Zul'Gurub

Zul'Gurub is a 20-player raid in northeastern Stranglethorn Vale, the ancient capital of the Gurubashi Empire, where the jungle trolls have summoned the Blood God Hakkar the Soulflayer back into the world. It opened in patch 1.7, "Rise of the Blood God", in September 2005. It was the first raid built for 20 players and the first with a reputation faction (the Zandalar Tribe) that turns boss drops into class sets. It's also where the Corrupted Blood Incident started.

Background

The Gurubashi trolls once ruled most of the southern Eastern Kingdoms. To win their wars they made a pact with Hakkar, the Soulflayer, a loa (troll spirit god) who demanded blood sacrifices. When Hakkar turned on his worshippers, the other tribes rose against his priests, the Atal'ai, and drove them out. The Atal'ai fled to the Swamp of Sorrows and built the temple that became the Sunken Temple. The empire broke apart into the jungle tribes that players meet across Stranglethorn.

Now the Atal'ai have finished their work. Hakkar has returned to Zul'Gurub in physical form and bound the high priests of the city's animal gods to his service: Jeklik of the bat, Venoxis of the snake, Mar'li of the spider, Thekal of the tiger and Arlokk of the panther. Each priest who dies weakens the Blood God. The Zandalar, the ancient priest tribe from whom all trolls descend, have set up camp on Yojamba Isle off the Stranglethorn coast and ask adventurers to put Hakkar down before he can reach beyond the city.

Getting in

There's no attunement. The raid portal sits behind the walls of the troll city in the northeastern corner of Stranglethorn. Zul'Gurub is an outdoor instance, so players can ride mounts inside it. Its lockout is about three days, so many guilds ran it twice a week alongside their 40-player raids.

Bosses

The five high priests and Hakkar are required. The rest are optional, though most of them are needed for class trinkets or the enchantments the Zandalar offer.

Every high priest also drops the head quest item [Channeler's Head] and a chance at a Primal Hakkari item (see below).

Strategy notes

Hakkar. Every 90 seconds Hakkar casts Blood Siphon, draining health from the whole raid. If the raid is poisoned, he drains the poison instead and hurts himself. Before each siphon, players kill one of the Sons of Hakkar around the room and stand in its Poisonous Blood cloud. He also casts Corrupted Blood, a disease that spreads between nearby players, and Cause Insanity, which mind-controls a player. Each high priest left alive gives him an extra ability, which is why guilds clear all five first.

Edge of Madness. A brazier in this side area summons one of four troll ghosts on a fixed calendar that rotates every two weeks. Each ghost drops its token, which is needed for the class trinkets. A tablet there also teaches alchemists [Gurubashi Mojo Madness].

Bloodlord Mandokir. Mandokir's Threatening Gaze marks a player, and anyone who moves or acts while marked dies. Every player he kills levels him up. The raid can also bring back fallen players with the ghosts that rise from the chained spirits around the room.

Loot

Zandalar Tribe sets

Warcraft Wiki counts more than 120 epic and rare items in the raid. Instead of Tier tokens, Zul'Gurub uses class sets earned with Zandalar Tribe reputation. Bosses drop Primal Hakkari items such as the [Primal Hakkari Bindings] and the [Primal Hakkari Tabard]. Each one can be turned in on Yojamba Isle for a different set piece depending on class, as long as the player has the reputation for it. The [Zandalar Augur's Hauberk], for example, is the shaman chest. The full sets were five pieces, and higher reputation also unlocked better versions of class neck pieces from Zandalar quest givers on Yojamba Isle, such as Falthir the Sightless and Al'tabim the All-Seeing.

Coins, bijous and enchantments

Trash drops coins such as the [Gurubashi Coin] and [Bloodscalp Coin], and bijous such as the [Red Hakkari Bijou], which are turned in on Yojamba Isle for reputation. With enough reputation, Zanza the Restless inside the raid sells head and leg enchantments for a [[forever:item:22637]]. At Exalted, the shoulder signets such as [Zandalar Signet of Might] become available.

The Heart of Hakkar

Hakkar always drops the [Heart of Hakkar]. Turning it in to Molthor on Yojamba Isle with The Heart of Hakkar casts Spirit of Zandalar on players across Stranglethorn: 15% to all stats and 10% movement speed for two hours. The quest itself rewards a choice of trinket: [Zandalarian Hero Badge], [Zandalarian Hero Charm] or [Zandalarian Hero Medallion].

Mounts and weapons

• [Swift Razzashi Raptor] from Mandokir and [Swift Zulian Tiger] from High Priest Thekal are rare, fast mounts, and both are still prized collectibles. See Swift Zulian Tiger.
• Hakkar's loot includes [Zin'rokh, Destroyer of Worlds], [Ancient Hakkari Manslayer], [Gurubashi Dwarf Destroyer], [Bloodcaller], [Fang of the Faceless], [Touch of Chaos], [Cloak of Consumption] and [Aegis of the Blood God].
• Gahz'ranka drops [Nat Pagle's Fish Terminator], a staff named for the fishing master Nat Pagle.

Quests

Most of Zul'Gurub's quests come from the Zandalar on Yojamba Isle.

• A Collection of Heads from Exzhal asks for five Channeler's Heads, one from each high priest, and rewards a class belt.
• Zulian, Razzashi, and Hakkari Coins and A Bijou for Zanza, from Vinchaxa, turn coins and bijous into Zandalar reputation. Each coin quest asks for a set of three different tribes' coins, so players traded them to finish sets.
• The Heart of Hakkar turns in the Heart of Hakkar for a trinket and the Spirit of Zandalar buff.
• [[forever:quest:9023]], from [[forever:npc:16091]] at Cenarion Hold, asks for venom sacs from High Priest Venoxis and from Kurinnaxx in the Ruins of Ahn'Qiraj. It was added with patch 1.9 and tied the two 20-player raids together.
• Nat's Measuring Tape starts from a measuring tape that can turn up in the raid, and is returned to Nat Pagle in Dustwallow Marsh.

Because Zandalar reputation came from kills, coins, bijous and these quests, Zul'Gurub rewarded players for running it every lockout for months. Reaching Exalted with the Zandalar Tribe, which unlocked the shoulder signets, took most players many weeks.

History

Patch 1.7, "Rise of the Blood God", released on September 13, 2005. The same patch added the Arathi Basin battleground. The raid was aimed at guilds and players who couldn't fill a 40-player roster, and at 40-player guilds looking for a second raid.

Within days, Hakkar's Corrupted Blood escaped the raid. Players' pets, and players who left before the disease ended, carried it into the major cities, where it spread through crowded areas and killed lower-level characters. The event, now known as the Corrupted Blood Incident, later drew interest from epidemiologists studying how people behave during outbreaks. Patch 1.8 stopped Corrupted Blood from targeting pets. A hotfix in October 2005 fixed a bug that had cut the raid's lockout to 24 hours, putting it back at the intended two and a half days. Patch 1.9.3 raised the Zandalar reputation from kills and removed some trash.

Zul'Gurub is also a full outdoor zone behind its gate. The terrain of the troll city was built into the Stranglethorn map, and the instance holds a copy of the surrounding land, though nothing lives outside the walls.

Later history

The 20-player raid was removed in Cataclysm (patch 4.0.3a), and Zul'Gurub returned in patch 4.1 as a five-player heroic dungeon. The original raid came back in World of Warcraft Classic in 2020, and again in Season of Discovery, tuned there for smaller groups.

Sources

• Zul'Gurub (Classic), Warcraft Wiki
• Edge of Madness, Warcraft Wiki
• Patch 1.7.0, Warcraft Wiki