Tomb of Sargeras: A Peep into Deceiver’s Fall

I will start right at the point: Kil’Jaeden must be nerfed. Plain and simple.

– WHAT?
– Yeah, you heard me right, Kil’Jaeden. You must be nerfed.

Micromantica was an obvious pioneer in the fourth wing yesterday. We had the most experienced tanks there. One of them naturally came as a raid leader. He patiently explained tactics and stayed with us until the end.

I switched from Frost to Fire, as I deliver more damage through it, both artifacts being at 52 traits. My ilvl was 897, which is more than enough for LFR. The other guys were well geared too.

And we just couldn’t beat it.

On our first try we had an obvious quick wipe as people learned how to manage the fiery void zones. On our second try we managed to pass up to the shadow phase, still struggling with void zones, but much better.

On our third and fourth try we’ve driven him to the last phase. Everyone was performing perfectly! And he hit enrage both times.

This is ridiculous – as you are geared via LFR, you should be able to kill KJ in this raid’s gear. But we needed 25% flat buff to kill him on our 5th try. Mark you, EVERYONE survived when we killed him. EVERYONE was just perfect in performing their role at all phases. And yet we wouldn’t kill him if not for 25% buff.

The mechanics are perfect, they are multiple, they are interesting, and it’s quite a challenge for a raid group who needs patience, quick reaction and work in unison, because the other’s fail may cause a wipe. Everything’s cool for the “last” boss – if not for this ridiculous overtuning.

So yes, it’s gonna be a single kill for every toon.

Different Things

Have you thought I’ll be writing this post about Kil’Jaeden?… No!

Well, I’ll be writing about Kil’Jaeden tomorrow because I’m eager to step in the fourth wing tonight.

I’m actually having many important things these days going on in my life, and if you want a small insight, you’re welcome to read on, otherwise the post is not about WoW, but rather IRL stuff which occupies my mind.

First thing first, me and my wife, both being 34 years old, 7 years together and 2 of these years married, have finally made a decision to have our own (not rented) place. We’re having all our minds busy with choosing a flat and acquiring a bank loan throughout all the past month, and now it seems to finally come to an end. If the bank would affirm our chosen place, we’re likely to move in the new place within a pair of months. It’s kinda a big thing, and an important one – the other day all my thoughts are occupied with all the real estate business. I really hate all these law and financial things, I really do :) But it appeared to be a new and interesting experience. Yet I’m looking forward when the place would be ours, and I would forget about it.

Second, my band – which is a huge part of my life – has released a new single today. That would be our 9th release so far.

For those who missed the “About” section of my blog: the band is not what I do for a living, it’s a hobby, but the band is what I am. I’m one of the main composers, I come up with concepts and ideas, I write all the lyrics, and it’s basically a big part of my life, filled with studios, rehearsals, composing, gigs and festivals.

The concept in whole tells scary stories (pretty dark, even if humor is involved) about a nordic village populated by magical creatures (witches, dwarfs, elemental imps, swamp monsters etc.) who play very dirty tricks and destroy human villages and cities. Every album is conceptual and tells about new type of creatures.

On the next album it’s gonna be chthonic monstrous beasts, which sleep for centuries, and now a matriarch of the village, Mother of All Witches, climbs a mountain to perform a shamanic ritual and awake them. That’s the single’s story, and the music is epic folk metal, to my perception it happened to be quite beautiful and atmospheric this time.

So, you’re welcome to check the single out if you want an insight of what I do apart from WoW :) Stream listening and free downloading is available at the link:

https://svartby.bandcamp.com/album/under-frusna-stj-rnor-2017

Trivia: Closing In

Let’s start the post with an amusing shot :) The secret is that tree textures weren’t there yet, so I quickly took a picture of what Val’sharah would be like as a meadow land. It looks like a goblin shredder went through the zone. The terrain is not very pleasant – even if Val’sharah is the most flat surface among Broken Isles zones, it’s still hills and stuff. In the next expansion I definitely want something like Tanaris or Valley of Four Winds.

So, on to my trivia.

Weapon Progress

The good thing is I’m almost there :) I think this would be the end of the AP grind in Legion for me, and I will stop tracking the weapon progress whatever system Blizzard adds in 7.3. Technically no grind was done here. Just natural income of AP via missions, raid and world quest drops on the way.

Set Models

Not to crawl through dungeon journals, I did a list of bosses my toons need to kill for the remaining set pieces. Separate pieces are marked with comma, shared model is marked by slash.

Amusing discoveries:

Kil’Jaeden drops set pieces only for three toons, and it’s shared models – for example, Schlitzchen may get the same model from Har’jatan. So I don’t even have to grind him. Obviously there will be at least a single quest kill for every toon, and all of the toons must receive Argus above their heads. But I’m glad I won’t be grinding him unless I want to. I’m anticipating the fight on Wednesday – I’m eager to cope with the many mechanics, but it’s the first time when encounter itself excites me more than its lore.

Four pieces – one for Death Knight, one for Mage and two for Monk – come from trash only. I wasn’t that lucky so far with BoE drops – I think it was just a priest belt yet. So these toons are bound to grind the whole raid – save the last bosses in the wings – for remains. It’s kinda ridiculous, and cruel, as you can’t even drop coins.

All in all the runs for models this week were quite time forgiving, as I was already focusing on the specific bosses, so I skipped a large lot. And the raid runs will be shorter and shorter as the time passes. My ultimate goal is coming to 7.3. with as little obligatory raid runs as possible so I could focus on the new content.

Class Mount Tints and Perks

As I’ve already got Concordance on most of my artifact weapons, I’ve decided to scrap the missing tint options or other bonuses. Here’s the list:

Warrior, Shaman, Priest – get no bonuses and they have tints for every spec from the very beginning.

Druids have neither bonuses nor tints.

Demon Hunter gets a Pepe toy which looks like a demon hunter on your head. Obtained from the mission table room nearby quartermasters. No tints for their felbat.

Monk gets a cub of their class mount – essentially a pet. Obtained from a Pandaren lady inside a hut, left and down the slope from the mission table. No tints for Ban Lu mount – because it’s more of a person and it’s unique.

Death Knight has all tints since the beginning, but they get three dragon pets, recolored due to specs. Need Concordance on the weapon for the matching pet (ice blue, plague green and blood red). Sold by a ghoul in the “ice” section of the lower Order Hall room.

Hunter gets two more mount tints for Survival and Marksmanship upon reaching Concordance, and once you’re at 52 with Beast Mastery, you can obtain a tome which lets your to tame hippogryphs, gryphons and birdies alike. Sold by Stable Master in Order Hall.

Mage gets all mount tints at once, but they can buy a toy which lets a summoned pet fly by you on a disc. When you enter your order hall, rise one flight of stairs straight ahead and there will be this troll vendor.

Rogues get three more tints for every weapon – making it four class mounts in whole. Obtained from a Gnome vendor in the meeting room – he lurks behind the table where the class leaders sit. Need Concordance for every tint.

Paladins also get three more tints for every weapon’s Concordance. Obtained from a Dwarf vendor which stands to the left by the mission table.

Finally, Warlocks have two more tints. The first tint is purchased from Calydus in your order hall, and for the second one (see post picture) you need to kill and loot Lord Hel’nurath – a nathrezim rare – in Broken Shore. Just check for the green skull on the map near your major Broken Shore camp. No Concordance required on weapons to get them.

Every next tint, pet or toy will cost you 1000 order hall resources.

I’ve got almost every bonus and tint yesterday, stalled only by lacking Concordance at few weapons, so it’s easy.

Trivia: Many Little Things

This week is dedicated to world quests, and, of course, raid runs.

Loot drop is just excellent, I got many slots covered. I already do skip some bosses on several toons, so I’ll come to Kil’Jaeden farming very specific pieces.

By now only Mindebad out of twelve didn’t run the three wings, which I’m doing tonight.

People managed to figure out the Avatar encounter, so it’s just a pleasure to see how tanks valiantly drive it to the puddle, which leaves us 6 cycles of platform crushing. Perfectly enough to kill it.

The raid runs enter the worst phase now: people are becoming geared, but instead of making the fights easier, they become harder. People start to skip certain mechanics, even major ones. Combined with failures from a certain number of inexperienced players incl. tanks, it leads to wipes even at bosses like Demonic Inquisition or Har’jatan.

The amount of beggars grew significantly. People whisper me for my loot, and tend to burst into insults if I don’t give it. I never give it to whispering guys – only after a fair roll in raid chat.

Myself won a roll for rogue shoulders which came from Avatar. After I was already out, the other rogue whispered me an insult like “why the fuck am I rolling if I have a legendary in the slot”. If he were polite, he would deserve an explanation that it was the only slot I missed for mogging achievement which I got. Because I never ever loot the things that I don’t need, and I always share my own loot if mogging slot is fine, and it’s not an improvement. Since he was an asshole, I whispered him back that I don’t talk to people when they start off in this manner, and wished him a good day. Got another insult, reported him, and that’s the end of the story.

It’s a miserable streak for rep mounts – nothing new to report. Still, I’m doing world quests like crazy because I need this 5k resources bonus on my toons.

I’m starting to hit 52 on every weapon. Melaris was obviously the first, as she got only 2 demon hunter artifacts, then comes Micromantica – all three mage weapons are now fine with her. The others are breathing in their necks, with their third weapons at 48-51. I’m doing very good.

I thought that I would just drop the table and stop worrying about them weapon traits after I reach this goal. All the AP tokens that come naturally would be spent on any current weapon without troubles and calculating. I see the end of the grind now, and my mission preferences would be pet tokens, rep tokens and gold. Can’t wait.

So, this was my week :)

That Save Though!..

It’s a busy week. The next wing is opened, so my toons have more to accomplish per cooldown. Besides, this week’s bonus is world quests, so I have my hands full – I never miss it.

The first and the second wings in LFR have become much easier. People learnt the boss strategies, and geared up a bit. The first wing could be definitely cleared with one tank now.

The third wing – Maiden and Avatar – is yet being discovered. Many people die at orbs at Maiden, and DPS is barely enough to kill Avatar. 5% wipe buffs help, but still I expect more troubles on weekend for my alts, as most experienced and geared players tend to clear the cooldowns on the first day.

Today’s Avatar encounter was awesome – as yours truly saved the day.

I went healing the wing with Aurinko the Holy Priest. We wiped the first time at 700k, so I presumed we would need at least two more wipes to stack buffs. Yet we killed him on our second try!

People were doing much better at the first phase on our second try, so just one died by the time we dropped through the floor. Avatar managed to smash every floor down below in four takes (a decent job from tanks). When he demolished the last piece, tanks were down, all healers down, all dps down… and only one pally survived with 10% health. And the Avatar was at some real minimum, just a hair from dying.

I confess when Avatar broke the last platform I already put away my hands from the keyboard, seeing everyone dead and presuming a wipe was already here. Then I saw that he didn’t kill this last pally in one or two blows – that we may fight yet, granted that low-low boss’ health! And me – as a Holy Priest – have this awesome perk to heal even after my death – as a spirit! I would die in 20 seconds, but I still can be able to heal full throttle during this time.

I had my most powerful saves off cooldown, so I quickly put my fingers back on the keys. I confess that even so we could lose, because I casted a weak HoT first – my core spell, so it came out naturally. This second could be critical, but happily the worst didn’t happen. After yelling at myself “WTF are you doing?” I quickly cast a save, and I restore the pally’s full health in one click. And Avatar of Sargeras dies two seconds later!

The worst part was that no one noticed my contribution :) Well, technically I were dead. Yet we won :)

Aurinko got two tier pieces from the full raid run – a decent drop.

Speaking of drops, I had half an hour yesterday between my return from my band’s rehearsal and going to sleep, and Mindebad claimed the cape from Trilliax. This be the last Nighthold piece that I lacked. Now I have collected all sets from The Nighthold for all classes! No more Nighthold for me :) I can concentrate on current raid in full.

Tomb of Sargeras Maps: Legion Raid and Warcraft 3 The Frozen Throne Parallels

This exploration/lore project is presented by Micromantica, the honored member of Ironforge Explorer League.

Maiev pursued Illidan into the Sargeras’s Tomb hoping to stop Illidan before he claimed the terrible demon’s powers. Inside, Maiev and her forces battled Illidan’s Naga as well as the demonic guardians of the tomb. Maiev was confronted by the Naga sea witch Lady Vashj, who told Maiev of the true nature of the Naga.

The Watchers also discovered runes written by Gul’dan himself as he searched for the Eye of Sargeras, as well as his terrible death. Eventually they discovered the central chamber of the tomb, only to find that Illidan had already claimed the Eye.

Taunting Maiev, Illidan used the artifact’s demonic powers to bring the tomb crashing down around the Watchers, hoping to imprison the Warden in much the same way she had him. Maiev managed to use her magic to escape, however Naisha and her remaining troops were not so lucky, and were buried alive.

That’s history. Now, let’s take the map of Warcraft 3 Frozen Throne mission and place the Tomb of Sargeras raid bosses on it.

This is Maiev’s way through the Tomb. She enters the center on the left side, and goes through the whole Tomb to reach Illidan. Obviously the ending point is the Avatar Chamber, because Illidan grabbed this powerful artifact, Eye of Sargeras there – that is why the Avatar is one-eyed in the raid. With this artifact Illidan tried to destroy the Lich King (just Ner’zhul then), but Malfurion, Tyrande and Kael’Thas managed to stop him later.

And this is where the bosses in the raid are:

Goroth is here, because it’s the first big chamber after we enter the Tomb.

Then there is a rise to Demonic Inquisition – their location is arguable, but my guess it is just up the stairs.

The southern part held some mad elven guards as far as I remember, so the first big room should hold Sisters of the Moon boss. And The Desolate Host is most likely that next big and sinister chamber.

Blizzard accurately copied the flooded pipe where Maiev fought Naga. Har’jatan is at the place where there were many hydras, and Mistress Sassz’ine is by no doubts located at the chamber where we encounter Lady Vashj who told Maiev of the true nature of the Naga. There’s that big elven statue with the cup we meet on our way.

And the hall with Maiden of Vigilance/Avatar of Sargeras is the same spot. This is where Illidan ripped an eye from the Avatar, confronted Maiev and she had to flee all the way back and fast.

Enjoy your flashbacks and new picture of the old spots :)