Chapter 1099: The Legendary Sword Susas (First Update)
The value of these low-level purple equipment lies not only in their stats but also in their rarity.
Back in the 60s era, many warrior players would even sell their game time cards to buy the Blazing Battle Axe—a large card sold for 300 gold, and they’d fork out 100 gold for that axe.
From a later perspective, this seems utterly absurd, because according to the subsequent gameplay of *World of Warcraft*, any low-level purple gear is at most valuable for its appearance—like the Robes of the Sandstorm, used for transmogrification. No matter how good the stats of low-level purple gear are, can they really compare to max-level blue gear?
This phenomenon mainly stems from the fast-food nature of later expansions. As versions were continuously adjusted, power-leveling essentially became a one-stop service. Once you reached around level 11, you could directly chain through Deadmines / Shadowfang Keep – Scarlet Monastery – Zul’Farrak – Stratholme – Hellfire Citadel – Serpentshrine Cavern, and so on, all the way to max level in just a few days.
For these fast-food players, a low-level purple item truly holds no meaning.
But back in the 60s, the time it took for a player to go from level 20 to level 60 was extremely long. During this process, a good purple weapon could grant you dozens of hours of a very comfortable leveling experience while grinding mobs, and when encountering hostile faction players in the wild, you wouldn’t feel the least bit intimidated.
Moreover, the equipment stats in the 60s weren’t as homogenized as they later became. Taking weapons as an example, the maximum damage, speed, stats, and special effects all directly influenced a weapon’s quality.
Take the Krol Blade, a main-hand sword available to rogues at level 51—it’s considered one of the legendary items. Its speed is 2.8, its attack cap is 149, its unique effect is “Increases your chance to land a critical strike by 1%,” and its stats are +7 Strength and +5 Stamina. In every aspect, it’s a perfect fit. Of course, if you want to buy it, you’ll have to compete with other rogues, warriors, and paladins.
If you then enchant it with Crusader or +15 Agility, this weapon can carry a rogue all the way from level 51 into Molten Core.
What does that mean? Leveling in the 60s was slow, especially after level 50, where it became even slower. Getting this weapon essentially meant you could breeze through quests before max level, handle any quest easily, slaughter hostile faction players at will, and even have a chance to put up a fight against max-level players with poor gear.
Thus, many people say, “In *World of Warcraft*, max level is just the beginning.” This phrase has a specific context: it means that after reaching max level, players truly engage with the core gameplay and face those epic raid dungeons.
Some interpret this as meaning the content before max level is boring and that leveling should be done entirely through power-leveling—this is a complete misinterpretation.
In fact, *World of Warcraft* invested heavily in low-level quests and dungeons as well. While these low-level dungeons aren’t as difficult due to design considerations, their narrative structure and gameplay are by no means inferior to high-level dungeons.
Take Zul’Farrak, which Zou Zhuo and his team are about to explore—its origins trace back to the ancient era of Azeroth.
In that age, trolls were the absolute rulers of this continent, but some troll priests, driven by a desire to create a big stir, used necromancy to summon demons. They repeatedly played with fire, eventually awakening Kith’ix, the insectoid leader sleeping in Silithus. This directly led to the formal establishment of the parasitic insect empire, the Aqir, on Azeroth, sparking a war that lasted for millennia.
In the end, Kith’ix got himself killed. To continue monitoring the insectoids in Silithus, the Gurubashi built their own city, Zul’Farrak, in the Tanaris desert, guarded by the Sandfury tribe. However, over the long course of history, more and more races emerged, encroaching on troll lands.
The Sandfury trolls were forced to retreat into Zul’Farrak, hoping to create an undead army—or even various evil creatures—to reclaim their territory.
In the dungeon’s boss fights, players began to face increasingly difficult challenges. For example, in the Scarlet Monastery, the resurrection of the “dog and woman” boss duo made many players spit blood, earning them that infamous nickname. The bosses in Zul’Farrak are even stronger, with more diverse tactics.
Take the witch doctor Zum’rah, for instance. Outside his altar, there are numerous burial mounds, each filled with various troll mummies. When players first arrive here, they might ignorantly charge straight at the boss, only for the mummies in the graves to burst out and send them back to the graveyard.
To defeat this boss, you must first patiently open all the burial mounds outside the altar and kill the mummies in waves.
In front of the grand altar of Zul’Farrak, players will encounter a rare “defense” type boss fight. Here, after killing the executioner, players will find an expedition team locked in a cage. Their leader, Sergeant Bly, asks the players to rescue them.
At this point, the Sandfury trolls have surrounded the altar and launch an attack. Forced into a corner, players must join Sergeant Bly to fight off the besieging troll army.
This battle is called the “Hundred-Man Slaughter” because there are nearly a hundred Sandfury trolls below. However, these monsters are a mix of elites and regular mobs, and many mages enjoy using Arcane Explosion for AoE here.
This fight isn’t just about mindlessly grinding mobs. There are five different NPCs, each with unique skills. For example, the orc warlock casts spells, while the goblin engineer plants bombs on the ground. Players need to mark the NPCs and constantly monitor the safety of key ones.
Among them, the goblin engineer absolutely cannot die, because he will blast open the door to the final boss. As for the others… after the boss fight, they will betray the players. Players can decide whether to let them survive until the end based on their own needs.
Moreover, what’s most commendable is probably the two-handed sword dropped in Zul’Farrak: the Legendary Sword Susas. This two-handed sword doesn’t drop directly; instead, it must be crafted by combining two blue one-handed swords dropped by two bosses, and both swords are bind-on-pickup. Combining a set of paired swords into one sword seems to be a unique feature in *World of Warcraft*.
Of course, the rarity of this two-handed sword lies in its extremely elusive drop rate. In the original version, the drop rate for its components—the two blue swords—was only about 0.5% each. You can imagine what kind of luck is needed to farm both swords and then combine them.
But the story behind this sword perfectly illustrates *World of Warcraft*’s emphasis on low-level dungeons and world-building. The joy players felt back then when obtaining this purple two-handed sword far surpassed the satisfaction of getting most later max-level purple gear.