(views of the attendees from the tournament floor)
Trial of Champions, the new 5 man is fun. I'm sure hardcore raiders and people that only want the hardest mode possible will hate it, but from a perspective of a novice raider and someone that really has avoided PUGs and dungeons in general - I like this one!
(I'm not going to write up the whole thing - wowhead.com comments has a complete write up of the whole event, etc., from the PTR with loot table info, etc.)
Phase One - The Grand ChampionsIt starts with mounted jousting along the lines of the tournament, all set inside an arena with the Horde represented on one side (Thrall and Hellscream) and Alliance represented on the other (Varian and Jaina) with crowds cheering on the various factions. It felt very much like being at the Medieval Times restaurant without the food!
After the three bosses are unhorsed (keep one person trampling the downed boss so he doesn't remount), it goes into 5 man dungeon mode. It's fairly straightforward as you face the three bosses that you just unmounted. Each has a specific attack based on class and need to be prioritized based on that.
Phase Two - The Argent Crusade Representative
Depending on which you face this can go quickly or be a wipe. Eadric the Pure (pally attacks) is easy - turn your back on his radiance, and watch for his hammer toss. It's about 15k damage on a random group member. Argent Confessor Paletress (priest) is harder. As you start with her, once she reaches 25% health, she summons a 'memory' boss and she is then immune until after that boss is downed. She does heal the boss, which is a pain.
I've read that the bosses all have the same attacks, but we didn't experience that. The murloc from Wailing Caverns, Mutanous, and the dragon (didn't get the name but fears alot!) seemed to do excessive damage and down players from full health. We weren't sure if it was a bug or just a special attack none of us saw. The other bosses she summoned were killable quite quickly in comparision.
Phase Three - Return of The Black Knight
The Black Knight swoops in and the fun begins. There are three parts to his fight, none are particularly hard.
The first its him and one ghoul (he kills the npc and raises him/her as a ghoul) - this is easy. The second he rises as a skeleton with a ghoul army (AoE's take care of that - volley shot, DK army, mage AoEs, etc.). The third he's a specter and needs to be burned down quickly as he has a stacking debuff and AoE's causing magic damage.
Overall a fun instance and quick! The plus sides it's close to a repair and food vendor outside. If you die its a short distance to return.
Our guild ran this quite a bit yesterday on regular mode - the drops were great - gearing up a number of newer level 80's.
Great guide! I have been reluctant to enter the ToC - I get very nervous in dungeons - but this makes it seem very straightforward. Thanks!
ReplyDelete