Dire Maul tribute run

Summary

The Dire Maul Tribute Run is a way to improve the gear dropped from Dire Maul-Gordok Commons (DM-GC). When King Gordok is killed, the player is declared king and all the remaining bosses give tribute, which is often better than the gear they drop when you kill them individually. The goal is therefore to kill the king without killing any other bosses.

Important information

• Do not kill any of the Bosses: Guard Mol'dar, Guard Fengus, Guard Slip'kik, or Captain Kromcrush. When you kill the King, the Gordok Tribute chest will contain one item for each boss left alive, and each of these items is generally better than the loot dropped directly by the guards. You will also have the option of getting 2-hour buffs from Guard Fengus (Fengus's Ferocity: +200 Attack Power), Guard Mol'dar (Mol'dar's Moxie: Stamina +15%), and Guard Slip'kik (Slip'kik's Savvy: +3% crit with spells). Stomper Kreeg <The Drunk> will sell you an assortment of alcoholic beverages and limited quantities of Volatile Rum (a reagent used in Alchemy for crafting Goblin Rocket Fuel).
• Watch out for the Eyes of Kilrogg when inside the inner instance.
• The Courtyard door is opened with [Gordok Courtyard Key], which can be picked up during the run, from a chest on a pedestal near the door. It can also be opened with [Powerful Seaforium Charges] (made by Engineers), or [Truesilver Skeleton Keys] (made by Blacksmiths). The Courtyard door is not pickable. The Gordok Courtyard Key will disappear if you leave the instance alive (not if you die and ghost run back to the instance entrance).
• The Spirit Healer you spawn at when you die is at the entrance to Dire Maul-Capital Gardens. However, if you joined your group via Dungeon Finder, running into the DM-CG entrance while dead will actually bring you back to DM-GC.

Heading to the instance

All the mobs outside the instance can be avoided entirely by riding around them. Take care and stick together just in case one aggros. Head up the ramp into Eldreth Row, follow the corridor as it turns right and then left. At the T-junction, directly across from the entrance corridor is a massive closed arched doorway. Alcoves to the right and left provide a path around the door.

Beyond the large door are the Broken Commons, which contains the arena. The DM-GC entrance is all the way across on the other side. Ride around the perimeter of the commons until you reach the doors, avoiding ogres and dogs as you go. Up the ramp is the instance entrance.

The First and Second Courtyards

Around the corner inside the instance, there is one ogre on a short patrol path. From the entrance alcove, head to the left, pulling and killing ogre groups until you have reached the corner. You should now be near the second courtyard, with a slight ramp up to it and a large, raised rectangular platform in the middle.

When you head into the new area, be careful of more patrols; take your time, pulling and killing. The center platform has access ramps on all four edges. Guard Fengus patrols the western half of the courtyard, using the south and west ramps, stopping just short of the north ramp. It helps to put a raid marker on him, which can sometimes be seen through terrain objects and let you know he's coming. Be wary of him; if you aggro him, leave one durable member (who will die) to keep Fengus occupied while everyone else gets out, at which point he will reset rather than go to the instance entrance to greet you when you come back in. If you do kill him, it's still early enough in the run to reset the instance and try again.

You need to get across the room to the door on the west side: the shortest path is to follow the south wall, but you'll have to deal with Fengus' patrol pattern. The simplest path is usually through the center of the platform, since you'll need the Gordok Courtyard Key that's there, anyway. A Rogue or Druid can stealth up to the key chest (though opening the chest breaks stealth), keeping an eye out for Fengus while the rest of the party waits on the cleared northwest corner of the platform.

Halls of Destruction

Head in and clear the mobs, including some bugs at the bottom of the ramp which need a little AoE lesson. Watch for and kill immediately any wandering Eyes, which summon two elite Netherwalkers that drop no loot. Past the bugs, you'll be in a room where you can see a Broken Ice Trap. Hang back for a minute and watch Guard Slip'Kik, who patrols this area. His patrol pattern takes him right over the Broken Ice Trap. Pull the mobs by the fire back away from Slip'kik when his patrol pattern allows for it and dispose of them.

When Guard Slip'Kik walks away, quickly fix the trap by right-clicking it and accepting the dialog that opens. Then move back and wait for the idiot of an ogre to activate the trap. He will now be frozen for the remainder of the instance.

It is possible to get past Guard Slip'kik without using the trap at all, but you will then be unable to get the quest for the Gordok Ogre Suit, and thus not be able to talk to Kromcrush later on. There is also evidence that avoiding Slip'kik and Kromcrush rather than using the provided mechanisms to deal with them results in receiving no tribute from them.

The goblin by the fire is Knot Thimblejack; he will give you the quest for the Gordok Ogre Suit, and complete it once you have the Ogre Tannin, which is on the platform above you.

Fight your way through the rest of this room and up the ramp to the next level. You will need to clear this level of all mobs, which is only a couple of groups. Be careful: when you loot the Ogre Tannin (BoP), Gordok Bushwacker will come down the ramp and attack.

Whoever has the Ogre Tannin can head back to Knot and get the Gordok Ogre Suit. Sadly, only one person per run can complete the quest. Once you have it, head up back up the ramp; most parties can clear the two mobs by the door and enter without aggroing the group of mobs to the right.

Gordok's Seat

Clear the mobs in front of Captain Kromcrush. At this point, use the Gordok Ogre Suit and have a little chat with him. He will turn red and run back the way you came. Do not worry; you cannot aggro him after he has turned red from the ogre suit. Also do not waste the opportunity to see an ogre dance - whoever has the suit on should try a few emotes as they can be quite funny!

Clear your way up to the dais where King Gordok is. Be careful of the ogres here, however, as they cast Fear, usually on the player most likely to run into the other groups of mobs here. The King does not call for help and does not generally run off the dais or knock people off, so it's only necessary to clear enough of the ogres to get there safely.

Boss Fight

Keeping the King's advisor (Cho'Rush the Observer) alive is a judgment call. It will improve the tribute loot; however, Cho'Rush does drop very nice loot, some of which is better than what can be found in the tribute chest. Since he is a caster (he heals the King), you will need to tank the King near him to maintain aggro on both. This requires some maneuvering, as the King has a knock-back attack. The King will also occasionally target and rush a player who does not hold aggro, but he then returns to the player who does.

When the King is dead, loot him (and Cho'Rush if you killed him). In a moment, Mizzle the Crafty will run up onto the dais. Have everyone talk to him to get the buff. Talk to him again, and he summons the Gordok Tribute.

Aftermath

You can now return to Kromcrush, who is in the second courtyard, and he will give you a quest to turn in to Mol'dar for some nice blues. Make sure everyone has the buff (or they will be attacked); and make sure no one ports out and back in to get to the beginning of the dungeon, for they will lose the buff if they do.

Patch Changes

Patch 4.1.0 (26-Apr-2011): Trap Repair items and Ogre Suit ingredients removed. Ogre Suit now only requires Ogre Tannin, which is obtained during the run.

• The outer door no longer requires [Crescent Key] from Dire Maul East.
• Gordok Inner Door Key removed.
• Gordok Courtyard Key no longer remains in inventory when leaving the instance alive.
• Gordok Shackle Key removed.
• Gordok Ogre Suit patterns for Tailoring and Leatherworking removed.

Patch 2.1.0 (22-May-2007): The three Guards no longer buff players above level 63.