Two Bosses Enter: Setesh vs. Halazzi
by Alex Ziebart 
Aug 8th 2011 at 1:00PM
Another week, another round of Two Bosses Enter! This week we see another boss from tier 2 Cataclysm heroics in action: Halazzi of Zul'Aman. Halazzi will be pit against Halls of Origination's Setesh.
| Setesh | |
|---|---|
| Halazzi |
Follow along for the rules of the matchup, a review of what these bosses can do, and a discussion of last week's winner.
The rules of the ring
- The WoW Insider Ring 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 squared circle, 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, including crowd control and other effects to which bosses are usually immune, work on their opponents (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.
Embrace the end.
Setesh is one of the more dangerous bosses in Halls of Origination, which you wouldn't know because you always skip him. Shame on you, reader. Shame.
Setesh, the Construct of Destruction, melts faces with the following:
- Chaos Bolt
- Seed of Chaos
- Summoned Chaos Portals that spawn Void Sentinels, Void Wurms, or Void Seekers
Get on your knees and bow to da fang and claw!
Halazzi, like last week's Venoxis, is an unexpected addition to the Two Bosses Enter tournament. While the first season of this expansion was in progress, we had no idea that the denizens of Zul'Gurub and Zul'Aman were looking to make a comeback.
Halazzi's arsenal includes: Halazzi was pulled into this tournament by popular demand. Will his popularity push him over the top against Setesh?
Godfrey took the win last week by a very small margin, ending up with 51.6% of the popular vote. Despite Venoxis' receiving numerous requests to be entered into this season of the tournament, the popularity simply wasn't enough to carry him past the stylish Lord Godfrey. Reader squig_masta laid out his thoughts on why Godfrey would take the win quite well:
Alot of the arguements I see for Venoxis are based on the idea of taking their abilities, lining them up in Column A and Column B and essentially running a simulation. Yes, if there was a crazy bug in the game, and suddenly the NPC version of Lord Godfrey fought the NPC version of Venoxis, they would spend the whole time in melee range of each other trading blows, Godfrey would probably randomly cycle through his abilities, and Venoxis would pop toxic link and end it all.
Once you start going beyond that though, and start questioning in lore terms, The Undead Gilnean who brought Sylvanas to her knees vs the Troll priest who embodies the spirit of a Snake god, things get dicey. I'm willing to grant that the powr given to him by Hethiss will probably make Venoxis physically stronger, but Godfrey didn't get to where he is by throwing his weight around. If he didn't step into the arena knowing exactly how to deal with all of Venoxis little poison effects (which can all be summed up with don't stand in green) he'd probably figure it out pretty quick. You could argue that Venoxis is somewhat smart too, but there's no reason to suggest that he's above average intelligence, and it'd be a huge stretch to say he'd put as much thought into planning as Godfrey would.
Also, since Godfrey fights using pistols, he wouldn't be rushing up to go toe to toe with him. Most of the fight Godfrey would keep his distance firing cursed bulets and other shots when he can, so Toxic Link and breath of Hethiss wouldn't be too much of a factor, other then maybe giving him time to summon ghouls/unload a few rounds while Venoxis casts. All this of course would just be untill Venoxis throws Bloodvenom at him, and then collpases from exhaustion. Godfrey then would use a pistol barrage to finish off the troll.
TLDR version, Godfrey's at least as smart as the average pug and knows how to play his class; he can beat Venoxis.
| Lord Godfrey | |
|---|---|
| Venoxis |
The battle begins!
Remember, Two Bosses Enter matchups are all about substance and style, not gameplay, mechanics, and numbers. Don't base your strategies on player tactics, which opponent has been easiest or most difficult for you personally, or the difficulty of each opponent relative to instance progression. Vote for the spirit of the battle as set forth above. Set aside differences in opponents' health pools, game level, and actual damage output. Absolutely no game mechanics nitpicking!
Set aside the world order -- let the WoW Insider Ring determine who's the champion! Your votes determine the outcome in WoW Insider's series of fantasy deathmatches, Two Bosses Enter, One Boss Leaves.
Filed under: Two Bosses Enter
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
mazca13 Aug 8th 2011 1:08PM
It really is a pity that Setesh gets skipped so regularly. I love his quotes, and I think he's a remarkably well-designed boss, in that he's functionally a DPS race but the nature of his soft enrage mechanic means that a particularly good tank and/or a particularly good healer can make up for poor DPS, or equally a particularly high DPS group can prevail despite a weak tank/healer. It's, in other words, how an encounter to be handled by wildly variable random groups should be designed.
Katherine Aug 8th 2011 7:05PM
I haven't skipped Setesh in MONTHS, because I haven't got Halls from the dungeon finder in MONTHS. I've been everywhere else except Halls.
Nina Aug 8th 2011 8:38PM
When tanking HoO I always do a full clear, no exceptions. At first I hated tanking Setesh because I wasn't sure what exactly to do, but slowly learned to enjoy the encounter especially the trash pulls. I love kiting, I don't know why.
Natsumi Aug 8th 2011 9:14PM
@Katherine
I know what you mean, it's like the only places I get to go are ZG and ZA. WTF Blizz?
Toxeia Aug 8th 2011 1:10PM
You're forgetting that awful sprawl of green deathzones that Setesh drops around himself that eats anyone silly enough to not get out of them.
toxeia Aug 8th 2011 1:21PM
Apparently there's no edit feature, my apologies for double posting (That's still frowned upon, right?)
Keep in mind the Void Seekers dramatically reduce healing taken and movement speed making water totems a great disadvantage for Halazzi.
As for last week's victor, saying he has the intelligence of the average pug going into a fight with Venoxis isn't saying much. Many a time have I had to solo him on a paladin because people eat it =(
Neothanos Aug 8th 2011 1:23PM
Halazzi woul put a hell of a figthand his reall shot at winning would be a early enrage but his healing totem heals even his enemies and he would overhelmed by sheer number of Chaos portal summons.
Cobalt Aug 8th 2011 1:37PM
Also, don't forget that one of Setesh's adds that spawn form his portals has a nasty channeled ability that makes you IMMUNE TO ALL HEALING. But only if the portals stay up for more than 1 spawn.
It was the cause of much ragewipes when I was gearing up my tank at launch.
puffcake Aug 8th 2011 1:53PM
This is what I was thinking. One or two anti-magic prisons, and Halazzi is done, healing totems or no.
GhostWhoWalks Aug 8th 2011 1:41PM
/facepalm
And Godfrey's inexplicable popularity gives him another win against a more impressive opponent. With any luck, the next round's match-ups will see Godfrey getting excised by a boss with both superior credentials and, apparently, the needed popularity.
Ah, who am I kidding? It seems too many people like the idea of having a beer with Godfrey to stop and realize that he's a poser.
On to more pleasant subjects: this week's match-up.
Halazzi is a smart fighter, and that makes him formidable; he's got strong healing, a pet/minion/add, a nasty source of damage in the form of his Lightning Totem, a ranged attack with Flame Shock, and strong melee capabilities that can't be ignored. In any other situation, I'd name him as being the odds-on favorite for going all the way to the finals of this tournament...
...and then he ends up being matched up against Setesh in the very first round. Poor guy.
See, Setesh seems almost custom-built to be Halazzi's worst nightmare. The Construct of Destruction (there's an oxymoron for you) is a total ass, and any plans Halazzi had for this fight go right out the window. The prophet of the Lynx loves the prospect of a one-on-one fight without much moving around...and Setesh is all ABOUT moving around and filling the arena with adds! Halazzi's Water Totem will be limited in its usefulness as he is forced to go tearing after the wandering Setesh, unable to stay in one spot and reap its benefits for very long. The Spirit of the Lynx will be free to run amok and tear through the Void minions Setesh summons, though there is little it can do to stop the minions from piling onto Halazzi and tearing down his Lightning Totems. Flame Shock and melee strikes could deal a nice amount of damage to Setesh...rrrright up until Seed of Chaos forces Halazzi to fall back or face an overwhelming amount of pain.
In fact, that about sums up Setesh's victory: as impressive and well-rounded as Halazzi is, he just can't bring the multi-tasking skills to the battle that would allow him to shut down all of Setesh's portals, kill all of the Void minions that leak out AND still take down the roaming Setesh before he is overwhelmed.
alzeer Aug 8th 2011 2:01PM
Setesh i choose you XD
if he made his adds destroy the totems as they spawn Halazzi wont pose much threat
his normal abilities+ adds damage will be higher than totemsless shaman
epow3r Aug 8th 2011 2:03PM
Halazzi is obviously the winner in this fight.
With his totem and transformation Setesh's adds shouldn't be a big problem and go down in aoe pretty easy. So Halazzi can really focus on Setesh himself and while in Frenzy...beat the shit out of him!
DeathPaladin Aug 8th 2011 3:22PM
A troll that's been empowered by a loa versus one of four constructs crafted by the Titans with the single-minded purpose of guarding and operating a planet-destroying cannon.
I'm going to have to give this to the Titan construct. Their software may be buggy (see Ulduar, Curse of Flesh), but their structural designs are solid.
Lostatomato Aug 8th 2011 3:24PM
At first I would have given this to Setesh, however, upon further thought I will be giving this to Halazzi. Sure the portals will spawn adds, however, Halazzi would not ignore something that is tossing adds at him. Certainly he wouldn't know at first, but once his health gets low he would switch into Lynx form and burn down the portals and have his totems take out the remaining adds. Also if Void Seekers are channeling on him, he wouldn't be single minded and only focus on Setesh.
Once he realizes the adds that come out Chaos Portals, he would prioritize their demise and all he would have to do is toss down a Water Totem if he decides to dps during Seed of Chaos.
paccoachnick Aug 8th 2011 4:38PM
Card. Board. Assassin. 4. Life.
Zankoku Aug 8th 2011 5:56PM
I seem to remember last season of TBE had a clause that "Adds do not factor into the fight". I remember specifically on Azil/Cookie fight seeing that clause. And this season (at least for this fight), that clause is absent.... and probably for good reason because Setesh w/o adds is a pushover, and Halazzi has a powerful (although seemingly mindless) add.
Without adds, I will give this to Halazzi, because Water Totem will outheal most if not all of Setesh's attacks. Combined with the raw power that Halazzi brings, it is not even a match up.
With adds.... it comes down to how Halazzi controls his Lynx and directs it. If Halazzi figures out that taking out the Portals (and hence the Prison adds) is key, it swings in his favor as it comes down to Water Totem outhealing the rest of Setesh's abilities.
mibu.work1 Aug 8th 2011 8:51PM
I'm gonna give this one to Halazzi as far as strategy goes. Nothing screams 'cunning' to me in ZA like a lynx, so he has the advantage of being able to think on his feet. Pair that with the fact that while Setesh DOES have the forethought to not simply rely on his own brute force, he is rather set in his ways, and likely not very good at adapting.
How this fight would play out in my mind is as follows:
Halazzi stalked into the arena, his head low, ears pricked. Before him stood an imposing figure, all wrought stone and gold trim, with a fierce head, rather like a dog, but unlike any near the troll's native Amani land. Halazzi bared his fangs in a wicked grin, glad to have such a challange.
"Ye gonna kneel to me fang and claw bruddah, no matter how big you be!" he roared his challange, raising his axes to the sky.
The black figure stood, and from the unmoving mouth came a voice as deep as the darkest crevices of the ocean 'Your end is here, lion god, embrace is.'
Halazzi yowled and charged, feeling his blood boil at the prospect of battle, his inner lynx yearning for the thrill and rush of bloodlust. No, not yet, first he must take precautions. As he charged, Halazzi raised his hand, and the creature, Setesh, he thought he remembered it was called, burst into crackling flame. Setesh did not budge.
Halazzi dropped a totem to the floor, and enjoyed as its cooling water lapped at his feet. NOW he could let loose. With another yowl, he gave in to the bloodlust, the rage, and began swinging, bearing claw and axe and fang against the stone figure's legs.
Setesh, looking down at the small creature, felt no pain at the vicious attack, but felt the cuts going deep into his sable body. He swung at the creature, who took one blow, but danced aside to avoid the next. Setesh was puzzled, such blows normally felled foes, but this one seemed already recovered, a feat he thought only Ammunae capable of. Best to stick to his usual strategy then, it had not failed him before.
Halazzi let out a victorious snarl as the titanic form retreated, walking to the far end of the hall. The snarl petered out, however, when he saw his opponent was not retreating, but simply backing away to cast a spell. Letting the water sooth the ache from the creature's blow, Halazzi waited to see what would happen, asses what was coming.
Setesh stepped away as the portal opened, and began walking to another suitable location. He knew what would come next, first the wyrms, then the wraith, then the construct, and then more and more.
Halazzi realized what was happening, he had seen some of the hated elves do this before; summoning magic! He looked on as two large wyrms, rather like the mana-wyrms the elves kept as pets, swam lazily out of the portal, and made their way towards him. He charged, cutting one and then the other down. Now a creature as dark as darkness itself appeared, vaugly man-shaped, it scratched at him with pitiful claws. He derisivly sent flames crackling over its body before placing a totem of healing, and turning to dismantle the portal. To his amazement, the creature survived to claw him again, and then he felt strange, hurt, as it cast a spell upon him. He was slow, slower than he'd ever been, and he no longer felt the soothing balm of the water, only wetness.
Setesh finished opening the second portal, and caught a glimpse of his opponent as he made his way to open a third. The creature, a lynx god, he remembered in his old mind, was falling prey to his void wraith's shield. It was only a matter of time...
Halazzi bellowed and cut down the void creature, sighing as the balm washed over him again. His cuts healed, he turned just in time to see a large machine emerge from the portal, like a huge version of the elves' guardians. behind it, he saw more wyrms emerge from a second portal. This would not do. 'Spirit! Go!' he cried, and the lynx spirit left him, charging away. Knowing his soul-bonded comrade would never fail him, he placed a new healing totem, and then a lightning totem. The bolts of lightning arced accross the air, striking the construct, two more wyrms that had emmerged, and the portal itself. The runes collapsed, and the portal closed.
Setesh turned in surprise, seeing a portal fall, before he was hit in the chest with a small, furry mass. The creature latched itself to his chest, clawing, biting, and growing larger and redder by the second. He batted at it, but it clung on. Setesh felt a new sensation, annoyance.
Halazzi, meanwhile, was cutting his way through more void spawn. The wyrms went down with a swing, the constructs mindlessly chased him, but the void walkers caused him no end of suffering, as their slowing shields negated his totems, and their claws raked his skin. However, he no longer doubted that closing the portal was the way. He cut down another wraith, and placed a lightning totem at the foot of the second portal.
Setesh beat at the cat, which he now knew to be the god he had sensed, primitive and doomed to fall, like all mortal creations. The troll, he now identified its species, was in a bad way, but had managed to close two portals, and he had yet to start on the forth one.
Halazzi roared 'spirit! come back ta me!" and charged to the next portal, welcoming the sweet scent of fur and blood as the god lept into him, anointing his brow, shoulders, and hands with its form. He felt strong, far stronger than his old self, and stronger than this titanic construct and all its ancient forces. He placed another water totem, cut down two wyrms and a wraith, and demolished the runes holding the portal before any more could emerge, before turning to face his foe.
Setesh decided it was time to alter his strategy, for once. he began chanelling, calling upon the void that was his essense. Bolts of void energy struck the ground, and it was all the troll/god could do to avoid them.
Halazzi dodged this way and that, but he could not escape all the void seeds, not at this range. seething inwardly at his stupidity, he clung to his bloodlust to sustain him. He stood, straight and proud, as the void energy struck him again and again, and when it ended, he was still standing.
'I gonna carve you now!' he bellowed, and lept onto the watcher's chest, axe and claw striking here and there, totems popping out of the ground, lightning arcing, fire crackling. He split again, and Setesh could not walk fast enough to reach the next portal.
Halazzi lept away, and the Lord of Destruction fell to his knees, whispering 'Yes, give in to your hatred.' Before looking up at his enemy. The troll stood there, fur dripping with blood, speckled with chunks of rock.
'You can't fight da powah'. Halazzi said, before burying his axe in Setesh's carved head. The void constructs faded away, the portals open closed, and the Titan's work lay still and inert, the dark fire of his eyes dimmed.
Scott Aug 9th 2011 12:20AM
Halazzi strode purposefully into the quiet arena, confident in his prowess and in the aid of the Lynx Avatar that flowed through him. That confidence was shaken but not drained by the sight of the towering black stone figure before him. Would Halazzi's wiked claws, searing flame shock and debilitating lightning be enough to overcome such a foe, he didn't know but the doubt was put to the back of his mind as he assessed this foe for weakness.
Setesh stood impassive whilst the puny troll paced back and forth infront of him like some agitated feline. This one certainly seemed different from the others he had glimpsed back in his usual position in the Halls of Origination. As a guard placed by the very Titans, Setesh was quite sure he could account for any foe that was foolish enough to challenge him and this one did look just the right sort of fool to do that.
Halazzi yells: Get on ya knees and bow.... to da fang and claw!
Suddenly the Troll leapt towards Setesh with a rage filled scream of power and started to swing his empowered claws with determination against the cold black stone. Halazzi was momentarily puzzled as his opponent appeared to ignore his attacks and simply walked away, enraged he rushed after him striking with increased fury and rending small but telling blows to the hard shell of this strange foe. A small dark but tinged with purple ball of magic formed at Halazzi feet burning his skin and forcing him to retreat momentarily from his foe, as he moved another ball appeared forcing him further and further from Setesh.
Setesh yells: You fear that which you cannot control. But can you control your fear?
This appeared to be what Setesh was wanting to happen as he finally appeared to take notice of Halazzi. Setesh barely seemed to moved as he effortlessly tossed the ball of rolling blackness at the spot the Troll was crouched in waiting to see what would happen next. Halazzi easily side-stepped the ball of darkness that arced to him but had not considered it would leave the small pool of darkness behind that it did. The pain was enough to convince him to get back in to contact with this strange beast and continue the work he had been forced away from earlier. Halazzi summoned a totem of water on his way back into combat to heal some of the damage he had suffered but the damned statue just strode away forcing Halazzi to follow and not recieve any benefit from the totem.
As he rushed in to continue the attack he noticed a black portal slowly open up behind the equally black figure of Setesh. He wondered if his oponent was intending to flee to some other realm away from the fight that had barely begun of if he was bringing assistance from whatever black hell he had obviously sprung from. As the two worms of darkness slipped through the portal, Halazzi's question was answered. Switching quickly to these new foes, Halazzi felt no danger as these new foes appeared weak and easily subdued. Just in time Halazzi noticed the slow ball of darkness heading towards him just as he finished off the second of the two worms. The searing pain of the pool of darkness was enough to convince Halazzi that it was time to split his strength to deal with what had become a battle on two fronts. His Troll side strode back into combat with the statue and his Lynx half leapt at the new foe slipping quickly through the black doorway.
Halazzi yells: Me gonna carve ya now!
The Lynx half of Halazzi and the new void entity struck terrible blows upon one another but the cat was just strong enough despite the power flowing through the entity's fists to overcome him. Luckly for Halazzi his Lynx half still had the energy and will left to deal with the portal itself before the new foe just emerging was able to fully enter the field of battle. Unfortunately it wasn't able to do both that and avoid the new ball of blackness Setesh was able to unleash whilst the Lynx was occupied and so the two halves were forced back together.
Whilst his Lynx half had been dealing with the void creatures and the doorway Halazzi the Worshiper had been doing the best he could against the stone figure of Setesh. The lightning totem he summoned had done great damage at first but Setesh instinctively summoned more of the small black balls of magic he had used at the beginning of the battle and whilst Halazzi the Worshiper could move away from the totem was unable to avoid the minor but sufficient damage they did and was snuffed out.
As the two halves of Halazzi rejoined they started the same dance with more urgency, determined to finish this troublesome foe as quickly as they could. Unfortunately for Halazzi being a single figure again meant he had to decide whether to continue the assault on the original target or switch to the new portal that opened up before him. He chose to continue on the original target and try and bring it down now. Summoning a new lightning totem appeared to deal well with the worms and even score a few hits on Setesh himself but was unable to reach the doorway and so the second void creature from before was able to re-enter the battle and add its damage to the continued small amounts from the balls of darkness.
By switching to this new opponent and dropping a water totem at his feet he was able to negate and even briefly reverse some of the terrible damage being wrought upon him by his foes. A final lightning totem placed right infront of the portal should have sealed the doorways fate and stopped any more creatures from emerging from it but one was able to slip in before the doorway was sealed. This new entity struck Halazzi with a strange attack that slowed every part of his being and even seemed to shut off the joyful flow of energy from his water totem.
Setesh yells: Do you understand now?
Seeming stuck in a molassess of purple tinged darkness and Halazzi could only stare in horror as the slow moving ball of darkness he had so easily avoided previously struck him directly and leaving the pool of darkness all around him. The flesh of Halazzi screamed as the utter coldness of the darkness engulfed him ... the darkness wrapped itself tightly around the struggling Troll as the life ebbed from him ... Halazzi barely whispered a final defiant word ... you ... can't ... fight ... da power!
Setesh yells: Embrace the end!