Kel'Thuzad

Kel'Thuzad is a human archmage turned lich, the founder of the Cult of the Damned and the Lich King's ruler of the Eastern Plaguelands. In Classic he commands the Scourge from Naxxramas, the floating necropolis that opened in patch 1.11 (June 2006) as the last and hardest raid of the original game. He is its final boss, and very few guilds saw him die before The Burning Crusade arrived.

Biography

Archmage of Dalaran

Kel'Thuzad was a member of the Kirin Tor, the ruling council of mages in Dalaran. His interest in forbidden magic, necromancy above all, set him against his colleagues, and when the Lich King (then the orc shaman Ner'zhul, trapped in the Frozen Throne) reached out to him, he listened. He gave up his wealth and position, traveled to Northrend to meet his new master, and returned to Lordaeron to found the Cult of the Damned.

The plague

The cult spread its message among the poor and discontented of Lordaeron and prepared the way for the plague of undeath. Plagued grain was shipped out from granaries such as Andorhal, and the villages that ate it rose as the walking dead. This was the beginning of the Third War.

Prince Arthas Menethil and the paladin Jaina Proudmoore tracked the plague to Andorhal, where Arthas killed Kel'Thuzad. After Arthas fell to the Lich King himself, he carried Kel'Thuzad's remains to the Sunwell in Quel'Thalas and used its power to raise him again, this time as a lich. Kel'Thuzad then traveled to Dalaran, took the Book of Medivh, and summoned the demon lord Archimonde into the world.

In World of Warcraft

The Plaguelands

In Classic, Kel'Thuzad holds the Plaguelands for the Lich King. Quest text refers to him constantly: the Argent Dawn's The Scourge Cauldrons targets the plague cauldrons his Scourge maintains in Western Plaguelands, and Duke Nicholas Zverenhoff at Light's Hope calls Baron Rivendare "Kel'Thuzad's errand boy" in Above and Beyond. The necromancers trained at Scholomance and the cultists running Stratholme all answer to him.

Naxxramas

Naxxramas hovers over the Plaguewood in Eastern Plaguelands. To enter, players speak with [[forever:npc:16116]] at Light's Hope Chapel after reaching Honored reputation with the Argent Dawn. The raid is split into four quarters (Arachnid, Plague, Military and Construct), each with its own bosses; after all four are cleared, the raid faces the frost wyrm [[forever:npc:15989]] and finally [[forever:npc:15990]] in his chamber.

The fight

The encounter has three phases:

1. For roughly the first three to four minutes Kel'Thuzad stays inactive on his throne while waves of skeletons, abominations and soul weavers pour out of the alcoves around the room.
2. He then joins the fight. He casts Frostbolt and Frostbolt volleys, [[forever:spell:27808]] (which freezes a player, and anyone standing beside them, in a block of ice that deals heavy damage), [[forever:spell:27819]] (which burns a caster's mana and damages everyone near them), and Shadow Fissure, a void zone that kills anyone standing in it. [[forever:spell:28410]] takes control of players and turns them against the raid.
3. At 40% health, Guardians of Icecrown begin arriving from the Lich King and must be shackled or kited.

Frost resistance gear was required, and the fight was a hard test of raid coordination.

Loot

Kel'Thuzad drops the Tier 3 rings, such as [[forever:item:23060]] and [[forever:item:23059]], and weapons such as [[forever:item:22798]], [[forever:item:22802]], [[forever:item:23054]], [[forever:item:22812]], [[forever:item:22821]], [[forever:item:23577]] and [[forever:item:22799]]. Players on the Atiesh quest take the [[forever:item:22733]] from him.

He always drops [[forever:item:22520]]. The quest [[forever:quest:9120]] has the player bring it to Light's Hope, knowing full well that the lich could still reform from it.

Later history

In Wrath of the Lich King (2008), Naxxramas moved to Northrend's Dragonblight and was rebuilt as a level 80 raid, with Kel'Thuzad again its last boss. He returned in Shadowlands as a boss in the Sanctum of Domination (2021). He is also a playable hero in Heroes of the Storm.

Trivia

• Kel'Thuzad was a major character in Warcraft III: Reign of Chaos (2002).
• Classic Naxxramas was released about seven months before The Burning Crusade, and very few guilds cleared it before the expansion made it obsolete.

Sources

• Kel'Thuzad (Warcraft Wiki)
• Naxxramas (original) (Warcraft Wiki)
• Kel'Thuzad (tactics) (Warcraft Wiki)
• Patch 1.11.0 (Warcraft Wiki)