Ironically, she doesn’t attack herself, so someone else probably becomes a target — that’s it. I’ve been thinking about it, and, if we were to buff the Naga tribe a bit, I’d probably start with that equipment and rework it, so that it gives a buff to the whole team (all friendly Nagas or something), giving them an incentive to fight for their queen.
Fire and Old Gods are some of the ‘top’ ‘comps’, as people call it.
Orcs used to be a premium, although not cheap, party in the old BRM, when Ragnaros (Executus) was the final boss, and there were not many options, especially on the protector side, against such heroic bosses as High Justice Grimstone (that one even got nerfed — he was much more powerful) or Geddon and big green minions. Nowadays they’re falling behind, but there are still a few bounties where Orcs are very good, and they can be fun to play. I’ve written about them, so let’s not go further into this here.
Back in the day even Kurtrus was a relatively good ‘budget’ merc. Nowadays, of course, with immensely powerful rare protectors available, Orcs in particular are not that exclusive in that regard.
You’ve got to be kidding… Frost is one of the most powerful parties in PvE, and so is new Nature with Nemsy, which I’ve also written about. Nagas, on the other hand… Well…
One more thing: in PvE, some parties are more or less good in different zones. Admittedly, if anywhere, Nagas are more playable in The Sunken City or Darkshore, where you face either a lot of nagas boosting you as well or fast Murlocs, which they counter. As for my general recommendations — somewhat subjective, of course — for various zones, mostly on Heroic, about which party is the ‘best’ or the most comfortable, from my point of view, against both mobs and bosses (some particular cases, where you need a specific party, notwithstanding, of course):
- Barrens, Felwood — these are you levelling zones, use whatever you’ve got.
- Winterspring — not as tough and infamous as it used to be anymore, you could go with Fire, for example (although it is really good only with Balinda), or Beasts (maybe I should write about these… or perhaps I have) are also particularly good there. If nothing else, even starter mercs can do a lot there nowadays — including, for instance, the infamous Heroic Snowclaw.
- BRM — Nature (yep, even the good old trio was quite enough; Holy is also good), but some bosses require special solutions.
- Alterac, Onyxia’s Lair — Team H, sometimes Orcs. Dragons are another viable alternative in Alterac.
- Darkshore, The Sunken City — Fire, Pirates, Frost is also not bad (as it is in most zones, really)
- Darkmoon and newer bounties in other zones — it depends… Frost, Nemsy Nature, Fire, etc.
Frost can do almost anything… Pirates or Old Goods are very powerful, too. Against certain bounties, I like Beasts a lot.
Of course, this list is not extensive.
Sometimes — well, quite often nowadays, actually — the cheapest mercs are the best in their batch.
Khadgar is something else, Maestra is probably more about PvP, as far as I know, and as for others mentioned, especially Geddon — they are only good because they fit in particularly strong parties.
There are excellent mercs such as Scabbs or Illidan (used to be Xuen also, but I’ve found a place for him in the new Beast party) which are excellent and powerful, but often just do not fit in and thus are staying in the village.
As for Zar’jira, as said, I think her place was in PvP. Against the old Shadow (although it has reemerged a bit recently… the one with Trigore and Kazakus as an opener), she was impressive, but otherwise…
Cookie used to be the most powerful merc in PvP (less so nowadays, though) and is always useful on the bench, if there’s space, in PvE for his nearly unique equipment… Xyrella is excellent, especially for a free merc, fitting in the ‘starter’ party (Cariel, Xyrella, Samuro) or a Holy-Human party (my most recent version is generally with Yrel) in PvE and having had her moment in PvP. Blink Fox is a unique story… And others, again, are as good as their ‘tribes’ or ‘parties’.
Well… Yogg would be quite… mediocre but for that synergy with others (notably, Y’Shaarj’s Rage Unbound), N’Zoth is not that good at all in PvE, unless you don’t want to play C’Thun against a red boss or something… Gul’Dan has never been that great, honestly, even though they buffed his Fel side: he’s got that Amulet of Souls for Orcs, which is not even that mandatory nowadays with many other good Orcs to choose from, and that’s about it. Jaina used to be the staple of the Frost party, and she’s still strong, although sometimes she’s falling behind. Anduin — yeah, see about “Holy-Human” above… And Long’xin isn’t that strong in PvE — not bad in a dragon party, but you might as well play Brightwing in his/her (hard to tell with these dragons) stead (unless you need both, for instance when I want to do Heroic Onyxia with dragons, which probably isn’t even the easiest approach to that bounty) or even roll with the budget trio (Yu’lon, Sinestra and Nefarian). PvP is another thing…
Well, you could use her for healing with Xalatath (or however it is spelled).
Once again, probably not for PvP.