The Demented Warath

Warath. Large, fearsome, fast, with crippling ranged attacks, nasty kicks, and a potent knock-back when they leap way up in the air and come down. Now, once you attain a high enough level you can take them, but until you reach those levels I've found Warath to be the quintessential bane to travel in Linvak.

I remember the first time I saw a Warath. It was my first trip to Whitebay (a wide eyed tourist, never been there before, a Ranger of I think about level 35). Some knucklehead lured a Refractory Warath up the hill right off the Whitebay Lifestone. All I saw as I turned around to the sound of ground-thumping footsteps was this huge two legged critter cresting the rise right in front of me, chasing the runner who was passing me as fast as he could. Whack-smack! I was dead in two kicks. While I still had view of the scene before resurrection, I saw the lifestone surrounded by about 6 bodies as the Warath STOMPED everything in sight. A two-legged, 15ft tall manifestation of wrath and ire.

I've gained a few levels since then (lvl 53 at the time of the story below), and now have the utter pleasure of being able to kill Refractory Waraths with confidence. I haven't tried yet, but next are Unstoppables, then Invincibles.

On this day, I had heard about the Ebhil's Vengeance Dungeon and was in the mood for some solo scouting. I often like to do this, scouting about, sneaking about, to simply SEE for myself without resorting to every detail in the quest guide. At times it simply preserves the mystique of the situation, and the ability to discover something new and surprising.

Armed with the coordinates of the dungeon, and some guidance to the general area from allegiance members, I set off for The Plateau on Arramorra. Not being a stranger to that area, I was very happy to have my Hero Mount under me. The high-level golems and wisps there can sweep you off your running mount if you are careless or unlucky, which had happened to me once before. As I run up the slope to the Plateau, I continued straight forward, somewhat to the left near the top of the ramp, heading down to the sparsely forested area by the river, instead of up to the right into a snowy crater. As I come down onto the main part of the plateau, dodging golems and wisps scattered among the trees, I continued towards the dungeon coordinates.

I change direction again as I suddenly see the Demented Warath hulking among the trees. Nope, I don't need to go that way! Technically, while his level is lower than the other creatures in the woods, Warath always deserve respect, and the "Demented" at the front of his name doesn't bode well in combination with his 28K in health. Demented. Warath. 28,000 health points. These are not combinations one needs to see bundled into a single creature.

And of course there are the golems and wisps lurking in the trees nearby as well.

Continuing on, a lake or river appears in front of me, and a dam as well. It's clear the top of the dam acts as a roadway across the water, and I head across to take the rise up to where I believe the dungeon to be. To my surprise, waiting at the other end of the dam is the NPC I had failed to find a couple of levels ago. I had been killed off my mount by the creatures up here and had never bothered to return. Hmmm. Hummm. Hrrmm. Well now. It seems it may be time to hunt Warath after all. I speak to the NPC, receive the Slay the Demented Warath quest, and head back over the dam to the area where I had seen Big, Demented, and Ugly lurking. The explanation from the NPC regarding why the Warath needed to die was, well, unsettling.

Moving through the trees, avoiding Golems and Frost Wisps yet again, I soon locate the brute, still slouched amongst the trees. Knowing what Warath are capable of, and eyeballing the disturbing number of golem dotted about, I circle until I'm satisfied with an approach. I've managed to find a clear "lane" of attack in to him that should attract no attention, and best of all, a tree is off my right shoulder.

I love trees. You might say in this instance I was a real 'tree hugger'.

I have a new lvl 56 Runic Bow with me. That has on it: Traumatism, Glacier, Force, and Shadow Blade. Cujo is a lvl 55 Lasher, and I also have a Tyrant pet "Fafnir".

I move forward of the tree a bit, and lay down my traps, Crushing Jaws and Fiery Jaws, as backup in case the Warath charges in to melee range. In looking about, I don't have a great deal of "neutral" maneuvering room. If I'm chased too far from my present position, I'll have not only the Warath after me, but several very unpleasant adds as well. I step back from the traps so that the tree is just behind and to the right of me, and drink an ichor and a potion of dexterity.

I buff Cujo with Rabies, trigger Recoup for some vigor-over-time regeneration, and pulling my bow-string back let loose with Sinew Snap as the lead shot, followed by Envenom. Woot! They both hit, and Cujo launches forward to engage!

And, I must say, the Demented Warath is VERY pissed off.

I begin launching special attacks: Flame Arrow, Double Shot, and Critical shot, as the Warath "whuffs" in rage and begins to retaliate. I'm hit once, but not too badly. Cujo must have been the center of the Warath's attention however, because, and I'm not sure how, he's killed very quickly. While I didn't expect him to last too awfully long, he is now level 55 and should have lasted longer. All I saw was Cujo begin to attack, the Warath rearing back for a strike, and Cujo then was down. Special attack or critical hit perhaps?

I now have the total attention of the Demented Warath, and he's tossing his large, block-like missiles at me. I'm loosing arrows, and dodging just off the side of my friend the tree. The Warath is taking damage, and his health is now down to about 60%.

Suddenly, the Warath SPEEDS UP. In the heat of the moment it unfortunately takes me a couple of seconds to realize I've misjudged the time. Careless. Envenom has worn off, and this thing is tossing ranged attacks FAST! Before I know it I'm hit with three in a row and am down to about 135, about to die to the angry whuffing sounds of the Warath as he's throwing blocks at me! I dodge behind the tree to heal, watching radar for his approach. I'm sure I'm about to get stomped in melee. But, it appears while this Warath may be ferocious, he's not the brightest candle-flame in Dereth: Whuffing and wheezing in rage, he's still tossing ranged attacks, which are now all pounding the tree, not me. Yes!

Things are happening fast now, and I need to keep him OUT OF MELEE range. I'm not sure how much longer my luck will hold, because I've been fortunate he's not closed with me. I can't be chased into the golems in the area, and I'm afraid that any second he's going to charge in, so, with his attacks still pounding into the other side of the tree, I summon Cujo again, and then summon my Tyrant Fafnir. Tyrants are magnificent creatures, and I'm hoping Fafnir will even the odds.

I dodge out from behind the tree and launch Envenom. It hits! (Thank goodness. Speedy-Gonzales block tossing Warath). Cujo is off in a flash, with Fafnir coursing forward as well. As they both move to engage I let loose with combinations of attacks again: Fire Arrow, Double-shot, Critical Shot, and Sinew Snap. I'm trying to manage Vigor, and not drain it. I need to keep pounding this thing with special attacks.

The Warath is taking damage, and I actually feel like things are going my way. His health is dropping, and he STILL has not moved into melee range. However, in spite of having a Lasher and Tyrant right on top of him, he continues to target ME. Towering over them both, he continues to toss his large, crippling blocks as fast as he can, impeded somewhat by Envenom. I get sloppy, fail to move about, and am suddenly hit to 100 or so over three or four rapid impacts. I dodge behind the tree, desperately triggering heal, and with a sinking feeling listen for the sound of Fafnir's dying scream. To my surprise, as I trigger heal and vigor heals, I don't hear this. What I do hear is a great deal of roaring, snarling, pounding, and Tyrant shrieking! Both pets have tangled the Warath up for several unattended seconds while I heal and recover!

When I come back out from behind that tree, tis a beautiful site: both Cujo and Fafnir are chewing away on the Demented Warath, keeping him totally at bay! I'm thinking on several levels at this point, having almost died twice now, and a part of me is surprised. But, truth be told, it's likely a moment any pet-wielding denizen of Dereth longs to see. Both Cujo and Fafnir continued fighting on their own as I recovered on the other side of the tree, and have done so well I no longer have the Warath's attention. Aggro has completely shifted to my two pets. And this time Cujo hasn't been slapped down in one or two shots. As I ready my bow, wondering how much longer my two pets can possibly last, the huge Warath goes into one of those spectacular high-jumps and comes down for his knock-back effect: BOOOOMMM! But, both Lasher and Tyrant seem unaffected and continue chewing on him. I see Fafnir let loose with his toasty flame breath followed by that distinctive, double-arm, fast-like-a-piston melee attack, and Cujo has abandoned his ranged attack and is right in there next to Fafnir clawing and snarling away.

And to my pleasure I see the Warath is hurt very badly. His health is hovering at approximately 15%, while I am nearly fully recovered. I let rip with Envenom again, following with various attacks, including Sinew Snap to impede his ranged abilities. I was hit for minor damage in the process, but remembered to dodge a bit this time.

And, within short order the Demented Warath fell to a Ranger and his two pets.

This turned out to be a great deal of fun! Certainly very satisfying, because it was unplanned for, an unexpected diversion with a worthy opponent I had looked for in the past.

And of course, because it was a Warath.

Both Fafnir and Cujo survived that fight (Cujo living through his second summoning), and certainly proved to me the worth of the Tyrant pet. "Hrrrmmm"ing contentedly next to me, in that distinctive Tyrant way, I could see Fafnir had lost just over half of his health to the Demented Warath.
I returned to the NPC near that dam to collect the reward (7 million) for killing the beast. As I rode back through the forest, still mindful of the other creatures lurking in those woods, I passed my friend the tree, bashed and scarred on it's one side from the Warath's attacks.

I thought to carve "Tombo was here, and Lived", so others might know what happened here, but, I didn't have the heart to do that to my friend the Tree. Riding by, looking at the marks left behind by the Warath, I gave it a thankful pat instead.

I suppose the Tree knows.
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Side Note to fellow Rangers: At the time of this engagement I still had too many base archer tree skills, and too few Ranger skills trained. This fight would likely have been much easier if I would have had the following Ranger skills, which I trained after a template discussion with my patron Coriander, and another ranger in our allegiance (Los Cabelleros) named Zozoe: Blinding Arrow, Hunter's Intuition, Lilitha's Vengeance, and Toughen Hide. I highly recommend these to any Ranger.