The last person to arrive often became the savior. The moment Gabryell stepped into Gurubashi Arena, he turned the Alliance's losing battle around and sent every Horde player back to the graveyard.
One man worth three. That was exactly the kind of top Mage he was, with great gear and insane skill.
"Gabryell, you came right on time. If you hadn't shown up, we probably would've wiped."
Carlos went to open the Arena Treasure Chest. He only wanted the last Arena Master he needed for Arena Grand Master. He did not care about anything else.
Arena Vambraces, a blue-quality plate bracer with 371 Armor and +6 Stamina, went to Susie after a roll. David, who lost the roll, beat his chest in frustration and lamented his terrible luck.
Another 16-slot bag dropped as well. The Arena Treasure Chest had a decent chance of dropping Traveler's Backpack, roughly one in ten.
Everyone rolled together, and DesertWanderer ended up winning it. The poor Warlock, whose bags were half-filled with Soul Shards and had no room for anything else, was so excited he nearly cried.
"I finally have all twelve Arena Master trinkets. I'm going to turn in the quest."
Carlos went up to the goblin, Short John Mithril, and turned in the quest, exchanging twelve Arena Masters for one Arena Grand Master.
He equipped Arena Grand Master. Now he was a man with a blue-quality trinket.
David opened Carlos's character window and drooled. "That trinket is insane. I want one too."
Arena Grand Master (Rare)
Item Level 55
Binds when picked up
Trinket
Equip: Increases your chance to dodge attacks by 1%.
Use: Absorbs 750 to 1250 damage for 20 sec.
30 min cooldown.
Its item level of 55 showed that Arena Grand Master was beyond the current level cap. In this stage, where trinkets were scarce, it was the best trinket for a main tank.
Susie said, "The next one is mine. Get in line."
David refused to accept it. "Duel me. Winner gets the next one."
Susie sneered. "You're trash in duels. Say it yourself—how many times did you lose in Ironforge last night?"
Last night, the two had dueled ten times, and David lost eight. It was humiliating.
Carlos was very happy to get Arena Grand Master. Now he was once again the strongest main tank in the guild.
"The Horde should be resurrecting soon. Are we camping their corpses?" Susie, the resident warmonger, asked.
Gabryell shook his head. "The chest is gone. No point. Let's go back to Ironforge first. Later, we'll all head to Tanaris together. We'll clear Zul'Farrak first and farm some basic gear, then run Maraudon tonight."
Madhouse was organizing a Maraudon run tonight. With the race agreement in place, Fearless could not miss it. Since they still had time, they might as well run Zul'Farrak first and prepare for Maraudon.
"Why not go straight to Maraudon?" David asked. He knew the details of the agreement better than anyone.
Gabryell said, "I agreed with Dream yesterday that we'll run Maraudon together tonight. We'll enter the dungeon at the same time and see which guild clears it first. That way, the result will actually show which guild is stronger, and the losing side won't have any excuses."
Starting the race at the same time was indeed fairer. That way, the losing side could not claim their main players were busy, logged in late, or lost unfairly.
Gabryell wanted Madhouse to accept the loss wholeheartedly. Only then could he ask them to do something within their ability for him. This would affect whether Tichondrius could become the first server to open the Gates of Ahn'Qiraj, and whether Fearless could become the first guild in the world to open the gates and earn the title of Scarab Lord.
Portal opened.
Back to Ironforge.
All seventeen people clicked the portal and left. The arena returned to calm, leaving only eighteen Horde corpses behind.
When the Horde resurrected and saw the empty arena, they felt bitter and frustrated.
"Damn it, they got away this time."
Voidshade growled, "I haven't killed enough yet. Alliance cowards. Fight us all day if you've got the guts."
Classic trash talk. Eighteen of them had been wiped by seventeen, yet they still refused to accept it.
Windwalker's face darkened. He already had ten Arena Master trinkets. Losing this chest meant he would have to wait several more hours to finish the set.
"NoTrace, you died?" BrokeMage noticed that NoTrace had died in the raid.
NoTrace was furious. "I finally slipped up against some nobody. I'll pay him back."
Back in Ironforge, Gabryell did not forget to whisper Coldhands. After all, buying the Hyacinth Macaw from him for 100 gold made him feel a little guilty.
"Coldhands, did you kill him?"
Gabryell was worried Coldhands had been counter-killed. If that had happened, he would definitely be corpse-camped, and Gabryell would have to bring people back to rescue him.
Coldhands said excitedly, "Killed him! Hahaha, I finally got him. That felt amazing."
"Hearth back. Come to Ironforge."
Gabryell was afraid he would stay there and get killed by the Horde coming out of the arena.
A little over ten seconds later, Coldhands appeared in Ironforge's Mystic Ward.
Seeing that he was safe, Gabryell let out a breath and invited him into the raid.
With Coldhands joining, the raid now had eighteen people, all level 45. That was about 80% of Fearless's level 45 players. The other five had logged off to rest after reaching max level.
They were going to Zul'Farrak, so they could not leave anyone behind. That would hurt guild unity.
After thinking it over, Gabryell decided to split into two groups for Zul'Farrak: one group of eight led by him, and another group of ten.
"Susie, David, you two take ten people to Zul'Farrak. I'll take eight. Since you haven't run Zul'Farrak before, having ten people will lower the difficulty and make it easier."
He explained the plan clearly. He could not make every decision by himself. He had to get everyone's agreement so no one would feel slighted.
Everyone was level 45 now, so they did not need XP. They needed gear. With more people, they could just run the dungeon a few extra times. That was better than bringing too few people and wiping nonstop.
"No problem."
Susie answered for David.
Gabryell checked the raid's class composition. There were only three Warriors, and Nightlord was offline.
"Any Paladins have a shield?"
They were short one Warrior, so they could only use a Paladin as an off-tank. They could not exactly make the two girls shift into Bear Form and tank.
Igor said, "Don't look at me. You know I don't have a shield."
This guy had disenchanted every green shield he had ever rolled.
SevenDays said, "I'm a dedicated healer."
Warquell said, "Leader, I have a shield."
Gabryell immediately inspected his gear. Good grief, another Retribution Paladin in a full set of physical gear.
"You come with my group. Equip the shield and fill in as a Protection Paladin. Is that okay?"
Protection Paladins had a real place in five-man dungeons. They only lost their core competitiveness in raid content. Zul'Farrak had plenty of mobs, especially during the pyramid event, where Consecration could hold even more mobs than a Warrior.
Warquell was pleasantly surprised. He had dreamed of running dungeons as a Protection Paladin.
"Can I really do it?"
He was not very confident, since he had never truly tanked before.
Gabryell smiled and encouraged him. "Believe in yourself. You can do it."
Taking this chance to train a Protection Paladin for the guild was not a bad idea. In later expansions, Protection Paladins would gradually get their chance to shine, and by Wrath of the Lich King, they would become one of the strongest tanks in the game.
With Gabryell's encouragement, Warquell grew excited. "I won't let you down, Leader, and I won't let everyone down."
A Retribution Paladin who didn't want to be a Protection Paladin was not a good Holy Paladin. Only triple-spec Paladins had a future, just like triple-spec Druids after The Burning Crusade, with limitless potential.