learning life through World of Warcraft

In my youth, from 14 to 17 years old, I was very interested in World of Warcraft [WoW].

In the first part of my story, I will share my impressions of the game and my own adventures in it.

Descriptions of game moments may seem too detailed, so if you played a lot of WoW or not interested in detailsyou can go straight to the second part.

First half: what is World of Warcraft?

WoW is a massively multiplayer online role-playing game, or MMORPG. It has a large open world with thousands of players at the same time.

Unlike many other games, World of Warcraft does not have a strictly defined plot that you need to go through from beginning to end. Instead, you are free to explore a vast virtual world, doing as you see fit. You can complete missions of varying difficulty, ranging from searching for rare resources to participating in epic boss battles that require coordination with a team of 39 other players.

I choose the second option!

Raiding to the fullest

In World of Warcraft, boss fights take place in special game events called “raids”. Raids usually include several battles taking place in themed locations and battles with groups of less difficult opponents.

At first, it took 40 people to win a raid. Each battle required the full concentration of all 40 people, and some battles could take up to 30 minutes. Usually night in the raid lasted from 4 to 8 hours.

Blizzard, the creator of World of Warcraft, has developed hundreds of unique bosses over the years of the game's existence. In this text I will focus on one of my favorites to share with you our adventures and what we had to face.

C'thun [kuh-THOON]

C'thun is the final boss of the Ahn'Qiraj raid in World of Warcraft. When this raid was introduced into the game, the entire gaming community had to band together to gather resources during a fictional war campaign before the raid became available. This process took tens of thousands of players a full 19 days.

The fight with C'thun itself lasts approximately 15 minutes and consists of two phases. However, before the battle begins, you need to talk about the entrance to the room.

Entrance to the room

C'thun is in the center of the spacious room. As you approach this room, you see a corridor going in both directions and several steps leading to its entrance. As you begin to descend these steps, C'thun will immediately attack you.

C'thun's main attack is a green beam that can “remove” about half of a normal player's health. If the player uses special armor and potions, the damage can be reduced by up to approximately 20%. However, there is a catch: if there is another player within 10 “yards” of the player, the beam will switch to them, dealing 1.5 times more damage. If there is another player within 10 yards, the beam switches back to him, and so on…

Everyone who has ever tried this boss has experienced the classic instant death upon entry.

To start the fight with C'thun you need strategically approach the moment of his attack. Since he fires a beam once every 3 seconds, the first player to be hit by his beam is guaranteed to take the first 3-4 hits. With the right armor and potions, survival is possible. This gives the rest of the players about 9-12 seconds to get into optimal positions. It is important that all 40 participants stay 10 yards apart to minimize damage from the C'thun Beam.

Phase 1

In addition to his main beam, C'thun has several other dangerous techniques.

Every 45 seconds, 8 small tentacles appear around C'thun and shoot a blue laser at a random player, dealing damage every second. Standing near where these tentacles spawn is dangerous, as their attacks can throw you a short distance. This is especially dangerous if you are caught by C'thun's eye beam, which continues to attack every 3 seconds.

In addition, every 20 seconds small claw tentacles appear in a random place in the room and attack everything that is around. They deal similar damage to laser tentacles and are a problem for the same reasons.

If you don't deal with these tentacles, their number will only increase. Therefore, it is very important not to lose sight of them.

After about 50 seconds of chaos caused by shooting green beams from C'thun's eyes, the “dark gaze” occurs. This is a red laser wall that starts at a random location and spans the room 180 degrees. This move causes all 40 players to move to new positions opposite to where they started. This process takes 35 seconds, after which the green rays start working again and everything repeats all over again.

After dealing enough damage to C'thun in the first phase, his eye “dies” and his body rises from the floor, marking the beginning of second phase of the battle.

Phase 2

The good news is that once the eye dies, C'thun will no longer have access to the green laser. However, the bad news is that he has a shield that absorbs 99% of damage taken, and his health is roughly equal to that of an eye.

The goal of phase two is to destroy this shield, and here's how to do it.

Every 10 seconds rises from the floor oral tentacle and swallows a random player. This player ends up in C'thun's stomach and begins to take damage every second. Every 4 seconds the damage increases.

In the center of the stomach is an object that you can stand on to get back into the fight. At the same time, two large clawed tentacles are present in the stomach. Destroying these tentacles destroys the shield. The main task of the players in the stomach is to kill these tentacles and avoid death at the same time. The time spent in the stomach can vary from 1 to 3 minutes depending on who is swallowed.

While players are inside the stomach, every 45 seconds the shield will rise again, repeating the process.

Outside the stomach, a giant claw or giant eye tentacle appears every 30 seconds. They are similar to the tentacles from the first phase, but more dangerous. The Eye Tentacle is especially dangerous due to the chain green laser it fires. Destroying them quickly is necessary, otherwise players risk death. Each time a giant tentacle appears, a new set of 8 small eye tentacles will also appear, just like in the first phase.

You should aim to finish the fight within two rounds to lower the shield. Surviving long enough to lower it a third time is unlikely…

Before the raid, you need to carefully study the tactics of fighting bosses. Watch videos of past victorious battles, study the map of the premises and remember the course of events. Lack of awareness can cause failure. Also, don't forget to gather supplies. The game has a lot of items that will help you in raids: bandages, potions, specialized armor, enchanted weapons and much more.

Before the interview, be sure to read the information about the company. Prepare answers to common questions and contact the recruiter for clarification on required topics.

The same applies to the first working day. Do you know where the office is? Who should I contact upon arrival? What is the dress code? If not, don't hesitate to ask questions.