Lich King ( Icecrown Citadel tactics ) The Lich King is the final boss of Icecrown Citadel and the final major encounter of " . This boss has been available since February 2 , 2010 on US servers and February 3 on EU servers . The Lich King is a long and challenging battle for survival . All classes are tested to the limits of their abilities , in particular all raid members have to react quickly to various abilities , often several at the same time . The encounter is rather unforgiving ; most players must react properly in various situations , and all players get ample opportunity to commit mistakes which then wipe the raid . This encounter is a fitting end to Wrath of the Lich King and on par with Yogg - Saron in Ulduar . Abilities . The Lich King melees for roughly 40 , 000 on an item level 264 geared tank on 25 - player difficulty . The Lich King enrages after 15 minutes of combat , gaining 900 % damage and 150 % attack speed . However , he is notably still affected by taunt abilities . Phase 2 . The Lich King retains Infest . Phase 3 . The Lich King retains Soul Reaper and Defile . Preparation . The fight requires the standard raid composition of 2 / 3 Tanks and 3 / 5 healers ( 10 / 25 player ) , while learning the encounter more healers can help . No resistance or other special gear is required . Discipline Priests are arguably the best healers for this encounter , as their bubbles help control both infest and defiles . Tactics . Phase 1 . During Phase 1 , the Lich King should be tanked by the main tank at a spot near the edge of the platform . On the phase transition this gives Arthas a greater distance to travel before casting Remorseless Winter ; thus , the raid gets more time to react and a shorter distance to run . Melee sets up behind him , ranged a few yards away , even closer to the edge of the platform . 15 yards to the side of Arthas , the off tank ( s ) set up to tank the adds . Or the raid can set - up as in the diagram with the main tanking backing up to ranged as the Lich King reaches about 72 % . Ranged and the off tank can stand on the outer edge for phase 1 , simplifying the fight for the first transition . The raid should single target dps Arthas , AoE should not be used , so that dps does not aggro the ghouls . The off tank ( s ) should use a ranged ability to try to aggro all the ghouls . A DK ' s Death and Decay works well . Adds on the ranged or the main tank , can make phase 1 . 5 more difficult than it needs to be . Ideally , all the adds are on the off tank as phase 1 . 5 starts , and they are killed by the Necrotic Plague mechanism , freeing up all dps to focus on other targets . Harmless ghouls and very dangerous Shambling Horrors spawn during the phase . Horrors have a frontal cleave and an extremely dangerous enrage . The enrage can be tranquilized , stunned , or taken care of by a Rogue . A Hunter or Rogue does not have to be part of the raid . A 70 K raid buffed tank can survive the enrages . Cool - downs can be used as the 2nd Horror emerges . The adds have huge health pools . Horrors about 3 , 000 , 000 and ghouls about 250 , 000 . Attempting to dps them down seems to be a bad idea . If any stray ghouls survive into phase 2 , have the main tank pick them up , and assume they will die to AoEs . The off tank in phase 1 . 5 can attempt to taunt them one at a time to their position , where they should die to the plague . The adds are mostly killed using the Necrotic Plague mechanism . Every 15 seconds Arthas applies the Necrotic Plague debuff to a player . The plague is a DoT which deals 50k to its target every 5 seconds . Whenever its target dies , or the plague is dispelled , it jumps to any nearby " unit " - which includes adds . The trick is to have debuffed players run next to the adds and dispel them there , so the plague jumps to an add . The plague also stacks ; this means the longer the phase lasts , the faster the adds die . This can be used to kill the Shambling Horrors , because in heroic mode , even the highest dps raids cannot spare the time to switch to the Horrors . At 10 stacks , this debuff deals 500 , 000 per 5 seconds . Drudge Ghouls can be used to get higher Necrotic Plague stacks before placing it on the Shambling Horror . Each time the plague debuff jumps , Arthas gains one more stack of Plague Siphon , each of which increases his damage dealt by 2 % . At about 40 stacks tanks get one - shotted , thus the plague must not jump too frequently . If you have too many adds up transitioning into phase 2 , consider slowing dps in phase 1 to allow more Necrotic Plagues to be placed onto the ghoul pile . Each plague placed on the ghouls , should stack up to where it will one shot ghouls , and do huge damage to the Horrors . The Lich King also periodically casts Infest , which requires the target ' s HP to be topped off quickly to remove the dot . A Discipline priest can proactively shield the raid between Infest casts , helping to minimize the amount the raid needs to be healed . This phase ends at 70 % . Arthas should have about 15 stacks of Plague Siphon . When the last add dies , a player ( usually the tank ) gets the Plague stack ( usually about 20 ) . Phase 1 . 5 . At 70 % health a 1 minute transition phase takes place . The Lich King moves to the center of the arena , away from the tank , and begins casting Remorseless Winter ( a 45 yard AoE ) . When he moves away from the tank , the raid must flee on the edge of the platform to get out of the 45 yard range . He goes on casting Pain and Suffering , and summons a Raging Spirit every 20 seconds . Immediately after the third Spirit , Arthas casts Quake , which destroys the outer ring of the platform - the raid has 2 . 5 seconds to move away from the edge . During the transition phase , one player usually gets the plague stack from the last add . This player must move about 10 yards away from everyone else and then get dispelled , this removes the plague ( and Plague Siphon from Arthas ) without further jumps . Raging Spirits melee very hard and possess a frontal cone - area silence ability . They must be killed quickly , so that only one is up in phase two . The Raging Spirits tank can turn their back to the ghouls tank as in the diagram , allowing them to tab target the new Raging Spirits . If they are facing the ghouls tank , tabbing usually brings up ghouls . Keep dispelling the Raging Spirits tank , so they can use their taunt . Frost orbs head towards the raid and explode if they reach it . They have few HP and can be killed by ranged DPS . Pain and Suffering is a stacking DOT that is applied to random raid members . It spreads to nearby players so the raid should spread out some . On 10 , one ranged dps should be assigned to the orbs . At 50 seconds into the phase , up to 3 ranged dps should be attacking the orbs . On 10 , the orbs appears to spawn every 6 seconds . Given the 45 yards to the Lich King , 2 orbs are usually up for Quake . Ranged steps onto the platform for Quake , and dpses them . When the Lich King kneels and lights up the ground around him , the raid must return to the center area of the platform before the edges of the platform break away ( The area that is about to fall becomes very obvious ) . Continue to kill any remaining Raging Spirits , but the main tank should pick up the Lich King again as quickly as possible . Phase 2 . During Phase 2 , the raid must master two different abilities , each of which requires different positioning . The Val ' kyrs pick up raid members , carry them to the closest edge of the platform and drop them to their death . To avoid them , the raid should be huddled up closely near the center of the platform , so that the Val ' kyr have the longest path to the edge . They must be snared , slowed and nuked . Defile is an AoE which is centered on a random raid member . Whenever it deals damage , it grows larger and increases its damage output . This ability is extremely dangerous and the major cause of wipes in this encounter . In order to avoid Defile , the raid must be spread out . You may want to consider using preassigned spread out positions on 10 , to try to control the defiles . Right after the start of Phase 2 , Val ' kyrs come up next . Thus initially , the raid should group near the center , everyone on the same side ( so that all Val ' kyr victims are carried in the same direction ) . Immediately after the Val ' kyr have picked up their targets , the raid should spread out , because after 5 seconds , the first Defile takes place . The area in which the Val ' kyr drops their victims is right where the outer ring that dropped away used to be . If a Val ' kyr is summoned while the Lich King is close to the transition phase , it might be more valuable to push him to the next phase instead of killing the Val ' kyr . Using 45 % as the push number , seems to work . As long as a defile is not imminent , you should be OK . When the Lich King resurfaces the outer ring , the victim is dropped safely on the edge , outside of Remorseless Winter . Have the Main tank lead the raid to an edge while burning LK . You may have a phase 2 break through when you emphasize defile avoidance more than Valk killing . Full attention to spreading for defile and trusting your dps to burn the Valk after defile is placed . Every time the defile is not placed in the middle , you have a better situation to deal with the next Valk , as the middle is still open for that . Soul Reaper is a very damaging debuff applied on the Lich King ' s current tank every 30 seconds . It ' s a good idea to switch tank after Soul Reaper , otherwise a combination of Soul Reaper tick plus melee hit may instantly kill the tank . Phase 2 . 5 – Remorseless Winter . When the Lich King falls below 40 % , he casts Remorseless Winter again , forcing the raid to the edge of the platform . The transition is similar to the first Remorseless Winter . This time every 15 sec a Raging Spirit spawns for a total of four . Some raids like to use DPS cooldowns after 15 sec , so the Raging Spirits die fast . After one minute , Phase 3 starts . Phase 3 . During Phase 3 , Arthas continues to cast Defile and Soul Reaper . Instead of Val ' kyr , he summons Vile Spirits . Generally , the raid should be well distributed during Phase 3 , to minimize the danger from Defile . At the start of Phase 3 1 - 2 Raging Spirits are up , so melee DPS should kill them , while ranged deal with the Vile Spirits . Vile Spirits ( 10 - man normal : 66 , 000 health ; 25 - man normal : 200 , 000 ) move toward raid members and explode when they reach their target . The most obvious way to deal with them is to AoE kill them before they start moving — fire mages , shadow priests , affliction warlocks and moonkins are very effective at this - but only if the spirits are grouped closely together . The Spirits move very quickly at start but slow down over time , thus snares are helpful . An effective strategy is to drag the Lich King to one edge of the room and then drag him all the way to the opposite side after Vile Spirits spawn , and kite them through Earthbind Totems and frost traps . They start with a small amount of threat on a random player but they " can " be both taunted and outthreated . The tank who is not tanking can taunt the Spirits onto him and absorb their damage . This soaking method , may be the simplest way . The off tank can take from 3 to 4 spirits at time . The kite brings the raid away from the spawned Spirits , and the off tank intercepts them as they move to the raid . With the zone buff , simply spreading out for the Spirits does work . A kite should still help , as the Spirits may stagger the Spirits damage release . Melee can separate from the boss as the Spirits come down , as the dps requirement on the Lich King is low for this phase . If your raid is low on ranged DPS , attempting to kill them may not be an effective strategy , and the phase can be survived by simply kiting the spirits and staying spread out . Arthas also casts a new spell called Harvest Soul every 70 seconds on a random raid member , which causes 45 , 000 ( 25 - man 90 , 000 ) damage over six seconds . Victims who survive this are sucked into Frostmourne ( see below ) . After 15 minutes from when he was engaged Arthas enrages . His enrage gives him an enormous buff to his damage output , but he does not one - shot the raid when he enrages like some other major bosses ; therefore it is still possible to push him into phase four ( and thus defeat him ) after he enrages . Inside Frostmourne . Inside Frostmourne , King Terenas ' spirit ( an NPC ) fights with the Spirit Warden ( a mob ) . Upon entering , players get the Harvest Soul buff , which increases damage done by 100 % , but kills after 60 seconds . The buff is removed when leaving Frostmourne . Players leave Frostmourne when the mob is dead . This means that the add must die within 60 seconds . The NPC deals nearly enough damage to do the job by himself , but he does need support . The channeled spell from the add ( Soul Rip ) alone is enough to kill Terenas - it must be interrupted . Tanks should take over the add . Healing classes should heal Terenas . All classes should DPS the add as much as they can , and interrupt Soul Rip . Stunning the add is also very helpful , since it heals itself for 50 % damage dealt . It is vulnerable to most forms of CC and interrupts that affect Undead creatures . If either the player or the NPC die inside Frostmourne , Arthas gains + 200 % damage for 15 seconds . Phase 4 . At 10 % health , the Lich King casts Fury of Frostmourne . This kills all members of the raid and renders them unable to release their spirits ( clicking the button displays the message " Your soul belongs to the Lich King " ) . The Lich King and Tirion will have an exchange during which Tirion destroys Frostmourne using the Ashbringer . The ghost of Terenas Menethil II will appear and resurrect the raid while the spirits that were trapped inside Frostmourne hold the Lich King in place . All raid members who have died during the fight , even from being dropped off the edge by the val ' kyr , are resurrected by Terenas at this point . The Lich King becomes immobilized , and players can finish off the Lich King at their leisure . Should the raid decide not to accept Terenas Menethil ' s resurrection , Tirion Fordring melees the Lich King to death ; which takes approximately one hour . All players still receive the achievement and loot if he dies in this fashion . Release Bug . After the Lich King uses Fury of Frostmourne , it is normally impossible to release one ' s spirit . However , once Frostmourne is broken , there is a moment when the block on the release button is lifted , and players can release and be sent out of the instance ( losing the kill credit ) . The obvious way to avoid this glitch is to avoid attempting to release at any time . Heroic Difficulty . Shadow Traps in phase one spawn on people ' s locations and after a few seconds launch anyone still on them 1 , 000 yards off the platform ( in an extremely comical manner ) . Val ' kyr HP triples , however they drop their target at 50 % health and fly above the raid and begin casting Siphon Life on the raid until they are killed . In the third phase the entire raid will be pulled into Frostmourne instead of one person . Wicked Spirits will fall from above which must be dodged / killed . Any deaths will still result in Harvested Soul being applied to the Lich King and it can stack . Phase four is unchanged . Loot . Additionally to the loot listed in the tables below , if the Lich King is defeated while someone in the raid has equipped on any 25 man difficulty , he will also drop the , which is only lootable by the wielder of Shadowmourne .