Hey there Classic,

The title says it all, what was your favorite raid in Vanilla?

For me I think it has to be MC. I know, it's the first raid, it's the easiest, it's this, it's that. But honestly, joking around with guildies over vent while everyone was relatively relaxed (since it's an easy raid) are some of my fondest memories of vanilla.

-ClassicRaids

Onyxia's Lair. Perfect amount of trash, awesome arena for the fight, and the different phases and mechanics make it really feel like an epic battle with a seriously powerful dragon. Tanking Onyxia for the first time was amazing, with that huge model looming over my character, pointed right at me, biting and clawing away. Everyone has stuff to do during the fight, and the loot is sought after by every class.

And that isn't even mentioning the huge quest lines just to get attuned to fight her.... Just a really epic experience, start to finish.

MC & Ony for me, i have the fondest memories of those. I was there for the opening of the AQ gates and we progressed nicely there, but i think for mechanic an nostalgic effect MC and ONLY for sure

ZG was lush, crazy and great fun. It provided really nice catch up loot and unique boss encounters. I really enjoyed my time in ZG more than most. I didn't get to experience hardly any Naxx/AQ40 except a few wipes on first bosses, AQ40 looks like a lot of fun.

Karazhan... I'll see myself out

Seriously though, the boss fights were so unique and interesting. I hope they bring it back to Classic in some way.

Molten Core IS vanilla to me.
There is just something about it... I can't explain it.

Glorious is what it is.

i love the large scale battles. there is just something so epic about them that makes it feel so much more dangerous so id have to say aq40. the aesthetics of it are also very unique in their own way

I only ever did MC and ZG, but I love the whole green jungle theme of ZG, those kind of zones makes me happy! Like Mulgore etc.

Nothing beats the first time Ragnaros emerges for atmosphere, that said I think I like BWL the most overall.
It's at that perfect spot where you can't have half the raid afk anymore, good pacing and ramp up as you move further in with some unique mechanics (suppression room is a bit ugh but still interesting) and doable with "normal" raiders.
First big boy raid so to speak, but I like all raids in classic if I'm honest.

I burned myself out by the time ZG was released on both private servers.
My guild progressed very well through both MC and BWL but I would say MC was the most memorable experience.
It's always the first time that your guild reveals their co-ordination and skill as a group of 40, raid leaders giving instructions and telling jokes on discord, over some intense raid music...


fun bosses, good loot, good times.
I had to do it probably 13 times before it was my turn to loot https://classic.wowhead.com/item=17103/ ... -mageblade

Kazukii wrote: ↑

5 years ago

.....fun bosses, good loot, good times.
I had to do it probably 13 times before it was my turn to loot https://classic.wowhead.com/item=17103/ ... -mageblade

13 times gives you no right to complain matey. It took my mage frigging ages, literally....

Ontopic: BWL hands down. The whole atmosphere & design is imo still one of best!

I've done only MC, Ony, BWL and parts of AQ40 (C'Thun), ZG (can't even remember what bosses), NAX (first two bosses of spider wing).

I think all of them are great, however MC was the first one. I wasn't as excited during my wedding as going in there first time. If I had to choose however, I regret not doing AQ40 more.

MC. I think it will always be MC. The grand scale of everything, the dark fiery foreboding cave within this massive mountain that all 40 of us march deep in to access, the lore, the loot... everything. It made it so that every night felt like a big war.

Molten Core, especially the Ragnaros encounter. It's not the most challenging, and in retrospect the level design isn't the greatest, but the nolstalgia is just too strong.

I picked BWL, it was between MC and BWL.

MC is high up there because it was my first raid and was big and Rag was an amazing encounter for a boss!
But BWL was really fun, had such amazing bosses, and I can run this raid a million times and not get bored!
Also tier 2 is the best looking tier for all classes, maybe you have preference in a different tier for a class but overall I dont think one tier 2 set looks bad at all! Plus Paladins tier 2 is the best looking set in WoW and I am not a paladin fan at all lol

Selexin wrote: ↑

5 years ago

ZG was lush, crazy and great fun. It provided really nice catch up loot and unique boss encounters. I really enjoyed my time in ZG more than most. I didn't get to experience hardly any Naxx/AQ40 except a few wipes on first bosses, AQ40 looks like a lot of fun.

The problem with AQ40 is ....the bugs....lol
After running AQ40 for a long time looking at bugs all raid gets to you man!
Sometimes I thought bugs were crawling on me and looking at bugs makes me want to ....arghhh *gross*

Even with a bug problem, AQ40 does have some fun and unique boss fights like Twin Emps and C'Thun!
They do have terrible tier set though...only 5 pieces and you look like a bug lol
And as a holy priest the tier set is just useless...only good if you want to shadow or pvp with...I had a few and it was never used outside of solo/dps play

And now we get to Naxx...Naxx is really, and might be the best raid (but I have nostalgia for MC and BWL), its both fun and unique!
You have 4 halls you can do and do in any order which is something completely different and fun!
And like I said in another thread....I was a priest and was tanking a raid boss! That was so fun to do and that boss was so unique!
Plus the colors, sounds, and feel of the raid was awesome!

But as I have mentioned MC and BWL 4 life! Can't beat it! Too many feeling go through your body when you enter!

My most memorable moments were definitely in Blackwing Layer. It had such culture and detail in it's environment that, quite frankly, was unparalleled throughout the rest of Vanilla. Not until Vanilla did we get a raid so detailed with imagination. It was also the first raid that went against the grain in regards to tank & spank fights which made the boss kills even more memorable!

MC will always hold a special place in my Forsaken heart. But ZG, I ran as often as possible on my main and ALTs. Raid was great in my opinion.

Nothing will ever compare to walking into MC for the first time.

You'd just been recruited by a big guild and were shitting your pants that you didn't totally fuck up and hear your name screamed over Ventrilo, so you awkwardly stand at the back of the raid copying what everybody else was doing.

Then you decide you wanna make a pizza half way through the raid so you /follow the nearest healer and run to the kitchen and pray you're still alive when you get back.

You're now dead and everyone's gone ahead without you and trash has respawned.

It's cool though because pizza.

Not long now boyz!

Difficult question, because I really like raiding overall and enjoy most of them.

I could finally single out that I like BWL the most because

• once you are doing MC just for bindings and Ragnaros loot or rare drops it becomes a chore, also known as molten bore
• while I really like the gritty Naxx aesthetics, progressing in Naxx is incredible time consuming and expensive and that is killing the fun for me.
• I find most of AQ40 pretty lame and too alien compared to other zones, even though some fights are really interesting. Also, too much RNG.
• ZG is pretty nice, especially in the loot department but it's way too random in the fights and as MC you need to do it way too often so running ZG is getting a bad grind eventually, because the drops are way to relevant. You know it's only two Idols per ID? And hf getting that CoC.
• I really like AQ20: it got interesting fights, great loot but the final Boss is surprisingly random and I don't like that. Could be #1 for me if not for that and Ayaskip.
• Ony is hardly a raid. On the other hand, the loot is pretty relevant, especially weapons and head, so even that long ass prequest is worth it. I consider her as a 'bonus boss'.
• But in the end BWL wins for me. The aestethics, the lore and the atmosphere really entering the base of an inhuman madman makes it so great for me. The loot was also awesome and beautiful. The only thing I hate is the doge Chrommaggus because he can be soo random and got way too much hp, so the fight is one of the worst ever.

This thread is full of nostalgia! I so can't wait until the release :D

I think Ony because it was the first raid to be introduced and had such an immersive quest line that had players traveling all over the world. I loved having to travel deep into the swamps to reach her lair and help the warlocks summon the rest of the raid. The encounter was huge and truly epic, darting around and under a massive dragon while handling many whelps! The greatest of times.

Big shout out to MC and ZG though, they really encapsulate Vanilla Warcraft for me. Many hours of fun were had with 39 friends in the molten halls of MC and the lush jungle temples of ZG.

Looking forward to seeing them again from a proper level and power perspective.

For me it's Blackwing Lair, that raid has some nasty bosses and the atmosphere and mechanics are pretty spot on; it's long and has a lot of story and cool bosses. But in coolness nothing beats that first time you face Ragnaros arising from the lava, that is some top notch level of cool.

Aside classic my favorites are Ulduar and Karazhan.

jodiug wrote: ↑

5 years ago

Karazhan... I'll see myself out

Seriously though, the boss fights were so unique and interesting. I hope they bring it back to Classic in some way.

100% Agree. Thing is though that Karazhan was supposed to be in Vanilla originally, so it would make sense if they'd bring it in.

It looks like BWL is a favorite among a lot of you with BWL coming in a close second. Very interesting, I look forward to re-experiencing them both to see if they become my favorite!