WOW patch 4.1 revamps Zul'Gurub/Aman

By Robert Purchese Published 24 February, 2011

Back as five-man, level 85 affairs.

Old World of Warcraft raids Zul'Gurub and Zul'Aman are being reincarnated as level 85 heroic five-man dungeons.

They'll return in new patch 4.1, according to leaked notes on a Taiwanese website (correlated by MMO Champion).

Epic items of level 353 can be found in the new-style dungeons, and you'll need a minimum item level of 346 to enter them.

Zul'Aman's return heralds the reinstatement of the rare Raptor, Tiger and Warbear mounts.

Zul'Gurub was an evil troll-themed 20-man raid added to World of Warcraft in 2005 (patch 1.7), back when the top character level was 60. I remember fighting Hakkar the Soulflayer as he flapped menacingly up on that platform.

Zul'Aman was a 10-man raid for Burning Crusade's level 70s, added in patch 2.3.

Patch 4.1 will also apparently introduce a new Rallying Cry ability for warriors at level 83.

More to come, apparently.

World of Warcraft update 2.3 - Zul'Aman!

Picture of Robert.

About Robert Purchese

Bertie is Eurogamer's Senior Staff Writer. When he's not hunting down news stories he's often found playing with his kids or gabbling about fantasy games and strange online worlds. @Clert on Twitter.

Read more articles from Robert by visiting the Robert Purchese archive page.

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Comments (21) Latest comment 1 year ago

Comments for this article are now closed, but please feel free to continue chatting on the forum!

  • darkmorgado #1 1 year ago

    Took you long enough to pick up on!

  • Kami #2 1 year ago

    Although I am delighted... I can't say I'm in the least bit surprised...

  • Dizzy #3 1 year ago

    Nice... some of my favourite instances. I wonder how Harrison Jones will fit into this? :)

    Epix in heroics? Oh dear :)
    Edited by Dizzy at 24/02/11 @ 12:34

  • SAMagic #4 1 year ago

    Ah, I have fond memories of "Tony the Tiger", the Blood Lord boss with his pet raptor (and his random killing of any party member, followed by you resurrecting via spirits) and Hakkar himself - a boss where you have to get a degen buff so Hakkar's poison attack is reflected back onto him, so it required the whole raid to pay attention...

  • Armoured_Gideon #5 1 year ago

    Man, as a non-WOW player, reading that article sounded like Charlie Brown's teacher talking in my head.

    Not hating, just in awe.

  • gingerjumper #6 1 year ago

    Awesome news!

  • Kami #7 1 year ago

    "Epix in heroics? Oh dear :)"

    Well, to be quite blunt here, their argument for not having epics in heroics (which we had going as far back as TBC!) was utter tripe on a stick covered in cow poo. When raid bosses proved pushovers compared to some heroics bosses, it seemed cheap to tell the playerbase it was to stop people getting "free epics". No, that's why raid bosses were so goddamned easy wasn't it?

    I'm not saying heroics should be full of epics - but the carrot should be dangled on the last boss in a heroic at the very least...

  • SClaw #8 1 year ago

    WahWah Wah WaahWah Wah.

  • MaxiSleep #9 1 year ago

    Regurgitated fair once again.

    Have to say that the new expansion is a crushing disapointment for 80+.

  • Scopeh #10 1 year ago

    Oh look more recycled content. Whats next?

  • Aretak #11 1 year ago

    What's next? Heroic Stormwind Stockade where Hogger can one-shot the tank with basic melee.

  • dingo75 #12 1 year ago

    ^^
    Ruins of Ahn'Quai Heroic
    LBRS / UBRS Heroic
    Scholomance Heroic
    Stratholme Heroic (Living Side and next patch Baron Side)
    Karazhan Heroic

    And finally the next raid instance:
    Blackwing Lair Heroic OMG (more dragons to kill)

  • darkmorgado #13 1 year ago

    FFS stop whinging, it's free content.

    Not only that, but they are likely to be extensively redesigned to cater for 5-man groups instead of raids. It's not as simple as just putting a few extra 0's on the end of the mob stats.

    If you think you can do a better job, why don't you go and make your own MMO?

  • Goodfella #14 1 year ago

    Lol, got to agree there, darkmorgado.

    Free is good, nice to get some 'free' epics too.

  • Lord_BeeJee #15 1 year ago

    @darkmorgado
    since they are paying a sub I don't think the term "free content" applies here

  • Khanivor #16 1 year ago

    Ah, those were the days Clert, those were the days :)

  • cadaveri0 #17 1 year ago

    I'm sorry, free? What do you mean by "free"?

    Aren't you paying a monthly fee to be able to play?

  • dingo75 #18 1 year ago

    If you think you can do a better job, why don't you go and make your own MMO?

    The fact is that Cataclysm is already "done" yet Blizzard seems to plan dragging its corpse around until 2012 as they haven't planned an expansion for coming winter (based on their comments that maybe one game will make it for 2011 (Diablo III) and 2 will come in 2012 (Starcraft's expansion and another WoW expansion I bet)).
    So all they do right now is recycling old content to try to make it into 2012 with as much subscribers as possible.

    These mounts are something special as it was clear that none would be able to get them after the instances were removed.
    By slapping them into 5 man Heroics much more people will run around with them in time as they have 7 chances a week (once per day) to get it instead of once per week like before.
    Also it ensures that people outgearing the Heroics will run them for a chance getting the mounts.
    Edited by dingo75 at 24/02/11 @ 14:36

  • vaughan42 #19 1 year ago

    lol too little too late. old game is old, bring on the next generation. i get far more enjoyment out of reading about Guild Wars 2 than i do from "playing" WoW.

  • drhickman1983 #20 1 year ago

    Kinda mixed views. The recycling of old instances does dissapoint slightly, seeing how two of the current heroics are already recycled.

    On the other hand, it does mean people will actually see the content, as opposed to the two raids being totally abandoned (I don't consider a few dedicated mount farmers (before ZG was removed) or achievment fans to be the majority here. Most people have no reason to set foot in the old raids again, not even whilst leveling).

    Also, after playing the quest line in STV where we accidently resurect Mandokir, I'm hopeful that this instance will finish the story. Possibly even fight a ressurrected Haakar?!

    It really all comes down to how the encounters play out. If the boss fights are fun and have some challenge, and hopefully offer new mechanics, then the recycling of the backdrop wont be a big issue.

    As for the gear level of drops increasing, it's bound to happen, else nobody would have a reason to run them. If it makes all the "welfare" haters happy, how about recolouring item 359 and below as blues?

    EDIT:

    "These mounts are something special as it was clear that none would be able to get them after the instances were removed.
    By slapping them into 5 man Heroics much more people will run around with them in time as they have 7 chances a week (once per day) to get it instead of once per week like before.
    Also it ensures that people outgearing the Heroics will run them for a chance getting the mounts. "

    Not necessarily. Even now the mounts that drop from Skadi in UP and Kael in MGT are still quite rare. Not to mention Barons mount. I don't expect these mounts to become as prolific as the Bronze Drake. And the skins at least will be different, it seems to be a Panther now, not a Tiger, so you special snowflakes can still pretend people are in awe of your mounts.
    Edited by drhickman1983 at 24/02/11 @ 15:59

  • gmjapan #21 1 year ago

    How does rehashed content qualify as a 4.1 content update? Shouldnt the rehashed 'stuff' just be a 4.0.7 or 4.0.8 or similar?

    Surely the 4.1 content patch would be Firelands or wotever actual new content is next.