The Lich King - Early 3.3.2 Guide

Tags: boss strategies, icecrown citadel, lich king
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Boss: Lich King
Zone: Icecrown Citadel
Modes: 10N, 25N
Type: Normal boss kill
Dethkrik
<War Machine>
16 guides
Created: 04 Feb 2010
Updated: 29 weeks ago

Overview

A big thanks to Narlya of on The Maelstrom (EU) for helping me with a lot of the info in the guide.

Strategy

Phase 1
On the pull, bring the Lich King back towards the outer circle, away from the stairs. Melee DPSs from behind the boss in normal fashion, while the ranged and healers should stand to the side leaving the center of the room open.
Infest will deal constant raid damage throughout the fight, and as it and most damage are shadow or frost, Shadow and Frost Resistance Auras are recommended. Infest is a DoT that increases in damage every second until the target is healed to over 90%. The longer it is left up the harder it will be to get everyone over 90% to clear it, so healers need to be quick to get people up whenever the Lich King cast this.

Approximately 15 seconds into the fight the Lich King will summon a Shambling Horror. The offtank needs to pull it to the center of the platform facing away from the raid. The Shambling Horror has 2 abilites, Shockwave, a frontal cone ability and Enrage, which needs to be dispelled by a rogue or hunter.
Also throughout Phase 1, a player will get the disease Necrotic Plague which deals 50k(100k in 25) damage after 5 seconds. This player must run to the OTs position and be cleansed. The cleansed Plague will jump to either the OT or the Shambling Horror. If it jumps to the OT, wait until the person who brought in the debuff has moved away and cleanse the OT so that the Plague jumps to the Shambling Horror. As more Shambling Horrors join the fight (1 every minute) the Plague will spread from one to the next as they die, increasing in damage. If it jumps back to the OT, cleanse him again to return it to a Shambling Horror. If the only Shambling Horror up dies and the OT gets cleansed, the Lich King will cast it on another player and the process starts over.

Also in Phase 1, the Lich King will summon Drudge Ghouls 3 at a time. The main tank should pick these up and they should be burnt down with cleave damage and incidental AoE. Actually, the Necrotic Plague can jump to the Drudge Ghouls as well, so these should be tanked by the OT also so that the plague will jump to them and gain stacks. Eventually at 6-7 stacks the Necrotic Plague will be doing 300-400k per tick (in 10 man at least).

The first phase transition takes place when the Lich King reaches 70%, so try to time that with the last of the Adds going down. Once he reaches 70%, everyone needs to move quickly to the outside of the platform, as the Lich King is running to the center of the platform. Ranged/Healers should spread out and DPS should work on finishing off any remaining adds.

Phase Transition
The Lich King will begin channeling the spell Remorseless Winter and will also cast Pain and Suffering at a random player. Pain and Suffering is a conal ability that deals damage and leaves a stacking DoT, so everyone spreading out will help to keep the amount of stacks/damage down.

Also throughout this phase the Lich King will summon Ice Spheres. The Ice Spheres will target a random player and begin moving towards them. Once they target a player a blue beam will point at the player they will cast Ice Pulse on the player, dealing damage to anyone within 5 yards, which is more reason to stay spread out. If the Ice Sphere reaches its target it will explode, dealing damage and knocking anyone within 10 yards back, and probably off the platform. The Ice Spheres have very little life and a ranged or two should be tasked with killing them before they reach the group.
Lastly, throught this phase, random party members will be targeted with Summon Raging Spirit, which will make a ghosted copy of the character. The tanks should pick these up and face them away from the raid, as they have a conal Damage/Silence ability. Any DPS not killing Spheres should help burn these Down.

After 60 Seconds, this phase ends and everyone should quickly move back onto the main platform as the Lich King will begin casting Quake, which destroys the outer portion of the platform.

Phase 2
Once Quake has finished, Phase 2 begins. During this phase, the Lich King still uses Infest. He also begins to use Soul Reaper on the tank, which deals initial damage followed by 50k shadow damage 5 seconds later. The Tanks should taunt back and forth after getting hit with Soul Reaper so that 5 seconds later the tank does not take a melee hit and the 50k damage at the same time. The raid should position similar to Phase 1, however the Ranged should stay spread as much as possible.

Also in Phase 2 the Lich King will begin to cast Defile. He will target a random player and it is a 1.5 second cast. At the end of the cast, a black pool will appear under the targeted player. Every second the pool will deal damage and for every time it deals damage to a player, it grows in size, so 3+ players getting caught can cause the pool to quickly grow faster than they can get out, ending up in the pool growing over the entire platform wiping the raid. Players should be aware of when the Lich King is targeting them with this ability and be ready to move. The Defile pool last for 30 seconds.

Throughout Phase 2 the Lich King will summon Val'kyr Shadowguards (1 at a time in 10, 3 at a time in 25) who will take about 5 seconds picking a target and then will fly over and pick them up and then slowly begin to fly towards the edge of the platform. If they reach the edge they will throw the player off, so they need to be burnt down quickly. Due to Defile taking up portions of the platform, ranged are probably preferred for burning these down.
These are immune to snares, and already move quite slow, but they can be stunned so if you OT has stun abilities they should move to stun these.
These are immune to snares, however, slowing effects like Chains of Ice and Hamstring will further reduce their movement speed. They are also stunnable, so any available stuns should be used to allow your DPS as much time as needed to burn them down. In 25 man it is advisable to split your DPS up into assigned groups and have them split up on the different Valkyr.

Phase 2 continues until the Lich King is at 40%, at which time he goes into another Transition Phase. The raid should move to the edge of the available platform and the first pulse of Remorseless Winter will reapply the extended platform. The Raging Spirits spawn a little more frequently in this phase so DPS needs to be quick to burn them down.

Phase 3
Phase 3 begins once the Lich King again cast Quake so everyone should move back in. During this phase he will again cast Infest, Defile, and Soul Reaper. Along with these he will now cast Harvest Soul, which will deal shadow damage every second for 6 seconds and if the player lives through this they will be absorbed by Frostmourne.
The other new ability for this phase is Summon Vile Spirits, which will summon 10 Vile Spirits floating in the air above the Lich King. The will remain there for 30 seconds during which ranged need to burn as many down as possible. Ground targeted AoE does not seem to affect them, but abilities like Mind Sear, Seed of Corruption, and DK Diseases do seem to work. After the 30 seconds, any Spirits left will target a random player and charge towards them, exploding for ~15k damage upon reaching them. Ranged should stay spread out and it may be a good idea for melee to spread out once the 30 seconds is about up so that 2+ people standing next to each other don't get targeted.

I am not very clear on what happens inside of Frostmourne but players are apparently able to free themselves somehow.Players sent into Frostmourne must help Terenas Menethil kill an add at which time they are freed.

This phase continues until the Lich King is at 10%...

Phase 4
This I will leave a surprise.

General Tips

Abilities
Constant Ability
Infest
Deals 9425 to 10575 Shadow damage to all enemy players within 50000 yards. In addition, the targets will take increasing Shadow damage per second. This effect is removed when the target has more than 90% health.

Phase 1 Abilities
Necrotic Plague
A disease that inflicts 50,000 Shadow damage every 5 seconds for 15 seconds. If the effect ends (it expires, host dies, or is removed with a spell), the plague will jump to another target. If the effect is removed with a spell, the plague will lose a stack; if the target dies while affected, it will gain a stack. Whenever the plague jumps, the "Lich King's power will increase."

Summon Shambling Horror
Summons a Shambling Horror.

Summon Drudge Ghouls
Summons 3 Drudge Ghouls.

Shambling Horror Abilities
Shockwave
Inflicts 150% weapon damage and stuns all targets in a frontal cone.

Enrage
Increases Physical damage by 200%.

Transition Phase Abilities
Remorseless Winter
Inflicts 7,069 to 7,931 Frost damage every second to players within 45 yards.

Pain and Suffering
Inflicts 2,828 to 3,172 Shadow damage to enemies in a frontal cone, as well as an additional 500 Shadow damage every 3 seconds, stacking up to 5 times.

Summon Ice Sphere
Summons 1 Ice Sphere.

Summon Raging Spirit
Summons 1 Raging Spirit.

Quake
Causes the outermost ring of the Frozen Throne platform to collapse.

Ice Sphere Abilities
Ice Pulse
Inflicts 5,000 Frost damage over time. Has 5 yards range.

Ice Burst
Inflicts 9,425 to 10,575 Frost damage to all enemies within 10 yards, knocking them back. Used when the Sphere reaches its target.

Raging Spirit Ability
Soul Shriek
Inflicts 18,850 to 21,150 Shadow damage and silences the affected targets for 5 seconds. Targets a frontal cone.

Phase 2 Abilities
Soul Reaper
Inflicts 50,000 Shadow damage and increases the Lich King's physical damage by 100% after 5 seconds. Used on the current tank.

Defile
Inflicts 3,000 Shadow damage to all players in the targeted area. Every time a player takes damage from this, Defile's damage and area increase.

Summon Val'kyr Shadowguard
Summons 1 Val'kyr Shadowguard.

Val'kyr Shadowguard Ability
Grab
Grabs a random player and slowly carries them away from the platform. If not killed before she leaves the Frozen Throne, the Val'kyr will drop her target to their death.

Phase 3 Abilities
Soul Reaper
Inflicts 50,000 Shadow damage and increases the Lich King's physical damage by 100% after 5 seconds. Used on the current tank.

Defile
Inflicts 3,000 Shadow damage to all players in the targeted area. Every time a player takes damage from this, Defile's damage and area increase.

Harvest Soul
Inflicts 7,500 Shadow damage every second for 6 seconds. If the target is still alive after the channel is over, their soul will be transferred to Frostmourne.

Vile Spirits
Summons 10 Vile Spirits that become active after 30 seconds.

Val'kyr Shadowguard Ability
Spirit Burst
Sacrifices the Vile Spirit, inflicting 14,138 to 15,862 Shadow damage to players within 5 yards.

Final Ability
Fury of Frostmourne
Deals 1000000 Shadow damage to all enemies and rendering them unable to release spirit or resurrect.

Carnathagia   <Voracity> Anvilmar (US) 09 Feb 2010 11:59 3.3.2
 

I'm curious why it is advised for ranged to spread out in phase 1. We had success with stacking the ranged and healers to maximize the burst healing for Infest.

Dethkrik   <War Machine> Turalyon (US) 09 Feb 2010 15:11 3.3.2
Article author

They don't necessarily need to spread out any particular range from each other or anything of that nature. They just need to be standing away from the OT so that Necrotic Plague doesn't jump to them when dispelled or an add dies.

I suppose spread was a poor choice of words in that instance.

Tiorda   <Kill Order> Gorgonnash (US) 09 Feb 2010 02:43 3.3.2
 

Tonight we tested the Val'kyrs as far as them not being snareable...hamstring and chains of ice both worked. Stuns, obviously, worked as well.

Dethkrik   <War Machine> Turalyon (US) 09 Feb 2010 08:14 3.3.2
Article author

Awesome, thanks for the info.

Dethkrik   <War Machine> Turalyon (US) 08 Feb 2010 07:23 3.3.2
Article author

Update:

As of when I made the guide I hadn't found any evidence that the Drudge Ghouls could pick up the Necrotic Plague, but it does appear they can, so the OT should grab the Drudge Ghouls also to help build the Necrotic Plague stacks, which should make killing the adds faster overall.

Aozotorp   <Cataclysm> Khaz Modan (US) 07 Feb 2010 20:54 3.3.2
 

Ok thanks just wanted to clarify that. Great guide very helpful.

Dethkrik   <War Machine> Turalyon (US) 06 Feb 2010 22:36 3.3.2
Article author

It definitely seems you should have a taunt rotation after Soul Reaper. 40k at the same time as a melee hit would insta-gib any tank. Plus, nothing else in Phase 2 or 3 needs to be tanked so there isn't really a reason not to.

Aozotorp   <Cataclysm> Khaz Modan (US) 05 Feb 2010 18:14 3.3.2
 

Don't see anything about a taunt rotation in P2 is it just healed through then as the OT dps's or should the OT be prepared to taunt each time the tank gets the debuff?

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