Edwin VanCleef

Edwin VanCleef  is a level 20 elite human boss found in the Deadmines with about 3,800 health. VanCleef is one of the most wanted criminals in the Kingdom of Stormwind. Interestingly, he seems to be wearing Madcap's Outfit.

Edwin VanCleef was once a “roofwalker” in Stormwind with a specialty in defeating mechanical defenses. Yet when the Horde destroyed the city, he called upon skills he learned as a child at the side of his father, a master stonemason, and was one of the first to offer his talents to rebuild Stormwind. He was also among the first artisans cast out of the city gates when they sought payment for their services. It was VanCleef who took the group of artisans and tinkers sitting in the mud outside the gates of Stormwind and turned them into the Defias Brotherhood.

After teaching them the skills he learned from the city’s thieves, he helped them adapt to the wild until they had perfected their ability to ambush travelers. When the Stormwind Guard began to respond, VanCleef and the tinkers in the Brotherhood augmented the abilities of the renegades with mechanical devices and weapons. VanCleef’s search for a secure location where he could build a tinker’s works led him across Westfall to the Dead Mines. Once his laboratory was constructed, he entered the mines and has rarely left in more than two decades. Yet he knows of everything happening across central Azeroth, particularly where the Brotherhood is involved. Rumors say that in recent years he has grown particularly zealous in his belief in technology’s means to defeat Stormwind.

Small and wiry, the man has a mousy look about him. He wears the sweaty, oil-stained clothes typical of a peasant laborer, along with a short cloak and thick leather gloves. The man’s overall appearance is so common, in fact, that he would be almost instantly forgettable if not for the spotless, scarlet bandana fastened around his neck. Despite his unseemly appearance, he has a cunning look in his eyes and a partially concealed blade sheathed underneath one arm. Edwin VanCleef relies on his unassuming appearance to avoid most fights. When engaging in battle, he always prefers to take the offensive; he is known to frequently retreat from combat only to circle around and strike a few minutes later when his enemies have lowered their guard. VanCleef uses his longbow to surprise enemies from a great distance away, then draws his rapier and sneaks to a second hiding spot. When his enemies approach, investigating the location from which the arrows originated, he springs forth and attempts a sneak attack. He prefers to strike at lightly armored targets first in the hope that he might be able to incapacitate or kill them outright with a single sneak attack.

The reconstruction of Stormwind
Edwin VanCleef was originally one of the architects that worked on the rebuilding of Stormwind City after its destruction at the end of the Second War. A master of the art of masonry, VanCleef was personally responsible for the design of many of the most awe-inspiring structures of Stormwind. Not the least of such structures was the impressive Stormwind Cathedral, which later became the center of both the faith of the Holy Light and the revived order of paladins. The reconstruction of Stormwind was an arduous task, but with such a genius as VanCleef masterminding the operation, the project was completed smoothly and in record time. However, the leaders of the city -- in a move heavily influenced by the corrupt nobility of Stormwind -- refused to pay the Stonemasons Guild for their work, citing the already enormous economic burden the Alliance had elicited due to the ravages of the Old Horde.

In addition, in a public outrage to the demands of the Guild for demanding so much funds in such difficult times, they decided to banish the workers from Stormwind. Following this decision, Edwin VanCleef went on to lead many of his colleagues in search of wealth via other avenues. This was the beginning of the Defias Brotherhood.

The Brotherhood begins
The actual aim of the Brotherhood, of course, was not merely financial gain: VanCleef, along with the other disenfranchised masons, had a score to settle with Stormwind and their vengeance became their new goal. To that end, VanCleef allied himself with a number of other factions in the region, mostly bandits, criminals and other humans unsatisfied with the leadership of the kingdom of Azeroth. These would become the bulk of his paramilitary force that was quickly growing throughout Elwynn Forest and Westfall. VanCleef also sought out powerful mages, various foreign mercenaries, and the ingenious goblins to assist him in creating the ultimate weapon of destruction. Beneath the famed Deadmines of Westfall, located beneath the former Alliance town of Moonbrook, VanCleef commissioned the construction of a gargantuan leviathan of a vessel armed with enough firepower to shell Stormwind into submission.

From aboard the ship located deep within the Deadmines, VanCleef awaited the moment at which he would strike at his hated foe. Believing his cause to be one of absolute righteousness, he prepared his mighty vessel to depart from its hidden port. Before this could take place, however, intrepid agents of the Alliance, having previously learned of the headquarters of the Defias Brotherhood, entered the Deadmines and assaulted VanCleef's ship. In a fearsome battle atop the juggernaut, the Alliance operatives slew VanCleef, ending a great threat to the security of Stormwind. Yet they were left with the disconcerting worry that not all matters with the Brotherhood were yet resolved, including the question of the corrupt nobles of the human capital city. Subsequent events would prove that despite VanCleef's death, the plans of the Defias Brotherhood were far from finished.

Encounter
Before engaging VanCleef, be sure to defeat Captain Greenskin who patrols the area where VanCleef is standing. VanCleef initially has two level 19-20 adds. When VanCleef's health drops below 50%, two additional level 19-20 adds will spawn. Some people say that ignoring the adds and just attacking VanCleef is the best tactic to kill him. Another method that works is, standing on the cannon to the left, just before you step into the area Captain Greenskin patrols. Get a mage on the cannon, and get a tank to draw VC and his adds out after killing Greenskin. Draw them to the cannon, and get the mage to use some ranged attacks (a wand preferably) to distract the adds. The adds will *evade* the ranged attacks, but remain incapacitated until you stop doing them. After killing VC, move onto the other mobs, one at a time. This method works with two well equipped level 29 players.
 * Edwin has around 3,800 health

VanCleef is stunnable.

Quotes
Aggro: "None may challenge the Brotherhood!"

3/4 Health: "Lapdogs, all of you!"

1/2 Health: "Fools! Our cause is righteous!"

1/4 Health: "The Brotherhood shall prevail!"

Player Killed: "And stay down!"