Earthslag Shoulders
Rare
Binds when picked up
Shoulder
Plate
410 Armor
+13 Strength
+8 Intellect
+8 Stamina
Durability 80 / 80
Requires Level 47
Equip: Increases damage and healing done by magical spells and effects by up to 9.
After they killed Lord Roccor, the earth elemental boss, a pair of plate shoulders dropped.
Carlos took one look and immediately deflated.
"Plate shoulders with spell damage?" he said. "What am I supposed to do, tank with Fireball?"
"That's healer gear," Gabryell said. "Congratulations, Igor. The game has chosen your future."
In five-player dungeons, Igor could keep playing Retribution. In raids, however, he would have to switch to healing. During Molten Core and Onyxia's Lair progression, Ret Paladins had no raid spots.
Igor accepted the shoulders with visible reluctance, looking like a man who had just been sentenced to healbot duty.
After clearing a full circle, all five of them obtained A Crumpled Up Note and picked up the follow-up quest. Next, they had to keep pushing deeper into BRD and prepare the way for Marshal Windsor's escort.
Once the ring was clear, they returned to the Detention Block and headed for Windsor's cell, then handed him the note.
After reading it, his attitude finally changed, and he began asking for their help.
"Do you know what this means? Perhaps they haven't gotten everything yet. What I know for certain is that two Dark Iron dwarves, General Angerforge and Golem Lord Argelmach, are currently deciphering my intelligence."
"I don't expect recovering my lost documents to be simple. Be ready for a fight. Find those two scoundrels, kill them, and bring back what they stole from me."
Windsor wanted them to go after General Angerforge and Golem Lord Argelmach.
Igor was still annoyed by Windsor's attitude from earlier.
"This guy was telling us to get lost five minutes ago, and now he wants help? If this weren't a quest, he could stay in that cell."
"You're beefing with an NPC now?" Gabryell said. "Skip the quest if you want. He loses nothing. You lose the attunement."
Igor immediately shut up.
Gabryell left the cell and headed toward the Ring of Law. Without the Shadowforge Key, they had to fight through the arena to reach the East Garrison.
The Ring of Law was a place that haunted countless Warriors' dreams. To meet Gorosh the Dervish and get Savage Gladiator Chain, Warriors would camp the BRD entrance every day, offering gold to anyone with a Gorosh lockout.
"Arena 3-man x5. Need two. Fast."
Nine times out of ten, anyone shouting that was a suffering Warrior, because most classes that needed arena gear could solo-farm it themselves.
After arriving at the Ring of Law, they walked to the center and triggered the event, causing the goblin to come out and open the gate.
The trash waves were random every time. There were two waves in total, and both used the same mob type.
After both waves were dead, the locked gate across from the entrance would open and reveal the boss. The Ring of Law had six possible bosses, with one spawning at random each run. Purely in terms of value, Gorosh the Dervish was the jackpot.
Still, Gabryell personally wanted Ok'thor the Breaker. A one-in-six chance was not great, but Ok'thor dropped the spell-damage-and-hit belt he had been hoping for.
"Lizards," Carlos said.
The trash mobs this time were lizards, only three per wave, and they died easily.
After the first wave went down, there was a short recovery window, so everyone immediately sat down to eat and drink. Just as they finished, the second wave appeared.
It died just as quickly.
"Drink fast," Gabryell said. "Boss is next."
He looked toward the wooden gate ahead, wondering which one they would get.
The gate opened.
When a two-headed ogre holding a staff stepped out, Gabryell's eyes lit up.
"Oh, nice. Ok'thor."
This was the arena boss Mages liked the most, and the only reason a Mage who did not know how to solo-farm the arena would ever join a Warrior's three-man five-run group.
Ok'thor was only a level 53 boss. A level 60 Hemo Rogue could pop Evasion, burn him down head-on, use Preparation, hit Evasion again if needed, and finish the fight. Classes like Mages, Hunters, and Priests could kite him using the platform in the East Garrison.
"Carlos, grab him."
Gabryell was already impatient. Once Ok'thor died, he would have Lunatori loot the corpse.
As soon as the boss fell, he said, "Luna, check him."
Lunatori went up and opened the loot window.
Ban'thok Sash
Rare
Binds when picked up
Waist
Cloth
43 Armor
+10 Stamina
+11 Intellect
Durability 30 / 30
Requires Level 49
Equip: Improves your chance to hit with spells by 1%.
Equip: Increases damage and healing done by magical spells and effects by up to 12.
"First try!" Gabryell said, laughing. "Beautiful. That saves me a solo farm later."
Being able to solo the arena did not mean he had time to farm it. Since Ban'thok Sash dropped in one run, he no longer had any reason to come back for himself.
Maybe once Carlos's Fury Warrior alt reached 60, Gabryell would still have to return and help farm Savage Gladiator Chain from Gorosh. Before Ahn'Qiraj opened, it was the best chest piece for Fury Warriors.
Savage Gladiator Chain was mail, so Hunters could use it too. However, Hunters could solo-farm it themselves, so Gabryell did not need to worry about them.
After the arena boss died, the small door on the left opened, leading into the East Garrison.
The Ring of Law actually had a bug. The rock on the left side of the entrance could be climbed, and players could drop combat up there. If a group really could not beat the arena mobs, they could climb up, drop combat, and wait for the trash to vanish on its own after a while.
Once the mobs disappeared, the arena would count as cleared. No boss would spawn, but the small door on the left would still open, allowing the party to enter the East Garrison.
After arriving there, Gabryell did not go straight to General Angerforge. Instead, he jumped down from the stairs and activated the Shadowforge mechanism, opening the gate ahead.
"Clear straight through."
The mobs here were only level 50–51, so there was no need to be careful. In fact, the first half of BRD was not especially high-level in general. A level 58+ party could roll over most of it.
They pushed all the way in. About ten minutes later, they reached General Angerforge.
Gabryell was level 60 now and already capable of soloing him. After clearing the right-side packs, he could use the ledge to kite Angerforge to death.
This boss was probably one of the Rogue favorites. A Hemo Rogue with decent gear could use Evasion, Preparation, and line-of-sight tricks around the trash mobs to kill him and farm Hand of Justice.
"Go in," Gabryell said. "Carlos, watch the Disarm. His crits hurt."
General Angerforge was a physical mob, so he could be disarmed. His biggest threat was his critical damage, which hit especially hard against non-plate classes.
Carlos was wearing full defensive gear, and his Defense was already above 300, so the General's chance of critting him was not that high. Besides, once a Warrior reached 60, soloing this boss was actually easier for him than it was for a Rogue. A Warrior could stand there and fight him head-on.
The only thing stopping Warriors from farming him was the mountain of trash mobs on the way.
Gabryell did not take a boss that so many classes could solo too seriously. All he cared about was whether Hand of Justice would drop this time.
Although there were no Rogues or Fury Warriors in the party, the trinket was still useful for Protection Warriors and Hunters. For the former, it helped with damage and threat. For the latter, before Dire Maul opened, there was only one really good trinket, Blackhand's Breadth. The other slot could use Hand of Justice. Twenty Attack Power was still better than nothing.
Alliance was not Horde.
They did not have Rune of the Guard Captain.
What a damn pain.