Patch 5.4 patch notes
Virtual Realms feature revealed
The Proving Grounds are coming
The latest patch 5.4 newsWho's the boss (in Ulduar)?
by Michael Sacco 
Feb 17th 2009 at 9:00AM
All this talk of 3.1 we've been seeing lately is fantastic! Class and talent changes everywhere, dual-spec announcements (see? I told you!), it's all great stuff. For me, though, the big draw of 3.1 is -- read my lips -- one new dungeon!
I know, I know, raids is raids, but I'm getting pretty tired of Naxx, and I want a nice long raid to sink my teeth into. New strats to learn! Setting a course through uncharted territory! Wiping because we don't know the fight yet! I'm just so excited.
Of course, the one thing we haven't found out about Ulduar yet is who the heck we're killing for their purples! Being a reasonable man who reads his quest text, though, I've been able to divine the identities of a few personalities we're likely to encounter. The Ulduar screenshots from beta, with their diverse wings and amazing architecture, also hint to these same folks. They'll be involved, and I'll put good gold on it.
Who's ready to rumble?
IN THE ANNOYINGLY TALL CORNER, HAILING FROM THE TEMPLE OF STORMS, JOINED BY HIS TRUSTY, SCALY STEED, GIVE IT UP FOOOORRRRR
That's right, folks. You've seen this dude, hangin' out at the Temple of Storms all depressed. But what's eating Big Blue? Well, his brother, Loken, started a war between Thorim and the Frost Giants by killing Thorim's wife, Sif, and blaming it on the king of the Frost Giants. In his grief and rage, Thorim lashed out and attacked his allies.
With the help of you, the player, though, Thorim's ties with the Frost Giants are mended and he decides to go after the cause of his loss -- his brother, and thrall to the Old God Yogg-Saron, Loken. The meeting doesn't quite go as planned, though, and Loken is able to take advantage of his dark master's power near Ulduar. Thorim and his blue protodrake, Veranus, are incapacitated and taken to Ulduar by Loken's command, saying he has plans for them.
The signs here are obvious -- Thorim and Veranus will be featured in some way in the instance, and given Blizzard's history of bosses fighting you against their will, they seem a dead lock for bosses. I'm not necessarily looking forward to offing the pair -- I was just getting to know Thorim when he got captured -- but then again, I loved fighting Vaelastrasz. We'll have to see.
The next group of bosses, though, you might not actually have heard of if you haven't done a lot of quests in Storm Peaks. Don't worry, though -- I've got your back. I'll explain everything.
IN THE LUSH, VERDANT CORNER, HAILING FROM THE TEMPLE OF LIFE, LOOKIN' AS FINE AS THE DAY SHE WAS SCULPTED, FELLAS, PLANT A TREE FOOOOOORRRR
I know what you're thinking, questers! Why would Freya suddenly go nuts on us when we've been helping her clear the undead out of Sholazar Basin?
Simple answer for a simple question, folks. The Freya you assist in Sholazar is the Avatar of Freya, and she states that she's simply following the programming left for her by Freya before her departure.
The real Freya is the Watcher of the Temple of Life in Storm Peaks and was one of the group of four Watchers who've mysteriously disappeared from their posts. There were signs of a struggle at her Temple, though, indicating that she's either dead or captured, most likely by Loken.
IN THE FROSTY CORNER, HAILING FROM THE TEMPLE OF WINTER, SHOUTING OUT TO HIS SONS AT DUN NIFFELEM, PUT ON YOUR SCARF FOOOOORRRRR
You've met this dude's sons and probably killed close to a million Brittle Revenants for them, but just who is this Hodir guy, anyway? Well, he was the Watcher of the Temple of Winter, and the frost giants consider him their father and creator. Like Freya, his temple was recently attacked and his guardians slain.
Interestingly, his temple appears to have been attacked by a "fire-based entity", which would explain how they were able to incapacitate Hodir.
If you're smart, you've started to see a pattern here!
IN THE BIG BRASS CORNER, HAILING FROM THE TEMPLE OF INVENTION, LETTING YOU KNOW WHAT REALLY GRINDS HIS GEARS, SET YOUR WATCHES FOOOOOORRR
So, you know all those mechagnomes you've been seeing around? Well, they were Mimir's servants, as he was the Watcher of the Temple of Invention which, oddly, is still in great shape compared to the others. And now that Mimir's disappeared (like everybody else), they're straight-up bonkers.
What I'm saying is you should expect an add fight with a million mechagnomes ripe for the slaughter. ENJOY.
Now for the spookiest disappearance!
IN THE, UH. WELL, I GUESS IN THE REALLY TIDY CORNER, HAILING FROM THE TEMPLE OF ORDER, USE A COASTER AND TAKE YOUR SHOES OFF AT THE DOOR FOOOOOOORRRRR
Tyr's the Watcher of the Temple of Order, and he (she?) has just disappeared completely. The Temple is intact, but its guardians are all gone, along with Tyr.
I get the feeling that, of all the Watchers, Tyr might have been the only one to go along with Loken willingly. Unfortunately, much like Mimir, there's simply not a lot of information on this particular Watcher and we'll need to see what happens once the PTR goes live.
IN THE NON-EUCLIDEAN CORNER, HAILING FROM UNDERNEATH NORTHREND, DIGGING HIS ELDRITCH TENTACLES DEEP INTO YOUR MIND, SURRENDER YOUR SANITY FOOOOORRRR
Yogg-Saron has been a huge player in Northrend goings-on. If you're not familiar with him, he's the cause of the felling of Vordrassil in Grizzly Hills, the source of Saronite and its related madness, the cause of Loken's betrayal and corruption, and a host of other badness in the Northrend area. Under Loken's command, the Iron Dwarves have been attempting to free Yogg-Saron from under Ulduar, and this is undoubtedly the tipping point that'll cause you and 9 or 24 other friends to head in there.
While I can't guarantee that we'll be facing him directly, I'll put good money on him being a part of a boss fight (or two!), whether it's preventing his ascension to the surface or fighting his gaping maw.
I can't wait. And not just to prove that I'm perceptive!
Filed under: Patches, Analysis / Opinion, Lore, Wrath of the Lich King
Reader Comments (Page 2 of 4)
epic Feb 17th 2009 10:44AM
i'm not a grammar nazi bu ti find it intrestin gyou had the effect, affect debate and then miss... aloud(allowed)
rosencratz Feb 17th 2009 12:17PM
I'd like to think that one of several things will occur.
1. The final boss is Yogg-Saron and we will need to kill all the guardians to get to him.
2. The final boss is Yogg-Saron but we need to kill/subdue a reconstituted Loken or mind controlled Thorim to get to him, to do this we'll need the help of the other guardians to whom we'll have to fight to release before hand.
3. By a similar token to defeat Loken we'll need Thorrim and to release Thorrim we'll need Hodir, Freya, Tyr and Mimir whom will either sacrifice themselves or be too tired to help us fight ol' Yoggy-wogs!
I should imagine Freya will be an interesting fight, likely she'll heal herself via some mechanic, possibly via those walking plants that will most likely be adds, if not smaller sapling versions.
Hodir I have no idea, i should imagine he'll be our first fight. A simplish tank and spank or a slightly more complicated Archavon or so maybe?
Tyr? If my memory serves in Norse mythology was said to have only one arm, sometimes his missing arm was replaced with a blade or sword that stemmed from the elbow. If i recall correctly this was because in any battle only one side could be victorious and it was he who would decide the outcome of most battles.(If other gods didn't intervene) I imagine his fight will be a complex and messy affair possibly involving multiple tanks who have to swap aggro?
Mimir though i'd expect to be as the article describes, an almost comical mechagnome zergfest.
This is assuming it's not even more complicated than that, possibly we'll get in there to find Tyr, Freya and Mimir are dead already and Hodir is simply held captive in some prison while Thorrim is being beaten senseless. Maybe Freya has been set to work and enslaved into raising nasty life forms while the others serve as mere body guards. Possibly we'll have multiple bosses we've never considered and we end up fighting Freya, Tyr, Hodir and Mimir in a single boss fight, just before Thorrim who'd be just before Yoggles.
Even then we could be completely off base, maybe we won't fight Yoggers down there at all. Maybe we'll just meet him briefly and discover he's in a completely different raid, under the failed world tree? under Icecrown? Who knows.
Blizzard have a lot of ways to go with this really.
rosencratz Feb 17th 2009 12:24PM
Whoops!
Wherever i said "Guardians" i meant to write "Watchers" my mistake.
sephirah Feb 17th 2009 9:19AM
I hope for an all "old gods" themed raid. I didn't like very much the nordic questline so I think Yogg-Saron would be a bit wasted as a boss in Ulduar.
Oh, I obviously assume that after the various shades (Akama, Aran, Arugal, Eranikus, Hakkar...) we'll have a "Shade of Sif"...
Xavs Feb 17th 2009 9:21AM
Most of those sound pretty plausible.
We won't actually kill Yogg though. Just push him back.
Also, there have to be a few other fights at least, probably with people that aren't really that important though.
Todd Feb 17th 2009 9:21AM
By the way, the video is no longer up.
Moonduh Feb 17th 2009 9:23AM
I honestly don't think Yogg Saron will make an appearance in this raid. I think they will introduce him "for sure" as the mastermind behind all this corruption that has been going on (to this point, even though we, the players, know that Yoggie is behind this, the no one in the game seems to have made the Old God connection yet). We might even be confronted by him or an avatar and he will announce his grand master plan to us and challenge us (and possibly the Lich King) to try and stop him.
That's what I think this mysterious "second act" of WOTLK will be; Yogg-Saron begins his assault on Azeroth and everyone, even the Lich King, is threatened by this. Maybe when we do fight Yoggie, it will be Arthas himself who swoops in and steals the killing blow, showing us the true extent of his massive power and kicking off the "third act" of the expansion.
Itanius Feb 17th 2009 10:17AM
I agree with Moonduh.
It wouldn't make much sense for Yogg-Saron to make an appearance in Ulduar, a palace of Titans. He obviously has his tentacles wrapped around everything and everyone, but my guess is that he'll come in the next content patch as his own lair-type raid, perhaps even a full dungeon.
Johan Strauß Feb 17th 2009 10:35AM
Yogg-Saron was imprisoned by the titans, deep underground.
Now there's alot fo speculation about what exactly has happened at the third titan city, Uldum, where something appears to have broken out into the world. Uldum may have just been a prison, but I didn't think its purpose was so specific.
Which leads me to think that maybe the "deep underground prison access shaft" for Yogg-Saron was in Ulduar, making it entirely plausible that we may see something of Yogg-Saron here.
I aso recall the Loken-Thorim dialogue, where Loken explains that his proximity to his master (Yogg-Saron) makes him powerful here. By this proximity he is totally suggesting his proximity to Ulduar... indicating again that Yogg-Saron is down there.
I hasten to add, I do not beleive we will kill Yogg-Saron, and even don't think we're gonna have a propper show-down with him yet.
Time will tell. Soon(tm)
slimj091 Feb 17th 2009 1:15PM
"It wouldn't make much sense for Yogg-Saron to make an appearance in Ulduar, a palace of Titans."
if you read the quest text in storm peaks it says that Yogg-Saron's power is greatest near Ulduar. add in the fact that the titans found out that killing the remaining old gods was out of the question because it would exterminate all life on azeroth. it makes perfect sense that the Titans imprisoned old Yoggy underneath the what is basically a Titan fortress. not only to contain him, but also prevent the possibility of being destroyed by a group of meddling adventurers and their dog too.
Beetbox Feb 17th 2009 9:27AM
Brilliant article, a great read.
Put down for 1000g on Thorim.
Tradyk Feb 17th 2009 6:30PM
Personally I'm thinking something C'thun-esque. The first dozen or so bosses are all heavily into the corrupted watchers/general storm peaks theme, but have the last few lead to Yogg-Saron. Second or third last boss, free Thorim from his imprisonment/enslavement, leading up to a truly epic fight involving him and most of his siblings, giving the raiders a hand fighting Yogg-Saron.
havitech Feb 17th 2009 9:28AM
It would be much more interesting if the watchers were involved in some way that allowed them and their temples to be restored within Storm Peaks, (phasing) for example, if you freed them from the bosses keeping them captive.
It would just seem weird if we offed them all, and left Storm Peaks in the terrible state it's currently in.
rosencratz Feb 17th 2009 12:21PM
totally agree.
dantesus Feb 17th 2009 9:30AM
As stated in the article above, Yogg-Saron is the one who is controlling Loken. When Thorim faced off against Loken, Loken said that his master was near. You can also note that a daily in Icecrown has you free Saronite slaves who have a debuff called "saronite insanity". The slaves were hearing voices, and while you free the slaves you yourself get whispers while in the cave. I think that Yogg-Saron is connected with the Lich king, because main villians are usually connected (and the Lich king really owns Northrend at the moment). So Loken would drag the temple watchers into Ulduar, Yogg-Saron would put them under his control. As to Thorim's mount, I think that it will play a part in setting Thorim free. In one quest in storm peaks, you are required to capture Thorim's old mount, and he makes a statement about how he will have to make her remember the good old days or something of the sort.
Kirtan Feb 17th 2009 9:59AM
well, if you played The frozen throne, you remember, that Anub'arak and Arthas battled their way through Old kingdom against the Faceless ones and in the end they bumped into Yogg-Saron (the forgotten one was called at that time) and wiped the floor with him, or atleast with a bit of him. Apparently, Arthas found a way to abuse Yoggys blood in creating Saronite and use it for his own plans, like building the Icecrown Citadel or the Gates that are blocking the way deeper into the glacial. As for Yoggy being Arthas' slave, that's rather unlikely. Even a being with powers such as the Lich King's is nothing compare to a being who existed long before even the dawn of the Titans, when they started their Crusade of Order across the Dark Beyond...Not to mention that he's as big as entire Northernd, much like his cousin C'thun, who's as big as half of Kalimdor.
Warren Feb 17th 2009 9:31AM
I often wonder how people learn these boss fights. How long did it take people to learn the 4 horse man fight? if you dont have the guys in the right spot its instant wipe. Can't wait to be apart of the 1st new raid since i started playing
Malkia Feb 17th 2009 9:47AM
It was probably something like guild walks in door, wipe. "Awdamnit!" and then they poked at it and poked at it until they figured it all out.
...I was around when sunwell came out but I wasn't anywhere NEAR raiding at that point. (As in I was around level 30-40.) So that's just my imaginings of how it will go.
Meethan Feb 17th 2009 9:49AM
I was thinking this very thing yesterday. The coragous on the PTR have to say, "Alright, we're at the first boss. What I do now, my strategy will be the first. Everyone will base things off of what I DO. If I can do this right, I'll be proclaimed a hero!"
Other guy: "So tank and spank?"
"Yep!"
whack Feb 17th 2009 9:38AM
i actually am betting that yogg-saron will get his own raid in 3.2. my guess is that the entrance will actually be under vordrasil in grizzly hills. if you go down under the huge dead tree where the furbogs are and follow the root system all the say down (like you did when you were finding the seeds and killing the sapling) youll actually see what looks to be like an unactivated summoning stone and one of the roots leads off around a corner and down into a hole, sort of like an instance entrance without the portal.