Two Raids and a Secret Boss a patch?

[Ano]

What raids did people expect when 3.0 was in beta? Was ulduar expected?

[zixi]

What i hope for:

Launch

Tier11 - Blackwing Descent
Tier11 - Bastion of Twilight
Tier11.5 - Skywall (slightly upped loot like malygos had slightly better loot than naxx/sarth)

4.1 Earth, water and fire

Tier12 - Firelands
Tier12 - Abyssal Maw
Tier12.5 - Deepholm 2-boss raid with a stone giant endboss

4.2 Ancient evils

Tier13 - COT: The demon soul (forging of the dragon soul / demon soul)
Tier13 - COT: The emerald nightmare (fighting xavius in the emerald dream)
Tier 13.5 - The edge of insanity raid (First boss general Soggoth, second boss old god Isorath)

4.3 - Nazjatar

Tier 14 - The Empress of Nazjatar (big raid with Azshara as endboss)
Tier 14 - Zul'??? (troll sideraid with a dark troll endboss)

4.4 - The destroyer

Tier 15 - Big 12-boss raid with deathwing as endboss (grim batol?)

4.5 - Yarrrr

Tier 15.5 - A medium size pirate raid as a filler untill the next expansion

5 tiers in 1 expansion??? keep dreaming

[Fruit-brute]

i don't want to blow ur hopes away but only 1 CoT instance was planned this expansion and it was war of the ancients, xavius has already been defeated if u read the book Stormrage or whatever, where it explains how malfurion escaped the emerald nightmare and the emerald nightmare was destroyed. there might be a troll raid but there wont be a naga raid in Nazjatar, blizzard already said they wont be having a part in this expac, but in the next one. Grim Batol is where Deathwing is, and u can almost guarantee that it will be exactly like ICC with 12 or so bosses. they probably wont need a filler raid, if they release each content patch at the right time. the only reason we got RS is they needed more time to do cataclysm, same with SWP in BC, where people killed illidan and archimonde to fast and they needed something to fill the gap before releasing wrath. the only time it hasn't happened was with vanilla where Naxx was out but wasn't out long enough for the majority of the wow pop to experience. fire lands and abyssal maw will be 2 but not sure about deepholm one, and ur completely forgetting uldum raid.
and then there is also the re-releasing of AQ20 as a 10man...

[Deleted]

They already told us that Azshara would not play a big role in Cataclysm.

Source on this?

Isorath is not an old god.

Again, source? the most recent info shows that he _is_ the next old god, even quests on the beta say so.

And you completely forgot COT:WotA.

If you knew anything about the wow lore at all, you would know that the dragon soul is a part of wota, the part that is relevant to deathwing.

Drop 4.3(only the naga part), put 4.5 there and replace the two COT raids with WotA and we might have something somewhat realistic.
*wants to raid pirates* Irony, oh irony.

Nope, see reasons above, i stil lstand by what i wrote.

---------- Post added 2010-09-18 at 12:46 PM ----------

i don't want to blow ur hopes away but only 1 CoT instance was planned this expansion and it was war of the ancients, xavius has already been defeated if u read the book Stormrage or whatever, where it explains how malfurion escaped the emerald nightmare and the emerald nightmare was destroyed. there might be a troll raid but there wont be a naga raid in Nazjatar, blizzard already said they wont be having a part in this expac, but in the next one. Grim Batol is where Deathwing is, and u can almost guarantee that it will be exactly like ICC with 12 or so bosses. they probably wont need a filler raid, if they release each content patch at the right time. the only reason we got RS is they needed more time to do cataclysm, same with SWP in BC, where people killed illidan and archimonde to fast and they needed something to fill the gap before releasing wrath. the only time it hasn't happened was with vanilla where Naxx was out but wasn't out long enough for the majority of the wow pop to experience. fire lands and abyssal maw will be 2 but not sure about deepholm one, and ur completely forgetting uldum raid.
and then there is also the re-releasing of AQ20 as a 10man...

Something happening in a knaak book does not mean it can't happen in game anymore, it is caverns of time after all, where you go to the past and stuff... (and yes i've read the book)

Also i wonder where people are pulling from that there wont be a naga raid, i haven't seen any blue post about it but i might just have missed it.
I can see them making a filler raid, because it happened every expansion so far.
An uldum raid i don't see happening so soon as there is not that much lore bound to it, but if they want to make one you can scrap the troll raid in my original list and put that there.

Also to the guy saying above that 5 tiers won't happen: blizzard have said multiple times they wanted more raid content this expansion. Wotlk had 4 tiers, i am just drawing a conclusion that cataclysm will have 5 or more.

[huth]

Source on this?

Did you miss BlizzCon 2009?

In the Q&A section of the "World of Warcraft Raids and Dungeons" panel at the 2009 Blizzcon convention, game designer Tom Chilton confirmed that appearances by Queen Azshara and the city of Nazjatar were not intended to be part of this expansion, although her Naga would make an appearance in the new leveling zone, Vashj'ir.

Again, source? the most recent info shows that he _is_ the next old god, even quests on the beta say so.

There are no quests that say so. Also,this. Maybe you should name your own sources.

If you knew anything about the wow lore at all, you would know that the dragon soul is a part of wota, the part that is relevant to deathwing.

The creation of the Demon Soul happened back then, but we get a WotA raid, not a Creation of the Demon Soul raid. So, at best, it will be one of many things happening there.

[frott]

Is anyone else hoping this is the formula they try to use for Cata? Right now it's what they're going to be using at least at release, with Blackwing Descent and Bastion of Twilight, the latter having a hardmode only encounter. But wouldn't it be great to get the same thing in 4.1, 4.2, ect?

I don't think big 11-12 boss dungeons work as well as two 5-6 boss raids would, the feeling of finally killing the last boss in a raid dungeon is a good one, letting players experience that twice every content patch would certainly be an improvement along with there always being the big bad hardcore player only encounter for guilds to rush to.

they have never released anything "secret" in wow. Quests are basically spoiled in patch notes, telling you where to go, what exists and where it begins.

WoW is on rails, they don't release any content without trumpeting it.

[Falrinn]

Did you miss BlizzCon 2009?

In the Q&A section of the "World of Warcraft Raids and Dungeons" panel at the 2009 Blizzcon convention, game designer Tom Chilton confirmed that appearances by Queen Azshara and the city of Nazjatar were not intended to be part of this expansion, although her Naga would make an appearance in the new leveling zone, Vashj'ir.

And yet there are some appearances by Azshara already in the beta. She shows up in a "memory" sequence in Vashj'ir and even shows up in person in Darkshore.

Blizzard may of changed their minds about what to do with her since BlizzCon.

[huth]

Yes, she shows up in some lore related quests. But you can't really do anything about her. And the point about Nazjatar still stands.

And the appearange in Darkshore is at best an Avatar of hers. She would not even fit there in her actual form.

[Malrune]

What raids did people expect when 3.0 was in beta? Was ulduar expected?

Heh, well if I had it my way...
3.0- Sartharion, Utgrade Pinnacle and Azjol-Nerub, hard-mode only boss is Anub'Arak.
3.1- Gun'Drak and Malygos, hard-mode only boss is Kel'Thuzad.
3.2- Ulduar, hard-mode only boss is Algalon.
3.3- Icecrown Citadel.
3.4 Ruby Sanctuam.

[DarkTZeratul]

What raids did people expect when 3.0 was in beta? Was ulduar expected?

I don't recall if it was at BlizzCon or sometime after, but we were told up-front, before Wrath even released, that the schedule was:
3.1 - Ulduar
3.2 - ???
3.3 - Icecrown Citadel

[Nuke1096]

Ya 3.2 was a mystery raid that everybody assumed was going to be Azjol-Nerub, and many, myself included, feel was originally going to be, but for whatever reason (time constraints, change of heart) was changed to ToC.

Also, I am 99% sure that Azshara and Nazjatar will not be a raid boss/zone this expansion. She is too big a player and lore character to be wasted on a raid tier. There is enough lore surrounding her, Nazjatar, and its surrounding islands such as Kul'Tiras, Broken Isles, etc to build an entire expansion around. Plus, I doubt Blizzard would waste the opportunity to use a female villain as the focal point of an expansion. Thats something we haven't gotten yet, and Azshara is our best chance of that happening.

I'm also sticking by my prediction of us fighting Xavius in the War of the Ancients Raid. In current lore he is apparently dead (again) after tree form nightmare Xavius was defeated by Malfurion in "Stormrage". Having us combat him in the War of the Ancients Raid would allow us to fight him without another lol setback happening, plus allow us to fight him in his Satyr Demon form. Plus it works as a great lead in for a potential Rift of Aln Raid to confront to true power behind the Nightmare.

My other prediction for the War of the Ancient Raid would be Mannoroth.

[Nesingwary-Eliada]

And yet there are some appearances by Azshara already in the beta. She shows up in a "memory" sequence in Vashj'ir and even shows up in person in Darkshore.

Blizzard may of changed their minds about what to do with her since BlizzCon.

Her appearances are build up. A lot of casual/social players do not know who Queen azshara is. They don't know her story, her downfall, her corruption, her history, etc etc etc. Those quests will begin to show newcomers all of that while building her up as a threat for the next expansion.

They're just implementing her into in-game lore for future use. But with an expansion filled with Deathwing, The Twilight Hammer, The Elemental Lords, and Old Gods... I HIGHLY doubt they are also going to squeeze Queen Azshara in... that would be overkill.



P.S.

Many still seem to have the misconception that all of the raids in Cataclysm will be small. So I'd like to direct you to this blue post:

http://forums.worldofwarcraft.com/th...Id=24401856405

"For the first few raid tiers, our plan is to provide multiple smaller raids. Instead of one raid with eleven bosses, you might have a five-boss raid as well as a six-boss raid."

"For the first few raid tiers, our plan is to provide multiple smaller raids."

"For the first few raid tiers"

So we will most CERTAINLY still be seeing large scale raids like Ulduar and Co. Probably not until 4.2 though, which would be just in time for a War of the Ancients patch =D

[underdogba]

This plan isn't really any different from WotLK launch, except that instead of a huge Naxx and a small OS, they're making two similarly-sized raids. Also, Malygos was essentially a "hardmode only" raid, before they invented calling it that.

[zaneosak]

Heh, well if I had it my way...
3.0- Sartharion, Utgrade Pinnacle and Azjol-Nerub, hard-mode only boss is Anub'Arak.
3.1- Gun'Drak and Malygos, hard-mode only boss is Kel'Thuzad.
3.2- Ulduar, hard-mode only boss is Algalon.
3.3- Icecrown Citadel.
3.4 Ruby Sanctuam.

Ruby Sanctum was not 3.4. It was 3.3.5 and not an additional tier of content.

None of the expansions went past x.4 and I doubt cata will especially with all the low level stuff they added.

4.1 is basically more or less confirmed as having the Firelands since it was scheduled for launch and got scrapped.

So for the time being we can assume:

4.1
The Firelands
_____________

4.2
War of the Ancients
___________________

4.3
Deathwing's Demise
___________________


Filling in the blanks is pretty tough but you can make good guesses as people have in this thread. I think a Neptulon raid is very likely as well as an old god raid, probably not in Uldum as most people would guess unless of course it is something to do with C'Thun which I doubt since Cory Stockton said at blizzcon they dont have any plans to bring back C'Thun.

I can confirm that Iso'rath is not an old god. I did the quests in Twilight Highlands and they may of mentioned him being old god related (i dont remember) but you go into his stomach, rescue a bunch of earthen ring and destroy the brain together. Theres no way the Earthen ring and a random hero manage to take down an Old God by themselves.

So options include:
-Neptulon Raid
-Old God raid with Brann Bronzebeard leading the charge to uncover information about the titans
-Uldum raid non old god related.
-Something unexpected in Vashj'ir
-Something totally random in a different old world zone
-A tournament where all the dragon aspects spectate heroes fighting beasts gathered from all over Azeroth to decide who will ride on their backs into the battle against Deathwing.

Personally I'm hoping that Nozdormu makes some kind of meaningful appearance in this damn game, his story is one the biggest mysteries around.

[roarzol]

Where does this rift of "Aln" thing come from? As I see it, it will probably only be one raid per patch, possibly with one more secret extra super specail amazingly hard wtf boss in the expansion. But who says they will have 3 aditional patches? Maybe they will go up to 4.5 and release several small ones and one or two big ones along the way.

[Imnick]

Honestly if people just fight a few bosses then whats the point? That means less content and would make cataclysm quickly become boring in the later tiers of the game. Simply put more bosses is a good thing, the only reason to ever make a small raid is because you want to make something for in between the next HUGE patch with something to tide us over

No you don't understand, they put in SEVERAL small raids, not one in place of a big one.
Same number of bosses, different number of houses.

[Deleted]

Different raids with a few bosses is good, though my facorite instances (BT/Ulduar) had more bosses, it feels good when you finally get to Illidan, or Yogg and even better when you see him die. one of my favorite instances is Mount Hyjal aswell, it is shorter but they made it a naic instance, especially the mechanics imo. the problem wont be how many bosses will be there but how much fun are the bosses, i think the reason they want more smaller raids is to actually be able to switch between raids (like SSC/TK), when you want to clear all in 1 evening its annoying because you need to travel alot (mainly vash/kael runs) but it gives you a choice what you want to do, and not to force to do 1 specific boss the entire night when the setup for that boss just sucks, also a raid like ulduar is nice if you are in a guild to clear all, but when you are not saved to the other instance and it will be easier to do those in a fresh group instead of having to say boss 1,2 from there was easy so we already killed it and start later on now.

[Nuke1096]

P.S.

Many still seem to have the misconception that all of the raids in Cataclysm will be small. So I'd like to direct you to this blue post:

http://forums.worldofwarcraft.com/th...Id=24401856405

"For the first few raid tiers, our plan is to provide multiple smaller raids. Instead of one raid with eleven bosses, you might have a five-boss raid as well as a six-boss raid."

"For the first few raid tiers, our plan is to provide multiple smaller raids."

"For the first few raid tiers"

So we will most CERTAINLY still be seeing large scale raids like Ulduar and Co. Probably not until 4.2 though, which would be just in time for a War of the Ancients patch =D

Yeah alot of people forget about that quote and are just assuming all raids from now on are going to be small raids. I personally feel that 4.1 and 4.2 will be two raids each, then the final patch will be a large Deathwing Raid done in the same style as ICC with multiple wings, etc. I can see them doing the same thing with WotA also, it really just depends on how much they want to focus on it. I would like to see something like this encounter wise...

- Azzinoth (Illidan)
- Hakkar the Houndmaster (Malfurion and Tyrande)
- Mannoroth (Agamaggan and Cenarius)
- Xavius (Malfurion)

With the characters in brackets helping you...or you helping them depending on how you look at it. But the thing is, you can easily make an entire wing around each of those aspects of the war if you wanted to make it a very large ICC style instance.