A world without Varimathras
by Mike Schramm 
Feb 23rd 2009 at 6:00PM
It was probably the least exciting thing to go down during the Wrathgate questline (Wrynn FTW, no?), and I've only played Alliance during Wrath, so I haven't really realized it until now: Varimathras is no longer in the game. He was always my favorite faction leader (even though he wasn't actually the Undead faction leader, so to speak) -- I loved his "You think you can match the might of a dreadlord?" taunt, his story (he always hinted that the Forsaken, a threat within the ranks of the Horde, might have a threat within their own ranks), and his demonic look. And now, after the Battle for the Undercity, he's gone.Fortunately, this is World of Warcraft, and no one in Warcraft really ever stays completely dead -- just ask Kael'thas. But as a more pressing concern, players are currently wondering how they'll be able to do Varimathras' quests (for the Loremaster achievement) with him no longer hanging around the Undercity. New Blue poster Ancilorn says not to worry -- they'll come up with a way for those who can't see Varimathras to do the quests associated with him. Or, and probably more likely, they'll just take them out of the Loremaster requirements.
But a moment of silence, please, for one of my favorite lore figures, Varimathras. He was always on the winning side. Except for, you know, that one time right at the end.
Filed under: Analysis / Opinion, Fan stuff, Blizzard, Quests, Lore, NPCs
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 3)
Kolo Feb 23rd 2009 6:07PM
With all the fuss around Bolvar no one noticed.
QQ for Bolvy :(
Kraf Feb 23rd 2009 11:41PM
I know, who cares about this stupid demon, he wasn't ACTUALLY a leader, I miss bolvar way more D= QQ lots
Deadly. Off. Topic. Feb 24th 2009 10:47AM
I was rather shocked that they simply killed him off without a hint of a return. I was expecting him to get turned into a DK or something... not get melted.. if indeed he was.
With any luck there will be a COT event where you go back and save him.
Zitheg Feb 23rd 2009 6:08PM
Agreed. His arrogance was a nice change for a faction leader to have.
naixdra Feb 23rd 2009 6:16PM
Oh when a dreadlord is arrogant he is awesome, but when a druid (Staghelm) does it he is a large amount of naughty words.
Let druids be arrogant pricks too.
Kyo Feb 23rd 2009 6:08PM
Who will start the Scarlet Monestary quest without Varimathas around for the horde? Oeh noez!
Azhural Feb 23rd 2009 7:37PM
I can't really tell if he's gone for good, but if they just phased him out lowbies will still be able to get their quest.
Wallert Feb 23rd 2009 6:09PM
/salute
He may have been a double crossing, moraless scum bag-but man did he ever have style.
Aggroblarg Feb 23rd 2009 6:10PM
Your favorite lore character's name is spelled Varimathras
Shevaresh Feb 23rd 2009 6:12PM
I hope they don't remove those quests from the requirements. He's used in too many quests from important or nice quest chains to do that to, and lots of people do those quests as they level. If they leave the quests in it makes it easier for people to get Loremaster of EK.
As an alternative - why not make the quests be able to be turned in to a placeholder NPC? Seriously, is Sylvanas just going to leave her right-hand man position empty?
Possible replacements are:
-Nathanos Blightcaller. Problematic, since he's already in EPL, and used in several quests; at least one of these actually tells you to talk to the right-hand man, which makes this even worse.
-Gunter Arcanus. Seriously, there's a quest chain about him in early Undead zones, and then we never hear from this uber-powerful undead character. Don't delete him from the old location, just have him replace the Varimathras graphic.
-I seem to remember that there are a few quests in other places to "recruit" people for the Undead - put some of them there.
-
ROB13 Feb 23rd 2009 6:13PM
Not sure if anyone knows this, but after a dread lord "dies" his soul or spirit gets released back into the Twisting Nether for some time to rest and gain their power back, and then they are released again into the world. So we might see Varimathas again some time, but this time he will either be locked in some chains or have a couple more Forsaken gaurds around to keep a eye on him.
ROB13 Feb 23rd 2009 6:38PM
But of course, this is Lore and has nothing to do with Loremaster...wait. Well Lorewise that's what is supposed to dead Dreadlords and Eredar so we might see the return of Varimathras and his 2 or 3 quests
Worcester Feb 23rd 2009 6:13PM
When I did the Wrathgate quests, I somehow missed out on the actual Battle for Undercity. Both of the first two zones were clear when I started, and by the time I got to the Royal Chamber, the fight there was over as well. Is there anyway to re-experience the fight, short of doing the quests again on another character? If I do run through it on another character, how can I be sure the same thing doesn't happen again?
This might be a better question for the Queue, I suppose.
Reinard Feb 23rd 2009 6:36PM
You could have, like...waited for the battle to start again, instead of rushing in and missing half of it. Thats sort of your own fault o_O If you go through on another character, uh...just don't do that again. Wait.
Woif Feb 23rd 2009 7:05PM
It repeats. unless you got credit and turned it in.
Worcester Feb 23rd 2009 7:18PM
Unfortunately, since I didn't know anything about the battle ahead of time, I didn't realize that it repeats. In fact, an in-game warning said the battle would reset in 4 minutes, so I quickly turned in the quest, fearing I'd get booted and perhaps wouldn't be able to get back in.
Now I know.
It will probably be more fun on my DK anyway. I'm just sad that my main character "missed out" on a cool story.
Terrok Feb 23rd 2009 6:17PM
Umm... AFAIK, Varimathras is still in the game.
For us hordies Varimathras isn't actually gone *until* you complete the Wrathgate storyline. If you're a hordie, you kill him during the quest. After that, he's simply phased away. If he's not appearing to any Alliance now, that's probably just because Blizz realized it would be very strange to have any pre-wrathgate alliances having to deal with someone who was invisible to the rest of them.
Terrok Feb 23rd 2009 6:19PM
Ok, yeah, scratch that. I should l2read.
Yep, guess you better finish your varimathras-based loremaster quests before he phases away forever, no?
Uhnathema Feb 23rd 2009 6:21PM
I completed all the Loremaster achievements on my BE Paladin pre-nerf and after completing the Wrath Gate quest line. Sure, it took a lot of digging to get all the old world quests done without being able to hand a few into him but it wasn't impossible then and it isn't impossible now. It just takes some effort, as it rightly should.
Matt J Feb 23rd 2009 6:39PM
I did this as well, however I wouldn't exactly call it pre-nerf. The change made Loremaster of Eastern Kingdoms a breeze to get (it was still easy prior to the change, but adding some 30ish quests from Silverpine Forest made it a joke). However the change made Loremaster of Kalimdor much harder to get (which is why I made sure to compelte it pre"nerf"). They dropped the total number of quests required by 15 or so, but they removed the 30ish quests from Silverpine, meaning a net increase of quests were required. (I guess for Alliance it was a bit of a nerf since they don't really have many quests in Silverpine, but both myself and the OP are horde, so my comment stands)
Loremaster of EK has always been much easier than Kalimdor for the Horde, and the change made it that much easier.