Two Bosses Enter: ToC champs edge out Devourer, Black Knight wrangles Paletress
by Lisa Poisso 
Apr 21st 2010 at 2:00PM
It took hard work from all five ToC PvP champs to take down the Devourer of Souls in this week's Thunderdome pit fight -- but take him down they did. Three of our four judges gave the champs the nod, while tournament spectators saw them just squeaking by.
Join us after the break for the judges' decisions and final results of ToC PvP champs vs. Devourer of Souls, and then cast your own vote for the next Thunderdome deathmatch: The Black Knight vs. Argent Confessor Paletress. Dr. Dealgood's got the right idea: Ladies and gentlemen, boys and girls ... Dyin' time's here.
Victory: ToC champs
- ToC PvP Champs 50.1%
- Devourer of Souls 47.5%
- Tie/Something else happens 2.4%
Reader-Judge John "Zapperz" Zakour
Victory: ToC champs
This is probably the toughest call so far. I am going to make a couple of assumptions here. First off, the ToC Champs are champs, so I am going to assume they (unlike many PUGS I've seen) will be smart enough to stay out of the AoE damage. I am also assuming the champs will be intelligent enough not to kill one of their own who has Mirrored Soul on them (though lately we've been just blasting through Mirrored Soul ...). And thirdly, I am assuming the warrior can tank.
Making those three assumptions this turns into a tank and spank with the champs against a big, overly melodramatic boss with an extra face instead of a body. Tank rushes in with an Intercept, and it's on. The mage casts Haste, then pounds away with Fireball. The hunter lights up the bodiless wonder with scores of Lightning Arrows. Meanwhile, the rogue sneaks into position and does what rogues do best -- deal damage. Sure, there will be a Phantom Blast or two. But the champs will be smart enough to avoid the AoE attacks so the shammy can heal through most of the damage.
WoW.com Judge Michael Gray
Victory: Devourer of Souls
This is going to be a very tight fight. The ToC champions are a well-oiled fighting machine. They're the best at what they do, and what they do ain't pretty. But the three-faced Devourer specializes in redirecting damage and uses techniques that actually benefit from having more opponents -- not to mention, the Devourer has that super-creep advantage going on. Have you heard that thing's voice?
While I know the ToC champs will probably be a fan favorite, the logistical nightmare of organizing five PvPers into a cohesive unit long enough to not get blown up by Mirrored Soul could be a nightmare. If Devourer knows what's good for him, he'll turn that puppy on and leave it on, giving the Champs ample opportunity to kill themselves.
Two Bosses Enter Representative and Judge Sky Paladin
Victory: ToC champs
I hand this fight to the faction champions. They've got everything they need to take out the Devourer: a tank, a healer and some quality DPS. Even without their usual tricks, the faction champions should be able to take out the Devourer nearly without a scratch. The Devourer can give out some quite hefty damage, but almost all of these attacks can be avoided as long as the group remains on their toes. Conversely, the faction champion damage isn't that large, but it can't be avoided. A smart faction champ would beat an equally intelligent Devourer. (That said, stupid faction champions would lose to a stupid Devourer ...)
WoW.com Judge Matthew Rossi
Victory: ToC champs
I'd give it to the PvP champs, especially with all five of them up. Five champs versus Devourer is basically what happens every time someone runs the place. Phantom Blast is Spell Reflectable and interruptable, but if we go with the strict definition of these guys only using the abilities they do in the fight (and not the abilities their classes actually possess), that won't happen. However, it should be possible to soak the damage and heal through it. I have yet to see Unleashed Souls be more than an annoyance. Mirrored Soul is the only ability here that could really kill these guys, in my opinion, unless we assume they're not going to get out of the Well of Souls/Wailing Souls, which I'm not going to do here. In the end I think the Champs have enough variety that all five of them can stomp Devourer.
Did you honestly think that an agent of the Lich King would be bested on the field of your pathetic little tournament? I've come to finish my task.
The Black Knight is the final boss of the Trial of the Champion in the Crusaders' Coliseum. Opponents must face him in three sequential forms: corporeal form, skeleton form and ghost form.
- Corporeal Form Death's Respite, Raise Dead (raises either Arelas Brightstar or Jaeren Sunsworn)
- Skeleton Form Army of the Dead, Desecration
- Corporeal and Skeleton Form Blood Plague, Frost Fever, Ghoul Explode, Icy Touch, Obliterate, Plague Strike
- Ghost Form Death's Bite, Marked for Death
Study more of The Black Knight's battle tactics, or review the observations of those who've faced him in the past.
In Corner Two: Argent Confessor Paletress
Thank you, good herald. Your words are too kind. May the Light give me strength to provide a worthy challenge.
Argent Confessor Paletress is a human priest combatant in the Trial of the Champion. She can be heard periodically speaking to the various faction champions and receiving their confessions behind the confession screen.
- Confess/Reflective Shield
- Holy Fire
- Holy Nova
- Holy Smite
- Renew
- Summon Memory Summons one of the memories of Algalon the Observer, Archimonde, Chromaggus, Cyanigosa, Priestess Delrissa, Eck the Ferocious, Entropius, Gruul the Dragonkiller, Hakkar the Soulflayer, Heigan the Unclean, Herod, Hogger, Ignis the Furnace Master, Illidan Stormrage, Ingvar the Plunderer, Warlord Kalithresh, Lucifron, Prince Malchezaar, Mutanus the Devourer, Onyxia, Prince Thunderaan, Edwin VanCleef, Lady Vashj, Vek'nilash, General Vezax, which all use the same abilities: Waking Nightmare, Shadows of the Past or Old Wounds (inflicts 1,875 physical damage to an enemy every 1 sec. for 12 sec.)
Before facing Paletress, opponents must deal with three groups of three fighters. Inside the Two Bosses Thunderdome, we will consider Paletress' three waves of three fighters to be roughly equivalent in strength and tenacity to her opponent's four waves of monsters.
Read more about battling Argent Confessor Paletress, and review reports from gladiators who've faced her in the tournament.
The laws of the Thunderdome
- The Two Bosses Thunderdome is considered neutral territory, where both combatants are able to access their usual encounter mechanics and abilities. If you can't visualize it inside the Thunderdome, visualize it someplace else -- but you must take into consideration all of each bosses' abilities and mechanics.
- Assume that each opponent is intelligent and capable of strategic thinking.
- All of the competitors' abilities work on their opponents, including crowd control and other effects to which bosses are usually immune (with apologies to considerations of lore on this point).
- Assume that the opponents share similar levels, health pools and comparative overall damage output.
- Don't get caught up in gameplay mechanics and what actual players might do in each encounter.
- Don't neglect style, story and scale. Everything is a factor; seeking balance is your goal as a spectator and judge.
| The Black Knight wins (Paletress dies) | |
|---|---|
| Argent Confessor Paletress wins (The Black Knight dies) | |
| Tie (something else happens) |
The Five-Man Bosses of Icecrown Citadel and Trial of the Champion
Round One
Match 1: Bronjahm vs. The Black Knight
Match 2: Devourer of Souls vs. Forgemaster Garfrost
Match 3: Krick and Ick vs. Scourgelord Tyrannus
Match 4: Falric vs. Argent Confessor Paletress
Match 5: Marwyn vs. ToC PvP champions
Match 6: Eadric the Pure vs. The Lich King
Round Two
Match 1: Scourgelord Tyrannus vs. Lich King (5-man, HoR version)
Match 2: ToC PvP champions vs. Devourer of Souls
Match 3: The Black Knight (61.7%) vs. Argent Confessor Paletress (58.8%)
Match 4: Reader vote to bring back any ICC-5/ToC season loser
Set aside the world order -- let the Thunderdome determine who's the champion of Icecrown! Come back next week to find out who is the victor of the Icecrown/Trial of the Champions season of Two Bosses Enter, One Boss Leaves.Filed under: Analysis / Opinion, Two Bosses Enter
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 2)
Jaq Apr 21st 2010 2:04PM
It's like this: the Black Knight ALWAYS loses. He just doesn't know when to quit. Paletress drops a Memory of Hogger on him and goes off to listen to confessions.
revan Apr 21st 2010 2:06PM
Paletress summons Hogger = FLAWLESS VICTORY
Tokkar Apr 21st 2010 2:10PM
Wimpy guy with cool helm vs. eastern bloc BDSM mistress with double-chin...my money's on the German.
Chris S Apr 21st 2010 2:35PM
I think it's been fairly well proven that the Black Knight is a wuss. Paletress Wins.
Jonisjalopy Apr 21st 2010 2:34PM
I'll have to agree that if Hogger is summoned, things could get rough. He better pray to whichever god still gives him favor that he gets someone like VanCleef
Kyle S Apr 21st 2010 2:42PM
The Black Knight may be strong, But Paletress has the one trick up her sleeve that kills pretty much any sort of pugs unprepared for it- Summon Memory.
The Black Knight will easily get Paletress to use summon memory during phase 1, but that memory brings The Black Knight into phase 2.
Assuming the memory is still alive, no matter what it is, it will fear everything near it- including Army of the dead and deal damage to them as well- probably enough to kill them combined with Paletress'es Smite spam and casting renew on herself and the memory.
Even during phase 3 the black knight will be AoEing but with the memory still up, Paletress will be immune to the damage and debuff. The Black Knight MIGHT get away with killing the memory in this phase, but it's too little too late as Paletress will have full HP and spam smite, which smite deals extra damage the entire time with The Black Knight being undead.
Zhiva Apr 21st 2010 7:00PM
Aren't undead immune to fear?
Kyle S Apr 22nd 2010 7:12PM
It varies for the most part- even if he were, Paletress still has more than enough holy spells to make any undead cry.
Da muro Apr 21st 2010 2:46PM
There's a reason The Black Knight comes after Paletress. He is BETTER!!! No contest Black knight wins.
Jason Apr 22nd 2010 1:45PM
Actually, the Black Knight shows up unannounced. Paletress is supposed to be the last, ultimate challenge for the players. And when they beat her, they have proven themselves.
JKWood Apr 21st 2010 2:48PM
I'm pretty sure that I saw a Youtube video about TBK vs Paletress once.
Bolavar is deathwing Apr 21st 2010 2:55PM
Neither of them wins, PROOF!!!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gem3JF2tSww
Janaan Apr 21st 2010 3:50PM
I think I have to vote "Tie" now. Because that is awesome.
Deathknighty Apr 21st 2010 3:56PM
I have to admit, that made me laugh. Not sure why you got downrated. :P
Bryan Dare Apr 21st 2010 9:46PM
I knew someone would post this. Immature maybe, but dear God, I forgot how hilarious it is!! XD
clundgren Apr 21st 2010 3:02PM
Paletress. Not even close. She's tailor-made for killing undead, and before he even gets to her, The Black Knight has to get through her adds. He's not exactly an AoE machine in his first phase, so the adds get him into phase 2 before exploding ghouls finish them off. But now he has to take down a full health Paletress without his ghouls...unlikely, but let's assume he at least makes her summon memory at least before she gets him to phase 3.
Phase 3 is essentially a burn phase, and the key for the Black Knight, who has a low health pool at this point, is to finish his opponents before they finish him. But even in a best-case scenario Paletress is immune to damage at this point, so he'll have to get through his own summoned memory (probably of YOU, kicking his ass earlier in the tournament) before he can start on her. All while the memory is smacking him around and she is spamming smite.
I just don't see how The Black Knight has any sort of hope. But that's okay, since he was always designed to suffer a comical beatdown.
ZMES_Matt Apr 21st 2010 3:03PM
/shakle undead
/train
Diddy_Kalecgos Apr 21st 2010 3:27PM
This fight would definitely go to Argent Confessor Paletress. This is the way I see it playing out:
Adds:
The Black Knight summons his minion as the battle with Paletress' adds begins. Since he is capable of strategic thinking, he targets the Priestess first. After stacking his diseases on here and obliterating a few times, she falls and the other two die shortly after. The Ghoul aids him in killing unless a Lightwell is summoned by the Priestess before she dies in which case he pounces the well and destroys it before it can do any significant healing. He follows the same game plan for the other two groups and the real battle begins..
Paletress v Black Knight (Phase 1- Corporeal Form):
As the final add dies, Paletress begins to cast Smite on the Black Knight. He charges forward to engage but before he can reach her, his trusty ghoul leaps to her. Paletress begins to cast Holy Fire and the Black Knight, knowing his ghoul is about to be destroyed anyway, uses Corpse explosion. The explosion does moderate damage to Paletress but she casts renew on herself and starts smiting again. Now the Black Knight is in melee range and begins stacking his diseases on her. Using his limited disease + obliterate rotation he begins to wear her down when suddenly she shields herself with Reflective Shield and casts Confess. The Black Knight is now disorients and almost out of health as the Memory of Onyxia enters the fray. With a quick melee swipe from the Memory and a smite from Paletress, the Black Knight's Coporeal form falls.
Paltress v Black Knight (Phase 2-Skeleton Form):
As the Black Knight is reanimated as a skeleton, the Memory uses Shadows of the Past to increase the channel time of Army of the Dead. During this exposed time, Paletress casts renew on herself and the Memory as it goes in for some quick damage. Renew is now ticking on the Memory and herself (healing them both to full) and Paletress casts Holy Fire followed by Smite. The memory gets an Old Wounds hit in just as the Ghouls finish appearing. Despite the fact that the Black Knight now has all of his ghouls summoned, he is at a moderate health level from the amount of time it took to summon the creatures. Knowing he needs to do some quick damage he commands his minions to focus on the Memory along side him (believing that it would be foolish to strike the Paletress' Reflective Shield). He randomly detonates a minion to do some burst to the Memory, but Paletress is quick and continues to cast renew. To free some time to just hit the Black Knight, the Memory would use Waking Nightmare to scatter the ghouls and give a window of opportunity for the Memory and Paletress to attack with their full arsenal. This was exactly what they needed and resulted in them being able to destroy his skeleton form and in his last gasp for breath, he commanded the ghouls to all explode doing tremendous damage to the memory.
Paletress v Black Knight (Phase 3-Ghost Form):
The Black Knight returns in his new and improved Ghost form and rushes the memory in it's weakened state. The Paletress frantically casts renew to gain sometime for her memory to hit the Ghost hard and quick. Old Wounds and Shadows of the Past are cast by the Memory of Onyxia in quick succession but to no avail. The Ghost quickly marks him for death and begins stacking Death's Bite on the Memory and the Paletress. However, this Ghost's AoE dot application works against him as 25% of the damage done to the Paletress is reflected back to him. Now the Ghost is being hit with the Memory's melee attacks + DoTs along with the Paletress' Holy Fire DoT, Smite, and the Reflective shield. With all the incoming damage the Ghost is being dealt, he is quickly defeated resulting in an almost flawless victory for Paletress.
P.S. The Black Knight would ALWAYS say "It's just a Flesh Wound" anytime Old Wounds hit him.
Slick Apr 21st 2010 3:40PM
Unless the Black Knight can do over 25,000 damage/3seconds to Paletress, then he simply can't kill her. She has the most powerful renew EVER and he can't dispell it
Cetha Apr 21st 2010 4:20PM
in other news, I'm looking at this crazy long list of possible memories that she can summon :
Algalon the Observer, Archimonde, Chromaggus, Cyanigosa, Priestess Delrissa, Eck the Ferocious, Entropius, Gruul the Dragonkiller, Hakkar the Soulflayer, Heigan the Unclean, Herod, Hogger, Ignis the Furnace Master, Illidan Stormrage, Ingvar the Plunderer, Warlord Kalithresh, Lucifron, Prince Malchezaar, Mutanus the Devourer, Onyxia, Prince Thunderaan, Edwin VanCleef, Lady Vashj, Vek'nilash, General Vezax
and I have to say after x# of months since ToC was released and running it countless times on 8 different 80's, I have to say that it would be nice if Blizzard tinkered with whatever they need to to make more of these show up. There are some on this list that I see constantly (Herod-i feel like I get him more than anything, Warlord, VanCleef for example) and some that I honestly didn't even know were an option because I have never seen them but would be very cool to see (Illidan, Ignis, Prince, Ony, Algalon etc.)