Two Bosses Enter: Temple Guardian Anhuur vs. Daakara
by Alex Ziebart 
Aug 22nd 2011 at 5:00PM
Another Troll boss bit the dust last week when Hex Lord Malacrass fell to Vanessa VanCleef. This week, the Troll who inherited Zu'Aman in Cataclysm is up to bat: Daakara. Can Daakara pull out a win against Titan construct Anhuur?
| Temple Guardian Anhuur | |
|---|---|
| Daakara |
Follow along for the details of this week's matchup, as well as discussion on last week's match.
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.
Beacons of light, bestow upon me your aegis!
Anhuur's buddy Setesh performing surprisingly well earlier in the tournament, knocking Halazzi right out. Whether that's a testament to Setesh's strength or to Halazzi's lack of popularity, who knows? The question now is can Anhuur follow it up?
Anhuur's toolkit includes:
- Divine Reckoning
- Shield of Light Yes, the Two Bosses Enter arena has been outfitted with a pair of switches (and probably snakes, too).
- Reverberating Hymn
This is why they call me ... invincible!
Daakara is the new warlord of the Amani after the fall of Zul'jin, which means comparisons between the two will always be drawn. Is Daakara a dangerous dude or just a poser mimicking the old boss's slick moves?
Daakara's spread of abilities includes ... oh, who am I kidding, there's like a million of them. Check it on Wowhead.
Can Daakara break the cycle? Can he be the first Zandalari ally to win in this season of the tournament? I'd say his chances are pretty good.
Last week marked Vanessa VanCleef's first legitimate win of the Two Bosses tournament. Hex Lord Malacrass put up a good fight, but Vanessa has already won the hearts and minds of the population at large.
Of course, Vanessa's a pretty stabby gal, and sometimes stabby isn't the most exciting thing to read about, is it? That's why reader Rai pitched a Malacrass win:
"Vanessa, why are you STILL here? You've made a mockery of this entire event!"Unfortunately for the Hex Lord, it turns out Rai's scenario was just a poison-induced dream. Immediately after his slick one-liner, Malacrass woke from his lovely illusion with a dagger in his back.
The leader of the Defias shrugged, letting out a yawn and smirking at Tirion, who was growing ever so bored of her presence.
"Because, I am the best, Highlord. There's apparently nothing you can throw at me to stop me. At this rate you'll have to fight me yourself, and I just don't think you-"
There was an ominous beating of drums as the stadium doors opened and the intimidating form of Hex Lord Malacrass strode in, looking very confident and waving to a crowd of trolls who was dancing and cheering in the stands. Vanessa raised an eyebrow at a chuckling Tirion, before hopping down from the stands and giving the Hex Lord the eye.
"Dere be much darkness in ya, missy. Malacrass gonna enjoy dis!"
"I hate trolls."
The giant troll lumbered towards Vanessa, cackling and raising his weapon. There was a puff of smoke at two points in the arena behind him, as the hissing form of Slither and the demonic form of Gazakroth appeared. Vanessa drew to a halt, waving her arms.
"Wait a minute! I've done intel on you! Why couldn't you bring the elf or that Raadan guy?"
"Raadan complain too much. Not summon often." Malacrass explained, raising an arm in the end before firing several spirit bolts at Vanessa, who began cursing, before leaping at Malacrass and stabbing him furiously. Gazakroth the imp began firing fireballs at her, while Slither copied the action with venom bolts.
"Minions! ATTACK!" Vanessa yelled, as three of her Defias cronies appeared from the shadows (which are always conviniently located), the two sword-weilding guards charging for Slither and attacking him, engaging the giant snake. The caster began attacking the imp, drawing his attention from Vanessa.
"It good to have friends!" Malacrass said, facing Vanessa and grunting as her blade thrusts began to perform their toll.
"I have no need for friends! I am more powerful than anyone, including my father!"
The caster assistant conjured a Blood Zone on the ground, which appeared at the other end of the arena. Vanessa facepalmed before shadowstepping, hitting Malacrass once in the back and then running for the Blood Zone, turning and beckoning. There was a furious hiss and a slight burning smell as Slither and Gazakroth killed one of her assistants each, turning to finish the third.
"Ya got baggage, missy. Your heart be dark, and Malacrass wishes for a taste..."
Malacrass roared and a beam of white light connected itself to Vanessa as he began siphoning her soul. She shrugged.
"I have nothing to hide..."
He charged as the Blood Zone faded, raising his weapon once more. Behind him, his friend Slither dropped dead as the imp finished off the third attacker.
"You be a rogue, mon! You have EVERYTHING to hide! Malacrass sees it now. Your father, murdered. Your friends, gone. Forced to hire a puny murloc as a kingpin because everyone else be lackin' the brainpower?"
"Stop it!" Vanessa demanded, attacking him more and more furiously, but his Drain Power spell lowering the damage as it rose.
"Hidin' behind poisons and weaklings, throwin' em to the beasts as they become useless. Ye be washed up, VanCleef and y'know it missy!"
Malacrass began striking her harder and harder as her rogue knowledge echoed through his mind. The siphon ended.
"I am powerful! I am greater than my fath-ARGH!" she screamed as the imp's fireball hit her directly in the back.
"Den your father must have been weak. Puny adventurers be able to kill him!"
Spirit bolts began firing at Vanessa again. Three more of her assistants appeared, all three charging at the imp but it was useless. She knew that this was going to end badly for her. Thinking quickly, she cast Deflection, but the spirit bolts were not reflected, as they killed her assistants, who had just finished off the imp and were preparing to tear him apart.
"I've-I've armed the arena with explosives! Did you really-"
"No you ain't. Shut up, girlie."
As Vanessa was about to drop to the floor, she screamed especially loudly. Malacrass stopped in surprise, but began siphoning her soul.
"Enough! I will not give you the pleasure. My fate is m-"
Malacrass used Blind. Vanessa wandered around on the spot. Somewhere in the distance, Tirion was laughing hard.
"I be disappointed, mon. All that talk of a fun Nightmare Gauntlet, all da exciting exposition, all o' dat! But no, all you managed to do is make this entire thing a farce with your stupid piece o' cardboard! NO MORE!"
He lunged for her, raising his weapon and bringing it crashing down upon her skull. Vanessa's screams echoed throughout the colosseum.
"Dis a nightmare ya don' wake up from!"
| Vanessa VanCleef | |
|---|---|
| Hex Lord Malacrass |
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)
puffcake Aug 22nd 2011 5:25PM
Daakara's got this in the bag. Just because Anhuur has annoying mechanics doesn't make him a formidable foe. Daakara's various cyclone attacks could simultaneously wipe the snakes and flip the switches, rendering Anhuur relatively defenseless in a short amount of time. Plus, once he's in firehawk or lynx form, Anhuur's going to get shredded fairly quickly.
Cobalt Aug 22nd 2011 5:31PM
If Daakara is intelligent with using his different forms, then I think he has a good chance of winning. He's pretty much a swiss-army knife boss; lots of different forms with different abilities that can do well in a wide range of situations. He can pop Lynx form to summon adds to keep the snakes at bay while he goes for the levers (and since feral druids can use the levers, we can assume that they are similarly animal-form friendly for Daakara), then shift to Dragonhawk mode to wipe out any snakes that his spawned lynx minions can't get to/can't kill fast enough.
After that, it's just a matter of switching to Bear form to stack up a ludicrous amount of damage using Surge. Or just wrecking Anhuur with the lynx-form claw flurry thing.
Vladiv Aug 22nd 2011 5:43PM
'Dis one be a no brainer, mon. How can da great Draakara be losein' if he be INVINCIBLE? Besides he has friends in high places, I'm sure a swarm of Zandalari goons could take care of the snakes making the whole arena drown in blood. If that fails his buddies Fang and Claw can easily pull one or both of the switches. Let me tell you this guy has some tricks, such as his brother bear, also fire kill you just as quick.
Ilmyrn Aug 22nd 2011 6:04PM
Plus you gotta respect a guy who found time to raid BT and still take over his own heroic.
Leethax Aug 22nd 2011 5:56PM
Hold on - if the fight takes place in neutral territory, Anhuur shouldn't even have his shield, right? He uses those pillars next to him that we have to switch off.
And if Anhuur can't even do his one schtick, then he couldn't even take the bum-rushing trolls, let alone Daakara.
Leethax Aug 22nd 2011 5:58PM
Wait, I just read the rules of the ring again. I guess he can do it.
I still think Daakara has this one in the bag, though.
WorstRogueEVAR Aug 22nd 2011 6:16PM
After reading Rai's idea, I kinda felt bad for Vanessa. But then I remembered how messed up the last tournament was with that lousy cardboard assassin. Now I'm ok with her head being bashed in and all...
Amaxe Aug 22nd 2011 9:13PM
"Hex Lord Malacrass put up a good fight, but Vanessa has already won the hearts and minds of the population at large."
Or at least that of the horny fanboys...
/flees the mob
Omegan01 Aug 23rd 2011 2:03AM
I'm voting for Daakara purely on the basis of avenging the insult Malacrass suffered.
Shallow? Yes. But since I'm guessing so were most of the votes for Vanessa, I don't feel bad. :P
The Dewd Aug 23rd 2011 11:36AM
hehehe...
Sure she's cute but she's PSYCHO. (And a fictional construct of pixels, too, of course.)
Namus Aug 23rd 2011 1:24PM
+1 I'm so sick of the Vanessa bandwagon, this season is already over.
Terazeal Aug 23rd 2011 12:37AM
Daakara will easily win if he chooses the bear spirit as this will allow him to switch the levers, interrupt the hymn with Creeping Paralysis(allowing stuns to work on bosses for the purposes of fairness), and deal massive damage with consecutive Surges. However, if he chooses the form of the lynx, he will likely lose due to having absolutely no way to interrupt the hymn which will handily dispatch his lynx companions. In the case that Daakara chooses his lynx form and Anhuur gets him down to phase 3 before Anhuur does his second hymn, Anhuur has no chance of losing due to the impossibility of a dragonhawk or eagle throwing a lever that takes a seasoned adventurer augmented with magical armor 8 seconds to use, meaning that Anhuur's Shield of Light will never fade, rendering him invincible for the rest of the fight. Seeing as Daakara has no dungeon journal to help him decide which forms to choose, it is equally likely that he will favor the bear as the lynx, making both fighters equally likely to win. I cast no vote.
Fletcher Aug 23rd 2011 2:22AM
Dakaara. He may be a worthless waste of matter unfit to lick mighty Zul'jins foot-less boots, but he's still got enough abilities to beat Light Switch Cat.
Fletcher Aug 23rd 2011 3:12AM
WTB edit button ... the missing apostrophe in "Zul'jin's" is driving me insane.
Voludo Aug 24th 2011 10:59AM
A buzzer sounds and awakens the guardian of the former temple of origination, Anhurr awakens his stone like body grinding against itself. Being a titanic construct his body is made of sandstone like material fashioned into a living form of a feline like centaur. As he gazes around the room he sees a room so familiar yet different. The layout of the room is almost exactly similar to his own chamber, but the it is just a reproduction lacking the titanic energy and humming machinations he has grown accustom too. His eyes narrowed as he spied an oddity a platform at the end of one end of the room. Like a green stain on the seemingly perfect stone floor is a tall humanoid with great tusks and green skin wearing primitive armor made of metal. "Ya' finally be awake Mon!" roared the green giant as he draws a distinctive look broad axe. "i be Daakara, and you be ma ticket ta freedom!", he says as he leaps from his platform and chants a strange dialect as four spirit animals appear in each corner of the room. The stone guardian simply stood there silent whilst preparing for this intruders assault.
Daakara launched with a speed rare for something his size and slashed at the giant stone feline, sparks fly as stone meets metal making a deep gash in a once smooth form. Almost annoyed as a roar emits from his still lips and bellows "Beacons of light, bestow upon me your aegis!" as a shield of light envelope the guardian. After several failed attempts to smash the shield Daakara looks around the room seeing two switches at the bottom of the sand pits and grins an evil trollish grin " Der be no hidin' frome de eagle!" and turns to channel the might eagle spirit taking on the form of the great spirit and begins to create cyclones ripping and tearing at everything including the switches. As the winds grow stronger two cyclones on each side of the room envelope the switches causing them to shift. "No,NO!" yelled the great guardian as the light fades from him leaving him vulnerable once more. Just as quickly as all this chaos transpired it stopped only for Anhuur to hear the voice of Daakara that made him turn around. "Got me some new tricks... like me brudda bear...." and Anhuur was bashed in the midsection by a gigantic bear causing his once pristine stone pecs to crack and shatter. "Now that i ave ya where I want ya let me introduce you to me buddy's fang an claw!" as he changed from a bear two a cat leaping to the guardian. The guardian fell with a sickening crash as three Lynx began ripping, tearing, and shredding the stone like it was soft as flesh until there was no midsection at all left! Daakara shifted back into troll form still grinning and turning to the exit as the spirit bear, dragonhawlk, lynx, and eagle faded from the room. Holding the head of the once guardian Anhuur as a trophy the troll let out one more sentence "All ya need to win be da....*puts on primitive sunglasses* bear nessesitys!"