"So? Did we get anything good?"
Everyone wanted to know whether Lucifron had dropped anything worthwhile.
The most anxious person wasn't OldSeven, though. It was DesertWanderer, who would very much like to live another couple of years.
"Yeah. I'd call that good loot."
Gabryell looked over the drops and realized he really was going to have to buy OldSeven those Limited Invulnerability Potions.
DesertWanderer nearly cried with relief.
At least he wouldn't have to suffer through OldSeven's lethal singing, he was even more excited.
"See that? I meant to die! That was a blood sacrifice for the whole raid. That's the Fearless spirit right there. Put me in Azeroth's Hall of Fame."
That level of shamelessness really was impressive.
Coldhands, meanwhile, looked genuinely disappointed.
He had lost his chance to hear OldSeven butcher "My Heart Will Go On."
"What the hell are you disappointed about?" Gabryell said. "We got a caster piece and a tank set piece. That's a good kill. Seven, trade me after this. I'll give you two stacks of Limited Invulnerability Potions."
OldSeven immediately protested.
"Didn't you say as many as I needed?"
"How many times are you planning to die tonight? Use those first. I'll mail you more if you burn through them."
Two stacks should easily last him through the night.
If they didn't, the problem wasn't the potion supply.
And honestly, a Mage needing invulnerability pots just to stay alive already said plenty about his skill.
OldSeven didn't care whether anyone called him a noob.
When you were as broke as he was, free consumables were free consumables.
His looting luck really hadn't been bad.
The first item was:
Choker of Enlightenment (Epic)
Binds when picked up
Neck
+9 Stamina
+10 Intellect
+10 Spirit
Requires Level 60
Equip: Increases damage and healing done by magical spells and effects by up to 18.
The Choker was one of only two spell-damage necklaces in Molten Core. Until raids could actually kill Ragnaros, it was the best caster neck MC had to offer.
Even once Fearless secured the server-first Ragnaros kill and posted the strat, other guilds would still need months before they could kill him reliably.
For everyone outside Fearless, Choker of Enlightenment could easily remain an endgame caster neck for the next six months.
"Spell-damage neck! Every Mage needs this!"
OldSeven didn't even have Star of Mystaria yet.
The moment he saw the Choker, he practically started drooling onto his keyboard.
"Every healer in the core raid already has an Animated Chain Necklace. This goes to caster DPS."
Fearless's main healers were already extremely well geared. Every one of them had farmed an Animated Chain Necklace.
"I don't need it."
"Me neither."
DesertWanderer and FirstDate passed.
They had completed the Dawn's Gambit quest line and farmed Scholomance for Dark Advisor's Pendant.
With +20 Shadow damage, Dark Advisor's Pendant was already an excellent Warlock neck, so there wasn't much reason for either of them to spend DKP replacing it with Choker of Enlightenment.
"Mages and Warlocks who need it, bid."
Gabryell thought for a moment.
"First progression lockout, so bids cap at 30 DKP. If more than one of you goes to 30, you roll it off."
They weren't going to kill many bosses while progressing through Molten Core, which meant everyone would be earning very little DKP over the next month or two.
A cap kept people from getting into absurd bidding wars.
It also made it harder for someone to dump everything on one item and then disappear from the raid.
"You're not bidding?" someone asked when they noticed Gabryell hadn't put in any points.
"I've got Star of Mystaria. You guys take it."
Since he already had Star of Mystaria, the Choker wasn't nearly as big an upgrade for him as it looked.
"Oh. I've got Star of Mystaria too. I'll pass."
Once Gabryell pointed that out, several other players with the same neck backed out as well.
That left six bidders: five Mages and one Warlock.
"Roll it. High roll wins."
All six had gone to the 30-DKP cap.
The rolls came in.
OnlyOne took it with an 89.
"Waaah! I'm the one who looted it! How the hell did I lose the roll?"
OldSeven had rolled a 12.
Dead last.
"Thanks, guys."
OnlyOne happily took Choker of Enlightenment.
With the necklace assigned, Gabryell moved on to the second item.
This was the piece that had really convinced him they'd gotten good loot.
Gauntlets of Might (Epic)
Binds when picked up
Hands — Plate
468 Armor
+22 Strength
+17 Stamina
+7 Fire Resistance
Durability 55 / 55
Classes: Warrior
Requires Level 60
Equip: Improves your chance to hit by 1%.
Equip: Increased Defense +5.
Warrior Tier 1 gloves.
With Fire Resistance, +5 Defense, and 1% hit, they were easily the best tanking gloves currently available.
Fearless's loot rules were simple when it came to dedicated tank gear.
Tank upgrades went to the tanks first.
DKP was almost symbolic for pieces like this. If an item made the raid's tanks harder to kill, they got priority.
"These are Warrior Tier 1 gloves, and they're tank gear. You've all read the DKP rules—dedicated tank upgrades go to the tanks first."
Gabryell continued.
"A stronger tank makes every boss easier. If the tank gets crushed, it doesn't matter how geared everyone else is. The boss still isn't dying."
From the beginning, he had intended to reserve pieces like Gauntlets of Might for Carlos and Susie.
The DKP rules had made that perfectly clear, so there was nothing shady about it.
"Carlos, Susie—roll. High wins."
Either one of them could handle main-tank duty.
There was no reason to hand the gloves directly to Carlos and deny Susie a chance at the role.
"Any other Warriors object? Say it now."
DaVinci spoke first.
"I only play Fury. I don't need Defense gear. Give it to a tank."
Once DaVinci, the Warrior lead, said that, the other two Warriors had no problem with it either.
David shrugged.
"Carlos and Susie are both better tanks than I am. No problem here."
Nightlord said, "I'd love to have them, but I know I'm not main-tank material. No objections."
With nobody arguing, Carlos and Susie rolled.
"Congrats, Susie."
Carlos lost and took it without complaint.
Susie received Gauntlets of Might and equipped them immediately.
It was a noticeable survivability upgrade.
"Carlos gets first shot at the next tank piece."
"We got another drop over here."
The Rogue who had looted the first Flamewaker Protector finally spoke up.
Only then did Gabryell remember that the add had dropped something too.
It was a Tier 1 BoE bracer.
Vambraces of Prophecy (Epic)
Binds when equipped
Wrist — Cloth
44 Armor
+8 Stamina
+14 Intellect
+10 Spirit
Durability 35 / 35
Classes: Priest
Requires Level 60
Equip: Restores 2 mana per 5 sec.
Equip: Increases healing done by spells and effects by up to 24.
Priest Tier 1 bracers.
A satisfied smile spread across Gabryell's face.
"I knew it. No way I zoned us into a cursed lockout. This one's lucky."
He turned to the Priests.
"Bid your points. Same deal—30 DKP cap. Everyone at 30 rolls."
Sure enough, every Priest bid the full 30.
They rolled.
"Haha, thanks, guys."
ServerHeals won the Vambraces of Prophecy.
With the gear finally distributed, only one piece of loot remained.
The Tome of Tranquilizing Shot.
Gabryell looked at the three Hunters.
"Give me your hit chance. Highest hit gets the first tome."
Magmadar was coming up soon, and they needed a Hunter who could use Tranquilizing Shot.
For now, only one of them would know the ability.
If that Hunter missed at the wrong moment, things could get ugly very quickly.
That was why Gabryell wanted the tome going to whoever had the best chance to land the shot.
The three Hunters called out their hit percentages.
OneShotCrit had the highest.
"Crit, you learn it first. You other two get the next copies when they drop."
Gabryell handed the Tome of Tranquilizing Shot to OneShotCrit and had him learn it immediately.
Whether they could bring down Magmadar might come down to that shot.