Two Bosses Enter: Gortok Palehoof vs. Lavanthor
by Lisa Poisso 
Sep 3rd 2009 at 8:00PM
This week's Two Bosses Thunderdome is a fantastical menagerie: Gortok Palehoof and his Utgarde Pinnacle menagerie against Lavanthor of the Violet Hold. Palehoof and Company sailed through the gamut of Old Stratholme in their first-round matchup against the Infinite Corruptor (the Culling of Stratholme), while Lavanthor chewed up Moragg like a discarded chew toy in his own first-round match. Will this week's matchup offer a more challenging battle for each?
The ground rules:
- Assume that the opponents along with their collected minions share similar levels, health pools and comparative overall damage output.
- This deathmatch takes place in neutral territory, which shall not hinder either boss from using his usual encounter abilities.
- All the usual minions will be available to each boss.
- Don't get caught up in gameplay mechanics and what actual players might do in each encounter.
- Don't neglect style, story and scale.
Gortok Palehoof (Utgarde Pinnacle)The Magnataur Gortok Palehoof is the second boss of Utgarde Pinnacle. He will be preceded in battle by (one at a time, your choice of sequence) his companions the Furbolg, the Worgen, the Rhino and the Jormungar. Consider the relative power they wield as a group; no single opponent shall be considered as powerful as Lavanthor himself.
Ravenous Furbolg
Frenzied Worgen
Ferocious Rhino
Massive Jormungar
- Acid Spit
- Acid Splatter
- Poison Breath
- Summons smaller worms
Lavanthor (Violet Hold) The great beast Lavanthor, also imprisoned in The Violet Hold, may look familiar to old-school raiders: yep, he's a Core Hound. As such, his tactics are basic but effective: bark fire, bite hard.
Read more about Lavanthor's abilities, and sift through player comments about his typical battle plan.
The smackdown
Remember: no player-tactic or game-mechanic nitpicking. Vote for the spirit of the battle as set forth above. Set aside differences in opponents' health pools, game level and actual damage output. Remember, Gortok and the rest of his team should end up roughly equivalent in raw capabilities to Lavanthor - it's style and technique that make the difference.
Who wins - and why? Post your reasoning, and let's come up with what goes down.
| Gortok and his crew win (Lavanthor dies) | |
|---|---|
| Lavanthor wins (Goretok dies) | |
| Tie (something else happens) |
Cast your vote in this match of Round Two of the five-man Wrath of the Lich King season to help us determine who rocks Wrath's five-man world.Filed under: Analysis / Opinion, Lore, Bosses, Two Bosses Enter
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 2)
Nazgûl Sep 3rd 2009 8:11PM
I can see the cut-and-paste job from previous articles. =P
Anyway - Gortok wins here, simply because Lavanthor's biggest tool, increased fire damage, wears off after he kills each of the four beasts.
Outis Sep 3rd 2009 8:15PM
Seems obvious to me that Gortok will win this. Lavanthor's Flame Breath will never hit multiples if Gortok's bunch is smart and spreads out around Lavanthor. Acid Spit seems really good here.
Blasterion Sep 3rd 2009 8:23PM
it's Draw! because! Lavanthor cannot clicked orb to activate the fight there for they stare each other down for eternity
Angus Sep 3rd 2009 8:38PM
neutral territory, which means you assume someone has clikced the orb and let these guys come to the argent coliseum, while he got a day pass out of jail.
Angus Sep 3rd 2009 8:28PM
Assuming Lavanthor has to work through each minion: he loses.
Assuming they all fight at once against Lavanthor: he loses.
The Worgen and Furbolg will take dps positions behind him, so no his flame breath is doing little to night, he's got poison stacking up along with impale and mortal wounds. Yea, this group is not losing to any boss that is a pure tank and spank.
They had no problems killing the infinite dragon (aside from the rhino being a complete ninja and hitting need after everyone else hit greed) and they aren't losing to anyone but maybe skadi.
Rai Sep 3rd 2009 8:40PM
Both Gortok and Lavanthor are essentially fighting for their freedom, as that's the situation they are faced with when you fight them in their respective instances. This might be an important point.
As long as Lavanthor is stronger than each individual minion of Gortok, he should have no problem killing them in any order, until Gortok himself enters the fray. By this point, Lavanthor will be injured. Lavanthor would create some more distance between the pair, and the battle would become a fire spittin', spear throwin' ranged showdown.
Assuming the spears aren't fireproof, with some careful aim (who am I kidding? Lava spat all over the place), a lot of them might not even reach Lavanthor. However, Gortok would have been using Withering Roar this entire time, so Lavanthor's health is getting lower and lower...
A stray spear works around the lava and hits Lavanthor between the eyes. The puppy is down, but it's very close. If Gortok is lucky, he won't die from his burn injuries.
K. Y. Jelly Sep 3rd 2009 9:26PM
i actualy thoute it was gortok mono e mono with lavanthor with no adds but i still think gortok has this
Nick Sep 3rd 2009 9:32PM
lavathr dies lol ovr palgof winz
Benjamin Sep 3rd 2009 10:04PM
maybe i have too much faith in the PITA that is grevious wound, but since lavanthor has no self healing ability. if the guy that lays that on is fought first, he's gonna have that hitting him the whole bloody fight.
and if you wanted to make it a cheap fight. all the other guys have to do at that point is run away form him.
he doesn't really have much against ranged and they all run the same speed. so they run til he's dead :D. he only kills the grevious wound guy cuz he has to get in melee range to stick him w/ it.
thebitterfig Sep 3rd 2009 11:12PM
Lavanthor. Why? he's a damn core hound, that's why. Jormungar summons little worms, Lavanthor hits them with a flame cone. Rhino tries to stomp, but the core hound refuses to fall down. Furbolg tries to fear, but why is a giant dog made of lava with two heads going to be afraid of an itty bitty bear-man? Worgen might be stronger than normal dogs, but let's not forget: two heads, with more horns, fangs, and teeth than you can count (he'll eat you before you can finish). Lastly, Gortok with his spear. He'll throw it, but Mr. Imafreakingcorehound just thinks he's playing fetch. Lavanthor will be bloodied by the end of it, but he's a core hound and he can cope with it. Of course, if he was a Uvuros- or Kurken-skinned core hound, he'd be thrashed before Gortok even woke up. Thus is the power and sheer coolness of the core hound.
Clydtsdk-Rivendare Sep 4th 2009 6:42AM
By that definition of Fear, why should I, a rogue (not really, just roll with it) be affected by Warlock fear?
Anyway, both bosses are fail, though maybe it's because I can't tank yet
James Sep 3rd 2009 11:56PM
This is an interesting match up, but I'll explain why our victor is the clear win.
Round 1 - Lavanthor goes up against Furbolg. First, the Furbolg would do a relatively large ammount of damage while hitting both heads with his Chain lightning. The fear also works against Lavanth, because both heads would be feared in two completely different directions. In Lavanth's defense, the Furbolg will go down quickly while stacking the fire debuff and the melee/fire breath. Not much health is lost between Lavanth.
Round 2 - Lavanthor goes up against Rhino. First, the Rhino will immediately charge Lavanth, placing the first DOT on him. Not to mention that the stomp will add to this, the Rhino will do a lot of damage, but, like the Furbolg, will go down very quickly. Moderate amount of damage done.
Round 3 - Lavanthor goes up against Jormungarr. Firstly, the giant bug will take TONS of damage. The bug will be roasted with the fire, and the poison won't do much damage. When the adds spawn, they won't be a problem at all, as the fire breath will roast them the moment they come up. Minor amount of damage done.
Round 4 - Lavanthor goes up against Worgen. This is the kicker, right now. The Worgen will just go ass crazy on that doggy. Not much to it other than hard damage. The Worgen will go down, but Lavanth will be very close to death. High damage done.
Round 5 - Lavanthor goes up against Gortok Palehoof. Right off the bat, Lavanth is wore down with dots, poisons, and massive physical damage. The Impale mixed with the Cleave and the Roar will leave poor old Lavanthor a trophy on the wall.
Final verdict: Gortok Palehoof wins by a large margin. He initially starts out with the same amount of health as Lavanthor at the start of the gauntlet. Story wise?
Gortokk: "ZERGGGG HIM BOYS!"
Lavanthor: Q_Q
Betherian Sep 4th 2009 12:21AM
Here is what I believe happens: Lavanthor calls one of the blue dragonflight to click the orb for him, the dragonkin then teleports away. The Ravenous Furbolg is the first to awaken, the two exchange blows for a few seconds, until Lavanthor uses his flame breath, the Furbolg's fur instantly catches fire, the Furbolg runs around the room, roaring in agony, knocking over the Frenzied Worgen which also catches fire, the Worgen falls on top of the Massive Jormungar which evetually catches fire also. Meanwhile the Furbolg finally collapses on top of the Ferocious Rhino which catches light also, being the only remaining companion of Gortok, the red orb zaps the Rhino and it awakens to a firey Furbolg covered hell, it charges around the room, trampling the smoldering corpses of it's companions and eventually inpaling Gortok Palehoof himself. Gortok's still inanimate body catches fire, the Rhino gives in and perishes. Gortok, already a fireball, is animated and just manages to utter one final word before he gives into his burns and the large hole in his chest, and that word is "Irony...".
Lavanthor then proceeds to take a molten dump on Gortok's charred head, scratch behind his ears and sniff the Worgen's rear end.
The end, Lavanthor wins easily.
Precision Sep 4th 2009 2:10AM
I don't even thinkg lavanthor could take on the adds together, much less the adds + gortok.
muxecoid Sep 4th 2009 6:05AM
The crew will get burned. They will stay in front of the boss all the time, noobs.
Candina@WH Sep 4th 2009 7:58AM
Sorry, but Firedog goes down. No heals versus a gauntlet of minions.
His damage output is good enough to take down each minion in sequence.. but by the time he reaches Palehoof, his health is too low to last long enough for his stacking fire damage to win the day.
Josin Sep 4th 2009 8:14AM
Its a simple numbers game. Lavanthor has to run through a gauntlet just to GET to Gortok, and he has no way of healing himself. Even if each one only does 15-20% damage, by the time Gortok hits the battle, the core hound's got at MOST 40% of his health left.
Lavanthor would put up a noble struggle, but he's at the end of his leash.
Tim Sep 4th 2009 10:15AM
Two bosses enter always reminds me that I have no idea why I am killing these creatures. Why is Gortok there? and what is happening with that orb? Is Laventhor apart of a gang? Is Gortok and Co suffed?
I am assuming that Gortok and his crew are stuffed, taxidermied and so forth, and that orb fills them with muscles and soul. They still are stuffed with feathers and other things. Laventhor will do one fire move and then they explode.
Siaperas Sep 4th 2009 12:39PM
The smell of blood and burnt hair is going to suffocate the air after this fight. As team Gortok approaches Lavanthor, the rhino will charge in, do a grievous wound and stomp. But the stomp does nothing to the corehound, and Lavanthor washes the rhino in flames. The pain of being set on fire halts the rhino, for only a second before Lavantho clamps down with both his heads and ends its suffering. During this time, Gortok and the furbolg are attacking from afar as the wogen and jormunger catch up to their rhino friend. They get to Lavanthor, just as he finishes the rhino. The worgen attacks and enrages, while the jormunger starts to use his poison spray and summon worms. The core hound breaths fire doing massive damage to th worgen and jormunger, and Gortok charges in. The worgen falls victim to the constant flames, and th jormunger's adds barely stay alive long enough to do anything. With the core hound focused on the jormunger, Gortok hits him with everything he has, and that finishes Lavanthor. Whether or not the jormunger lives depends on how fast Gortok can bring Lavanthor down.
The key to Gortok's victory here is that it's five against one, and Lavanthor can't heal. Each one of Gortok's allies are going to get atleast one major blow in on Lavanthor before he can dispense them, as he's too slow to avoid it. In fact, he's too slow to kill all of team Gortok before they kill him. Gortok claims the victory, but only narrowly in my opinion.
Nathan Sep 4th 2009 3:17PM
Well, as others have said, it's a huge furry monster-thing versus a flaming two-headed dog--obviously, Lavanthor wins.
Here's how it goes down: Gortok's companions hang back as he immediately charges at the enemy, hitting Lavanthor on the head with his mighty fists. Lavanthor, however, being a creature almost literally composed of molten lava, is so hot that touching him burns Gortok's hand. Unable to deal with the pain, Gortok stops attacking and bursts into tears. His Snobold, noticing his master's distress, runs into the chamber to comfort him. Gortok, seeing his furry little companion, brightens up and runs to greet him. Before he can reach him, however, Lavanthor spews lava at the unfortunate snobold, killing him.
At the death of his small, furry companion, Gortok bursts into tears again, unable to bear the tragedy, and collapses to the floor in a blubbering heap.
His companions, seeing the pathetic wreck of a magnautar that was their leader, look uncertainly around, unsure of what to do. Lavantor takes advantage of their momentary inactivity by breathing fire at them, and they quickly come to their senses and begin to attack--however, they, like their master, are unable to touch Lavanthor without suffering severe pain. They also, upon recieving grievous burns on their extremities as a result of attempting to attack the Core Hound, burst into tears and fall to the ground sobbing.
Lavanthor then eats all of the assembled beasts, spits out their bones, and goes to take a nap in a waterfall of molten lava. The end.