BlizzCon '09: WoW Raids and Dungeons Panel

Thigh-slapper's Lead Level Designer Cory Stockton and Lead Encounter Designer Scott Mercer took the stage at BlizzCon 2009 to preview Icecrown Citadel and the new baddie lairs to total in Disaster.

Hail to the King, Baby: In the upcoming Patch 3.3, Icecrown Citadel will be added to the game leading up to the final showdown with Lich King Arthas himself, and we got a look at what was future. A surprise announcement came in that not solitary would Icecrown house the 10/25-player raid where the heroes of Azeroth take the fight to Arthas, but that Icecrown would add not just one but three 5-player dungeons to the game. These three dungeons would induce a continuing storyline run through them (and would have to be initially through in order) and would allow players to battle alongside Alliance and Legion heroines Jaina Proudmoore and Sylvanas Windrunner.

As for Icecrown itself? While it wouldn't house the (impressive) 31 bosses previously rumored, Icecrown Bastion would boasting an stunning 12 big bads, including "ultimate Frost Wyrm Sindragosa" and, course, Arthas. The dungeon would have four floors, and a particularly unresponsive sequence took place as players boarded an airship on the second floor. Alignment raiders would fight aboard King Varian Wrynn, while the Legion would accompany High Lord Saurfang – and the cardinal airships would race to the following take aback in Icecrown Bastion, exchanging shank fire and flatbottomed boarding parties (using rocket packs, by nature).

On the third floor, the donjon will personify flying, with players competent to rigging the bosses in any order they please – though they'll have to vanquish all of them before moving on to the top of the Citadel. The Crimson Paladins may be making another appearing, along with a Plagueworks annex and the den of the aforementioned Sindragosa.

Of feed, the to of Icecrown Citadel will exist simple: Information technology's you, the Frozen Throne, and the Lich King. Mercer cautioned that during the fight, the room might set about to fall aside and come off, and that if you fell, "it would atomic number 4 bad." Of course, if you win, Arthas is going to get something a bit more substantive than the mean "Death speech, gasp, die." In fact, the style they spoke some it, there might glucinium yet other cutscene…?

Raiders of the Cataclysmic Ark: Cataclysm wish feature four 10/25-humanity dungeons: Grim Batol, Skywall, the Firelands, and a freshly unveiled raid known as Blackwing Descent – which, As the name power suggest, is a throwback to the Classic raid of Blackwing Lair.

Blackwing Descent will actually start from Nefarian's throne room at the top of Blackwing Den – with flying mounts, players will fly clear dormie Blackrock Mountain to enter it – and somehow, the Son of Deathwing has survived his see with players second at level 60. Beyond Nefarian, though, Mercer mentioned that there mightiness follow "a possible appearance from extraordinary old friends." Can we say "Vaelastrasz," anybody? I knew we could.

The Firelands will be an exterior raid zone in the elemental plane of fire, the habitation of Ragnaros – who after tearing sprouted Mount Hyjal, is now on the defensive as players storm his homeland to gravel their avenge. Still, IT won't atomic number 4 so easy – Ragnaros here is in his element (literally), and will be at his full power, not summoned "likewise soon."

There will, of course, be new 5-instrumentalist dungeons, and we got a very brief glimpse at three of them – Abyssal Cakehole is a two-wing donjon accessed from the Sunken City of Vashj'ir, where a giant vortex in the mediate of the zona will pull players who get too shut down into the elemental skim of water. It's a very pretty, organic, coral-like elbow room, with windows that look exterior to the sea bottom beyond.

The Halls of Origination are the first of two 5-man dungeons in the Titan metropolis of Uldum (the other, the Lost City of Tol'vir, is an outside zone) and bring round mind similar dungeons back in Northrend – namely, the Halls of Harlan Stone and Halls of Lightning. It has a very Egyptian feel – kind of like "Blizzard does Stargate" – and the halls are rumored to house an ancient superweapon that everyone and their mother wants their hands on.

Ultimately, we took a look at Blackrock Caverns, the new keep in Blackrock Mount – Deathwing has bored a hole all the way to Blackrock Mountain from Grim Batol, and is using it as a impudent base for his Gloaming's Hammer cult. It was their chance to "reinvent a fan favorite," but they didn't want to merely make Blackrock Spire a new heroic. Their goal was to make a whole denounce-untested dungeon that still continued the distinctive visual style of Blackrock Spire – gangling spaces with dark bricks and metal that take plac forever interspersed with rivers of lava. Blackrock Steeple's nefarious Beast may have a brother, teased Stockton.

LFG Level 80 Onyxia, Any Server: The Brood Mother is returning for Sidesplitter's fifth day of remembrance as a little touch of nostalgia – she North Korean won't atomic number 4 a completely newfangled campaign but will have unweathered abilities and mechanics, and bequeath drop an entirely new strip table based murder of her anile ones – new helms with the Grade 2 art, the Burnished Quel'Serrar and Wild Deathbringer. "Her Deep Breaths will be more randomised than always," and you will still need "More than DoTs" than ever so to bring her down.

The Onyxian Whelpling non-combat pet that all players volition get for logging in during the anniversary celebration will attempt to Artful Breath the likes of her mother, simply will fail and blow dope rings instead – on the face of it they've presented the little critter some brand refreshing unique animations.

A very interesting revelation, though, was the addition of "grouchy-server Sounding for Group." Similar to get over-server Battlegrounds, this will enable Pick-Up Groups (PUGs) to hit up 5-man dungeons with players from otherwise servers. While the technology is only limited to 5-man groups, they said that IT could easy be distended to bigger raids, and that they're shooting to get it into the game with Icecrown in Patch 3.3.

So, any Alliance out thither want to bump off up the Icecrown dungeons, eh?

https://www.escapistmagazine.com/blizzcon-09-wow-raids-and-dungeons-panel/

Source: https://www.escapistmagazine.com/blizzcon-09-wow-raids-and-dungeons-panel/

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