Zul'Aman Tactics

Nalorakk

Introduction
this fight is all about tanks being on-the-ball on their Taunts and DPS being constant. Bring lots of mana potions; he has around 1.7 million health.


Raid Setup
3 healers (2 healing spec, one hybrid)
2 tanks
5 DPS

Gear Requirements
Tanks - You need at least 17k buffed health; if you eat a cleave without the other tank, he will hit for at least 14k.

Healers - You need to stack MP5 and healing here, as the tanks take huge burst damage and the fight is very long.

DPS - normal gear is fine, just make sure to be mana conscious.


Buffs and Consumables
MP5 buffs and elixirs should be used by all mana classes. Tanks need standard health buffs.


Boss Abilities

Troll form
-Mangle
--increases all bleed damange taken by 100%

-Charge
--charges a random player; hits for approximately 1500 physical damage

-Brutal Swipe
--a cleave effect that deals approx 14k damage on plate. The damage will be divided up amongst all targets that are hit with it.


Bear Form
-Lacerating Slash
--deals 1735 bleed damage every 2 seconds for 18 seconds

-Rend Flesh
--deals 2335 bleed damage every 1 second for 5 seconds

-Deafening Roar
--deals 1235-1365 physical AoE damage and silences the raid for 2 seconds


Strategy

Positioning
he must be tanked directly in front of the stairs where he is standing. The raid spreads out near the entrance stairs to his platform. He can be reset if you pull him past the edge of the stairs. He is tanked in the same place for the entire fight.

The Pull
Warriors can charge in to generate some early threat; they dont have to pull him far from his starting point. While he is being repositioned, the raid can spread out.

The Fight
Nalorakk changes between troll form and bear form about every 45 seconds. The transitions are not aggro wipes, and he is Taunt-able.

Phase 1

All healers need to be on the tank for this phase, with occasional HoTs thrown onto anyone charged.

Main Tank
Both the tanks have to stand directly on top of each other for this phase. The main tank needs to just stand still when Nalorakk charges off; he will come running right back to you.

Off Tank
Make sure you stay right on top of the main tank. Dont assume he'll move the boss onto you. You also need to be generating large threat to stay second on the threat list, as Nalorakk's transformations do not wipe aggro.

Melee DPS
You must stay at his back! A parry right after a cleave is almost a guarenteed tank death.

Ranged DPS
Keep your damage reducing abilities (Scorpid Sting, Insect Swarm, etc) up at all times. Keep damage constant; don't try to burst damage him or you'll go OOM (out of mana).

Healers
You need to keep the tanks topped off at all times, as Nalorakk cleaves often.


Phase 2
Nalorakk transforms into a giant bear, and begins to put bleeds on the tank. The secondary tank needs to Taunt immediately upon entering this phase, as a bleed on the tank with Mangle is almost impossible to heal through. This is not an aggro wipe, so DPS can continue.

Main Tank
Watch your health carefully; his Deafening Roar will stop all heals for 2 seconds. If you are low when he Roars, use your cooldowns to last until it's over.

Off Tank
You need to keep generating threat, because his transformations do not wipe aggro. Try and stay at his back, as he no longer cleaves, and the fewer parries, the better.

Melee DPS
Continue normal DPS, but make sure to stay behind him. A parry here during a Roar will almost guarentee a tank death.

Ranged DPS
Watch your threat, and keep your debuffs up. Continue constant DPS, wand away during a silence if you have to.

Healers
The main tank is going to be taking about 6,500 damage per second from the two bleeds, so quick heals are very important here. Keep HoTs up at all times to help during a Deafening Roar.


Miscellaneous Tips
Nalorakk cannot crush the tank, so druids are a good choice to tank the bear phase (his bleeds are affected by armour).

Akil'zon

Introduction
The second boss in Zul'Aman is Akil'Zon, the Eagle Avatar. Before you can fight Akil'Zon however, you must rapidly clear a gauntlet of trash.

The gauntlet consists of 5 pulls of one Amani'shi Protector and one Amani'shi Wind-Walker, and a final Amani'shi Tempest.

As you fight the double pulls of Protectors and Wind-Walkers, the Amani'shi Tempest will continually spawn packs of eagles that will go down the ramp to your group. At the same time, the Tempest will spawn tandem Amani'shi Warriors at the bottom of his platform, which will run up and catch you from behind.

To handle this gauntlet, two tanks should engage the Protector and the Wind-Walker, and use Demoralizing Shout or other AoE abilities when the eagles reach the group. These two tanks can also pick up the Warriors that spawn behind the raid, or a fury warrior can tank both of them fairly easily with one healer.

Melee DPS should focus down the Wind-Walker first, then the Protector, then move to the two Warriors. Casters should focus on the Wind-Walker, but break off to AoE whenever the Eagles engage the group.

After 5 pulls of Protector/Wind-Walker, and finally the Tempest, the Warriors and Eagles will stop spawning, and you will be free to engage the boss.


Raid Setup
Tanks: 1 (Possibly 2 for trash. A feral druid is a good choice because it can tank the trash and then DPS on Akil'zon)
Healers: 3
DPS: 6


Buffs and Consumables
No special buffs or consumables should be required if your group is geared past the intended entry level into Zul'Aman, but if your guild is going from Karazhan into Zul'Aman, you will want to buff appropriately. This means that, at the minimum, people should bring Mana/Health Potions, and elixirs. Also, flasks should be considered as they will help you more than elixirs will, and if you are entering Zul'Aman straight from Karazhan, you will need as many advantages as you can get to succeed.


Akil'zon
Boss Abilities
Akil'Zon has about 1.3 million hit points. This is about 200,000 more than Prince Malchezaar has, so expect a slightly longer fight.

Lightning Storm: Every 45-60 seconds, Akil'zon will throw one person (possibly the farthest person from him) into the air, and channel a purple lightning bolt at them. A cloud will then form under the person suspended in the air. Everyone standing under this cloud will take no damage, but people standing on the rest of the platform will take nature damage ramping up throughout the duration of the storm. It will begin around 1000 per tick, but end at around 4000 per tick.

Static Disruption: Deals 3500 nature damage to a primary target, and anybody in close proximity to him. Also, anyone hit by this will receive a debuff that increases nature damage taken by 25% for 20 seconds.

Call Lightning: Deals approximately 3500-4500 damage to a target.

Gust of Wind: Throws a random target into the air. Upon landing, the person thrown into the air takes damage equal to half of their full health.

Summon Amani Eagle: This ability seems to be used right after an Electrical Storm. Summons forth 6-8 Eagles similar to those you fought on the way up, however they fly in the air the majority of the time, and only attack every 10 or so seconds with a Swoop attack.

Enrage: After 10 minutes of combat, Akil'zon will enrage, dealing 500% normal damage.


Strategy

The Pull
Akil'Zon has a fairly small aggro range, about the size of the square in the middle of the platform that he stands in. The main tank should run in and tank Akil'Zon where he stands, directly in the middle. The raid should then spread out as much as possible to prevent Static Disruption from chaining.

Phase 1
Phase one will be defined as any time Akil'zon is fighting the raid himself, not channeling his Lightning Storm.



The key to phase one is spreading out, and minimizing damage from his attacks. Akil'Zon is not particularly damaging on the main tank, as Nalorakk was, but Akil'zon has the capacity to deal many thousands of damage to everyone if people don't take the proper precautions to prevent his attacks.

Everyone should spread out upon the pull to negate the chaining property of Static Disruption. At this point, DPS should be able to start, and healers must begin healing the MT. One of the healers should be assigned to assist with MT healing, but primarily heal the raid. Everyone must be kept above 50% to prevent deaths from the Gust of Wind ability.

Melee will not be able to spread out due to range restrictions, and they will just have to be healed through all of the chained Static Disruptions.

After about 45 seconds of Phase 1, everyone should collapse onto the Main Tank. If you time this right, Akil'Zon will cast Lightning Storm before he has a chance to cast Static Disruption again. If everyone is grouped up at the time that Akil'Zon casts Static Disruption, you will just need to heal through it. One Static Disruption on the whole raid is preferable to multiple ticks of Electrical Storm. When Akil'Zon begins to cast Electrical Storm (signified by an emote, or by most boss mod packages), Phase 2 begins.

Phase 2
Phase 2 is defined as any time that Akil'Zon is casting his Electrical Storm spell.



If you completed the end segment of Phase 1 correctly (the collapse), then the farthest person away from Akil'Zon should still be close enough that everyone is covered by the storm cloud.

Melee DPS should continue to chip away at Akil'zon while the raid is collapsed, and anyone that is hurt should bandage themselves. Hunters should feel free to bandage anyone who doesn't have a Recently Bandaged debuff on them, if no targets are present, then by all means Raptor Strike away at Akil'Zon.

Phase 2, if properly executed, is essentially a chance to rest up and score some free hits on Akil'Zon, but if executed poorly, can cause catastrophic damage to your whole raid.

Eagles
After Phase 2 concludes, the fight will revert to Phase 1, but with a number of eagles flying around.

The Eagles are not particularly damaging, only dealing 300-500 damage on their swoop attacks, and for the most part can be left alone. Well timed Seed of Corruptions on Akil'Zon can damage the Eagles, along with warriors' Whirlwind/Cleave, hunters' Multishot, and a rogue's Blade Flurry, but most of these will be spotty at best, requiring the Eagles to be in the right place at the right time. If you can kill eagles, it will make the fight slightly easier (with a little bit less damage going out) but your priority should be to kill Akil'Zon.


Class Roles

Tanks: Only one tank is needed for this encounter, so any extra tanks can DPS, or sit out for a DPS class. Mainly your job is to keep Akil'Zon on you at all times.

Melee DPS: If there is only one other melee, it may be possible to go max range melee and avoid Static Disruption chains from the tank, but if there is more than 1 melee DPS, it will become almost impossible, and they should focus on maximizing DPS rather than minimizing Static Disruption risk. Melee have it very easy in this fight, as they get to tear up Akil'zon at all times of all phases.

Ranged DPS: As with the melee, your job is essentially to kill Akil'Zon before he kills you. You have it slightly worse off then the melee as you will be constantly shifting position to ensure good spread to prevent chaining, and during collapses at the end of Phase 1. If you feel like it, you can try to kill the Eagles as they spawn, but it will likely be extremely difficult and not worth the time.

Healers: Your job is to keep the raid up. For an entry level group, you will most likely not be able to kill Akil'Zon if anybody dies. For more overqualified groups, this is less likely, but healers should do anything in their power to prevent any deaths on this encounter. This means that the tank should always be getting heals, and nobody should be left below 50% health to prevent Gust of Wind deaths.

Jan'alai

Raid Setup
Tanks: 1
Healers : 3-4
DPS : 5-6

Buffs, Potions and Gear
Despite its 10 man level, Zul'Aman fights are quite intense. Even with something like Tier 6, they're quite a challenge, especially for the healers. Therefore, full potions and flasks are quite handy, if not required, depending on the level of your gear. They're even more required if you're aiming to kill all the bosses on the 20 minute timer, where one wipe can cost you the bonus loot chest.

Boss Abilities
HP - 1,000,000
Melee Hit - around 3,000 damage on each hit
Enrage - There are 2 Enrages. The first one is either after 5 minutes, or when he hits 25% HP, whichever comes first. It increases his attack speed and damage by 50%. It's only a slight increase to his damage, and nothing to be worried about.

The second Enrage is 10 minutes into the fight, which makes him go berzerk and kill everyone, hitting tanks for over 30k damage. Shield Wall is the only way to survive it, so save that in case he goes berzerk at about 2-5%.

Flame Breath - A coned AoE attack, much likes the mage's Dragon Breath. It targets a random player, and everyone in its cone gets hit for for 4,375 to 5,625 fire damage. It has a 50 yard range, so it cannot be avoided on his platform.

Fire Bombs - An ability, which teleports everyone on top of Jan'alai. It also spawns over 20-25 immobile Fire Bombs, which look like fiery transparent eggs, which will then explode after about 10 seconds. Each bomb causes 6,125 to 7,875 fire damage in a 4 yard radius around it so, as long as you spread out nicely between them, you should be unharmed.

Hatch - At 35% HP, Jan'Alai will hatch Amani Dragonhawk Hatchlings (described delow) from all the eggs on his two platforms, which will more or less overwhelm you and kill you. To avoid this, let the Hatchers (mobs talked about later) hatch most of the eggs before Jan'Alai's health hits 35%.


The Fight
The pull and positioning are rather simple. Either have the main tank simply walk over to Jan'Alai, or have a hunter Misdirect to him. Spread out evenly around the platform.

Jan'Alai Positions


Jan'Alai's abilities are on a rather random timer as he will sometimes use them 30 seconds apart, sometimes 10, so it's hard to give any definite times when to expect his Flame Breath or Fire Bombs. Simply stay spread out and be ready to run away from the Fire Bombs and Jan'Alai.

Through out the fight, about every 10% or so, he calls 2 Amani'shi Hatchers, which have 7,500 HP each. What they do is hatch the eggs on the edges of the Jan'Alai platform. Upon hatching, the eggs will spawn Amani Dragonhawk Hatchlings. They have 8,400 HP each and hit for 1k on leather, in addition to having a tiny Flame Buffet debuff and a fire based attack which deals minor fire damage.

When you see the 2 Hatchers climbing up, kill one of them, but leave the other one alive.

Amani Dragonhawk HatchlingLet him spawn about 5-7 Amani Dragonhawk Hatchlings, then kill him and the Amani Dragonhawk Hatchlings. If you've brought 2 tanks instead of 1, have that tank try and hold the Amani Dragonhawk Hatchlings. If you don't have a spare tank, they won't do much damage to non-plate classes anyway.

Healers need to be careful when that happens as the raid clumping up on the Amani Dragonhawk Hatchlings will probably mean a lot of people being affected by Flame Breath. If you get Fire Bombs while killing the Amani Dragonhawk Hatchlings, staying away from the Fire Bombs is priority number 1. You can kill the rest of the hawks after the Fire Bombs explode, or even while you're standing in between the eggs.

Now, the crucial part of the fight: as strange as it may seem, you must keep your DPS low. You need to have hatched and killed most of the dragonhawk eggs by the time he reaches 35% or you will be overrun when Jan'Alai hatches the remaining eggs. Usually about 20-30% of the eggs left alive is somewhat managable with good AoE Taunting/AoE damage (if you happen to have an extra feral druid or warrior, or even a protection paladin in addition to the main tank).

This is tough to achieve, as you need a great balance of DPS. Rememeber, after 10 minutes he will kill you, so when you hit the 6-7 minute mark, that's a good time to get him to 35% and hatch the eggs; any longer than that and he's going to Enrage before you get both him and the Amani Dragonhawk Hatchlings down.

If you have good AoE and you're having trouble taking him down before the Enrage, you might let 2 Hatchers live to hatch a few more eggs so as to get more of them down faster.

Keep spreading out for the Flame Breath, stay away from the Fire Bombs, let the Hatchers spawn a few eggs, then kill the Hatchers and the spawned Amani Dragonhawk Hatchlings, and that's about it for the fight.


Jan'Alai roaring
Class Assignments
Tank - There's nothing special to do here. Just tank him around the centre. If there are 2 of you, one tanks Jan'Alai while the other tries to hold the spawned Amani Dragonhawk Hatchlings while they are killed.

Melee DPS - Stay behind Jin'Alai, help in killing the Hatchers and Amani Dragonhawk Hatchlings.

Ranged DPS - Spread out around the platform, help in killing the Hatchers and the Amani Dragonhawk Hatchlings.

Healers - Just like ranged DPS, spread around the platform. While the 5 minute Enrage isn't big damage, it's still a small increase so be aware of that. The raid might take a lot of damage when they group up to kill the Amani Dragonhawk Hatchlings and such, so be careful at those moments. If the 10 minute Enrage comes and your tank hits Shield Wall, just constantly cast heals on him and cross your fingers for the best.

Halazzi

Raid Setup
Tanks : 2
Healers : 3-4
DPS : 4-5

Buffs, Potions and Gear
Despite its 10 man level, Zul'Aman fights are quite intense. Even with something like Tier 6, they're quite a challenge, especially for the healers.

Therefore, full potions and flasks are quite handy, if not required, depending on the level of your gear. They're even more required if you're aiming to kill all the bosses on the 20 minute timer, where one wipe can cost you the bonus loot chest.

Healers especially should bring plenty of mana potions. You'll need them often.


Boss Abilities
HP - 600,000
Melee Strength - 3-4k per hit

Saber Lash - Deals a base value of around 15,000 physical damage spread out amongst his top aggro target and everyone within 1-2 yards of them. Phase 1 ability.

Flame Shock - Deals 3,800 to 4,200 fire damage as well as dealing 2,498-2,902 fire damage every 3 seconds for 12 seconds, to a random player. Can be dispelled. Phase 2 ability.

HalazziFrenzy - Halazzi will Frenzy all the time throughout the fight, increasing his attack speed by 100% (as of patch 2.3.2). You must use Tranquillising Shot in order to get him out of it. If you don't have a hunter, simply be ready to do a bit more healing on the main tank since Frenzy is going to be up most of the time.

Earth Shock - Deals 4,370 to 4,830 nature damage to a random player, interrupting any spell being cast, and silencing all spells in the same school as the interrupted spell for 4 seconds. Phase 2 ability.

Corrupted Lightning Totem - A totem that casts chain lightning on a random player for 5,000 damage, chaining it to nearby players. The totem has low HP, about 10,000, and must be killed on sight. Phase 2 ability.

Enrage - Halazzi has a hard enrage timer of 10 minutes.


The Fight
Halazzi is tanked in the centre, melee DPS standing behind him, with ranged DPS and healers well spread around the room to minimise the Chain Lightning damage.

Phase 1
In this Phase, he is in his Lynx form. This is a straightforward tank and DPS phase.

Halazzi Phase 1 Positions

The special boss ability in this phase is Saber Lash, which he uses quite randomly (much like Mother Shahraz). Use the main tank and off tank together to soak the damage from this ability.

At 75%, 50% and 25% HP, Halazzi will switch into phase 2. As soon as you get him down to 75%, the first phase 2 will begin.

Phase 2
When phase 2 hits, Halazzi splits between his Shamanistic form and his Lynx form, both starting at 100% HP. Halazzi has 400,000 HP, while the Lynx has 200,000.

Halazzi Phase 2 Positions

Aggro is not reset during Halazzi's phase switches, so you can continue to DPS through the transitions without fear of pulling aggro.

The main tank grabs the Shamanistic form, and the off tank grabs the Lynx.

The Lynx is tanked away from the main tank and the melee DPS, preferably somewhere around 15-20 yards away. It does mediocre damage and has no special abilities.

In this phase, Halazzi will stop using Saber Lash, and use his Flame Shock, Earth Shock and Corrupted Lighting Totems instead. Kill the Totem as soon as it spawns and heal/dispel the Flame Shock. Halazzi himself also does mediocre melee damage.

He will use his phase 2 abilities rather randomly, between 10 and 20 seconds each.

The phase ends when either Halazzi or the Lynx get down to 10% health.

Which of the two adds to DPS down is entirely your choice and preference.

Some guilds prefer killing the Lynx because of his low HP, while some report they have better results if they just stay on Halazzi.

As soon as one of them gets down to 10% HP, Halazzi recalls the Lynx spirit to him, returning to phase 1 at 75% health (or 50% and 25% on later occasions).

The fight switches between phases 1 and 2 until after the phase 2 at 25%. Then he switches to phase 3 instead of returning to phase 1.

Halazzi
Phase 3
Phase 3 is essentially the same as Phase 1, except that Halazzi now casts his Corrupted Lightning Totem as well and has his damage is slightly increased. Healers should be careful as the overall raid damage is going to increase, and DPS need to try to kill the Corrupted Lightning Totem as soon as possible.


Class Assignments
Tanks - In phases 1 and 3, stay on top of each other in order to split the Saber Lash damage. As soon as phase 2 hits, one tank remains on Halazzi, the other takes the Spirit of the Lynx. Be ready to return to your phase 1 positions after phase 2.

DPS - Ranged DPS stay spread out. Melee DPS is, of course, behind Halazzi. It is entirely the raid's choice which mob to DPS in phase 2: Halazzi or the Lynx, so discuss it before the fight starts so you don't end up killing different mobs.

Kill the Corrupted Lightning Totem as soon as it spawns! It can deal massive damage. For an easier time killing the totem, make a macro:
/target Corrupted
(unless you have a raid member called Corrupted, in which case you'll need the full totem name in there)

Healers - Stay spread out. The damage taken overall isn't that much, but be careful if your DPS happens to miss killing a Corrupted Lightning Totem fast enough as the raid will then take lots of damage. Dispel the Flame Shock as soon as it comes.

Hex Lord Malacrass

Introduction
Hex Lord Malacrass is the fifth boss in Zul'Aman and is considered to be one of the two "final" bosses, Zul'Jin being the other. Once all four avatar bosses have been defeated, the raid can reach Malacrass by going up the ramp on the central island.

There are 3 groups of trash leading up to Malacrass; 2 packs of 2 Amani'shi Berserkers. These huge trolls are immune to Taunt/Growl/Righteous Defense, do a knockback, and have a low health Enrage that makes them hit very hard. The other group consist of 4 trolls, all of which the raid has encountered before.

Malacrass drops 2 or 3 items of epic quality and 3 Badges of Justice. Killing Hex Lord Malacrass is the objective of the quest line starting with obtaining the map of Zul'Aman near Nalorakk, the bear boss. The reward for this quest is 5 Badges of Justice and some gold.


Raid Setup
For Malacrass, you need at least 1 tank. A second tank can be a feral druid in DPS gear or a DPS warrior. 3 healers are recommended, preferably one or two that have good multi-target healing (CoH priests, shamans, druids). Because of the nature of the fight (Siphon Soul; see below), the presence of some classes can make the fight harder.


Wipe Prevention
None: the door from which you enter closes when you engage Malacrass.


Gear, Buffs and Consumables
Shadow Protection buffs are a must. The healers will be stressed for mana, so Mana Potions and mana regeneration consumables are recommended. Lesser geared raids will want to add DPS consumables too. If you've made it this far, your gear is good enough to kill Malacrass. Low HP casters might want to swap to some more stamina heavy items or take HP increasing consumables. Shadow resistance gear can help, but is not needed to kill Malacrass, so limit it to high quality shadow resistance items.


Boss Adds
Malacrass will come with 4 adds chosen randomly from a set of 8. Each add can be crowd controlled ("CC-ed") according to its type, and the raid can decide to kill as few as 0 or as many as 4 adds before attacking Malacrass, depending on crowd control ("CC") availability and preference. The adds are:

Thurg - Melee ogre (Polymorph)
Gazakroth - Imp, fires randomly targeted fireballs for 300 damage (Banish)
Lord Raadan - Dragonkin with frontal Flame Breath and Thunderclap (Hibernate)
Darkheart - Undead with instant cast spells and AoE Fear (Shackle)
Alyson Antille - Blood Elf healer (Polymorph)
Slither - Serpent with poison bolts (Polymorph, Hibernate)
Fenstalker - Elemental with Volatile Infection (Banish)
Koragg - Melee undead (Shackle)


Boss Hit Points
Approximately 1,900,000


Boss Abilities
Spirit Bolts - Malacrass will shoot Spirit Bolts at the raid, dealing 450 shadow damage. Over a period of 10 seconds, he will shoot 20 bolts at everyone. The damage is subject to shadow resistance. This ability is used approximately every 40 seconds.

Drain Power - Every minute, Malacrass will drain power from the raid, reducing each raid member's damage by 1% and increasing Malacrass' damage by 10%. Drain Power stacks.

Hex Lord Malacrass kneelingSiphon Soul - Directly after casting the Spirit Bolts, Malacrass will use Siphon Soul on a random raid member. This player can function normally, but Malacrass gains some of the abilities of the targeted player's class. Siphon Soul lasts until Malacrass recasts it again after the Spirit Bolts. These are the abilities that Malacrass gains per class:
Druid - Thorns, Lifebloom, Moonfire
Hunter - Freezing Trap, Snake Trap, Explosive Trap
Mage - Fireball, Frostbolt, Frost Nova
Paladin - Consecrate, Avenging Wrath, Holy Light
Priest - Psychic Scream, Flash Heal, Mind Control
Rogue - Blind, Wound Poison, Slice and Dice
Shaman - Fire Nova Totem, Chain Lightning, Healing Wave
Warlock - Curse of Doom, Unstable Affliction, Rain of Fire
Warrior - Mortal Strike, Spell Reflect, Whirlwind


Strategy

Positioning
Positioning is not very important apart from the generic scenario with the tank tanking the boss faced away from the raid, the melee directly behind the boss and the ranged at a safe distance. There are some things worth noting, though: there needs to be space for the tank to move Malacrass on some of the class Siphon Souls. Furthermore, ranged DPS and healers need to spread out on the warlock Siphon, while staying somewhat clumped up during other parts of the fight is beneficial since it increases the effectiveness of Chain Heal and Circle of Healing. Finally, the CC-ed adds should not be near the boss, allowing Thunderclaps, Whirlwinds and other multi-target abilities, but the CC classes need a good view of both the boss and their add.

Hex Lord Malacrass Positions


The Pull
Using the positioning diagram shown above, the Malacrass tank runs in on the right side of the room. Here he engages the boss, automatically pulling the adds to him, leaving them in the right CC position. The add tank comes in from the left and pulls his add immediately after the MT has engaged the boss, possibly with help from a Misdirecting Hunter. The MT then pulls Malacrass to the tank position as shown in the diagram.

The Fight
Once the add tank has established aggro, the DPS quickly burns down the non CC-ed adds. An important aspect of the fight is the decision of how many adds will be killed. Killing more adds prolongs the fight, making it more taxing on the healers, but it decreases the risk of CC breaking at an unfortunate time. Generally, 1 or 2 adds are killed before the raid switches to Malacrass.

Around the time of death of the first add (depending on raid DPS), Malacrass will do his first volley of Spirit Bolts. Every player will receive 9,000 hit points worth of shadow damage, possibly less due to resists. Assign healers to every person in the raid, to ensure that everyone will receive healing. During the Spirit Bolts, Malacrass does not melee attack, so the MT will not need special attention. After the volley ends, have one or two healers heal the raid back to full while the other(s) focus on the MT again.

If a mage is present, use Dampen Magic on all raid members except the MT to reduce the damage done by the Spirit Bolts considerably. Raid members are advised to have over 9,000 HP buffed. The strength of the Spirit Bolts increases with each Power Drain, so while a player might survive the first volley without healing if he has sufficient HP, the volleys near the end of the fight will be far more dangerous.

The Spirit Bolts do a good job at increasing cast times, so anything that reduces the chance for spell knockback is strongly recommended: Concentration Aura, Earthshield, Barkskin, Power Word: Shield, etc...

Directly after each Spirit Bolts volley, Malacrass will select a random player and cast Siphon Soul, gaining three of the players class abilities. It is important to recognize who is being targeted quickly (the targeted player will receive a debuff) so that the raid can adapt.

Hex Lord Malacrass, taken from behindPer class instructions on how to deal with the Siphon:

Druid - Melee (especially dual-wielders) stop attacking in order to prevent being hit for over 200 damage per attack from Thorns. Spellsteal (or Dispel/Purge) the Lifebloom as soon as Malacrass casts it. The Moonfire is not a big deal.

Hunter - The traps dropped are visible to the raid, so, as soon as the tank spots one, he has to kite Malacrass away from it quickly, with the melee following closely. The Freezing Trap freezes several persons (unlike the Hunter version). The snakes are easily killed with light AoE.

Mage - The Fireballs and Frostbolts are randomly targeted and can be interrupted. With good interrupts, this class drain is very easy. Since there is no additional AoE in melee range, the low damage Frost Nova is a non issue. Dispelling it is not needed.

Paladin - The Consecrate hits for 2,500 per tick and the tank and melee should move out of it very quickly. Dispel/Purge/Spellsteal Avenging Wrath as soon as it comes up: the extra damage dealt is very nasty. Interrupt Holy Light like you would with any heal.

Priest - Put Fear Ward on the MT once the Priest drain starts, CC the Mind Controlled players (the Mind Control lasts for 20 seconds) and interrupt the heals.

Rogue - Cure the Wound Poison quickly and pump up the healing because of the increased damage caused by Slice and Dice. The Blind doesn't seem to target the Malacrass tank, so it isn't a great problem. It is, however, undispellable.

Shaman - Interrupt Chain Lightning and Healing Wave. When Malacrass drops a Fire Nova Totem, kill it quickly. It does a lot of damage, but has very few hit points, so a quick focused burst from the DPS team will prevent it from firing.

Warlock - Decurse the Curse of Doom, make sure not to dispel the Unstable Affliction and spread out to minimize Rain of Fire damage. Rain of Fire ticks for 3,000 damage, so run out of it quickly.

Warrior - Save Disarm for the Warrior drain. If Malacrass does get a Mortal Strike in, constantly cast heals on the tank until the debuff wears off. Be aware of the Spell Reflect; stop casting when you see it. The Whirlwind has a short cast time, but it does hit for around 7,000 hit points on leather. It's possible to run out of it, but you need to react very quickly. Melee with slower reflexes might want to wait this phase out from a distance or bandage up after getting hit.


Drain Power puts an effective soft-cap on the encounter. The longer you take to kill Malacrass, the harder the fight becomes. There are no special threat drops and, because the tank has had time to build threat while the raid killed one or more adds, the DPS can and should be fairly high. Work out how to deal with the individual class drains, have healers with the staying power to heal through the repeated AoE volleys and good DPS to shorten the fight, and the encounter becomes fairly easy.

Once you kill Malacrass, the door to Zul'jin will open and after a while a large group of non-elite trolls will storm in. These trolls are fairly harmless and can be AoE-ed easily.


Individual Role Instructions/Tips
Tanks - The add tank should wear mainly DPS gear, unless multiple adds are being tanked and killed. The strain on the healers will be low before the first Spirit Bolts and the DPS gear will help shorten the fight once the adds are down. Keep Demoralizing Shout/Roar and Thunderclap up on the boss if possible.

Melee DPS - Melee DPS needs to be very careful on the paladin, hunter and warrior drains when there are melee range AoE effects and traps to be dodged. Run out on time and save your healers some precious mana. On the Paladin, Priest, Mage and Shaman drains, your interrupts will be needed. Save energy/rage/mana and global cooldowns for it.

Ranged DPS - Keep an eye out for your CC-ed target if you have one and try to reapply the CC regularly, especially before Spirit Bolts. Sheep/Fear/Trap/Cyclone players that get Mind Controlled during a priest drain.

Healers - Go for endurance. Your mana will be severely drained in this fight, so liberal use of potions is highly recommended.

Zul'jin

Boss Health
~1,500,000 HP

Overview
Zul'Jin is a 5 phase fight. Each phase is meant to represent a unique challenge to the raid force. Furthermore, each phase represents a different spirit of the Zul'Aman creatures (eagle, dragonhawk, lynx, and bear). Zul'Jin is also a long fight by 10 man standards, and is relatively unforgiving to player deaths (as you will gradually be worn down before the end). Zul'Jin will change phases (and forms for that matter) every 20% of his health. Every time Zul'Jin changes forms, all aggro is cleared.

Preparation
While flasks, food buffs, and weapon enchants may be useful, they might not be available for the 10 man environment depending on the attitude of your raid force. Use of at least some elixirs for mana regeneration is highly advisable, especially for healers, as this is a very healing intensive fight. Furthermore, plenty of Mana Potions, Healing Potions, and bandages are a must! Many raid forces will find that high stamina gear or PvP gear is exceptionally useful for surviving the lynx phase of this fight (as described below).

Raid Composition
1 Main Tank (Can be a druid, protection warrior, or protection paladin)
4 Healers (Can be any class, however at least 1 shaman is highly advisable)
5 DPS (Can be any class, however at least 2 melee is highly advisable)

On a side note, A bear druid is probably the best main tank for this fight considering all of the extra options he will have and the main tank damage being fairly low most of the fight (however Zul'Jin can deliver crushing blows in all forms).

The Pull

The red box is where the flame wall will appear


The pull is initiated simply by walking towards Zul'Jin. His aggro range is about half way across his platform (below his stairs). It is very important for all members of the raid force to be fully on his platform before the pull, as a flame wall will raise as soon as he is aggroed and lock out anyone not far enough up. When aggroed, Zul'Jin should be picked up by the main tank. He also has approximately 10 adds with low health (around 3,000) that will aggro when he does. It is unimportant that these be tanked, but they should be killed first while the main tank builds some threat on Zul'jin. Usually a small amount of AoE such as Seed of Corruption or Arcane Explosion will kill them all. Once pulled, phase 1 has begun...


Phase 1 (Human Form)
Melee Hit - Moderate (3-5k)

Boss Abilities
Grievous Throw - Targets a random player and places a damage over time spell on them. Similar to the second boss of Slave Pens, this DoT will last until the player is fully healed. It ticks for approximately 2,000-2,500 damage every 3 seconds. Healers should be aware of who has the Grievous Throw and take immediate action to top that person off. He will cast Grievous Throw about every 10 seconds.

Whirlwind - He will spin around, ceasing all auto attacks on the main tank. Melee range damage will ensue after about 1 second of Whirlwinding. It is possible to react to this effect and move without taking any damage, although it is very difficult. The attack deals ~8,000 damage on leather wearers (rogues and feral druids) and will deal ~4,000 damage on plate wearers (DPS warriors or retribution paladins). In general, melee classes must be very cautious when DPS-ing Zul'Jin in this phase. Losing a melee class this early will make the rest of the fight needlessly challenging. If your melee have trouble avoiding this, simply tell them not to DPS during this phase.

Discussion

Zul'Jin Positions (phases 1,2 and 5)


Beyond Grievous Throw, phase 1 is relatively simple. The positioning of Zul'Jin and the raid is relatively unimportant. DPS him without pulling aggro until 80% health. Melee avoiding his Whirlwind is paramount as, even if you have the health to survive it, any combination of Whirlwind and Grievous Throw will kill a melee class player. At 80% health, Zul'Jin will run to the centre of his platform and begin to change form. At this time, no one should have DoTs ticking and healers should be careful. It is advisable that everyone except the tank put plenty of space between themselves and Zul'jin to avoid being one-shotted as soon as he begins attacking again. When he changes form to become a bear, aggro is wiped and phase 2 Begins.


Phase 2 (Bear Form)
Melee Hit - High (5-6k)

Boss Abilities
Creeping Paralysis - Cast on every player in the raid, this spell causes players to be unable to move if it is not dispelled within 6 seconds. The spell lasts for approximately 5 seconds and causes approximately 5,000 damage when it expires. It is advisable for a paladin or a priest to dispel themselves and then dispel the main tank and healers as soon as it is cast. If this is not dispelled from the main tank, he will be unable to dodge, parry and block whilst paralyzed, which will most likely lead to his death. It is not necessary to dispel DPS classes, as they can be healed later, after the effect expires. He will cast this spell about every 20 seconds.

Overpower - Just like the warrior version of Overpower. Every time his primary melee target dodges an attack, he can use an instant attack that causes ~5,000 damage on a main tank. This can contribute to very high burst damage during the bear form.

Discussion
The only real challenge of this phase is that it is moderately healing intensive. It is advisable to keep the main tank topped off at all times, as the burst damage can be relatively high (especially on a Karazhan geared tank.) This phase is simply a tank and DPS phase beyond the Creeping Paralysis. Once Zul'Jin is at 60%, he will run to the centre of his platform and phase 3 begins. It is advisable to keep DoTs up and for casters to continue damaging Zul'Jin as he changes phases as it will usually get you an extra 1-2% of his health before the next phase begins (aggro is not an issue during the next phase).


Zul'Jin


Phase 3 (Eagle Form)
Melee Hit - None

Boss Abilities
Electrical Storm - Causes 1,250 damage to a player every time they cast a spell. This does not effect melee abilities (such as Sinister Strike, Whirlwind, etc.), but will effect all healing spells, damage spells, and even abilities such as Commanding Shout or Demoralizing Shout.

Tornadoes - Tornadoes will roam the room. Sometimes the Tornadoes follow players, other times they appear to move randomly. They can switch the player they are following at any time. When a Tornado collides with a player, that player will be dealt approximately 1000 damage and knocked away (sometimes into other Tornadoes). The Tornadoes are truly the challenge of this phase.

Discussion

Zul'Jin Positions (phase 3)


Zul'Jin himself does nothing in this phase except flap his wings as an eagle in the centre of the platform. When the phase begins, all players will receive the Electrical Storm debuff as an aura. It is advisable that players move away from Zul'Jin as he is changing forms, because the Tornadoes spawn where he is hovering and players standing near him will take excessive damage and sometimes be killed by an unlucky string of bounces from the Tornadoes. Once the Tornadoes spawn, the phase has truly begun. During this phase, DPS is not important. This is the longest phase and will usually last several minutes. What is important is that all players avoid the Tornadoes as much as possible. This phase will rarely kill anybody, but it is a huge drain on healer mana (which will quickly become a precious commodity during the next phase). Excessive use of Mana Potions, Healing Potions, Healthstones, and bandages is extremely beneficial during this phase. Be careful about bandaging near Tornadoes, however.

As a caster, you should cast as few spells as possible that deal as much damage as possible. Warlocks get a pretty good deal with Curse of Doom.

As a melee class, you should DPS only when you see no Tornadoes around Zul'Jin and you should move as soon as the Tornadoes start moving back towards him.

As a healer, you should aim to cast only your biggest heal (because casting heals for less than 1,250 will only harm you for at least as much as you heal).

Ultimately this phase is not difficult, but it can be overwhelming the first or second time that you see it. Once all players get a feel for how the Tornadoes move and how to avoid them, it will become simple. As a final note, avoid running to walls when you know a Tornado is following you. Sometimes players will get stuck between a Tornado and a wall, and the damage will simply wear them down too quickly. Try running towards the centre of the room or strafing to the left or the right of Tornados. Most deaths from this phase are caused by being stuck between a wall and taking lots of damage in rapid succession.

Once Zul'Jin is at 40%, he will run to the centre of the platform and phase 4 begins. No DoTs should be up at this end of this phase, as the tank needs to be able to take aggro quickly. Just as before, to avoid being one shotted it is advisable for no one except the tank to be standing next to Zul'Jin whilst he changes form.


Phase 4 (Lynx Form)
Melee Hit - Light (3-4k)

Boss Abilities
Claw Charge - Zul'Jin charges to a random target and does a chain of 10 melee attacks on that target. Each attack will deal around 1,000 damage and place a stacking debuff on his target that increases damage taken by 150. This mechanic works much like a Fixate, in that if his target is killed while he is casting this he will finish the rest of his attack on his highest aggro target. This damage is not mitigated by armour and can not be blocked or avoided (except by Ice Block or Divine Shield). Intervene does not absorb damage from this ability. The target chosen for the Claw Charge will take around 15,000 damage in about 8 seconds. Without swift and adequate healing, most non-tank targets will die before the Claw Charge is over. Zul'Jin will spend around 6 seconds performing Claw Charge.

Lynx Rush - Zul'Jin will randomly charge a little over half your raid (6-8 people), placing a DoT on them that does around 8,000 damage over 10 seconds. Contrary to popular belief, this damage can not be avoided by being spread out or by putting range between yourself and Zul'Jin. This damage must be healed through swiftly, because a combination of the Claw Charge and the Lynx Rush can easily kill a target. Zul'Jin will spend around 6 seconds performing Lynx Rush.

Discussion

Zul'Jin Positions (phase 4)


Early speculation suggested that people be spread out and that Lynx Rush worked much like Leotheras the Blind or Warchief Kargath's Whirlwind attack. In theory, if people were more spread out fewer people would get the DoT. However, this is not the case; the charging that Zul'Jin does is truly unavoidable and will put the DoT on whoever is targeted by the charge.

The easiest way to deal with this phase is to have all players stand right on top of Zul'Jin so that DPS can continue when he does his Lynx Rush ability. Furthermore, the raid can also take the greatest advantage of Chain Heal and Circle of Healing, if available. This phase is very healing intensive, and it is what your healers have been saving their mana for (and the reason you brought a 4th healer!). This is the phase that causes the most wipes because healers must be prepared to react quickly to whoever is chosen for the Claw Charge. That player will need fast and efficient heals to be able to survive the full duration of the Claw Charge. After the Claw Charge is over, Zul'Jin continues to melee the tank, but for a very brief period as the majority of Zul'Jin's time is spent in this phase either performing Claw Charge or Lynx Rush. Main tank death is still possible, however, and healers should be aware of who Zul'Jin is targeting at all times. Healing with Target of Target on is very effective.

He will do a Lynx Rush relatively randomly, but usually about every 30 seconds.

He will do a Claw Charge relatively randomly, but usually about every 20 seconds.

You will have completed this phase fairly effectively if you finish after about 2 Lynx Rushes and 4 or 5 Claw Charges.

To help healers deal with the Claw Charge, it is advisable that, once you realize you are being Claw Charged, you consume a Health Potion and a Healthstone to give healers more time to react.

Once Zul'Jin reaches 20%, he will run to the centre of the platform and begin to change phases. As before, it is advisable that no DoTs be up and only the main tank be within melee range.


Zul'Jin's balletic kick
Phase 5 (Dragonhawk Form)
Melee Hit - Light (3-4k)

Boss Abilities
Flame Whirl Every 15-20 seconds, Zul'Jin will spin around releasing a flame in all directions. This fire is resistible and will strike everyone in your raid for ~1000 damage. The Flame Whirl does, however, apply a stacking debuff that increases fire damage taken by 50%. This means that the second flame will deal 1,500 damage, and the third will deal ~2000 damage. Eventually this will become too difficult to heal.

Column of Fire - Much like Void Zones from Netherspite or Cave Ins from Gruul, Zul'Jin will occasionally drop a pillar of flame on the ground that deals large amounts of damage. If players react fast enough and stay mobile, they can avoid all damage from this ability. It ticks for around 1,000 without any Flame Whirl stacks (which would increase the damage).

Flame Breath - A frontal cone attack that hits for around 1500 before Flame Whirl debuffs stack. When combined with Flame Whirls, his burst damage can be very high towards the end of the fight.

Discussion
This phase is simply a test to see if enough players survived through the Lynx Phase. Positioning for this phase is exactly the same as phases 1 and 2. The main tank should keep Zul'Jin pointed away from the raid and the rest of the raid should stay slightly spread to reduce the movement needed when Columns of Fire land. All of the fire damage in this phase is resistible, and use of Fire Resistance Aura or Totem is highly advisable. Eventually, the Flame Whirl will wear down your entire raid when mixed with incidental damage from the Columns of Fire. Nevertheless, this phase is not too challenging.