Two Bosses Enter: Herald Volazj vs. King Dred
by Lisa Poisso 
Nov 19th 2009 at 5:00PM
This week's Two Bosses fantasy deathmatch throws another loser who was voted back into the competition into the pit: King Dred, who lost his last match against King Ymiron, returns to test his claws against the subtle insinuations of Herald Volazj. Volazj is riding high in this season's tournament, easily winning his first matchup against Novos the Summoner and then shutting down Grand Magus Telestra.
This week's ground rules:
- Assume that the opponents share similar levels, health pools and comparative overall damage output.
- This deathmatch takes place in neutral territory, which shall in no way hinder either opponent from using his usual resources.
- Don't get caught up in gameplay mechanics and what actual players might do in each encounter.
- Don't neglect style, story and scale.
Herald Volazj (Ahn'Kahet: The Old Kingdom)Ywaq maq oou; ywaq maq ssaggh. Ywaq ma shg'fhn. (They do not die; they do not live. They are outside the cycle.)
The faceless Herald Volazj belongs to the ancient race known as servants of the Old Gods (maybe even Yogg-Saron). Volazj whispers directly into opponents' minds, slowly and relentlessly driving them insane and causing them to fight one another.
Read more about Herald Volazj's combat and review insights from players who've defeated him.
King Dred (Drak'tharon Keep)King Dred raises his claws menacingly ...
King Dred, the great Devilsaur, is found within Drak'tharon Keep. His vicious attacks are augmented by those of the smaller raptors he calls to his aid during battle.
- Bellowing Roar
- Fearsome Roar
- Grievous Bite
- Mangling Slash
- Piercing Slash
- Raptor Call
- King Dred also "raises his claws menacingly," after which he performs all three of his bleed effects in rapid succession.
Read more about the Devilsaur's battle tactics, and look over comments from players who've faced him in Drak'tharon Keep.
The Thunderdome clash
Remember: no game-mechanic nitpicking. Set aside differences in opponents' health pools, game level and actual damage output. Vote for the spirit of the battle as set forth above, considering each opponent's abilities -- plus the style, scale and story he or she brings to the table.
After you cast your vote, we challenge you to hit the comments with a convincing scenario that will sway fellow readers to vote for your opponent of choice!
| Herald Volazj wins (Dred dies) | |
|---|---|
| King Dred wins (Volazj dies) | |
| Tie (something else happens) |
Cheer on your favorite inside the Two Bosses Thunderdome during this round of Two Bosses Enter, One Boss Leaves: The Original Wrath Five-Man Season. Review the current fighting bracket and consider who you think will come out on top.Filed under: Analysis / Opinion, Fan stuff, Features, Lore, Two Bosses Enter, Bosses
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 4)
ScorchHellfire Nov 19th 2009 5:05PM
Well considering Dred has no real adds (unless you count the raptor trash around him but he doesn't really summon those) that means that Insanity is useless and if that's the case then Dred is pretty much free to turn Volazj into a calamari dinner...
Marolas Nov 19th 2009 7:44PM
Did you not read the "Raptor Call" ability that King Dred has?
Natsumi Nov 20th 2009 1:12AM
Raptor call calls a nearby raptor, if there is no raptor nearby, the call does nothing.
On neutral ground, there would be no raptors nearby, thus King Dred wins by chewing off Volazj's non-face. Teeth > Tentacles, it's basic math.
geveldion Nov 19th 2009 5:08PM
Insanity is a horrible ability to fight against. There's very little you can do to counter having your own mind fight against you.
Unfortunately, Volazj got hosed on the draw. King Dred is just a very large, and very small-brained T-rex. So what if he goes insane? He'll just chomp down on the clones. Volazj might win this one even so, but his ace in the hole isn't going to help much. And Dred has friends.
Assuming insanity works well enough to distract Dred's adds and him, Volazj could just keep him twirling around fighting shadows.
Straight fight? He's screwed. Dred's bleeds and adds will break him. But I don't know if insanity is going to slow down something that's not intelligent.
Dan Boden Nov 19th 2009 5:09PM
Has to be King Dread.....I mean, a big damned dinosaur against an elephant-squid thingy. Come on.
rino Nov 19th 2009 5:12PM
Volazj tries to use a pychic power on Dred to turn him insane.
Dred is a dinosaur and therefore too dumb to be affected.
Dred squashes Volazj.
Kakistocracy Nov 19th 2009 6:11PM
Who started the rumor about dinosaurs being dumb? By most estimates, they had a better run then we will, and chances are the event that caused their extinction wasn't of their own making, for us, I'd say it's fifty-fifty as to whether we'll do ourselves in.
Psiwave Nov 19th 2009 6:28PM
... Yes.
Cockroaches have been around even longer but I've yet to meet one with a PHD.
I think this one will have to go to dred. I'm a herald fanboy (lovecraft ftw!) but the herald is punching at mist here. Dred runs on pure instict, no doubts, no regrets, just hunger.
wherfz Nov 19th 2009 6:50PM
I think it's possible for King Dred to go insane even if he is "to dumb". Volazi just seems to be more mentally superior, doesn't that mean he could make Dred fight himself (and adds) or trick him into doing so?
Or is it just that both King Dred and Volazi will start beating on each other? Lore wise I believe a Forgotten one could beat up any dino, unless it was an all out physical battle.
Kakistocracy Nov 20th 2009 2:33PM
Well yes, Psiwave, from a purely anthropocentric definition of "smart" (albeit one lacking any sort of nuance), sure, but I thought we were smart enough to avoid that sort of thing.
Necrolord_Bob Nov 19th 2009 5:14PM
Why arer 100% of comments on King Dred's side, but only 30.8% of votes? Volazj voters! Explain yourselves!
IrishWoW Nov 19th 2009 5:19PM
The way i see it this has gotta end up as a tie.
Dred munches down on the squid, who, after taking a battering, casts insanity, and forces dred to fight a clone of himself. The thing is however when you fight your clones in this, they have all the same abilities as you do, in this case being of course The King's Grievous Bite.
So let's say Dred tears into his clone, who then bites Dred causing him to bleed continuously until fully healed. With no healbot there to spam Holy Lights on him, Dred continues to take more and more damage, though he is now free once again to maul Volazj and quickly dispatches him, after being wounded so severely by his own abilities he too collapses to the ground, defeated.
ZMES_Matt Nov 19th 2009 5:26PM
But when you go insane you never fight yourself, only your party members. So either King Dred just has to kill his own little piddly-ant adds, or none at all if he didn't summon them.
Either way, hail to the king, baby.
Kakistocracy Nov 19th 2009 6:14PM
"But when you go insane you never fight yourself"
You've clearly never gone insane.
IrishWoW Nov 20th 2009 11:55AM
It has clearly been far far two long since i've gone to Old Kingdom, but then again, can you realy blame me for avoiding it?
Having read down through the rest of the comments however I'll still stand by what i said "IF" and only if, Dred does in fact summon adds during the fight and is forced to fight himself and gets bitten
If not, *hopes Dred's giant dino brain remembers not to summon raptors cos he remembers how those noob party members of his made him wipe last time*, then the answer couldn't be more obvious, assuming we've all seen Godzilla the animated series in which they covered this exact fight and who won? You guessed it, the scaly guy, err well the scaly-er guy maybe? Dred wins! :)
Redshift Nov 19th 2009 5:22PM
I'm not too sure Volazj's trump card (i.e making people go insane) will work on an animal. In particular a dinosaur. ALSO through sheer size and physical prowess, Dred would probably best ol' king Vol'.
Wik'Imba Nov 19th 2009 5:23PM
Herald will win because his insanity will clone Dred, and the clones will chain fear and stack the bleeds on King Dred. The raptor adds wont be a problem with the shadow bolt volley. With King Dred having no way to break the clones fears, It's going clearly to Herald Volazj.
ZMES_Matt Nov 19th 2009 5:23PM
Grievous Bite
Need there be any more discussion?
dodgeballer2005 Nov 19th 2009 5:31PM
King Dred is going to win. Keep in mind that Herald cannot heal himself, therefore becoming an eventual death by Grievous Bite, which cannot go off until fully healed. All Herald has is copy summons IMO, but they don't use the abilities like the originals would.
Nizari Nov 19th 2009 10:49PM
First off, the clones do get the original's abilities, so Dred would get a grievous bite from his clone. Secondly, when insanity happens all debuffs on Volazj are cleared. So he's not going to be taking damage during that phase, whereas Dred will bleed during the second insanity, taking him down without much fuss.