Witch Doctor Zum'rah

Witch Doctor Zum'rah is the Sandfury necromancer who rules the graveyard of Zul'Farrak. He stands peacefully among the graves until players come near, then turns hostile with "How dare you enter my sanctum!" and starts raising the dead against them. He drops a strong caster staff and a pair of cloth gloves, both added in patch 1.3.

Background

The loa Bwonsamdi watches over the spirits of the Darkspear trolls. According to the game's Adventure Guide, many fallen Sandfury have no such protector. Their restless spirits are left for Zum'rah, a cruel witch doctor who uses dark magic to force Zul'Farrak's dead to keep serving the tribe. The Sandfury are raising an army of undead trolls from their graveyards to take back the desert, and Zum'rah is the one doing the raising.

Abilities

• Awaken Zul'Farrak Zombie: raises a Zul'Farrak Zombie (Zul'Farrak Zombie) from one of the graves around him.
• Ward of Zum'rah: drops a totem at his feet for a short time that calls up a Skeleton of Zum'rah (Skeleton of Zum'rah) every few seconds.
• Shadow Bolt and Shadow Bolt Volley: single-target and area shadow damage.
• Healing Wave: heals himself or an ally.

Strategy

Zum'rah becomes a much harder fight the longer it lasts, because every few seconds there is something new on the field. The keys are speed and control:

• Kill the ward. His totem keeps making skeletons until it's destroyed, so someone fast (a rogue, a hunter's pet, or a ranged attacker) should break it as soon as it appears.
• Interrupt him. His Shadow Bolts and Healing Wave can all be interrupted.
• Stay away from the graves. Standing near the graves can wake their occupants, so pull him away from them if possible. Some groups open the nearest graves on purpose before the fight and clear what comes out, which leaves fewer zombies for him to raise.
• Use fear. The zombies can be feared, so priests and warlocks can keep them out of the fight.

A stun-heavy group can also keep him from summoning at all by stunning him repeatedly.

Loot

From our database (patch 1.12):

Zum'rah's Vexing Cane is a staff with Intellect, Stamina and up to 21 extra spell damage and healing, a strong upgrade for any caster at this level. Jumanza Grips are cloth gloves with Intellect, Spirit and Stamina. Both date from patch 1.3, which improved his loot table.

Trivia

• His aggro yell is in Zandali, the troll language: "T'ief godehsi wha", meaning "Sands consume you!"
• Zum'rah was voiced by Chris Metzen.

Sources

• Witch Doctor Zum'rah, Warcraft Wiki
• WoWDB loot data for patch 1.12