Hurley Blackbreath

Hurley Blackbreath is a drunken Dark Iron dwarf who hides out in the Grim Guzzler, the tavern of Blackrock Depths, with a recipe he stole from the Thunderbrew family. He does not appear until someone smashes his kegs. Then he storms in with a few angry friends, and the fight that follows is one of the dungeon's best-known optional encounters.

Background

The game's later Adventure Guide calls Hurley something more than a regular at the Grim Guzzler. In more than ten years he has left the tavern only once, to steal the secret recipe for Thunderbrew Lager. Every so often he sobers up long enough to brew it himself, and he claims it gives the drinker unmatched strength and courage.

The theft makes him a target for two quest givers. Ragnar Thunderbrew, whose family makes Thunderbrew in Dun Morogh, wants the recipe back. Shadowmage Vivian Lagrave in Kargath wants it too, for her own reasons. Hurley keeps his stolen brew in a side room of the tavern, in big kegs he guards jealously.

Abilities

• Flame Breath: a small cone of fire breathed at players in front of him.
• Drunken Rage: raises his attack speed by 50% and his physical damage for 15 seconds.

Hurley's cronies are elite too, and they fight alongside him.

Strategy

The encounter is started on purpose. Coming up the steps into the Grim Guzzler, players turn left into a room with Thunderbrew Lager kegs. Breaking three of them brings Hurley running in with his cronies, yelling "Get away from those kegs!" and then "You'll pay for that!"

The safest setup is for the tank to break the kegs while everyone else waits in the northwest corner of the room. When Hurley arrives, the tank charges him to take his attention, and the group uses crowd control on the cronies, a sheep or a sap, so the tank isn't taking hits from all of them at once. Hurley has a lot of health, so most groups kill the cronies first to cut down the incoming damage, then turn on him. Drunken Rage is the main danger to the tank; a healer should be ready for it.

Groups should be careful not to let the fight spill into the main tavern. The patrons of the Grim Guzzler are neutral until provoked, and turning the whole bar hostile can end a run.

Loot

From our database (patch 1.12):

The [Ragefury Eyepatch] is a leather helm with a critical strike bonus, a piece for rogues and druids. The [Hurley's Tankard] is a one-handed mace. Blizzard changed his loot table in patch 1.3, which added the tankard and the Coal Miner Boots, and the Firemoss Boots came in patch 1.10.

Quests

• Hurley Blackbreath (Alliance): bring the recipe to Ragnar Thunderbrew in Kharanos. The reward is the [Dark Dwarven Lager].
• Lost Thunderbrew Recipe (Horde): bring the recipe to Shadowmage Vivian Lagrave in Kargath, for a choice of healing or mana potions.
• The Good Stuff: he also drops Dark Iron Fanny Packs for Oralius.

Sources

• Hurley Blackbreath - Warcraft Wiki
• Grim Guzzler - Warcraft Wiki