In World of Warcraft there is an old acquaintance waiting for players at the end of the next patch. However, Archimonde, the final boss of the Hellfire Citadel, has learned new tricks.
It will probably take another 2-3 weeks until the Patch 6.2 is deployed on the live servers and provides WoW players with new raid content, but even now, successful guilds are diligently trying out the bosses on the test server. Two guys from FatbossTV created a video discussing the main mechanics of the fight.
If there is no tree to burn…
WoW veterans will still remember Archimonde, as they had to defeat him once in the Caverns of Time. To create a certain degree of recognition, some abilities overlap with the “old” version of the fight. Unlike back then, however, no saving wisp will appear; instead, Grommash, Khadgar, and Yrel will fight by your side while Gul’dan strengthens the boss from the background.
High into the flames
One of his most famous abilities was probably the “Throw Up”. A random player (and everyone in the vicinity) will be thrown up and take fall damage upon landing. In the new version of “Shadow Burst”, high magic damage is dealt upon landing in a small radius, which is distributed among all affected players – as soon as someone is lifted into the air, you must quickly run under them to “catch” them.
Flame beams, which slowly crawl towards players, will likely also be remembered well – a mechanic that has since become a staple of boss fights. As a special addition, Archimonde can redirect all existing flames and hurl them directly at the players. Constant movement and quick reactions will be required, as expected, even in the normal mode of the fight.
These are just two of his abilities. As a high-ranking member of the Burning Legion, he naturally calls forth countless minions, rains down demons from the sky, opens portals to the Nether (or banishes tanks there), and distributes a ton of effects on the ground. The fight has three phases, with even these breaking down into sub-phases. In the end, pure chaos reigns, where adds must be kept apart, the boss must be tanked, and raid damage healed.
For a more detailed insight into his abilities, you should check out the video:
Please keep in mind that the abilities may still change. The video also mentions that the boss is still slightly too weak and will likely receive a buff or two before the live version. More about the patch and WoW can be found on our topic page for World of Warcraft.
