WotLK Classic Raid Guides

The Raids of Wrath of the Lich King were originally released over the course of four "tiers" of content, otherwise known as Tiers 7, 8, 9, and 10. While these tiers will be seeing a similar release order in WotLK Classic, older content may still be relevant long after its gear has been surpassed by items from newer raids. For now, we will list the raids that are available to players as of Phase 4.

Phase 4 of Wrath of the Lich King Classic consists of thirteen unique boss encounters spread across two raid instances, each being available to groups of either 10 or 25 players. Phase 4 also brings one new boss to the previous raid Vault of Archavon. These raids are:

• Icecrown Citadel
• Vault of Archavon

Icecrown Citadel is the new, main raid of Phase 4 Tier 10 content. It is a large step-up from the previous raid tier in terms of difficulty, raid length, and gear power. Players will find themselves facing off against 12 new boss encounters, even facing The Lich King himself! If braved on Heroic difficulty, this raid will prove the be quite a challenge for players of all skill levels.

While the Vault of Archavon raid is not new, it does gain a new boss, Toravon the Ice Watcher. This boss will drop some Tier 10 gear set pieces, as well as tons of Season 8 PvP gear set-gear and off-set pieces.

Phase 3 of Wrath of the Lich King Classic consists of seven unique boss encounters spread across three raid instances, each being available to groups of either 10 or 25 players. Phase 3 also brings one new boss to the previous raid Vault of Archavon. These raids are:

• Trial of the Crusader
• Onyxia's Lair
• Vault of Archavon

Phase 2 of Wrath of the Lich King Classic consists of 14 unique boss encounters found in the entirely new raid instance Ulduar. Phase 2 also brings one new boss to the previous raid Vault of Archavon. Each boss is available on both 10 and 25-man difficulties.

• Ulduar
• Vault of Archavon

Phase 1 of Wrath of the Lich King Classic consists of 18 unique boss encounters spread across four instances, each being available to groups of either 10 or 25 players. These raids are:

• Vault of Archavon
• Naxxramas
• The Obsidian Sanctum
• The Eye of Eternity

In order to complete a Raid, you will need to put together a group of players that can perform all the necessary roles. As a warning, Raids are a significant step up in difficulty from Dungeons both in terms of coordination and the difficulty in getting a group together. A large part of this is because of the larger group size.

In WotLK Classic, raids are done in raid groups which comprise either 10 or 25 players. However, both group sizes can access every raid of the expansion, though 25-man raids will often drop slightly better items to account for the increased size. Planning for a group of 25 players usually means including anywhere from 2-4 tanks, 5-8 healers, and filling the remainder of the group with DPS. The recommended raid composition can change wildly between raids and between individual bosses, however, which is why it is always a good idea to look at a guide and plan ahead for what you will need. You can read more about recommended raid compositions, along with an explanation of the various buffs and debuffs each class can provide, in our guides linked below

The first role a raid group needs is the tank; tanks essentially guide the group through the raid, deciding which mobs to pull and when. They will take the damage for the party by generating additional threat, which ensures enemies will attack them rather than the rest of your party. In raids tanks will generally take significantly more damage than in Dungeons, and tank survivability will be an important factor in your success.

The following specializations and classes can be played as a tank:

• Blood Death Knight
• Feral Tank Druid
• Protection Paladin
• Protection Warrior

Healers are there to do as their name suggests, heal the raid. They use their healing and shielding spells to ensure that your tank stays alive, as well as any DPS that take damage.

The following specializations and classes can be played as a healer:

• Restoration Druid
• Holy Paladin
• Discipline Priest
• Holy Priest
• Restoration Shaman

DPS, or damage dealers, are there to ensure that enemies are killed quickly and efficiently. They also often have crowd-control abilities available, which can be used to take an enemy out of the fight for a long period of time. In raids however, only specific enemies are susceptible to control spells, and this usually excludes bosses.

The following classes can be played as a DPS:

• Frost Death Knight
• Unholy Death Knight
• Balance Druid
• Feral DPS Druid
• Beast Mastery Hunter
• Marksmanship Hunter
• Survival Hunter
• Arcane Mage
• Fire Mage
• Frost Mage
• Retribution Paladin
• Shadow Priest
• Assassination Rogue
• Combat Rogue
• Subtlety Rogue
• Elemental Shaman
• Enhancement Shaman
• Affliction Warlock
• Demonology Warlock
• Destruction Warlock
• Arms Warrior
• Fury Warrior