The citizens of Azeroth were unaware of Ulduar’s existence for thousands of years. “ Curiosity piqued as we look to the skies, will trekking here cause our untimely demise? Can chaos be quelled, or are we deluded? Must all be destroyed to rebuild undisputed?” The world first title for Alone in the Darkness on Yogg-Saron “0” (meaning the raid party received no help from any of the 4 guardians) went to Stars (TW) on July 7th, 2009. Before you went to fight Yogg-Saron, you could talk to each of these guardians individually and, if you spoke to any or all of them, they would help you in the fight. Once these 4 bosses were defeated, they weren’t actually killed – rather, they were simply freed from Yogg-Saron’s determination/control, and they would stand around a circle in the middle of the raid. The easiest way to kill Yogg-Saron was by first defeating the 4 guardian bosses: Hodir, Thorim, Mimiron, and Freya. Although Ensidia technically got the world first Yogg-Saron kill, there were 5 different ways to kill the boss with increasing levels of difficulty. In Shadowlands, it has been confirmed that Mueh’zala brought Helya into the Jailer's ranks.” - SenppaiĪ notable piece of trivia about Ulduar is that it was the first raid tier where a guild from Asia, Stars, claimed the most coveted world first title: Alone in the Darkness (25 player). Later on, we learn that the entity from the Shadowlands that Odyn made a deal with was, in fact, Zovaal (the Jailer), leading to Helya's transformation into a Val'kyr. Loken, a Titan Keeper, originally turned Helya, another Titan Keeper, against Odyn in the first place. “Much of the Ulduar threads that were left have been picked up both in Legion and even now in Shadowlands. So why is Ulduar so important in the present-day? The answer is that we are seeing threads of its lore connecting to events in Shadowlands: My goodness! The opening sequence where you go blind for a wee second and then it explodes into this beautiful galaxy around you? I still get nerd chills just thinking about it.” Then, there’s the visuals and artwork of the fight. The lore of the Constellars was pretty intriguing, and the fight itself was really difficult…it certainly felt like the level it should be for an extra boss unlocked only via hard modes. The Algalon encounter was just a masterpiece. Ulduar felt epic in the truest sense of the word. I still have screenshots and fond memories of being first on my server on a few of them, and that was a huge accomplishment. Old gods, Norse lore, and voice lines that are still used as memes to this day! ‘New toys? For me!?’ To top it off, the hard modes were actually difficult. The fight designs were incredible, and the story had all of the elements of fantasy that made us fall in love with the game in the first place. Trash was minimal but packed a punch…you know what I mean if you remember Mimiron trash before it got nerfed! As players, we had so much agency: 10 or 25 man, hard mode or regular on most bosses, and entirely skippable bosses. “Ulduar had everything we love about raid encounters in WoW. In remembrance of Ulduar, Hulahoops shares her thoughts on why this raid instance was such a big fan favorite: In this way, we couldn’t help but nod to Algalon. In Sepulcher of the First Ones, we fight Rygelon - another rare and mystical constellar boss. Algalon was an incredible fight, and his constellar presence was one that has been fondly remembered. In fact, Algalon was the primary impetus for this week’s raid riddle. However, for Ulduar, a whopping 10 hard modes were available and there was even an optional yet challenging boss, Algalon the Observer. Hard modes were first implemented in Ahn'Qiraj and then Obsidian Sanctum, in which there were a small handful of options. Hard mode could only be activated by performing a boss in specific ways, and dropped better loot and/or bragging rights for ambitious players. Unlike our ability to choose between LFR, Normal, Heroic, and Mythic difficulties in raid instances today, Ulduar was the last raid that was tuned around one base difficulty level. One thing that made Ulduar particularly significant was that it offered hard modes for 10 out of its 14 bosses. Whether due to its creative and engaging boss fights, its stunning aesthetics, or its compelling lore, Ulduar had something for everyone and was beloved by many. Long after the days of Wrath of the Lich King, Ulduar continues to be widely renowned as one of the best raid instances of all time.
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