 Loken | ||||||||
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| Gender | Male | |||||||
| Race(s) | Titanic watcher (presumed) (Uncategorized) | |||||||
| Level | 79 or 82 Elite | |||||||
| Affiliation(s) | Yogg-Saron, formerly the Pantheon | |||||||
| Occupation | Servitor of Yogg-Saron, former prime designate of Azeroth | |||||||
| Location | The Terrestrial Watchtower, Halls of Lightning | |||||||
| Status | Killable | |||||||
| Relative(s) | Thorim (brother), Sif (sister-in-law) | |||||||
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Loken was one of the Titan watchers tasked by the Pantheon to watch over Azeroth in their absence. Elevated to the role of prime designate, Loken was the chief jailor of the Old God Yogg-Saron, imprisoned in the depths of Ulduar. However, the whispers of the Death God eventually drove Loken to betray his comrades and bring down the works of the Pantheon. With Ulduar and the Forge of Wills under his control, Loken created an army of iron constructs, such as the iron dwarves that battle the earthen throughout Northrend.
Loken appears in World of Warcraft as the final encounter in the Halls of Lightning.
Biography
According to the Tribunal of Ages in Ulduar's Halls of Stone, Loken — also known by various sources as "Keeper Loken", "Sentinel Loken", "Kronus", and "prime designate" — was named the supreme protector of Azeroth by the Pantheon, leading the aesir (storm giants) and vanir (earth giants) following the containment of the Old Gods. Along with his brother Thorim, the Stormlord, as well as Watchers Hodir, Freya, Mimir and Tyr, Loken was designated as a guardian to watch over the prison of Yogg-Saron, deep within Ulduar. Over time, however, Loken succumbed to the whispers of the Old God and turned on his allies, taking control of Ulduar and seeking to unravel the plans of his former masters.[1] At some point he provoked a global war to break out between the storm giants and earth giants, which was ended by Loken "neutralizing" them. After the conclusion of that war, Loken placed the earthen, giants, and vrykul into stasis at designated holding facilities (presumably, facilities like Uldaman or Ulduar).
Thorim and Loken during The Reckoning.
Among his other acts of treachery was the murder of Sif, the wife of his brother Thorim. Loken tricked Thorim into believing that it had been the work of Arngrim, the king of the ice giants, turning Thorim against his allies. Much later on, Thorim — having realized he'd been had — gathered his weapons and armor (with the aid of players) and confronted Loken in combat. However, being so far from his sanctuary in the Temple of Storms allowed Loken, in proximity to his dark master, to overpower his brother.
Loken was presumably the Watcher of the Temple of Wisdom; he can be found in the throne of the Temple during the confrontation with Thorim in 
[80] The Reckoning.
Links to Ulduar
As prime designate, Loken's task was to protect the world of Azeroth and subsequently act as chief jailor of the imprisoned Yogg-Saron. After his corruption, Loken subdued the other watchers, facilitating Yogg-Saron's possible escape.
Once in control of Ulduar, Loken utilized the services of Ignis the Furnace Master on at least two occasions. One was the transformation of Veranus, Thorim's proto-drake, into the plated monstrosity Razorscale. Loken also ordered the construction of Kologarn, the massive stone construct, to guard the Shattered Walkway that leads into the inner halls of Ulduar.
The "Algalon failsafe"?
When he is killed in the Halls of Lightning, Loken says that his death "heralds the end of this world", after which the map of Azeroth bursts into fire and launches a beacon of light toward the sky. According to the Archivum Console in Ulduar, the "Algalon failsafe" - an automatic emergency signal following the death of the prime designate - was activated immediately following Loken's demise, resulting in the arrival of Algalon the Observer. The console goes on to explain:
- "Destruction of prime designate is considered the first warning sign of systemic planetary failure. Algalon Observer entity's arrival is followed by planetary diagnostics resulting in one of two possible reply signals. Reply code Alpha: signaling all is well, and Reply code Omega: signaling planetary re-origination."
When asked to explain "re-origination", the Console replies:
- "The decomposition of the planet and its living organisms into base elements: metals, rocks, gases. This is followed by a period of reconstitution of each element into the original planetary blueprint."
In other words, the Titans would destroy all of Azeroth and everything on it, then rebuild it from the raw materials left behind from that destruction - thus giving credence to the dire warning in Loken's dying breath.
Abilities
- Lightning Nova: 20 yard AoE for 6013 to 6987 Nature damage (~12-14k on heroic), 5 sec cast
- Pulsing Shockwave: AoE dealing damge every tick, damage starts at ~800 in melee range increasing to 3000 at about 10 yards, further increasing farther away from the boss
- Arc Lightning: single target attack dealing ~4k damage plus a chance to debuff the target. The debuff deals another Arc Lightning to all players within 10 yards (that is 4k damage plus the chance to get the debuff)
Tactics
Lightning Nova and Pulsing Shockwave
In order to reduce the damage taken from these two abilities, correct positioning and movement is required. The Pulsing Shockwave forces the group to generally stay close to the boss, but whenever he starts casting Lightning Nova (which is announced by an emote), players must run away 20 yards. The group needs to agree beforehand on a run path.
A frequently chosen pattern is the bright line on the stairs leading from Loken's initial position to a platform and from there further down another flight of stairs. On the pull everybody runs to Loken's initial position, on the first Lightning Nova everybody runs to the platform, on the next back to his initial position. This method has the drawback that people dying on his initial position can be difficult to rez, for this reason it's better to run on the second Nova further down to the end of the stairs, and then back to the platform.
Moving on the stairs has the general disadvantage that it can cause line of sight problems for the healer. For this reason some groups prefer to run from side to side on the platform where Loken starts (there are pillars on each side of him as reference points).
Arc Lightning
This boss ability has the potential to cause severe damage to the group when people stay close together. If the initial target gets the debuff and all others are within 10 yards, the probability is very high that at least one other player gets the debuff, leading to a nearly neverending chain of Arc Lightnings. To avoid this people need to stay 10 yards apart from each other at all times (this partially conflicts with the positioning required to avoid Pulsing Shockwave). Alternately, players with the debuff can try to run away from the group.
Alternate Strategies
The problem with running around is that it greatly reduces both healing and DPS, and may cause confusion. So if the healer is able to sustain about 3600 hitpoints healed per second for two minutes, all group members have over 14k health (and the tank over 25k), some form of nature resistance is available, it's possible to simply stay in melee range of the boss and not move at all. The healer in this case must AoE spam heal. This variant works particularly well with a Shaman healer (
[Riptide] buffed 4 jump 
[Chain Heal] plus 
[Nature Resistance Totem]), quite a few groups with shaman healers report success killing Loken in under two minutes for the 
Timely Death achievement using this tactic. Average as of patch 3.3 is around 30 seconds using the random dungeon finder.
On Heroic level, this should be preferred tactics when all members have 19k health (shield absorption incl.) or better (tank about 30k+). AoE healer a must, preferably priest with "Spirit of Redemption" talent, since the fight should be very fast (2mins or less = 3 Nova blasts). Often a Paladin's 
[Judgement of Light] can handle most of the Pulsing Shockwave's AoE, assuming that players stand at minimum range. Always good with 2 rezzers to rezz priest, since there will will be casualties in last Nova blast. If party members are below 16-17k at blast they will die. Highly geared players, especially with 
[Heroism], can blast Heroic Loken in less than 30 seconds, in which case they only need to worry about one Nova.
If the healer sports some integrated self-heal (Paladin or Priests) the following tactic may be appropriate: Loken is kited on his platform as in the standard tactic. The healer is placed 20 yards away from both tanking spots, resulting in a triangle: the two tank spots are two corners of the triangle, connected by the 20 yard run path, the healer stands on the third corner of the triangle, 20 yards away from both other corners. This way, the healer continuously takes damage from Pulsing Shockwave which must be healed through (abilities like 
[Beacon of Light] or 
[Binding Heal] facilitate this).
Loot
Quests
Loken is also involved in the following quests:
[71] The Delicate Sound of Thunder- [75] Put on Your Best Face for Loken
- [75] Loken's Orders
- [80] The Reckoning
[71] 
[75] 
His death is required for [80D] Whatever it Takes! in which players are sent to slay him and take his tongue.
Quotes
Encounter in Howling Fjord
- Come, minions! Your master calls!
- The work of your brothers in the Storm Peaks has reached a frenzied pace. Soon, Father will be freed.
- Your brothers to the north have subjugated the stone behemoths and set them on the path to Ulduar. Soon, the remaining defenses of the Pantheon will be neutralized.
- The three fissures opened by the mortals of this region must be silenced. The earth hears and sees what we do and will continue to interfere with our efforts if the way is not closed.
- Bury this place, your master demands it!
Encounter in Grizzly Hills
- You're late, overseer.
- Destiny will not wait. Your craftsmen must increase their production of the war golems before the stone giant leader and his army reach Ulduar.
- Tell your rune-smiths to continue converting what stone giants you can. Those that will not submit must be destroyed.
- If the stone giants interfere with our work at Ulduar, I will hold you and your thane responsible. Mortals must not be allowed to come to the aid of the giants.
- Return to your duties, overseer. Be certain to impress upon your workers the urgency of their tasks.
Encounter in Halls of Lightning
- Intro
I have witnessed the rise and fall of empires. The birth and extinction of entire species. Over countless millennia the foolishness of mortals has remained the only constant. Your presence here confirms this. My master has shown me the future, and you have no place in it. Azeroth will be reborn in darkness. Yogg-Saron shall be released! The Pantheon shall fall!
- Aggro
- What hope is there for you? None!
- Lightning Nova
- You cannot hide from fate!
- Come closer. I will make it quick.
- Your flesh cannot hold out for long.
- 75% health
- You stare blindly into the abyss!
- 50% health
- Your ignorance is profound. Can you not see where this path leads?
- 25% health
- You cross the precipice of oblivion!
- Killing a player
- Only mortal...
- I... am... FOREVER!
- What little time you had, you wasted!
- Death
- My death... heralds the end of this world.
Videos
Myth
Loken's name is likely based on Loki, the main trickster of Norse mythology. With Angrboda, he was the father of Fenrir, Jormungandr, and Hel.
Loken is also referred to as Kronus by the earthen from Ulduar, and a few other quests, which is a reference to Cronus, the first Titan of Greek mythology and father of several deities of the Greek pantheon. This may be an alternate name or a leftover from the Alpha, before his name was finalized.