Azjol Nerub consists of two separate instances, and the first part takes on the name of the entire area - Azjol Nerub. It is a level 72-74 instance located in western Dragonblight, and it contains mostly undead Nerubians along with some spiders. Azjol Nerub is one of the shortest instances in Wrath of the Lich King, thanks to two gauntlet type encounters and very little trash. Three bosses await adventerures who enter, and like all Wrath of the Lich King instances, Heroic mode is unlocked simply by being level 80.

BOSS LIST

Krik'thir the Gatewatcher
krikthir

Abilities

Strategy

Remove the Curse of Fatigue as much as possible. As long as all of the watchers have been killed on time, this fight is relatively easy as the real test is getting through the gauntlet. When the skittering swarmers show up, AoE them down.

Heroic

Nothing major here, again the gauntlet is much more difficult than the boss.
Hadronox
hadronox

Abilities

  • Acid Cloud - creates a green cloud on the ground, make sure to avoid these.
  • Leech Poison - causes all enemies to be poisoned. If a player or npc afflicted with this poison dies, it heals Hadronox.
  • Pierce Armor
  • Web Grab - pulls enemies towards him

Strategy

Make sure not to stand in green clouds and avoid killing any of the spiders attacking Hadronox, as that will heal him. As with Krik'thir, the main difficulty in this boss is getting through the gauntlet with enough health and mana to survive the relatively simple boss fight.

Heroic

No major changes on heroic, the same strategy can be used.
Anub'arak
anubarak

Abilities

  • Locust Swarm: Slows movement speed by 40%.
  • Pound: Rears up and smashes down on all enemies in front of the caster within 15 yards, dealing damage and pounding them into the floor for 6 sec. This has a cast time and can be avoided by the tank.
  • At 75%, 50%, and 25% health, he will dive underground.
  • Impale: Used while underground. Spikes shoot up from the ground, knocking players up in the air and causing damage.
  • Also while he is underground, nerubians will enter the fight from the bridge that you entered on. Once the adds are dead, he will reemerge.

Strategy

The tank should face Anub'arak away from all other players, and when he begins casting Pound, run behind the boss. This will stop a lot of the burst damage and help keep the healer's mana high for the underground phase. Once Anub'arak burrows underground, make sure to round up all of the adds and kill them. During the second and third underground phase, there are poison spitting enemies that are the priority for DPS. Make sure to cleanse the poison if possible, and interrupt the volley that they cast as well. This can be a lengthy fight, so help your healers by avoiding the spikes that come up during the underground phase.

Heroic

No major changes, but all damage is increased

MAPS

Azjol Nerub is a very straight-forward instance. There is essentially only one way to approach the instance, and that is head on. From the entrance heading down into the instance, groups will encounter two pulls of three nerubians each. The skirmishers tend to drop aggro often, so be sure to kill them first in order to save your healer and dps. Once you kill the first two pulls, rest before the boss event begins. Once any group with a Watcher is pulled, the next watcher's group will automatically come after a short time, followed by the third watcher, and finally the boss. Be aware of this when approaching the first room.

Once Krik'thir the Gatewatcher is dead, you'll be heading straight into the next boss' gauntlet event. This gauntlet begins with pulling the single group that is at the bottom of the webbing, so head down the bridge, turn around on the webs, and get ready. Once this group is pulled, two more similar groups will get into positions near where the first group was, so pull them back. This also starts an event where Hadronox begins to climb toward you, so dispose of the three groups of spiders quickly in order to give yourself some time before the boss encounter.

After killing Hadronox, run towards where he came from on the right, and follow the webbing down. There is a hole in the floor underneath the web, so drop down through it into the water below. Climb back up on to the solid ground and head towards the final trash pull of the instance. This pull consists of two hard hitting mobs who also give a debuff to the group that reduces damage output. Dispose of each one quickly and wait for all debuffs to fall off before engaging Anub'arak.

LORE

Azjol Nerub is the kingdom of the Nerubians, who were conquered by the Lich King when he came to Northrend. Nearly all of them have been turned into undead by him, and they are led by their king, Anub'arak. Also inside Azjol Nerub is Hadronox, the offspring of Maexxna, final boss of the Arachnid Quarter in Naxxramas.

SECRET TACTICS

If you have any secret tactics for getting through Azjol Nerub quickly or defeating any of its bosses with ease, let us know at editor@projectlore.com

RELATED VIDEOS

Episode 14.1: Azjol-Nerub

Monday, January 9, 2009 - 94 Comments

The Project Lore Alliance crew returns and prepare to enter Azjol-Nerub in WotLK. Alex introduces us to his other toon which makes Zand a little uneasy. Find out what it is in this episode of Project Lore.

Episode 14.2: Azjol-Nerub

Wednesday, February 11, 2009 - 90 Comments

The Project Lore Alliance crew chats about questing and the quests in Azjol-Nerub. The guys buff up and enter into the instance and start taking out the trash. Find out what it is in this episode of Project Lore.

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Friday, February 13, 2009 - 59 Comments

The Project Lore crew destroys the trash and then comes eye to multiple-eye with Krik’thir the Gatewatcher in Azjol-Nerub. The guys buff up and do their best to take done this boss. Find out how in this episode of Project Lore.

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Project Lore’s own Dr. Dorkins wraps up this week of Project Lore. And of course, one lucky viewer gets their question answered. Stay tuned and find out who on this weekly wrap-up of Project Lore.

Episode 14.4: Azjol-Nerub

Monday, February 16, 2009 - 37 Comments

Project Lore destroys the trash and then find Hadronox in Azjol-Nerub. The guys buff up and do their best to take down this boss. Find out how in this episode of Project Lore.

Episode 14.5: Azjol-Nerub

Wednesday, February 18, 2009 - 57 Comments

After killing Hadronox, Project Lore delves deeper into Azjol-Nerub and finds Anub’arak. Will the guys be able to take down this final boss? Find out in this episode of Project Lore.

Episode 14.6: Azjol-Nerub

Friday, February 20, 2009 - 26 Comments

After killing Anub’arak, Project Lore takes their spoils of Azjol-Nerub and turns in their quests. Which reward will they take and how did they like the look and feel of the instance? Find out in this episode of Project Lore.

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Project Lore’s own Dr. Dorkins wraps up this week of Project Lore. And of course, one lucky viewer gets their question answered. Stay tuned and find out who on this weekly wrap-up of Project Lore.