The Lost Vale: Part 2 - Left Wing: Ahzranok And Malghor Greathorn
By: Damihdez
It's actually a pretty short hop to the first boss of Lost Vale. You will have to kill your way through some scorpions on the way to Ahzranok, but they are not that difficult. Nublet reports that they have a poison that increases build times by 1 second (being ranged DPS, I never encountered this myself).
Right before the large open area with Ahzranok, you will see a pickup item on the ground that looks like a crystal and called a Menhir Shard. You MUST pick these up if anyone in your group has not yet completed the Left Wing of Lost Vale. I recommend designating one person to pick them all up (total of 10), and have everyone keep an eye out for them. If you have only one person picking up the Shards, you will easily be able to verify how many you have found simply by asking that person how many they have in their quest inventory. Remember, if EVERYONE on your team has completed the Left Wing previously, you DO NOT need to pick these up.
Note: You may want to have your main tank chain-pull to make this dungeon go faster. This is something I have seen Helstadt do with great success. If you're not familiar with it, chain-pulling is like tanking on-the-go. The main tank grabs the group of mobs and then walks backwards up the path. DPS will theoretically be able to burn down the mobs at about the time that you reach the next group. This makes the run significantly faster, and you also maintain morale for emergencies.
The large open area with the boss encounter also contains a few groups of Beastmen. The static ones are not necessary to kill before the boss, but you will want to consider killing the patrol groups before attacking Ahzranok. The boss is hanging out in the pond to your left.
Ahzranok is basically a tank and spank fight, with a couple minor twists. As with most bosses in the game, you want to have your tanks face it away from the casters, but in this case casters should keep a safe distance to avoid Ahzranok's tail swipe. Also, the boss will occasionally tough itself using an armor buff. This can easily be removed with any ability like the Witchunter's Sever Blessing (and should be removed as quickly as possible). At 20% health, Ahzranok will spawn some little babies. These are not significant at all as long as one of your tanks AoE taunts them and you have an AoE RDPSer. If this fight takes too long, Nublet reports that Ahzranok will spawn a clone (never seen this happen personally). This could be due to failing to break the boss's armor buff quickly enough, or if your DPS has too few wards.
After killing the boss, the spirit of the Everqueen spawns on a little rock out in the pond. Make sure everyone hands in the quest and picks up the next step (kill Malghor Greathorn). Clear out the rest of the mobs in this area and look for 2 more Menhir Shards here (total of 3).
Now head to the path opposite the ramp and work your way through the Beastman groups here. The Beastman Tactic (Favour of the Daemonic or better) will be helpful here. When pulling a group of them, your Main Assist should check for a Pleasureseer. Always kill this one first, as it has a build-time debuff that it spews around. Along that way to the next boss, you will find 2 more Menhir Shards (total of 5).
Malghor Greathorn is a plus-size beastman in a large camp-like area. You will likely want to kill the trash mobs near the entrance to this area. When you walk into the little camp, look immediately to your left. There is a fallen tree trunk and a little tent in front of it. It is highly recommended that the non-tanks get up on the highest point of the tent. In fact, casters should jump up on the left hand tent pole for a little more height. MDPS should be fine just on the tent. The reason for this is that there a clouds of musk floating around during the fight that control Malghor Greathorn's hate. You want the tanks to be soaking up all the musk, and the little clouds tend not to go up on the tent very often.
Preparations aside, Malghor Greathorn is basically another tank and spank. Have your tanks pull him right over to the tent and then face him away from the non-tanks. It's important that both tanks are in front of the boss, so that he does not suddenly turn around and cleave all the casters. This tends to make your team sad. At 20% health, Malghor Greathorn will sort of enrage, dealing more damage.
Once Malghor Greathorn is dead, the Everqueen makes another appearance nearby. Make sure everyone completes the quest and takes the next step, which is to find and deliver the Menhir Shards. If you have been carefully watching for them, you should not need to backtrack to get them.
To be continued! Next Episode: Spiders, Furies, and Fiends, oh my!