"Hahahaha!"
Coldhands burst out laughing. "A roll is a roll. We live with it."
"This guy's lost it," DesertWanderer said, unable to keep watching. "If you didn't know better, you'd think he won."
"Dude, you rolled a 1, not a 100," DeathScum said. "Can you at least react like a normal person?"
"Come on," DeathScum added. "Give us some tears."
Coldhands sounded proud. "I earned that 1 fair and square. Not everyone has the talent to bottom out that hard."
Everyone went silent for a second.
"Gab rolled a 100," Lunatori said. "I think that's the first time I've ever seen it."
She had been running dungeons with Gabryell since level 10, and this really was the first time she had seen him roll a perfect 100.
When Blade of Eternal Darkness landed in his bag, Gabryell felt a strange little pang of loss. The excitement passed faster than he expected. Was his career as Princess Theradras's most loyal visitor really over after one run?
"Is this dagger really that good for Mage farming?" Coldhands asked once he finally calmed down.
"A Mage with Blade of Eternal Darkness and a Mage without it feel like two different classes," Gabryell said. "When you hit 60, come farm Princess yourself and get one. Then you'll understand."
With Blade of Eternal Darkness, he could level to 60 even faster than before. He planned to adjust his AoE grinding route and build a new leveling path around it.
"Blizzard won't trigger the dagger's effect, so when you have time, go practice Cone of Cold kiting in the Zul'Farrak graveyard." Gabryell wanted Coldhands to master Cone of Cold properly and become a real Mage.
"No problem," Coldhands said. "After Maraudon, I'll go practice."
After a pause, he added, "As for Blade of Eternal Darkness, I'll farm it when I hit 60. Easy drop. Couple runs, tops."
Gabryell smiled and said nothing.
Only after someone actually farmed Blade of Eternal Darkness would they understand how brutal the drop rate was. He just hoped Coldhands would not lose his mind farming Princess.
"We killed Princess, right?" Carlos asked. "Doesn't that mean Maraudon's cleared?"
Since Princess Theradras was the ruler of Maraudon, killing her felt like enough to count as beating the dungeon and winning the race against Madhouse.
Gabryell pulled himself out of the joy of getting Blade of Eternal Darkness and said, "Not yet. Two bosses left. Our bet with Madhouse was every boss in Maraudon."
"Where are the other two?"
He walked up to the waterfall. "Follow me. Jump together."
Then he leaped straight down into the pool below.
"Holy crap, he jumped!" Coldhands shouted. "Did winning my dagger make him feel so guilty he decided to end it all?"
From below, Gabryell called back, "Coldhands, I'm starting to think you're an actual clown."
"Coming, Ogabs. Don't die without me."
Coldhands jumped after him, and the others followed.
"Clear the hydras up ahead, then wait here for the boss to swim over."
Rotgrip was not in sight yet. He probably had not patrolled over.
By now, everyone understood there was a boss in the pool, so they immediately cleared the hydras ahead.
After the hydras were dead and they had waited a little while, a massive crocodile finally swam toward them.
"That thing is huge."
"Is that a prehistoric crocodile?"
Maraudon's crocodile boss, Rotgrip. Who knew whether it was Princess Theradras's pet? Given how vicious she was, keeping a giant crocodile around would not be surprising.
"Carlos, you tank it. Rotgrip is mostly physical damage, and he hits hard."
Gabryell gave the simplest possible strategy. "Hold him. Use cooldowns if you have to. Healers keep him alive. Everyone else, burn."
There was not much finesse to Rotgrip. It was a straight brawl. Although he had a life-stealing ability, the healing was not high enough to matter. As long as the tank stayed alive, they could brute-force it.
Gabryell had saved Shield Wall specifically for this fight. With Shield Wall and Last Stand both ready again, Carlos should be able to hold. If things went badly, Warquell could still step in as off-tank.
Carlos did not disappoint him. He timed Last Stand and Shield Wall properly and survived Rotgrip's heavy physical hits.
"If David's group can't tank him, tell them to drag Rotgrip toward Gizlock."
There was another way to handle the crocodile. Wait on the bridge above the pool for him to swim over, tag him with a ranged attack, then immediately run toward Tinkerer Gizlock.
Once you reached Gizlock, you did not stop. You kept running toward Princess, all the way to the highest point on the path between Gizlock and Princess, then waited for Rotgrip to chase you.
After that, you used the vertical terrain to kite him down, abusing the fact that mobs in World of Warcraft could not jump.
When Gabryell soloed Rotgrip at level 60, that was the method he used. Easy, simple, and safe.
With ten people, there was no need for anything that annoying. They just beat Rotgrip to death in the pool.
Rotgrip Mantle (Rare)
Binds when picked up
Shoulder Cloth
57 Armor
+17 Intellect
+11 Spirit
Requires Level 48
Having already obtained Blade of Eternal Darkness, Gabryell had no interest in cloth shoulders with no Stamina, so he passed immediately.
Seeing him pass, Coldhands passed as well.
Lunatori already had leather shoulders and did not need them, so the mantle went to ServerHeals.
"Next boss."
Gabryell led the way, swimming into the cavern ahead, leaving the pool and heading toward the corner where Tinkerer Gizlock was hiding.
Tinkerer Gizlock was easy for new groups to miss because of where he hid. Anyone entering Maraudon for the first time could easily walk right past him.
Mages farming Princess, however, never forgot him.
The poor goblin was hiding in a corner, minding his own business, yet countless Princess farmers still paid him a visit. To avoid locking themselves out of the instance, they would specifically detour over and kill him once. His death count was probably right up there with Princess Theradras herself.
Wrong place, wrong dungeon, wrong neighbors.
"This is the last boss. Once he's dead, we win."
Tinkerer Gizlock had three main tricks: bombs, gunfire, and Goblin Dragon Gun.
As long as they dodged Goblin Dragon Gun, he was easy. When he used it, he stood still like an idiot. Anyone who could not move out of that deserved whatever happened next.
"Warquell, you tank this one."
For the final boss, Gabryell planned to let Warquell main tank. That way, ServerHeals could shield him freely without worrying about rage.
"ServerHeals, keep shielding Quell the whole fight."
If Gabryell were a Priest, he would definitely love Protection Paladin tanks. You could shield them whenever you wanted, unlike Warriors or Bears, who would yell at you for starving their rage.
"Move out of the fire breath," he called as soon as Gizlock raised the Goblin Dragon Gun. "Anyone who dies to that is getting called a clicker for the rest of the run."
Nobody wanted to be called a clicker for the rest of the run, so everyone scattered the moment Gizlock raised the Goblin Dragon Gun. While he stood there channeling, the ranged DPS burned him down.
A group that had killed Princess Theradras had no business wiping to one goblin. About five minutes later, Tinkerer Gizlock went down.
Lunatori stepped up to loot.
Gizlock's Hypertech Buckler (Rare)
Binds when picked up
Off Hand Shield
1835 Armor
32 Block
+10 Intellect
+5 Stamina
Durability 100 / 100
Requires Level 48
Equip: Restores 4 mana every 5 sec.
"Not bad. That's a Paladin shield if I've ever seen one."
The shield suited Paladins perfectly, whether Protection or Holy. Since Igor had come in as Retribution, it naturally went to Warquell.
"Grats," DesertWanderer said.
Warquell finally had a proper shield, which made him even sturdier.
"Thanks, everyone."
He was genuinely happy. After a full day of guild runs, he had not only gotten to play the Protection Paladin role he wanted, but had also picked up a pile of tank gear.
Gizlock's loot was similar to Princess's in one way: he also liked throwing in an extra random BoE.
Band of the Unicorn (Uncommon)
Binds when equipped
Finger
Requires Level 43
Equip: Increases damage and healing done by magical spells and effects by up to 13.
A very nice BoE spell damage ring.
"Casters roll."
By casters, Gabryell meant both healers and DPS. This ring was good for any of them.
"Hahahaha!"
Coldhands laughed again. "A roll is a roll. We live with it. Don't mind if I do."
This time, his luck finally behaved. He won the ring, which counted as the system taking pity on him after stealing Blade of Eternal Darkness from his hands.
"Any more bosses?" Carlos asked.
"No more."
Carlos perked up immediately. "Then we won?"
"Should have," Gabryell said, finally relaxing a little. "Let me whisper Dreamshade and see where they are."
Based on their progress, Madhouse should still be fighting Princess. The only question was whether they had managed to kill her or wiped like Freedom.