Ardol as a raid boss

Edit: Well, I accidentally posted this ahead of schedule, so you get your miscellany post early this week.

An old Blog Azeroth Shared Topic asking us what we would be like as a raid boss really got me thinking, so I figured I'd pull it back from the grave to breath a bit more life into it. So here you go: Ardol, as a raid boss.

The battleground: I would be fought in a circular arena, about the size of Shade of Aran's library. Rather than being an enclosed room, it would instead be a floating platform with a spiral staircase leading up to it. There would be a red ring centered on the ground, the radius of which would be half of the radius of the entire battlefield. The importance of the ring will be apparent soon. The arena itself would be made of drab blue-grey stone. The area around the platform would be a blue-black fog.

The boss: I would fight the raid in simple clothing, unarmored and unarmed. I would have wings composed of light, similar to the wings of the seraphim in Tales of Symphonia. I would run around the during the battle and only use my wings to fly during my special attack. The raid would be assisted during the battle by a former accomplice of mine (we'll call him “Lodra” for now).

Fighting me: My fight would be a long one, a very long one, with endurance being an important point. In general, my fight would emphasize avoiding damage rather than healing a ton of it. It be a tank-and-spank most of the fight, except for my Chicanery ability. In between using Chicanery, I would attack the tank with only moderately damaging attacks. The actual damage will be very heavy, but Lodra would cast a spell on the tank reducing all damage he takes from me by 80%. A second tank would need to tank an add that would otherwise attack Lodra, preventing him from casting the shield spell. The add would share a health pool with me, but all damage he takes is reduced by 90%, meaning people will need to attack me myself to end the fight. Lodra would constantly be causing a high amount of threat by casting the shield spell, so the add-tank would need to stay on top of his game. The add wouldn't cause very much damage.

I would use two spells during my normal phase. One, Luminescence, would summon two balls of light to seek raid members. If the balls touch a raid member, they cause massive damage. However, only the ranged DPS and healers need to worry about the balls of light, for anyone who causes enough of their damage with melee attacks will not be sought. Still, the ranged needs to take care to not track the balls through the melee DPS. On normal mode, the balls will only seek the closest raid member, but on hard mode, they will try to flank the raid. The other spell I would use in normal mode would be Radiance, which would cause heavy damage to all targets in melee range. The melee needs to run out quickly to avoid dying, but the tank could stay in and tank me because of his damage reduction. One of the two spells would always be active.

I would use Chicanery every 20% on 10-man mode and every 10% on 25-man mode. Upon using Chicanery, I would float high into the air and would randomly select a raid member to summon to the middle of the battlefield. That raid member would then, imbued with my power, forcibly cast a souped-up version of one or more of his spells or abilities on all other raid members. During this time, the tank's damage reduction would be lost. If at all possible, I would use a different class each time, though if that isn't possible, I would go through all class available before repeating them. Once Chicanery ends, the targeted player would regain control, Lodra would recast his shield on the tank, and I would be damageable again.

Death Knight: The player would Death Grip everyone to the center and use Chains of Ice to slow them down. He also immediately apply Frost Fever and Blood Plague to the tank, as well as an über version of Chains of Ice that prevents him from moving from the center. After a certain amount of time, he would then use Pestilence on the tank. Anyone who is not outside of the ring would be affected. Chicanery would then end. Because the tank would regain his shield after this, the diseases wouldn't be much of an issue for him, but they will cause massive damage to everyone else. As such, the key is to get out of the center before the Death Knight uses Pestilence. On normal mode, simply running in a straight line out of the circle will be enough to escape in time, but on hard mode, the player will need a speed-boosting effect of some kind to escape the Pestilence. It won't need to be much; a speed-boosting boot enchantment would be enough. Barring that, Chains of Ice can also be dispelled.

Druid: The druid afflict everyone with Entangling Roots a few seconds after being teleported to the center. He would then use Hurricane on every player. The duration of both spells would run out at the same time, at which time Chicanery would end. If the players haven't spread out enough and are bunched up, the multiple Hurricanes will kill them quickly. As such, the key to surviving this phase is to spread out so that only you are damaged by your own Hurricane. The Hurricanes will have a wider radius on hard mode.

Hunter: The Hunter would instantly set a large amount of Explosive Traps around the arena. The radius of the explosion of these traps would be greatly increased, such that tripping one would affect everyone in the arena, and the damage over time component would stack. He will also start shooting off arrows into the air that will fall down over the battlefield. These arrows will create a purple circle where they are about to land and will cause enough damage that two or three will kill a player. This continues until Chicanery ends, when all un-tripped traps will be disarmed. The key here is avoiding the flame traps while avoiding the arrows falling from the sky. Avoid both and you won't take damage. More traps will be spawned on hard mode.

Mage: The Mage will instantly start casting Arcane Explosion over and over, which would cause less damage as players moved away from the Mage. Arcane Explosion would not reach the ring in the center. Blizzard would also activate around the outside of the arena, causing less damage as players move away from the outside and towards the ring in the center. This continues until Chicanery ends. Surviving this stage means getting to the ring as quickly as possible. As long as the player can manage that, it's a simple strategy. The players are also slowed to 50% of their movement speed on hard mode.

Paladin: The Paladin first summons various mobile shields resembling the Hand of Protection shield. He then Consecrates the whole arena. Anyone not in a shield will take massive damage from this effect. The shields move around, so players need to stay inside of them. As the effect continues, the shields move towards each other and merge, so players will need to watch to see which shield they will need to follow. As longs as players can stay within the shields, they will survive. Fewer shields will spawn on hard mode.

Priest: The Priest will start by slowing and damaging everyone a la Mind Flay and will then cast Mind Sear on everyone. Mind Sear will cause a lot of damage, so spreading out is the key to surviving this part of the fight. The Mind Sear will continue to grow as the stage passes, so players must be sure to maximize the distance between themselves. On hard, the Priest will delay casting Mind Flay for a second or two, but it will start at its maximum radius.

Rogue: The Rogue will use Fan of Knives but aim them in a cone. If the player is hit by the knives, he will take a lot of damage. The key to this stage is to not be hit by the knives. The closer the player is to the Rogue, the less he needs to move to avoid them, but the less time he'll have to avoid them, and vice verse, so players will need to find a balance that works for them. On hard mode, there will be significantly less time between when the Rogue faces a new direction and when he uses Fan of Knives.

Shaman: The Shaman will first drop Earthbind Totem and will them alternate between using Thunderstorm and Chain Lightning. Chain Lightning will jump to as many targets as it can and its damage will be evenly split between every target it hits. If all the players are in the ring, they will be close enough. As such, players want to remain close together throughout the entire fight so that one or two players don't take lethal damage. This will be difficult because Thunderstorm will be launching players in a random directions away from the shaman. On hard mode, the Shaman will use Thunderstorm more frequently.

Warlock: The Warlocks casts a Curse of Doom on two or four random raid members (on 10- and 25-man, respectively). The Warlock will also summon as many Demonic Circles as there are players with Curse of Doom active. When a player steps on the Demonic Circle, he dispels the Curse of Doom and it jumps instead to another party member with a few seconds added to its duration. The Demonic Circle then disappears and moves. The key to this phase is keep the curses moving so that they last long enough that they can be dispelled by Lodra when Chicanery ends. On hard mode, less time is added to the duration of the curse with each jump.

Warrior: The warrior starts in the middle and will then use Intercept on the closest raid member. He will continue doing this until Chicanery ends. The damage he does will be significantly increased if he doesn't need to charge very far, and he will stun the target if that happens. The key to this phase is for players to stay far away from each other so that the warrior isn't able to cause extra damage with his Intercept; they'll know he did if they are stunned. On hard mode, the target will also be knocked back when they are hit if they are not close enough to be stunned.

After being targeted by Chicanery, the player would gain a Signet of Sanctified Revenge in his inventory. Depending on which class the player is, the Signet will have a different effect when used. The Signet lasts as long as the player is in the arena, meaning it can't be saved through death and it can't be used in another battle.

Death Knight: Freezes the Luminescence orbs in place and places an Anti-Magic Shell around Ardol, significantly reducing the radius of Radiance.

Druid: Revives all fallen raid members.

Hunter: Freezes Ardol in place for 15 seconds, disabling Luminescence or Radiance, allowing the raid to go all out on him.

Mage: Restores all of the raid members' mana.

Paladin: Makes the raid members immune to damage for 10 seconds.

Priest: Reduces the mana, rage, energy, runic power, and rune cost of all abilities by 100% for ten seconds for all raid members.

Rogue: All threat caused by all raid members will be redirected to the person in Lodra's shield for five seconds.

Shaman: Increases the effect of all non-healing beneficial spells on raid members by 200% for 30 seconds.

Warlock: Increases the effect of all non-damage effects on Ardol by 200% for 30 seconds.

Warrior: Double's the health of all party members for fifteen seconds, healing them for an amount equal to 100% of their maximum health when the effect occurs. The health is not lost when the effect ends.

Loot: Because of my love of pets, I would definitely drop a pet. It would look like the light ball summoned by Luminescence, and it would be radiating light like the Radiance effect. On hard mode, I would also drop a flying mount that simply causes the player to sprout wings like mine and fly. The rest of my loot would be trinkets, for I find those to be the most fun items. The trinkets would have heroic versions that would drop on 25-man mode and 10-man hard mode, while Triumphant versions would drop on 25-man hard mode. The numbers that follow are based on the numbers on trinkets that drop from ICC.

Aegis of Light:
Equip: Increases your dodge rating by 152 (3.86% @ L80).
Use: Heals you for 6500 damage over 5 seconds. Any overhealing done will create a shield that will absorb damage equal to the amount of overhealing done by the trinket. (2 Minute Cooldown)

Beacon of Light:
Equip: Restores 76 mana per 5 sec.
Equip: Any over-healing you do will shield the target, absorbing as much damage as was overhealed. Will not create a shield that can absorb more than 2500 health.

Empowering Glow:
Equip: Improves critical strike rating by 131 (2.85% @ L80).
Equip: When you deal damage with auto-attacks, you gain a Glowing Charge. Each Glowing Charge increases the attack power of your next ability that scales with attack power or weapon damage by 250, stacking up to five times.

Focusing Glass:
Equip: Improves critical strike rating by 131 (2.85% @ L80).
Equip: Each time you deal spell damage to an opponent, your spell damage against that opponent is increased by 18 spell power for the next 10 sec, stacking up to 10 times.

Mote of Enthusiasm:
Equip: Improves hit rating by 85 (2.59% @ L80).
Equip: Your melee and ranged attacks increase your critical strike rating by 32, stacking up to 20 times. The effect is consumed when you critically strike.

Protective Luminescence:
1890 Armor
Equip: Heals you for 500 every second when you are bellow 35% health.

Shining Light:
Equip: Increases spell power by 179.
Equip: Your direct healing spells have a chance to heal the target for 6000 over twelve seconds, and your heal-over-time spells have a chance to instantly heal the target for 6000.

Shining Object:
Equip: Improves critical strike rating by 152 (3.31% @ L80).
Equip: Each time one of your spells deals periodic damage or healing, you increase your spellpower by 45, stacking up to 10 times. When you use a direct damage or healing spell, the effect is consumed.

Achievements: Each achievement would have a normal 10-man mode version, normal 25-man mode version, hard 10-man mode version, and hard 25-man mode version.

Down With Ardol
Defeat Ardol in (whatever raid I am fought in).

It Feels So Good To Be Bad
Assist Ardol through Chicanery, then defeat him.

I'll Have No Part In This
Defeat Ardol without ever being targeted by Chicanery.

Avert Your Eyes!
Defeat Ardol without any raid member being hit by Luminescence or dying to Radiance.

Nothing Personal
Defeat Ardol without any raid member using his Signet of Sanctified Revenge.

No Hard Feelings
Defeat Ardol without any raid member...
-Being hit by a Death Knight's Pestilence
-Damaging another raid member with a Druid's Hurricane
-Tripping a Hunter's Explosive Trap
-Dying to a Mage's Blizzard or Arcane Explosion
-Being damaged by a Paladin's Consecration
-Damaging another raid member with a Priest's Mind Flay
-Being hit by a Rogue's Fan of Knives
-Not being hit by a Shaman's Chain Lightning
-Dying to a Warlock's Curse of Doom
-Being stunned by a Warrior's Intercept.

Familiar With Betrayal
Survive a Chicanery of every type without...
-Being hit by a Death Knight's Pestilence
-Damaging another raid member with a Druid's Hurricane
-Tripping a Hunter's Explosive Trap
-Dying to a Mage's Blizzard or Arcane Explosion
-Being damaged by a Paladin's Consecration
-Damaging another raid member with a Priest's Mind Flay
-Being hit by a Rogue's Fan of Knives
-Not being hit by a Shaman's Chain Lightning
-Dying to a Warlock's Curse of Doom
-Being stunned by a Warrior's Intercept.
[This one would likely require multiple runs to do, unless you have a 25-man raid with every class in it.]

Shining Example of Perfection
Awards the title the Radiant on 10-man mode and the Luminous on 25-man mode.
Defeat Ardol on heroic mode without an raid members using their Signet of Sanctified Revenge, being hit by Luminescence, dying to Radiance, or...
-Being hit by a Death Knights Pestilence
-Damaging another raid member with a Druid's Hurricane
-Tripping a Hunter's Explosive Trap
-Dying to a Mage's Blizzard or Arcane Explosion
-Being damaged by a Paladin's Consecration
-Damaging another raid member with a Priest's Mind Flay
-Being hit by a Rogue's Fan of Knives
-Not being hit by a Shaman's Chain Lightning
-Dying to a Warlock's Curse of Doom
-Being stunned by a Warrior's Intercept.

Looking back, I suppose this is more of a boss that I wish existed than what I would be like as a boss, but the former is probably more interesting anyways.