Introduction

The first fight in the Naxxramas Death Knight wing. Instructor Razuvious is a powerful Death Knight. Instructor Razuvious himself is too powerful for a player to tank, so instead you mind control his adds and use them to tank him.

Raid Setup

25 Man
1-2 tanks, 2 priests, 4-6 healers (as well as the 2 mind controlling priests), and a mix of melee and ranged DPS.

10 Man
2 tanks. 2-3 healers, and a mix of melee and ranged DPS.

Gear Requirements

As a whole, the fight doesn’t require any special equipment. People should use the best they have to fulfil their roles most effectively. There is no enrage timer.

Buffs and Consumables

All standard raid buffs are recommended.

Boss Abilities

25 Man - 10,120,000 HP
Melee hit – Up to 70,000 physical damage.

10 Man - 3,350,000 HP
Melee hit – Up to 70,000 physical damage.

Disrupting Shout - This is a large AoE attack which deals 7125-7875 damage (4275-4725 in 10 man) to everyone in the raid. It can only be avoided with immunity effects (Ice block, Divine Shield etc). It has no cool down and is used whenever Instructor Razuvious “feels” like it, which is approximately every 15-20 seconds. This ability does not interrupt Mind Control or the Mind Control Crystals.

Jagged Knife - This is a ranged attack that instantly deals 5088-5912 damage to a player (or Death Knight Understudy) then applies a 5 second debuff dealing 2000 damage per second to that player (or Death Knight Understudy). It has no cool down and is used whenever Instructor Razuvious “feels” like it, which is approximately every 10-15 seconds. It can only be removed via immunity effects (Ice Block, Divine Shield etc). This ability does not interrupt Mind Control or the Mind Control Crystals.

Unbalancing Strike - This ability hits for 350% weapon damage on Instructor Razuvious’ current target and applies a debuff reducing the target’s defence by 100 for 6 seconds. If a player is hit by this it will kill them in one shot. Fortunately, no player is ever required to tank Instructor Razuvious directly, so no player should ever be hit by this ability. It is used approximately every 6-8 seconds.

Death Knight Understudies

These 4 Death Knights in training (there are just 2 of them in 10 man) are your tanks for the boss. They have approximately 400 000 HP.

Melee Hit - Approximately 4000 physical damage.

Abilities
Blood Strike – This is an instant attack dealing 50% weapon damage, with a 4 second cooldown.

Taunt - Taunts the target, forcing it into attacking the Death Knight Understudy. All threat based off any previous tank will be transferred to the Death Knight Understudy when using this ability, allowing DPS to continue without pausing during a tank swap. It has a 20 second cooldown.

Bone Barrier – This barrier reduces all damage taken by the Death Knight Understudy by 75% for 20 seconds. It has a 30 second cooldown.

Phase 1

Positioning

The Pull

The fight will start with a paladin (if available, however not necessary) placing Blessing of Protection on a priest. The priest will then run into range of a Death Knight Understudy to mind control it and do so. Once Mind Controlled, the priest will use Bone Barrier and Taunt the boss. The 3 other Death Knight Understudies will be picked up by the tanks and kept off-tanked for mind controlling. The second priest will mind control the second Death Knight Understudy 10 seconds after the first to avoid both breaking mind control at the same time.

In 10 Man there will be 2 crystals used to mind control the Death Knight Understudies. They are situated out of range of the aggro radius of the boss and Death Knight Understudies. These crystals will be used 10 seconds apart by your 2 tanks to pull. The crystals have no cast time. Pulling in 10 Man involves the first tank using a mind control crystal, using Bone Shield and then Taunting the boss. The second tank will then use the other mind control crystal 10 seconds afterwards to avoid both Death Knight Understudies breaking the Mind Control at the same time.

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The Fight

Once the first Death Knight Understudy has been mind controlled they will need to use Bone Barrier and Taunt the boss as quickly as possible. From now on these Death Knight Understudies will be the tanks for the boss. Once the boss has been Taunted, the rest of the raid can begin to DPS him without holding back, the Death Knight Understudies will not lose aggro.

The rotation your mind controllers will need to use to avoid as much damage on the Death Knight Understudies as possible involves good communication. As the Bone Barrier is on a 30 second cool down with only a 20 second up time, as soon as the first Death Knight Understudy’s Bone Barrier wears out, the second Death Knight Understudy will use their Bone Barrier and then Taunt the boss. From now on, every time a Taunt is available, Bone Barrier will be used first and then the boss immediately Taunted between the 2 Death Knight Understudies.

Here is a quick rundown of how this takes place.

0 Seconds – Death Knight Understudy 1 is Mind Controlled, uses Bone Barrier and Taunts the boss.
10 Seconds – Death Knight Understudy 2 is Mind Controlled.
20 Seconds – Death Knight Understudy 2 Uses Bone Barrier and Taunts the boss.
30 Seconds – Death Knight Understudy 1′s Bone Barrier is off cool down.
40 seconds – Death Knight Understudy 1 Uses Bone Barrier and Taunts the boss.
50 seconds – Death Knight Understudy 2′s Bone Barrier is off cool down.
60 Seconds – Death Knight Understudy 2 uses Bone Barrier and Taunts the boss. Repeat from 20 seconds.

Due to these Death Knight Understudies being your effective tanks, they will need to be healed as usual due to the large amount of damage they will take, even through Bone Barrier. Using Blood Strike helps your raid do DPS and maintain threat, however it is not vital that it be used.

After a period, the Death Knight Understudies will eventually break the Mind Control. This is not an issue; just re-Mind Control it as the boss will start attacking the other Death Knight Understudy. Although Bone Barrier may not be available to this other Death Knight Understudy, he will still be able to tank the boss for some time.

The final point to mention is the raid damage taken from Jagged Knife and Disrupting Shout. This is relatively low and can be easily out healed by 2 or 3 healers, with another 2 healers constantly healing the Death Knight Understudies. When the raid is fully topped off those healing the raid can assist by helping to heal the Death Knight Understudies.

Once the boss is dead release the Death Knight Understudies from Mind Control and kill them.

Notes for 25 Man Only
In 25 man, if a Death Knight Understudy happens to die, just have your other Death Knight Understudy Taunt Instructor Razuvious while the priest who Mind Controlled the dead Death Knight Understudy Mind Controls a spare Death Knight Understudy from the off tank and continues the fight. Aggro is not an issue and the boss should attack the second Death Knight Understudy when it Taunts.

If a Death Knight Understudy who is tanking does become very low on HP during the fight, the priest can choose one of the other 2 Death Knight Understudies being off tanked to continue the rotation. This is done by running the current low HP Death Knight Understudy up to the off tank while the other Death Knight Understudy is tanking the boss. At the off tank, break the Mind Control and have your off tank pick up the low health Death Knight Understudy . Then Mind Control a new mob with is high HP and continue the fight as before.

Class Notes

Main Tank (Death Knight Understudies): Ensure Bone Barrier is up at all times when you are tanking the Boss. He will still hit you very hard so giving your healers an easier time is good.

Other Tanks (Players – 25 man only): Off-tank the two spare Death Knight Understudies in case they are required.

Healers: Heal the tanking Death Knight Understudies and the raid. It is a very predictable fight to heal. Ideally, have 2 people on the raid and 3 on the Death Knight Understudies (1 person on the raid and 2 on the Death Knight Understudies in 10 man). If the raid is topped off, the raid healers can assist in healing the Death Knight Understudies.

Ranged DPS: DPS the boss as hard as possible. You will not aggro him.

Melee DPS: DPS the boss as hard as possible, you will not aggro him.