World of Warcraft Wednesday: Wailing Caverns
Lore:
In an attempt to make the Barrens somewhat less…Barren (and hopefully shut down Barrens Chat forever), some druids decided to park themselves in Wailing Caverns, find the hot springs underneath, and make themselves a spa resort.
Actually, they went into the Emerald Dream to figure out where the water was so they could divert it to the surface, but in the process accidentally left an opening for the creatures of the Emerald Nightmare to get into the “real world.” Now all the druids have been corrupted, and get to turn into snakes.
Which really isn’t fair, because I’d kind of rather my druid got to turn into a cobra than some stupid cat.
Degree of Difficulty: Medium
The difficulty sort of rests on your ability to map things out in your head. There’s a ton of trash and bosses here (to the point that the instance takes twice as long as the others at this level), but mostly it’s about finding your way through the caves and not getting lost since they double back on themselves so many times.
The bosses themselves are difficult enough to prove to be a challenge for players at this level, but not so difficult as that any halfway decent group with appropriate gear wouldn’t be able to clear them out without too much trouble.
Bosses:
Lady Anacondra: She’s got a sleep spell which can suck if it hits your healer, but other than that is nothing special.
Lord Cobahn:A little poison DoT that is annoying, and he’s got a transform that increases DPS, but it’s not difficult.
Lord Serpentis: Thissss I command! Oh, sorry. That’s Lord Serpentor. There is literally nothing special about Serpentis other than that he has more health than a normal elite mob at level 20.
Lord Pythas: He has a self heal, a Thunderclap, and a sleep spell, which makes him a more challenging opponent for groups. His adds are also more difficult and need to be handled quickly.
Kresh: Nothing special about Kresh except that he’s a big giant turtle, and you can tame him on a hunter.
Skum: Skum hits for pretty decent damage at level 20 and has chain lightning. He’s also prone to fleeing at the end of combat, so be prepared to chase him down.
Verdan the Everliving: Grasping Vines kind of sucks, as it’ll knock a player or two out of combat for a few seconds, and he hits ridiculously hard for a level 20 mob.
Mutanus the Devourer: Yes, the main boss of this instance is a giant murloc. He’s immune to Shadow damage (he’s a nightmare) and has sleep, fear and Thunderclap abilities, which can make him an annoying fight.
Special Features:
Not much, other than a rare Deviate dragon that spawns occasionally. Wailing Caverns does have the distinction of suffering from a bunch of crippling glitches, which have never been patched out, because nobody cares about Wailing Caverns. Bosses walk through walls, that escort quest you have to do to finish off the instance only works if the guy you’re supposed to be protecting takes some damage, and it can finish even if he dies. Weird all around.
Recommended for Levels: 15-23
Let’s face it, the Horde kind of got jacked up with this. This was supposed to be their answer to Deadmines, and instead it’s just a clusterfuck of annoying, meandering caves broken up by the occasional interesting boss fight. It’s not a horrid instance or anything, but it’s annoying, and you could probably skip it if you don’t feel the need to hit every instance.