As Legion draws to a close, I’d like to take a brief look back at the raid bosses of this expansion. This is the first expansion where I have raided the entire duration at a higher level than LFR, and that’s been such an amazing experience, and thankfully we’ve had some really good fights during that time as well! Here are my favourites:
Il’gynoth, Heart of Corruption
This fight is probably my favourite fight in Legion, primarily because it has a lot of storyline significance, at least as far as his whispers go. Offering us little hints about where the rest of this expansion and the next will go, puzzles to figure out, references to scour. Her third death? A sea of stars? Her heart is a crater?
Plus, I absolutely adore instant death mechanics, and Il’gynoth’s door slam is up there with Elegon’s pit in my opinion. It’s a shame it dies in the first heart phase now because I GUARANTEE people’d still not leave the chamber even now.
Odyn
Odyn’s appearance in the Trial of Valor raid was an absolute masterstroke. It basically took his Halls of Valor boss fight, and went “what if we upscaled this to a raid format and also threw a couple of the other bosses in at the start?” and what we got was a long, difficult but ultimately pleasing encounter. Also, any opportunity to see that glorious beard is fine with me.
Star Augur Etraeus
Taking place on one of the prettiest boss rooms to date, Etraeus is a relatively simple fight, but my favourite thing about the fight was how the heroic additions were reinforcements of what you needed to do already. Phase one, you generally stacked in three groups (two groups on each side, melee in the middle) and the additional mechanic, Frigid Nova, had damage reduction based on how many players were near you. Phase two you’re generally spread out, trying to avoid dropping fel pools on people, and the new Fel Nova sees you take less damage the further you are from him. Phase three, you’re generally stacked as a whole on top of the boss for healer ease, and Void Nova just damages and adds a stacking DoT, making the stacking even more helpful to the healers.
Grand Magistrix Elisande
This fight was won or lost based on how well you handled the very first phase. Take too long in it, and say hello to a shitload of Arcanetic Rings in each subsequent phase. This meant expedient killing of the speedy add, and judicious usage of Heroism (i.e. right at the start of the fight!). The combinations of mechanics, and the fact they echo in later phases, made this a difficult but very satisfying fight.
Honourable Mentions: Trilliax, Gul’dan, Kil’jaeden.
Not every fight was a winner, mind. Some fights I just plain hated:
Eonar the Life-Binder
This tower defence fight. Waves after waves of enemies lurch from portals, and eventually Eonar blasts a ship out the sky. I hate this fight, it feels less like a boss and more like trash that rewards epic loot if you’re lucky. Never mind the fact that everything seems to be dead just as I arrive somewhere, more than anything, it commits the crime of being utterly DULL.
The Coven of Shivarra
Antorus ain’t doing so brilliantly, having two bosses in the hated section. This fight earns my ire for its use of RNG. This fight can be easily lost by the flip of a coin, based on what titan is tormented and when. Every time I’ve died on this fight, it’s because of the Norgannon adds. Here they come to stomp all over me in my safe zone from the Storm of Darkness, giving me the choice of dying to the adds, or dying to the storm outside. Here they come to stomp all over me because Diima bunged her Orb of Frost on me, reducing my movement speed by 85%. The fight has ridiculously nasty overlaps, and it’s almost impossible to practice them consistently because they change from pull to pull.
Helya
This fight takes ten fucking years and everything’s so dark and not even the presence of tentacular tentacles can save it. Odyn was a long but fun fight. Helya is a long, terrible, painful slog and that stupid orb needs to STOP TARGETING ME. STOP IT! I DON’T HAVE MOVEMENT SPEED INCREASES FOR THE LOVE O- I’m sorry, I lost myself a little there.
High Botanist Tel’arn
Utter, utter chaos in the last phase and it makes my laptop slow down to a crawl, so I ain’t moving for love nor money. It’s really odd how this is the only fight in the Nighthold that does that, especially with Etraeus existing. Anyway, those stupid spiky spores and the Call of Night and the Parasitic Fetter can bite me.
Dishonourable Mentions: Mistress Sassz’ine, Elerethe Renferal, Spellblade Aluriel.
But not every fight even inspires a sense of hatred. Some fights were just… there. Underwhelming, boring, mechanically limited, here are my most disappointing fights of Legion:
Xavius
Just… what the hell was this? Stand in the middle and spank the boss? Occasionally move out then back in so the blades avoid the raid? Nothing else? Ignore all those adds at the end because they do literally nothing except lag my laptop? And this is an END BOSS?
Harjatan
Oh look, it’s another “stack on the boss and every ten years, spread for 5 seconds” snoozefest. At least this one had murloc adds. Mrglrglrlgl!
Varimathras
Oh look, it’s another “stack slightly behind the boss, then move side to side every so often” snoozefest. At least this one gave a person a reason to move outside the raid (8 yards only though) so they don’t spread disease about.
Argus the Unmaker
Look, this is meant to be the end boss of the expansion, yet it too boiled down to “stack up, move if you have a bomb/he makes a cone/there’s a swirly” and for an end boss OF THE EXPANSION that’s just a bit too simplistic. The saving grace of this fight was the transition from phase three to four (INSTAKILL!) and the usage of death almost as a resource (for tanks to drop stacks, for people to collect orbs to activate Titanforging) and the need to keep the tree alive.
But a strong phase 4, the phase you’re probably in the fight for the least, does not a good end boss make. The first three phases, unless you botch up the cone of death in phase one, you just don’t feel like you’re under any palpable threat.
Honourable Meh-ntions: Tichondrius, Portal Keeper Hasabel, Cenarius.
Anyway, there’s the notable bosses of this expansion for me. But what about you? Who did you love or hate? Who do you forget even exist? Let me know! As for me, I have a void elf to level.
Panda Steve Types Stuff 