To increase their chances of seeing Pendulum of Doom, Lunatori looted every trash mob from then on.
"Wait for the stone steward to move away first."
"The mobs in Temple Hall have linked aggro. Hit one, and the rest will swarm you. If the stone steward gets pulled too, Carlos won't be able to tank it."
This was a major wipe point. Plenty of players who didn't understand linked aggro wiped here.
Earthen Rockbreakers and Earthen Sculptors were not especially dangerous on their own. They were just regular trash mobs. But once an elite stone steward got pulled into the fight, sheer numbers became the problem. Even a level 40 main tank could get flattened.
Once the patrol moved away, Carlos stepped up and pulled an Earthen Rockbreaker. In an instant, the nearby mobs sprang into action, dropping their shovels and swarming the party.
Luckily, they were all normal trash. Under Gabryell's AoE, they were quickly cleared out.
"Wait for the stone steward to come back. Kill it first, then we'll fight the boss."
He didn't want to deal with an extra level 40 elite during the boss fight.
When the stone steward patrolled back, Hugo pulled it over and they killed it. Only one boss remained in Temple Hall: Ancient stone steward .
"Remember this for later. Anywhere there are Earthen mobs, the whole area tends to have linked aggro. Check carefully before you pull."
There were still plenty of Earthen mobs ahead, so he had to warn them early.
"Got it."
Carlos and Hugo answered in unison.
"Pull the boss over. There are a few Earthen mobs beside it. Don't aggro them."
Hugo shot the boss and pulled it over.
Carlos picked it up and dragged it away from the nearby mobs before fighting it. Ancient stone steward only had one real ability, Sandstorm, which created a tornado on the ground and limited movement.
Gabryell didn't even need to remind him. Whenever Sandstorm appeared, Carlos backed the boss away and slowly wore it down.
The stone steward fell, and Lunatori crouched down to loot.
Cragfists (Rare)
Hands
Plate
300 Armor
+10 Strength
+8 Stamina
Requires Level 40
Equip: Increases Defense Skill by 5.
"BiS!"
Carlos was overjoyed. These plate gloves were absolutely top-tier. Not only did they have Defense Skill, the stat main tanks needed most, they also had Strength and Stamina. Most importantly, they were the first piece of blue plate gear they had gotten so far.
After level 40, Warriors should switch to plate as soon as possible, especially main tanks. The armor value from plate was something mail and leather simply couldn't compare to.
"They really are BiS."
Gabryell agreed. Many Uldaman boss drops came with random enchantments, and the Strength and Stamina on Cragfists were exactly the right roll.
After equipping the gloves, Carlos became even sturdier. They cleared their way out of Temple Hall and headed toward the next boss, Galgann Firehammer, at Excavation Site Three.
The Earthen Sculptors along the way refused to cooperate and did not drop the Pendulum of Doom Gabryell had been dreaming about.
Galgann Firehammer was a dwarf accompanied by two Shadowforge Geologists.
"Don't get careless. I'll open with sheep. Kill the other Geologist first, then Galgann."
Starting from Excavation Site Three, the mob levels suddenly jumped. The trash mobs were level 43 to 44, and Galgann was level 45.
A level 45 Galgann dealt crushing damage to a level 39 Carlos, and Gabryell was worried he wouldn't be able to handle it.
Reality proved that worry was justified. One of Galgann's skills hit Carlos and instantly took half his HP.
Crushing blow!
Thankfully, it wasn't a crit. If it had been, Carlos would have dropped on the spot.
"This won't work. The level gap is too big. If Carlos can barely tank Galgann, forget about Archaedas later."
Gabryell had overestimated the group's strength. He should have called David and the others over.
If Carlos and the others were level 45, they could clear Uldaman without much trouble. But with three of them at level 39 and one at level 40, the gap against the later mobs was too large. Survivability aside, their hit chance had already dropped sharply.
If Galgann at level 45 was already this rough, then against the level 47 final boss, Archaedas, with his terrifying 29,000-plus HP and damage, the group would get wiped in minutes.
"Igor, keep Lay on Hands ready. Don't let Carlos get one-shot."
As they fought, Gabryell prepared for the worst. "If Carlos goes down, use Divine Shield and tank for a while. Luna, Rebirth him immediately."
"No problem."
"Got it."
The two answered at the same time.
Galgann had two abilities: a group AoE and a single-target attack. If the room weren't large enough, Lunatori would not have been able to keep up with the healing alone. The single-target cast could be interrupted, and Gabryell didn't let him get it off this time.
"Watch his cast and interrupt it."
Gabryell had no hit penalty against Galgann, but Hugo and Igor did, so their damage was inefficient.
"Holy crap, Carlos, hold on!"
Carlos ate another crushing blow, and his HP nearly bottomed out. Igor hurriedly hit him with Lay on Hands and topped him back up.
Carlos' scalp went numb. This was the toughest boss he had fought so far.
"Innervate yourself," Gabryell shouted when he saw Lunatori's mana was almost empty.
At level 40, Druids finally had Innervate and became proper utility players.
Lunatori cast it on herself, and her mana quickly recovered to around 80%.
Gabryell used Evocation, bringing his own mana back above 80% as well.
It was a drawn-out fight. When Galgann reached 18% HP, the thing they feared most still happened. A crushing blow crit while Carlos' HP wasn't full, killing him instantly.
"Igor, tank with Divine Shield. Hugo, Feign Death. Luna, Rebirth."
Gabryell immediately used Ice Block and stopped attacking.
Hugo used Feign Death.
Threat shifted to Igor, scaring him into activating Divine Shield at once. For 12 seconds, he was a real man.
Rebirth required 85% base mana, so Lunatori immediately drank a Mana Potion, pushing her mana to 88%.
After Carlos was revived, he immediately drank a Healing Potion and bandaged himself on the spot.
By the time the 12 seconds ended, his HP had recovered enough. He used Taunt and took threat back.
"Igor, help Luna heal Carlos."
Gabryell was worried Lunatori didn't have enough mana to keep going alone.
Igor had recovered some mana, so he immediately moved out of melee range and joined Lunatori in healing Carlos from the back.
With two healers as insurance, they finally pushed through and took down Galgann's last bit of HP.
When Galgann died, everyone let out a breath.
"Don't relax yet. There's still one mob."
Gabryell had been keeping the sheep refreshed the whole time. Without his constant re-sheeping, they would have wiped long ago.
They did not rush to break it. After recovering a little, they killed the Shadowforge Geologist.
"Luna, loot it."
Gabryell's expression did not relax. Instead, it became even more serious. The Galgann fight had already proven they could not beat Archaedas. If they tried, they would definitely wipe.
Lunatori went up to loot.
Galgann's Fireblaster (Rare)
Ranged
Gun
44–84 Damage, Speed 2.60
(24.6 damage per second)
Requires Level 42
Equip: Has a chance to strike your ranged target with a Fire Blast for 12 to 18 Fire damage.
A level 42 blue gun with a proc. Its high DPS plus the effect would give Hugo's damage a solid boost.
Hugo happily took it, planning to use it once he hit level 42.
"Gabryell, how many bosses are left?" Carlos asked after noticing his grim expression.
"Two."
"Can we beat them?"
By normal logic, the bosses after this would definitely be stronger than Galgann.
"We'll try. If it doesn't work, we retreat for now and come back for revenge after level 45."
Honestly, Gabryell had no confidence about beating Grimlok. It was a level 45 elite boss with a level 40 elite lizard and two level 43 minions.
Besides, the gear from the next two bosses was not worth dragging David and the others all the way from Stranglethorn Vale to Uldaman and wasting their leveling time.
Carlos sighed. "Then let's do that. One wipe and we leave."
Being stubborn would only get them killed. Knowing when to back off was the right call.
They left Excavation Site Three and headed toward the Stonevault, where the mobs became even more densely packed.
They pulled out a patrolling Stonevault Brawler and killed it. As usual, Lunatori looted. From Temple Hall to the final boss, trash mobs in almost every area had a chance to drop Pendulum of Doom.
However, Gabryell was in a bad mood and no longer had much hope for it. This failure was his responsibility. He had underestimated Uldaman.
Only booze could ease that kind of pain.
No—in this game, only BiS loot could.
"Ah, a weapon dropped!"
Lunatori shouted in surprise. "An axe!"
Gabryell's heart skipped a beat as he looked at the Need roll window popping up on-screen. At the same time, he prayed it wasn't an Obsidian Cleaver.
He wanted Pendulum of Doom.
The moment he saw the drop, every trace of worry vanished from his face. The grin spreading across it was impossible to suppress.
Luna really was the group's lucky charm.
She had never let them down.