The Great Thief

During the invasion of the Grey Valley by the Burning Legion, Illidan absorbed the energy of a powerful Warlock artifact called the ‘Skull of Gul’dan’ and transformed into a demon-like creature. In the process, he acquired incredible strength and part of Gul’dan’s memories, particularly those concerning the Tomb of Sargeras.

He then met Kil’Jaeden, the demon responsible for what had happened. The Lich King Ner’zhul had become too powerful and was now too difficult to control. Kil’Jaeden ordered Illidan to eliminate Ner’zhul. As part of the deal, Illidan would receive more power, and be granted a place as a leader within the Burning Legion.

The corrupted Illidan immediately agreed and began his preparations to destroy the frozen throne that imprisoned the Lich King’s soul. He needed a powerful artifact, so he summoned the Naga from the Dark Deep Sea Lair to find the island where the legendary tomb of Sargeras was.

Illidan succeeded in stealing the Eye of Sargeras and went to Dalaran to take advantage of the powerful energy that could be found in the city.

With a devastating spell, he smashed through the Lich King’s defenses, which also split the bridge between worlds. However, he was stopped at the last moment by Maiev, who was supported by Malfurion and Priestess Tyrande.

Maiev was actually his sister-in-law, and Illidan didn’t seem to be attracting anyone’s goodwill.

In the end, Illidan ended up creating the Queen Sylvanas, a Death Knight, and freed many others from the control of the Lich King, but no one was grateful for him.

When the Lich King lost control of the Death Knights, they vowed to seek revenge on him for the horrors that they suffered under his control.

Additionally, the Death Knights also found themselves without purpose or a home, so they entered various human territories in an attempt to find new companions. As they travelled, they were strengthened and their undead bodies manifested an evil anger within them.

They had witnessed countless atrocities, and those who looked upon them could feel the warmth being pulled from their bodies as it was replaced by a steel-like coldness.

Death Knights fought in close combat, and used dark magic to enhance their weapons, increase their strength or weaken their enemies.

Baron Rivendare was a typical second-generation Death Knight, but there was something special about him. Because of the favor he had with Kel’Thuzad, his status was much higher than that of an ordinary Death Knight.

Even Lu Li didn’t know that the former Stratholme Lord had killed his son here to resurrect him as a Death Knight before embarking on a journey to find Alexandros Mograine, Sir Zeliek, Lady Blaumeux, and Thane Korth’azz to form the Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse.

Now, he was only a level 50 Boss sitting alone in Stratholme, directing his undead troops to fight.

Of course, his fate was to desperately resist as the countless players sought to take the Deathcharger that he was sitting on. However, the loser would eventually always be the Baron. As the mount became more popular, he would be humiliated even further as more players acquired it.

“Intruder, leave my territory!”

“Dammit, these little monsters actually give the Boss HP!”

As a War Commander, there was no doubt that Baron Rivendare would have high HP and powerful skills. The players had struggled to damage him, before discovering that he had summoned a wave of six skeletons. These monsters didn’t charge at the players, and instead went straight for the Boss.

As everyone stared in confusion, Rivendare’s HP suddenly increased as the skeletons fell to the ground.

“That is so overpowered,” Azure Sea Breeze complained. He had tanked a Mortal Strike from the Boss and had to use his damage reduction skills. He was already afraid of this Boss, and felt like he was always taking the abuse.

“Make sure you pay attention and kill the small monsters. Flower and Rice Ball are responsible for them when they spawn,” Lu Li said.

Baron Rivendare could use Mortal Strike and Opportune Strike at close range. At long range, he had learned Shadow Bolt from an Undead Mage and was able to summon Undead servants. As well as this, he could use the life force of these Undead creatures to regenerate himself.

Mortal Strike was one of the Warriors’ signature skills. Its damage usually wasn’t that high, but it was most effective against Main Tanks as it applied Lethality.

If a target had Lethality applied to them, all healing effects would be halved. This meant March Rain, who originally could give 400 HP per heal to Azure Sea Breeze, could now restore 200HP. This effect lasted for 10 seconds.

The Undead Servants were naturally summoned for the sake of HP regeneration. The players that faced Rivendare for the first time usually found themselves helpless against them.

However, none of these tricks would work against Lu Li.

As previously mentioned, Lu Li had over 300 strategies for fighting this Boss. He knew exactly what needed to be done for any stage of this Boss fight.

Rivendare was probably the most unfortunate Boss in Straholme. All the obstacles designed by the game designers were easily overcome by Lu Li’s decisions. Even if someone was actively monitoring their battle, they would only feel like this team had just been lucky.

“Drink Holy Water.”

The Holy Water that they had prepared beforehand was now playing a huge role in the fight. Baron Rivendare’s Undead Brutality was now completely ineffective against them.

Undead Brutality was similar to a Berserk skill, and even the strongest Main Tank of a major guilds probably wouldn’t be able to survive it. However, when the Stratholme’s Holy Water was used, it was more or less negated.

In fact, Lu Li had several other ways of dealing with Undead Brutality, but they were much more troublesome and needed some items that had be acquired outside of this Instance Dungeon.

“Let us defend our glory with blood!”

After ten minutes of extended fighting, the Xin Xin Mercenary Group finally progressed to the third stage of the Baron Rivendare Boss fight. There were now phantoms spawning behind him; these were souls of Paladins or former Paladins that were now Death Knights.

These Death Knights rushed over to the players with a cavalry charge in multiple rows, dealing huge damage when they hit a target. If they used a conventional defensive strategy, they would inevitably lose a few members.

Fortunately, Lu Li knew of a bug that could solve this problem very simply.