Two Bosses Enter: Dalronn and Skarvald vs. Skadi
by Lisa Poisso 
May 21st 2009 at 7:30PM
It's an Utgarde mashup in this week's Two Bosses Enter deathmatch, as Dalronn the Controller and Skarvald the Constructor from Utgarde Keep meet up with Skadi the Ruthless in Utgarde Pinnacle. That's right: this week's battle will take place on Skadi's territory in Utgarde Pinnacle.
Now before you throw your hands up exclaiming how much of a whip Skadi can be – we're going to balance this fight. This all scales. Assume that the foes share similar levels, health pools and a comparative overall damage output. We'll also assume that there are not so many Frost Vrykul assisting Skadi that his opponents find themselves overwhelmed early in the battle. Let's assume that Dalronn and Skarvald make it about three-quarters of the way through the gauntlet before the first of them gets killed. (It goes without saying that we won't allow Dalronn and Skarvald to run past the gauntlet –- don't try it!)
Most important, don't get caught up in actual game mechanics or what full groups of real players might do in each encounter. Focus your debate on the three S's -- style, story and scale -- and the flavor of each villain's battle style. What do you think would happen if these three met in battle? Tell us what goes down in the comments below, and cast your vote for who you think is left standing at the end.
Dalronn the Controller and Skarvald the ConstructorDalronn the Controller, a necromancer, and Skarvald the Constructor, a warrior, join battle as a team. The first one to die resurrects immediately as a non-targettable spirit with the same abilities as when alive. Who will Skadi and his crew of Vrykul take down first?
Skarvald: Dalronn! See if you can muster the nerve to join my attack!
Dalronn: By all means, don't assess the situation, you halfwit! Just jump into the fray!
If Dalronn dies first:
Dalronn: See... you... soon.
Skarvald: Pagh! What sort of necromancer lets death stop him? I knew you were worthless!
If Skarvald dies first:
Skarvald: Not... over... yet.
Dalronn: Skarvald, you incompetent slug! Return and make yourself useful!
Skarvald: A warrior's death.
Dalronn: There's no... greater... glory.
Dalronn the Controller
Skarvald the Constructor
In this deathmatch, we'll assume that there are not so many Frost Vrykul assisting Skadi that Dalronn and Skarvald find themselves overwhelmed early in the battle. Let's assume that Dalronn and Skarvald make it about three-quarters of the way through the gauntlet before the first of them gets killed. (It goes without saying that we won't allow Dalronn and Skarvald to run past the gauntlet – don't try it!)
Who will die first? How will Skadi and his Vrykul cope with an opponent they cannot affect? Read more about Dalronn and Skarvald's battle tactics, and review comments from players who've fought both Dalronn and Skarvald.
Skadi the RuthlessWhat mongrels dare intrude here? Look alive, my brothers! A feast for the one that brings me their heads!
Skadi the Ruthless is an Undead Frost Vrykul who resides in Utgarde Pinnacle. He is named after the northern goddess of winter and the hunt in Norse mythology.
Upon engaging in battle, Skadi flies up above the terrace on his Protodrake, to strafe foes below as they push through waves of his Frost Vrykul. Opponents pick up harpoons to shoot the drake, eventually killing it and forcing Skadi to the ground and into hand-to-hand battle.
Remember, in this deathmatch, we'll assume that there are not so many Frost Vrykul assisting Skadi that Dalronn and Skarvald find themselves overwhelmed early in the battle. Let's assume that Dalronn and Skarvald both survive the gauntlet, with one of the two dying about two-thirds of the way through.
Read more about Skadi the Ruthless's battle tactics, and review comments from players who've faced him.
The smackdown
The usual rules apply: Assume that these foes share similar levels, health pools and a comparative overall damage output. We'll also assume that there are not so many Frost Vrykul assisting Skadi that his opponents find themselves overwhelmed early in the battle. Let's assume that Dalronn and Skarvald make it about three-quarters of the way through the gauntlet before the first of them gets killed. (It goes without saying that we won't allow Dalronn and Skarvald to run past the gauntlet – don't try it!)
Can you come up with a convincing scenario that will sway other readers to vote for your victor of choice? Show us your stuff in the comments.
| Nobody; they all go down in a heap | |
|---|---|
| Dalronn and Skarvald | |
| Skadi the Ruthless |
Filed under: Analysis / Opinion, Features, Bosses, NPCs, Two Bosses Enter
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 2)
Mattimus May 21st 2009 7:39PM
I gotta give it to Skadi. Assuming that Dalronn and Skarvald haven't read a Skadi boss FAQ, they would be fairly unprepared for Skadi's blue proto-drake's breath attack. After all, even though they work in the same building, D&S are essentially the basement office cogs, not the execs in one of the upper floors, and would likely never see Skadi.
Joessit May 22nd 2009 11:55PM
Taking a look:
Ok, so at the start of the fight, lets say Skarvald and Dalronn are heading to King Ymiron after taking down the others. Skadi notices them, and yells his aggro phrase. Skarvald charges right into the crowd, starts beating them down with Dalronn's help. As they get closer to the harpoon turrets, Skadi makes Grauf use his breath. Right at that time, Skarvald notices that the mobs are moving to the side, and charges towards them. Dalronn gets kicked into the breath thanks to Skarvald, and dies. Skarvald kills all the mobs, and quickly takes down Grauf. Now its melee v.s. melee. Skadi whirlwinds, bur Skarvald doesn't run. He instead slices through Skadi's armour, but gets cut several times and falls to the floor. Skadi then brings down his weapon to Skarvald's bare chest and pierces through flesh, killing Skarvald.
Taivor May 21st 2009 7:46PM
Skadi wrecks Dalronn and Skarvald with a whirlwind attack just as he has wiped all our groups at one point in time or another...
Tim_james63 May 21st 2009 7:48PM
If a group of 5, with heals and a tank can't down Skadi, how can two bubs with no heals do it?
Angus May 21st 2009 7:57PM
I'm going with Skadi.
Skavald survives the gauntlet while a Dalronn trades shadowbolt spam with the adds. In this situation he is the perfect way to take heat off of Skavald who murders the harpooners and brings Skadi down. The reason Dalronn is chosen is because his habit of randomly shooting his bolts willy nilly will get the attention of the better part of the adds. His skeletons will assist them getting to the actual harpoons as far as I am concerned. He and Skavald will manage to drop Skadi out of the sky while both are up.
Things get fun here, as Dalronn acts like a warlock who doesn't have Omen but does have Recount. He will get Skadi's attention, which means that he'll quickly finish what little health Dalronn had from his attention getting behavior with the adds. Either Poison Spear or his Crush will pretty much end Dalronn's living contribution. The interesting part is whether he bothers to whirlwind on Dalronn after he is dead. I don't think it will happen, and so Skavald starts eating them while a poison debuff chips away at him and his Stone Strike gets answered by Crush. Just too little health left for them after the gauntlet and their skeletons die too quickly to Whirlwind.
The only other possibility I have for this fight is that no one wins. Skadi gets killed, his proto-drake drops and the controller and Skavald kill one another once Skavald figures out Dalronn changed it to master looter just before the fight and pulled a ninja.
kittykirai Jun 3rd 2009 12:15AM
Skadi would definately win. Not counting the eventual battle between the 3, i cant really see both Dalronn and Skarvald surviving the gauntlet.
Meethan May 21st 2009 8:13PM
I gotta say the duo. If they could get through the harpoons then Skadi would be cake for them. It seems like he has almighty attacks but again, this is on the theory not on the actual damage. They would go through the adds badly damaged, but not dead. When Skadi came down, Skarvald would begin to engage him while the necromancer began to summon his minions. In the event Skarvald did die, Dalronn would have enough knoledge to outlast Skadi in a battle perspective because Necromancers aren't complete idiots.
Mattimus May 21st 2009 8:20PM
I dunno. If Dalronn really was that smart, he wouldn't be working in Utgarde's basement.
Siaperas May 21st 2009 8:23PM
Dalronn and Skarvold remind me of a bad pug; they don't seem to really want to work together, but they do it because they really don't have much of a choice. They would be constantly yelling at each other the entire fight, while Skadi and his well organized men are attacking. It'll end pretty much the same way every bad pug ends with Skadi, in defeat.
They enter the guantlet, and Skadi's adds enter the fray. After some bickering about how they were going to get Skadi down while trying to defend themselves, Dalronn summons a bunch of skeletons to take down the adds while Skarvald mops up. Meanwhile, Skadi starts pelting the "dynamic duo" with frost breath. After more aggroing, Dalronn has Skarvold start collecting harpoons, while Dalronn's skeles deal with the adds.
If their lucky, Skarvold is able to shoot down Grauf, bringing Skadi to the ground. But Skadi is a well organized fighter. He'd go after Dalronn with Skarvold blindley following him and whirlwind them both so they both die at the same time. They'd get a few hits in, but that would end it.
If their unlucky, Skarvold doesn't realize he needs to get out of the frost breath, and between that, the adds, and Dalronn yelling at him, he gets confused and ends up dying. Leaving Dalronn to try to bring down Grauf, which he does now that Skarvold is now able to easily take on the adds. But when Skadi comes down, he yells, and one shots Dalronn, and they both loose.
Conrose May 21st 2009 8:52PM
"style, story and scale"
Style: Since one of them is purely melee, you can expect that Skarvald will fall to whirlwinds quickly, but before this even happens, Skadi is able to keep the damage up on Dalronn through Poison Spear (60 yard range vs Dalronn's shadowbolts of 45 yards). Whirlwind damage will be buffeted some by Debilitate, but between the damage they took during the gauntlet (Which involved a mix of melee and range damaging abilities, since Skarvald lacks a taunt ability, Dalron will have eaten quite a bit of damage himself). Since there are no heals between the pair, Skadi has an undeniable advantage here, the summon skeletons is more or less a non factor since whirlwind will keep them under control. So I can safely say that Skarvald will fall first, and Dalronn will likely eat it sizeable amounts of damage during the short periods of time he has to get from a closed side of the battlefield to an open side from crushes and whirlwinds... he's a clothie so these moments will see him loose sizeable portions of his health under this barrage. While Skarvald will maintain damage on Skadi, I don't think it'll down him before Skadi smashes poor Dalronn into a pulp since attempting to kite from out Poison Spear range = no Debilitate = more Crush and Whirlwind damage at the ends, and attempting to kite from within Poison Spear Range = More Poison Spear damage throughout. So I give it to Skadi in Style
Story: His positioning in Utgarde Pinnacle gives me the impression that Skadi is the King's Right Hand Man, and likely got to that positioning through combination of power and skill. The fact that he has the authority to grant a person a "Feast" further emplies this while, as someone above pointed out, D&S are the basement cogs. Hell, many would say that Skadi has greater strength and skill than King Ymiron. I mean, look at their Titles! "Skadi the Ruthless", this suggests he has a knack for dealing with people in horrific ways, most likely earned through combat prowess rather than brutal interrogation methods. "Skarvald the Constructer"... sounds like he's something of a smithy. "Dalronn the Controller"... something of a commander of undead that he has authority over... but looking at the undead around him, he commands miners, builders or escavators, not combat ready undead.
Scale: Skadi is big even for a Vyrkul, Skarvald just seems normal for a Vyrkul. Dalronn is a decripit old necromancer who likely hides behind Skarvald to get off his attacks. Skadi's fight comes with 2 phases, and 3 particularly dangerous mechanics, S&D has but one encounter defining mechanic that most groups don't really pay much mind to.
Luthielle May 21st 2009 8:59PM
Skadi, without question. He's the only heroic boss that still gives my group a run for their money. His whirlwind could one shot those two other pansies.
Byagi May 22nd 2009 10:11AM
Look - we all know who has it:
My girl wants to skadi all the time, skadi all the time, skadi all the tiiiiime.
um
Skadi gets my vote. yes, i'm old.
Segrada May 21st 2009 9:36PM
SKaadi doesn't know that Fiona and me do it in my van every Sunday!
Skaadi doesn't know!
devilsei May 21st 2009 9:58PM
Its clearly Skadi. As people have stated, Dalronn and Skarvald are two grumpy men, the the "Dalliah and Soccothrates" of Lich king. They're stuck with each other, and are not exactly supportive either. The only thing going for them is "Dumb tank smart caster". Dalronn WILL be the last to die, I guarantee that. He will use Skarvald's incompetence to turn him into a meat shield. I'm sure Dalronn will be more than intelligent enough to stay out of the breath, Skavald will take a few hits before going "blue patch bad". Dalronn will use his skeletons to grab the arrows for him, shouting orders while Skavald rushes straight in, which is why he dies first. He does however, buy Dalronn and his skeletons time to get to the front and bring Skaldi to the ground. Skavald as a ghost will end up killing the last of the Vykrul reinforcements. Dalronn will try to keep his distance, using his skeletons to try and distract Skaldi, but its painfully obvious a bunch of bones wont last past one hit. In the end, Dalronn will be pinched. If he stays up close, he'll eat whirlinds and fall easily. If he goes to maximum range, nothing is stopping the poisoned spears Skaldi will be hurling, and with no heals, the poison will tick down to his doom.
amaliamoran May 21st 2009 10:12PM
"When all's said and done, I think it'll come down to Skarvald and Skadi duking it out. Dalronn is a necromancer, and as such, is a squishy cloth-wearing man-vykrul. Although he could stand back and pummel his foes with bolts, he won't be able to make it all the way through the gauntlet." Read the rest of this at my blog!
amaliamoran May 21st 2009 10:13PM
arg, seems it doesn't post with your actual wow.com account.
Oh well, the name's Japeng.
DeathPaladin May 21st 2009 11:19PM
The first one of the duo to die may be an untargetable spirit, but I think that also makes them unable to handle harpoons.
Skadi wins.
Toasty May 21st 2009 11:51PM
If Skarvald was smart, he'd get the Red Sword of Courage and never, ever, ever go back to UP again.
Stoneshoes May 22nd 2009 12:06AM
I had to think about this one, and it took actually playing out the battle for it to settle in, but I have to agree. This one goes to Skadi.
Assuming one of the duo goes down 2/3 of the way down the hall, we have to figure out who and why. Dalronn answers that with his opening statement, "By all means, don't assess the situation, you halfwit! Just jump into the fray!" Skarvald is a big lug who will get waste deep in Frost Vykrul, blind to the actual fight, and will get hit by blast after blast from the drake. He goes down, leaving the Necromancer as the only vulnerable target.
Dalronn, a clothie, will then have to single-handedly tank Skadi. Skadi might be a bit frost addled and dizzy from whirlwinds, but with Skarvald transparent and immune to damage, I can't imagine any scenario where Skadi ignores the squishy thing in a dress.
The only chance the duo could've had against Skadi requires them to save the battle-res for the two on one combat with Skadi. Even then, it likely would've just delayed the inevitable, because I can't see Skarvald getting out of the whirlwind either. Dead meat shield, clothie tank, wipe. But, by the restrictions of this match-up, that doesn't happen. Match to Skadi.
theRaptor May 22nd 2009 12:39AM
Dalronn the Controller and Skarvald the Constructor are pretty obviously minions. Skadi the Ruthless is a proper boss character.
So I would say that the whole fight was rigged by Skadi to reveal Dalronn and Skarvald's treachery and to take them down in "I knew all along you fools" evil bad guy style. Of course what Skadi doesn't know is that while he is finishing these two chumps off the Champions of Light™ will wander in and start kicking his ass while he is distracted.