Moam

Moam is a giant obsidian destroyer, a winged stone construct, and an optional boss in the Ruins of Ahn'Qiraj. He stands alone in the Reservoir, one of the open areas of the ruined city. The fight revolves around mana: Moam drains it from the raid, turns to stone to gather more, and destroys everyone around him if his own mana bar ever fills. It was the boss that made 20-player raids bring warlocks, priests and hunters who could drain mana.

Background

Obsidian destroyers are war machines of black volcanic stone. In the qiraji story told around Ahn'Qiraj, they were first built during the War of the Shifting Sands, when the qiraji needed something that could stand up to the dragons fighting for the night elves.

After the war, the master of Ahn'Qiraj, the Old God C'Thun, ordered a new destroyer, greater than all the others. The Twin Emperors made it together. Vek'nilash shaped a huge body out of volcanic rock and Vek'lor filled the shell with magic. Vek'lor named it Moam. To the brothers' surprise, Moam could call up elementals of pure mana, and only then did they learn where its power came from. C'Thun had captured the three dragons who helped seal the Scarab Wall, Arygos, Caelestrasz and Merithra, kept them alive inside Ahn'Qiraj, and was draining their magic into his creations.

Abilities

• Drain Mana: Moam constantly drains mana from players near him and adds it to his own pool.
• [[forever:spell:25685]]: after about 90 seconds of combat, Moam turns to stone. He can't be hurt or move, and his mana refills quickly while he waits.
• [[forever:spell:25684]]: when he turns to stone, three Mana Fiends appear. They are arcane elementals with their own area damage.
• [[forever:spell:25672]]: when his mana bar is full, Moam releases it in one huge arcane blast that hits the whole raid. The more mana he has, the more damage it deals, and a full bar usually kills most of the raid.

Strategy

The fight is a race to keep his mana low while killing him. Casters who don't need to stand near him wait a few seconds before running in, so he doesn't start the fight by draining them.

Warlocks cast Drain Mana on him, priests use Mana Burn, and a hunter keeps Viper Sting on him the whole time (only one Viper Sting can be active). With enough of them, his mana stays too low for Arcane Eruption to matter, and everyone else, melee and the healing druids and shamans, just kills him.

When he turns to stone, the three Mana Fiends need to be handled at once. Warlocks banish them, mages and hunters trap and kite them, and some groups simply burn them down, as each has only about 15,000 health. Guides of the time recommended getting Moam below about half health before the first stone phase, then finishing him before he wakes up with a full bar. Druids' Innervate and mana potions keep the drainers going, since priests in particular run out of mana.

Because he's optional, some groups skipped Moam on nights when they lacked mana drainers. Most came back for him, though, because of what he drops.

Loot

From our database (patch 1.12):

The [[forever:item:20890]] and [[forever:item:20886]] are the reason Moam was rarely skipped. They're the hilts that players combine with Cenarion Circle reputation at Exalted to get their class weapon from the Ruins, such as the warrior's sickle or the priest's mace. Only Moam, Buru the Gorger, Ayamiss the Hunter and Ossirian the Unscarred drop them.

Sources

• Moam, Warcraft Wiki
• Emperor Vek'lor, Warcraft Wiki