After pushing through the huge trash-packed Lyceum in Blackrock Depths, they lit the two braziers, opened the gate, and entered Magmus's room.
Magmus used the same model as the Molten Giants in Molten Core, and his mechanics were similar enough too. He was basically a discount Molten Giant.
"Watch the knockback."
Magmus's War Stomp sent Carlos flying, and he immediately yelled, "Easy on DPS! Don't pull aggro!"
In World of Warcraft, knockbacks often came with a threat drop. The moment Carlos got launched, his threat dipped hard. Luckily, he reacted fast, hit Taunt, and picked Magmus right back up.
"Watch the fire on both sides," Gabryell said. "Drag him into the back corner and fight there."
Jets of flame sprayed from the walls on both sides of the room. Anyone with eyes could avoid them, and pulling the boss into the corner also kept the main tank from getting knocked all over the place.
In the end, a discount Molten Giant was still a discount Molten Giant. Once they understood the mechanic, Magmus was just another training dummy.
Golem Skull Helm
Rare
Binds when picked up
Head
Plate
477 Armor
+18 Stamina
+18 Strength
Durability 80 / 80
Requires Level 51
Equip: Increased Defense +7.
"Whoa," Hugo said the moment Lunatori opened the loot. "That's a real main tank helmet. Carlos is starting to look official."
At this point, Hugo was walking farther and farther down the path of becoming Luna's full-time hype man.
"It really is good tank gear," Gabryell said.
High Strength, high Stamina, and +7 Defense. Not a single wasted stat.
Carlos happily put it on. His path toward becoming a proper main tank was getting smoother by the run.
Once Magmus died, the gate leading to Emperor Dagran Thaurissan's throne room opened.
"Clear both sides first," Gabryell said. "Watch your pulls, save stuns for runners, and don't bring half the room with you."
There were a lot of mobs in the emperor's hall, and the biggest danger here was accidentally pulling extras. The enemies were already level 57 or 58. Once too many gathered, even their party could wipe.
They cleared carefully, starting from the left side, working pack by pack. They even cleaned out the mobs upstairs before moving to the right and doing the same there.
"Wait for the patrol," Gabryell said. "Don't pull the emperor and Moira."
A patrol moved not far in front of Emperor Dagran Thaurissan and Princess Moira Bronzebeard. That patrol was nasty for first-timers. Plenty of groups tried to pull it and accidentally dragged the boss pair into combat along with it.
Dagran and Moira had a wide aggro range, so they had to wait until the patrol moved away before making their move.
Igor stared at Moira for a moment, then could not help himself.
"That is one rough-looking princess. Short and thick. How did Thaurissan fall for her?"
"That's just what dwarves look like," Gabryell said. "You can't judge them by Human standards, much less Night Elf standards. For all we know, Moira is peak dwarf beauty."
Carlos laughed. "Wide hips, royal bloodline. That's heir-producing material right there."
"And she's the Princess of Ironforge," Hugo added. "Marry her and you basically marry into the whole city. Never work again."
The others did not know the lore, but Gabryell knew it very clearly.
Moira had not been kidnapped by Thaurissan. She and Dagran were genuinely in love.
Magni Bronzebeard had assumed his daughter was being held against her will and sent players to kill Emperor Dagran Thaurissan. After her husband's death, Moira remained with the Dark Iron clan in Blackrock Depths, took the name Moira Thaurissan, and later gave birth to Dagran Thaurissan's son.
After Magni was turned to diamond, Moira led Dark Iron forces back to Ironforge and tried to claim her place there. Under Varian's intervention, the Bronzebeard, Wildhammer, and Dark Iron clans eventually formed the Council of Three Hammers, with Moira representing the Dark Irons.
During the events of Patch 5.3, she was also the only dwarf leader who truly stepped forward for the Alliance. For Ironforge's sake, she cooperated with Varian's forces, struck against the Frostmane trolls, and helped foil the Zandalari plot.
She would grow from a hated princess into one of Ironforge's real political leaders.
Of course, to players doing the quest right now, Moira was unbelievably annoying. They had come to "rescue" her, but she attacked them on sight. After they killed Dagran, she would not thank them either. She would tear into them instead.
"I'll kite Moira," Gabryell said. "You guys kill Dagran."
No matter how annoying she was right now, she absolutely could not die if they wanted the quest completed.
"Do not kill the princess," he repeated. "If she dies, the quest fails. Everyone focuses the emperor."
Gabryell did not trust anyone else to kite her. To guarantee the quest, he had to handle it himself. Besides, if the kite failed and Moira got a few heals off on Dagran, they could easily wipe.
"Luna, don't heal me," he said. "Just keep Carlos alive."
While he was kiting Moira, her threat had to stay on him. If Lunatori healed him, the aggro could get messy fast. If Moira turned and ran for the healer, the whole fight could collapse.
"Separate them as much as possible," Gabryell said. "If they stay together, we're dead."
If they had already finished the princess chain, they could simply kill Moira first and make the fight much easier. But since they still needed her alive, killing her would only fail the quest. No reward, no gear, no point.
"Igor, Fire Resistance Aura."
Dagran's abilities dealt Fire damage. With Fire Resistance Aura active, plus Carlos's own Fire Resistance, the stun from Hand of Thaurissan would be easier to resist, lowering the chance that Dagran would run off and flatten someone else.
Once everyone was buffed, recovered, and ready, Carlos moved forward and grabbed the emperor.
Moira came with him.
Gabryell immediately attacked her and pulled her threat onto himself.
To kite her properly, he had to abuse the terrain on both sides of the room. He led Moira up to the second floor, then jumped down once she reached him.
She would try to chase him, fail to jump, turn around, and run back down the stairs. By then, Gabryell would already be waiting on the opposite side, ready to lead her upstairs again.
Repeat the loop enough times, and Moira would spend the entire fight running back and forth between the left and right sides of the room.
Of course, he also had to damage her at least once every few seconds. Otherwise, she would drop threat and go after someone else.
World of Warcraft mobs lost to one simple truth.
They could not jump.
Even the Princess of Ironforge was getting led around in circles by Gabryell.
"Holy crap, the emperor is on fire!"
Dagran used Avatar of Flame, and his whole body erupted in flames. Igor's health started dropping so quickly that he immediately backed away.
During Avatar of Flame, Dagran became immune to magic attacks. That was why casters were better suited to kiting Moira, while physical DPS stayed on the emperor.
Once Dagran's health fell low enough, Moira broke off and tried to heal him.
That cast had to be interrupted immediately.
Gabryell hit Counterspell and shut the heal down. Her Renew could not be interrupted, so they could only hope Carlos and the others pushed enough damage to overpower it.
After the interruption, Moira turned back toward Gabryell and continued chasing him.
A veteran was still a veteran. He kept tagging her within the threat window, never letting her reset, and kept running her in circles without missing a beat.
"The emperor's almost dead!"
Carlos and the others did not disappoint him. Dagran's health was nearly gone.
"He's dead! He's dead!"
The moment Dagran fell, Moira stopped chasing Gabryell, returned to her original position, and became a green-name NPC.
"Luna, loot him."
No one cared about Moira now that she was back to being a normal NPC. Their attention was entirely on the emperor's drops.
Lunatori opened the loot.
Dagran could drop the purple one-handed mace Ironfoe. It had high damage, and its proc rate was not low either. For this stage, it was absolutely a raid-level one-handed mace.
Unfortunately, Lunatori did not pull Ironfoe.
As the final boss, Dagran still dropped two pieces of gear. This time, it was a trinket and a staff.
Force of Will
Binds when picked up
Unique
Trinket
Requires Level 55
Equip: When struck in combat, has a 1% chance to reduce all damage taken by 25 for 10 seconds.
Equip: Increased Defense +7.
A top-tier main tank trinket.
The fact that Lunatori had looted it proved those lucky little hands were still doing their job.
Guiding Stave of Wisdom
Rare
Binds when picked up
Two-Hand Staff
133 - 200 Damage
Speed 3.30
50.5 damage per second
+10 Spirit
+11 Stamina
+10 Frost Resistance
Durability 100 / 100
Requires Level 54
Equip: Increases healing done by spells by up to 53.
A top-tier healing staff, especially for Restoration Druids. For them, it was one of the best options available at this stage and could spare them from fighting caster DPS over Staff of Dominance in Molten Core.
For Priests, it could also last until Benediction, though Druids valued it even more.
Gabryell barely looked at the drops. He went straight to Moira to turn in the quest and pick up the follow-up.
Her words would shock any player doing the quest for the first time.
"Thaurissan was a great and honorable dwarf. You have ruined my life, and the life of the child I carry!"
"Return to Ironforge and tell my father this: the next ruler of Ironforge will be a Dark Iron dwarf. Whether he accepts it or not, that is the future."
It was only a few lines, but the amount of information packed into them was huge.
Moira and Thaurissan had genuinely loved each other.
She was pregnant.
That meant the Dark Irons now had a possible path into Ironforge's line of succession. Through Moira and her child, they could turn everything around and end up the real winners.
And in a way, that was exactly what happened.
Moira would later claim a seat in Ironforge's ruling order, and the Dark Irons would finally rise from exile into power.