Warchief Rend Blackhand

Warchief Rend Blackhand is the son of the first warchief of the orcish Horde and the self-proclaimed warchief of the Dark Horde, which holds Blackrock Spire. He is fought in Blackrock Stadium in Upper Blackrock Spire, first on the back of his drake Gyth and then on foot. His head was one of the most sought-after trophies of the Classic era, since the Horde's attunement to Onyxia's lair ran through it.

Background

Rend (in full, Dal'rend) and his brother Maim are the sons of Blackhand the Destroyer, the first warchief of the Horde. They led the Black Tooth Grin clan in the Second War under Orgrim Doomhammer, whom they never forgave for killing their father and taking his place. When the Horde was defeated, the brothers escaped capture and seized Blackrock Mountain, and Rend declared himself warchief of what was left of the Blackrock Clan.

Their Dark Horde fought the Dark Iron Dwarves for the spire and won the upper city only after Maim was killed and the black dragons arrived. Nefarian, son of Deathwing, took command of the brothers' forces. Rend believes he is the Horde's rightful warchief by blood and calls Thrall a pretender, but in the spire he serves Nefarian, who uses the Dark Horde's arena to test his chromatic dragons.

Abilities

Rend fights in two stages.

On Gyth. He rides into the arena on his chromatic drake, and the group fights Gyth, who uses fire, frost and acid breath.

On foot (when Gyth is low on health):

• Whirlwind: damages every player within eight yards, again and again.
• Cleave: hits his target and up to two others.
• Mortal Strike: a heavy hit that halves the healing the target receives.
• Frenzy: raises his attack speed sharply.

Strategy

The event begins when a player steps into the middle of the stadium. The south gate closes, shutting out anyone still outside, and Lord Victor Nefarius appears on the east balcony with Rend. Waves of chromatic dragonkin, whelps and their orc handlers then come through the north gate, while Nefarius taunts the group ("Concentrate your attacks upon the healer!"). After the last wave he loses patience: "THIS CANNOT BE!!! Rend, deal with these insects."

The group focuses on Gyth until Rend dismounts. A second tank picks up Rend while the rest finish the drake. Rend's whirlwind punishes melee who stand too close, so melee watch for it and healers keep the tank above the burst of Mortal Strike.

A raid with the [Seal of Ascension] can use it to call the spirit of Vaelastrasz, who heals the raid and attacks Rend once he is on foot, until Nefarius banishes him. Pets should be kept on passive, since orcs watch from the west balcony and attack if pulled.

Loot

Drop chances are from our database (patch 1.12).

The Blackhand Doomsaw is a polearm, his own weapon. The two Dal'Rend swords are a matched set for dual-wielding with a set bonus, named for him. The rare epic dagger [Felstriker] makes every attack land as a critical hit for a few seconds when it triggers. At a 1% chance, it was one of the rarest drops in the spire.

Quests

• For The Horde! (Horde): Thrall sends players to kill Rend and bring back his head. Turning it in gives everyone in Orgrimmar the Warchief's Blessing buff. The quest is a step in the Horde attunement to Onyxia's lair, which continues with Rexxar.
• [[forever:quest:8994]]: he often carries a Blackrock Bracer for [[forever:npc:16033]]'s patch 1.10 quest.

Trivia

• A "Rend run" was a quick Upper Spire run that stopped after Rend, usually for the Horde attunement.
• In the canceled adventure game Warcraft Adventures, Rend and Maim were the killers of Thrall's father, Durotan.

Sources

• Dal'rend Blackhand - Warcraft Wiki
• Rend Blackhand (tactics) - Warcraft Wiki