Gorosh the Dervish

Gorosh the Dervish is an orc warrior and one of six champions who can appear at the end of the Ring of the Law, the arena event in Blackrock Depths. Which champion a group faces is random, so many players ran the arena dozens of times without seeing him. When he does appear, he hits harder than most of the dungeon's bosses, and he is the only one of the six with an epic drop, the [Savage Gladiator Chain].

Background

The Ring of the Law is where the Dark Iron Dwarves punish those who wrong them. Their law knows only one sentence, death, and tradition says the guilty pay it by fighting beasts in the arena. The game's later Adventure Guide adds that nobody is known to have survived.

When players step onto the grate at the center of the arena, the gates close and High Justice Grimstone appears to read out their sentence. He cannot be attacked; he only announces the bouts. First come two waves of the same kind of creature, picked at random from burrowing thundersnouts, borer beetles, deep stingers, dark screechers, dredge worms and cave creepers. Then Grimstone sends out a single champion, one of Grizzle, Anub'shiah, Eviscerator, Ok'thor the Breaker, Hedrum the Creeper or Gorosh.

Gorosh is the only orc among them. Nothing in the game explains how an orc warrior ended up fighting for the Dark Iron judges; he exists as an arena gladiator and nothing more. His loot, with gladiator names and heavy armor, fits that role.

Abilities

• Dual wield: he attacks with a weapon in each hand.
• Whirlwind: physical damage to every player within 8 yards.
• Bloodlust: raises his attack speed by 30% for 30 seconds.
• Mortal Strike: a heavy hit that also cuts healing on the target by 50% for 5 seconds.

Strategy

The arena is an open fight, so preparation matters more than tactics. Groups clear the beast waves with area damage while the tank and healer save their cooldowns for the champion. When Gorosh comes out, the tank turns him away from the group and everyone else stays out of the 8-yard reach of Whirlwind; melee players attack from behind and step out when he starts to spin.

Mortal Strike is the main danger. A tank hit by it receives half the healing for 5 seconds, so a healer who falls behind can lose the tank in two or three hits, especially while Bloodlust is up. Groups burn him down quickly rather than trying to outlast him, and ranged players who keep their distance are rarely in danger.

When the champion dies, a gate opens onto a ramp that leads up toward Pyromancer Loregrain and the Shrine of Thaurissan. The dungeon's other gauntlet, a string of foes released one after another, waits much deeper in the city: the seven dwarf spirits of the Summoners' Tomb, led by Doom'rel.

Loot

From our database (patch 1.12):

The [Savage Gladiator Chain] is an epic mail chest with strength, agility, stamina and critical strike chance, a sought-after chest piece for hunters and warriors before raiding. The other three drops came with patch 1.10.

Quests

No Classic quest asks for Gorosh. The arena was home to a different quest boss: after patch 1.10, a [[forever:item:21986]] planted during the sentencing replaced the usual champion with Theldren and his band of gladiators, part of the Dungeon Set 2 quest chain.

Sources

• Gorosh the Dervish - Warcraft Wiki
• Ring of Law - Warcraft Wiki