World of Warcraft Dragonflight Normal Amirdrassil: Down goes Fyrakk!
Doomforge Brewing ventured into World of Warcraft Dragonflight's newest raid, Amirdrassil, the Dream's Hope tonight and downed that furiously flaming fire incarnate, Fyrakk.
There was much rejoicing.
I think this raid encounter is another win for final bosses in Dragonflight, so that's 3/3 for the encounter designers - well done!
Like any boss fight, Fyrakk is a dance, but it's approachable enough on normal. We might have had 9/27 alive. But we got him! I imagine that fight is quite a banger on Mythic difficulty.
World of Warcraft Post-Amirdrassil Spoilers Ahead
The campaign quests post-raid hit right in the feels. It was a nice touch to visit all of the locals around the Ohn'ahran Plains. The gnolls, especially "MON-ARK!" ❤️
The nod to Darnassus and the burning of Teldrassil was well done. I was half-expecting Sylvanas to pop up, but she thankfully did not. (I wouldn't have been mad, but half of the playerbase would have been incensed.)
Be sure to click on the dialogue markers to see the "Stay a while and listen" interactions between folks. The one between Jaina and Thrall is especially nice, as it speaks to what we saw in the cinematic for World of Warcraft The War Within at Blizzcon. A voice is calling out and a lot of folks are hearing it.
There are spriggans crashing the party. Of course there are.
And then there is a quest where Kalecgos sends you to take a drink to Khadgar who seems to be especially quiet and brooding. Khadgar drops some important tidbits about what's been going on since (and likely during) our fight to stop Fyrakk, explaining that a new darkness is afoot and that Iridikron is somehow involved. Khadgar tells us to be ready to defend Azeroth again.
I love this because 1) my assertion in my last post - that Dragonflight wouldn't have a true finale - seems to be on track and 2) the lore we have filled in for us in Courtney Alameda's War of the Scaleborn has been in service of characterizing Iridikron in this way. He is quite canny, and if he has allied with a "Harbinger," as Khadgar fears, I am sure we'll be seeing him at some point in a raid in The Worldsoul Saga.
Be sure to stop and to talk to Q'onzu, too. (I would really love some art, a t-shirt, or a figurine of this new loa. They're a trip.)
They say, in response to the celebrations, "In the end, it matters not who won. You have changed. The Dream has changed. Azeroth has changed. As all things must." It would be folly to place too much weight in Q'onzu's words. They're a sort of trickster loa, and I don't know that they're to be trusted entirely. But it's curious to read that it matters not who won. I suppose if the loa is only interested in change, that's true. But one would think they wouldn't want to see Amirdrassil burn, right? I believe we'll be seeing more of Q'onzu, for better or for worse.
The exchange between Ysera and Merithra is a tear-jerker. Ysera reminds us that "all time is borrowed" and that there is a beauty in that. Again, we see the conversations here at the (more or less) end of Dragonflight echoed in the World of Warcaft The War Within cinematic with Anduin and Thrall. The repetition of specific phrases and ideas in the narratives we are privy to are showing to us some of the best cohesion between expansions in a long time.
I know that many folks are unhappy with the writing in this game, but we need to be very clear on a point: the writing not having the tone you want or being "as epic" as you want does not make the writing in and of itself poor. These narratives are well written. They lead me to believe there is a larger plan to which they are all contributing. In fact, I think the evidence thus far suggests they are all fitting into a larger narrative/lore plan.
Oh, and there's a bit between Jaina and Kalec. *sexual tension intensifies*
That's an old ship. I guess it's interesting given their in-game history.
The real ship we're looking for, though, is obviously "Fairshaw." But I digress...
More soon. Thanks for reading. For Azeroth!