Rank 3: C’thun
Duration: 113 days (17 raid IDs)
Raid: The Temple of Ahn’Qiraj (Vanilla)
For almost 4 months, the Old God C’thun managed to secure rank 3 of the longest-lasting bosses of all time in World of Warcraft at the end of the Temple of Ahn’Qiraj.
C’thun was feared for several reasons. On the one hand, he had a massive health pool, a lot of strong adds, and the dreaded death laser. It moved in a circle, and all players caught by it died immediately. A mechanic that would repeatedly find its way into new boss fights in the coming years.
However, one must say that C’thun earned his high place on this list only through loopholes. Because upon release, C’thun was simply unbeatable. Players could prove to Blizzard that it was mathematically impossible to defeat the Old God.
Only after many weeks did a saving patch make C’thun beatable, and then everything went very quickly – just a few hours after the patch, the Old God had to admit defeat and finally release its loot.
Little fun fact: The player who calculated the mathematical impossibility of C’thun was Ion Hazzikostas – who is now the game director of World of Warcraft.
Rank 2: Kael’thas Sunstrider
Duration: 130 days (19 raid IDs)
Raid: The Eye (The Burning Crusade)
“It would be unfair to let you fight my four advisors at the same time, but… my people were never treated fairly either.”
In second place is the blood elf prince Kael’thas Sunstrider at the end of the raid “The Eye” from The Burning Crusade. With a lifespan of 130 days, the Sun King has nearly earned his place at the top – or rather snatched it. Because many different factors meant that Kael’thas was simply unbeatable for a long time and thus had to do little for his lead.
- Players had to complete the unlocking for “The Eye” first. This alone took weeks or months in many cases.
- Several bosses were bugged. The boss Al’ar, the first boss of the raid, kept players occupied for weeks and was known for frequently resetting or simply disappearing.
- Kael’thas himself was also bugged. At the start of phase 4 of the fight, tanks completely lost their threat while healers retained theirs. This meant that Kael’thas – being clever – first eliminated all the healers and then turned to the tanks.
But even after everything was patched, Kael’thas was still a tough fight. He consisted of several phases, many small minibosses, and interesting mechanics that made the fight challenging for each individual player. It was even necessary to let the minibosses die in the correct place so that they would respawn later in a good position and be easier to defeat.
The second trial was the patience of the players, which was tested time and again. Because the fight against Kael’thas contained numerous monologue lines of the blood elf prince that were played in every fight.
“Energy, power… my people are addicted to it.”
Just say the words to an old veteran of “The Burning Crusade.” That might trigger some post-traumatic stress disorder.
Rank 1: Ragnaros
Duration: 154 days (22 raid IDs)
Raid: Molten Core (Vanilla)
To this day, the Fire Lord in his original form, as he appears in Molten Core, is the longest-lasting final boss of all time. Players needed almost half a year to bring Ragnaros to his knees and master his dreaded Sons phase.
The reason for the long lifespan is not only the then-challenging difficulty of the Fire Lord but also a significantly less spectacular fact:
Ragnaros and the Molten Core were already included at the release of WoW Classic. Back then, players still had to level up and reach level 60. Solid “speed level” methods did not exist at the time, and many intricacies of the MMORPG were still unexplored.
It therefore took weeks and months for many players to even be in the range to attack Ragnaros. Nevertheless, a more than deserved place for one of the most well-known bosses World of Warcraft has ever seen.
Is there a boss you would have expected instead on this list? We have also introduced your personal favorite final bosses.
- 1
- 2
