After a grueling Race to World First for Vault of the Incarnates in World of Warcraft, Echo emerge victorious against Mythic Raszageth to claim the title of World Champions for Dragonflight's inaugural raid tier. A dramatically over-tuned boss fight, many theorycrafters speculated that Raszageth would be un-killable in her current state after World of Warcraft buffed the final Vault of the Incarnates boss before Dragonflight Season 1 had even begun.
The past eleven days drained both Liquid and Echo, the clear frontrunners for the Vault of the Incarnates race, and it was the European World of Warcraft raiding guild to claim World First in the end. Raszageth's insane difficulty required two sets of hotfixes by Blizzard Entertainment before killing her became mathematically possible, as the developers had vastly overestimated how much damage the players would be doing to the Storm-Eater herself. The last set of hotfixes, made live about fifteen minutes before Echo made the kill, was the deciding factor in this World First race.
Before getting into the particulars of Echo's kill, it is important to note that Echo and Liquid were on equal ground when the hotfix was pushed through, as both guilds were awake and progressing on Raszageth at the time of her Phase 3 nerf. Despite a slow start, Echo played better throughout the entire Vault of the Incarnates tier, and its players certainly deserve their accolades. The boss encounter lasted a total of 14 minutes and 6 seconds, and the party composition consisted of two tanks, four healers, six ranged, and eight melee damage dealers. Two of those healers were Preservation Evokers, whose amazing DPS played a key role in maintaining the necessary throughput over the course of the fight.
The Raszageth kill was recorded on Twitch (at the 9:12:46 timestamp), capping off yet another exciting World First race. That being said, it was becoming apparent that fatigue was slowly setting in – for both the guilds progressing the boss and the World of Warcraft fans watching. The Phase 3 nerf came at an opportune time to end the race before it had a chance to extend into the holidays, and now teammates from Echo can enjoy their well-deserved break with family and friends. Given that Liquid is still struggling with Raszageth, it may take a while before they can claim second place in Vault of the Incarnates, but it is expected to happen by the end of the day.
With the Race to World First officially over, players can now shift their focus towards the upcoming Patch 10.0.5. Inspired by a Battle Pass system, the patch is set to introduce the Trading Post to World of Warcraft, as well as the ability to transmog white and grey items. The roadmap for Dragonflight promises plenty of content in 2023, as the story thrusts the players in a conflict against the next Primal Incarnate.
World of Warcraft: Dragonflight is available now for PC.