One Boss Leaves: Zuramat voids Hadronox
Two Bosses Enter ... but only One Boss Leaves, in WoW Insider's series of fantasy death matches. This season's bosses come from the five-man instances of Wrath of the Lich King.
Zuramat the Obliterator sent Hadronox and his poison to the void this week in this week's Two Bosses Enter, One Boss Leaves fantasy matchup. Despite the choking clouds of poison Hadronox laid down for Zuramat's Void Sentries, Zuramat overpowered the giant spider in a tightly contested battle.
Let's start off with a look at the other scenario. "Absolutely Hadronox, hands down," claimed Daigeil. "Here's how it plays out. The two face up and start smackin' each other up. Quickly Hadronox drops poison clouds and places her DoTs. Soon, Zuramat does his thang, spawning Void Sentries all over the place, and casts Shroud of Darkness. Hadronox, being a huge spider (they aren't all that smart, y'know, and the average PuGger doesn't understand STOP ATTACKING; that leads us onto the debate of whether PuGgers or spiders are smarter, but let's not go there) just keeps hitting, stacking up the healing-cancelling effect.
"Soon, Void Shift comes into play. Having no other targets, Hadronox is shifted and drops Leech Poison, Acid Cloud and Web Grab, stacking all the Sentries on top of herself. Naturally, they all die shortly after Shroud's effect drops off, healing Hadronox to full! This repeats, and with Zuramat's limited array of abilities, it can only really go one way. By the time the poor Void Walker is dead, Hadronox is still at 100% from all the self-healing."
"Oh yes, I forgot to mention," Daigeil continued, "Leech Poison is applied to everyone near by, so it'll work even when Hadronox isn't Void Shifted. Add on to that Hadronox's quite slow attack speed and the really rather insignificant effect of Shroud, and Zuramat just won't be able to out-damage Hadronox's healing. Those Sentries can't last long enough to really stack up.
"Of course, style-wise a huge spider should win anyhow. Void Walkers are so last year."
Not exactly obliterating the competition
Swurds gave it up for the winner: "Zuramat -- but only if he's smart. This is assuming a neutral playing field and smart AI. If Zuramat keeps moving out of the cloud and casting the sentries, eventually they will overwhelm the big arachnid. Sure, the Leech Poison stinks, but by moving him around, Hadronox won't be able to melee the adds, which will keep pumping out damage. If Zuramat can kite him, the fight will be over, with Zuramat putting on a pair of sunglasses as he is slowly floating away. *Insert Who music here.*"
An epic battle throughout eternity
The most complete scenario was posted by Beli. "One one side we have Hadronox, waiting on his web like most spiders, attuned to the slightest vibrations," he wrote. "The web gradually shifts to the prison setting, with massive strands of the web drawing out and turning into prison bars, where Zuramat sits behind those bars, waiting for his release. He's a bit ticked, seeing those bars ostensibly coming from the spider's web, instead of being a simple graphical glitch in the game he calls life. With the setting in place, the match begins -- the Mages of the Kirin Tor give up holding back the prisoners, and the bars fade to nothing. At last, Zuramat can get his revenge!
"As Zuramat exits his cell, Hadronox detects his presence and goes into action. The two meet and start to battle. Zuramat quickly realizes that his physical DPS is too pitifully low to do any damage to his opponent and starts to summon his void sentries to help. Unbenownst to him (after all, would he ever cast this willingly when battling endless heroes from the Horde and Alliance?), this summoning ritual also causes a Void Shift on his target, Hadronox. Even if he was aware of this side affect, he is so filled with hate and anger that it blinds him to all else, and he forgets to detarget Hadronox before casting.
"On the flip side, Hadronox starts off having it easy. A little Acid Cloud here, the occasional Pierce Armor, and not too much incoming damage. He's thinking this will be an easy win. Then he senses a shift in the fight (both metaphorical and actual). Void Sentries start popping up all around him, dealing massive amounts of damage. With a sudden desperation, he sprays out his web, grabbing these new opponents and pulling them in close. As his health dips dangerously low, he casts Leech Poison, which slows the drain on his health. After a few seconds, Zuramat's plan backfires! The void sentries start dying to the Leech Poison, and much like Gluth eating his zombie chows at 5% health, he is quickly brought back up to full.
"This respite, however, was enough for Zuramat to stack up enough Shrouds of Darkness to more than counter the damage from Hadronox's poison. Quickly, the two fall into a pattern of healing themselves in their desperate attempts at winning, with neither being smart enough (after all, spiders are never too bright, and a void walker is nothing but smoke and mirrors; there's no room for a brain there!) to see why their attempts are failing. This one ends in an epic battle throughout eternity, with the only possibility of it ending coming from a kind-hearted Blizzard developer, who can put them in as a double-boss gear check in an upcoming raid."
