“Something very bad has happened” – When the experienced WoW streamer Sieglinde starts a clip with these words about Sauercrowd, all fans of the hardcore project know: There have been bitter losses for the Twitch guild.
Who got hit? Just before the first raid of the Sauercrowd guild in the Molten Core, two scheduled participants were caught in the dungeon Upper Blackrock Spire: Jan Hegenberg and Vassilly. The two mishaps happened during the fight against the final boss General Drakkisath.
What happened to Vassilly? The mage was tasked with pulling the boss and kiting him out of the room so that the rest of the group could safely fight the boss’s minions. The streamer had never performed this important extra task before, so the details did not go smoothly.
For example, he didn’t stand at maximum range during the pull, and the first Blink came a bit too late – which was probably crucial considering mishap number 2.
When mages pull the boss’s threat, they cast – if the group gives the okay – Ice Block, so the boss returns to the group. Depending on the distance, the duration of an Ice Block may not be enough for Drakkisath to be collected by the now-free tank. Then the mage must reset his Frost cooldowns with a spell and cast Ice Block again.
The latter was apparently not on Vassilly’s mind. After his Ice Block expired, he wanted to run back to the group and suddenly stood in front of the dragonkin. The boss first hit him and then unleashed a fire attack called Fireball, which deals high damage over time and leaves the victim staggering for several seconds with no chance of survival. Without a nearby healer, one cannot survive this.
An analysis of the two hardcore deaths can also be found on the YouTube channel of WoW veteran Sieglinde:
Bad luck at the wrong moment
What happened to Jan Hegenberg? Before Drakkisath left the room to chase Vassilly, he briefly stood still to leave a Flame Burst for the group (which is a harmful area on the ground where one should not stand). He also cast Fireball on Jan Hegenberg’s rogue – who unfortunately was still standing in the Flame Burst at that moment.
A lot of damage hit the rogue in a very short time, who, due to loss of control, could not run out of the damage zone.
The healers now faced the challenge that Jan Hegenberg needed a massive amount of healing for ten seconds, while the tanks also received significant hits from the elite guards (with one even having a healing-reducing effect on him).
Prioritizing the tanks in such a situation is understandable. Especially since Jan Hegenberg should never have been able to receive a Fireball – it always goes to the highest on the aggro list, which is usually the tank.
How could this have been prevented? Vassilly should have cast Frostbolt twice from maximum range, then Counterspell, and then as quickly as possible cast Blink to minimize the chance of the boss stopping briefly. With two Ice Blocks in a row, the mage would also have surely lost the boss’s aggro.
Additionally, one minimizes the danger by allowing the tanks to first securely gather the two elite guards while the rest of the group enjoys the show from a safe distance and only then attacks when Drakkisath has gone and the minions are positioned. However, the truth is that the Fireball on Jan Hegenberg was ultimately just bad luck.
Why are the two hardcore deaths so bitter? For several reasons:
- Both level 60 characters had an incredible amount of playtime and progress invested.
- On February 22, the first raid of Sauercrowd will take place, and Jan Hegenberg and Vassilly were firmly scheduled for the day.
- Jan Hegenberg is the bard of the Sauercrowd project and a living legend within the WoW community through his songs. Seeing him in the Molten Core would have been really great. He would surely have provided great entertainment here and there.
- Vassilly worked hard to reach level 60 and get into the raid. It took him 6 attempts. Time and again, he suffered fatal mishaps during so-called AoE leveling (where you gather many enemies and blast them with the mage’s frost spells).
According to MeinMMO reader Brati, Vlesk and Ray will take the places of Jan and Vassilly on Sunday in the raid – thank you for the tip! If you want to know who is still in the first raid, check this out: Sauercrowd sets the 40 Twitch streamers for the first raids, Metashi and HandOfBlood play it safe
