The Deflector and the Protector weren't easy drops. At a 0.5% drop rate, they were only slightly more common than the Blade of Eternal Darkness from Princess Theradras. Seeing one drop in a run was already lucky. Getting both together was basically the Zul'Farrak version of double Thunderfury bindings.
Igor was doomed to disappointment. They ran Zul'Farrak three more times, but neither sword dropped again. Coldhands, on the other hand, got lucky and picked up Jumanza Grips, so he no longer needed to solo farm the Witch Doctors.
"Everyone's upgraded enough for now. Take a break and get some food. We regroup tonight."
After four Zul'Farrak runs, the loot had been excellent. Everyone had upgraded something, which gave them a solid setup for tonight's Maraudon run.
David's group wasn't clearing as fast as Gabryell's team, but they still managed three full clears without wiping. Judging from their attitude, they planned to keep farming until Gabryell gathered everyone for Maraudon.
Portal to Stormwind.
Gabryell had no intention of starting from Gadgetzan, running through Thousand Needles into Feralas, and then finally reaching Desolace. Instead, he planned to take the boat from Booty Bay to Ratchet, cut through The Barrens into Stonetalon Mountains, and enter Desolace from there.
It was faster that way. Nijel's Point sat near the top of Desolace, so going through Gadgetzan just to unlock the flight path wasted time crossing an extra zone.
Back in Stormwind, Gabryell went straight to the bank and mailed all the Mageweave Cloth to Danielly so she could start making Mageweave Bags once she hit level 35 and learned Artisan Tailoring.
"Already level 34? You're leveling fast."
Gabryell checked her level. Her Dwarf Priest was already questing through Arathi Highlands at level 34.
"How far are you from 35?" he asked.
Danielly replied instantly. "9%."
"I mailed you the Mageweave Cloth. Once you hit 35, go to Theramore and level Tailoring."
"Got it"
Gabryell suddenly remembered something else. He took out all the Wildvine and Heart of the Wild he had farmed in The Hinterlands and Stranglethorn Vale, along with the Truesilver Bars and Jade he had smelted earlier.
"After you unlock Artisan Tailoring, make the Dreamweave set first. Don't bother with Mageweave Bags until you use up these materials."
He had almost forgotten the best caster gear available around their current level: Dreamweave Gloves, Dreamweave Vest, and Dreamweave Circlet. Forgetting something like that was unacceptable for a reborn Mage.
At this stage of the game, the Dreamweave set was amazing value, whether for personal use or auction house profit. It made far more money than Mageweave Bags.
"Carlos, Igor, Hugo, hand over all your Wildvine and Heart of the Wild."
The other materials were easy to get. Wildvine was the annoying one.
The three went to the bank and traded everything over.
Still not enough.
Gabryell headed to the Auction House and bought every reasonably priced Wildvine and Heart of the Wild he could find. He also cleaned out the cheap Truesilver Ore, Truesilver Bars, and Jade.
"That should be enough for ten sets."
After doing the math, he figured he could craft around ten Dreamweave sets: one for himself, one for Danielly, and the rest for auction house profit.
"When you hit 40, respec Shadow and level with Dreamweave," Gabryell told Danielly. "That set can carry you all the way to 60."
Back on the later Classic servers, Gabryell himself had used the three-piece Dreamweave set until the level-60 dungeons. The value was incredible.
"Understood, Master. I should hit 35 after this quest."
"I'm heading to Theramore too. Message me when you get there, and I'll trade you the materials."
"Okay."
Gabryell turned toward his three roommates. "Let's head to Theramore."
Carlos and the others looked confused. "Why Theramore?"
"First Aid. We never had time to do the Triage quest before. Since we've got time now, we can finally unlock Artisan First Aid."
That reminded all three of them.
"Oh right, our First Aid is still capped."
First Aid was extremely important in Vanilla WoW. Every class benefited from it.
Gabryell opened a portal to Ironforge. The four friends flew to Menethil Harbor, took the boat to Theramore Isle, entered the keep, and found the field medic.
"Failed again. This quest is complete bullshit."
"How is this even First Aid? I've already failed five times."
Gabryell's group wasn't alone. Two other players were also doing the Triage quest, and judging from the complaints in public chat, they had been getting destroyed.
The two players belonged to different guilds. One was a Human Mage from Hallelujah named MagicGirl. The other was a Human Warrior from Madhouse named DaVinci.
"Is the quest really that hard?" Igor asked.
Gabryell grinned. "Go try it."
Very few new players cleared Triage on their first attempt. Even Gabryell, despite years of experience, had failed it once back on the later Classic servers.
Igor refused to believe a First Aid quest could be difficult.
"Watch this. I'm clearing it first try."
Confidence was easy. Reality was different.
Igor accepted the quest and immediately began embarrassing himself.
After accepting Triage, injured patients spawned throughout the room. Players had to use the special Triage Bandages from the quest to heal them.
The objective was to successfully save fifteen patients before six died. Patients came in three categories: Critically Injured, Badly Injured, and Injured. Critically Injured patients died extremely fast if ignored.
First-time players usually panicked, running all over the room without priorities or positioning. Some didn't even realize they had been given special quest bandages and tried using their own First Aid bandages instead.
Igor belonged firmly to that second category.
He tried using his regular bandages and instantly failed the quest.
"What the hell? Why don't the bandages work? Is the quest bugged?"
Gabryell nearly laughed out loud. "Open your bag."
Igor dug through his inventory and finally found the Triage Bandages.
"Oh. I'm supposed to use these?"
"Obviously. Those are the quest items. Your regular bandages don't count."
Igor immediately recovered his confidence.
"That attempt doesn't count. I get it now. Watch this."
Naturally, he failed again.
This time, too many patients died before he could stabilize the room.
"What is this garbage? This makes no sense."
"Next try for sure. I'm serious this time."
The third attempt failed even faster.
Sweat formed on Igor's forehead. He was genuinely getting embarrassed now.
"Trash Blizzard design. This quest is anti-human."
Gabryell laughed. "It's not anti-human. It's anti-newbie."
Carlos had been watching from the side and finally couldn't resist anymore.
"This doesn't look that hard. Igor's just doing it wrong. Let me try."
Igor snorted. "Go ahead. I don't believe you clear it first try either."
Carlos snorted. "You're just bad. Watch this."
Half a minute later, he failed miserably too.
"Okay, this quest is complete bullshit."
Hugo finally stepped forward. "Let me try."
Carlos stepped aside immediately. "Go ahead. I need to rethink my strategy."
Hugo came the closest to succeeding, but he reacted too slowly to the Critically Injured patients and failed at the very end.
The two nearby players had completely stopped their own attempts to spectate Gabryell's group. They originally hoped to learn something useful, but after watching Igor fail three times in a row, they concluded these guys were just as hopeless as they were.
"Can you guys actually do it or not? If not, let us keep trying," one of them said impatiently. After several attempts, they felt like they were getting close.
Gabryell smiled. "This quest is easy. I can clear it first try."
"You're full of shit."
"You don't believe me?"
"Not even a little."
"Alright then." Gabryell grinned. "If I clear it first try, you two leave your guilds and join Fearless."
He was openly poaching members. Weakening rival guilds counted as strengthening his own.
The two had personally suffered through the quest and didn't believe anyone could one-shot it, so they agreed immediately.
"Fine. But if you fail, you pay each of us ten gold. Deal?"
"Deal."
Seeing easy money walk up to them, both of them were thrilled.