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Raider.IO Riddle Solution: Atal'Dazar



With the MDI Global Finals right on the horizon, our Sunday Raider.IO Riddles are back, featuring an especially famous dungeon from BFA: Atal'Dazar!



Why is Atal'Dazar notable in MDI history? Read on for some background information and a full solution breakdown to our riddle!



Background



All who entered Atal'Dazar’s gleaming halls in BFA seemed to have a love-hate relationship with this dungeon in Mythic+. On lower keystone levels, Atal'Dazar was a nice outdoor instance on a shorter timer that felt less claustrophobic than some of the other dungeons in BFA that featured small rooms and dark halls (*cough cough, Tol Dagor*). However, Atal’Dazar quickly became the home of some of the most ridiculous “snapping” strategies in the game that were demanded by any competitive Mythic+ group.

Shortly after BFA was underway, adventurers discovered a plethora of locations throughout Atal'Dazar where they could snap trash packs. Essentially, snapping is when players find a glitchy spot in an instance where, if they jump onto it, mobs that they are in combat with will snap to their location and even sometimes stay in place, negating certain mechanics that are otherwise lethal. In high Atal’Dazar keys and the MDI, snapping was so prevalent that it became mandatory for teams hoping to secure blazing record times.

In Atal’Dazar, players could snap almost any pack of the dungeon to their heart’s content — whether it was massive groups of Toxic Saurids and Skyscreamers, the infamous Dinomancer pack patrolling the center of the dungeon, and more. Not only were there snap spots on walls, overhangs, chalices, or in corners all over Atal’Dazar, but there was even a way to snap trash mobs onto one of the bosses, Rezan.

The Rezan snapping strategy burst into the spotlight when it was performed live during the Season 4 MDI of BFA by the team Angry Toast. While the knowledge of Rezan’s snapping tech was not entirely new at the time, the way that Angry Toast used it to start their Atal'Dazar strategy with a bang was so momentous that it was soon adapted by all other teams in the MDI, including the victors, Echo (formerly Wunderbar). In fact, the Angry Toast Rezan strategy is so reputable that it was recently referenced again during the Shadowlands Season 3 MDI broadcast!

For more insight on how this strategy panned out in the MDI, we reached out to former Angry Toast team member, Hulahoops:

“We first had our Rogue put Tricks of the Trade on our tank. Everyone except our tank then ran immediately down to Rezan, being careful not to aggro any mobs such as the stealthed Shadowblade Stalker that patrols on the right side of the initial stairway.

As soon as we were in position down below, our tank pulled all the mobs to the left and our Rogue tagged Rezan. In doing so, Rezan snapped our tank and all the mobs he had collected into Rezan’s pit. I had to place my monk Transcendence behind a stairway/door out of LoS, so that when Rezan’s big Terrifying Visage fear went out, I could teleport and LoS it. Then, I would Roll back and use Revival to cleanse the fear off of the group. Otherwise, the strategy was just Unholy Death Knight goes smash, Way of the Crane goes heal, everything dies!”



Want to see Angry Toast’s Atal’Dazar snapping strategy in action? Check it out below:



Due to the absurd amount of snap spots in BFA dungeons like Atal'Dazar, Shrine of the Storm, Waycrest Manor, Tol Dagor, and more, Blizzard seemed to have enough of this tomfoolery and made sure that snapping would be banished from Shadowlands dungeons…or did they??

In spite of Blizzard’s best efforts, it seems that the spirits of the loas may have brought snapping back in Shadowlands. Early in the expansion, there was a snap strategy used in The Necrotic Wake to have a Bolstered Fleshcrafter one-shot the formidable Nalthor the Rimebinder boss with its Throw Cleaver ability (explained here). This was soon fixed by Blizzard, but a new snapping strategy has been discovered on the final boss of one of the circuit’s newest Mythic+ dungeons, Tazavesh: Streets of Wonder. Watch Echo perform this snap in Group A of the Shadowlands Season 3 MDI:



So, just as Zul the Prophet was resurrected by G’huun after being shoved to his death by King Rastakhan, it appears that the forbidden voodoo magic of snapping has been revived in at least one dungeon of Shadowlands Season 3. Will Mythic+ snapping enthusiasts have the last laugh or will Blizzard? Only time will tell once we see what Dragonflight has in store for us!


Source: Wowpedia




The Breakdown



Amidst any splendor that’s deeply admired lurk shadows that render fanatics inspired.

Where convictions have warped to reap sinister plans, heretics govern with blood on their hands.”


Atal’Dazar is a glorious array of pyramids atop the highest mountain of Zandalar. These pyramids display the vast wealth and splendor of the Zandalari Empire in all its glory, and within its grounds are decadent tombs where generations of Zandalari kings have been laid to rest. However, just as George R.R. Martin wrote in his book, A Clash of Kings, “The brightest flame casts the darkest shadow.” That certainly seems to be the case in Atal’Dazar, as many shadows lurk throughout its glimmering halls.



Prophet Zul and Yazma were the main inspirations for our Atal’Dazar riddle. Due to his gift of foreseeing accurate visions of future events, Zul became the leader of the Zanchuli Council and a personal prophet to King Rastakhan of the Zandalari Empire. However, Zul’s powers led him down a dark path. Rastakhan eventually grew tired of Zul’s overly foreboding retellings of the future because, while Zul’s visions were accurate, his interpretations were always more extreme than what happened in reality. It is difficult to reason or bargain with a guy like Zul when his convictions are based upon vivid visions of the future that always came true. This way, Rastakhan sent Zul on other outside missions, and they grew increasingly more estranged over time.

Ultimately, Zul formed a coup and stabbed Rastakhan in the back while declaring allegiance to G’huun. When Rastakhan recovered, he found that Zul and Yazma had defiled the sacred grounds of Atal’Dazar, practicing heresies such as resurrecting people from the dead (Vol’kaal) and sacrificing the very loa they worshiped to absorb their powers.



By the time we reached Atal’Dazar to stop Yazma, nothing was sacred anymore. Blood sacrifices were not uncommon to the Zandalari trolls, but sacrificing loa was way too far. In fact, when we kill Priestess Alunza in the Atal’Dazar dungeon, Yazma has a voice line that actually thanks us for “strengthening her hold on the temple.” Yikes.



Overall, Atal’Dazar is filled with sinister convictions that were inspired by the revival of Lei Shen in Mists of Pandaria and the sacrificing of loa for power found in Zul’Drak. Zul was convinced that this was the best way forward for the Zandalari Empire, and there was no way to change his tyrannical mind.



ADDITIONAL HINTS


Atal’Dazar’s acolytes have a lot of blood on their hands (or Claws) and even within their veins. Priestess Alunza and her Gilded Priestesses would drink the blood of their intended sacrifices and heal themselves through a Transfusion.



While the word shadows is used in many WoW dungeons and raids, it has a particularly large significance in Atal’Dazar, as Yazma governs its grounds upon Zul’s command. Yazma was the high priestess of the spider loa, Shadra (before absorbing Shadra’s powers), and the master of spies for the Zandalari (otherwise known as King Rastakhan’s “spider”). With the exception of her Skewer and melee swings, all of Yazma’s abilities did shadow damage, such as Soulrend, Wracking Pain, Soulfeast, Echoes of Shadra, and Shadowy Remains. Furthermore, the word render is a play on Yazma’s Soulrend ability, in which she severs a piece of her victim’s soul free. Lastly, lurk is used to hint towards Yazma’s spidery form and network of spies.





POTENTIAL TRICKS IN THE RIDDLE


There were a few slight tricks in this riddle to potentially throw a few people off course. The word amidst has a subconscious feeling of “mist” since the words sound similar, which can conjure up watery dungeons in our minds like Shrine of the Storm—especially when paired with the words deeply, fanatics, and heretics. However, the word amidst was purposely selected instead of “beneath” at the start of the riddle to help people avoid guessing Kings’ Rest, which lays beneath Atal’Dazar and shares intersections in lore.

The phrase “reap sinister plans” and the word blood were also used to potentially lead people into thinking about Halls of Atonement or even Sanguine Depths due to the reaping of anima and souls mentioned in the Dungeon Journal.



Don’t forget to tune in on our Twitter to crack more upcoming Raider.IO Riddles!

Congratulations go out to our winners, @Tagiigatio, @rebound_ttv, @Dooteranopia, and @Lokitoki81 for cracking our Atal’Dazar riddle!





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About the Author


VitaminP (VP) is the Lead Editor & Assistant Producer of Raider.IO and has worked for the organization since the formation of the News Section in November 2018. Although VP is currently focused on pursuing her Masters of Business Administration, she specializes in tanking classes and has loved doing competitive Mythic+ on and off since early Legion.