They found Vaelan inside LBRS and picked up Seal of Ascension.
To forge the Seal of Ascension, they needed an Unadorned Seal of Ascension, a Gemstone of Spirestone, a Gemstone of Smolderthorn, and a Gemstone of Bloodaxe.
The Unadorned Seal of Ascension dropped from trash mobs. There were plenty of mobs in LBRS, and the drop rate was not bad.
The Gemstone of Spirestone dropped from Highlord Omokk. The Gemstone of Smolderthorn dropped from War Master Voone. The Gemstone of Bloodaxe dropped from the final boss, Overlord Wyrmthalak.
"I'll take the Unadorned Seal," Gabryell said. "Don't roll Need on any gemstones that drop later."
The gemstones could not be traded. If they wanted a Seal of Ascension as quickly as possible, one person had to collect all three. Once one person had the UBRS key, everyone could enter Upper Blackrock Spire together.
They cleared their way through the trash and reached Highlord Omokk.
"That is a lot of ogres," Igor said.
Nefarian really had a strange talent for recruiting monsters. Even ogres served him. Highlord Omokk and the mobs around him were all massive ogres, and ogres had one very simple specialty.
They hit hard.
"Nothing we can't handle," Carlos said.
With his current Defense, he was not afraid of this pack. He picked up the ogres with room to spare.
"Carlos, tank Omokk against the wall," Gabryell said. "Luna, watch for damage spikes."
He knew Highlord Omokk's mechanics far too well. Back when he farmed Skyshroud Leggings, he had soloed this boss more times than he cared to remember.
Omokk had an enrage effect that boosted his attack speed and damage for a short period. If a clothie got clipped during that, they could lose half their health in one swing.
He also had a knockback. If they fought him out in the open, someone could get launched straight into another pack. It was one of the easiest ways to wipe while solo-farming him.
Carlos backed into the corner to stop the knockback from sending him flying.
When Highlord Omokk failed to move him, he immediately enraged. His attack power spiked, and every hit started biting into Carlos's health.
"This bastard actually hurts," Carlos said.
His health kept dipping and bouncing back up.
"Too bad we don't have Tranquilizing Shot yet," Gabryell said.
At this stage, no Hunter had Tranquilizing Shot. The skill book dropped from Lucifron, the first boss in Molten Core. If they had it, Omokk's enrage would be much easier to deal with.
They could still kill him without it.
After running Blackrock Depths and turning in several quests, Carlos and the others had already reached level 59. LBRS was well within their reach.
"Come on," Hugo said. "Give us the gemstone."
Gear was secondary this time. The three gemstones were the real reason they were here.
Once Highlord Omokk fell, Lunatori went up to loot him.
"A gemstone dropped!" she said.
Gemstone of Spirestone was a green item, so a Need roll window appeared. Gabryell naturally rolled Need.
One gemstone secured.
Now they could only hope War Master Voone and Overlord Wyrmthalak did their part.
Skyshroud Leggings
Rare
Binds when picked up
Legs
Cloth
75 Armor
+8 Stamina
+8 Intellect
Durability 65 / 65
Requires Level 55
Equip: Increases damage and healing done by magical spells and effects by up to 34.
Lunatori's hands were as lucky as ever.
On their first Highlord Omokk kill, she had not only looted the Gemstone of Spirestone, but also pulled the boss's best caster drop.
"Damn," Gabryell said. "It actually dropped."
In his previous life in WoW Classic, he had spent piles of Light Feathers solo-farming Skyshroud Leggings from the opposite side of the room. It had taken dozens of kills before they finally appeared.
Having Luna in the group really felt like bringing a walking lucky charm.
This was exactly why Gabryell liked taking her into dungeons. Those lucky hands were too good to give up.
Lunatori already had Senior Designer's Pantaloons, so Gabryell took the Skyshroud Leggings.
After equipping them, his spell damage rose by another 34 points. At this point, his spell power was probably higher than any other caster on Tichondrius. If he ended up with a tank who had weak threat, he would rip aggro within seconds.
"There's also a head," Lunatori said, linking Head of Omokk.
"That's a quest item," Gabryell said. "It can be used to summon another boss, but we're skipping that for now."
Collecting the gemstones mattered more. Any optional boss they could skip, they would skip.
After killing Highlord Omokk, they headed straight for War Master Voone. On the way, they could conveniently kill Shadow Hunter Vosh'gajin too.
"Igor, don't fall."
They turned back toward the ramp and began descending to the next level.
Gabryell specifically reminded Igor to watch his step. The lower area was packed with orcs and trolls. If someone fell down by accident, they would get chased to death. Without knowing where to reset, that meant a corpse run.
"I'll sheep one of the shadow hunters," Gabryell said.
There were four mobs at the end of the ramp. The shadow hunter-type mobs were just like the trolls in Zul'Farrak. They could Hex players into small animals, and that was always annoying.
Gabryell's group was not too worried.
If Lunatori got Hexed, Igor could cleanse her. If Igor got Hexed, then his damage was low enough that nobody would notice.
Gabryell opened with Polymorph, and Carlos charged in to pick up the rest.
The trash went down easily.
They cleared their way to a split. The right-hand passage led upward, while the left side descended into a larger hall.
They took the right passage first.
At the top was a large room. Two packs of trolls stood near the entrance, and Shadow Hunter Vosh'gajin waited at the very back.
She showed as a skull-level mob, but her real level was around 60. The skull icon was mostly there to scare people.
"Pull the trash out," Gabryell said. "Kill it outside."
The most annoying thing about humanoid mobs was that they ran at low health. If they fought them inside the room, a runner could easily bring the boss.
They pulled the mobs out and killed them safely. It was not difficult, and the room was soon cleared.
"A skull boss," Hugo said.
In World of Warcraft, skull-level mobs usually meant dangerous bosses.
For Shadow Hunter Vosh'gajin, the skull icon was more intimidating than the fight itself. As long as they handled Hex properly, she was not even as dangerous as Highlord Omokk.
"Igor, cleanse anyone who gets transformed."
Retribution Paladins did have some use. They could serve as half a healer. If they were spell-damage Ret Paladins, they could even count as two-thirds of one.
Igor was not thrilled about being treated like a discount Holy Paladin, but for the sake of the run, he obediently handled dispels.
Once the Hexes were cleansed, Vosh'gajin was basically free.
Trueaim Gauntlets
Rare
Binds when picked up
Hands
218 Armor
Durability 40 / 40
Requires Level 54
Equip: Increased Bows +8.
Equip: Improves your chance to hit by 1%.
Equip: Increased Guns +8.
Equip: Increased Crossbows +8.
"What the hell?" Hugo froze when he saw the drop. "These are insane."
The gloves were genuinely ridiculous for a Hunter at this stage. They gave ranged weapon skill and hit chance in one slot.
"Edgemaster's for Hunters," Gabryell said.
As expected of a boss who fought with a bow, even her loot was unusual.
Unfortunately, this was only a blue boss drop. If it had been a world-drop BoE epic instead, it could probably sell for half the price of Edgemaster's Handguards.
Hunters would not be starved for hit forever, but right now, before anyone had raid gear, hit was extremely valuable. Missing shots in dungeon fights was painful enough to make anyone want to replace half their gear.
Hugo took the Trueaim Gauntlets with a grin. Once he equipped them, his shots would miss far less often in combat.
They backed out of Vosh'gajin's chamber and headed down the stairs on the left.
The stairs split into two paths.
If they went down the right side and turned the corner, they would see the entrance to another room. War Master Voone, who dropped the Gemstone of Smolderthorn, was inside.
Gabryell and the others first cleared the loose mobs near the entrance. Then they waited in place for a moment and killed the patrol coming up from behind before entering the room.
War Master Voone's room was divided into three sections.
The first section had four trolls. They sheeped one, pulled the rest outside, and killed them safely to avoid adds.
The second section only had two weak trolls and was cleared quickly.
The final section held War Master Voone himself.
"Go in," Gabryell said. "Disarm him if you can."
War Master Voone did not require any special strategy.
Tank held him.
Healer kept the tank alive.
DPS burned him down.
"Come on, Gemstone of Smolderthorn."
If Voone dropped the gemstone, then even if Overlord Wyrmthalak failed to drop the Gemstone of Bloodaxe later, they could skip Voone on the next run and head straight for the final boss.
That alone would save them a lot of time.