The latest build 10805 was released last night introducing access to the Halls of Reflection dungeon to the PTR 3.3’s Icecrown Citadel. Take in mind that before you are able to zone in into the Halls of Reflection, you must have completed the Forge of Souls and Pit of Saron quests. Even if you think you did the Pit of Saron quests, go back and do them again if you aren’t able to enter Halls of Reflection. If you haven’t done any of those previous two dungeons, the quest starts at the Gunship.
The moment you zone into the Halls of Reflection the event commences. Jaina or Sylvanas will spawn and start a dialogue continuing where you left Pit of Saron, acknowledging that what the gnome said was truthful, Frostmourne lies ahead right in front of the zone in.
The video shows one of the players triggered the Quel’delar quest. The sword reacts before the presence of Frostmourne and starts spinning tornado-like around the room, and fights the group upon landing. The player is able to loot it once it’s pacified.
This article has some spoilers ahead, including the video which captures all the dialogues and events within the Hall of Reflections. Read at your own risk unless you don’t mind spoilers at all, but it would be best if you play it through on the PTR or on live realms if you feel it would ruin it for you. Otherwise, read what happens, and watch the three-part videos after the break.
I have to admit I had a feeling we wouldn’t be fighting Arthas at all based on comments from the Community Managers and some developers. Many a fan will be proven wrong after the assumption that mere five mortals would be fighting Arthas. Sorry to those folks, but you are too worthless for the Lich King to even bother rising Frostmourne.
The event starts when Arthas departs the room, not before asking his loyal death knights: Marwyn and Falric to take care of you and to bring the corpses before him when they are done.
You will see onscreen the amount of waves remaining, which reminds me of COT: Black Morass, and the Violet Hold event. Every five waves of ghosts (casters and footmen) one of the bosses joins the fight. After wave # 5, Marwynn will fight. Another five waves, and Falric will join.
The event is very straightforward, but it has a few dangerous moments that need to be monitored. The tank will be affected by some dots that need to be dispelled, but the most dangerous ability is when they fear the group. Everyone gets shadow damage over time while the fear is active.
The casters and riflemen love to aggro the healer, which can be problematic—specially cloth and leather healers. A couple interesting things to note during the encounter. I am exalted with all the main Wrath of the Lich King factions except Hand of Vengeance. I was getting reputation for this faction per kill. I also noticed a big boost on my healing crit in this build. I only have Ulduar gear, and got a 23800 holy light crit, and a few 18204 ones. I don’t recall healing that high in live realms.
It’s relevant to mention that Marwyn and Falric are part of the Warcraft lore, and it’s nice to see some cohesion and continuity between the novels and the game. Both characters were loyal captains serving Prince Arthas upon their arrival to Northrend in Warcraft III: Reign of Chaos.
None of them were mentioned in the RTS game, but they are part of Christie Golden’s World of Warcraft: Arthas, Rise of the Lich King—novel that hit twice the New York Times Bestselling Hardcover List (on May 2009).
After you defeat them in the Halls of Reflections, you are asked to find Jaina or Sylvanas at the end of the hallway—but you need to get through a big vrykul skeleton and some Scourge mobs, of course. Once you reach the end of the hallway, you will see your faction leader fighting Arthas the Lich King. She gets to incapacitate him briefly and asks you to … fight? Nope. All those people complaining that five mere mortals fight and defeat the Lich King will be embarrassed to coming to conclusions and to hear their faction leader orders the group to retreat.
Your order is to flee before he recovers from the spell, and for a good reason. As you flee, Arthas chases behind and casts a spell that blocks your escape path with a massive wall of ice. Then he summons Scourge from the ground to ambush you. You need to hold ground while Sylvanas or Jaina break the icy wall. This happens about four or five times until you are able to reach the end of the outdoor path right into a deadend … one of the terraces overlooking Icecrown’s outdoors.
You have no escape but to face Arthas the Lich King, and as he gets ready to finish you … hey, that would be spoiling it, eh? Watch the videos if you dare to.
