TBC Anniversary Gruul and Magtheridon Guide: Bosses, Cubes, Loot

Quick summary

• Two raids, three bosses, one night. Gruul's Lair has High King Maulgar and Gruul the Dragonkiller. Magtheridon's Lair has only Magtheridon. Both are 25-player, weekly lockout, no attunement (Warcraft Tavern).
• They launched post-nerf. Blizzard opened both on February 19, 2026, in their reduced-difficulty state.
• Since October 22, 2026, every boss in both raids drops Badges of Justice, and Magtheridon's Black Sack of Gems can contain epic gems (Warcraft Tavern).
• Maulgar is an assignment check, Gruul is a spacing check, and Magtheridon is a cube check. Each section below gives the exact jobs.
• Tier 4 tokens: shoulders from Maulgar, legs from Gruul, chest from Magtheridon (Wowhead).

This TBC Anniversary Gruul and Magtheridon guide covers the raids as they stand in Phase 3.5, after the Zul'Aman update. Boss abilities are unchanged from the original 2.4 tuning; the update changed the rewards, not the fights.

Get into both raids

	Gruul's Lair	Magtheridon's Lair
Size and lockout	25 players, weekly	25 players, weekly
Bosses	High King Maulgar, Gruul the Dragonkiller	Magtheridon
Attunement	None	None
Minimum level	65 (70 recommended)	65 (70 recommended)
Zone	Northern Blade's Edge Mountains, in an ogre camp. Ride or fly north from the Evergrove flight path	Hellfire Citadel, Hellfire Peninsula. The portal and summoning stone are in the southwest of the citadel on the chasm floor
Nearest town	Evergrove (both factions)	Honor Hold (Alliance) or Thrallmar (Horde)
Trash	Gronn-Priests and Lair Brutes, respawn after about an hour	Four packs of Hellfire Warders

Example: your raid leader posts "Gruul 7:00, Mag after". Summon at the Gruul stone first. Gruul's Lair is two pulls of bosses, so you can walk out, take the flight path back to Hellfire, and start Magtheridon the same evening.

Build the 25-player roster

Both raids want more tanks than a normal raid and more ranged than melee.

Role	Gruul's Lair	Magtheridon's Lair	Why
Tanks	3 (main, Blindeye, Olm helper)	2–3, up to 5 for weak groups	Maulgar council; one tank per Channeler on Mag
Healers	5–7	5–7	Shatter and Quake damage
Warlocks	1+ (Olm's Fel Stalker)	3+ (Banish Abyssals)	Subjugate Demon and Banish
Mage	1 (Krosh)	Optional	Spellsteal Krosh's shield
Moonkin or two hunters	Kiggler	Optional	Moonkin is immune to Polymorph
Melee	At least 2 with interrupts	Interrupters valued	Blindeye heal, Dark Mending

Bring flasks or elixirs, food, mana potions and bandages. For Gruul's Lair, Warcraft Tavern also recommends the class-appropriate Unstable Flasks. Check the tooltip for where each flask works. A boss mod with the Burning Crusade pack covers both raids; the best TBC Anniversary addons list has a raid setup, and the DPS tier list explains which classes bring the raid buffs these fights lean on.

Kill High King Maulgar and his council

Maulgar fights with four advisors. Each one is tanked differently. Set assignments before anyone pulls.

Add	Class style	Who tanks	Key abilities	Backup plan
Blindeye the Seer	Priest	Off-tank	Prayer of Healing; Power Word: Shield followed by a 10-second big heal	Burst the shield, then kick. Silencing Shot, Improved Counterspell, Silence, Improved Kick, Intercept and Improved Shield Bash also work
Olm the Summoner	Warlock	Warlock (Subjugate Demon on a Wild Fel Stalker) plus a tank	Death Coil on random players; stacking Dark Decay on his target	A second Warlock Banishes or Fears the other Fel Stalker
Krosh Firehand	Mage	Mage, who Spellsteals his Spell Shield	Greater Fireball on target; Blast Wave within 15 yards	Mage needs a big health pool. Keep everyone else out of 15 yards
Kiggler the Crazed	Shaman	Moonkin, or two hunters	Greater Polymorph, Lightning Bolt, Arcane Explosion (knockback and threat drop), Arcane Shock	Second ranged player picks him up after a knockback. Grounding Totem eats Lightning Bolt
High King Maulgar	Warrior	Main tank, back to a wall, facing away	Arcing Smash, Mighty Blow knockback, 15-second Whirlwind. At 50%: Charge and Intimidating Roar	Off-tank taunts after a Charge. Tremor Totem helps against the fear

Positions on the pull

1. Main tank takes Maulgar to the gate toward Gruul.
2. Kiggler goes near the entrance with the Moonkin.
3. Olm goes to the back of the room.
4. Krosh goes to the right side with the mage.
5. Blindeye goes wherever fewest players stand.

Hunters can Misdirect adds to their tanks. Spreading the council out keeps Blast Wave, Arcane Explosion and Whirlwind off the raid (Warcraft Tavern).

Kill order

Blindeye, then Olm, then Krosh, then Kiggler, then Maulgar is the most common order (Warcraft Tavern). Some raids kill Kiggler second instead; both work. The usual reason to kill Olm second is to stop Death Coil and free your Warlocks. Pick one order and post it in raid chat before the pull.

Maulgar by role

• DPS: burst Blindeye's shield at once. Never stand within 15 yards of Krosh. Melee leave Maulgar when he starts Whirlwind.
• Healers: assign one healer each to the Krosh mage and the Kiggler tanks, and at least one to Maulgar's tank.
• Tanks: keep Maulgar against the wall so Mighty Blow doesn't throw you into the raid. After 50%, be ready to taunt after Intimidating Roar or a Charge.

Beat Gruul the Dragonkiller

Gruul is one boss with no adds. He gets stronger over time, so this is a damage race with spacing rules.

Ability	What it does	What you do
Growth	Every 30 seconds, +15% damage, stacking	Kill him early. Use cooldowns
Hurtful Strike	Big hit on the second-highest-threat player in melee range	Off-tank stays second on threat. DPS stay below both tanks
Ground Slam	Knocks the raid back and adds Gronn Lord's Grasp (slow)	Stand with a wall or obstacle behind you to shorten the throw
Shatter	Stoned players explode, hurting others nearby	Spread at least 15 yards when Grasp reaches 4 stacks
Reverberation	4-second raid-wide silence	Put HoTs on tanks before it
Cave In	Damaging rocks on an area	Step out. Zoom the camera out to see it

Step by step

1. Main tank holds Gruul in the center. Off-tank builds threat from the first second.
2. The raid spreads out around the room before the first Ground Slam.
3. After each Ground Slam, walk back to your spot and drag the boss to the center again.
4. At 4 stacks of Gronn Lord's Grasp, stop everything and spread. Spacing comes before DPS here.
5. Healers pre-HoT tanks before each Shatter and Reverberation.
6. Use Bloodlust or Heroism and trinkets early, while Growth is low.

How long do you have? Warcraft Tavern says around 20 Growth stacks (about 10 minutes) wipes a raid and aims to kill before 14 stacks, which is 7 minutes. Treat 7 minutes as a safe target and 10 as the edge.

Pets count for Shatter. Hunter and warlock pets standing near you add to Shatter damage. Dismiss or move them.

Kill Magtheridon in three phases

Clear the four Hellfire Warder packs first. Wowhead lists their abilities as Fear, Rain of Fire, Shadow Bolt Volley, Shadow Burst and Shadow Word: Pain. Interrupt the Volley and move tanks out of Rain of Fire. Any packs left alive can join the boss.

Phase 1: five Hellfire Channelers (2 minutes)

The fight starts when someone hits a Channeler. Magtheridon stays caged for 120 seconds.

• Dark Mending: a 2-second heal on the caster and one other Channeler. Interrupt every cast (Wowhead).
• Shadow Bolt Volley and Fear on random players. Keep Channelers apart so volleys don't stack.
• Soul Transfer: each dead Channeler buffs the others, so the last one is the most dangerous (Warcraft Tavern, Wowhead).
• Burning Abyssal: summoned periodically, lasts 60 seconds, attacks highest threat. Warlocks Banish at once. Fear, slows and roots work as backups.

Warcraft Tavern says you want at least three Channelers dead before Magtheridon breaks free.

Phase 2: Magtheridon and the Manticron Cubes

Ability	What to do
Cleave	Main tank faces him into a wall
Conflagration	Fire ring on the ground. Move out
Quake	Knockback and spell interrupt for 7 seconds. Instant casts still work, so pre-HoT and shield the tank
Blast Nova	2-second cast. If it finishes, the whole raid takes a heavy fire DoT. Stop it with all five cubes

Five assigned players each click one cube at the same moment the cast starts. The channel hurts them. When they stop, they get Mind Exhaustion and can't use a cube again for a while. While all five cubes are channeled, Magtheridon takes 300% more damage. Click once, calmly. Spam-clicking can break the channel.

Phase 3: 30% health

At 30% Magtheridon shatters the ceiling. Debris hits the raid and stuns everyone for 2 seconds. After that, parts of the ceiling collapse and kill anyone underneath. Marked areas show where it lands. He hard-enrages at 22 minutes (Wowhead, Warcraft Tavern).

Don't push him to 30% while a Blast Nova is due. A stun during the cast usually wipes the raid. Save DPS cooldowns for this phase, and keep the floor near the cubes clear.

Use a cube rotation that survives deaths

Wowhead lists Mind Exhaustion at 3 minutes, and Blast Nova comes about once a minute (Warcraft Tavern). Some raids report a shorter debuff, but planning for 3 minutes means you're never short of clickers.

Cube	Team A (Nova 1, 4…)	Team B (Nova 2, 5…)	Team C (Nova 3, 6…)	Backup
1	Hunter	Warlock	Healer	Spare healer
2	Mage	Hunter	Healer	Spare ranged
3	Warlock	Mage	Healer	Spare ranged
4	Shadow Priest	Moonkin	Healer	Spare healer
5	Elemental Shaman	Warlock	Healer	Spare ranged

This is a template, not a rule. Fill it with names. Ranged DPS and spare healers usually click, and melee usually don't (Wowhead). If a clicker dies, the backup for that cube goes. Have one caller announce "cubes" when the cast starts.

Example: your raid has 15 ranged and 6 healers. Put three teams of five on cubes and keep two healers and three ranged as named backups. If Team A's cube 3 clicker dies, the backup on cube 3 clicks for Team A's next turn.

Check the full loot tables

All non-tier items are item level 125. Tier 4 tokens are item level 120 (Wowhead).

Boss	Tier token	Other drops
High King Maulgar	Pauldrons of the Fallen Champion / Defender / Hero (shoulders)	Brute Cloak of the Ogre-Magi, Belt of Divine Inspiration (cloth), Malefic Mask of the Shadows (leather), Maulgar's Warhelm (mail), Bladespire Warbands (plate), Hammer of the Naaru (2H mace)
Gruul the Dragonkiller	Leggings of the Fallen Champion / Defender / Hero (legs)	Dragonspine Trophy, Eye of Gruul, Teeth of Gruul (neck), Collar of Cho'gall (cloth), Cowl of Nature's Breath and Gronn-Stitched Girdle (leather), Gauntlets of the Dragonslayer and Windshear Boots (mail), Gauntlets of Martial Perfection (plate), Bloodmaw Magus-Blade, Axe of the Gronn Lords, Shuriken of Negation, Aldori Legacy Defender
Magtheridon	Chestguard of the Fallen Champion / Defender / Hero (chest)	Eye of Magtheridon, Cloak of the Pit Stalker, Soul-Eater's Handwraps (cloth), Liar's Tongue Gloves (leather), Terror Pit Girdle (mail), Thundering Greathelm and Girdle of the Endless Pit (plate), Glaive of the Pit, Crystalheart Pulse-Staff, Eredar Wand of Obliteration, Karaborian Talisman, Aegis of the Vindicator, Magtheridon's Head, Pit Lord's Satchel, Black Sack of Gems

Magtheridon's Head starts "The Fall of Magtheridon". Hand it in to Force Commander Danath Trollbane (Alliance, Honor Hold) or Nazgrel (Horde, Thrallmar). Pick one ring: A'dal's Signet of Defense, Band of Crimson Fury, Naaru Lightwarden's Band or Ring of the Recalcitrant. You also get 1,000 reputation with Honor Hold or Thrallmar (Warcraft Wiki).

Loot priorities by role

Role	Look for first	Boss
Physical DPS	Dragonspine Trophy, T4 tokens, Ring of the Recalcitrant	Gruul, Magtheridon quest
Caster DPS	Eye of Magtheridon, T4 tokens, Band of Crimson Fury	Magtheridon
Healers	Eye of Gruul, Teeth of Gruul, Naaru Lightwarden's Band	Gruul, Magtheridon quest
Tanks	Aldori Legacy Defender, A'dal's Signet of Defense, Defender tokens	Gruul, Magtheridon quest

This table is a decision aid based on the item types and common BiS lists, not a ranking for every spec. Check your class's current BiS list before you roll; the Druid guide is one example of a per-spec list. Magtheridon's Head also gives 1,000 reputation, which counts toward the heroic key in the Honor Hold and Thrallmar guide.

Use the Phase 3.5 changes

Blizzard's October 22 update changed why players still run these raids (Warcraft Tavern):

• Every boss drops Badges of Justice. That's three bosses' worth of badges per week on top of Karazhan and Zul'Aman. G'eras sells stronger badge items now, including Nether Vortex.
• The Black Sack of Gems can contain epic gems. Sacks looted before October 22 can't, even if opened later.
• Primal Nether and Nether Vortex are no longer soulbound, so they trade.

For a fresh 70, that makes Gruul and Mag a weekly badge stop as well as a source of T4 and trinkets. The fresh 70 catch-up guide adds up the weekly badge income, and the badge gear guide shows what to spend it on. New epic gems from the sack go into the slots listed in the gems and enchants guide.

Plan your week

Night	Raid	Goal
Night 1	Gruul's Lair, then Magtheridon	Three bosses, badges, shoulder/leg/chest tokens
Night 2	Karazhan	T4 gloves and helm, more badges
Every 3 days	Zul'Aman	Badges and ZA loot (3-day lockout)

The Zul'Aman bosses and timed run are covered in the Zul'Aman guide. Raid services for every tier are on the TBC Anniversary hub.

Avoid these mistakes

1. Pulling Maulgar before every add has a named tank.
2. Letting Blindeye finish a heal because nobody broke his shield.
3. DPS climbing to second on Gruul's threat and eating Hurtful Strike.
4. Standing together at 4 stacks of Gronn Lord's Grasp.
5. Cube clickers spam-clicking, or clicking before the call.
6. Pushing Magtheridon to 30% just before a Blast Nova.
7. Leaving Warder packs alive before the pull.

Return, boost, or level an alt

• Returning player: read the cube section twice and ask for a backup cube slot on your first night. Watching once is enough to learn the timing.
• Fresh or boosted 70: gear up in heroics and Karazhan first. Gruul and Mag are 25-player and expect blue gear at least (Warcraft Tavern). The badge drops make them worth joining once you're ready. The TBC Anniversary dungeons guide lists every heroic and its key.
• Alt: tokens are class-group based, so an alt in the same group can compete with your main's guildmates. Ask about loot rules before the pull.

Want a hand with this?

If you would rather not grind this part yourself, TBC Anniversary raid services are listed on FullBoosts. Read Blizzard's End User License Agreement before you buy any service from anyone, FullBoosts included — a marketplace listing isn't publisher permission.

FAQ

Do you need an attunement for Gruul's Lair or Magtheridon's Lair? No. Neither raid has an attunement. You need level 65 to enter and a raid group, but 70 is strongly recommended.

What is the High King Maulgar kill order? Blindeye, Olm, Krosh, Kiggler, then Maulgar is the most common order. Some raids kill Kiggler second, but Blindeye always dies first.

How do Magtheridon's cubes work? Five players click the five Manticron Cubes at the same moment Blast Nova starts casting. That interrupts the spell, and Magtheridon takes 300% more damage while all five channel. Each clicker then can't use a cube for a while, so you need rotating teams.

What do you get for Magtheridon's Head? Your choice of four rings: A'dal's Signet of Defense, Band of Crimson Fury, Naaru Lightwarden's Band or Ring of the Recalcitrant, plus 1,000 reputation with Honor Hold or Thrallmar.

Do Gruul and Magtheridon drop Badges of Justice in TBC Anniversary? Yes, since October 22, 2026. Every boss in both raids now drops them, which makes the pair a weekly badge stop for fresh 70s.

Related guides

• TBC Anniversary Karazhan guide
• TBC Anniversary new badge gear guide
• TBC Anniversary fresh 70 catch-up guide
• TBC Anniversary Zul'Aman guide