Zul, Reborn Strategy/Tactics for Normal/Heroic

Table of Contents

• +Introduction
  • 1. Contents
  • 2. Lore
  • 3. Outline
  • 4. TL;DR
    • 4.1. Tanks
    • 4.2. Healers
    • 4.3. DPS
    • 4.4. Everyone
    • 4.5. Positioning
  • 5. Bloodlust/Heroism/Time Warp
  • 6. Class-specific Advice for Zul, Reborn
  • 7. Changelog
• +Abilities
  • 1. Pool of Darkness
  • 2. Phase One: The Forces of Blood
    • 2.1. Dark Revelation
      • 2.1.1. Minion of Zul
    • 2.2. Shadow Barrage
    • 2.3. Call of Blood
      • 2.3.1. Bloodthirsty Crawg
      • 2.3.2. Nazmani Bloodhexer
      • 2.3.3. Nazmani Crusher
  • 3. Phase Two: Zul, Awakened
    • 3.1. Locus of Corruption
    • 3.2. Rupturing Blood
    • 3.3. Deathwish
  • 4. Changelog
• ×Normal/Heroic Strategy/Tactics
  • 1. Positioning and Strategy
    • 1.1. Phase One
    • 1.2. Phase Two
  • 2. Tank Concerns
  • 3. Healing Concerns
  • 4. Bloodlust/Heroism/Time Warp
  • 5. Changelog
• +Mythic Strategy
  • 1. Mythic Mode Abilities
    • 1.1. Blood Recall
    • 1.2. Decaying Flesh
    • 1.3. Ability Changes
      • 1.3.1. Pool of Darkness
  • 2. Strategy
  • 3. Bloodlust/Heroism/Time Warp
  • 4. Changelog

General Information

On this page, you will find a working strategy to defeat Zul, Reborn in Uldir for both Normal and Heroic modes, which usually only differ by the tuning of the boss.

Here, we assume that you have read our descriptions of the abilities for this encounter.

The other pages of our Zul, Reborn guide can be accessed from the table of contents on the right.

Tank the adds on top of Zul in the center of the room. AoE them all down, and be sure to move the Nazmani Crushers to the edge of the room before they cast Thrumming Pulse. Additional adds will spawn starting with Bloodthirsty Crawgs, followed by Nazmani Bloodhexers and Crushers.

As the Bloodthirsty Crawgs spawn, make sure they are misdirected to the tank, and AoEd down by the group.

Ensure that the Bloodhexers are never within 20 yards of each other; use Death Grip or kicks to bring one into melee range, and let the other free cast using ranged interrupts when available. You can also choose to crowd control the one that is not being focused. When Animated Ichor spawn, use knockbacks, stuns, and slows to prevent them from reaching Zul while you kill them.

Have a player with high durability or self-sustain assigned to soak Pool of Darkness. When one spawns, the closest person in the raid should step into it to prevent raid damage while the assigned soaker makes their way over. Soakers should simply stay in the end zone until it expires.

When players get Dark Revelation, they need to run to the edge of the platform before it expires. This will reduce raid damage, as well as spawn the Minions of Zul in a favorable position. Have Priests or Blood Elves ready to mass dispel with either Mass Dispel or Arcane Torrent respectively, with Shamans, Priests, or Demon Hunters ready to Purge, Dispel Magic, or Consume Magic any that were missed. Mages should never attempt to Spellsteal the Bound by Shadow buff, as when the buff expires or the shield is broken, the Mage will instantly die.

Ideally, you should be able to deal with the Minions of Zul without having to DPS any of them, but if your group lacks sufficient dispels, you will have to damage some until their buff is removed and they die.

Reach Phase Two quickly is important to reduce the number of stacks of Corrupted Blood the group will have, but this mechanic is more set in place to punish groups who allowed the Nazmani Bloodhexers to heal Zul. As such, you should not worry about using too many resources to push out of Phase One when they are better spend simply killing the boss in Phase Two.

After Zul enters Phase Two, have the raid positioned near the center of the room, with Zul slightly outside the group to prevent any accidental applications of Rupturing Blood. Have the raid use cooldowns, potions, and Bloodlust/ Heroism/ Time Warp in order to clean up any remaining adds, and burn the boss.

When players are afflicted with Deathwish, healers need to make sure the group is topped off before dispelling. Priests can also use Leap of Faith on one of the targets in order to offset the dispels and give healers more time to top off the raid. After the dispels, be sure to once again Mass Dispel the Minions of Zul that spawn.

Finally, when the active tank's Rupturing Blood reaches three stacks, the off-tank should taunt. This will give the first tank a four second window after dropping his debuff to taunt the boss back before the off-tank receives a fourth stack. Drop Ruptured Blood, as close to the edge of the platform as possible, while staying in range of healers for as long as you can; Rupturing Blood deals a tremendous amount of damage, and leaving too soon can result in a death. Ruptured Blood puddles should also be grouped together very closely. Mobile tanks such as Monks and Demon Hunters can Roll or Infernal Strike into existing puddles to quickly stack them before leaping or using Transcendence to get back out.

Zul will not be tankable for the first 60% of his Health, so tanks are going to be picking up adds and crowd controlling for most of this fight. Remember to keep the Nazmani Crushers and Zul faced away from the raid so as not to cleave your group. It is also vitally important that you get out to the edges of the platform when dropping Ruptured Blood.

This fight really begins at 40% for healers. Aside from a small amount of burst raid damage every minute, the only real damage the raid takes during Phase One are from the random Shadow Barrages that Zul fires as well as the ticking damage on the person soaking Pool of Darkness.

When Zul hits 40%, be ready to be constantly healing the raid. Save cooldowns for the Deathwishes, and again, give extra attention to the person soaking Pool of Darkness.

We advise you to use Bloodlust/ Heroism/ Time Warp at the start of Phase Two to help clean up any left-over adds, and to kill Zul before the platform is overrun with Ruptured Blood.

• 07 Sep. 2018: Fixed incorrect ability link.