Sapphiron (Classic)

For the 10 and 25-man versions of the raid boss introduced in Wrath of the Lich King, see Sapphiron (tactics). For his backstory and lore, see Sapphiron.

Sapphiron
Gender	Male
Race	Frost wyrm (Undead)
Level	?? Boss
Reaction	Alliance Horde
Affiliation(s)	Scourge
Location	Frostwyrm Lair, Naxxramas
Status	Killable
Naxxramas (Classic) Spider Wing Anub'Rekhan Grand Widow Faerlina Maexxna (lore) (lore) (lore) Abomination Wing Patchwerk Grobbulus Gluth Thaddius (lore) (lore) (lore) (lore) Plague Wing Noth the Plaguebringer Heigan the Unclean Loatheb (lore) (lore) (lore) Deathknight Wing Instructor Razuvious Gothik the Harvester The Four Horsemen (lore) (lore) (lore) The Four Horsemen Lady Blaumeux Thane Korth'azz Highlord Mograine Sir Zeliek (lore) (lore) (lore) (lore) Frostwyrm Lair Sapphiron Kel'Thuzad (lore) (lore) Other NPCs Tarsis Kir-Moldir Master Craftsman Omarion Mr. Bigglesworth (lore) (lore) (lore) Loot

Sapphiron is the penultimate boss in Naxxramas. Previously an agent of the Blue dragonflight, Sapphiron was raised as a frost wyrm by Arthas Menethil to serve as the guardian of Kel'Thuzad's Chamber deep within the black citadel.

Sapphiron is located within the Frostwyrm Lair, which can only be accessed once players have defeated all 13 bosses within the four wings of the instance. Additionally, the encounter is designed to require sufficient frost resistance for all raid members, and should not be attempted otherwise.

Abilities

Sapphiron has 3,164,450 health and is immune to frost spells and taunt.

•  Frost Aura — Deals 600 frost damage every 2 sec. to all enemies for 6 sec. Keeps applying. Damage can be partially resisted. 1% chance to deal an extra tick of damage.
•  Chill — Sapphiron summons dense roaming blizzards that inflict 3063 to 3907 unresistable frost damage every 2 sec. and slows movement speed by 65% in the area of effect.
•  Cleave — Frontal cleave attack that deals additional damage and strikes up to 10 targets.
•  Life Drain — Every 24 seconds, Sapphiron curses 10 random targets with Life Drain. This effect drains 1750 to 2250 health and heals Sapphiron for 3500 to 4500 every 3 sec for 12 sec. Debuff can be resisted but the damage dealt cannot.
•  Tail Sweep — Inflicts 600 to 1000 physical damage on enemies in a cone behind the caster, knocking them back.
•  Berserk — At 15 minutes into the encounter Sapphiron goes into a berserker enrage, increasing the damage dealt by Frost Aura by 500%.

Air phase

Sapphiron takes to the air, knocking back all nearby players. This phase begins at 45 seconds and repeats every 67 seconds after Sapphiron lands, until he is reduced to 10% health and permanently grounded. Additionally, Chill and Frost Aura continue during this phase.

•  Icebolt — Encases the target in an iceblock, stunning the them and dealing 2625 to 3375 unresistable Frost damage to them and anyone within 10 yards. The iceblock blocks line of sight. Sapphiron casts 5 icebolts per air phase.
•  Frost Breath — Sapphiron takes a deep breath, dropping a slow moving frost bomb in the center of the room. After 7 sec, frost breath impacts the ground and inflicts 75000 to 125000 unresistable Frost damage to all players within line of sight.

Strategy

Sapphiron Raid Setup

Composition

Sapphiron is a single-tank encounter, any additional tanks in the raid should instead dps. At least 12 healers are recommended, as well as enough mages and druids to decurse Life Drain without delay. Paladins or shaman are required due to their frost resistance buffs and should be prioritized to groups with the lowest amount of unbuffed frost resistance.

Frost Resistance

Frost Resistance is mandatory to survive Frost Aura. The recommended amount of frost resistance varies depending on the player's role and the raid's damage output, with a standard raid averaging ~150 frost resistance unbuffed. Healers should specifically avoid using too much frost resist gear as it will significantly reduce their bonus healing and mana regen and compromise their ability to keep the raid healed.  [Greater Frost Protection Potion] and  [Juju Chill] are required consumables.

Encounter Tips

• Pre-pot and use  [Greater Frost Protection Potion] on cooldown.
• Keep spread during phase one to avoid blizzards spawning on groups of people. Chill's damage is not resistable and will two-shot any non-tank. The -65% snare applies immediately upon spawn, making it very difficult to escape before the damage hits. The snare cannot be dispelled.
• Ensure healers and decursers are assigned locations spread throughout the raid, and decurse quickly to prevent Sapphiron from healing excessively.
• Remain spread out at the start of the air phase and ensure that no one is within 10 yards of each other. Move to the ice blocks only after the third icebolt cast.
  • Moving to an iceblock too early can cause another icebolt to hit a group of players, as well as unnecessarily stacking iceblocks.
  • Moving too early may also spawn a blizzard on the iceblock, which will quickly kill everyone hiding behind one.

Loot

Sapphiron Loot

Item	Type
[Claw of the Frost Wyrm]	Fist-weapon
[Cloak of the Necropolis]	Caster cloak
[Eye of the Dead]	Healing trinket
[Glyph of Deflection]	Block trinket
[Sapphiron's Left Eye]	Caster off-hand
[Sapphiron's Right Eye]	Healer off-hand
[Shroud of Dominion]	Attack power cloak
[Slayer's Crest]	Attack power trinket
[The Face of Death]	Shield
[The Restrained Essence of Sapphiron]	Spell power trinket
[Fists of the Unrelenting]	Plate gloves

Shoulder Enchants

Item	Role
[Fortitude of the Scourge]	Tank
[Might of the Scourge]	Physical dps
[Power of the Scourge]	Caster
[Resilience of the Scourge]	Healer

Trivia

•  [Fists of the Unrelenting] was initially present during PTR testing but removed before Patch 1.11.0 released. This item was later added to Sapphiron's drop table with Patch 2.0.3, and is unavailable in Classic.
• The first two items named after him,  [Sapphiron Drape] and  [Sapphiron's Scale Boots], have been available since the original release of World of Warcraft (over a year and a half before Saphhiron's first appearance in-game).

Quotes

Outro

Kel'Thuzad yells: Our preparations continue as planned master.

The Lich King yells: It is good that you serve me so faithfully. Soon...all will serve the Lich King and in the end, you shall be rewarded. So long as you do not falter.

Kel'Thuzad yells: I foresee no complications at this...wait! What is this!?

The Lich King yells: Your security measures have failed! See to this interruption immediately!

Kel'Thuzad yells: Yes, master!

Patch changes

• Patch 3.0.2 (2008-10-14): Removed.
  
• Patch 1.11.0 (2006-06-19): Added.
  

External links

• Wowhead
• WoWDB