Zul’Aman Bear Mount Clear

So perhaps you’ve been to your factions capital city recently to see some bad ass riding a gigantic bear. Well, this isn’t a hack or some stupid code from the card game, it’s a drop from the easily accessible Zul’Aman.

Unlike other special mounts which have very low drop rate, the bear mount is a 100% drop rate if you complete the first 4 bosses of Zul’Aman within the allocated time limit.

Clearing Zul’Aman really is no problem, but to hit the timers necessary for the event you’ll have to bring a very focused and skilled group of players.

Note: This is a walk through for speed clearing the instance to attain the bear mount, not a guide on individual boss strategies. It’s intended for groups experienced with Zul’Aman.

Setting up the group
Requirements: 2 tanks, 2 healers, 8 damage dealers

Obviously a lot of various 10 man groups fit into these requirements, but above all you’ll want to maintain a balance amongst classes and specs.

Strongly Suggested:
-Paladin (protection or healer) for blessings.
-Shadow priest for mana regeneration.
-Warlock for health stones, crowd control, and bonus damage to the shadow priest.
-Warrior tank, they just have the most “oh shit” cards and make the best tanks in my opinion (shield wall, last stand, etc.).
-Priest main healer, once again just my opinion, but I think a well geared priest with a shadow priest in the group is unmatched as a main healer.

Beyond that, I think you are pretty open to variation, my suggested classes aren’t the end all be all. Do what works for you. Here’s the 10-man setup my group has been running.

Tanks: Warrior / Druid
Healers: Priest / Paladin
Damage: Elemental Shaman / Shadow Priest x 2 / Enhancement Shaman / Warlock / Rogue

Basically our group is centered around the synergy of the enhancement / elemental shaman with the insanity of double shadow priests in a group. As the elemental shaman in the group my damage is simply insane.

Additionally, the shadow priests synergy with the warlock is also going to be solid.

Coming Prepared
For your first few clears (possibly all) you are definitely going to want to have every advantage in your favor. So bringing food buffs, flasks, and weapon buff is an absolute necessity.

With a flask, food buff, and weapon buff my elemental shaman gains something like 145 damage. That’s just insane, and with as cheap as flasks and other pots have become there’s really no reason why you wouldn’t want to.

Also, coming as a PvE spec should be a given. Once again, you just want to make sure you can put all the odds in your favor for success. Personally, if gold equates victory, then spending it is well worth the costs.

Every Second Counts
Every second is of absolutely crucial, so it’s a often a necessity to use group to speed things up. Basically the second you kill the boss everyone should grab their badge and head to the next boss.

Additionally, don’t bother dealing with the bonus timed loot until after you’ve made it through the event. All the NPCs will wait around and you can talk to them and get the timed chests afterwards.

Part 1: Clearing to Akil’zon (Eagle Boss): Start time 20 minutes

1. Start the instance by banging the gong, get to the base of the of gauntlet ramp and as a raid move in together
2. If you have a paladin tank here it’s incredibly easy to handle these mobs. Simply have your entire raid sit on concentration, this way if someone pulls a bird or another mob it will go back to the paladin easier.
3. If you don’t have a paladin, just work your way up the ramp quickly using a main assist to kill single mobs, and area of effect spells to drop the birds
4. Pretty easy fight here, to further simplify it you can use a boss timer to determine when the tornadoes are coming. Right before they come the entire raid can colapse on the boss so no unnecessary damage is taken.
5. Beyond that just DPS like crazy. After you kill the boss 10 minutes is added to your overall timer

Phase 2: Clearing to Nalorakk (Bear boss)

1. There is a patrol between eagle and bear boss, be aware of this as you move towards the bear boss
2. All the packs are pretty standard, once again, use a main assist to focus mobs down
3. After you kill the boss you’ll have another 15 minutes added to your timer. Note, this is the last addition to your time

Phase 3: Clearing to Jan’alai (Dragonhawk boss)

1. This is probably the most difficult area of the entire run, or at least the area where the most things can go wrong
2. As you pull packs you must make sure you kill the scouts instantly, because they beat drums which summon additional units. Even if you survive these additional units you’ve already wasted valuable time, so do not let them escape
3. Your kill order here will be scouts –> flamecasters –> single mobs –> area of effect packs during this section of the instance
4. Be aware of patrols and wandering scouts, these can sneak up on you if you are no careful
5. Kill the boss, and jump off the side of the platform in preparation for the final phase

Phase 4: Halazzi (Lynx boss)

1. The packs during this phase are pretty standard, just make sure your warlocks don’t seed while near the coast or it might hit the crocs, pulling unnecessary mobs
2. Dispelling the mind controls during this area is crucial, every second counts and you don’t want any chance of someone dying. This wastes valuable mana and time
3. You’ll want to target the beast tamers first since they mind control, beyond that just target any single mobs. Also, don’t get too crazy with your AoE here. Even though the tigers come in large packs they do hit hard and can easily take out a caster very quickly
4. Don’t forget, the time remaining here is all you’ve got left to work with. The boss can be killed in as few as 3.5 minutes if your damage is insane, but most groups will probably average around 5 minutes a kill
5. If you kill the boss within the allocated time an NPC will spawn and open a series of jars around the room, most contain gold, but the last will contain the bear mount 100% of the time! Congratulations!