TBC Anniversary Zul'Aman Guide: Bosses, Timed Run, Phase 3.5

Quick summary

• Zul'Aman opens in TBC Anniversary on October 22 at 3:00 p.m. PDT (23:00 BST), as one global launch. It's a 10-player raid in the Ghostlands with six bosses, no attunement, and a 3-day lockout.
• The timed hostage run gives you 20 minutes to start. Akil'zon adds 10 minutes and Nalorakk adds 15, for 45 minutes total to kill all four animal bosses. You get one attempt per lockout.
• Each hostage you save opens a chest. The fourth chest always holds the Amani War Bear, but only one per raid.
• Every boss drops a Badge of Justice and there is no tier loot. Phase 3.5 also makes older raids drop badges and lowers Heroic keys to Honored.

This guide covers Anniversary realms only, not Classic Era, Season of Discovery, or retail.

Zul'Aman at a glance

Fact	Detail
Opens	October 22, 3:00 p.m. PDT (Anniversary realms, all regions)
Size	10 players
Bosses	6: Akil'zon, Nalorakk, Jan'alai, Halazzi, Hex Lord Malacrass, Zul'jin
Lockout	3 days, so up to two runs a week
Attunement	None
Level	Minimum 68 to enter, 70 recommended
Entrance	Southeastern Ghostlands, with a flight master near the gate
Loot	No Tier 4, 5, or 6 tokens. Every boss drops a Badge of Justice
Timed event	45 minutes (20 to start, plus 10 and 15 earned) to kill the four animal bosses

What Phase 3.5 changes

Blizzard's Zul'Aman announcement (reprinted by Wowhead) lists these changes:

Change	What it means for you
Zul'Aman opens: level 70, 10 players, Ghostlands, no attunement, 3-day lockout	Any level 70 can join, and you can raid it twice a week
Hyjal and Black Temple no longer need attunement	Alts and new raiders can join those raids without the old quest chains
Heroic dungeon keys now need only Honored reputation	Heroics open earlier on new characters
All Heroic dungeons move to their final, reduced difficulty	Faster badge and gear runs
Bosses in Karazhan, Gruul's Lair, Magtheridon's Lair, Serpentshrine Cavern, Tempest Keep, and Zul'Aman, plus Doomlord Kazzak and Doomwalker, drop Badges of Justice	Older raids now feed your badge total
Kazzak and Doomwalker loot becomes Bind on Equip	Their items can be traded or sold
Magtheridon's Black Sack of Gems and Jewelcrafters' Brilliant Glass can contain epic gems	Only new ones. Unopened sacks and existing Brilliant Glass won't contain them
Primal Nether and Nether Vortex are no longer soulbound	They can be traded

Outland faction vendors also add Leatherworking recipes for Greater Drums, Knothide Quiver, and Knothide Ammo Pouch.

Getting there

• Horde: the Ghostlands are on the Blood Elf leveling path. From Tranquillien, go south off the road, then east past the Sanctum of the Sun, and follow the path to Zul'Aman.
• Alliance: many Alliance characters have never been to the Ghostlands. Fly to Eastern Plaguelands and take the north road past Eastwall and Northpass Towers. The old dead end near Quel'Lithien Lodge now continues into the Ghostlands. Follow the road north, then turn right into the southeast of the zone.

Inside, Harrison Jones opens the gates. Talking to him and hitting the gong starts the raid, and with it the timer. Buff and take your consumables before the gong, not after.

The optional quest chain

There's no attunement, but Warcraft Tavern documents a quest chain around the raid. It's worth taking on your first clear, because most steps happen during a normal run anyway:

#	Quest	What you do
1	Oooh, Shinies!	Take Griftah's Note from Shattrath to Budd in the Ghostlands, just outside Zul'Aman
2	Promises, Promises...	Get Budd's map from Nalorakk's terrace inside the raid. Rewards the Tattered Hexcloth Sack
3	X Marks... Your Doom!	Visit Halazzi's chamber, Jan'alai's platform, and Akil'zon's platform, then report to Budd
4	Hex Lord? Hah!	Kill Hex Lord Malacrass
5	Tuskin' Raiders	Collect 10 Forest Troll Tusks from trolls in the raid for Prigmon
6	A Troll Among Trolls	Find and help Prigmon's cousin Zungam inside Zul'Aman
7	Playin' With Dolls	Take the Tattered Voodoo Doll to Griftah in Shattrath

The timed hostage run, step by step

Zul'Aman's signature feature is a race. The gong starts a timer for everyone, though most groups don't try to beat it. Each of the four animal bosses (Zul'jin's Loa avatars) guards a hostage. Kill the boss before the timer expires and the hostage lives and opens a chest. If the timer runs out, even mid-fight, that hostage is executed and their chest is lost. Engaging the boss isn't enough. It has to die in time.

Timer rules (Wowhead, Icy Veins):

Event	Effect on the clock
Hit the gong	20 minutes to kill your first animal boss
Kill Akil'zon (Eagle)	+10 minutes
Kill Nalorakk (Bear)	+15 minutes
Kill Jan'alai (Dragonhawk)	No time added
Kill Halazzi (Lynx)	No time added
Total available	45 minutes, 25 of which you earn

You get one attempt per lockout. If you fail, there's no retry until the 3-day reset. Hex Lord Malacrass and Zul'jin aren't part of the timer. You must kill all four animal bosses for the bear. You can't skip ahead.

The standard route and splits

The animal bosses can technically die in any order. Wowhead says most groups go Eagle → Bear → Dragonhawk → Lynx. That follows the map, and it banks both time extensions early, so you know your real budget sooner. Wowhead's typical splits (trash plus boss for each section):

Section	Typical split	Running total
Akil'zon (Eagle)	5–7 min	5–7 min
Nalorakk (Bear)	12–13 min	17–20 min
Jan'alai (Dragonhawk)	9–11 min	26–31 min
Halazzi (Lynx)	12–15 min (4–5 for the boss)	38–46 min

The running total shows why this event is hard. At the slow end of every split you'd finish at 46 minutes and lose the bear. If your first two sections are slow, save time later by chain-pulling rather than by gambling on the bosses.

Wowhead commenters add two community tips worth testing. One is an older route: clear both Eagle and Bear trash first, then kill both bosses. The other comes from a Wowhead commenter who ran these in original TBC: about 1,000–1,200 single-target DPS and Tier 4 plus badge gear was enough, and a Shaman's Water Walking skips roughly three lake packs after Jan'alai. Smooth play matters more than gear.

Hostage chest loot

Chest	Item level	Slot	Possible items
1	128	Body armor	Cloak of Fiends, Shadowcaster's Drape, Mantle of Ill Intent, Cord of Braided Troll Hair, Elunite Imbued Leggings, Life-step Belt, Shadowhunter's Treads, Pauldrons of Stone Resolve
2	132	Weapons	Umbral Shiv, Rage, Tuskbreaker, Trollbane, Amani Divining Staff, Staff of Dark Mending
3	141	Rings	Mana Attuned Band, Signet of Eternal Life, Signet of Primal Wrath, Signet of the Last Defender, Signet of the Quiet Forest
4	141	Rings + mount	Amani War Bear (100% drop, one per raid)

Item levels and lists are from Wowhead's TBC Classic guide. Confirm them in-game for Anniversary.

Timed-run house rules

Wowhead recommends rules most bear groups follow:

• Don't free hostages, loot, or open chests until the event is over. Loot rolls cost minutes.
• Drink the moment you leave combat. There's no time for full drinking breaks, so healers and casters recover on the move.
• Agree on loot rules before the gong, especially for the bear. One mount per raid per lockout is the most common source of arguments.
• Expect to fail the first time. Even veterans of the original release need lockouts to get the rhythm back.

Group composition

Wowhead's typical bear-run comp is 2 tanks, 2–3 healers, and 5–6 DPS.

Role	Best picks (Wowhead)	Why
Tanks	Protection Paladin and Feral Druid	The Paladin adds a Blessing. The Druid can Innervate AoE casters for the trash gauntlets
Healers	2 Restoration Shamans, or 1 Resto Shaman and 1 Holy Paladin	Bloodlust/Heroism on every boss. The Holy Paladin adds another Blessing
DPS	Beast Mastery Hunter, Destruction Warlock, Arcane Mage, Fury Warrior	A mix of single-target and AoE for chain-pulled trash
Support DPS	Elemental or Enhancement Shaman, Combat Rogue, Retribution Paladin, Survival Hunter	Utility, plus Blessings from a Ret Paladin if you have no Holy Paladin

For a normal clear, without the timer, you have much more freedom. Use our TBC Anniversary class tier list to judge how specs perform in Phase 3 overall.

Boss-by-boss guide by role

These notes summarize Warcraft Tavern's TBC Classic encounter guide. Bring a boss-timer addon, but a Wowhead commenter warns that Deadly Boss Mods timers were off for this raid in the 2022 release, so treat timers as approximate.

1. Akil'zon (Eagle)

The raid fight is about spacing and one big stack.

• Everyone: stay spread out so Static Disruption doesn't chain between players, then stack together for Electrical Storm. If the raid doesn't stack in time, melee shouldn't chase damage during the storm.
• Tanks: Akil'zon hits lightly apart from Call Lightning, so you can wear threat and damage gear. Use defensives if healers struggle.
• Healers: Nature Resistance helps a lot (Aspect of the Wild, Nature Resistance Totem). Watch for players thrown by Gust of Wind, who take heavy fall damage. Melee take more Static Disruption damage. Call it out if you need the Soaring Eagles killed.
• Ranged DPS: don't sit at max range, just far enough not to chain Static Disruption. Ranged kill the Soaring Eagles more easily than melee. Warlocks and Shadow Priests should time self-damage for when healers have room.
• Melee DPS: spread out from other melee, and kill eagles when healers ask.
• Timed run: Akil'zon adds 10 minutes, so use Bloodlust/Heroism here.

2. Nalorakk (Bear)

A tank-swap fight between troll and bear forms.

• Troll form: both tanks stack in front. One tanks, the other soaks Brutal Swipe. Healers keep both tanks above roughly 50–60% so a swipe can't kill either. Surge knocks back a non-melee target, so don't stand at max range. Melee can't be targeted by Surge, but stay 10 yards from ranged.
• Bear form: the second tank taunts, because Mangle makes his bleeds dangerous. Use defensives when Lacerating Slash and Rend Flesh stack together. A single Prot Paladin can Divine Shield off both bleeds and Mangle. Blessing of Protection clears the bleeds but not Mangle. He silences often in bear form, so pre-place HoTs on the tank, and casters should save cooldowns and trinkets for troll form.
• Back to troll form: the original tank retaunts, and the bear-form tank goes back to soaking. Heal the off-tank harder, since they carry Lacerating Slash from the previous phase.
• Timed run: Nalorakk adds 15 minutes, the biggest extension, so don't wipe here.

3. Jan'alai (Dragonhawk)

An add-control fight on an open platform.

• Main tank: keep him in the middle of the platform so people can spread out. Shift slightly to dodge Fire Bombs or to give melee room, then move back. He enrages at 20%, so save major cooldowns and defensive consumables for that.
• Off-tank: when the Amani'shi Hatchers spawn, go to the side your raid is sparing and wait just before the bridge. Pick up the Dragonhawk Hatchlings and the Hatcher there. At 35% he hatches every remaining egg. If your egg control has gone wrong, you could be tanking up to 20 at once.
• Healers: tank damage starts low. Top up raid members after Flame Breath so nobody dies to a Fire Bomb next, and the reverse. Move toward the off-tank if you pull hatchling threat. Heal the main tank hard after the enrage.
• Ranged DPS: kill the Hatcher your raid marks and spare the other. Let the off-tank build threat, then AoE the hatchlings. Save Bloodlust-window cooldowns until the first hatchling wave is dead.
• Melee DPS: spread out behind him, watch threat, and move for the Fire Wall, Fire Bombs, and Flame Breath.

4. Halazzi (Lynx)

A two-tank fight with totems and shocks.

• Tanks: one tanks Halazzi, the other the Spirit of the Lynx. Both stack together to split Saber Lash.
• Healers and ranged: stand about 30 yards from the boss to avoid Flame Shock and Earth Shock. Dispel Flame Shock DoTs and keep raid healing steady through Lightning and shocks.
• Melee DPS: stay on Halazzi but switch to Corrupted Lightning Totems the moment they spawn.
• Timed run: this is the last timer boss and the fourth hostage. Wowhead puts the boss itself at 4–5 minutes of the 12–15-minute section.

5. Hex Lord Malacrass

He opens after the four animal bosses. He steals abilities from your own players.

• Opening adds: the off-tank picks up any add that isn't crowd-controlled. DPS kill the free adds first, then the CC'd ones, then the boss. Skilled groups may stack and cleave or Seed the four adds, but Warcraft Tavern says that's not easy.
• Siphon Soul: he copies a random player's class kit. Watch what he gains and interrupt it. Move him out of copied ground effects such as Consecrate and Rain of Fire. If he copies a Hunter, position him so melee don't trigger his traps.
• Spirit Bolts: the main raid damage. Warcraft Tavern says everyone takes about 9,000 damage at once, so top the raid up before each cast.
• Dispels and purges: Priests and Shamans dispel his copied Mind Control. Mages Spellsteal and Shamans Purge Lifebloom and Avenging Wrath off him.
• Interrupts: Rogues, Warriors, and Shamans own the interrupt rotation.

6. Zul'jin

The final boss moves through animal phases. One tank is enough, so your second tank can play DPS or heal if they have an off-spec.

Phase	Watch for	Who handles it
Troll	Grievous Throw: about 5,000 physical damage and a bleed that stays until the target is healed to full. Whirlwind: melee step out	Healers fully heal the target. Melee move away
Bear	Overpower on the tank. Creeping Paralysis stuns players	Healers focus the tank. Priests and Paladins dispel paralysis. Rogues use Cloak of Shadows
Eagle	No threat table	Tank isn't needed. Everyone spreads and DPS continues
Lynx	Lynx Rush bleeds the whole raid. Claw Rage hits a random player hard	The heaviest healing phase. Use healing cooldowns here

Dragonhawk form (final 20%, Warcraft Wiki): Flame Whirl — he spins for 2 seconds, then the whole raid takes about 1,000 Fire damage and a stacking fire-vulnerability debuff (about every 12 seconds), so spread and keep stacks low; Flame Breath — a frontal cone for about 2,000 Fire damage every 7 seconds, so only the tank stands in front; Flame Columns — a point-blank fire area on a random player (or pet) ticking about 900 a second for 10 seconds, up to three at once, so move out immediately.

Prep timeline: now to October 22

When	Team tasks	Character tasks
Now	Pick the 10 and two backups. Set two raid nights a week. Write loot rules, including the bear	Push any faction close to Honored (the new Heroic key requirement). List your G'eras Badge of Justice targets
Week before	Assign tanks for Nalorakk swaps and Jan'alai adds, the Hatcher kill side, Hex Lord interrupts, and dispels	Gem and enchant for your role. Stock flasks, elixirs, food, and potions for a full clear
Launch night	First lockout: aim for a clean clear, not the bear	Take quest 1 from Griftah in Shattrath. Repair, and empty your bags
After each lockout	Review the slowest section and costliest death	Spend badges and plan next lockout's upgrades
Once clears are reliable	Attempt the timed run with Wowhead's splits as checkpoints	Bring extra consumables and Nature resistance for Akil'zon. Don't open old gem sacks hoping for epic gems: Blizzard says previously looted ones won't contain them

Fresh 70s, alts, and returning players

Phase 3.5 is a good time to come back or to gear an alt, because three walls drop at once:

• No attunements for Zul'Aman, Hyjal, or Black Temple. A freshly leveled 70 can join any of them, gear permitting.
• Heroics at Honored, at reduced difficulty. Heroics become an early badge source rather than a late-game hurdle.
• Badges from older raids. Karazhan and Gruul nights now pay toward badge gear as well as their own loot.

A sensible order for a fresh 70: normal dungeons and reputation to Honored, then Heroics and Karazhan for badges, then Zul'Aman for its 3-day lockout, then Hyjal and Black Temple. If you're still leveling, our TBC Anniversary leveling guide covers both factions' 1–70 routes. The TBC Anniversary dungeons page lists dungeon services.

If you were boosted to 58 or 70 and haven't raided before, learn your class's interrupts, dispels, and defensives in Heroics first. Zul'Aman's Hex Lord and Nalorakk punish a missing interrupt or a slow taunt more than low damage.

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.

Frequently asked questions

When does Zul'Aman release in TBC Anniversary?

Blizzard has announced October 22, 2026 at 3:00 p.m. PDT (23:00 BST), as a single global launch. It's the Phase 3.5 update.

Does Zul'Aman need an attunement?

No. The same update also removes the attunements for Black Temple and the Battle for Mount Hyjal.

How long is the Zul'Aman timer?

You start with 20 minutes. Killing Akil'zon adds 10 and killing Nalorakk adds 15, for 45 minutes total to kill all four animal bosses. Jan'alai and Halazzi add no time.

How do you get the Amani War Bear?

Kill Akil'zon, Nalorakk, Jan'alai, and Halazzi before the timer runs out. The fourth hostage's chest always contains the bear, but only one drops per raid per lockout, so agree on who gets it before the gong.

Can you retry the timed run if you fail?

No. You get one attempt per lockout. If the timer expires, the next chance comes after the 3-day reset.

What is the best boss order in Zul'Aman?

Most groups go Akil'zon, Nalorakk, Jan'alai, Halazzi, then Hex Lord Malacrass and Zul'jin. Killing the two time-extending bosses first shows your real time budget early.

What gear do you need for the timed run?

Wowhead's guide recommends at least full Tier 5 and roughly 1,600 DPS per damage dealer. A Wowhead commenter who ran it in 2007 says Tier 4 plus badge gear and about 1,000–1,200 DPS was enough. Clean pulls matter more than either figure.

Does Zul'Aman drop tier tokens?

No. There's no Tier 4, 5, or 6 loot. Each boss drops a Badge of Justice, and the hostage chests add body armor, weapons, rings, and the bear.