High Priestess Mar'li

High Priestess Mar'li is the high priestess of Shadra, the spider god, and usually the third boss of Zul'Gurub. Unlike Jeklik and Venoxis, she switches between her troll and spider forms again and again throughout the fight. As a spider she webs everyone around her, wipes their threat and charges into the raid; as a priestess she hatches spiders that grow larger the longer they live and drains life to heal herself.

Background

Mar'li was one of the five high priests sent into Zul'Gurub to stop the return of Hakkar the Soulflayer, each a champion of one of the loa. Like the others, she fell under Hakkar's control and now feeds him her god's power. While she lives, Hakkar has the Aspect of Mar'li, which lets him stun his target for six seconds and reset that player's threat. The Zandalar on Yojamba Isle ask adventurers to free her the only way they can. Warcraft Wiki's account says she was grateful at the end to be released from the Blood God's influence.

At her altar a Witherbark Speaker, an envoy of the Witherbark trolls, stands with her and joins the fight.

Abilities

Priestess form. Mar'li always starts in troll form, which lasts about a minute each time:

• Hatch Eggs: hatches Spawn of Mar'li from the eggs around her. Four hatch at the start of the fight and more come every so often.
• Poison Bolt Volley: poison damage to every player within 30 yards, with damage over time.
• Drain Life: drains health from a player and heals her for a large amount.
• Enlarge: makes an ally hit 50% harder for a minute.

The Spawn of Mar'li grow larger and stronger every few seconds. After about 20 seconds they're fully grown, attack faster and can no longer be crowd-controlled.

Spider form. For about a minute she becomes a giant spider:

• Enveloping Webs: roots and silences everyone within 20 yards and wipes their threat. She then charges a player at range.
• Corrosive Poison: a large armor reduction and nature damage over time on her target.
• Poison Shock: nature damage to her target and everyone near them.

Strategy

Mar'li needs two tanks. At the pull, the first four spiders are killed at once with area spells, and the speaker is either tanked by an off-tank and killed quickly or mind-controlled by a priest and sent at Mar'li. Patch 1.11 made the Witherbark Speaker a non-elite with much less health, which simplified the start.

The main tank holds her with the melee, while ranged players and healers bunch up outside the poison volley's range. The second tank waits with the ranged group. When she turns into a spider and webs the melee, she charges into the ranged group, where the second tank picks her up and walks her back to the tanking spot. The two tanks then trade roles for the next cycle. Keeping the ranged group tight makes the pickup easy.

Two things wipe raids here. Any spider left alone grows until it can kill players, so ranged attackers call out and kill each new spawn at once. And in troll form, her Drain Life has to be interrupted with Kick or Shield Bash; letting it finish heals her for a lot. Patch 1.9.3 lengthened the cooldown of her poison volley and slightly reduced her melee damage.

Loot

Drop chances are from our database (patch 1.12).

The [Flowing Ritual Robes] is a cloth robe, the [Mar'li's Touch] a wand, the [Mar'li's Eye] a trinket and the [Talisman of Protection] a necklace. Her Primal Hakkari drops, such as the [Primal Hakkari Kossack] and [Primal Hakkari Stanchion], are traded with the Zandalar for set pieces.

Quests

Mar'li drops a [Channeler's Head] for A Collection of Heads, in which Exzhal on Yojamba Isle collects the heads of all five high priests and rewards a belt of shrunken heads.

Later history

Mar'li somehow returned in Mists of Pandaria as the Gurubashi tribe's member of the Council of Elders in the Throne of Thunder raid, where players killed her again.

Sources

• High Priestess Mar'li - Warcraft Wiki
• High Priestess Mar'li (Classic) - Warcraft Wiki