World of Warcraft’s Shadowlands expansion is drawing to an end and players are embarking on their final raid encounter in Sepulcher of the First Ones. It’s also a tradition for guilds to participate in the Race to World First event, which means the Sepulcher of the First Ones raid is no exception.
Since World of Warcraft’s beginnings, guilds have competed against each other in order to become the first to claim victory over the final boss of the newest raid. These players, including Method’s ViklunD, one of the best Shadow Priest players in the world, perfected their skills, equipped themselves with the best gear possible and conducted major theory-crafting in preparation for each Race to World First event.
World of Warcraft’s Sepulcher of the First Ones
ViklunD started out in World of Warcraft as a Holy Priest back in 2009. However, when the Cataclysm expansion came around, he chose the Shadow Priest route. After playing under the Envy flag, he joined Method and achieved seven World First titles. He left hardcore raiding behind during the Battle for Azeroth expansion, but returned to the scene in Shadowlands.
“There’s one thing that I feel I never really got to experience when it came to raiding, and that was actually going to a live event,” ViklunD said. He added how getting to sit beside members of his guild would be like something from the movies. “And I kind of want to experience that before I put the hardcore raiding behind.”
But that’s not the only reason that ViklunD is interested in the World of Warcraft Race to World First event. He said that it’s amazing to have end boss raids from his perspective and a viewer’s one.
“You’re also supposed to face weaker bosses, but it’s still very hard,” ViklunD said. “And then you come to the final end boss, and I always like the end boss expansion raids because it’s all about the big bad guy that [we’ve] been building up [to].”
Are you ready to face the Jailer? WE ARE! 👊
The guild have been growing in strength throughout Shadowlands to show you what they've got in the Sepulcher of the First Ones.
Catch us live for the #RWF on March 9th. You won't be disappointed. 😏
📰: https://t.co/TLlSwJKfxb pic.twitter.com/k230ySZ5qr
— Method (@Method) February 24, 2022
Method’s ViklunD goes beyond Shadow Priest
Although ViklunD is hyped about the Sepulcher of the First Ones raid, there’s a challenge that he wants to overcome and a particular goal he wants to achieve with Method.
“The way loot works now is, in order to get them, you need to be lucky this week, because the last three bosses weren’t available the first week,” ViklunD explained. “So we basically had to prepare every single character, so we don’t even know our mains yet.”
ViklunD then revealed how, although he’s always played Shadow Priest, this Race to World First event allows him to focus on different classes. This is because he doesn’t know what he will be playing as his main for the raid.
“I used to be like one of the ‘one tricks’ myself,” he said. “I’d always be the first Shadow Priest. If we needed a Shadow Priest, I’d be the first one they get. That has kind of shifted because I’m now feeling healing spots, which is kind of unusual. And I’m also [getting] my Warrior ready. So yeah, I’m playing like healer, ranged DPS and melee.”
ViklunD on how Method prepares for raids
ViklunD explained that Method does raid testing to get an early idea of the bosses. This helps the players figure out which classes will be good during the battles. As for team compositions, he noted that it’s good to have a balance between “one tricks” and flex players.
However, World of Warcraft’s Race to World First raids aren’t just about being flexible with different classes or specialized in a few. It’s also about the luck required for getting the ideal class tier set pieces.
“Since we didn’t know our mains, this raid is very special for us,” ViklunD said of Method. He added that, normally, he would focus on one character, but right now players have to treat all characters as their potential main.
“I have three priests, for example. So whichever one gets lucky and gets one of the pieces from either Lords of Dread or Rygelon, that will basically be my main. This week, it’s going to be extremely hard to find traders to trade me like Lords of Dread tier and Ragland tier from Normal. They would have to kill them on a raid first, which is very hard. So it’s a lot easier to try and be lucky to get the tiers yourself from either Heroic or Normal.”
ViklunD added that he personally likes the old Master Loot system. In World of Warcraft, this refers to a player who distributes boss loot to others as needed. This system lets players focus on gearing up their main characters as best as they can.
“But now it comes down to luck. A lot of luck,” ViklunD said.
ViklunD on competitive raiding with Method
When asked about how it feels to focus on competitive raiding with Method again, ViklunD said he has a personal goal this time around.
“I’ve always thought of myself as [being] very good at the game and I’ve always aspired to be the best,” he said. “I want to be one of the best players in the world; not only as a Shadow Priest but a player as a whole.”
Reaching this goal not only comes down to his personal performance, but also having awareness about an entire raid, and being able to come up with tactics for this team so they can save wipes on bosses.
As viewers cheer on their favorite guilds during the World of Warcraft Race to World First raid for Sepulcher of the First Ones, ViklunD has one thing to say to them: “If they want to watch the best player in Method, then they can come to my stream!”
Fans and supporters can catch ViklunD’s gameplay on his official Twitch Channel or Method’s Race to World First Sepulcher of the First Ones livestream.
