Heigan the Unclean

Heigan the Unclean is the plague-maker of the Scourge and the second boss of the Plague Wing (the Plague Quarter) of Naxxramas. His floor is divided into strips that erupt with plague in a steady rhythm, and the raid has to move from strip to strip in time to survive. Players called it the "Heigan dance", and it became one of the most famous boss mechanics in World of Warcraft.

Background

Heigan was the mind behind the plague cauldrons that spread the undead plague through Lordaeron before the Third War. His plague corrupted not just the people of the north but its plants and animals too, and the whole region is now called the Plaguelands, much of it thanks to him. In the necropolis he works in the Plague Quarter with Noth the Plaguebringer and Loatheb.

The tunnel

In the original Naxxramas, the corridor leading to Heigan was a gauntlet. Plague Beasts with a disease aura and a heavy stomp came one at a time, along with grubs that slowed players and bats that charged random targets. The grubs and bats respawned every 30 seconds, so raids had to keep moving. Later versions of the raid removed the gauntlet.

Abilities

• [[forever:spell:29371]]: the floor of his room is split into four strips. Every few seconds, all but one strip erupts in plague, dealing heavy nature damage to anyone standing on it. The safe strip moves in a fixed order, back and forth across the room: 1, 2, 3, 4, 3, 2, 1 and so on.
• Mana Burn: a wave that burns the mana of nearby players and damages them for the amount burned.
• [[forever:spell:29998]]: a disease that halves the maximum health of players near him and damages them over time. It can be cured.
• Teleport: he sends three players into the Eye Stalk tunnel at the back of the room. They have to run back through it, killing [[forever:npc:16236]] on the way.
• Dancing phase: after about 90 seconds he teleports onto a raised platform for 45 seconds. A plague cloud covers the platform, and the eruptions speed up sharply. Then he comes back down and the cycle repeats.

Strategy

In the first phase, healers and ranged players stand on a safe spot near the entrance, out of reach of the eruptions. The tank moves Heigan from strip to strip ahead of each eruption, with the melee following, and healers keep Decrepit Fever cured. Players teleported to the Eye Stalk tunnel kill any stalks in their way and run back before the dancing phase, when the tunnel fills with poison.

When Heigan goes up to his platform, everyone has to leave it and dance. The whole raid stands at the edge of the current safe strip and steps into the next one the moment the eruption passes. Players learned that standing next to the border, rather than in the middle of a strip, was the key to never being caught. Latency made it harder: other players often appeared to be in the wrong place, so guides told everyone to move at their own pace.

The fight itself is not long, and the raid's damage matters less than its footwork. A raid that loses a few players to the dance every cycle soon runs out of healers.

Loot

From our database (patch 1.12):

Heigan drops the Tier 3 belt tokens (see Tier Sets). The [[forever:item:23019]] and [[forever:item:23033]] are frost resistance helmets for plate and mail wearers, built for the Sapphiron fight. The [[forever:item:23068]] are damage-dealing plate legs with 42 strength, and the [[forever:item:23036]] a healer's necklace. The [[forever:item:22726]] is a piece of Atiesh.

Quests

• [[forever:quest:9229]]: he has a small chance to drop [[forever:item:22708]], which starts a quest at Light's Hope Chapel.
• Tier 3: his tokens go into quests such as [[forever:quest:9083]] for rogues and [[forever:quest:9092]] for druids.

Trivia

• Warcraft Wiki notes that in Wrath of the Lich King, death knight players can ask Noth where Heigan is, and some of his rude answers poke fun at the Heigan dance.
• Warcraft Wiki credits Heigan's voice to Marc Graue.

Sources

• Heigan the Unclean (Classic), Warcraft Wiki
• Heigan the Unclean, Warcraft Wiki