Project Lore

With rumors swirling about the incoming Patch 3.2.2's release date, last night I took some time away from Brewfest festivities to squeeze in a final encounter with Onyxia, in her classic form. I was hoping this would serve as inspiration of sorts for others to go battle her as well before the patch, but as we heard this morning it looks like the update is now underway. As early as tonight, a freshly angry Onyxia awaits those brave enough to enter her lair. Although I've seen plenty of videos and heard players brag about soloing the once epic brood mother, I wasn't confident that I'd be able to take her on alone in my squishy leather gear. So I rounded up a couple of guildies who also were keen to battle Ony, and together we headed for her lair in southern Dustwallow Marsh. The three of us - rogue, warrior and paladin - sneaked in through the gate and easily tore through a few trash dragonkin. I felt almost guilty as we rounded a corner into her nest and found her sleeping peacefully. But not guilty enough. She awoke with a fiery vengeance, ready to lay a team of 40 adventurers to waste with a single Deep Breath. Instead, she found just us three, 20 levels higher than she, and geared with equipment and spells far beyond those she once knew. Regardless, she put up a good fight. Most of her fire attacks practically bounced off the plate armor of the paladin while I threw DPS from the side. When her whelps came, spamming Fan of Knives worked handily. More ranged DPS would have come in handy when she took to the air, and the three of us ran around puzzled about how to get her down before her fireballs took us out. I was a fraction away from dying several times before we finally pulled her back within melee reach. The warrior was not so lucky; he took the brunt of fireball damage and reached his end. As Onyxia died, we each picked off a ton of loot. The little achievement whore inside me also was thrilled to get Onyxia's Lair, even though I've heard it will no longer be required for the Classic Raider achievement. But there will be new achievements! Plus a new pet whelpling and updated loot! Not nearly as troublesome as she was in her hayday, but still a beast to be reckoned with, Onyxia soon will be back at the forefront of glorious encounters. I don't know about you guys, but I am revved up to have this battle be returned to its nostalgic difficulty. With any luck, Onyxia will be back up and ready to really shine tonight. Who else plans to pay her a visit?

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With Wrath of the Lich King's first content patch looming on the horizon, I thought it would be a good idea to take a stroll down memory lane.  Molten Core was the only 40-man raid instance when World of Warcraft launched in 2004.  The lengthy instance was considered unbeatable for quite some time, with most servers leaving Ragnaros untouched until well after Onyxia - who was added later on via a patch - was killed.  The depths of Blackrock Spire held 9 bosses, tons of trash mobs, quick respawn times, diverse encounters and eons for early guilds to get to know each other.  All these attributes lead to intense battles, failure, drama, success, full Tier 1 sets, Tier 2 pants and additional drama.  I'll never forget it. When my guild began running Molten Core, I was in my last stretch of leveling.  Thanks to a hefty load of work from my pre-Junior year at Drexel, I had already missed the server first Onyxia kill and vowed not to miss any other.  I failed at participating, but managed to view the deaths of Lucifron and Magmadar from my roommate's screen.  The following day I was invited for the guilds second round of attempts at Gehennes.  After four years, I can't recall how long it took us to down the Flamewalker and his guards, but it was the first time I had been a part of a raid kill in an MMORPG. I poured hours upon hours into the instance, for the guild and for my Tier 2 pants.  Through all of the memories - the lava swimming druids, Aqual Quintessence smashing, Core Hound looting, suicide bombing, giant stomping, lava leaps of faith - nothing stands out in my mind as much as my first glance at the firelord himself, Ragnaros.  Not only was his model incredibly awesome and original, but he was freaking GINORMOUS.  "Surely, he must be nerfed by Lucifron before the fight," I thought to myself.  No, not at all.  The shock I experienced at his first site has never left me, and as of yet, has never been topped in a virtual world. It took All That Remains (long defunct) weeks to down Ragnaros, mainly due to many members not having the required Fire Resistance gear/Stamina (thank god those fights are gone).  It became so bad that Officers decided to only accept the members with the highest FR sets to the raid.  The new rule forced many of us to spend stupids amounts of time and gold one that one extra point of FR.  The price for rings with FR stats went through the roof, and we even began heading to UBRS to steal the FR buffs.  This was at a time when 1000 gold was Bill Gates rich.  The guild's commodore, dedication and expertise was never at a higher point than the end of Molten Core, and we needed all of it. When Ragnaros finally sank into his relatively small hitbox for the last time, everyone tossed up virtual high fives via Ventrilo, and sang Kumbaya as his hammer fell to the ground. Weeks, possibly months passed before SolidSamm finally got his T2 pants, and with Blackwing Lair launching shortly after, it was perfect timing.  My Tyr's Hand days were an ends to a means, my days spent in Molten Core and the jaw-dropping sight of Ragnaros were simply an experience.  One that I will never forget, but hopefully a memory that is eventually one-upped.  Hell, I still don my MC items including my Perdition's Blade from time to time. I have always wondered one thing.  For those of you that were big PvEers in earlier MMORPGs, did Ragnaros still manage to floor you?  Or was it more old hat because you have been downing gigantic dragons for so long?  If you are new to World of Warcraft, then I suggest you try to run a Molten Core on the weekend, if not for the two achievements, then just so you can experience his impact.  It can be done quickly and easily at level 80 with only a handful of players. Hey, look what I found!

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