The Avatar of War — World First

December 2nd, 2001. We finally killed the Avatar of War. It took an alliance with Shock of Swords and months of preparation. The encounter was brutal — Verant had designed it to be nearly impossible. When he dropped, the entire raid channel erupted. Draed, Ariel, Metopious, Rhap — everyone who'd been grinding through Velious for months got their moment. Two years later I was working at Blizzard, but nothing in game development ever matched that feeling.