This guy.
THIS GUY.
Do you see this guy? Do you remember this guy? Do you remember the infamous chant played on Ventrilo before every pull?
This, my friends, is Shade of Aran. For my money it’s probably the best boss fight in the game. It’s hectic, it’s fast-paced, there are a million things to remember, everyone’s running around like crazy, and it felt amazing when the whole raid was in sync and you managed to successfully beat him.
He also comes with some seriously fantastic lore. Imagine being Medivh’s dad, dying because your son basically exploded with power, and then being a ghost and eternally watching your son mess everything up. Yep. Despite all of this, as he was awfully fond of telling you, he was no simple jester. Confirmed by an in-game book.
Also: he dropped a great cloak that lasted me through Naxx in the next friggin’ expansion because the hit rating on it was great.
Speaking of Naxx:
THE RUNNER UP AWARD GOES TO:
Four Horsemen, another absurdly intense fight with a great mechanic.
What are YOUR favorite boss battles?
Power…Energy. My people are addicted to-wait, wrong boss.
I am not some simple jester! I AM NIELAS ARAN!
Heigan the Unclean. Naxx was my first raid and I was super pumped after getting the dance right.
“how terribly clumsy of me” – This one was always a fave, though it was a love/hate relationship as morose never dropped the pocketwatch!
Loved heigen the unclean. Found the mechanics wasy to master (unlike some) and could duo it down with the rest of your raid dead 🙂
And lets not forget YOGG!
It’s a toss-up between Four Horsemen and Moroes, for me.
4Horsies because I had a chance to show my quality by holding down one (or in one case, two!) of the back corners while they cleaned up the front half.
Moroes because I got the chance again to shine by chain trapping. This fight actually affected my spec – I was BM, but went far enough into the Survival tree to get that one talent that reduced my trap cooldowns. Back when the talent trees were trees.
I like Hans and Franz the most and I don’t care if that makes me a casual!
Ohhh, Aran…
So many wipes. So so many wipes to people not listening. ‘FLAME WREATH! DON’T MOVE! DON’T MOVE! DON’T… FUCK.”
I always thought the lore in Kara was amazing. It is still my favorite raid-to-date. Thanks for the walk down memory lane! ^_^