Zul’Gurub Raid Guide (WoW Classic)

Overview

Zul’Gurub is a 20-player raid in northern Stranglethorn Vale, the old capital of the Gurubashi trolls. The Atal’ai priests have returned to it to summon their Blood God, Hakkar the Soulflayer, and the Zandalar Tribe wants adventurers to stop them.

There’s no attunement, and the raid resets every 72 hours. Five High Priests stand between you and Hakkar, each one buffing him until it dies, plus several optional bosses: Bloodlord Mandokir, Jin’do the Hexxer, Gahz’ranka and a rotating Edge of Madness boss. Zul’Gurub is often seen as a catch-up raid, but it has some very strong loot, two highly sought-after mounts, and class head and leg enchants through the Zandalar Tribe.

Location

The entrance is in northeastern Stranglethorn Vale, east of Lake Nazferiti, at about 50, 17.

Horde players have the shortest trip from Grom’gol Base Camp. Alliance players can travel south from Duskwood or north from Booty Bay.

Boss Quick Reference

Boss	Key Mechanic	Priority
High Priest Venoxis	Stands on a stairway with four guards. Becomes a giant snake at 50%	Polymorph or Hibernate the guards. Keep moving out of his poisons and kill adds as they spawn. Some raids drain his mana instead with Viper Sting and Drain Mana
High Priestess Jeklik	Turns into a bat and summons bats. At 50% she returns to humanoid form and tries to heal	Area damage on the bats, move out of the liquid fire the bats drop, and set up an interrupt rotation for her heals
High Priestess Mar’li	Starts in human form next to another humanoid. Enveloping Webs, Spawn of Mar’li adds and Life Drain	Mind Control her add and have it attack her. Kill each Spawn of Mar’li at once, since they grow stronger. Interrupt Life Drain
High Priest Thekal	Comes with Zealot Lor’Khan and Zealot Zath. All three must die within 10 seconds of each other, then he becomes a tiger	Bring all three down evenly, group them at about 10% and cleave them together. In his tiger phase, the main tank picks him up and the raid kills extra tigers fast
High Priestess Arlokk	Starts when you ring the gong in her room. Vanishes, summons panthers, and marks a player with Mark of Arlokk	The main tank picks her up right away. Kite the panthers, and melee watch for her cleave in cat form
Bloodlord Mandokir (optional)	Dismounts from his raptor Ohgan. Threatening Gaze, Charge, Mortal Strike, Overpower. Grows stronger each time a player dies	Burst down Ohgan first. When Threatening Gaze lands on you, stop everything and stand still until it ends
Jin’do the Hexxer (optional)	Delusions of Jin’do, a Mind Control totem, a Healing Totem, and a skeleton pit he teleports players into	Don’t remove Delusions of Jin’do: the affected player kills the Shades of Jin’do they can see. Destroy totems at once and use area damage on the skeletons
Gahz’ranka (optional)	Summoned by fishing in Muddy Churning Waters	A tank and spank. The hard part is gathering the lures
Edge of Madness (optional)	One of Gri’lek, Hazza’rah, Renataki or Wushoolay, rotating every two weeks	Needs a Gurubashi Mojo Madness to start. Drain Wushoolay’s mana before you tank him
Hakkar	Final boss. Cause Insanity on his top threat target, Blood Siphon and Corrupted Blood	Plan a tank swap. Kill the Sons of Hakkar and stand in their poison cloud before Blood Siphon, and don’t cleanse it

Critical Mechanics

Kill the High Priests before Hakkar. Each one gives Hakkar a buff, and he loses it when that priest dies. Aspect of Jeklik silences the raid, Aspect of Venoxis adds poison damage to Corrupted Blood, Aspect of Mar’li and Aspect of Arlokk reset his top threat target, and Aspect of Thekal raises his attack speed by 150%.

Use the Sons of Hakkar for Blood Siphon. Kill the Sons of Hakkar that spawn around the edge of the room and stand in the green poison cloud they leave. When Hakkar casts Blood Siphon, poisoned players make him damage himself instead of healing. Don’t cleanse this poison.

Stand still under Mandokir’s gaze. Threatening Gaze picks a random player. Anyone who keeps attacking or healing while it’s on them will be nearly one-shot.

Thekal’s three must die together. Thekal, Zealot Lor’Khan and Zealot Zath all have to die within 10 seconds of each other. Some raids split into three groups to keep their health falling at the same pace.

Notable Loot

Boss	Notable Drops
High Priest Venoxis	Runed Bloodstained Hauberk, Fang of Venoxis, Zanzil’s Band
High Priestess Jeklik	Jeklik’s Crusher, Jeklik’s Opaline Talisman, Primalist’s Band
High Priestess Mar’li	Flowing Ritual Robes, Mar’li’s Touch, Mar’li’s Eye, Band of Jin
High Priest Thekal	Swift Zulian Tiger (rare), Thekal’s Grasp, Seal of Jin, Zulian Slicer
High Priestess Arlokk	Arlokk’s Grasp, Will of Arlokk, Arlokk’s Hoodoo Stick, Panther Hide Sack
Bloodlord Mandokir	Swift Razzashi Raptor (very rare), Bloodlord’s Defender, Halberd of Smiting, Mandokir’s Sting
Jin’do the Hexxer	Jin’do’s Hexxer, Jin’do’s Evil Eye, Jin’do’s Judgement, Jin’do’s Bag of Whammies
Gahz’ranka	Lizardscale Eyepatch, Nat Pagle’s Fish Terminator, Tigule’s Harpoon, Tome of Polymorph: Turtle
Hakkar	Heart of Hakkar, Aegis of the Blood God, Warblade of the Hakkari, Zin’rokh, Destroyer of Worlds

Every High Priest also shares a loot table that includes Band of Servitude and Seal of the Gurubashi Berserker, and most bosses drop Primal Hakkari tokens. Those tokens, together with Zandalar Tribe reputation, buy the five-piece Zul’Gurub class sets. The Edge of Madness bosses drop the parts for the class trinkets, such as Hazza’rah’s Charm of Magic and Gri’lek’s Charm of Might.

Zandalar Tribe Reputation

The Zandalar Tribe’s quest hub is on Yojamba Isle, off the northwest coast of Stranglethorn Vale. A full Zul’Gurub run gives roughly 2,500-3,000 reputation. You can earn more by turning in Hakkari Bijous and coin sets to Vinchaxa on Yojamba Isle, which give Zandalar Honor Tokens, and by completing the class quests and The Heart of Hakkar.

Reputation unlocks the class head and leg enchants, for example Presence of Sight for Mages and Falcon’s Call for Hunters, as well as the class sets.

Tips & Tricks

Bring a Gurubashi Mojo Madness. You can buy one or have a level 300 Alchemist learn it from the tablet near the Edge of Madness brazier. It needs Blood of Heroes, Massive Mojo, 6 Powerful Mojo and a Black Lotus.

Assign Threatening Gaze calls. On Mandokir, have someone call out the target so they stop in time. Each death also makes him stronger.

Herbalists: look for a Blood Scythe. Bloodvine only comes from herb nodes inside Zul’Gurub, and you need skill 300 and a Blood Scythe to gather it. Jinxed Hoodoo Piles are the best source of the Scythe, but looting one can mind control a raid member.

Keep your coins and Bijous. They’re an easy source of Zandalar reputation on top of the run itself.

Related Guides

• Onyxia’s Lair Raid Guide (WoW Classic) — the single-boss 40-player raid
• Molten Core Raid Guide (Classic WoW) — the first 40-player raid in Classic
• WoW Classic Dungeon Leveling Guide (15-60) — every Classic dungeon by level range