The Four Horsemen

[Air]

Introduction
The Four Horsemen is the final encounter of the Military Quarter of Naxxramas. They are 4 of the more powerful Death Knights of the Lich King's forces, and it is different from the original, 40 man version, in that Highlord Mograine has been replaced by Baron Rivendare. Based on the color schemes and weaponry, the Four Horsemen may very well represent the "Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse".

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Raid Setup (25 man)
The raid should consist of 2 tanks, 6-8 healers and the rest should be DPS. An even distribution between MT healers and raid healers is needed, and an even distribution between melee and ranged DPS is ideal.

Raid Setup (10 man)
The raid should consist of 2 tanks, 2-3 healers and the rest DPS, with an even distribution between ranged and melee DPS.

Gear Requirements
The encounter puts a high demand on coordination, tanking, healing and DPS alike. Your raid will want to have cleared the rest of Naxxramas before attempting this encounter, especially on heroic mode. A rough idea of gear is that the raid should be able to push out around 38-40k of burst DPS using the "zerg" tactic that is described in this guide.

Buffs and Consumables
All standard consumables to improve healing, DPS and tanking alike will help a lot on this encounter, and the first time a raid force tries this encounter, high DPS is a necessity.



Boss Abilities

Thane Korth'azz
Thane Korth'azz is a former dwarven king, now a Death Knight and will-less servant of the Lich King. He is a melee fighter, and will run to the near left corner when pulled. He represents the rider of Death.

Heroic: Melee hits for 6-8k and has 2 370 000 HP.
Normal: Melee hits for 4-6k and has has 781 000 HP.

Meteor: Does 47 500-52 500 (heroic) / 13 775-15 225 (normal) fire damage spread amongst all targets in a 8 yard radius of the impact target. He targets a random player within 20 yards with this ability. It is cast every 15 seconds.

Mark of Korth'azz: See below for explanation of marks.

Thane Kor'thazz
Baron Rivendare

Baron Rivendare, the former Mayor of Stratholme, was sent to lead the Four Horsemen after Highlord Mograine freed himself from the will of the Lich King. He is a melee fighter, and runs to the near right corner when pulled. He represents the rider of War (this was formerly represented by Highlord Mograine, dressed in red. Baron Rivendare retains his blue looks familiar from Stratholme).

Heroic: Melee hits for 8-10k and has 2 370 000 HP.

Normal: Melee hits for 5-7k and has 781 000 HP.

Unholy Shadow: Every 15 seconds, this ability is cast on Baron Rivendare's primary aggro target for 4.5-5.5k (heroic) / 2160-2640 (normal) shadow damage and an additional 12k (heroic) / 4.8k (normal) shadow damage over 8 seconds in the form of an undispellable DoT.

Mark of Rivendare: See below for explanation of marks.

Lady Blaumeux
Lady Blaumeux is a female human death knight. She is a ranged combatant (has no melee attack), and will run to the far left corner when pulled. She represents the rider of famine.

Heroic: Lady Blaumeux Shadowbolts the player closest to her for 8483-9517 shadow damage, with a 45 yard range, and a 2 second cast time. She has 2 370 000 HP. She chain casts Shadowbolt, only pausing to cast Void Zone or Mark of Blaumeux.

Normal: Lady Blaumeux Shadowbolts the player closest to her for 2357-2643 shadow damage with a 45 yard range, and a 2 second cast time. She has 781 000 HP. She chain casts Shadowbolt, only pausing to cast Void Zone or Mark of Blaumeux.

Void Zone: Lady Blaumeux summons a Void Zone on a random player within 45 yards. It does 4250 (heroic) / 2750 (normal) shadow damage per second to anyone standing in it. This is cast every 15 seconds. Void Zones remain on the ground for approximately 75 seconds. They are easy to spot: the ground turns black where it's cast. Simply move out of it. The Void Zone is circular with a radius of approximately 5 yards.

Mark of Blaumeux: See below for explanation of marks.

Sir Zeliek
Sir Zeliek is a fallen paladin, turned into a death knight by the Lich King. Commander Eligor Dawnbringer in Wintergarde Keep lectures that this paladin is so strong in faith that, even in undeath, he commands the light to smite his foes. He is also the only one of the 4 horsemen that shows remorse, yelling "Forgive me!" if he kills a player during the encounter, and periodically shouting, "I have no choice but to obey". He is a ranged combatant (he has no melee attack), and will run to the far right corner when pulled. He represents the rider of conquest.

Heroic: Sir Zeliek Holy Bolts the player closest to him for 8954-10046 holy damage with a 45 yard range and a 2 second cast time. He has 2 370 000 HP. He chain casts Holy Bolt, only pausing to cast Holy Wrath or Mark of Zeliek.

Normal: Sir Zeliek Holy Bolts the player closest to him for 2357-2643 holy damage with a 45 yard range and a 2 second cast time. He has 781,000 HP. He chain casts Holy Bolt, only pausing to cast Holy Wrath or Mark of Zeliek.

Holy Wrath: Sir Zeliek sends bolts of holy power to smite an enemy, dealing 2700-3300 (heroic) / 900-1100 (normal) to a random player within 45 yards. It will instantly jump to any player within 10 yards of the initial target, dealing 50% increased damage per jump, with no limit (it only jumps once per player though, so it will not continuously bounce between two players, killing them. It jumps much like a Chain Lightning effect, but without the animation). This means that people should spread out around sir Zeliek as much as they can, since standing in a big group will mean certain death if Holy Wrath is cast into the middle of the group. It is cast every 15 seconds.

Mark of Zeliek: See below for explanation of marks.

Thane Kor'thazz
Explanation Of Marks
All 4 horsemen have a mark unique to them. They will each cast this mark on every player within 45 yards of the horseman themselves, building up damage as the marks stack. The first mark does 0 shadow damage per tick, the next 500, the third 1000, the third 1500, the fourth 4000, the fifth 12 000, the sixth 20 000, the seventh 21 000, and so on, increasing by 1000 damage on every application after this. If any of the horsemen has no targets within range to cast their mark upon, the entire raid will be hit by a very powerful AoE, effectively meaning a wipe. The mark debuff lasts 25 seconds, and whenever you get hit by a mark, this debuff timer is refreshed with the new stack. The damage it deals cannot be resisted, however the application of the mark can be resisted. The damage of the marks is the same in normal and heroic modes.

Mark of Korth'azz and Mark of Rivendare are cast simultaneously, with a high frequency of approximately every 15 seconds. Mark of Blaumeux and Mark of Zeliek are cast simultaneously, but sometimes they are slightly delayed due to the mobs being casters. However, they also cast marks approximately every 15 seconds.

Once any horseman has cast 100 of his / her mark, the remaining horsemen go into a berserker rage, increasing all damage done by 1000%. This gives you 25 minutes to defeat them.



The Pull
There are two ways to deal with this encounter: the "zerg" method and the "dance" method. The zerg method will be covered first in this guide, since it is the most simple, but it is also the method putting the highest demand on your DPS. The dance method is described at the end of the guide.



The horsemen have a very low aggro range. It is possible to position the entire raid before engaging the bosses. Due to his Meteor ability causing massive fire damage, Thane Korth'azz will be the first horseman to die; a tank and a few healers cannot survive this ability on their own. Thane Korth'azz's tank, his healer, a raid healer to heal Meteor and mark damage, and all the DPS will run to the red spot shown on the pictures below (team A).



Baron Rivendare's tank and his healer will run to the blue spot shown on the picture below (team B).



Lady Blaumeux and Sir Zeliek are "tanked" by whoever is closest to them at any one time. It is recommended to have any DPS with high health pools tanking these two bosses. Warlocks are ideal for this task due to the extra 20% healing they receive. You will need 2 of these "tanks", as well as 3-4 healers, on heroic mode. On normal mode, a ranged DPS and a healer can easily fulfil this task between themselves. One tank and his assigned healers will sneak near the left wall to the green spot shown on the picture below. This is Blaumeux's pull spot. The other tank and his assigned healers will likewise sneak near the right wall to the yellow spot shown on the picture below, which is Sir Zelieks pull spot. On normal mode, the healer takes position in one corner and the ranged DPS in the other; it doesn't matter in which corner you start. You are now ready to start the fight. One of the ranged DPS tanking the two caster mobs runs to the main platform at which the horsemen stand, and casts an instant spell on one of them (they have a very short aggro range), and, once the fight is started, the player can run back to his position. All 4 horsemen will charge to their respective corners when engaged.

The Fight
The fight really can be seen as two separate encounters, one in each side of the room.

Thane Korth'azz will come charging towards his tank when the Four Horsemen are engaged. He is targetable as soon as the fight starts, and should be Misdirected to his tank when running towards his position, to allow the DPS to start early. It is, however, advised that all DPS hold fire until he is in the proper position to be picked up by the tank, to avoid unnecessary aggro pulls. All DPS and healers should be stacked on top of the tank,

Thane Korth'azz's Meteor ability will kill any single target it hits, and it must be spread out among the entire raid (it is okay for the melee to DPS the boss from behind, of course, but they must stay close).

Once in position, the tank starts making all the threat he can. Blow a Heroism / Bloodlust: Thane Korth'azz must die very swiftly, preferably within 4 marks. Most raids will be able to survive the fifth mark, but the following Meteor is likely to kill people. The sixth mark will most likely wipe you, as well as kill the tank tanking Baron Rivendare. As such, blow all the DPS you have and all the cooldowns you have on Thane Korth'azz.



Once Thane Korth'azz dies, the raid (team A) runs to Baron Rivendare. Thane Korth'azz's tank Taunts Rivendare. Team B is now free to move away and should do so immediately or the Mark of Rivendare will kill them (damage on team B due to marks may be quite massive here, if the stack is too high). Both tank and healer(s) should move to the centre platform, and wait for the marks to fall off (see pictures below).

The newly arrived team A can then go to town on Baron Rivendare. The DPS requirements are still very high; the faster he dies, the better. If you can get Baron Rivendare down without losing too many raid members, the fight is as good as won. When the Mark of Rivendare starts stacking too high, at 3-4 stacks or so, you should consider pulling out: announce this on voice, and team B will have to move in, and tank B should Taunt the boss.



The entire team A, including healers and the tank, then moves to sir Zeliek, and starts DPSing him. Take note to spread out properly to avoid Holy Wrath damage.



As soon as the Mark of Rivendare falls off, the entire team A moves back to Rivendare, the tank Taunts, and team B moves to sir Zeliek. Team A DPS then continues on Baron Rivendare, continuing this rotation of team A and B until Baron Rivendare dies, switching team A and team B whenever the stacks goes too high (shift at 3-4 stacks). Once this happens, both team A and B are free to move to Sir Zeliek and start to DPS him.

On the pull, the designated Sir Zeliek and Lady Blaumeux tanks should be the ones standing closest to the corner, with the healers standing more towards the middle (on normal mode, there will only be two players doing this; make sure you are within range of the mobs, or the raid will he bit by heavy AoE). See the picture for reference on positions.



When the fight starts, Lady Blaumeux and Sir Zeliek will move to their corners and immediately start casting their bolts on the player closest to them. Their marks will also start stacking. When the Marks of Blaumeux and Zeliek get to 3 stacks on the two respective tanks, it's time for a shift. Lady Blaumeux's tank and healers move to Sir Zeliek, and Sir Zeliek's tank and healers move to Lady Blaumeux. Both groups need to do this simultaneously to make sure both mobs will have a tank within mark range. A fair amount of coordination is required. Use voice communication, or agree before the pull that you start moving the second the third mark is cast.

In the heroic version of this fight, healers have to take notice to the fairly large amount of damage these two tanks will be taking, especially when doing the shift. When the new marks get to 3 stacks, the old marks of the other caster mob will have fallen off, and you can shift back again. Continue doing this. The team standing near Lady Blaumeux has to watch out for Void Zones on the ground; move out of them as soon as they spawn. Likewise, the team dealing with Sir Zeliek should spread out to avoid taking too much damage from Holy Wrath.

Lady Blaumeux Once Baron Rivendare is dead, the entire raid will be moving to Sir Zeliek. A new tank will probably be present now: whoever of the melee stands closest to the boss will be taking the Holy Bolt hits (tip: if a DPS warrior takes this task, it's and endless supply of rage for him).

Whenever any one person in the raid has 3 debuff stacks of one mark, that person moves to the other mob, and continues healing / DPSing. When 3 stacks of the new mark are reached, the old marks have fallen off, and you have to move back to the other mob. Continue bouncing the raid back and forth between the two mobs until they are dead. Sir Zeliek will probably die a bit sooner than Lady Blaumeux using this method; do not lose your head. If you get to 3 marks of Lady Blaumeux, and no other boss mob is alive, move away after all. It's foolish risking a wipe to the excessive stacking of marks because you got too eager. At this point of the fight you can most likely afford to take it a bit easier. Any player standing close to Sir Zeliek should take notice to spread out from other players, again to avoid unnecessary Holy Wrath damage. The players standing near Lady Blaumeux have to pay attention to Void Zones.

Tip: It is helpful if the raid healers try to stay well out of range of the final horseman left alive; in an emergency, if the entire raid gets too high a stack of marks, it is very helpful to have a relief force in the form of healers than can move in and make sure the remaining horseman caster has some targets to cast their mark upon. Otherwise, the raid will be hit by a powerful AoE.

Tip: When Baron Rivendare dies, it is helpful if half the raid goes to Lady Blaumeux immediately, and the other half goes to Sir Zeliek. This is to avoid having too many players hit by Sir Zeliek's Holy Wrath at once. Any ranged DPS or healers standing near Sir Zeliek should spread out as much as possible. The melee will just have to live with taking big Holy Wraths.

Healer Info
Baron Rivendare is the mob who deals the most damage to his tank. Thane Korth'azz deals moderate damage to his tank and minor damage to the raid close to him. The two caster mobs deal quite significant damage, but it is also very predictable damage. On heroic mode, a typical assignment of 7 healers is:
- 2 healers (1 raid, 1 tank healer) on the Thane Korth'azz tank.
- 2 healers (good tank healers) on Baron Rivendare's tank.
- 3 healers in total for the tanks dealing with the caster mobs (healers have a fairly long range - it is quite possible to stand out of range of Sir Zeliek's mark and still heal the player tanking him).

The Dance Method
If the raid does not have high enough DPS to bring down Thane Korth'azz before the marks stack too high (you will discover this in a couple of attempts, if you are continuously wiping on him because you get mark number 5), then you have to use a different method. It is a bit more tricky to execute, but a lot more stable as well, since it does not have nearly the same demands on DPS.



The pull is exactly the same, except you spread the DPS evenly between Thane Korth'azz (team A) and Baron Rivendare (team B). The team tanking Sir Zeliek and Lady Blaumeux is still the same, and is done in the same way.



When you reach 3 stacks of marks, the tanks then start moving their mob towards the door, with the raid following.



When the two teams reach each other, tank A Taunts Baron Rivendare, and moves to the right corner. Tank B taunts Thane Korth'azz, and moves to the left corner (the mobs move back to their pull positions). The entire team A follows their tank, and team B follows their tank. The raid must always sit on top of their respective tanks due to the Meteor spreading all damage evenly to the players in its impact range.

When the marks again reach 3 stacks, the same maneuvre is carried out; the tanks move to the doorway, tank B Taunts Baron Rivendare, tank A Taunts Thane Korth'azz, and they then move the bosses back to their pull positions, continuing DPS. The fight will feature a bit more healing pressure since both Thane Korth'azz and Baron Rivendare will be up for an extended period of time. It is still advised to blow Heroism / Bloodlust on the pull with this method, because the fight is all about getting Thane Korth'azz and Baron Rivendare down fast, which will bring a lot of stability to the healing required on the raid.

After Thane Korth'azz and Baron Rivendare are dead, the process for killing Sir Zeliek and Lady Blaumeux is exactly the same as in the "zerg" method described above.

Tips
If the "zerg" tactic is used, it is helpful to have a protection warrior tank Thane Korth'azz. Sunder Armor will really improve your melee DPS on him. A feral tank is a good choice for Baron Rivendare; a druid will be able to sustain a high amount of damage due to his high health pool.

It is possible for one of the two players assigned to tanking Lady Blaumeux and Sir Zeliek can also be players with self healing abilities, such as moonkins, elemental shamans, or they could be healers themselves. The only demand is that they will need a high health pool. Sir Zeliek's Holy Bolt hits for 10k on heroic mode. Around 20k health is recommended for the two players assigned as tanks for these two mobs. On normal mode the demand is not as high; the Holy Bolts do not hit for that much. Having a healer and a DPS class doing the tanking by themselves is, as mentioned, more than enough.