The classic Molten Core experience(I)

WoW Archivist is a biweekly column by WoW Insiders Scott Andrews, who explores the secrets of World of Warcrafts past. What did the game look like years ago? Who is etched into WoWs history? What secrets does the game still hold? It first appeared on our sister site on September 12th and is included here by permission.

If you missed part 1 and part 2, that means you were late for the raid and were docking you 50 DKP. Next time get here early to help the warlocks farm soul shards.

OK, fellow archivists! Weve cleared trash, weve decursed, weve pulled Geddon to Garrs room, weve brefriended the Duke, and weve doused every fiery rune. Its time to delve into the core of the Core to take on the Majordomo and Ragnaros himself, 2005 edition.

The invincible majordomo

Undefeated in battle, Executus rose through the ranks of Ragnaross lieutenants to become the Firelords majordomo. He did not appear until you doused all the runes, so the earliest raids on Molten Core had to stop after Golemagg and Sulfuron due to an Aqual Quintessence shortage.

After raiders repped up with the Hydraxian Waterlords and could finally summon the Majordomo, they were faced with an invincible warrior -- literally. Executus could not be killed. His Aegis of Ragnaros spell gave him a 30K damage absorb buff and healed him to full, so it was pointless to DPS him.

Instead, raids had to manage his eight adds: four Flamewaker Elites and four Flamewaker Healers. Mages were the key to this fight as they had the only reliable, long-term crowd control spell for humanoids. The fight required at least five tanks, one for the majordomo and one for each elite. All four healers were sheeped until all the elites were dead. Then the raid could kill the healers one at a time.

But it wasnt that simple. The fight had some interesting complications.

Executus gave two types of shield buffs to all of his allies. Purple shields reflected melee damage, so melee had to stop hitting these adds. White shields had a 50% chance to reflect a spell, so casters had to back off lest their nukes rebound. Hilariously, mages could sheep themselves if they werent careful when locking down the healers.

The pull was the most difficult part of the fight. Most raids pulled with a bubbled paladin or ice-blocked mage to keep the nine enemies busy while the sheeping was accomplished and the five tanks taunted their assignments. Meanwhile, the healers had to refrain from throwing out the smallest HoT tick, or all the aggro would come their way.

Executus himself could Teleport anyone into the burning coals pit at the center of his area. This would drop aggro for a tank. In a world without Misdirection or Tricks of the Trade, the tank had to reestablish aggro on the boss/add before it started slapping around healers. Some raids brought a sixth tank just to pick up loose adds.