Zuluhed the Whacked was one of the few
remaining orc shamans within the Old Horde in Azeroth, but due to his
consumption of the blood of Mannoroth, he did not embrace his true heritage and
still practiced the dark magics prescribed by Gul'dan and the Shadow Council.
Unlike his other Dragonmaw orcs he did not
become a fel orc.
Biography
Zuluhed was apparently the last, and only
shaman to accompany the Horde. He was eternally loyal to Blackhand during his
reign as Warchief, and wished to remain so even after his death, so he pledged
the allegiance of the small but powerful Dragonmaw Clan to Rend and Maim, the
sons of Blackhand: an alliance assumed to be broken when Rend pledged the Black
Tooth Grin clan to Nefarian's black dragonflight, most feared enemy of the
Dragonmaw.
During the Second War, Zuluhed received a
vision of a powerful artifact hidden within the Redridge Mountains, and
requested permission from Orgrim Doomhammer to locate it. Despite Zuluhed's
apparent loyalty to the sons of Blackhand — his chief rivals — Doomhammer
believed that the elder shaman acted in the Horde's best interests, and agreed
to allow Zuluhed and his clan to find the artifact in question. Following the
source of his visions, Zuluhed came into possession of what he called the Demon
Soul. He assured Doomhammer that he would be able to unlock its powers, but
this proved difficult even with the still-formidable powers of the elder
shaman. Zuluhed decided to give the artifact to his Second, Nekros
Skullcrusher, a former warlock, and with its power managed to capture the
dragonqueen, Alexstrasza, and subjugate her red dragonflight. Alexstrasza,
threatened with the death of her children, unwillingly gave the Horde an
endless supply of her deadly progeny.
At some point Zuluhed returned through the
Dark Portal to Draenor, and thus was not present when Alextrasza was freed and
the majority of his clan destroyed at Grim Batol. He eventually pledged what
remained of his clan to Illidan and enslaved Karynaku, matriarch of the
Netherwing dragonflight, to provide drakes for his new master.
Death
Golluck Rockfist, the Horde ambassador to
the Wyrmrest Accord, mentions the Dragonmaw's enslaving of Alexstrasza. He says
"Zuluhed and Nekros are dead, but the debt we owe to the reds is far from
repaid." This seems to indicate that he was killed by allies of the
Netherwing dragonflight, as requested by Karynaku in Zuluhed the Whacked.
Speculation
In Day of the Dragon, Nekros states that he
answers only to Zuluhed, who is "far away," with the bulk of the
Dragonmaw forces and later attempts to march to meet with his chieftan implying
that Zuluhed is still on Azeroth. This would be impossible, as the Dark Portal
had already been closed by this point and Zuluhed is later revealed to have
been in Outland. Nekros was likely simply mistaken, something quite likely as
he mentions more than once he had been unable to reach Zuluhed for orders.
It is also unclear how the shamanistic
spirits continued to answer him, despite having forsaken most of the orcs,
although this may explain why he appears to be a warlock when encountered at
Dragonmaw Fortress.
The
Burning Crusade
Zuluhed resides at Dragonmaw Fortress, east
of the Netherwing Fields in Shadowmoon Valley, and is involved in the
Netherwing quest chain.
Once you accept Zuluhed the Whacked from
Karynaku, Zuluhed the Whacked will appear by the entrance to the courtyard
you're in along with 8 archers along the top wall. You can reset the quest by
flying/jumping off the ledge. Zuluhed will despawn and you have to abandon the
quest and reaccept. The right side room has some "back rooms" in it;
running into those back rooms will also reset Zuluhed (but not his summoned
demons).
Easiest way to complete it is to get a
cookie cutter group of a tank, healer, and 3 dps classes. It's easier to fly up
to the courtyard, but you can also clear your way up the path. Clear out one of
the rooms either to the left or right of the entrance, then accept the quest
and have all of your group run into the room and start the fight. About 30
seconds into the fight, he starts to summon Arcubus Destroyer a level 68 elite
demon. His summon spell is has a half-second casting time so it's hard to
interrupt. After 15 seconds, the demon will spawn and you have to deal with it
as well.
If you clear both rooms, once he starts
casting the summon, run into the other room. Zuluhed will follow, but the
demon, being in an empty room, will not aggro and can be ignored. Just stay
away from the door to that room.
Unlike Zuluhed, the Arcubus Destroyer does
not automatically attack the party. It simply appears and sits there, not
moving. Its aggro rules are the same as an ordinary spawn -- it will not aggro
for the first few seconds of appearing, and then only if a player steps within
aggro radius. That is quite small for a level 80 player, so one solo strategy
is to stay in the same room but simply take a few steps back. If undisturbed,
the Arcubus Destroyer will sit passively even after Zuluhed falls, and will
despawn after three or four minutes.
The archers are a serious threat. Many will
start casting Aimed Shot, which has a long (over 3 second) cast but hits for
over 1000 on level 80 plate blues. This will quickly cut down a player or party
who dwells out in the open or stands too close to a door.
Zuluhed also casts Rain of Fire which hits
for about 1000 per tick. It has a very small radius.
If you are trying to solo this at 80, some
classes can find this very difficult. The main threats are the archers, the
demons and his Rain of Fire. To avoid the archers, clear a room in advance and
run inside it before the fight begins - Zuluhed will come to you. Immediately
step out of any Rain of Fire. Even with quick stepping, most of your damage
will be fire. When an Arcubus Destroyer spawns, quickly step back out of its
aggro radius. For a level 80, the rightmost room has enough space for at least
two demons to spawn and still be well out of their aggro radius. Don't end up
near the doorway. (Preferably have the demons spawn nearer the doorway so you
can run into the back room to reset the encounter if need be.) The instant
Zuluhed falls, loot the key.
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