Zul'Aman: all you need to know to pull off a timed run or a normal one! [Archive] (Archived)

By Vlad Last Updated: 2011/07/28 Patch: 4.2.2

Staff note: This guide is outdated but kept up for Archival purposes due to the positive feedback it received when it was relevant.

Introduction

I wrote this guide to help out those doing timed run and of course new players not familiar with Zul'Aman.

The guide alone can get you only so far, you need practice and to be in a party of others on your level in order to make the timed run. In any case if you just want to do the dungeon you can practically team up with anyone, it's not hard when you don't have a timer to chase.

Keep in mind that if you attempt timed run and you feel the group can manage it, don't be shy and complete Zul'Aman Voodoo (Archaeology) to get Amani Power -it helps a little!

Part 1

Once the gates open you will face 2xAmani'shi Guardian, nothing special about these guys.
Tip: The right mob activates first so feel free to engage it first.
When they die, mount up and follow the left road, avoid the one patrol and the one pack in the corner to the right.
The group should find themselves in front Amani'shi Lookout (ignore him), once you run near him the gauntlet event starts.

The group swiftly moves to the first pack of mobs, Amani'shi Protector and Amani'shi Wind Walker. Interrupt Chain Heal that will be casted by the Amani'shi Wind Walker at some point. The other mob is not a problem to deal with. Once the pack is on low health, the tank can pull the next one until you reach the mini-boss Amani'shi Tempest.
Note 1: You will face in total 4x packs consisting of a Protector and a Wind Walker.
Note 2: Around the 2nd and 4th packs you will also face 6x Amani Eagle coming from the top of the hill.
Note 3: There will spawn 2xAmani'shi Warrior that will come from behind around the 3rd pack. Do not stay too far behind and instead stick close to the tank. These mobs will Charge and Kick -keep some distance, casters.
Tip: Do not fear to fight multiple packs at once, just make sure the tank has control and that the DPS finishes off the right targets first -Amani'shi Wind Walker are priority because they heal, then comes the rest of the mobs.
The mini-boss Amani'shi Tempest won't do much except Chain Lightning and Thunderclap. The key is once engaged the adds stop spawning, once defeated you can directly go for the boss even after a wipe.

His abilities are Call Lightning, (will spread to nearby units near the targeted player, has 12yd radius) and (very important that you are aware when this will be cast).
When you engage you should quickly spread out around the boss, but not too far and not too close. 20yd should do!
The can be dispelled but even better avoided from spreading (12yd radius) if you do not stack melee. If you do swiftly dispell as the damage scales and it will be a imminent death to someone eventually.
When the time is right he will cast his "ultimate", . Once you see those clouds gather and the one random party members is tossed in the air, quickly get under him to avoid any damage. If you are slow you will take damage and in worst case die.
During the fight there will be a swarm of Soaring Eagle doing Eagle Swoop, you should ignore those if you try to beat the timer. At last do not forget the Amani Kidnapper that will pickup a random group member and use Plucked on them. You got 25 seconds to kill the bird at best, be quick and focus taking it down when ever it appears!
Tip 1: If you have too many melee the tank should stay and not assist killing the Amani Kidnapper because it increases the amount of people that may get since it spreads to nearby targets.
Tip 2: If you get or Plucked cast on you, keep in mind that you can still cast spells and abilities so don't just stay still during the entire time and help out the group.

If done properly you can skip the patrol you skipped earlier once more, you should kill them if not sure how to proceed with the skipping. The priority is killing Zandalari Archon first then Zandalari Juggernaut.
Note: You will notice that the Archon casts a lot and as tank you can't do much to avoid the damage, but remember they can be stunned like most trash in here! The Juggernaut will sometimes spawn a small earthquake circle your tank has to move out from. (There can be max 2 earthquakes at one time.)
Once you reach the boss he will talk a bit and send down a pack consisting of Amani'shi Axe Thrower and 2xAmani'shi Tribesman. The priority order is first Amani'shi Axe Thrower then the Amani'shi Tribesman, because the Axe Thrower uses Axe Volley and can stun. The Tribesman will cleave and Kick so melee shouldn't stay in front of them.
The next mobs you face are Amani Bears that you got to pull on your own. You can kill one and skip the other by hugging the corner. Bears use Crunch Armor and can enrage so mind this when fighting many mobs at once!
The next time you see the boss he will talk some more again and send a new type of pack that consists of Amani'shi Medicine Man, 2xAmani'shi Axe Thrower and a Amani'shi Tribesman.
The Medicine Man will use Chain Heal and can cast both Healing Ward and Protective Ward at the same time. The Protective Ward will make the pack immune to any damage so you need to kill the totem ASAP. The Healing Ward will heal the pack slowly so kill it as well but not before the Protective Ward.
The priority order is first Amani'shi Medicine Man, Amani'shi Axe Thrower then Amani'shi Tribesman, just like before.
The next kind of pack you face is 2xAmani'shi Warbringer. These are nasty as they will use Cleave and increase their damage by 50% (shout) and attack speed by 30% (frenzy).
When they reach 30% health they will dismount and forth comes a Amani Bear Mount. These will like the earlier bears Crunch Armor and enrage. A trick is to stun before 30% (I recommend stunning at 40%, it works really well when all dps are focus firing) and when they go under the margin, the stun expires and guess what -no bear will spawn!
The priority order is first Amani'shi Warbringer then Amani Bear Mount as it's owner dies.
The last pack before the boss I'd advice you to use CC if you can. You will face Amani'shi Medicine Man, 2xAmani'shi Warbringer and Amani'shi Axe Thrower.
The priority order is Amani'shi Medicine Man, Amani'shi Warbringer (and Amani Bear Mount when the owner is dead) then Amani'shi Axe Thrower.
Tip: It is recommended to CC Amani'shi Axe Thrower because he uses Knockdown and having the tank stunned means no blocks, no dodges, no parries and the bears hit really hard. Tank should use cooldowns like Shield Wall in order to survive and help the healer.

His abilities are Brutal Strike and Surge while in Phase 1 (normal form). In Phase 2 (bear form) he uses and Deafening Roar.
The key to the fight is the ranged player rotation for Surge. If there is nothing to charge it will not be pretty, trust me! You need 3 players to be at range, when someone gets charged they get a de-buff and they run in closer. The next to be charged is the next person that is furthest away. If you get charged two times with the de-buff you will die.
Note: If you don't have 3 ranged classes this means you need to use one (or more) melee classes in order to survive the encounter. Preferably assign what melee runs out when before you start.
Tip: You only need to be the one most far out from the boss from your group, there is no range limit, the boss simply charges the group member furthest away, if the group is right behind the boss then you don't need to run far at all.
If you survive Phase 1 then Phase 2 will be a bit easier in some cases as he will not charge and he will only focus on damaging the tank and using his AoE silence shout. This is a tank and healer fight to survive the phase from the bleeds and time the heals properly around the silences.

You will notice Amani'shi Scout, once you get close they will run off to a gong to spawn extra adds. You must quickly kill them before they get a chance to do this! If you fail you will face some of the pervious mobs in addition to what ever pack the scout pulled while running away.
The first proper pack you meet consists of Zandalari Archon, Amani'shi Flame Caster and Amani'shi Guardian. The new mob type here is the Flame Caster and he will get real nasty with fire spells. He will cast a volley and if buffed by his Blazing Haste it's real deadly. Having a Mage steal it for himself would help a lot!
The priority order is first killing the scout next to the mobs, then Amani'shi Flame Caster, Zandalari Archon and finally Amani'shi Guardian.
Tip: Use stuns to keep the casters interrupted and unable to cast to help out the healer.
Once the pack is dead, hug the left side to not pull the additional pack around the corner.
The next pack consists of Amani'shi Trainer, Amani Dragonhawk and a scout that is "hidden" in the back.
The Trainer will frenzy random Dragonhawks and cast Sleep on a random group member. Interrupt and deal quickly with him and the adds.
Be quick to kill the scout as this one is a bit tricky to catch up to. The pack usually can be AoE'd but if problems focus on the Dragonhawks before the Trainer since they are nasty with the frenzy effect on.
There is one scout on the hill you can snipe, he won't pull the mobs behind.
You now face a scout, Amani'shi Flame Caster, 2xAmani'shi Guardian and Amani Dragonhawk. Kill the scout then the Flame Caster. The rest is not a problem.
Be careful not to pull the pack next to the stairs, stick to the left side! The pack on top of the stairs consists of 2xAmani'shi Flame Caster, Amani'shi Guardian and a Zandalari Juggernaut.
The priority order is first Amani'shi Flame Caster (use CC on the other if you can), Amani'shi Guardian then Zandalari Juggernaut.
Tough if you handle the Flame Casters you will handle the remaining mobs without a problem.

His abilities are in Phase 1 and Fire Bomb in Phase 2.
At some point 2xAmani'shi Hatcher will spawn and each will head for one side to spawn Amani Dragonhawk Hatchling. The key is to kill one but let the other one hatch the eggs! Why? At 30% all remaining eggs hatch and you must face the remaining Dragonhawk Hatchlings at once. It's not pretty but doable if you have a good group. A tip is to announce the side you kill before pulling, mark the mob when it spawns with skull or use the world marker to indicate what side to kill.
Randomly he will enter Phase 2 and start to spawn bombs around the room, find a empty spot to stand on as the bombs explode they each do Fire Bomb. Meanwhile the boss will not attack the tank and if Dragonhawk Hatchlings he should go around tanking them and focusing on taking them down along with the group.
At 30% all remaining eggs hatch and you must deal with them along with the boss that now has Frenzy.

His abilities in Phase 1 (normal form) are Water Totem and Enrage. The tank has to move him ASAP when he casts the Water Totem. The ranged members can stand in it to regen health and mana.
In Phase 2 that occurs at 66% and 33% he will spawn Spirit of the Lynx and it will reduce it's target armor slowly and do some damage. It can't be tanked but if you got good enough damage you can push Halazzi to 0% to exit Phase 2 and the Lynx will despawn. Meanwhile in Phase 2 the boss will cast Lightning Totem and the totem will do Lightning. You should destroy it quick and then nuke the boss. If you have a well formed group simply nuke boss only and move the boss away from the lightning totem that he spawns (the totems will despawn after a while).
Note: The Lynx despawns each phase transition so you do not need and should not try to kill it as it has a lot of health.
Tip: If you do not have enough healing then make sure those that those who are attacked by the Lynx run into the Water Totem for bonus healing.

If you made the timed run congratulations! If not then try again next time and learn from past mistakes, don't give up!

Part 2

From this point onward you face pretty much the same type of mobs as you have already faced.
The only new addition is the last pack before the boss consisting of 2xAmani'shi Berserker, these are immune to CC and will hit hard. You need a good tank, healer and quick DPS focus fire one by one.

His abilities depend on what class he is currently using Siphon Soul on.
Between each change of the siphon target he will cast Spirit Bolts, a massive AoE volley that hits everyone for a total of 30000 damage before resistances.
He will have two random adds, all that maters is the type of add as you should CC one and kill the other -also interrupt and stun what you can as they are not immune to such. Once both adds are dead (or the one add, just make sure you keep the other one CC'ed) you can then start handling the boss himself.
As mentioned he will siphon a random group member and depending on their class he will use the following abilities:

Death Knight

Plague Strike

Death and Decay

Blood Worms

Move out of DaD kill the Blood Worms when they spawn!

Dispell Lifebloom and Moonfire. Tank faces boss to wall due to Typhoon.

Move out of Explosive Trap effect.

Move out of Consecration and interrupt Holy Light!

Dispell Frost Nova so Ice Lance does not hurt that much.

Interrupt Flash Heal and dispell Shadow Word: Pain.

Do not stand in Smoke Bomb.

Interrupt Healing Wave, Destroy/move away from Fire Nova Totem and spread out.

Dispell Bane of Doom, Move out of AoE. Do NOT dispel Unstable Affliction!

Do not cast spells when Spell Reflection is up!

Once you open the door to proceed you will face a huge wave of trolls that are easy to kill, just don't AFK or be sleeping when you start this mini-event!

His abilities when in normal form are Whirlwind and . Once he starts to Whirlwind you can run out to avoid the damage. The Grievous Throw you have to outheal to remove.

At 80% and 40% he will change forms into one random of the four forms available.

Shape of the Eagle	Cyclones spawn and they will move to random group members at a interval. Where you currently stand is where the Cyclone will go to. Running trough a Cyclone results in a . Additionally you have to destroy the Lightning Totem! The trick here is that spell casts will result in a Zap, hence you should mind both your health and the groups health when you cast! If you are a tank (and especially if a Druid), feel free to DPS on this phase, the boss will not target anyone specifically.
Shape of the Bear	Creeping Paralysis will be cast but can be dispelled. The Tank will eat Nearly Overpowered Blow and like before he will Surge the target furthest away so you need a rotation like on Nalorakk!
Shape of the Dragonhawk	He will cast Claw, Flame Whirl and . You have to move out and avoid the damage! The further away you are from his AoE, the less damage you take. Try not to get tunnel vision, it can kill you as the pillar of fire can be hard to spot.
Shape of the Lynx	He spawns two adds that will and . The Tank should Taunt at Claw Rage to help the group member survive it! I recommend using something like Barkskin to help healer out a little.

ExtraMinutes

Location

Note

Akil'zon's gauntlet start

...

Akil'zon is engaged

...

Akil'zon dies

+5 new minutes

Nalorakk's first pack engaged

step Path to Nalorakk#2

Bear pack engaged

step Path to Nalorakk#3

Nalorakk's second pack engaged

step Path to Nalorakk#4

Nalorakk's third pack engaged

step Path to Nalorakk#5

Nalorakk's fourth pack engaged

step Path to Nalorakk#6

Nalorakk is engaged

...

Nalorakk dies

+5 new minutes

Jan'alai's first pack engaged

step Path to Jan'alai#2

Jan'alai's second pack engaged

step Path to Jan'alai#3

Jan'alai's third pack engaged

step Path to Jan'alai#5

Jan'alai's fourth pack engaged

step Path to Jan'alai#6

Jan'alai is engaged

...

Jan'alai dies

no additional time is gained

Halazzi's first pack engaged

step Path to Halazzi#1

Halazzi's second pack engaged

step Path to Halazzi#3

Halazzi's third pack engaged

step Path to Halazzi#4

Halazzi is engaged

...

Jan'alaiHeroismBloodlustTime WarpAncient HysteriaZaxx's (Tank POV)Final words

Comments

Comment by hatman555

Let me start by saying, Amazing guide. Formatting is clean. Colors are used perfectly. Text is easy to read and informative. Part 2 formatting looks great too! Another 10/10 for Formatting!

Content. You have a ton of helpful tips in the guide. There were a couple of things that came to my mind when reading the guide. Some additional tips, and some wording changes to avoid confusion.

On Akil'zon:

Plucked and will not stun you or prevent you from action. If you are the person picked up, don't just sit there waiting, DPS something, especially if you are the person Plucked!

On Nalorakk:

You say: "this means you need to sacrifice melee DPS in order to survive the encounter."
This can be confusing. I understand that you are talking about sacrificing total damage done, but since DPS is now used as role indicator, people might think that they need to sacrifice a member of the party!

Since you already mention that the charge effects the "Furthest" person away, you should add a note that reminds people that they don't need to run 40 yards away to insure they get charged. Just run 10 yards out, or 5 even if your group is stacking properly on the boss.
Many times people waste too much time running to further away than they need to, especial the melee.

On Path to Halazzi:

You say: "When the pack is nearly dead get the next one to save time."
1. Moving while DPSing is always a decrease in DPS, even when the pack is almost dead.
2. Spawning an additional pack while the healer is actively healing can be dangerous. A healer may get focus, and the tank may have more difficulty rounding up the adds for quicker DPS.
It is over all smoother and less dangerous to either pull 2 packs together or 1 pack at a time, and stay stationary untill all the adds are dead before pulling more.

On Halazzi:

Small typo in step 2 "god" → "got"
You say: "enough damage you can push him to 0%"
"him" is a misplaced pronoun. Say Halazzi again, to avoid confusion.

You say: "If you do not have enough healing focus on the Lynx he spawns first."

Its always a DPS lose and a slow to the fight to Kill the Lynx. If healing is truly the problem. Make sure all ranged are standing inside the water totems, and if a melee gets focused have him move into the water totem as well. This is much less of a DPS loss than focusing down the Lynx which de-spawns anyways.

When I list all those changes above, I'm not trying to tell you want to do. I am simply giving you the best critical advice I can. I feel that its only desirving since you clearly spent a TON of time writing this guide.

Amazing work once again! First 10 out of 10 I give!

Content: 9.5/10
Formatting: 10/10

Overal Rating: 10/10 !

Cheers,
Hat

Comment by Vlad

Thanks for the advice and the high rating, hatman555! ^_^

Edit: I did rephrase some parts accordingly with the tips. I must admit doing this as tank I did not notice that you could do anything while being plucked, hehe. Applied some minor tweaks and extra text and colors here and there, all orange is a kill order, all green text are hints and all yellow are tips. Added icons to the tabs too, not really necessary but looks nicer this way, I used an icon relevant to the tab content.

Comment by therailz

Excellent work, thank you for spending time on this great guide

Comment by Hybr1d

Whatever happened to the alternative route from old ZA, going Eagle -> waterfall toward lynx, jump through some houses, kill it, continue to bear -> Hawk.

Comment by Apocalipsus

A really nice guide there.
A tip I found very usefull on Halazzi (the lynx boss). Have your tank kill the chain lighting totems. This will save time for damagers (that don't need to lose dps switching targets ) and a tank can kill it rather fast thanks to vengeance.
Aggro shouldn't be a problem by this time.

Comment by 58024

Absolutely crucial to kill the 2 Amani'shi Berserkers before Hexlord one by one as they enrage at low health. I've seen one shots from 2 enraged berserkers when they both jump the same target.

Comment by Vlad

It is true VarstJasol.

In general when it comes to parties, always focus one mob and avoid splitting damage. One thing is to change target to apply more dots (Warlocks) but another thing is to see "ah 20% left I'll change target and let the tank finish off the mob" -the tank usually changes to build threat on the next target.
Besides if the 3 dps think like that and change the low hp mob remains alive and in some cases, enrages...

In short; be smart and kill the target you are supposed to kill, especially if doing PuG you can't depend on the others all the time.. Killing those on low health is also helpful and should not be underrated. Learning to keep once priorities straight takes time, while learning it's important to at least respect the kill order marks to some extent. ;)

Comment by ibechief

You can skip the majority of the trash if not all immediately after the doors open which starts the timer for the event, if you mount up and run through them as they spawn. I think its best with a geared tank to just chain pull the first sets of mobs all the way to just before the special mob on the stairs. Pop cd's to avoid the massive dmg and use vent to call targets to avoid aggro issues on such a large pack. As long as casters and healers stand behind the tank in the corner the adds that run up the ramp will have to pass the tank to engage and the eagles will have to do the same. Massive aoe after the wind walkers are dead to finish off the trash and you just saved close to two min of time.

Comment by CalaelenDT

Mark of Blood is no longer an ability that Hex Lord Malacrass copies from Death Knights with Siphon Soul. He copies Blood Worms instead.

They will spawn at a certain location and move towards Malacrass, healing him if they are allowed to reach him.

Comment by 1439332

I have found that it is possible to solo the Zul'Aman timed run and receive the mount. I did it with a Beast Mastery hunter at lvl 90 with an ilvl of 508 and came across no problems whatsoever. Hope this helps anyone who has doubted that they were able to do it :)

Zul'Aman: all you need to know to pull off a timed run or a normal one! [Archive] (Archived)

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