"Popping Last Stand, keep me up!"
Carlos felt the pressure spike and used Last Stand, temporarily increasing his maximum health by 30% for 20 seconds.
"Nice job."
Gabryell was surprised to see ServerHeals casting Greater Heal instead of Heal. Almost exactly one second after Last Stand went up, the Greater Heal landed.
Was it coincidence, or awareness?
Based on ServerHeals's earlier performance, it was probably the latter.
Last Stand raised Carlos's maximum health, but it did not reduce Princess Theradras's damage. Her attacks still hurt like hell when they landed.
"I'm feared!"
They only had one Dwarf Priest, so Fear Ward could only be reliably refreshed on Carlos. Warquell and DeathScum had to dodge on their own.
The addon had not been updated for Maraudon yet, so there were no skill alerts. DeathScum reacted half a beat too slowly and got caught by Repulsive Gaze.
Being feared was bad enough, but instead of running away, his character spun around in place. Princess Theradras started Dust Field right then, and DeathScum ate the whole thing.
ServerHeals tried to save him with Power Word: Shield, but the shield shattered instantly.
A level 45 Rogue taking a full Dust Field from Princess.
The result was obvious.
He dropped dead.
"Luna, Innervate ServerHeals."
Between Greater Heal, Fear Ward, and shielding, ServerHeals's mana was draining fast and had almost bottomed out.
"Okay."
Even though her own mana was nearly gone, Lunatori gave him Innervate immediately. She had already realized that ServerHeals was the key to killing Princess.
He kept refreshing Fear Ward on Carlos. Princess used her abilities far too often, and there was no time to cover Warquell.
Losing another DPS indirectly increased the pressure on the healers. If there was even a small gap in healing, the tank going down became inevitable.
Before Carlos could even use Shield Wall, Princess landed a Thrash crit and killed him instantly.
"Holy shit, I'm dead!"
Carlos was horrified.
That damage was ridiculous. Whoever got caught by it was finished.
The moment he fell, Princess immediately switched to Warquell.
Repulsive Gaze.
As soon as she changed targets, she used Repulsive Gaze. Warquell had no Fear Ward protecting him, so he was feared and started running wildly.
ServerHeals saw Princess chasing him and nearly killing him on the spot, so he immediately threw up a shield.
Power Word: Shield generated plenty of threat. The moment it landed, Princess gave up on Warquell and turned toward ServerHeals instead.
He immediately used Fade.
This time, Princess switched to Lunatori.
"Hugo, use Distracting Shot and pull her off."
With no other choice, Gabryell could only sacrifice the Hunter. It was better for Hugo to die than a healer.
"Watch this master Hunter kite Princess."
Hugo was full of confidence and prepared to drag her around in circles.
But while enraged, Princess moved much faster. If she could not catch up, she would use Boulder.
"Holy crap, I'm dead."
After getting knocked down by Boulder, Hugo gave up resisting. Princess walked over and sent him off with two slaps.
"What garbage," Igor said from the side, not forgetting to mock him. "You wear mail. How are you squishier than a Rogue?"
"I'm back up."
Carlos had a Soulstone on him. After resurrecting, he immediately bandaged himself on the spot.
"I'll use Shield Wall in a second. Heal me."
ServerHeals cast Heal and topped him off. Seeing Princess start chasing DesertWanderer, Carlos hurried over and taunted her.
Shield Wall, the Warrior's major defensive cooldown, reduced damage taken by 75% for 10 seconds.
"Don't use Shield Wall."
Gabryell quickly stopped him.
Shield Wall had a 30-minute cooldown. If Carlos used it now, tanking Rotgrip later would become extremely difficult. Rotgrip's physical damage was even nastier than Princess's, and without Shield Wall, there was no reliable way to tank it at level 45.
"I'll die if I don't use it," Carlos said.
"I know," Gabryell replied.
He checked Princess's health. She had a little over 4,000 HP left. They should still be able to finish her without Shield Wall.
His earlier setup had been slightly off. The Soulstone should have gone on ServerHeals instead. That way, they would not have to worry so much about a full wipe.
And wiping here would be brutal. Corpse-running from Kodo Graveyard to the orange entrance, then all the way back to Princess, was ridiculously far. It almost made you wonder if Blizzard had designed it that way just to burn players' subscription time.
Since Shield Wall was off the table, Carlos had no choice but to grit his teeth and Taunt Princess back.
"That was close."
DesertWanderer let out a breath as he looked at his last sliver of HP. If Carlos had taunted even one second later, he would have died.
"Pump heals into Carlos."
Gabryell wanted to push Princess as low as possible before Carlos died a second time.
"I'm out of mana," Lunatori said helplessly.
It would have been perfect if her mana were still above 85%. Then she could have battle-rezzed Warquell.
ServerHeals said, "I've only got enough mana for a few more Heals. DPS, hurry."
"If I die, I die."
Carlos drank a Super Healing Potion. Every extra second he stayed alive mattered.
"Out of mana," ServerHeals warned.
Without healing to keep him up, Carlos finally could not hold on and was slapped down by Princess in two hits.
"Fade," Gabryell said.
ServerHeals used Fade immediately, and Princess switched to DesertWanderer.
"Everyone stop attacking," Gabryell said. "I'll finish Princess myself."
For half a second, Ventrilo went dead silent. Then everyone started talking at once.
"What?"
"You're soloing her?"
"She still has two thousand HP!"
"Stop DPS," Gabryell repeated, his voice calm but sharp. "Nobody touch her. I've got this."
Princess had a little over 2,000 HP left. He could kite her down from there without exposing the Theradrim Shardling path-block trick. The important thing now was keeping threat clean. With no tank alive, one wrong hit could send Princess charging into the raid and delete someone instantly.
Nobody understood what he was planning, but his calls had carried them this far. One by one, they stopped attacking.
Gabryell's Fireball finished casting the moment the raid backed off.
Crit.
The hit was more than enough.
Princess snapped toward him.
"Do not heal me," he said. "Not once. Just watch."
He threw up Ice Barrier and led her into a wide circle, using Fire Blast to chip away at her health while staying just ahead of her reach.
"Watch out!"
Princess started casting Boulder. A clothie eating that at level 45 could lose half his health in one hit, but Gabryell had farmed this boss thousands of times. He did not need to Blink. Not with her this low.
He used Ice Block in place.
Princess reached him, found a target in melee range, and immediately started Dust Field.
"Holy shit, that works?" Coldhands blurted out.
Gabryell canceled Ice Block, Blinked out of the dust, and began casting from max range.
Two Frostbolts went out.
One missed.
As soon as Dust Field ended, Princess used Repulsive Gaze and came after him again.
Gabryell hit Cold Snap, reset his cooldowns, and used a second Ice Block.
"Coldhands, hit her."
Princess only had a few hundred HP left. There was no need to keep dragging this out.
Coldhands snapped back into focus and attacked, pulling threat onto himself. When Princess turned and used Boulder, he copied Gabryell and Ice Blocked on the spot. Dust Field had just come off cooldown, so she reached him and wasted it in place.
"Not bad," Gabryell said. "Fast learner."
For Mages farming Princess at 60, baiting Dust Field was one of the core tricks. Good players could do it with movement and positioning; safer players used Ice Block. At level 45, body-baiting was suicide, and eating Boulder could cost half your health, so Ice Block was the only clean option.
The real solo method used a Theradrim Shardling to block her path, but Gabryell had no intention of showing that trick yet. If he did, he could have killed Princess alone from the start.
"Everyone, finish her."
He spent the last of his mana on another Frostbolt.
DesertWanderer immediately Life Tapped and fired off a Shadow Bolt.
Princess was still locked into Dust Field and could not fight back. Two Frostbolts and two Shadow Bolts later, she finally collapsed.
"Beautiful!"
Ventrilo erupted the moment she hit the ground.
Gabryell looked at the corpse and finally let himself breathe.
"Luna, loot."
If Blade of Eternal Darkness dropped on the first run, it would be because of her insane loot luck.
Lunatori stepped up to the corpse.
"Purple!"
Her voice jumped with excitement as the loot window opened.
Two blues.
One epic.