Before heroic modes, aoe tanking, 3D zergs, ZA mount runs, or even publicly known defense/hit caps, there was the Stratholme 45 minute Baron run. At 60 with mostly dungeon blue gear, the Strat 45 was pretty much the ultimate test of 5 man group skill. I remember memorizing the exact pulls in the exact order in order to accomplish the run.

A couple of friends from my guild and I got together, a warrior tank, mage, hunter, holy paladin and holy priest, and set about doing the task. We failed a couple times by aggroing extra mobs, eye of naaxramas, etc, but we got the rhythm down and did a final showdown. Elixirs and buffs up, mana users alternated sitting down to drink while the others kept pulling, warrior and holy pally both chain pulling mobs, LOSing, shackling, carefully walking a fine line in order to avoid aggroing certain groups, and using every trick in the book to shave time. Finally we got to the slaughter house with 10 minutes to spare, everybody shouting in vent that we got this, spirits high, and then the warrior tank gets locked out. Holy paladin tanking, mana users drinking while hunter pulls the next and the next, another frantic race to kill the aboms, twiddling our thumbs waiting for the skeleton guardians to come out, and FINALLY engage Baron with maybe a minute to spare. We down the boss, save the damsel in distress, and all get our dungeon set upgrades. That fight was probably the most adrenaline pumped frantic 45 minute constant action I've ever been in, requiring much more skill than anything I've done before or after.

Since then, our guild has fallen apart and all of us have gone our separate ways, lost our mage to a fatal car accident, and some left the game, but when I think of WoW, that Strat 45 run is the moment that comes to mind and I'll never forget it.

Reply