High Priest Thekal

High Priest Thekal is the high priest of Shirvallah, the tiger god, in Zul'Gurub. His fight opens as a council of three: Thekal and two zealots who resurrect each other unless all three die within seconds. Once that's done, Thekal rises again as a tiger-man who knocks the raid around the room. He is also the source of the [Swift Zulian Tiger], one of the most famous mounts in World of Warcraft.

Background

Thekal is one of the five high priests the trolls sent into Zul'Gurub to stop Hakkar the Soulflayer, each devoted to one of the loa, the animal gods of the trolls. Hakkar turned them all. Thekal now serves the Blood God with two zealots, Zealot Lor'Khan and Zealot Zath, and a pack of tigers. While he lives, he gives Hakkar the Aspect of Thekal, which lets the Blood God enrage. See Gurubashi Empire for the city's history.

His temple has tiger cages and pens around it.

Abilities

Phase one: the council. Thekal, Lor'Khan and Zath fight together with two tigers. If any of the three dies while the others live, it's resurrected at full health after about ten seconds. All three must die close together.

• Thekal uses Mortal Cleave, a cleave that also cuts healing, Silence and Bloodlust on his allies.
• Lor'Khan is a healer, casting Great Heal on her allies for about 40,000 health, along with a lightning shield, dispels and disarms.
• Zath is a rogue who uses Gouge, Blind, Kick and Sinister Strike, and can drop his tank to go after a healer.

Phase two: Aspect of Shirvallah. Once the council is down, Thekal rises again in tiger form with full health and doubled attack speed:

• Force Punch: a blow that damages everyone near him and knocks them far back, wiping his threat on the tank.
• Speed Slash: a bleed on everyone in melee range.
• Charge: charges a player and stuns them.
• Summon Zulian Guardians: two tigers join the fight when he transforms and every minute after.
• He enrages at 20% health.

Strategy

Three tanks take the three council members to separate spots. Lor'Khan has to be far from the others so her heals can't reach them; she can be stunned, kicked and silenced, and some raids drained her mana. The raid brings Thekal down to about 20%, then Zath to about 15%, then Lor'Khan to about 10%. With all three low, the raid kills them in quick succession, usually Lor'Khan first, since a single heal from her undoes the plan. Some raids pulled all three together at low health and finished them with area spells. All three can be disarmed.

In the second phase, the tank stands between Thekal and the raid so that Force Punch doesn't hit everyone, and a second tank stands ready to take over after each knockback. Mages polymorph the tigers as they arrive, and melee kill them one at a time. Some raids fought this phase in the small alcove where Thekal starts, so that walls stopped the knockback from scattering everyone. Patch 1.9.3 reduced Thekal's overall damage.

Loot

Drop chances are from our database (patch 1.12).

The [Swift Zulian Tiger] is the most famous drop in Zul'Gurub, a striped tiger mount with a 2% chance; see Swift Zulian Tiger. After Zul'Gurub was rebuilt in Cataclysm the mount could no longer be earned, and it became a rare collectible. The [Thekal's Grasp] is a fist weapon and the [Betrayer's Boots] are cloth boots. Thekal also drops [Primal Tiger Leather] for leatherworkers, along with the Primal Hakkari items that the Zandalar trade for set pieces.

Quests

Thekal drops a [Channeler's Head] for A Collection of Heads, which Exzhal on Yojamba Isle gives. The quest asks for the heads of all five high priests and rewards a belt of shrunken heads.

Trivia

• Thekal was voiced by Marc Graue, who also voiced High Priest Venoxis and Razorgore the Untamed.

Sources

• High Priest Thekal - Warcraft Wiki
• Zul'Gurub (Classic) - Warcraft Wiki