Thursday, December 31, 2009

Questes : You Are Rakh'likh, Demon

A long time ago, in a world far, far away from being far away (as in it is very close), the world of warcraft as we knew it was much smaller. About half as large, actually, and simultaneously, in being so small, there was a great deal less to do. No achievements, no heroics, not even daily quests to keep casual players occupied. However, there were a few quests, such as this one, which were extremely difficult and could even have been considered the pinnacle of non-instanced play, pre-Burning Crusade.


Who can do it?
Most people. For alliance, you must be neutral or higher with booty bay - for horde, you don't. Bit of a weird catch for this one, and sorry to all you Bloodsail Admirals out there. Also, to pick up the first quest, you have to be level 45 - you can do the whole thing at that level, too. However, to actually contribute to whatever group you are with, I'd heartily suggest at least being able to go to Outland (level 58). If you're looking to go solo, shoot for 70+.

Where to begin...
If you're Horde: You pick the first quest in the chain, 'Fall From Grace', from the Fallen Hero of the Horde, who stands in the Swamp of Sorrows entrance to the Blasted Lands.
If you're Alliance: You pick up your first quest in the chain, 'Petty Squabbles', from Ambassador Ardalan in the single tower in Nethergarde Keep, who tells you to go to the Fallen Hero of the Horde, who stands in the Swamp of Sorrows entrance to the Blasted Lands. Don't be put off by his name; the quest is available to both factions.

How to do it
Haha, you didn't seriously believe that I'd tell you how to do this quest on your own, did you? Do it yourself! However, if you did, then I'd suggest going over to Wowhead, where one commenter by the name of mootoo has a large guide on how to do them, and there are a number of useful comments on each portion of the quest on their specific pages. If you can't be bothered to tab out and check the site every step of the way, I'd snag this addon off of WoWInterface, a nifty little thing by the name of LightHeaded which displays all of a quest's comments on Wowhead right there next to your quest log, in game.

Da Loot!
Of course, the best part of all this is what you get.
  • First off, this quest results in a ridiculous amount of xp. So, if you're looking to do it while leveling, I'd heartily suggest it.
  • Next, it results in a Shard of Afrasa, a trinket which is nice to be able to obtain at a low level like 45, but it otherwise useless and can be vendored or disenchanted.
  • For the quest you are given a Enchanted Azsharite Felbane Staff, Dagger, or Sword, which you get to keep after killing the final big baddie. The only reason I can see keeping them is aesthetic, or perhaps on the first few quests in outland where the additional attack power vs. demons would be useful. I'd vote just to trash or DE it; your choice. Makes a nice memento of the occasion, however.
  • You also get a necklace, which is essentially just garbage now, however back in the day was quite useful it forming up a fire resistance set for Molten Core.
  • Also obtained is a SECOND trinket, by the name of Demon's Blood, which is now unique in being the only non-engineer trinket that has Shadow Resistance on it, as Loatheb's Reflection and Ward of the Elements were made unobtainable in 3.0. (Credit due to Skelic).
  • Lastly, you obtain a free 16-slot bag. Not bad for untwinked or first time toons.

Why do we care about this one?
The first thing that made me want to shove this back into the public eye is the simple fact it may not be around for much longer. Even though it has one of the coolest 5-man boss fights in WoW, it's OLD. Like, in there on release old. It may be one of those things Blizzard may renovate, wipe out, or just forget about as they restructure the zone.
Secondly, you get to see how Blizzard began its great journey to phasing as we know it today. In one part of the quest, you return to the fallen hero of the horde, and if you ask nicely, he'll summon up another fallen hero who gives you the next quest. Not close to as neat and elegant as we see with our questgivers disappearing and reappearing in the fleshwerks, but still a cool chance to see how the game mechanics have evolved over the years.

No comments:

Post a Comment