Anub’Rekhan Strategy Guide – Naxxramas (25)

wotlk classic naxxramas anub'rekhan featured image
  • Author: Passion
  • Date: August 29, 2022
  • Updated: September 20, 2022
  • Expansion: WotLK Classic

Anub’Rekhan is the first boss in the Arachnid Quarter of Naxxramas and is generally considered one of the easiest fights in Naxxramas,

Anub’Rekhan, one of the finest Spider Lords of Azjol’Nerub, was brought under control of the Scourge when he and his commander, Anub’Arak, were finally defeated by the Lich King many years ago. It is said he was the most loyal of Anub’Arak’s commanders.” –Commander Eligor Dawnbringer

This guide will offer a detailed, step-by-step tutorial on how to deal with Anub’Rekhan’s swarms of locusts, scarabs, and crypt guards.

Role Summaries

  • Make sure you aren’t in front of Crypt Guards unless you are the off-tank
  • Don’t line up with other raid members to avoid Impale hitting multiple targets
  • Be ready to create distance during Locust Swarm
  • Help handle Corpse Scarabs however you can
  • Stay at least 30-yards away from Anub’Rekhan during Locust Swarm

Main-Tank

  • Be ready to kite during Locust Swarm, staying at least 30-yards away from Anub’Rekhan
  • Avoid being in front of the Crypt Guards so you don’t get hit by Cleave

Off-Tank

Abilities

There really isn’t much to this fight. Anub’Rekhan will periodically cast Impale, shooting spikes at a random player and the main counterplay is simply to not be stacked in a line to minimize how many people are hit by this.

Occasionally Anub’Rekhan will use Locust Swarm, surrounding himself with locusts, during this time the tank should simply kite him around the edges of the room while the raid makes sure to keep their distance from the damage and pacification debuff.

Anub’Rekhan starts the fight with two Crypt Guards that Cleave, so DPS should be careful to not be in front of them.

Anub’Rekhan

Anub’Rekhan shoots a straight line towards a random player, dealing 5688 to 7312 Physical damage to every player hit, knocking them into the air. To manage this, try to minimize how many players are directly lined up at any given time so that as few people as possible are hit by this.

Every so often Anub’Rekhan will slow down to 75% speed and surround himself with locusts. These locusts deal 875 to 1125 Nature damage to all targets within 30-yards as well as pacifying them, making them unable to attack or cast. This effect will linger for up to 6-seconds, making it vital that you don’t get it at all. Tanks will often deal with this by kiting Anub’Rekhan around the arena.

Any corpse in the room will spawn 5-10 Corpse Scarabs that will spread out and attack players at random. These are easily dealt with by rooting them and AoEing them down.

Crypt Guard

Crypt Guards Cleave in front of them, dealing damage to up to 3-targets. Avoid this by only having your tanks in front and everyone else behind.

This is a stacking DoT that deals 500 Nature damage per stack every 2-seconds. This makes it critical that the Crypt Guards die as fast as possible to avoid your tank being overwhelmed by stacks.

At low health, Crypt Guards enter Frenzy, dealing 50% more damage and increasing their attack speed by 60%. This should be a very brief period and isn’t much of a concern. If need be, use defensives to handle the extra damage.

Raid Composition & Preparation

This fight has no specific class or spec requirements.

You will want between 4-7 Healers for this fight.

There are no strict requirements for DPS classes or specs here, but it is useful to have a Hunter for Aspect of the Pack and a Mage for Frost Nova. Otherwise, you simply want a combination of good raid buffs and debuffs, as well as the best players you can muster.

You will need 2-3 tanks for this fight: 1 main-tank for Anub’Rekhan, preferably one that can easily kite him, and 1-2 off-tanks for the Crypt Guards and Corpse Scarabs.

The Pull

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Both tanks will need to move in together, quickly grabbing the boss and the Crypt Guards respectively. These are ideally tanked close to each other, making sure the Anub’Rekhan tank isn’t in range of the Crypt Guards Cleave.

The Fight

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The main-tank will drag Anub’Rekhan back to where he is originally standing, while the off-tanks pick up the Crypt Guards and bring them closer. Everyone should try to make sure there is no one between them and the boss so that Impale only hits one target. This usually means forming a semi-circle around Anub’Rekhan.

The DPS should quickly focus down the Crypt Guards to get them out of the fight, and once they are dead the DPS can swap to Anub’Rekhan.

Mages should be positioned close to the Crypt Guards when they die so that they can immediately Frost Nova the Corpse Scarabs that will spawn. Once they are frozen, ranged DPS can quickly burn them down and then swap back to the boss.

When Anub’Rekhan begins casting Locust Swarm, the main-tank should quickly run away from the boss, sticking close to the edge of the arena. They will need to maintain 30-yards from the boss at all times during this spell. Hunters can help the kiting with Aspect of the Pack. DPS and Healers need to make sure they are also 30-yards from Anub’Rekhan, typically this is done by simply staying closer to the center of the arena.

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During Locust Swarm Anub’Rekhan will spawn another Crypt Guard, which should be picked up by the off-tank and dragged to the opposite side of the room from Anub’Rekhan. Melee DPS can focus on this Crypt Guard while ranged DPS can focus on either Anub’Rekhan or the Crypt Guard.

Here are some of the main things that can typically go wrong in this fight:

  • Healers are too close to Anub’Rekhan during Locust Swarm, silencing them and causing healing to fall behind
  • Corpse Scarab aren’t quickly dealt with, instead spreading around the room causing chaos
  • Crypt Guards aren’t focused, stacking Acid Spit on the tank and eventually killing them
  • Players are positioned poorly and die to Crypt Guard Cleave
  • Impale hits more targets than necessary, needing a lot more healing

As long as your raid knows how this fight works, this should be a piece of cake and an almost free kill. Congratulations on defeating the first boss of the Arachnid Quarter, next is Grand Widow Faerlina, posing significantly more challenges.

 

About the Author

Passion

I love MMOs of all shades, especially the nitty gritty numbers parts of them. You might recognize me from the Shadow Priest discord, otherwise I play a little bit of everything, especially games with support roles available.
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