ICC Rogues' Gallery: Halls of Reflection
Amatera
After conquering the Pit of Saron, you enter the final wing in the new 5-man dungeons. Halls of Reflection is the mysterious chamber where the wretched blade Frostmourne is held when it is not by the Lich King's side. And why would that be? Some have speculated that the sword is an entity of ancient evil unto itself. Levitating as it does over a pile of skulls while spiritual energy swirls around it, it's distinctively otherworldly. Perhaps even the Lich King wishes to maintain his distance from its influence at times.
Regardless of the reason, it is here you must travel to learn some of Arthas' deepest secrets. But said knowledge comes at a price, for the Lich King will not let you get away so easily.
Falric and Marwyn -- Heartbourne wrote a nice, lengthy piece on this pair which you I urge you to read if you want to know more about them, but it boils down to this: Falric and Marwyn are the Lich King's right-hand men. They served him when he was still Arthas, mowing down the innocent citizens of Lordaeron, and became his first two Death Knights when he was turned. In some ways, it's a bit of a disservice that they're relegated to stone-walling you in a 5-man dungeon, but they nonetheless serve an important roles as guards of the Scourge's most important artifact.
After an in-game cinematic event taking place in Frostmourne's chamber, the Lich King recovers the blade and commands Falric and Marwyn to do away with the intrunders (that's you, naturally). You will have to suffer through five waves of spectral guardians, who seem to mimic the basic Human units found in Warcraft III (both in dress and function), before you can Falric. This, alone, can be tricky if your tank isn't able to wrangle up the caster mobs who often appear across the room. It's easiest to stand in the hallway just outside the chamber and have the tank stand out front since the mobs will aggro to whoever is closest when they activate.
Falric is all about making you feel depressed, and without any bottles of Xanax on hand, you're just going to have to fight your way through it. Quivering strike is a melee attack that will reduce the tank's dodge chance by 20%, but the entire party should be on the lookout for the rest of his abilities. Impending Despair will cause an individual player to cower for 6 seconds (unless dispelled), while Defiling Horror will send everyone running for four as 2500-4000 damage ticks every second.
Finally, there's Hopelessness, which reduces your party's healing and damage done by 20/40/60% for each quarter of health Falric loses. Once you kill him, you only have a moment's respite before dealing with five more waves of spectral guardians and, finally, Marwyn.
Marwyn thinks it's better to corrupt the flesh than the mind and his abilities reflect as much. First, there's Well of Corruption, a void-zone-like effect that increases shadow damage taken by those who stand in it. He will also cast Corrupted Flesh, which can reduce nearby players' maximum health by 25% (50% on Heroic) for approximately 10 seconds. This means that tanks, especially, should be aware of Obliterate which can deal 20-30k damage when used.
The other thing your party needs to watch out for is Shared Suffering, which deals a significant amount of damage over time, the remainder of which will be shared amongst party members if you try to remove or dispell it.
With Arthas' closest confidants defeated, the doors open and you are free to proceed down the hallway.
The Escape -- The Escape is an interesting event which I don't want to spoil very much, but this is the first time in the game you're really able to go blow-to-blow with the Lich King. Of course, even if you can target and attack him, I wouldn't recommend it. He'll one-shot just about anybody who gets within range and with nowhere to go but the precipitous ridge outside, you'll have to hold off waves of attackers as your faction's hero (Jaina or Sylvanas) clears the way forward.
Meanwhile, the Lich King lumbers slowly towards you with his sword drawn. If he gets close, you can kiss your party goodbye when he casts Fury of Frostmourne, dealing a whopping 1 million damage to all players. However, if you do manage to escape, be prepared for a really cool cinematic event straight out of the best action movies!
And that's it. You're done until you decide to venture into Icecrown Citadel, itself. With the 5-man dungeons of the Frozen Halls now out in the wild you can experience all of these encounters for yourself! Enjoy!
Falric and Marwyn -- Heartbourne wrote a nice, lengthy piece on this pair which you I urge you to read if you want to know more about them, but it boils down to this: Falric and Marwyn are the Lich King's right-hand men. They served him when he was still Arthas, mowing down the innocent citizens of Lordaeron, and became his first two Death Knights when he was turned. In some ways, it's a bit of a disservice that they're relegated to stone-walling you in a 5-man dungeon, but they nonetheless serve an important roles as guards of the Scourge's most important artifact.
After an in-game cinematic event taking place in Frostmourne's chamber, the Lich King recovers the blade and commands Falric and Marwyn to do away with the intrunders (that's you, naturally). You will have to suffer through five waves of spectral guardians, who seem to mimic the basic Human units found in Warcraft III (both in dress and function), before you can Falric. This, alone, can be tricky if your tank isn't able to wrangle up the caster mobs who often appear across the room. It's easiest to stand in the hallway just outside the chamber and have the tank stand out front since the mobs will aggro to whoever is closest when they activate.
Falric is all about making you feel depressed, and without any bottles of Xanax on hand, you're just going to have to fight your way through it. Quivering strike is a melee attack that will reduce the tank's dodge chance by 20%, but the entire party should be on the lookout for the rest of his abilities. Impending Despair will cause an individual player to cower for 6 seconds (unless dispelled), while Defiling Horror will send everyone running for four as 2500-4000 damage ticks every second.
Finally, there's Hopelessness, which reduces your party's healing and damage done by 20/40/60% for each quarter of health Falric loses. Once you kill him, you only have a moment's respite before dealing with five more waves of spectral guardians and, finally, Marwyn.
Marwyn thinks it's better to corrupt the flesh than the mind and his abilities reflect as much. First, there's Well of Corruption, a void-zone-like effect that increases shadow damage taken by those who stand in it. He will also cast Corrupted Flesh, which can reduce nearby players' maximum health by 25% (50% on Heroic) for approximately 10 seconds. This means that tanks, especially, should be aware of Obliterate which can deal 20-30k damage when used.
The other thing your party needs to watch out for is Shared Suffering, which deals a significant amount of damage over time, the remainder of which will be shared amongst party members if you try to remove or dispell it.
With Arthas' closest confidants defeated, the doors open and you are free to proceed down the hallway.
The Escape -- The Escape is an interesting event which I don't want to spoil very much, but this is the first time in the game you're really able to go blow-to-blow with the Lich King. Of course, even if you can target and attack him, I wouldn't recommend it. He'll one-shot just about anybody who gets within range and with nowhere to go but the precipitous ridge outside, you'll have to hold off waves of attackers as your faction's hero (Jaina or Sylvanas) clears the way forward.
Meanwhile, the Lich King lumbers slowly towards you with his sword drawn. If he gets close, you can kiss your party goodbye when he casts Fury of Frostmourne, dealing a whopping 1 million damage to all players. However, if you do manage to escape, be prepared for a really cool cinematic event straight out of the best action movies!
And that's it. You're done until you decide to venture into Icecrown Citadel, itself. With the 5-man dungeons of the Frozen Halls now out in the wild you can experience all of these encounters for yourself! Enjoy!
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