Naxxramas

Naxxramas is an introductory level-80 raid dungeon floating above Dragonblight in Northrend. It is a Scourge necropolis, the seat of the archlich Kel'Thuzad.

The original incarnation of the dungeon was regarded as the most difficult pre-Burning Crusade raid, requiring 40 well-equipped, skilled players to complete. In the World of Warcraft: Wrath of the Lich King expansion, Naxxramas was moved to Northrend and retuned as an entry-level raid dungeon for level 80 players. Like all other Wrath raid dungeons, Naxxramas has both 10- and 25-player versions.

History
Years ago, the crypt lord Anub'arak led an army of undead warriors into the ancient nerubian ziggurat now known as Naxxramas. The Scourge forces overran the citadel, and under the will of the Lich King its corridors were transformed into a potent war machine. Dark magic tore the fortress from its subterranean home and lifted it into the sky. Hidden behind a thick layer of clouds, Naxxramas grew in strength. At the Lich King's bidding, the burgeoning wrath within the necropolis was unleashed upon the world.

It was then used as Kel'Thuzad's base of operations as he returned with it to Lordaeron where he spread the plague. Other sources say Obrahiim, the Traveler, a great skeletal architect, was pivotal in the conception of Naxxramas, hinting that it was altered or retooled. See the Compendium of Fallen Heroes for more details.

Due to his fighting a war against the Scarlet Crusade, the Argent Dawn, the Forsaken and the humans of the Alliance, as well as constant incursions of adventurers from every race and nation into the Scourge-controlled Plaguelands on a daily basis, the forces of Kel'Thuzad have been severely taxed to maintain the security of the necropolis. But now the gates of Naxxramas are open, and Kel'Thuzad's new forces are rapidly sweeping away all opposition to the Scourge.

World of Warcraft
The entrance to the dread citadel of Naxxramas, a rune portal, was located in the Plaguewood. Previously, all attempts to enter had been stymied by the magical wards placed upon the rune portal. The Argent Dawn devised a way to gain entry via arcane cloaking - an old cantrip of the Kirin Tor with a few modifications of Archmage Angela Dosantos.

During the first Scourge Invasion, the Scourge attacked Stormwind City, which later led to an Alliance counterattack. Bolvar Fordragon recruited Alliance heroes who raided Naxxramas and defeated Kel'Thuzad.

Wrath of the Lich King
Above the war-ravaged wastes of the Dragonblight, Naxxramas has returned with renewed fury. Kel'Thuzad, once again seated in the frigid heart of the necropolis, has laid siege to the Alliance fortress of Wintergarde Keep. As factions from around the world converge at the gate to Icecrown, the war against the Scourge enters its most pivotal hour. It is within Naxxramas that the tide of battle could turn against the Lich King... or irrevocably in his favor.

Raid setup

 * The 10-man version
 * Raid composition – three of the wings can be completed with 2 healers, 2 tanks, and 6 DPS, although a common setup (and one better suited for beginning Naxxramas) is 2 tanks, 3 healers, and 5 DPS.
 * General gear check – level 80 rares and/or epics from crafting or heroic dungeons.
 * Tanks: A good start is to have 540 Defense, 22,000 HP, and 21k Armor rating.
 * DPS: Ideally each DPS should have at least 1.5k DPS, 2.5k AP or 1350 Spell Power. Also a hit rating near 7.5% is also desirable.
 * Healers: Shoot for 1500 bonus heal (now equivalent to approximately 900 spell power) and 160 MP5.
 * The 25-man version
 * Raid composition – aim for 3-4 tanks, 6-7 healers and 14-16 DPS.
 * General gear check – level 80 epics from crafting and normal mode raids.
 * Tanks – at least ~25,000 unbuffed HP.
 * DPS spellcasters should have 17% to hit.

Naxxramas Loot
Naxxramas loot includes the Tier 7 raid sets, which are based on the Tier 3 raid sets that dropped in the original Naxxramas. There are two versions: The Tier 7 "Heroes'" sets from the normal mode 10-man, and the Tier 7.5 "Valorous" sets from the heroic mode 25-man. While these sets are inspired by the original Tier 3 sets, they have received significant model updates.

Since patch 4.0.1, 10 and 25 player both drop a total of 185 Justice Points.

Achievements

 * Just Can't Get Enough - Guild Edition

In Hearthstone
Naxxramas serves as the setting for Hearthstone 's first adventure: Curse of Naxxramas. The adventure feature encounters with each of the 15 bosses from the raid's second incarnation in both Normal and Heroic mode, offering in reward 30 new Naxxramas-themed cards for use in the rest of the game, featuring ghouls, zombies, nerubians and legendary minion versions of bosses such as Kel'Thuzad, Baron Rivendare and Feugen and Stalagg.

Additionally, the Naxxramas card back was rewarded for achieving Rank 20 in Ranked Season 4, which took place during July 2014. The flavor text reads: "The gooey center is Ooze slime. Don’t lick it."

Notes and trivia

 * From the corpses of the fallen, their armor was stripped and taken back to Naxxramas to be used for unknown purposes, desecrating it. The armor pieces were recovered by adventurers.
 * Naxxramas can be seen floating in the sky in the Blizzard World map in Overwatch. It is a restaurant called Snaxxramas.