Maraudon

Maraudon
Mara
Maraudon loading graphic
Location	Valley of Spears, Desolace
Population	3,500
Race(s)	Cenarius's children  Centaur  Satyr
End boss	Princess Theradras.
Advised level	46-55
Minimum level	30
Player limit	5 (10)
Bosses Pre-Instance Caves The Nameless Prophet Kolk Cavindra Gelk Magra (lore) (lore) (lore) (lore) (lore) Outer Maraudon Maraudos Lord Vyletongue Veng Noxxion Razorlash Meshlok the Harvester Celebras (lore) (lore) (lore) (lore) (lore) (lore) (lore) Inner Maraudon Landslide Tinkerer Gizlock Rotgrip Princess Theradras (lore) (lore) (lore) (lore)

Maraudon (pronounced Mara-dawn) is a 5-player dungeon located in the Valley of Spears, east of Shadowprey Village, in Desolace. It is a combination of ancient centaur burial grounds, as well as a primal temple dedicated to the elemental earth.

Added in patch 1.2.0, Maraudon was the first dungeon to be added after the release of World of Warcraft.

History

Maraudon is a holy place to the centaur — it is the tomb of Zaetar, keeper of the grove and son of Cenarius, and the house of Princess Theradras, an earth elemental. Zaetar rejected his keeper heritage when he joined with the princess of the chaotic earth elementals, Theradras. Their unholy union gave birth to the misshapen and cursed centaur who promptly slew their father for his part in their misbegotten creation. Fearful of Cenarius' wrath, the grief-stricken Theradras sequestered her dead lover's body in her secret sanctuary, the Crystal Caverns of Terramok, where she watches over him to this day. Travelers who come to Desolace have little trouble spotting Zaetar's tomb, for the blessing of nature that permeates his being transformed his resting place into a verdant paradise of flora and tranquil pools. Today, this tomb is now trodden by the hooves of Zaetar's children who have claimed this great cavern as their sacred stronghold Maraudon.

Within the tomb is a maze of underground caves and tunnels, populated by the spirits of the long-dead centaur khans. Earth elementals, basilisks, and rock borers also inhabit the site. It is rumored that satyrs and other emissaries of the Burning Legion have moved into these caverns as well.

Although each of the five centaur tribes (known as Black tribe, Brown tribe, Green tribe, Red tribe, and Yellow tribe) maintained its own stronghold elsewhere in Desolace, this was once the region's capital (shortly after the Battle of Mount Hyjal,) when there were no other cultures of any note in all of Desolace. At that time, the centaur had run all others down in their unceasing lust for conquest. However, now that Desolace has no affiliation, and members of other civilizations have moved back in, it is only one of several major settlements. Desolace no longer has a capital.

Maraudon has a vast gathering of palatial tents surrounded by a palisade, the Valley of Spears, it once served as a cultural center and meeting place for all centaur. However, in recent times, many of the centaur tribes are at war and now it is inhabited only by the Maraudine clan. They are the protectors of Maraudon and only the bravest and mightiest of the tribe's warriors are chosen to guard the tomb of Zaetar.

Behind a series of spiked barriers in the center of this mesa stands Terramok, an ancient titan vault rumored to hold Theredras, former princess of the vile earth elementals and legendary mother of the centaur race. Some even claim that Theradras guards the tomb of her husband, the keeper of the grove killed by the first khans. The only permanent centaur resident is Krullaran the Prophet. The centaur of Desolace turn to the khans for protection, but they look to Krullaran for guidance. Many believe he communes with the titans and possesses insight to the glorious return that the centaur will someday make to the northern lands. The name Maraudon may come from Maraudos.

From old World Dungeons site:

Protected by the fierce Maraudine centaur, Maraudon is one of the most sacred sites within Desolace. The great temple/cavern is the burial place of Zaetar, one of two immortal sons born to the demigod, Cenarius. Legend holds that Zaetar and the earth elemental princess, Theradras, sired the misbegotten centaur race. It is said that upon their emergence, the barbaric centaur turned on their father and killed him. Some believe that Theradras, in her grief, trapped Zaetar's spirit within the winding cavern - used its energies for some malign purpose. The subterranean tunnels are populated by the vicious, long-dead ghosts of the Centaur Khans, as well as Theradras' own raging, elemental minions.

Dungeon guide

Group build suggestions & general strategies

Note that this section is the author's opinion only:

Orange and Purple zones

Maraudon is broken up into three major sections: purple, orange, and princess. The purple and orange sections are fairly straightforward, and any standard group is fine. It does help to have a player or two who can lay down area of effect (AoE) spells as almost every pull will consist of one or two elites along with 4 or 5 non-elites. For alliance, an ideal situation would be to let a paladin throw down an initial consecration to draw aggro and then when he starts his second consecration have your casters AoE. This tactic works well with druids too who can barkskin, run into the middle of the mob, hurricane, and then bear form to tank. After the first few waves of the hurricane hit, have your casters AoE. Finally, you can always just have a mage drop frost nova and then let everyone AoE at their leisure. Just keep the elites focused on the tank(s), and this should be no sweat.

For orange and purple it is also helpful to have a player who can cure poisons, as the non-elites cast poisons which stack and deal a fair amount of damage if left unchecked. Druids and shamans are the best for this task, although paladins work too. If you have a priest main healing, try to find someone who can get rid of poisons. The mobs cast diseases too, which are annoying but less serious.

Princess section

Two tanks make life easier.

Once you get past Celebras (where orange and purple converge) the pulls become noticeably more difficult. The mobs hit harder, have more hitpoints, and have a nasty array of stun, silence, and knockdown effects that ruin casting. Once you get past the roaming hydras, your first pull will be three dinosaurs. These dinos don't hit too hard, but they can silence you for up to 10 sec. Here, having two tanks is very helpful because you must keep these mobs off your casters and healers. A rogue can do the trick, but a warrior, shaman, paladin, druid, or even a hunter's pet would probably be better. Note that silence prevents warriors and bear-formed druids from taunting. Druids and mages make these pulls easier thanks to polymorph and hibernate.

The patrols in this section consist of a few elite rock elementals. When the elites die, they break up into non-elite elementals so it is helpful to have two tanks and some AoE to keep the mobs off the healer and mop up the non-elites quickly.

As you approach princess you will face pulls of two large rock giants. Here, having a second tank (of any kind) is important. These giants hit hard and have a fair amount of hitpoints. Let your main tank focus on one giant and your second tank focus on the other. Focus your DPS on the MT's target first. A rogue really isn't tough enough to tank one of these giants, they hit too hard, and your healer will have to spam heals which might pull aggro. They can be stunned, so if a rogue can keep the giant stunlocked it might work, but then you are losing the rogue's DPS against the MT's target. If you only have one tank, let the tank get a few hits on both giants first before you nuke.

It is definitely better to have two tanks for Princess Theradras herself. She fears and has a knockback which throws whoever has aggro roughly 20-30 yards. Also, she occasionally slams the ground which send out waves dealing about 150 damage (for each wave) and knocking everyone down for several seconds, so you must keep her away from casters or their spells will be interrupted during this AoE knockback. If you have a dwarf priest, put fear wards on your tanks. When she throws back one tank, everyone else stops what they are doing until the second tank establishes aggro. Rogues will not cut it as off-tanks, she hits too hard, and your healer will have to spam heals. If you do only have one available tank, a common strategy is to have them back up into the water towards the walls. When she knocks the MT back, they should be positioned to rebound off the wall and come right back to her.

Useful resistances

Just about everything in Maraudon uses nature spells or poisons. Equipping gear with good nature resistance isn't necessary but will make your life easier. Hunters are very beneficial in this instance thanks to their Aspect of the Wild which gives all group members an extra 45 nature resistance.

Against the princess, shadow resistance is helpful for the tanks to prevent the Fear effect. Once again, this is handy but not necessary.

Loot

Lord Vyletongue (purple side)

• Infernal Trickster Leggings Mail legs; +20 agility, +9 intellect, +4 bow
• Satyr's Lash Dagger, 33.2 DPS; chance on hit to send a shadowy bolt for 55 to 85 shadow damage
• Satyrmane Sash Cloth waist; +10 stamina, +15 intellect, +10 shadow resistance

Noxxion (orange side)

• Heart of Noxxion Trinket, +10 Nature Resistance, Use: Removes 1 poison effect
• Noxious Shooter Wand, 50.0 DPS, +7 Stamina, +5 Nature Resistance
• Noxxion's Shackles Plate Wrist, 235 Armor, +5 Stamina, +15 Nature Resistance

Razorlash (orange side)

• Phytoskin Spaulders Leather shoulder; +16 agility, +10 stamina, +10 nature resistance
• Vinerot Sandals Cloth feet; +12 intellect, +12 spirit, +12 nature resistance
• Chloromesh Girdle Cloth belt; +20 Nature Resistance

Meshlok the Harvester

• Bloomsprout Headpiece Mail head; +18 stamina, +10 nature resistance, +36 attack power
• Fungus Shroud Armor Leather chest; +25 agility, +10 stamina
• Nature's Embrace Cloth chest; increase damage done by holy spells and effects by up to 29; restores 8 mana per 5 sec

Tinkerer Gizlock

• Gizlock's Hypertech Buckler Shield, 1835 armor, 32 block; +5 stamina, +10 intellect, restore 4 mana per 5 sec
• Inventor's Focal Sword One-hand sword, 35.2 DPS; +6 intellect, improve chance to get a critical strike with spells by 1%

Landslide

• Rockgrip Gauntlets Mail gloves; 198 Armor; +10 intellect, +10 stamina; +28 attack power
• Fist of Stone One-hand mace, 35.3 dps; Chance on Hit: Restores 50 mana
• Helm of the Mountain Plate Head, 683 Armor; +10 Nature Resist, +7 Defense
• Cloud Stone Off-hand; +10 Intellect, +10 Spirit, +10 Arcane Resist

Rotgrip

• Albino Crocscale Boots Leather Boots, 105 Armor; +20 Agility, +5 Stamina, +5 Nature Resist
• Rotgrip Mantle Cloth Shoulders, 57 Armor; +17 Intellect +11 Spirit
• Gatorbite Axe Two-hand Axe, 45.8 dps; Chance on Hit: Wound target for 230 damage over 30 seconds

Princess Theradras

• Blade of Eternal Darkness Main Hand Dagger; 34.3 DPS, Equip: Chance on landing a damaging spell to deal 100 Shadow damage and restore 100 mana to you.
• Princess Theradras' Scepter Two-hand mace, 46.5 DPS; chance on hit to wound target for 160 and lower armor by 100
• Bracers of the Stone Princess Mail wrist; +6 stamina, +5 intellect, +30 attack power
• Blackstone Ring Ring; +6 stamina, +20 attack power, increase chance to hit by 1%
• Charstone Dirk Dagger, 35.9 DPS; +11 intellect, restore 2 mana per 5 sec
• Gemshard Heart Necklace; +10 stamina, +10 intellect, +6 spirit
• Eye of Theradras Cloth head; +13 stamina, +20 intellect, +11 spirit
• Elemental Rockridge Leggings Plate legs; +20 strength, +18 stamina, +10 nature resistance

Celebras the Cursed

• Claw of Celebras Off Hand Fist Weapon, 34.4 DPS; chance on hit: Poisons target for 9 Nature damage every 2 sec for 20 sec.
• Grovekeeper's Drape Cloak; 37 Armor, +12 Stamina, +10 Nature Resistance
• Soothsayer's Headdress Leather head; 122 Armor, +7 Stamina, +25 Intellect, +8 Spirit

Resources

Herbs:

• Blindweed
• Ghost Mushroom

Ore:

• Gold Vein
• Mithril Deposit

Notes

• If player /camp (note that this boots you from your group) behind the final keeper of the grove spirit (after defeating Princess Theradras) and then log back in, it is possible to appear inside of the orange side of the instance and avoid having to hearth. Note that it may not work, leaving one group member stuck inside.
• It is possible to run out of the instance after jumping down Earth Song Falls, simply follow the tunnel directly to the west of the falls. It will be full of Deep Borers and take you upwards towards the neutral turtles at the top of the falls. There is another smaller tunnel leading further up to Celebras. You do NOT have to hearthstone out, as is common belief.

Patches and hotfixes

• Patch 1.3.0 (patch date:2005-03-07):
  • Capped at ten players.
  • Characters dying in the instanced portions of Maraudon will now correctly receive a corpse marker in the minimap and see the message letting them know that they need to enter the instance before they will be able to resurrect. 
    
• Patch 1.2.0 (patch date:2004-12-18): Added.