The Battle for Mount Hyjal

Yesterday I got to do the Caverns of Time: The Battle for Mount Hyjal event in World of Warcraft.  This was a particular treat because it requires 25 well-trained and well-equipped players, and my schedule makes participating in such high-end play normally impossible.  Luckily, I am on vacation this week, and I hitched a ride.  The event is particularly interesting because you recreate the final mission in Warcraft III: the assault of Archimonde and the Scourge on the World Tree, except instead of commanding your forces to hold him back, you are the forces holding him back.  There is definite sentimental value for anyone who played Warcraft III.


See all of the pictures I took.

You start off in the Alliance base, with overwhelming Scourge forces waiting at the door.  There is Jaina Proudmoore, leader of the humans, and her band of survivors.  The forces come in increasingly powerful waves, just as in the Warcraft III mission.  After several waves, a boss (enemy hero) appears, who the group defeats.  Then, another series of waves, and a second boss.  After that, the Scourge onslaught becomes overwhelming, and Jaina commands you to fall back to the Horde base up the hill while she and the remaining humans buy you time.

Once in the Horde base, you see Thrall and his forces, ready for battle.  After giving you a moment to rest, the Scourge forces eventually break through and slaughter the humans, reaching the Horde base.  There, you fight alongside the orcs and trolls to hold back the Scourge long enough for two more bosses to show up, and after they are defeated, Archimonde's forces are once again too strong, and Thrall makes his last stand while you retreat to Nordrassil and the Night Elf base surrounding the World Tree.

There you meet up with Tyrande Whisperwind, who gives you a magic item you need for the fight against Archimonde, who has already arrived and has begun to drain the power of the Tree.  There your band of 25 adventurers stands off against him, and as you defeat him, the sky turns red, and Archimonde is overwhelmed by wisp spirits that ultimately destroy him.  And then, instead of seeing an endgame cinematic, you are instead treated to a pile of valuable treasure (and an achievement worth 10 points), and once you leave the Caverns of Time, all is back to normal in the world.

I was unfortunately too busy during the fights to think of taking pictures of those, but I did take some other pictures of the event that look pretty cool.