Naxxramas ( original ) Naxxramas was originally a 40 - man raid instance floating above the Eastern Plaguelands . It was a massive necropolis and had the unquestionable honor of serving as the seat of one of the Lich King ' s most powerful officers , the dreaded lich Kel ' Thuzad . The instance was regarded as the most difficult before the release of Burning Crusade , and should not be attempted at level 60 without at least 40 well - equipped ( preferably Tier 2 or Tier 2 . 5 armor ) players . Naxxramas was also the home of many of the most powerful items of the pre - BC era , and 60 + quests with rewards such as and all Tier 3 items available in the game . With the release of The Burning Crusade , finishing this instance still required 25 - 30 well - equipped level 70 players . The dungeon was added in patch 1 . 11 , making it the last non - expansion instance added to the core game as well as the last 40 man instance . In the " " expansion , Naxxramas was moved to Northrend and retuned to be the introductory level 80 raid dungeon . Like all other Wrath raid dungeons , Naxxramas has both 10 - man and 25 - man versions . The move is claimed by some to not be a retcon , but a progression of the storyline . Naxxramas was indeed in the Eastern Plaguelands , but after Kel ' Thuzad ' s phylactery was given to the treacherous Father Inigo Montoy , the lich was able to revive himself and make the transition along with his fortress . While at least one boss does not return in the new Naxxramas , there is no explanation yet as how the other bosses " survived " destruction during the original campaign led by the Argent Dawn . Gaining entry . To enter Naxxramas , you had to be attuned through the Argent Dawn by completing , whose cost varied based on reputation level . Attunement costs . If you choose to become exalted with the Argent Dawn , you can complete the attunement for free ; however , this requires a great deal of work . The reputation reward for the entrance quest is 1000 rep for a character currently Honored or Revered . For more information on the Naxxramas attunement quest or the Argent Dawn , see the following resources : Teleport spire . The teleport spire in the middle of the Plaguewood was the only way into Naxxramas . After becoming attuned , one must step onto the runic circle in the center of the spire to teleport into Naxxramas ' center chamber . In Patch 3 . 0 . 2 , the entire structure was moved directly underground , with another Plague cauldron added to its place . Dungeon information . Although glimpses of snowy terrain can be seen out the windows in each corner of Kel ' thuzad ' s room , it is important to note that his chamber is still within Naxxramas . What you are seeing out those windows is Northrend , through portals from which Scourge emerge during the encounter . Structure . Naxxramas is structured like a giant wheel . Players enter at the center of the Necropolis , and then choose one of four wings to progress through : Progress . Each boss drops a different quest token for Tier 3 sets . Each boss and its drops are listed in the boss section below . On the wall of each boss chamber and various places are some Frozen Rune objects , which requires a Word of Thawing ( a tradeable drop from trash mobs ) to defrost . Defrosting a Frozen Rune yields a number ( 4 - 6 ) of tradeable blue " Frozen Rune " items that are used in crafting frost resistance gear . Frozen Runes are also consumables , behaving like Greater Fire Protection potions ( 1500 - 2500 fire damage absorbed for 1 hour ) . Due to the high quality and projected need as reagents for the craftable Frost Resist recipes , it is not advisable to use these runes as consumables . You have to beat the last boss in each wing to progress . Once you beat all four wings , you get a chance to fight Sapphiron . After you beat Sapphiron you may challenge Kel ' Thuzad . Encounters and bosses . Below is the full list of bosses ( in parentheses are the Tier 3 armor part the boss drops quest item for ) . There are fifteen boss encounters in Naxxramas . First full Naxx clear was done by the Horde guild on Magtheridon ( EU ) on September 7 , 2006 ( two and one - half months after Naxx came out on June 20th 2006 ) . The easiest wing is the Spider Wing , Instructor Razuvious being the easiest boss ( arguably comparable to Grobbulus , but Grobbulus sits behind a major gear check : Patchwerk ) . The Plague Wing bosses Noth and Heigan are on a similar level of difficulty of Anub ' Rekhan , but in different aspects ( Heigan is VERY difficult in the individual coordination aspect ) . Abomination wing bosses are in the middle ( with the exception of very easy Grobbulus ) , Patchwerk is commonly conceived as a hard gear check and healer ' s fight . The most difficult bosses , in order of rising difficulty , are Thaddius , Loatheb , Gothik the Harvester and the Four Horsemen . ( Thus , the wings below are listed in rising order of difficulty to fully clear . ) Resistances . Nature . The beginning parts of 3 of the 4 wings ( Plague , Spider , and Abomination ) are rich in Nature damage . This is good news for players who built up their nature resistance gear in Ahn ' Qiraj . Frost . Players will need a lot of frost resistance to fight the final bosses in Naxxramas . Kel ' Thuzad is a lich , but does not require a lot of frost resistance to defeat him . The Sapphiron encounter requires a very significant amount of Frost Resistance ( 150 - 200 ) , but is NOT frost - based like Ragnaros is fire - based . Frost resistance gear has proven to be rather scarce thus far , luckily , the Argent Dawn has made available several armor patterns that provide considerable frost resistance and bosses in Naxxramas drop very high quality epic frost resistance pieces . Shadow . Shadow is the third major resistance required . Death Knight s and Necromancer s use powerful shadow magic , and Kel ' Thuzad has a few shadow spells as well . The final boss in the Plague wing , Loatheb ( original ) , uses shadow based damage also . Shadow resist gear can be found scattered throughout various instances , so this shouldn ' t be a problem . Fire . Certain boss encounters need some fire resistance , like Grand Widow Faerlina and the Four Horsemen . Loot . Naxxramas loot included the Tier 3 raid set . For more details , see Naxxramas ( original ) loot .