Two Bosses Enter: Murozond vs. Archbishop Benedictus

It is no strange surprise that the Echo of Tyrande would retain the love, energy, and passion her fans bestow upon the night elf priestess, even here at the End Time, when Deathwing has taken what he felt was rightfully his. Wait. What? Tyrande lost? To Warlord Zon'ozz? By 43 votes?!
We'll get to this hilarious (to me, anyway) upset in a little bit. There's another important matter to discuss, which is that we have two brand new competitors on Two Bosses Enter and what seems to be an epic match up in the works.
Murozond, the twisted form of the aspect Nozdormu, has manifested himself in the End Time, ready to end all daring time travelers' adventures. As time itself bends around his gargantuan form, only the use of a magic hourglass can give even the most stalwart heroes hope of besting the great infinite. Up against Murozond is a fallen hero who wields the power of the Light unlike any other power on Azeroth. Once the leader of the Church of the Holy Light, now Archbishop Benedictus reigns as the Twilight Father, assisting Deathwing in ending all of our puny existences.
Who wins, friends? Does the great infinite dragon best one of the most powerful wielders of holy and shadow magic? You decide!
| Murozond (End Time) | |
|---|---|
| Archbishop Benedictus (Hour of Twilight) |
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.

In the distant future, Nozdormu, the aspect of time, has seen his own demise. As protector of the timeways, he cannot allow time to be altered in horrendous ways, for damaging the time line damages everything in the past, present, and future for all time lines. Much to his sadness, in one distant time line, Nozdormu has fallen to temptation and attempts to stop his own demise by turning the Infinite Dragonflight loose upon time itself. Warped into the twisted Murozond, this Nozdormu doppleganger threatens to stop the timeways from being altered again, putting an end Deathwing's madness.
Your first thought when going into this encounter on Two Bosses Enter should not be "But he's an aspect! He can beat anyone!" Ah, to be so young again. No! Where there is Murozond, there is Nozdormu. Where there is time, there is ... untime. For where Murozond appears is Nozdormu alongside with the magical hourglass of magic time stuff. Groups have still wiped! He is still powerful! But if you write "but he iz aspeckt," I will hunt you down.
Murozond's abilities include:
- Temporal Blast Kaboom! Murazond hits his enemies with arcane energy.
- Distortion Bomb Orbs of temporal energy are launched around the arena, exploding and causing a zone of temporal distortion that does damage.
- Infinite Breath Much like other dragons, this one breathes.
- Nozdormu does swoop in to buff up Murazond's enemies, and you guys know how the hourglass works.

There is nothing stronger than faith. Ask the men and women of the Silver Hand, Argent Crusade, or the Church of the Holy Light. The faith of Azeroth's citizens fuels a power greater than we know. For every soul saved for salvation, there is another turned to the shadow and the madness. Archbishop Benedictus began as a humble priest learning from Alonsus Faol, moving through the ranks of the church until reaching Archbishop status. His story was out of a fairy tale.
When the world reached its limits and Deathwing punched a hole in Deepholm itself, madness encompassed good men with thoughts of cults and doom and twilight. Great men have great limits, and Archbishop Benedictus' was evidentally reached. As he descended into madness and followed the great Deathwing into twilight, he rose to power as the Twilight Father after the defeat of Cho'gall at the hands of adventurers in the Twilight Citadel.
His command of the light is still intact. His command of the shadow is unmatched. Even the greatest will of the light was broken by The Destroyer.
Archbishop Benedictus has two forms, holy and shadow. The abilities largely remain the same.
- Righteous Shear/Twilight Shear Blasts a target with holy power, damaging all enemies around the target.
- Purifying Light/Corrupting Twilight Three orbs of holy energy form and smash into the ground, exploding Purifying Blasts/Twilight Blasts.
- Wave of Virtue/Wave of Twilight Benedictus summons a Wave of Virtue over the battlefield, sweeping across and dealing damage.

Whaaaaaaaaaat? Seriously? Well, to be fair, I can't say I didn't exactly see this coming. You see, a lot of what colors our opinions about these bosses, heroes, and characters in WoW is our experience and time with them. Positive experiences give us favorable feelings toward one character and make us react to them in positive ways. Boss encounters that are nothing but slogs of trash through barely lit forests while your healer is off who knows where and your DPS won't let you get aggro because you're a protection warrior and are rage starved and AoE taunt is on cooldown ... Did I get away from myself there? Sorry. Everything leading up to the Echo of Tyrande encounter is a slog and annoying.
That's why I think she had a falling here. Tyrande should have done better but didn't because of the trash leading up to her in game. Live and learn, boss encounters. Live and learn.
Reader Saf gave this fight to Warlord Zon'ozz with a short write up that I agree with wholeheartedly. Zon'ozz's damage output goes through the roof at some point, even in the Raid Finder, and his attacks are brutal to the main tank, who would be Tyrande in this case:
Assuming RF mechanics that prevent Zon'ozz's ball from hitting the wall, and that send it into him after a set amount of time regardless of how long it's been, I'd still have to give the fight to him over Tyrande because of the amount of damage he does to his main target.
When fighting Zon'ozz in RF, if you are ever going to wipe, it is going to be from the tank dying to his melee attacks, or from the raid dying to the AOE phase. Yet, when fighting Tyrande, you are most likely going to wipe because your healer can't do F-all between the stuns and silences.Now, I gave this one to Zon'ozz ... but that was before I read the killer description of the battle by Vaniya, who goes above and beyond and even brings Dori'thur into the fight. That's some serious lore dedication right there. Read for yourselves:
Therefore, in a 1v1 fight, Zon'ozz would win because of sheer damage output. Tyrande simply doesn't have enough single target attacks to kill Zon'ozz before he smashes her face in. Ball bouncing or not... Heck, it be an even quicker kill because he'd be able to cast Disrupting Shadows on Tyrande, which would tick for the full duration even if he gets stunned/silenced.<
While I really want Tyrande to win, I guess this could be taken as a tie or even a win for Zon'ozz. I really like writing these because it's great practice :) Hope you vote for Tyrande!Dominic put it as simple as it could be put:
Zon'ozz approached the darkened shrine in a flash of light. Confused and disoriented, he stomped around, looking for a reason for him being brought to the place. His twisted eyes had little problem seeing through the unnatural haze, and he quickly took in what appeared to be a small humanoid kneeling in a pool of darkness.
Tyrande quickly takes notice of the abomination. "Mother moon, let me guide this poor soul into your light." she said, as she fired off a moonbolt.
"xythl mas htecor axt'tzl!" shrieked Zon'ozz, blocking the attack with his claw. Not in the mood for this, he summoned tentacles from the depths of the earth, ready to obliterate his opponent.
As the tentacles closed in, Tyrande plead "Mother Moon, I can no longer see your light! Guide me from this darkness!" stepping out of the shadows came fragmented sentinel souls, accompanied with twisted nightsabers. The sentinels held the tentacles back, as Tyrande summoned stardust to deal with Zon'ozz. He was anticiPating this, and sent a sphere of pure darkness at Tyrande. It hit her, and she fell to the ground.
Zon'ozz then cruelly drained the remaining light from the darkened place, absorbing the essence of the sentinels and tentacles, locking Tyrande down. "Elune, your daughter can no longer see your radiance!" a beam of light shot down from the heavens, enshrouding Tyrande.
Zon'ozz fired off another void, ready to finish his foe, when Tyrande's call was answered. In a flash of moonlight, the last vestiges of Tyrande's eternal companion Dori'thur swooped down and blocked the void, sending it back to Zon'ozz's surprised face. Taking advantage of him being stunned, Tyrande got back up and conjured a moonlance.
With one final burst of strength, Tyrande threw the lance at Zon'ozz, and he burst in an explosion of light, his fractured carapace smoking in the darkness. With the last of her power gone, the eyes of Elune descended upon Tyrande, finally calling her to the afterlife.
Zonn'ozz has to take this fight. I don't think we should be assuming Raid Finder version of him, because we don't consider Tyrande in some weakened state. I think we'd have to consider Zonn'ozz at Normal difficulty. Even when you make their health and damage comparable, with his self heal I think Zonn'ozz will just outlast Tyrande.Wonderful submissions this week, everyone. Tune in next week for the next exciting episode of Two Bosses Enter. Don't forget to vote for this week's winner!
| Tyrande (End Time) | |
|---|---|
| Warlord Zon'ozz (Dragon Soul) |
Filed under: Two Bosses Enter






Reader Comments (Page 1 of 2)
ZodiacDragons Feb 13th 2012 4:13PM
But...but...he IZ aspeckt!
Dexterworgen Feb 13th 2012 4:16PM
POWAH!!!
Jaq Feb 13th 2012 6:26PM
I am sure that someday, I will get tired of yelling that just as Benedictus says it in game.
Someday.
But not yet.
Prelimar Feb 13th 2012 8:32PM
same here. i do it every time.
my PuGs probably hate me : [
Silversol Feb 14th 2012 12:15AM
The speed up option should just be:
Thrall: You!
AB: PAWAH!
Thrall: Never!
*fight starts*
xrarndx Feb 14th 2012 8:56AM
If Blizzard added Silversol's sped up version (which there really needs to be) I would squeel with joy every time I got into that instance.
elovan Feb 13th 2012 4:20PM
I have to give this one to Murozond. Purifying Light and Corrupting Twilight can be completely negated by Murozond's breath attack, since he can destroy all three orbs before they hit the ground and create void zones. Shear and Temporal Blast do similar damage and won't give either of them an edge in the fight. Waves just moves too slowly to get hit, even with Murozond's size. Sure, Benedictus can reset his Temporal Blast stacks with the hourglass, but assuming that Murozond has 6 times his health (5 charges of the hourglass plus the initial round), it comes down to what's going to do more damage, a guy whacking you with a staff or the corrupted aspect of time's claw digging through your chest.
StClair Feb 13th 2012 4:22PM
DRAGON. That is all.
(If you want to see how well trying to solo a dragon works, go watch BLIND. I'm sure it'll be posted here again any day now.)
shatnerstorm2 Feb 13th 2012 4:44PM
Archbishop Benedictus walked into a barren open clearing, a large hourglass in the center. Out of the sky, a dark figure appeared - the corrupted Aspect of Time, Murozond.
"If only you would see what I have seen...THEN you would understand, Murozond! There is only POWA!" Bendictus cried.
"I did not KNOW then what I know now, Twilight Father. You hope to stop me here? I have seen the true end for you." Murozond bellowed in reply.
The dragon landed and lumbered menacingly toward the Archbishop. Swirls of temporal energy appeared across the ground, and despite his best efforts, Benedictus was caught in them. He continually smited the dragon, feeling Murozond's strength diminish - but slowly.
"The Light will consume you, dragon!" a wave of light began to slowly advance toward the dragon, but he was able to fly out of the way and resume his attacks. Becoming desperate, Benedictus ran for the hourglass as the dragon clawed at his back repeatedly.
"The powers of the hourglass do nothing to me, mortal!" Murozond boasted defiantly.
Benedictus felt his strength returned as time rewinded, but Murozond continued to pummel him with blasts of temporal energy from his mouth, claws, and even the earth itself. After recklessly activating the hourglass several more times in desperation, Benedictus became enveloped in a shadowy aura.
"Witness my POWA!"
He transformed into the Twilight Father, but the dragon knew his strategy had not changed. Benedictus continued to summon orbs of twilight energy to attempt to pound Murozond into submission, and they were wearing him down slowly - but not fast enough. The corrupted dragon Aspect had far more stamina than the feeble, aging traitor to the Light.
"The hourglass' power is exhausted! No more games, Archbishop!"
Benedictus attempted to summon another wave of twilight in desperation, but Murozond again dodged it deftly. Finally, with a mighty wave of twisted temporary energy pouring out of Murozond's mouth, the Twilight Father was no more.
"I looked into the eyes of the dragon...and despaired."
Vincentmagius Feb 13th 2012 4:50PM
I'm going to go Benedictus. He's shown he can switch between Holy to Shadow easily enough. He could dps with the full force of Shadow and keep himself topped up with Holy. When (if) he runs out of mana, hit the Hourglass.
I could be reading too much into his abilities.
Dominic Feb 13th 2012 4:54PM
The Archbishop enters the field of battle and spies Murozond hovering just on the other side of a massive hourglass. He correctly assumes that this... monstrosity, must be his reason for being summoned here.
Murozond spots the Archbishop and wastes no time in launching his first attack. Before Benedictus can fully prepare himself, he is being pummeled by a Temporal Blast, followed closely by eating a face full of the dragon's rancid Infinite Breath.
Stumbling back, Benedictus mutters to himself, "So, this is how it's going to be, is it?"
He fires off a Righteous Shear, then follows that up with Purifying Light. Just as he finishes his second cast, he notices a large yellow pool has formed at his feet. "What is this accursed magic?" he wonders, but not for long, as the pain begins to shoot through him. "Best not to hang out in one of those pools again," he says to himself as he sidesteps and fires off more of his holy vengeance.
Murozond chuckles as he continues his assault. "This puny human really believes that he can kill me?!? The aspect of time sees all. Nothing he does could surprise me!"
The Distortion Bombs begin to fill the battlefield, and Archbishop Benedictus desperately looks around for some way to escape their onslaught. Recalling the large hourglass, he works his way toward it, in desperate hopes that it may provide him some relief. He dodges pools created by the Distortion Bombs and unleashes a Wave of Virtue just before activating the hourglass.
The Archbishop is astonished to find that he has returned to his previous attack position and that he feels a renewed strength! "Ah, the fight continues foul beast!" he cries out.
Dropping into shadow form he makes sure to stay close to that hourglass this time. He fires off attack after attack, but the dragon does not slow down. In fact, his attacks seems to be coming more quickly than before. It is not long before the Archbishop is caged in again, and must again resort to putting the hourglass to use.
He sees that the sand is draining from the hourglass each time he uses it, and wonders just how many times it can save his life. Unfortunately for him, he finds out all too soon. With the dragon's attacks coming ever more quickly, the Archbishop must resort to the glass's magic more frequently, until his next attempt to fire off it's magic is met by nothing. Nothing that is but another powerful Infinite Breath and Distortion Bomb. The Archbishop calls out to his master, "Take me home."
There is no reply.
Vaniya Feb 13th 2012 5:03PM
That is kind of sad that Tyrande lost, but you explained why Zon'ozz won in people's eyes pretty good, and I'm not going to rage :P anyway I have to give this one to Murozond because from a Lore standpoint, he is thousands of years older and more experienced that Benedictus. Too tired to write today!
Gorgon Feb 13th 2012 5:30PM
Murozond goes all T-Rex on Benedictus while the Archbishop is in the bathroom.
..that and a dragon mount skinned a~la Murozond would be rad..
Killik Feb 14th 2012 5:06AM
I don't even want to *think* about a dragon mount skinned as Benedictus!
Peebers Feb 14th 2012 8:13AM
moar spitters!
themark0fevil Feb 13th 2012 5:31PM
My vote goes to Murozond. This is purely because he's still Nozdormu, technically, and Nozdormu is hot.
Swifteye Feb 13th 2012 10:46PM
Agreed. I pretty much came here specifically to say that WoW Insider's female readership (and hey, the guys who like guys, too!) will make sure that Murozond simply doesn't lose, fight mechanics be damned.
QM Feb 13th 2012 5:43PM
>.< People voting for a boss based on irrelevant details like personal affection and the trash leading up to it. Damnit Two Bosses Enter readers, I thought we were past this phase!
Anyway, I futilely give my vote to the Archbishop. He is only one man, and can easily dodge the temporal zones. He can heal himself using the Holy Light and deal mega damage using both Holy and Twilight. Nozzies buff only enhances this. If he runs low on mana or the temporal stacks get too high, he uses the hourglass. I feel he could wear Murozond down over the course of the fight due to the hourglass. If it weren't for that, he'd be a dead man.
It's a futile vote because Murozond is a funner fight and Nozdormu has a huge (and somewhat sweaty :P) fanbase, so he's going to win regardless of tactics or abilities.
GhostWhoWalks Feb 13th 2012 6:12PM
Unfortunately, people voting based personal affection is stronger than ever; it's why we ended up with Brann Bronzebeard as the exhibition winner and our third Godfrey-tainted bracket in a row. It's why Vanessa Vancleef has ranked so high in the previous two brackets. Most of the voters pay more attention to the sexy/cool factor than to actual fighting ability.
That said, let me tell you why Murozond takes this fight with ease. :P
Benedictus can certainly deal damage, and he can certainly heal himself...but he can't do both at the same time. The Blasts and Waves are both "don't stand in the bad stuff" mechanics, which are not difficult for Murozond to avoid even given his large size (he'll take some initial damage from Blast but can easily move out of it, and Wave takes enough time reaching the target that Murozond has plenty of time to side-step it). Benedictus can certainly avoid standing in the Distortion Bombs himself...but that becomes more difficult when you factor Infinite Breath and Tail Swipe into the fight. Both of those attacks hit in a WIDE cone in front of and behind Murozond (respectively), making it so Benedictus is suffering heavy damage almost no matter where he tries to stand. Shear is Benedictus' only reliable attack, and while that does do substantial damage, the time he spends casting it is plenty of time for Murozond to knock off huge chunks of health, requiring the Archbishop to stop and quickly heal himself or suffer a messy death. This act of slowly chipping away at Murozond in between resets will not serve him well, and the master of the infinite will simply out-last Bendictus.
Revynn Feb 13th 2012 6:03PM
- "Nozdormu does swoop in to buff up Murazond's enemies, and you guys know how the hourglass works."
I feel like Nozdormu would be . . . Less willing to help out this time.