High Priest Thekal Guide: Strategy, Abilities, Loot
High Priest Thekal is the penultimate Priest that you will kill before Hakkar, and can be found in his temple to north-east inside Zul'Gurub. He is the Tiger Aspect, using his tigers and his own tiger abilities to fight.
High Priest Thekal Summary by Role
Tanks
- You will want 3 tanks.
- Have one tank hold each enemy, with anyone holding the tigers on pull (they will die very quickly).
- There are a few threat drops during the fight from Zath and Thekal, so be ready to help the other tanks if needed.
Healers
- Look to dispel
Silence.
- The boss enrages at 20%, so watch the tanks closely.
DPS
- Kill the tigers on pull.
- All three trolls need to die at roughly the same time, so split the raid's damage on them.
- Have at least a few melee assigned to Lor'Khan for interrupts.
General Tips for High Priest Thekal
- The raid can position near a wall during Phase 2 for the knockback that Thekal does.
- Make sure you are killing all three trolls at the same time in Phase 1.
- Whoever is tanking Zath will sometimes get controlled and lose threat, so other tanks need to be ready to pick Zath up.
Important Abilities

Great Heal from Lor'Khan needs to be interrupted.
Silence needs to be dispelled from raiders.
Force Punch will knock you back and drop the boss's threat in Phase 2.
Strategy for High Priest Thekal
Phase 1
Start the fight by assigning one tank each to Lor'Khan, Zath, and High Priest Thekal. They should pull their respective targets with the main tank also pulling the tigers to be killed quickly. Once the tigers are dead, start killing all three trolls. They all need to die at the same time or they will resurrect. Generally, the easiest way to do this is to get each boss to 10% health before bringing them together to AoE them down at once.
During Phase 1, healers need to watch to dispel Silence when Thekal
uses it on raid members. At least a couple of melee need to be assigned to interrupt
Great Heal whenever Lor'Khan casts it. You should assign at least
one DPS Warrior to attack Zath to taunt him whenever his tank gets incapacitated
with
Blind or
Gouge, as this will cause him to drop threat. You can
just kite him during this time, but it is worth noting that all the bosses here can
be
Disarmed, so this is a good option as well.
Phase 2
Phase 2 begins when all three of them die. Once they all die, High Priest Thekal
will resurrect as a tiger, and the remainder of the fight turns into a simple burn. The
only ability to watch out for is the Force Punch, which will knock the whole raid
backwards and drop Thekal's threat on his current target. You can position against a wall to
mitigate this, and your tanks should be ready to taunt. It is also worth noting he enrages
at 20% health, so it could get dangerous at the end.
Loot from High Priest Thekal
Item | Slot |
---|---|
![]() |
Legs |
![]() |
Legs |
![]() |
Legs |
![]() |
Ring |
![]() |
1-Hand Sword |
![]() |
Feet |
![]() |
Fist Weapon |
Shared High Priest Loot
The High Priests and Priestesses of Zul'Gurub have a shared set of items in their loot table that can be dropped in addition to their specific loot tables.
Item | Slot |
---|---|
![]() |
Waist |
![]() |
Head |
![]() |
Back |
![]() |
Hands |
![]() |
Back |
![]() |
Hands |
![]() |
Head |
![]() |
1-Hand Mace |
![]() |
Ring |
![]() |
Ring |
Changelog
- 18 Nov. 2024: Page updated for Classic Anniversary.
- 06 Aug. 2024: Guide reviewed and updated.
- 13 Apr. 2020: Guide added.

This guide has been written by Abide, TBC veteran for nearly a decade. Abide is a Warrior tank and multi-class expert currently playing on Faerlina as Horde. You can find him in the the Icy Veins Discord. You can also see him live on Twitch.
- New Cataclysm Classic Valor Cap Set to Week 2 Due to Bug
- Season of Discovery Naxxramas Soft Reset Issue Fix and Warning
- Cataclysm Classic: Hour of Twilight Is Now Live!
- Currency Conversions, New Caps and Ways of Acquiring Them Coming With Hour of Twilight Patch
- Season of Discovery Hotfixes: February 14th
- Auction House Update and Countdown Phase in Cataclysm Classic: February 17th
- Classic Hardcore, Era, and Anniversary Realm Black Lotus Respawn Rate Increase
- Massive Nerf Coming to Firelands With Release of Hour of Twilight