Helcular could not hold out against sheer numbers. Dozens of Mages and Warlocks cast Blizzard and Rain of Fire together, clearing out the little skeletons he had summoned. Dozens of Hunters and Rogues surrounded him and attacked. Even if ninety percent of their attacks were resisted, the remaining ten percent was enough to kill him.
Filled with resentment, Helcular was buried once more. His revenge against Southshore could only continue the next time a Horde player looted Helcular's Rod and summoned him again.
"The loot rights are ours."
Lunatori, who had a habit of looting corpses, was delighted.
Smooch said smugly, "Of course. Yours truly landed the first hit."
"Lunatori has lucky hands. Let her loot it," Hugo hurriedly reminded them, just in case someone cursed tried touching the corpse.
Lunatori stepped forward to loot it.
Some people were simply born lucky. You had to accept it. Players with cursed hands were better off deleting their characters and starting over. Maybe then their luck would change.
Underworld Band (Epic)
Item Level 43
Binds when equipped
Finger
+10 Stamina
+6 Spirit
Requires Level 38
Equip: Increases damage done by Shadow spells and effects by up to 14.
A BoE epic—and Underworld Band at that, an item that held its value extremely well. Even at level 60, before obtaining Ring of Spell Power, Underworld Band remained a core piece for Warlocks and Shadow Priests. Paired with Songstone of Ironforge from The Princess's Surprise, it could save you from having to buy the expensive caster ring.
"Holy shit, an epic."
"No way, a purple!"
"Oh my god, purple gear. Let's go!"
It was only natural for everyone to get excited the first time they saw purple gear, especially in an era when even blue gear was rare.
Gabryell looked at the Need prompt that popped up and could only think one thing: beautiful. Underworld Band was a world drop with a painfully low drop rate. Even though Helcular was a level 44 elite, its drop rate was the same as other level 40-plus mobs, fixed at 0.03%.
"Everyone roll," Gabryell typed in raid chat.
There was an unwritten rule in World of Warcraft: world-drop BoE epics were rolled by everyone, regardless of class or spec. At most, the player who won the roll might give the rest of the group a small share of the proceeds. Of course, sharing was a matter of character. Not sharing was still their right. It depended on the person.
Gabryell did not need to explain. In the current game environment, even blue BoE gear was rolled by the whole party. After all, the value was too high for anyone to casually pass it up.
"From now on, whenever a BoE epic drops, everyone rolls."
In Gabryell's view, this rule was perfectly reasonable. If valuable BoEs like Teebu's Blazing Longsword or Cloudrunner Girdle dropped later and the whole raid did not get to roll, would only Rogues and Warriors be allowed to roll on them? Ask yourself honestly—would you be okay with that?
Gabryell clicked Need. If he won the roll, that was luck. If he lost, he could only accept it.
A very lucky number.
The problem was that winning with an 88 was not exactly guaranteed.
"Ah, why only 22? I'm not that unlucky."
Smooch had only rolled a 22.
"Damn, I only got 11. Am I cursed to stay single forever?"
FirstDate stared at his roll—an 11—and had no words. As a Warlock, he wanted Underworld Band more than anyone.
"Heaven above, earth below, loot gods, please bless this roll."
Underworld Band was enough to make even the usually serious DesertWanderer believe in the loot gods. Before rolling, he muttered a little prayer, hoping to juice his RNG for the day.
Apparently, WoW superstition really worked.
For now, his roll was the highest.
DesertWanderer was so excited he almost cried.
Getting excited too early only made the fall hurt more.
98!
Snowlily rolled a 98!
Instant defeat. Snowlily's 98 crushed DesertWanderer's 93 on the spot.
"Oh no."
DesertWanderer was screaming inside.
"Haha, Snowlily is amazing. That's my best friend." Smooch swept away the bad luck of rolling 22 and laughed excitedly.
Snowlily received Underworld Band and felt rather embarrassed. She sent Gabryell a private message.
"Mentor, take this purple item. You can distribute it."
Gabryell said, "Underworld Band is good for Shadow Priests too. Once you hit level 40, you'll respec Shadow for leveling, and this will improve your leveling efficiency."
Snowlily said, "Everyone worked together to get this. I feel bad keeping it for myself."
Gabryell said, "BoE epics are meant for everyone to roll on. You won the roll, so the item is yours."
Underworld Band held its value extremely well. Before Ring of Spell Power became common, it could sell for at least two hundred gold. Only after Ring of Spell Power became widespread would the price drop to around one hundred gold. After Blackwing Lair opened, the price would stabilize at thirty to forty gold.
Gabryell thought for a moment and said, "If you feel bad, you can sell it at auction and split some of the gold with everyone."
Snowlily said in raid chat, "I'm planning to sell Underworld Band and split the gold with everyone."
DesertWanderer said excitedly, "Don't put it on the Auction House. Sell it to me. I'll pay real money."
FirstDate wanted it badly too, but unfortunately, he had no money. He could only stay silent and wait for his share.
Snowlily asked Gabryell, "Mentor, you decide."
Gabryell said, "Sell it to Desert."
If there had only been one Warlock, Gabryell could have told Snowlily to give Underworld Band to him first. But there were two Warlocks present, so it could only be sold, not gifted. If it were given to one of them, the other would feel resentful, which would not help guild harmony.
"Okay, I'll sell it to you," Snowlily said to DesertWanderer.
DesertWanderer said happily, "What's your bank info?"
This guy wanted Underworld Band so badly that he was ready to transfer money without even asking the price.
Gabryell said, "Fight first. You can discuss the item after the battle. Horde reinforcements have already passed Southpoint Tower and are attacking our defensive line. We need to return to the front immediately."
"Right, kill the Horde first. We'll talk after we win."
DesertWanderer suddenly came back to his senses. No matter how precious Underworld Band was, it was not more important than winning this war.
The group immediately left the Southshore graveyard and returned to the front line as reinforcements.
The sounds of battle rose and fell across Hillsbrad Foothills. Horde reinforcements had finally entered from Silverpine Forest. With fresh blood backing them up, Horde morale surged, and they charged once more at the defensive line built by the Alliance.
The Alliance had also received reinforcements from more than ten raid groups, bringing their numbers roughly even with the Horde. Each side had around a thousand players. The only difference was that the Alliance had more Mages, while the Horde had more melee.
Hillsbrad Foothills really was not that large. In a battle with two thousand players, everywhere you looked was packed with people. If your computer was even slightly weak, the game turned into a PowerPoint slideshow.
Lag or no lag, as long as there was a fight, everyone was having a blast. As long as they could personally take part, even if they were only throwing out a few spells from the back and joining the chaos, their blood still surged.
"For the Alliance! Kill the Horde!"
"For the Horde! Slaughter the Alliance!"
"The Alliance will win!"
"The Horde is unstoppable!"
Countless spells and abilities filled the sky. The mobs in Hillsbrad Foothills suffered the worst of it, getting instantly deleted by random AoE the moment they spawned.
The thousand-player battle in Tichondrius's Hillsbrad Foothills drew the attention of players across the entire server thanks to deliberate promotion. Because the server was packed, the login queue broke ten thousand for the first time. Players who wanted to watch the action entered the Azeroth National Geographic Forum one after another to follow the full live coverage of Tichondrius's great battle.
Alliance and Horde players launched an unprecedented forum war on the Azeroth National Geographic Forum, fighting through text posts. It was no less heated than the thousand-player battle taking place in Hillsbrad Foothills.
The popularity of the Azeroth National Geographic Forum shot straight up, and registered members increased rapidly, cementing the forum's place in the hearts of the server's players.