minute.
Phase Two
In the second phase of this fight Arthas needs to be tanked in the middle of the platform. This is due to the Valkyr that get summoned and pick people up and try to drop them off the edge of the platform. The Valkyr spawn at the outside of the room and fly in, therefore everyone should bunch up near the center to allow you more time for ranged DPS to get them down.
Arthas also gains two abilities, the first is called Soul Reaper and is cast on the tank every 30 seconds. It lasts for 5 seconds and then does 50k damage to the tank and buffs the Lich King so that he gains 100% haste. All tanks have methods to deal with this however Paladins seem to be the best due to Ardent Defender procs and reduced damage from any hit that will take them below 30%. You can also chose to have the other tank taunt off the main tank to hold Arthas while the DoT expires.
Transition
Between phase two and three there is a repeat of the transition described earlier. The only difference is that four raging spirits will spawn meaning that you will likely have two up when the transition ends.
Phase Three
After the transition to phase three the Valykr stop appearing, but Arthas continues to cast Soul Reaper, and Defile. Arthas also gains two new abilities, the first is the ability to summon Vile Spirits, and the second is a new ability called Soul Harvest.
Final 10%
If you manage to get the Lich King down to 10% health he will use an ability that immediately kills the raid. Don’t panic just yet, this is a mechanic and lets you see part of the storyling. After a brief interruption in the fight you are resurrected and can finish the Lich King off while he is trapped. Then you get your real reward, a chance to see the video sequence that follows. Sure, many players have seen it online already, but this time you will have earned it. Congratulations on defeating one of the hardest bosses around.
