Netherspite

Moving right along, you'll soon be presented with two ramps side by side; one goes up, and one goes down. Going up will take you to the observatory, and in the observatory is a giant netherdragon. What the netherdragon is doing in Medivh's observatory is anyone's guess, but there he waits, stomping around, getting angrier by the second and itching to be beaten like a giant dragon piñata.

Netherspite used to be pretty difficult due to the nature of the beams, but he's easy to solo these days. Just wait until he patrols to the back of the room on the left-hand side. Tank him over there, and make sure you have your back to the door you came in from. Three beams will spawn in the center of the room; two will snap to you. As long as you have the green beam, you're good to go. Beat the dragon's face in, and collect your loot.

Tier drops We've got no idea why that dragon is in that tower, but he definitely doesn't have any tier.

Other items of interest Netherspite drops a lovely one-handed red and silver sword with gold accents -- Spiteblade. In addition, he's also carting around the Jewel of Infinite Possibilities, a caster off-hand item that is a giant red crystal. Netherspite has way more armor than weapons, however. Paladins looking for a belt match for tier 4 will want to pick up the Girdle of Truth.

For those looking for recolored tier, Netherspite drops the Cowl of Defiance and Skulker's Greaves -- recolored Bloodfang for leather-wearers. He also drops the purple and gold Pantaloons of Repentance and the red and silver Uni-Mind Headdress for cloth-wearers. For mail, Rip-Flayer Leggings are a nice-looking pair of teal and silver pants, and the red and silver Earthblood Chestguard is also a nice piece. For plate-wearers, Netherspite also offers the Mantle of Abrahmis, a red and black set of shoulders.

The chess event

Once you're done with Netherspite, go down a level from the observatory and take that second ramp -- the one going down. You'll have to fight your way through a ton of Ethereals, but at the end you'll find an Ethereal vendor and a door that opens up to ... a chess game. Oddly enough, chess presents the most difficult content to solo in Karazhan. You can't wipe on chess; you simply lose and have to start over -- and there are no repair bills when you lose, because it's just the chess pieces that are being attacked, not you.

So how do you solo chess? I've made a diagram of the board with one of many different methods; this is the one that ultimately worked for me. There are no cheats for you to take advantage of; there are no buffs you need. The only thing you need to solo chess is patience. You play one side of the board -- whichever is appropriate for your faction -- and the ghost of Medivh plays the other side. And he cheats. He will throw fire on the feet of your pieces, and he will empower his own pieces.

The diagram above lists one possible way to solo chess. In order to start the chess event, you must talk to the piece representing the king -- either Blackhand for Horde players or Llane for Alliance. Doing so will change your bar to one of several special moves unique to that piece -- you're essentially Mind-Controlling the boss. If you look at your buff bar, you'll notice a purple brain icon that states you are controlling a chess piece. You can click that buff off at any time. If you do, you'll be teleported back to your body, and you'll have a short cooldown before you can control another piece. So here's the strat:

1. Speak to your king. Once you are in the body, hit Bloodlust or Heroism, then click off the buff.
2. Run to the pawn in front of the king. When your cooldown is up, talk to the pawn to control it. Move it forward one space. Drop your buff the second you tell it to move -- you do not have to wait for it to finish its action.
3. Do the same for the pawn in front of the queen. This will make sure you have space to move in the event of a cheat.
4. Move the second pawn in forward one space to make room for your rook and your knight.
5. Move your knight up and have him start attacking.
6. Move your rook diagonally to the second pawn's starting location. Hit Hellfire, then book it out of there.
7. Once you have done these steps, the opposing king should be out in the middle of the board somewhere. Take control of your queen and unleash everything you can at him.
8. If/when the queen dies, take control of your king and start whaling on the opposing king. Make sure you're still casting Bloodlust or Heroism at every opportunity

If Medivh cheats and your king is standing in fire, move him out of it immediately -- it ticks for considerable damage. Now here's a trick most don't realize: The fire also harms the opposing pieces as well. If you can manage to get the opposing king to stand in fire, that's more damage that he's taking.

This encounter is really more about moving out of the way and sheer luck than anything else, which is why it requires patience. It took me several tries to complete it, but you don't lose anything by wiping -- no deaths, no repair bills, you just get to start over again. Having two people along definitely improves the odds, as you can move your pieces faster, but it's not necessary. Once the opposing king is defeated, a Dust Covered Chest will spawn for you to loot.

Tier drops Pff, you think you're getting tier for playing chess?

Other items of interest There are plenty of tier 4 matches to be found here. For druids looking for boots to match tier 4, check out the Forestlord Striders. Rogues looking for a belt to match can get the Girdle of Treachery here. For hunters, your tier 4 boot match are the Fiend Slayer Boots. Warriors, the Battlescar Boots provide a match for your tier 4 set.

In addition, the chest can drop the Triptych Shield of the Ancients, a pretty cool bronzed shield for those who tote them around. Also available is the King's Defender, a massive red and silver one-handed sword. Leather wearing players can also pick up the Bladed Shoulderpads of the Merciless -- more recolored Bloodfang -- and cloth-wearers might like the Headdress of the High Potentate, a glowing halo in teal, silver, and pink. Lastly, plate-wearers who like the look of the previously-mentioned Breastplate of the Lightbinder will want to look for the Legplates of the Innocent -- they're a perfect match to each other.


Prince Malchezaar

Head up the stairs on the other side of the chess event, fight your way through some squishy fiends, and get to the top of the tower. A small door opens into Netherspace, and Prince Malchezaar tromps around the balcony. Pull him wherever you like, because he is a total pushover. Malchezaar has only two abilities that players need to worry about.

Enfeeble will reduce all healing effects and all health regeneration by 100%. If you are soloing Malchezaar, don't worry about Enfeeble; he won't cast it on the person who has aggro. If you are doing the encounter with more than one person, anyone hit with Enfeeble may want to get the heck away from the Prince before he casts Shadow Nova.

Speaking of Shadow Nova, it's a knockback. Whether you are soloing or tanking the Prince, put your back to a wall and Shadow Nova will no longer be a concern. Prince Malchezaar also summons infernals from the sky, but even soloing him, I was able to kill him before a single infernal dropped. So much for the legions Malchezaar commands, huh?

Tier drops Prince Malchezaar has tier 4 helm tokens for all classes.

Other items of interest Malchezaar also has a whole arsenal of weapons to pick from. Ranged dps will want to check out the Sunfury Bow of the Phoenix, a lovely bow that takes its cues from the Blood Elves. For those who wield daggers, Malchazeen is a gorgeous red and black dagger with wicked jagged edges, and the Nathrezim Mindblade is a lovely orange and silver option. The Decapitator is a one-handed axe that has an interesting on-use effect -- using the item will hurl the axe at your target in an attempt to decapitate it. Light's Justice is a very pretty gold and green main-hand mace.

And then of course, we have Gorehowl. Gorehowl is a two-handed axe that once belonged to Grom Hellscream. As far as lore is concerned, Garrosh now has his father's blade -- but as for the game, well. If you'd like to cart around Grom's axe and rub it in Garrosh's face, the only thing stopping you is the drop rate!

Where do I turn in these tokens for tier 4?

That's it for Karazhan and the two pieces of tier that it holds. But wait -- where do you take those tokens once you're done nabbing them from Medivh's home? Well that depends on your reputation. The Burning Crusade was all about reputation gains, and Shattrath City featured two different reputations to choose from, either Aldor or Scryer. If you chose Scryer, you can turn in your tokens to Arodis Sunblade in the large building up on Scryer's Tier. If you chose Aldor, look for Asuur in the large building on Aldor Rise. If you haven't chosen anything, you can go to either one! If you are looking for the PVP Gladiator sets rather than tier, you can turn in your tokens to Karynna on the Isle of Quel'Danas.

So far, all we've gotten is a hat and some gloves. What about the rest of it? Come back next week when we stomp on some obnoxious ogres, a grumpy gronn and a petulant pitlord in an effort to chase down the rest of the elusive tier 4 set.

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