We took the general down with a group of 2 SKs, a shaman, a beastlord plus two healer mercs (80-90). It took us long enough to use HT twice on him, and to use the swarm pets three times (about 20 minutes). He hit us up to 6k, but usually much less, and he has some effect which made the pet stop attacking him occasionally. His aggro range is about double that of the other mobs.
He dropped the fabled staff three times, the normal version, plus a rune for the level 65 PoP spells.