So after several months of waiting, World of Warcraft's patch 3.3 is finally out. The Fall of the Lich King, this patch is the newest and the final installment in the game's current expansion, where players like myself will finally be able to face off against one of the most diabolical villains in gaming history, the Lich King.
Like many other players of the game, I have found that most of this expansion's content has been lackluster in terms of difficulty. Of course the lore, the world design, the music, the spell details - in all these departments Blizzard Entertainment has surely outdone themselves and delivered what has to be the most visually stunning game expansion to date. But the level of game difficulty was mediocre and it usually doesn't take me and my gaming buddies that long to learn both raid and non-raid encounters. I know we shouldn't be complaining, being handed out gear and loot like it's Christmas. But to any veteran gamer, the path to getting oneself epic armor and weapons must feel, well, epic.
So lo and behold, Tuesday December 8, patch 3.3 finally came out and although the first few hours were buggy and laggy (as the game usually is after a big patch), my buds and I were finally able to see and experience the three newest 5-man dungeons in the game collectively known as the The Frozen Halls.
The first two dungeons, the Forge of Souls and the Pit of Saron, were amazing. You basically need to help your faction's leader (in my faction's case the Horde, the Banshee Queen Sylvanas Windrunner) in freeing the Lich King's captured slaves while delving deeper and deeper into the secrets of the Lich King's domain. It was intense, the fights' difficulties were a notch higher than the usual 5-man dungeons players have gone accustomed to. And for the first time in ages, we finally got a set of dungeons that is rich in lore and gaming content. My character, a tree-hugging Tauren Druid, =) had a blast healing my friends through the encounters. It surely was a great experience to feel a challenge while healing again. (Most of the dungeons in this expansion have been terribly nerfed and "dumbed down". There were several times when I almost fell asleep when healing those.)
Now the real surprise of the patch is the third and last dungeon of the Frozen Halls, the Halls of Reflection. As soon as we enter the instance, one can already sense a feeling of foreboding - I could literally feel the hair on my skin standing on end. And then the event started.
Bam.
My whole party wiped. Rofl. My friends and I were like "what the hell just happened?" We got swamped by enemies, everyone was being attacked here and there, everyone except the tank guy got one-shotted. And we had our laughs about it. (They gave me the additional bonk in the noggin' for failing at healing haha). It was then that we realized that the guys at Blizzard have finally given us something we have been wishing for - a challenge! Mind you, we were doing this on heroic mode so the challenge is doubled.
So okay, we resurrected, healed up, buffed up, decided on a strategy. It was obvious what the dungeon's quirks are: healing and mana intensive for the healer (me), the damage dealers need to pump as much damage as possible without drawing monster hate towards themselves (that's difficult to do), and finally the tank need to ensure that he could put all monster hate on himself so everyone will stay alive (great...)
So as we set ourselves up to restart the encounter, we found ourselves putting on keybind abilities that we haven't used in a looong time - crowd control abilities! It was like the good ol' days of World of Warcraft again. *sniff*
So anywho the encounter was started again and this time we were finally able to nail the continuous waves of monsters being thrown at us. All of us were on our feet, making sure that what has to be dispelled is dispelled, that all monster aggro is on the tank, that the healer is well protected, that the kill order be followed so we can down the monsters faster without taking too much damage ourselves, etc. It was intense and there were several close calls. But we finally did it. The first two bosses of the dungeon (Falric and Marwyn) are dead.
So we now moved on to the next room. And there he is! The Lich King. Sylvanas is fighting him and she's almost dead if not for our timely arrival. (hehe) And so it seems that the final confrontation is at hand.
Nope, as it turns out, the a-hole has a really deadly trick up his sleeve. He's got a Death Aura. Yep, get close to him and you're dead. So there's only one thing to do - to escape. Or as the game puts it, to "advance in a different direction".
So as the Lich King gave chase to us, we fought through a long gauntlet which would be our only way out of that hellish place. Again, undead monstrosities started spawning, walls started collapsing on us, I was again on my toes trying my best to keep everyone alive. (It was really difficult but I managed it). Everyone's heart was pumping hard by now and then we reached a dead end. Great. The Lich King was getting nearer. We'll be dead soon.
Then boom! Our faction's ship, the Orgrim's Hammer, arrived and blasted rocks off the mountainside, blocking the Lich King's path. We got on the ship, we fled to safety. But we know, as the Lich King watched us escape, that this won't be the end...
And truly it won't be. My guild's first incursions into the very citadel of the Lich King, the Icecrown Citadel, have only just begun. We know that, based on the challenge we encountered on the 5-man dungeons, this 10/25-man raid will be challenging, exhilirating, and badass. Sure it may take us weeks or months to learn and finally defeat the Lich King. But that's okay. What we're really looking forward to is that epic experience of being able to defeat this evil king once and for all.
Hail to the King, baby!
Learn more about the Lich King and everything else about the game here.
Photo from wowwiki.com
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