Two Bosses Enter: Eck the Ferocious vs. Tribunal of Ages
Two Bosses Enter ... but only One Boss Leaves, in WoW.com's series of fantasy death matches. Welcome to Round Two of the five-man Wrath of the Lich King season. Grab a seat, and let's get ready to rumble!
Hold onto your hats, boys and girls -- this week's a wild one in the Two Bosses Thunderdome. Gather 'round in amazement as Eck the Ferocious tackles the Tribunal of Ages encounter from Halls of Stone. Been held back by that challenge a time or two yourself, eh? You're not alone. First-bracket boss Anomalus found himself shut out by the Tribunal, as well, falling short by less than 3% of the Thunderdome vote.
Eck's first-bracket victory over Amanitar was slightly more energetic, with Eck bounding to a 6% margin over his opponent.
Time for a quick review of the Two Bosses Thunderdome ground rules:
This match takes place inside the Tribunal of Ages in the Halls of Stone. Why is Eck here? Because it's a fantasy deathmatch, of course. (Work with it, people, work with it.)
In this scenario, we'll retain the basic mechanic of the Tribunal of Ages encounter. Brann Bronzebeard's survival still determines the success or failure of the mission. Eck is therefore challenged with holding the Tribunal at bay long enough for Bronzebeard to complete his task. (If you can prefer to come up with some other figure to stand in for Bronzebeard, feel free to exercise your creativity in the comments.)
Assume that foes share similar levels, health pools and a comparative overall damage output.
Don't get caught up in game mechanics and what player characters might do in each encounter.
Style and scale are your main considerations.
And now, the weekly Thunderdome call-out: Ladies and gentlemen, boys and girls ... Dyin' time's here.
In Corner One: Eck the Ferocious of Gundrak
Eck is a tenacious little fellow who drops aggro and bounds about during battle. His flash point: a nasty enrage that increases his attack speed by 150% and all damage he deals by 500% -- ouch!
Read more about battling Eck the Ferocious. Review comments from players who've fought the ferocious gorloc, and review his first-bracket deathmatch against Amanitar.
In Corner Two: The Tribunal of Ages, Halls of Stone
Abedneum: Warning! Life form pattern not recognized. Archival processing terminated. Continued interference will result in targeted response.
Kaddrak: Security breach in progress. Analysis of historical archives transferred to lower priority queue. Countermeasures engaged.
Marnak: Threat index threshold exceeded. Celestial archive aborted. Security level heightened.
Abedneum: Critical threat index. Void analysis diverted. Initiating sanitization protocol.
During the Tribunal of Ages encounter, adventurers must protect Dwarven explorer Brann Bronzebeard long enough that he can access a database to retrieve information required to complete the Halls of Stone quest. Hindering Brann and his helpers are the three stone faces of the Tribunal, Kaddrak, Abedneum and Marnak, plus wave after wave of foes including Dark Rune Protectors, Dark Rune Stormcallers and an Iron Golem Custodian.
Read a description of the Tribunal of Ages event and review comments from players who've completed the related achievement. Review the Tribunal's first-bracket shut-out of Anomalus.
The smackdown
Two Boss matchups are about substance and style, not strict game play and mechanics. For the sake of this death match, you'll have to be accommodating to Eck's presence in the Halls of Stone. We'll retain the basic mechanic of the Tribunal of Ages encounter -- you can substitute some other figure for Brann Bronzebeard, if you feel so moved. Bronzebeard's survival will determine the success or failure of the mission. In order to successfully emerge the victor in this Two Bosses death match, then, Eck is challenged with holding Bronzebeard's foes at bay long enough for him to complete his task.
Don't get swept up into thinking about how players would react -- there are no players in the Thunderdome. No game-mechanic nitpicking! Vote for the spirit of the battle as set forth above. Set aside differences in opponents' health pools, game level and actual damage output.
Who wins, and why? We'll see you down below in the comments. Can you come up with a convincing scenario that will sway other readers to your point of view?
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Who rocks Wrath's five-man world? Cast your vote in this match of Round Two of the five-man Wrath of the Lich King season.
