With Fearless, Madhouse, and Freedom all entering The Stockade at the same time, the race for the dungeon's server first clear had taken on unusual significance.
Whichever guild secured the server first clear of the Stockade would become the top guild on Tichondrius at this stage.
In World of Warcraft, a guild's reputation isn't measured by when it was founded, how many members it has, or even what server it's on—it comes down to results: server first clears and speedrun records. Without standout clears or speed runs, no one would recognize your guild as truly strong.
Founded in 2009, the Stars shot to fame by taking the world-first Yogg-Saron kill in Ulduar, becoming one of the best-known guilds in World of Warcraft.
There were five quests for Stormwind The Stockade. The quest for Kam Deepfury, picked up from Motley Garmason in the Wetlands, was simply too far away, so Gabryell ignored it.
As soon as they entered the instance, Gabryell and the other four grew noticeably more serious than they had been in The Deadmines. With Madhouse and Freedom joining the race, this run was no longer about personal success or failure. It was about guild honor.
"I heard you're doing Stormwind The Stockade at the same time as Madhouse and Freedom?"
DesertWanderer asked in guild chat.
Gabryell had just finished buffing and was sitting down to eat and drink when he saw the question.
"How do you know?"
DesertWanderer replied, "People from Freedom are advertising it in the Tichondrius TS server right now. Looks like they're even planning to livestream their first-kill attempt there."
Gabryell couldn't help laughing when he read that. Was Freedom's guild master, Merciless, really that confident? Did he seriously think a group averaging level 24 could casually take the server first clear of the Stockade?
"Where's he getting that confidence from? Does he think he's some kind of hotshot?"
Gabryell had never considered Freedom a real threat. In his previous life, they had always been second place. In this one, they were destined to become third.
"Damn, Gabryell, should we stream the whole run in the TS server too?" Igor hated having someone else steal the spotlight.
"No need. If Freedom wants to make fools of themselves, let them."
A mocking smile curled at Gabryell's lips.
"I'm just worried they'll try to show off and end up turning themselves into a joke."
"If that really happens, I'll be the first one setting off fireworks in Stormwind to celebrate," Igor said disdainfully.
Gabryell said, "Focus on our own run first. We'll use our results to slap Freedom in the face."
"Then let's get started already. My axe has been thirsty for a fight for a long time."
Igor pressed Z and drew his two-handed axe. With Lunatori there, he was still filling in as DPS.
"Guys good luck. We're all rooting for you."
David spoke in guild chat. He knew about the Maraudon rivalry between Fearless and Madhouse and hoped Fearless could keep Madhouse pinned under them the whole way.
David and Susie's two teams had both cleared The Deadmines that afternoon. They hadn't stayed behind to farm gear and were already questing in Redridge Mountains. At level 23, they belonged to Fearless's first tier.
With David taking the lead, guild chat was instantly flooded with support. Gabryell didn't find it annoying at all. He was very satisfied with this kind of guild atmosphere. Only when everyone cared about the guild's wins and losses would they truly feel that they belonged.
Gabryell switched to party chat.
"See that? For the sake of the guild, we can't lose."
After a solid dose of motivational talk, the five of them pulled themselves together and began pushing through The Stockade in earnest.
Stormwind The Stockade was split into three sections: the center, the left side, and the right side. Because the map was small, even without pulling everything in one go, people standing at the entrance could still soak up experience, which made it a favorite among Alliance players.
Mages who couldn't run Scarlet Monastery, Maraudon, or Stratholme liked boosting in The Stockade. Alliance alts liked it because they could stand right in the city and level. Over time, The Stockade became the Alliance's most popular boosting dungeon, carrying characters from level 15 all the way to 30.
Gabryell said to Carlos and Igor, "Carlos, Igor, once you hit 60, if you've got nothing better to do and want some pocket money, you can always come boost people in The Stockade."
Because The Stockade was such a low-level dungeon, it wasn't just Mages who could boost it. Warriors, Paladins, Priests, and practically every class could do it. The only difference was speed. Warrior, Paladin, and Priest boosts actually weren't much slower than Mage boosts. Compared to Mages, the downside was that Warriors and Paladins paid more in repair bills, while Priests had to carry a ridiculous amount of water.
The mobs in the central section of The Stockade were levels 23 to 24, with 1,815 HP at 23 and 1,953 HP at 24.
The moment Carlos spotted a patrolling level 24 Defias Prisoner, he charged straight in.
In World of Warcraft, humanoid mobs generally had a larger detection radius than beasts. As soon as Carlos charged up to the Defias Prisoner, another level 24 Defias Prisoner farther back immediately rushed over, waving his dagger.
"Carlos, be careful. The space here is cramped, the mobs have a wide aggro range, and nearby mobs can chain-pull really easily. It's very easy to add."
Gabryell warned him. The biggest cause of wipes in The Stockade was accidental adds. If they pulled an entire room, their only options were to run out immediately or wait to wipe.
Carlos knew he'd been too reckless with that charge.
"Sorry. I'll be careful."
Two level 24 elites were no threat to a party of four level 25s and one level 27. The five of them brought them down quickly.
"Left or right?" Carlos asked, meaning the first room on the left or the first room on the right.
Gabryell said, "Doesn't matter. Wait. Don't go in and pull yet. Drag the hallway mobs over here and kill them first."
Humanoid mobs would flee at low health. If they didn't clear the hallway first, it would be easy to pick up extra aggro.
Hugo stepped forward and carefully pulled the hallway mobs one by one without alerting the enemies inside the room, dragging them back to the entrance to kill them.
With the hallway temporarily safe, Carlos followed his usual habit and entered the left room first.
There were only three mobs inside, all level 23 elites. With Carlos's sturdiness as a Warrior, pulling all three at once wasn't a problem.
"What the hell, this mob can Disarm?"
Carlos cried out as the weapon in his hands suddenly vanished.
Gabryell said, "Defias Prisoners can Disarm. Actually, every mob in The Stockade has three skills. Some you need to watch out for, some you can ignore. I'll point out the dangerous ones."
There wasn't anything especially difficult about the mobs in the central section. As a veteran Mage, Gabryell thought the hardest section in The Stockade was the right side. The mobs there had a Backhand skill that could knock people down and stun them. Pull too many, and you'd get chain-stunned. That was where runs most often went wrong.
Even a level 60 Mage could wipe there if they overpulled. In Gabryell's view, the right side would decide the race for the server first clear. Whichever guild cleared the right side first would have the best shot at winning.
"Ah, it's running."
A Defias Prisoner with only 19% HP left turned and bolted for the doorway.
Gabryell immediately stepped up and cast Frost Nova, freezing it in place.
"Focus it down."
At 19% HP, he couldn't kill it by himself fast enough. They had to burst it together.
While Carlos kept the other two mobs occupied, everyone else switched targets and burned down the low-health Defias Prisoner.
Under concentrated fire, it quickly dropped.
With one Defias Prisoner dead, they turned back to the other two.
"It's running again," Carlos warned.
The mobs in The Stockade rooms loved running outside, especially toward the opposite room to call for help. Gabryell had no intention of letting this Defias Prisoner escape. This time he didn't use Frost Nova. Instead, he used Cone of Cold.
Cone of Cold was the Mage's last AoE spell, learned at level 26. With Cone of Cold, a Mage truly became a Mage, able to AoE all across Azeroth.
People called it "Cone" because when the spell was cast, a fan-shaped blast of icy wind burst out in front of the Mage. Just like Frost Nova was nicknamed for the ring of frost it created around the caster, the names came from the skill's visual effect.
Slowed by the Cone of Cold, the Defias Prisoner's movement speed dropped to a crawl. Hugo and Igor, both experienced enough to react immediately, switched targets and finished it off at once.
Gabryell said, "Igor, dispel the disease on Carlos."
Druids could only remove poison and curses, so the disease had to be handled by Igor.
Grada cast Purify and removed the infected wound effect from Carlos.
"That's it. Steady and methodical," Gabryell said.
The five of them killed the last Defias Prisoner, cleared the room on the right, then moved to the one on the left. Step by step, they repeated the same process, cleared the third room, and arrived at the fourth.
"There's a boss."
Carlos spotted a named mob tucked away in the corner of the fourth room.
Gabryell glanced at Targorr the Dread.
"Quest mob. Kill it."
Targorr the Dread wasn't frightening at all. He was only level 24 with 1,953 HP, basically no different from ordinary trash.
They killed Targorr the Dread without any trouble. Igor was about to loot the corpse when Hugo hurriedly stopped him.
"Bro, show some mercy. Let Lunatori do it."
Igor pouted unhappily and gave up on looting.
Lunatori stepped forward.
"This is basically just a normal elite. It's not going to drop anything good."
Gabryell didn't treat Targorr the Dread as anything special. His loot table didn't even have any fixed gear on it.
"What if it does?" Hugo insisted. He believed named mobs were more likely to drop good stuff.
Lunatori crouched down to loot the corpse, and the Need window popped up, instantly proving Gabryell wrong.
Ranger's Bow (Rare)
Binds when equipped
Ranged Bow
23 - 45 Damage Speed 2.70
(DPS 12.6)
+1 Agility
Durability 65 / 65
Requires Level 25
"No way. That counts?"
Gabryell was speechless. A trash mob like this had actually dropped a world-drop blue bow. Lunatori's hands were so lucky it was almost absurd.
"Hahaha, I told you it'd drop something good."
Hugo eagerly clicked Need.
"Well done, Lunatori. Just like I said, you're exactly my type. One casual loot and you pull out the blue weapon I needed."
Now that he finally had a blue weapon, Hugo couldn't wait to equip the Ranger's Bow.
"Hugo, do you have any shame at all?"
Igor made a retching gesture.
"I'm embarrassed for you just listening to that."
Hugo said, "You're just jealous. If you've got the skill, go find yourself an in-game romance too."
"Just wait. I'll find one and show you."
Igor didn't believe for a second that he'd fail. Handsome, dashing, and elegant as he was, how could a guy like him not find an in-game romance?
A strong start. The Ranger's Bow boosted the team's momentum for the dungeon. After clearing the fourth room, they returned to the hallway and pushed toward the innermost room in the central section.