As Wrath of the Lich King comes to a close, and with it the inevitable demise of the old world, I think it’s time to have a look back at some of the highs and lows of Azeroth and Outlands. I’ve been playing World of Warcraft for almost 6 years now, and I’ve seen nearly every part of the world, yet every now and then something catches my attention that I’d never noticed before and makes me go “WOW”. (Pics to follow seeing as I wrote this at work and my screenies are at home :p)
Let’s start off with my favourite bosses then:
#1: Taragaman the Hungerer – When I was asked to join a group for my first ever instance, Ragefire Chasm, I remember getting a clear understanding for the first time as to what my actual role was. For the first time I equipped a shield and tried my hand at taking damage, which stuck ever since. Rounding the corner and seeing Taragaman however was another thing altogether. I was actually terrified. This guy was huge! I’d been tanking for 10 minutes! AMGIMGUNNADIE! We wiped once and then killed him, and the entire group let out a sigh of relief. Remember that this was way before boostruns, heirloom gear, wiki guides, etc. Every one of us were new to the whole thing. Seeing our first boss was awe-inspiring.
#2: Maulgar and Gruul – Yes, these two go together like cheese and … well, more cheese. After the fun times to be had in Karazhan, these two puppies added a whole new level of ouch. Maulgar (at the beginning) was a symphony of tactics, coordination and sheer panic until the adds started falling. Once you got past him however, you came across Gruul.. and then wondered how the hell he got in there in the first place. Oh and why he had a skull-motif crotch.
#3: Blackheart the Inciter – Just for “Time for fun!” and the way he could make even a well-geared group cry if he got lucky.
#4: Leotheras the Blind – This guy caused us many heartaches. He took us the most wipes in SSC (which in itself could be nominated for one of my favourite raid instances of all time) and also confused the hell out of the GM’s as he bugged us over and over again on like 2%, something unseen anywhere else. He was eventually killed, even though my dps on my inner demon sucked badly back then (before warriors got a dps boost), and was considered the best fight by all in my guild. We still talk about him on a regular basis.
#5: Rend Blackhand – Ah, the fun we had here. UBRS was the first real “10-man raid” and was to be treated with respect. People went in there with the hope of maybe doing half of it decently, and that was after a long struggle to get a group together for it. Rend’s fight in particular was fun, really testing me as a tank back then. Ok, Drakki used to kill us more, but Rend is still more memorable for me. Oh, and +1 for “Foolsss… Kill the one in the dress!” It’s also where I saw the first epic drop, the Dwarven Hand Cannon. Needless to say, much fighting ensued as I also saw my first ninja :p
And that’s all for today. Next up will probably be some of my worst bosses, or most memorable finds/spots in Azeroth. Feel free to add yours, every boss or instance holds at least one memory for me, so seeing others’ input is always nice.