Kurinnaxx

Kurinnaxx is a giant sand reaver, a scorpion-like silithid, and the first boss of the Ruins of Ahn'Qiraj, the 20-player raid in southern Silithus. He waits in the sand just past the entrance and tests a raid's tanks and healers before anything else in the city. Killing him also brings Lieutenant General Andorov, a human officer working with the Cenarion Circle, and his night elf soldiers into the Ruins for the fight against General Rajaxx.

Background

Sand reavers are among the biggest of the silithid, the insect swarms that serve the qiraji and, through them, the Old God C'Thun. Kurinnaxx is the largest the Ruins have, and he guards the way from the Scarab Wall into the outer city. His larger relative, Fankriss the Unyielding, rules the tunnels beneath the Temple of Ahn'Qiraj.

The game gives him little story of his own. He's a guardian beast, set in front of the raid as a first test. Later lore says that when the Horde under Varok Saurfang pushed into the Ruins, Kurinnaxx was one of the creatures they had to kill in the depths of the hive.

He waits just beyond the Scarab Terrace, the first open area inside the raid's portal. He has a wide aggro radius and can see stealthed players, so rogues can't sneak past him, and raids clear the area around him with care before the pull.

Abilities

• [[forever:spell:25646]]: a heavy blow that lowers the healing the target receives by 10% per stack. It stacks, so one tank can't hold him for the whole fight.
• [[forever:spell:25656]]: a trap of churning sand appears under a player. Anyone caught in it has their chance to hit lowered by 75% and can't cast spells for a while.
• [[forever:spell:25814]]: a wide cleave that hits everyone in a cone in front of him.
• Thrash: now and then he gets two extra attacks at once.
• [[forever:spell:26527]]: at 30% health he goes into a frenzy that raises his attack speed and physical damage for the rest of the fight.
• Summon Player: players who stand out of reach can be pulled back to him.

Strategy

Kurinnaxx is mostly a tank and healing check. Raids bring two tanks. The main tank holds him while the off-tank waits behind him, and when Mortal Wound has stacked too high, the off-tank taunts and the two swap. Without the swap, the healing debuff grows until no amount of healing keeps the tank up.

Melee stands on one side of him, away from his front to dodge the Wide Slash. Ranged players and healers spread out so a single sand trap doesn't catch several of them. Anyone silenced by a trap walks out of it, uses a bandage or potion, or fires a wand while waiting for it to wear off.

The fight gets dangerous at 30%. His enrage makes his hits much harder and faster, so healers save their mana for the last stretch and damage dealers use their cooldowns to finish him quickly. Most guilds that came to the Ruins from Blackwing Lair or Zul'Gurub found him easy. For new 20-player groups, the enrage and the tank swaps were the usual cause of a wipe.

After the fight

When Kurinnaxx dies, [[forever:npc:15471]] and four [[forever:npc:15473]] appear near the raid. Andorov is a human officer working with the Cenarion Circle, and the elites are his night elf soldiers. Andorov joins the raid for the waves of qiraji that lead up to General Rajaxx, heals and buffs nearby players, and, if he survives, sells potions, bandages and a few blacksmithing plans and gives extra Cenarion Circle reputation.

Loot

From our database (patch 1.12):

The [[forever:item:21498]] is a dagger for rogues, and the [[forever:item:21499]] a cloth robe for casters. The rings and drapes are not gear by themselves. They're tokens that players turn in at Cenarion Hold, with enough Cenarion Circle reputation, for class rings and cloaks. Every member of the raid can loot a [[forever:item:22217]] for the quest below.

Quests

• [[forever:quest:9023]]: [[forever:npc:16091]] at Cenarion Hold asks for two venom sacs, one from Kurinnaxx and one from High Priest Venoxis in Zul'Gurub. The reward is a choice of six weapons, including a gun, a dagger and a mace, so raiders working through both 20-player raids could finish it in a week.

Sources

• Kurinnaxx, Warcraft Wiki
• General Rajaxx, Warcraft Wiki