Fortunately, Hugo's Hunter didn't pull VanCleef from inside the cabin. At the critical moment, Egides Taunted one add while Ogabs snapped the other with Fire Blast, and the group brought down Captain Greenskin cleanly.
"Whoa, a blue staff!"
Lunatori, handling the loot, lit up. "Those stats are nice lol"
The Emberstone Staff was the first blue staff most Alliance players would ever see. Between its rarity and balanced stats, it was highly contested among casters.
"Roll for it."
"A restoration druid can use it too."
She hit Need, but only rolled a 48—rough luck.
Gabryelll took one look at the staff and lost interest. It looked good, but it didn't actually improve spell damage in any meaningful way.
A lot of new players misunderstood this—they thought weapon damage and DPS affected spells. It didn't.
Base damage only mattered for melee swings. Unless you were whacking things with your staff, it did nothing.
Same with primary stats—Spirit, Stamina, Intellect. They didn't increase spell damage or healing directly. Spirit was regen, Stamina was health, Intellect was mana and crit. None of that was spell power.
What actually mattered were green stats.
Take Staff of Jordan. It wasn't famous just for being epic—it was the stat:
Equip: Increases damage and healing done by magical spells and effects by up to 26.
Simple. Straight +26 spell power.
Compared to that, Emberstone Staff wasn't that impressive. And with a 40% drop rate, he could always grab one later.
"Hey, why'd you pass?"
Seeing it land in her bag, Lunatori looked confused.
"I already got the ring. You take this one."
Weapons mattered most early on.
"But it helps you too."
"When we turn in VanCleef's Head, we get a staff just as good. Use this for now."
The Westfall quest reward had similar stats—it just didn't look as good.
And in WoW, when stats were close, looks mattered.
Azuresong Mageblade vs Claw of the Black Drake—most players picked the Mageblade.
Or Teebu's Blazing Longsword—purely carried by rarity and looks.
After checking the quest log, she finally equipped the staff, a little embarrassed.
"Not bad, Gabryell. Way smoother than Hugo's flirting."
Igor gave a thumbs-up. "Careful, she might actually fall for you at this rate."
Gabryell shook his head. "Relax. It's just the internet. People don't even know each other."
Igor snorted. "Please. I'm good-looking, charming, 180 IQ. No way I'm getting scammed."
He just smiled. If he remembered right, Igor had once been scammed out of his entire monthly allowance.
Carlos cut in, "You don't get it. He's building trust. She's sticking with us for sure."
That hit the mark.
Druids were rare in Vanilla—and good ones even more so. He'd already noticed her awareness and planned to keep her around. Giving up the staff was intentional.
He shot Carlos a look. You get it.
"Top up. We're pulling VanCleef."
He laid out the plan:
"He summons three rogues. Killing them just spawns more. Ignore them—tank everything and burn VanCleef."
"Only the tank touches adds. They hit hard—pull aggro and you're dead."
"He has Thrash—triple hit."
"Igor, don't tunnel. Heal when needed. Keep the tank stable—don't let him dip below half."
Igor smirked. "As long as I'm here, he's not dying. Egides, go—Holy Light's on you."
With that, the Warrior charged in.
"VanCleef! In the name of Stormwind, I sentence you!"
An arrow followed.
Igor scoffed. "Elf from Darnassus fighting for Stormwind nobles? That's rich."
"Like you're not hitting him too," Hugo shot back. "Paladins are Stormwind's golden boys."
"Exactly," Igor snorted. "That's our job."
Gabryell almost laughed.
The real mastermind was Onyxia—Lady Prestor—playing Stormwind's elite from the shadows.
VanCleef was just a pawn. Cheated out of his pay, branded a criminal, driven into hiding—only to end up farmed by players.
"Drop something good and I'll avenge you someday."
Frostbolt hit.
VanCleef roared as his health dropped—helpless, just like before.
"100."
"68."
"13."
"Dead."
"Hahaha! Nice! Full clear!"
They all shot up from their chairs.
At this stage, clearing Deadmines likely meant they were the first team in open beta.
Closed beta didn't count.
Only open beta and live mattered.
Lunatori rushed forward and looted:
Blackened Defias Armor
Leather Chest
92 Armor
+4 Strength
+3 Agility
+11 Stamina
"Damn, another set piece. Hugo's gonna love this."
"No Rogue—Hunter takes it. Finish the set."
Hunters made the best use of the Defias set here.
He could already picture Hugo walking into town in full set—every Rogue glaring.
If this were a full-loot game, Hugo would be dead the moment he stepped outside.
"Ogabs, which boss are you on?"
VanCleef wasn't even cold when Dreamshade whispered him.
He glanced at it and smiled, already thinking of a reply that wouldn't crush this "Legendary Rogue."