This page covers a healer-focused strategy for Gothik the Harvester in Naxxramas. While it's tailored for healers, other roles may also find the information useful. If you have any suggestions or feedback, you can leave a comment below or tweet @PrestonDvorak.

This guide has been updated and maintained based on my own experiences with the encounter, logs information, and Dungeon Journal information. I'll continue to update it as-needed.

General Mechanics and Abilities

During this encounter, players fight against Gothik's minions before engaging him directly.

Stage One - Divided Efforts

This stage begins the encounter and ends after about 4.5-minutes.

• Gothik's room is divided into two sides. The side you first enter is called the Living Side, the other side is called the Undead Side.
• When Gothik is engaged, the gate between the two sides closes and Gothik teleports to his balcony, out of reach of players.
• Enemies first spawn on the Living Side, and when killed will spawn a similar enemy on the Undead Side.
• Living Side
  • Enemies are susceptible to most forms of crowd control, slows, and snares, except where noted.
  • Unrelenting Trainee
    • The tanks will be dealing with Eagle Claw and Knockdown.
  • Unrelenting Deathknight
    • Targets random players with Intercept, stunning them.
    • Stay more than 8-yards away to avoid Shadow Mark, players hit become targets of Shadow Bolt Volley.
  • Unrelenting Rider
    • Susceptible only to slows.
    • Interrupt Shadow Bolt Volley to prevent the light damage dealt to players affected by Shadow Mark.
    • Deals light damage over time to all players with Unholy Aura.
• Undead Side
  • Spectral Trainee
    • Susceptible to stuns.
    • Deals light damage to all players with Arcane Explosion.
  • Spectral Deathknight
    • Susceptible to stuns.
    • The tanks will be dealing with Sunder Armor.
    • Stay more than 8-yards away to avoid Whirlwind.
    • Drains mana from and deals moderate damage to players with Mana Burn.
  • Spectral Rider
    • Interrupt Drain Life to prevent the healing.
    • Deals light damage over time to all players with Unholy Aura.
  • Spectral Horse
    • Stay at least 10-yards away to avoid Stomp.

Stage Two - The Harvester

This stage begins after 4.5-minutes in stage one and ends when Gothik is killed.

• Any enemies leftover from stage one will need to be dealt with, either by crowd controlling or killing them.
• Gothik
  • Joins the encounter starting on the Living Side, and switches sides every ~15 seconds.
    • At 30% health, the gate dividing the sides opens.
  • Applies stacks of Harvest Soul to all players, reducing all stats.
  • Deals moderate damage to random players with Shadow Bolt.

Season of Mastery Differences

• Currently, I'm not aware of any mechanical differences.
• There are new quests offered by Archmage Tarsis Kir-Moldir just inside Naxxramas, and it was suggested that these could lead to surprises that "have a significant impact" inside and outside Naxxramas.

Resistance Levels

• Players should use as much Shadow Resistance as possible without sacrificing other stats.

Healing Notes

The notes below mostly pertain to progression difficulty, meaning if you out-gear the difficulty you're on or use extra healers they may not apply.

• Players will be split into two groups during most of the encounter, and while players may appear in range they may not be in line of sight due to the wall and gate dividing the two sides.
• Healing should remain relatively low as long as neither side is being overwhelmed by enemies.
• During stage two, help DPS Gothik whenever possible to be sure you outpace the stacks of Harvest Soul.

Debuffs to Track

• Major: Knockdown, Sunder Armor
• Minor: Eagle Claw, Shadow Mark

Addons

Healer DBM Settings for Gothik the Harvester

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