"Is that a door?"
After entering the dungeon, Hugo spotted a small door on the left.
"Looks locked."
"That one needs the Shadowforge Key," Gabryell said. "It's the reward from Dark Iron Legacy, the quest we're working on. Without it, you'd need a Rogue with high enough Pick Lock."
Since they had neither the Shadowforge Key nor a Rogue in the party, they had to do things the normal way: clear the Ring of Law, wait for the side door to open, and enter the East Garrison from there.
Their main objective right now was to meet Marshal Windsor. The later areas of Blackrock Depths would only matter after meeting him for the second time.
"Just kill your way through and go right."
The Detention Block mobs were only level 49–50, so a party of level 58+ players did not need much of a plan. They could simply cut their way through.
The area was full of Anvilrage mobs and Bloodhounds. A solo Rogue sneaking in had to watch the dogs carefully; in World of Warcraft, dogs and bats were both notorious for seeing through stealth.
"Clear everything we can. Don't leave anything behind."
Although they would still have to farm the letter later, the mobs around the outer ring of the arena would be enough for that. For now, they needed to clear as much of the Detention Block as possible. That would save them a lot of trouble during Marshal Windsor's escort later.
They cleaned out everything in sight.
"That room too," Gabryell said. "Clear it now."
They reached the first room that could be opened. It was not a prison cell, but the room where Marshal Windsor's equipment was being stored. It did not require the Prison Cell Key.
It was best to open it now and clear the guards inside ahead of time. Otherwise, during Windsor's escort later, another group would spawn here. If the two groups stacked together, even a level 60 party could wipe. It was a classic newbie trap.
If the party wiped during the escort, the quest would fail. Once it failed, Marshal Windsor would disappear, and they would have to reset the dungeon and escort him all over again.
Reclearing all that trash would drive anyone insane.
"These mobs are broke as hell," Igor complained. "Why is it all junk?"
"That's prison trash for you," Carlos said. "They're level 50 mobs. What were you expecting, epics?"
"At most, some Runecloth," Hugo added.
"And a few silver," Carlos said.
Lunatori suddenly spoke up. "Wait, a weird green item dropped."
From two level 50 Anvilrage Wardens, she had looted two green items.
"Black Diamond?" Hugo noticed the first one right away. "Hold on, diamond? That has to be worth something, right?"
In most people's minds, diamonds were expensive luxury goods. In Azeroth, however, the word diamond did not automatically mean value. Black Diamonds, Pristine Black Diamonds, Azerothian Diamonds — the name alone was enough to trick plenty of new players.
In the Vanilla era, the most famous "diamond" item among players was probably Diamond Flask, the trinket reward from the level 50 Warrior class quest.
"Libram of Resilience."
Gabryell ignored the Black Diamond for now. It was useful as a reagent, but it was not the jackpot Hugo imagined.
What caught his attention was the other item.
Libram of Resilience.
Uncommon.
Unique.
Requires Level 50.
"Nice drop," Gabryell said. "Luna, that's actually a contribution."
BRD's humanoid mobs had a pretty decent chance to drop different Librams. A Mage could solo-farm the place for a week and, with good RNG, come out with several. If RNG hated him, of course, he might not see a single one.
"Is it really that valuable?" Lunatori asked.
"Very," Gabryell said. "You can turn it in for Lesser Arcanum of Resilience, which adds 20 Fire Resistance to a head or leg slot. That's exactly what main tanks need right now. Without enough Fire Resistance, there's no progressing Molten Core."
The most basic gear requirement for progressing Molten Core was a main tank with enough Fire Resistance to survive Ragnaros. If the tank's resistance was too low, Ragnaros would knock him around constantly. Once the main tank got knocked away, the boss would turn toward the DPS. If too many DPS died, killing Ragnaros in the original version of World of Warcraft was almost impossible.
World of Warcraft's resistance system worked in rough breakpoints. For a level 60 player, each tier was 75 resistance, with 300 being the ideal target against same-level enemies. Raid bosses, however, were treated as level 63, so the practical cap was just over 315.
In other words, the ideal Fire Resistance target was 316. Anything above that was wasted.
Carlos was definitely Fearless's main tank, so Gabryell had to start building his Fire Resistance set as soon as possible. The 40 Fire Resistance from head and leg arcanums would be extremely important.
"So how do we turn it in?" Lunatori asked. "Do we just use the item?"
"No. You need to take it to Mathredis Firestar at Flame Crest in the Burning Steppes," Gabryell said. "He's by the Horde flight path. We've been there before."
If Gabryell remembered correctly, the quest required a Black Diamond, Crystal Spires, Burning Essence, and the Libram of Resilience itself. He could not remember the exact number of Crystal Spires and Burning Essences off the top of his head.
In later WoW Classic, he had spent some time buying Relic Coffer Keys on his Rogue, solo-farming the Black Vault in BRD, and selling arcanum turn-ins. Burning Essence should come from the Dark Coffer inside the vault.
As for Crystal Spires, those required going to Un'Goro Crater, completing the Crystal Pylon quests, and then repeatedly exchanging materials at the pylons. Each Crystal Spire cost ten Blue Power Crystals and ten Yellow Power Crystals.
"Carlos, you take the Libram," Gabryell said. "After we finish the attunement quests, go pick up Libram of Resilience. Whatever materials you're missing, we'll help gather them."
Gabryell planned to check the Auction House later and see whether any other Librams were listed. If the prices were right, he would buy them all and prepare arcanums for the progression roster.
The Libram of Resilience was especially important for Molten Core. Once other players realized what it was for, they would rush to buy it, and the price would shoot up fast.
"From now on, keep an eye on the Auction House. If you see Libram of Resilience, Libram of Rumination, Libram of Constitution, or Libram of Voracity listed under 100 gold, buy it."
Gabryell could not watch the Auction House all day, so he could only ask Carlos and the others to help keep an eye on it.
"Got it."
The four of them answered almost at the same time.
The Libram of Resilience was an unexpected gain. Maybe Igor had been right after all. The mobs guarding the prison really were loaded.
They continued clearing deeper into the Detention Block until they reached High Interrogator Gerstahn, the first boss in the area. She was mandatory for anyone doing the Windsor chain. Without the Prison Cell Key she dropped, they could not open the cell where Marshal Windsor was being held.
"The prison boss is a woman?" Igor asked, surprised.
High Interrogator Gerstahn was a female Shadow Priest, which was very different from what he had imagined. He had expected some huge, terrifying brute. Not this.
"If even the trash is loaded, she has to drop something good," Carlos said, already thinking about his Fire Resistance arcanums.
Among the bosses in Blackrock Depths, Gabryell liked High Interrogator Gerstahn quite a bit because she could drop a very solid caster cloak: Spritecaster Cape. Before replacing it with Sapphiron Drape from Onyxia, it was one of the better cloaks available.
Of course, hardcore grinders could also farm Archivist Cape from Archivist Galford in Stratholme. Since it came with random enchantments, they could keep farming until they got the stats they wanted.
For example, a Mage could grind for an Archivist Cape of Frozen Wrath.
Gabryell had no interest in farming the Scarlet side of Stratholme until his soul left his body, so he only cared about Spritecaster Cape for now.
"Go straight in," Gabryell said. "Carlos, pick her up. Luna, keep him alive. Everyone else, burn her down."
A level 52 boss was not worth taking too seriously. A level 60 Rogue could pop Evasion, unload full burst, kill her head-on, then Vanish and walk away from the mobs she summoned.
If a level 60 Rogue could solo her that easily, then for Gabryell's five-person party, killing her was not much harder than clearing ordinary trash.