Draconian Deflector was the best shield a Warrior could get before stepping into Molten Core.
As a Fire Resistance shield, it had no real equal.
Skullflame Shield looked flashy, but compared to Draconian Deflector, it was a full tier lower for serious tanking.
The strongest part of Draconian Deflector was not the +10 Fire Resistance, the +7 Stamina, the high armor, or the block value.
It was the +10 Defense.
That alone was something Skullflame Shield's proc could not compete with.
The shield's stats were almost perfect. For any ambitious main tank, it was a must-farm god-tier item.
"All tanks roll," Gabryell said.
In World of Warcraft, main tank gear was the one category where forced priority was normal.
Usually, the main tank came first, the off-tank came second, and the backup tank came last.
Carlos and Susie were both qualified main tanks. David had spent most of the dungeon as backup, but he had still tanked General Drakkisath at the end. Strictly speaking, all three of them had the right to roll on Draconian Deflector.
"Carlos, only you and I roll," Susie said immediately. "David is not allowed."
David protested at once.
"I object. I tanked General Drakkisath. I have rights."
"Get lost," Susie said. "If you dare compete with me, I'll make my little sister stop talking to you."
That threat hit David's weak point directly.
David looked miserable.
"You're openly ninjaing me."
"That's right," Susie said. "I'm ninjaing you specifically. Who told you to chase my little sister?"
Susie's little sister was MushroomHunter.
David liked MushroomHunter, and that was no secret in Fearless. At this point, basically everyone knew.
Between gear and love, David could only choose love while bleeding inside.
"For love," he said solemnly, "all gear can be abandoned."
David passed, leaving Carlos and Susie to roll.
Carlos's roll luck had always been terrible.
This time was no different.
He rolled a 7.
Susie, who had shamelessly weaponized her little sister, rolled a 66.
Double six.
Apparently, emotional blackmail really did improve loot luck.
Draconian Deflector went to Susie.
"Great," Gabryell said. "Now Carlos and I still have to keep farming UBRS."
His brothers' luck was tragic.
One failed to win Briarwood Reed.
The other failed to win Draconian Deflector.
Both of them would have to keep coming back to UBRS.
Susie equipped the shield and walked two circles in front of David.
"Do I look cool?"
David suppressed the urge to snatch it from her.
"Absolutely amazing."
"Desert, summon me."
At that moment, Hugo had finished his corpse run and made it back into the dungeon. He still needed to loot the quest item from Drakkisath.
DesertWanderer summoned him over.
Hugo arrived and looted Blood of the Black Dragon Champion.
He had entered combat earlier, and although he died during the pull, he only released after the boss died. That meant the quest credit still counted.
They continued distributing the loot.
Since there was only one Rogue, Shadowcraft Tunic went to DeathScum.
"What does a class that dies the moment one skill touches it need clothes for?" OldSeven asked.
DeathScum replied, "Jealousy. That is naked jealousy."
Fine.
OldSeven really was jealous.
Why had it not been the Mage T0 chest?
His roll luck today had been good. If Magister's Robes had dropped, he might have won them and soothed the pain of his fifty-gold fine.
Gear was easy to distribute.
Recipe: Flask of the Titans was not.
This was not a Bind on Pickup recipe. It was tradable and could be listed on the Auction House.
"Is Flask of the Titans really that strong?" someone asked.
"Very strong."
"How strong?"
Gabryell said, "It's a required flask for main tanks during raid progression. For two hours, it increases maximum health by 1,200, and the effect persists through death."
"1,200?" Carlos was stunned. "Holy crap, that's insane."
"It's not only useful in raids," Gabryell said. "You can use it in PvP too. Imagine having 1,200 more health than everyone else. Who's killing you?"
Of course, flasks were expensive to make.
Based on current material prices, one Flask of the Titans would cost at least half a game-time card, maybe even a full one. Anyone who used flasks casually in PvP was either rich or insane.
Normal players should not even think about it.
And once the recipe became known, the materials would only get more expensive.
Gabryell had already stockpiled piles of cheap materials in his bank, waiting for that exact moment. When prices climbed, he would make a fortune.
Susie asked, "The materials must be expensive, right?"
"They'll be expensive later," Gabryell said. "Not yet. Don't worry. The guild fund will cover flasks and potions for main tanks. You won't have to pay out of pocket."
"What about us?" OldSeven asked.
As a disgrace to Mages, he was so poor he only had a little over ten gold.
"The guild will also subsidize healer consumables," Gabryell said. "DPS pays for their own flasks, potions, food, and everything else."
OldSeven immediately cried out, "Unfair! This is discrimination against DPS!"
"There's no such thing as absolute fairness," Gabryell said. "DPS can farm gold. Healers and main tanks basically can't. If the guild doesn't support them, what are we supposed to do? Make them buy gold?"
Good DPS were useful.
But DPS players were everywhere.
World of Warcraft lacked many things, but it never lacked people who wanted to hit the boss.
That was why, even in later GDKP raids, the top DPS might receive bonus rewards at most. There was no reason to give every DPS player a basic consumable subsidy.
"I can't farm gold," OldSeven cried. "I only have a little over ten gold."
OneShotCrit immediately mocked him.
"That's because you're embarrassing every Mage on the server. Look at Milo. He has more than six hundred gold."
OldSeven suffered another critical hit.
"I'll buy the recipe myself and split the gold among everyone as a subsidy," Gabryell said.
He did not want Recipe: Flask of the Titans hitting the Auction House and causing material prices to skyrocket too early. He also did not want to buy other people's flasks later at inflated prices.
"The flasks we make will go into the guild bank and be saved for progression."
Progression was not something that ended in one day.
They might not even have enough flasks for themselves. Selling any would be stupid.
"Guild Leader, keep the recipe," Susie said. "We don't need the gold."
She looked around the raid.
"Flask of the Titans affects the guild's progression. There's no reason for us to take money for it now. Later, when the guild provides flasks for us, we'd feel too embarrassed to accept them."
Carlos nodded.
"I give up my share."
David followed immediately.
"I give up mine too."
More and more people spoke up.
With so many people giving up their shares, anyone who insisted on taking the money would immediately look bad and slowly get pushed to the side in future raids.
Gabryell thought for a moment.
If he tried to pay them now, they probably would not accept it.
It would be better to take the recipe first and quietly mail gold to everyone after they returned to town.
"In that case, I'll keep it," Gabryell said. "I'll give the recipe to one of our Alchemists. Any Flask of the Titans we make from this will not be sold. They'll be supplied to the guild's main tanks for progression."
In the future, Fearless would not have only one raid team.
There would be more.
The flasks used by every progression team would all be provided by the guild.
As for future GDKP runs, the guild would still provide Flask of the Titans during initial progression. Once those runs could clear the raid reliably, the guild could start selling flasks to them, with the cost deducted from the final pot.
"Everyone, back to Burning Steppes," Gabryell said. "Turn in the Drakkisath quest first. After that, we'll go to Mazthoril and find Haleh."
He opened a portal to Stormwind.
From there, they took a gryphon to Burning Steppes and went to Marshal Maxwell to turn in General Drakkisath's Demise.
The quest had three trinket rewards: one for tanks, one for physical DPS, and one for caster DPS.
Mark of Tyranny
Rare
Binds when picked up
Trinket
180 Armor
+10 Arcane Resistance
Equip: Increases your chance to dodge attacks by 1%.
This trinket was more suitable for Bear Druids.
Eye of the Beast
Rare
Binds when picked up
Trinket
Classes: Priest, Shaman, Mage, Warlock, Druid
Equip: Improves your chance to get a critical strike with spells by 2%.
Pair it with Briarwood Reed, and any caster would understand immediately.
It would not be replaced until Talisman of Ephemeral Power.
Blackhand's Breadth
Rare
Binds when picked up
Trinket
Equip: Improves your chance to get a critical strike by 2%.
A top-tier physical DPS trinket.
It would last even longer than Eye of the Beast. Melee players would not replace it until they had Dragon's Tooth Talisman. Hunters could replace it with the Dire Maul class trinket later.
Horde players also had Rune of the Guard Captain, giving them more flexibility when mixing trinkets.
Gabryell chose Eye of the Beast and equipped it immediately.
The others chose their own rewards as well.
After that, Gabryell opened another portal, this time to Ironforge.
Their next step was to fly to Menethil Harbor, take the ship to Theramore Isle, then fly to Everlook in Winterspring.
They still needed to go to Mazthoril and find Haleh.
Once Haleh used the Blood of the Black Dragon Champion to restore the amulet, they would finally obtain the entry item for Onyxia's Lair.
The Drakefire Amulet.