Lore:
So, we killed Zul’jin a while back, and then we left Zul’Aman alone. I mean, no way those crazy stupid trolls would bother to go back to that ancient, super powerful place, right? You know, the one with all the dead troll gods who hate the other races and want to take over the world? And…aw come on, Azeroth!
It’s time to go back in there and kill off the bunch of idiot trolls that have moved in there this time. And might I suggest we do more than just leave Harrison Jones around to make sure that nobody else comes back in here and tries to take over the world with insane animal gods again? Please?
Degree of Difficulty: Hard
Trash is not particularly hard in most of the instance, there’s just a lot of it. Tight packs with a lot of spell casters and healers on the east side of the instance will prove difficult unless your group does a good job of CCing, however. Additionally, also on the east side, there are several groups that include runners. If not killed fairly quickly they will spawn another pack.
The bosses provide their own unique challenges, which are, fitting with Cataclysm’s theme, good training for the early raid bosses of the expansion. You must kill at least two of the bosses to continue to the end of the instance. Akil’zon is the Eagle loa, with a bit of directed lighting and an AoE storm that you must avoid, as well as Eagle adds that will attempt to kidnap and kill party members that must be quickly dispatched. Nalorakk, the bear loa, is a fairly simple tank and spank with the caveat that he will charge the furthest member of the group. Two charges will likely kill any party member, so you must constantly rotate the furthest amongst three out of the four DPS/Healers.
Jan’alai is the dragonhawk loa. He has a lot of fire attacks, mostly directed either at one spot on the ground or in a cone, so they’re easily avoidable. The bigger challenge is that he summons adds during the fight on either side of the platform, the group must kill one, but the other will die at the other end summoning a large amount of extra mobs which must be killed. Halazzi is the lynx loa, and an annoying fight. He has a heal and adds that must be whittled down as well as standard Shaman attacks. At 66% and 33% he also puts out a mass AoE attack. The final mini-boss is Hex Lord Malacrass, he will have two adds with him (a healer, a wraith, an imp, and/or a snake) that should be CCed or killed quickly. He will absorb the abilities of party members, which can make the fight interesting or annoying depending on what class he becomes (He used to be able to steal Lay on Hands).
The final boss of the instance is Daakara. At 66% and 33%, he will take on the abilities of one of the other bosses you have faced during the instance. These fights are fairly straightforward, and the same strategies apply as above, except there are no extra adds and the attacks are quite a bit stronger.
Special Features:
There is no non-Heroic version of this instance, it is designed for geared 85 players. Mobs in the instance have a chance to drop “Hex Sticks” which can be used on the frogs in the center of the instance. Unhexed, the frogs/people will drop single use items, money, or (rarely) the Mojo frog pet. Completing the instance and related quests in 15 minutes or less will drop a version of the Amani Warbear for qualifying players at the end of the instance, slightly different than the one originally available from a similar achievement from the old version of the Zul’Aman raid. Using a Troll Tablet on the pile of voodoo items at the start of the instance will cause a bear cub to spawn and fight mobs with your group. Probably the best dungeon buff.
Recommended for Levels: (Heroic)
The instance is still very sprawling, as it maintains the size and scope of the old instance, but it provides a nice break and challenge from the constant stream of Cataclysm’s other instances. Plus, the War Bear prize will push players to try to be as efficient as possible in clearing the instance. Still, a lot of players quickly got sick of this (and Zul’Gurub) due to them being the only high level 5-mans for a long stretch of time.
It’s still worth doing, especially if you can find a group in your guild that’s really gung ho about getting the mount, as it’s fun to develop these types of strategies to shave time off the clock. But even as a random, it’s a fun experience for a few times. The bosses are all challenging and have solid strategies behind them. Take the time to check it out.
