After resurrecting, the raid made its way back to Onyxia's chamber. It was only their first wipe of the night, so the trash hadn't respawned yet.
Everyone gathered outside the Princess's room to rebuff and recover.
While they sat drinking to restore their mana, Gabryell offered a little encouragement.
"You guys actually did pretty well dodging Deep Breath. Considering it was your first time dealing with it, that wasn't bad at all. Let's see if you can do even better this pull."
He had no intention of criticizing those who'd died. Even he might not have done much better if it had been his first time facing the mechanic.
"Next time, check which way the dragon's head is pointing every so often. Keep an eye on her position. That way, when Deep Breath comes, you'll know which direction to run."
He needed everyone to get into the habit of watching Onyxia.
Once they learned to recognize the warning and track her movements, they could react immediately instead of panicking and running around like headless chickens.
"And once you figure out how to dodge Deep Breath, Onyxia's practically free loot," Gabryell continued. "Trust me, she drops gear that's even better than what we've been getting in Molten Core."
Nothing got raiders motivated quite like the promise of better loot.
Wasn't that half the reason everyone ran raids in the first place?
"Better gear?" DaVinci asked. "How much better, Guild Leader?"
"Yeah," DeathScum chimed in. "MC already drops some pretty insane stuff. You're telling me the Black Dragon Princess has even better loot?"
"I'd believe it," Coldhands said. "She's a princess, isn't she? The bosses we've been killing in MC are basically just Ragnaros's lackeys."
"Coldhands has a point," Gabryell replied. "Onyxia's Lair might look pretty shabby with only four guards, but she's still the Black Dragon Princess. She's the final boss of her own raid, and she's been pulling strings in the human kingdoms for years."
"You really think someone like that isn't sitting on a mountain of treasure?"
Gabryell had decided to dangle some loot in front of them, and judging by their reactions, it was working far better than another speech about teamwork.
"Onyxia drops Tier 2 helmets. That's a whole step above the T1 gear we've been getting from MC."
"In fact, the only other boss in Molten Core who drops T2 is Ragnaros, and he drops the legs."
His voice grew more excited.
"Think about it. Once we kill Onyxia, those T2 helms are ours! We'll be among the first players in the entire game wearing Tier 2 gear!"
Sure enough, everyone immediately perked up.
"Then what the hell are we waiting for? Let's kill her!"
Gabryell seized the opportunity.
"That's the spirit. Now remember, during Phase 2, I want everyone watching where her head is pointing."
"If fewer people die to Deep Breath, we'll have enough DPS to push through the phase much faster. That also means fewer chances for her to use it a second time."
Ideally, Onyxia wouldn't use Deep Breath at all.
But even if she did, as long as they could reach Phase 3 with more than thirty players alive, Gabryell was confident they could bring her down after a few more attempts.
"Alright, ready check. If everyone's good, we're pulling."
This time, the three Dwarf Priests didn't need to be reminded.
They took the initiative to get Fear Ward on the main tank and the healers, then made sure their mana was fully restored.
Everyone responded to the ready check almost immediately.
The promise of T2 gear had done more to fire them up than any pep talk ever could.
"Carlos, go!"
Carlos would once again handle Onyxia during Phase 1.
Susie, meanwhile, would prepare to take over when the Princess landed in Phase 3.
"Susie, build some threat during Phase 1, but don't go overboard. We want you starting Phase 3 with a good lead once everyone else has taken their Fireballs."
Gabryell had arranged things this way deliberately.
If Susie could build enough threat without climbing too high on Onyxia's list during Phase 2, she might avoid being targeted by Fireball altogether.
"And Susie, make sure you don't get hit by a Fireball. We need you holding onto that threat."
How smoothly they handled the Phase 3 transition would depend heavily on her.
With the Talisman of Binding Shard equipped, Susie's Fire Resistance was already above 300. That made her an even more reliable choice than Carlos for tanking the final phase.
Their earlier attempts were already paying off.
Carlos was getting faster at pulling Onyxia into position, turning her around, and backing toward the twelve o'clock wall.
Hopefully, the rest of the raid would keep improving too.
Gabryell barely needed to give any instructions during Phase 1.
It was easily the simplest part of the fight.
As long as the healers didn't all decide to fall asleep and the DPS didn't get carried away chasing damage numbers, he couldn't imagine how they could possibly wipe here.
Onyxia's health dropped steadily.
At sixty-five percent, she spread her wings and took to the air.
Phase 2 had begun.
"She's up! Everybody follow her!"
"Keep watching her head! Don't get lazy! Stay moving and make sure you're ready to get out of her breath path!"
Unfortunately, Phase 2 still involved a fair amount of luck.
Sometimes Onyxia would go through the entire phase without using Deep Breath.
Other times, she'd use it over and over.
Gabryell remembered a particularly unlucky raid leader from his previous life.
Whenever that guy led an Onyxia run, Deep Breath was practically guaranteed.
It didn't matter what strategy the group tried.
Onyxia would always use it.
And once was never enough.
Two Deep Breaths. Three Deep Breaths.
Sometimes she'd unleash them so close together that the raid barely had time to recover before the next one came.
Eventually, the poor guy completely lost his patience and swore off leading Onyxia raids altogether.
Of course, by then his terrible luck had already become something of a legend.
Nobody wanted to torture themselves by joining his groups anyway.
Gabryell certainly didn't want to end up like that.
If he had his way, Onyxia would never use Deep Breath in any of his raids.
"David, Night, bring the whelps to the middle!"
"Mages, get ready to Blizzard them down!"
He turned his attention to the melee.
"And stop jumping up and down trying to reach her tail! You're not going to hit her just by jumping higher. Use your abilities whenever she's in range!"
Then came the usual Fireball warning.
"Anyone with low threat, stay away from whoever she's targeting!"
"Getting caught in a Fireball doesn't win you anything. It's not free loot falling out of the sky, so quit making the healers work harder for no reason!"
"If your threat's high, though, go ahead and take a Fireball. We want that threat down before Phase 3."
So far, everything was going smoothly.
Onyxia still hadn't used Deep Breath, and her health was dropping quickly.
Gabryell was pleased.
"Healers, use your Major Mana Potions on cooldown if you need them. And keep an eye on your threat. Don't let it get too high!"
He wasn't holding back on DPS himself.
Between attacking Onyxia and helping clear the whelps, he'd burned through a considerable amount of mana.
Instead of using a Mana Gem, he went straight for Evocation.
Phase 2 was the perfect time for it.
Trying to channel Evocation during Phase 3 was asking for trouble. One badly timed Fear from Onyxia could interrupt the whole thing.
"Save the Druids' Innervates for our three Dwarf Priests in Phase 3!"
Gabryell checked the healer mana bars.
Most of them still had around half their mana remaining.
There was no need to use Innervate just yet.
As long as they could reach Phase 3 without too many casualties, the healers should have enough mana left to keep the tanks alive.
Looks like we might actually get through this without Deep Breath.
When Onyxia's health dropped to forty-five percent, Gabryell could hardly contain his excitement.
Had his luck finally turned around?
Was the Black Dragon Princess really going to keep her mouth shut this time?
Unfortunately, Onyxia seemed to have other ideas.
How dare this insignificant human underestimate her?
Clearly, he needed to be taught a lesson.
Onyxia takes in a deep breath...
"Oh, fuck!"
Gabryell immediately shouted into voice chat.
"DEEP BREATH! EVERYBODY MOVE!"
"GET TO HER SIDES! HUG THE WALLS!"
"IF YOU CAN'T MAKE IT, USE WHATEVER YOU'VE GOT TO STAY ALIVE!"
So much for getting excited.
As long as Onyxia was still in the air, there was always a chance she'd unleash Deep Breath.
"Every damn attempt! She uses Deep Breath every fucking time! What kind of shitty luck is this?!"
Gabryell hurried toward the wall, thoroughly annoyed.
Then an unpleasant thought crept into his mind.
Wait a second...
Am I going to end up like that unlucky raid leader?
Is she seriously going to use Deep Breath every single time I'm leading?
At this rate, he'd be running a wholesale Deep Breath business!
Fortunately, the raid handled this one much better than the previous attempts.
There were still casualties, of course.
Some players panicked and ran in the wrong direction. Others had positioned themselves so poorly that they couldn't reach safety in time.
And then there were the truly unfortunate ones whose computers or internet connections decided to betray them at the worst possible moment.
A sudden lag spike.
A few seconds of stuttering.
By the time their screens caught up, it was already too late.
Gabryell quickly checked the raid frames.
The result was surprisingly encouraging.
Last time, fourteen people had died to the first Deep Breath.
This time?
Only six.
Three DPS, two healers, and one tank.
That was a huge improvement.
"Man, I tried to run, but there was nowhere to go," David sighed, staring at his black-and-white screen.
Unfortunately, he was the tank who'd died.
"Carlos, you and Night take the second wave of whelps before Onyxia lands!"
"Susie, get ready to pick her up and bring her to twelve o'clock!"
"DPS, prepare to stop attacking and drop your threat as soon as she lands!"
Onyxia's health continued to fall.
Forty-three percent.
Forty-two.
Forty-one.
Then, finally...
40%!
Onyxia landed.
Phase 3 had begun.
"DPS, STOP ATTACKING! DROP YOUR THREAT!"
"WHOEVER GETS AGGRO, RUN STRAIGHT TO TWELVE O'CLOCK!"
"IF YOU'RE GOING TO DIE, AT LEAST DIE THERE!"
This time, they'd made it into Phase 3 in much better shape.
Thirty-four players were still alive.
With that many people remaining, they had a real chance of bringing down the Black Dragon Princess.
Unless something went horribly wrong, Fearless might actually secure the world-first Onyxia kill.
Gabryell had been recording the entire fight from the beginning.
If they succeeded, the video would be proof.
Nobody would be able to dismiss their achievement as an empty claim.
Fearless had already made headlines by killing Thrall.
Now they had another chance to shock the entire World of Warcraft community.
But whether they could pull it off depended on what happened next.
Phase 3 would decide everything.
...
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