More transmogrification gear from the Black Temple
Heading back to pick up some awesome armor sets from vanilla WoW or that dazzling weapon that'll have your enemies cowering in fear? Transmogrification makes it possible -- and we'll show you how!
The Black Temple is a massive, massive raid zone featuring nine bosses, more than any other raid zone in The Burning Crusade. If you're headed into the Temple to farm up gear, be aware that every boss in this zone must be killed in order to get to Illidan. High Warlord Naj'entus opens a gate to the outer courtyard from the sewers upon his death. Supremus opens the way from the Illidari Training Grounds into the Temple proper. All four bosses in the lower level of the Temple must be killed to continue into the Den of Mortal Delights.
Luckily, you don't have to run all the way to the top once Supremus is dead. As part of the Black Temple attunement chain, players had to speak to Seer Olum, located in Serpentshrine Cavern, for a quest to go speak with Akama in Shadowmoon Valley. In order to prevent Illidan from discovering Akama's plans, Olum sacrifices his life. His spirit can be found just inside the sewer entrance, and once Supremus is dead, Olum will teleport players to the lower level of Illidan's Citadel.
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When we left off last week, we had just finished killing the Shade of Akama, an action that made all Broken in the Temple proper friendly to players. From Akama's room, take a right and head up the stairs to fight the way to the next boss. It's a long trip with a lot of trash consisting of fel orc packs, but these packs are easily killed. Make your way to the top and into the den of the next boss, Teron Gorefiend.
Teron Gorefiend
The Gorefiend fight was one of the more technical fights in Black Temple, so much so that there were simulators made to learn the fight. Every so often, Gorefiend will target a player to mark for death. This will kill the player after 55 seconds and reanimate them as a ghost along with several other spirits that will immediately make a beeline for the raid. As a ghost, players have a new bar of abilities that allow them to CC the spirits and kill them before they reach the main raid. This was not an easy task, and Gorefiend's choice of player to kill was always a random one, so all players had to be familiar with the mechanics of killing ghosts in order for the fight to succeed.
Luckily, Gorefiend is now a pushover. With a few capable players, you should be able to kill him before he even gets a chance to cast Shadow of Death on anyone.
Tier drops While Gorefiend is a formidable fight, he doesn't drop any tier to speak of.
Other items of interest Cloth -wearing classes may like the Cowl of Benevolence, a recolored version of priest tier 6, or the purple and black Robe of the Shadow Council. As for leather-wearing classes, the Botanist's Gloves of Growth are a glove option in black with gold and green accents. Rogues, the Insidious Bands are a decent enough match for your tier 6 set. Hunters, the Softstep Boots of Tracking are a good match for your tier 6. Plate-wearing classes may like the look of the Girdle of Lordaeron's Fallen -- it's also a pretty close match to paladin tier 6. Plate-wearers may also like the Gauntlets of Enforcement in black and bronze with gold accents.
Gorefiend also has a selection of weapons on his loot table. The Rifle of the Stoic Guardian is a mean-looking gun with three barrels, two spikes and a scope to top it all off, along with some elegant scrollwork. The Twisted Blades of Zarak are a unique green throwing weapon with a soft blue glow. Finally, Gorefiend also drops Soul Cleaver, a massive two-handed axe with a faint fiery glow.
Once you're done looting Gorefiend, take the long trek downstairs and head to your right, up and over the center pedestal in the main downstairs section. Once on the other side of the chambers, clear a path to your right, go through the small corridor, and turn left to make your way to Gurtogg Bloodboil, the next boss.
Gurtogg Bloodboil
Gurtogg was another one of those fairly tricky bosses, largely due to his Bloodboil mechanic, which he would cast on the five raid members that were furthest away from him. Combine that with the massive amount of damage the tanks were taking, and the fight was brutal to heal. A team of players at level 85 should have absolutely no problems beating the snot out of Gurtogg well before he gets more than one, possibly two Bloodboils off -- and well before he picks a target to focus on for Fel Rage.
Tier drops Gurtogg is also completely lacking in the tier department, but he does have a nice selection of other loot!
Other items of interest Cloth-wearing classes that like the look of warlock tier 6 may like the recolored Blood-Cursed Shoulderpads. And cloth-wearers who like the look of priest tier 6 might want to pick up the Garmets of Temperance, more recolored priest gear. For druids, the Belt of Primal Majesty is a good match to your tier 6 set. Mail-wearing classes should check out the Vest of Mounting Assault, an eye-catching chestpiece in rust, gold and bronze. Warriors, pick up the Girdle of Stability for a match to your tier 6 set, and all plate classes may want to take a look at the Leggings of Divine Retribution in black and blue. And the Girdle of Mighty Resolve is another belt that looks good with paladin tier 6 as well.
Gurtogg's got a few weapons as well. The Messenger of Fate is a one-handed dagger in bronze and gold with some pretty scrollwork on the blade. The Wand of Prismatic Focus is a gorgeous little gold wand with bright blue gems. And the Staff of Immaculate Recovery is ... well, it's a priest on a stick. Or close enough anyway -- this white staff is topped with the figure of a priest's cowl, complete with golden wings. Definitely one of the more unique-looking staves in the game!
When you're finished picking over Gurtogg's loot, head up the ramp behind him and to your right. You'll see an alcove with ghosts and spirits flying around -- this is the path to the Reliquary of Souls, the last boss in the lower level. The spirits here respawn very, very quickly, so make sure you keep moving as you kill them -- and be wary, the Reliquary has a very large aggro range. Once you step down the ramp to the Reliquary's lair, you will start the encounter. Be sure you haven't got any spirits aggroed before you start.
Reliquary of Souls
This is easily the most bizarre boss in Black Temple. The Reliquary of Souls, or Reliquary of the Lost, consists of three different bosses -- the Essence of Suffering, the Essence of Desire, and the Essence of Anger. Killing each essence will trigger the interim between phases, in which a mass of spirits will appear and beeline for your group. Killing the spirits will give you back health and mana. Each Essence is a DPS race with a different twist.
Essence of Suffering Suffering will immediately cast an aura that reduces all healing to 0. Since you cannot heal during this phase, everyone should DPS. Suffering will Fixate on the closest target to it, dealing damage to that target only. Swapping out who is closest to Suffering will keep it from killing the player. It shouldn't take long to burn through this phase at all.
Essence of Desire Desire is pretty much the hardest phase of this fight. Desire will put up an aura that increases healing done to players but reduces mana over time. That aura also causes you damage when you damage Desire -- be careful and don't kill yourself! Desire will also cast Spirit Shock, an attack that does a chunk of damage and confuses the player it is cast on, and Deaden, which will increase the damage taken by the player by 100%. Having an interrupter along will make this phase much easier; just interrupt everything, and you'll soon be done with the phase.
Essence of Anger Anger is the final DPS race, casting an aura on players that deals increasing damage over time but also boosts DPS. Anger isn't really difficult to defeat; you simply have to DPS it down in a hurry. Once Anger is defeated, you can safely collect your loot and wonder why exactly Illidan has this thing locked in the basement.
Tier drops Though admittedly bizarre, the Reliquary of Souls has no tier loot.
Other items of interest Cloth-wearing classes can pick up the Gloves of Unfailing Faith for more priest tier 6 recolored gear. Leather-wearing classes may like the look of the Grips of Damnation, a recolored version of rogue tier 6. Druids should check out the Elunite Empowered Bracers and Naturewarden's Treads for matches to your tier 6 set. Mail-wearing classes who like the look of shaman tier 6 should take a look at The Wavemender's Mantle, and the skull-emblazoned Boneweave Girdle, too.
Plate-wearing classes looking for a paladin tier 6 look-alike helm should grab the Crown of Empowered Fate, and warriors will want to pick up the Dreadboots of the Legion to match their tier 6 set. For weapons, the Naaru-Blessed Life Rod is a cool-looking crystalline wand in pink and green with a bright glow, and the Touch of Inspiration is an off-hand item that is essentially a giant pink crystal. Lastly, the Torch of the Damned is a two-handed mace with spinning spines and a purple crystal with a wicked glow.
Once these bosses are defeated, the last door in the lower area will open, leading into the Den of Mortal Delights. Inside awaits dozens upon dozens of concubines and slaves that would love nothing more than to cater to your every whim -- unless, of course, you'd like to murder their employer for loot, in which case they're going to try and kill you. Job security is such a touchy subject these days ...
Come back next week for the triumphant return of some tier gear, the den mother of mortal delights, a council of some particularly snooty blood elves, and the triumphant conclusion to the Black Temple raid. Oh yes, and the chance at a legendary, if that's your kind of thing!
