This version of Zul'Gurub is quite similar to the old version--the scenery hasn't changed much and some of the old bosses remain. Fortunately for you, there's a lot less trash and a lot more neutral Gurubashi trolls milling about. Two new mounts are available:
Armored Razzashi Raptor and
Swift Zulian Panther. There's even some mini-bosses, listed under
Gurubashi Headhunter, that drop trade goods--even
Maelstrom Crystal!
Before You Start: Quest Summaries
Don't forget to go into the dungeon with some objectives! In addition to the faction-specific quest chain featured
on our 4.1 guide that culminates in
Some Good Will Come rewarding a
Panther Cub, there's a variety of quests offered as soon as you step foot in Zul'Gurub.
Read the next tabs to the right for specific strategies on how to beat these buffed up trolls!
This fight involves a lot of concentration spent on movement since the area will be covered with a poison maze, made up of green lines, that keeps growing. For each second standing in that
you will take immense damage, so you need to avoid it at all times. Pick up the
Toxic Torment buff from
Zanzil's Cauldron of Toxic Torment to gain initial advantage.
Phase 1: Humanoid Form- Venoxis will frequently use Whispers of Hethiss, channeling a green beam at a random player. This should be interrupted.
- A Toxic Link will be also frequently used to link two random players to each other, however it seems to never affect the tank. Run away from each other to break the link, but stay away from party members as the broken link will erupt in a which deals AoE damage.
Phase 2: Serpent Form- This phase is initiated by Venoxis transforming into a serpent using the . He will no longer use his abilities from the first phase, but receive new ones as well as an increase of 100% in physical damage dealt.
- Immediately drag him off the green Pool of Acrid Tears he summons before and after his Breaths. These will deal massive damage to you, so keeping your eye on the ground is crucial to survival.
- Venoxis frequently uses Breath of Hethiss which will hit anyone in a wide and 10 yard long frontal cone. If you stand in these for longer than a second, you're dead. Tanks, you will need to move as well.
- At the end of the serpent phase he will walk to his altar and channel , summoning three Bloodvenom Tendrils. These tendrils will target a random player and follow after them, dealing massive damage to anyone close. Here you should stack up in one corner at the beginning and run together, so you do not lead your tendril into someone else.
- After Bloodvenom, Venoxis will suffer from Venom Withdrawal, stunning him and making him take 100% more damage for 10 seconds. Then he will transform into his humanoid form and start phase 1 again.
- If you keep dying in the second phase, consider stopping melee DPS entirely and just concentrate on running through the maze until he does Bloodvenom.
Bloodlord Mandokir, after his unintended resurrection, too has returned as the second boss in
Zul'Gurub. He and his faithful raptor
Ohgan have leveled up and now proudly await you to gain more levels!
Strategy
- The fight still resembles the original encounter in some ways. You will face-off against Mandokir and his raptor Ohgan, and you will have a number of 8 Chained Spirits at your disposal, each one granting you an one-time resurrection which also buffs Mandokir. Fortunately for Mandokir and his raptor and unfortunately for you, Ohgan has learned to kill these spirits.
- Mandokir will often perform Bloodletting on a random player, draining 50% of the target's current health every 2 seconds for 10 seconds. The healer will need to heal that player very quickly after the spell is over.
- Mandokir starts the fight mounted on his raptor, but once he dismounts he will start using Devastating Slam. This will let spikes shoot up from the ground in a cone, inflicting massive damage to anyone standing there. If you see red ground, get out of it! Try not to waste your rezzes on this ability.
- Decapitate is an instant-kill ability that you can't avoid, but fortunately Mandokir won't be doing it too often. If you still have Chained Spirits available, these will offer you a resurrection.
- After dismounting, his raptor Ohgan will immediately run towards the Chained Spirits. You have two ways to deal with this: either slowing Ohgan by using all possible stuns and snares, or killing him, thus putting him down for several seconds. This won't last long—Mandokir will Reanimate Ohgan after a short time.
- At 20%, Mandokir will enrage into an undispellable Frenzy, making his attack speed 100% faster. Use whatever cooldowns you have available.
- Each time a player dies, Mandokir will Level Up, increasing his damage dealt by 20%. The buff stacks.
The Edge of Madness is a special event accessible only by players with high
Archaeology. The player will need to click on numerous troll, fossil, night elf, and dwarven artifacts, discovering four that require closer examination. These artifacts will fly into the air and merge to summon one of four bosses:
Hazza'rah,
Renataki,
Wushoolay, and
Gri'lek. The bosses are stationary with a few twists.
- Renataki, a troll rogue, periodically casts Ambush and , a version of Fan of Knives on steroids. Run out of his whirlwinding path until he is done attacking.
- Hazza'rah, a troll shaman, summons adds via Nightmare. These adds target a player and stun them with Waking Nightmare. If the add reaches the targeted player, it will use Consume Soul and kill the player.
- Wushoolay, a troll elemental shaman, casts several lightning abilities you must move away from Players close to must run away to avoid being killed. Also avoid the and .
- Gri'lek, a troll berserker, is a typical melee mob that periodically targets a player. When this happens, he grows in size, deals more damage, and moves noticeably slower. He does an emote when targeting a player, so everyone has time to move. Avoid his tremor and dispel roots.
High Priestess Kilnara is the new 'panther' boss in
Zul'Gurub. She succeeds
High Priestess Arlokk in her function as a high priest of Bethekk.
Strategy
Phase 1: Humanoid Form- Kilnara will mainly cast throughout phase 1. This spell is interruptable and should be interrupted.
- Both and Tears of Blood will also be frequently cast. While you can interrupt the Tears of Blood static AoE channel (purple flecks floating towards the ground), you cannot interrupt Lash of Anguish.
- Another visible ability that cannot be interrupted is Wave of Agony, where Kilnara will channel a huge purple wave wall. If you fail to get behind her, you will be knocked back far and suffer shadow damage.
- She will also cast which cannot be avoided. Simply heal through it.
Pride of BethekkBefore the fight, you will notice four packs with four
Pride of Bethekk each in
Dark Slumber. It is your goal to kill these before you bring Kilnara to 50%. You have the option of pulling a full pack with your tank and Kilnara in his tow, which is fast; or having your DPS pull a panther one by one while your tank occupies Kilnara, which is slow. If you do not kill these before Kilnara reaches 50%, you will have to fight the ones left alive. To awake a panther, simply directly attack one or drop a
Temple Rat nearby.
Temple Rats can be looted inside of the Altar of Bethekk.
Phase 2: Panther Form- At 50% health Kilnara will receive a Primal Blessing, transforming into the Avatar of Bethekk. She will also start gaining Rage of the Ancients, stacking every 5 seconds, and the temple will Cave In, dealing damage to everyone. Any panthers you haven't killed by now will intervene in the fight.
- Kilnara will also use Ravage, dealing damage to a single target and , dealing AoE damage.
- At around 15%, she will briefly go into Camouflage to irritate your party, and then reappear.
Zanzil has returned as the second-to-last boss in
Zul'Gurub, occupying the former space of
Jin'do the Hexxer. To defeat him, you must utilize three different cauldrons which counteract his various abilities.
Strategy
- This fight is very dynamic. Note the three cauldrons from which you will get specific buffs to counter Zanzil's attacks lying around the room.
- Zanzil regularly casts on a random player which cannot be avoided. Simply heal though it. He also uses which should be interrupted.
- He will also cast Zanzili Fire frequently, creating a bright line of arcane magic that deals severe damage to anyone standing in it.
- One of the random special spells Zanzil will use against you is Zanzil's Graveyard Gas. The entire area will be floode with green gas, and you should immediately get Toxic Torment from the green cauldron to survive.
- Another special ability is Zanzil's Resurrection Elixir. This will resurrect one Zanzili Berserker on which you will have to focus while having him taking massive damage and stunned by Frostburn Formula from the blue cauldron.
- When Zanzil uses Zanzil's Resurrection Elixir to raise his Zanzili Zombies, have your tank pick up Burning Blood from the red cauldron and aggro the zombies. AoE them down and have the DPS pick up Burning Blood as well to speed things up. Remember that Burning Blood will also damage friendly players, so be sure to heal your party.
Jin'do the Godbreaker, returned from death, is the last boss of
Zul'Gurub. He is eager to meet you, or in his own words:
I'm attacking ya, yo!Strategy
Phase 1: Reality- Throughout this phase, Jin'do will summon a Deadzone several times. Have the tank pull Jin'do immediately out of it, but be ready to go in yourself when he starts casting Shadows of Hakkar to take less magic damage. Otherwise, your party should stay outside since it reduces your casting speed and ultimately, damage done to Jin'do.
- Deadzone is closely tied to Shadows of Hakkar. When you see him channeling Shadows of Hakkar, go into the Deadzone, but keep him out after he has finished his cast. Once his Shadows of Hakkar buff runs out, he will create a new Deadzone you need to drag him out of.
Phase 2: Irreality- After a short time, Jin'do will Vanish, and you enter the Spirit World. The goal is to destroy the three Hakkar's Chains, each protected by a Brittle Barrier.
- While your party members split up and position themselves near chains, your tank will need to pull a Gurubashi Spirit, and have him Body Slam at one of the chains. Once that chain's barrier is broken, the party member should move to another chain. Keep doing this for the rest of the chains, and then finish the spirits off. Then destroy each chain one by one.
- Throughout the phase, Twisted Spirits will keep appearing and pose a nuisance to your party. They can be soloed one-on-one, but you will be overrun if you face too many. Have your ranged DPS pick them off from a distance or have the tank taunt to avoid healers getting aggro. If you keep dying to too many spirits, consider killing the Gurubashi Spirit once he destroys a barrier, and destroy that chain, AoEing down the adds in the process. Repeat this for each chain.
- Black/purple spikes flying through the air are caused by Shadow Spike from whose impact you need to stay away. These deal huge damage especially if you stand in the purple void zones.