DISCLAIMER: This thread is not about 10-man Mythic raids.
As Wrath of Lich King Classic approaches, I keep scratching my head about how we could have a hardcore 10-man raid option nowadays without destroying the 20-man scene that people care about.
After reading many threads all these years since WoD came out, I got to the conclusion that it all boils down to balancing issues, as Blizzard tried to make a 10-man version equivalent to a 25-man one. But we don't need that, and the answer lies within the Wrath of the Lich King expansion itself, where 10-man was treated literally as an in-between difficulty, instead of trying to be an equivalent version of a much bigger size raid like Blizzard tried in Cataclysm - Mists of Pandaria.
I mean, there's a very huge difficulty gap between Heroic and Mythic nowadays, so why not give something to all these people that quit after finishing Heroic, because they don't like/don't have enough players for the much bigger sized Mythic? A 10-man challenging version of the raid would also be attractive for the massive Mythic + crowd, and the new generation that prefers content meant for smaller groups.
So, how this would work out?
First off, keep in mind that this is not meant to be a 10-man Mythic, so the first thing that we need to do is detach people from that perspective, and the only way to do it is by treating this 10-man raid as a new difficulty, and since we're creating a new difficulty, we gonna need a new name, so in this thread, we'll be calling it: "
Epic" a fixed 10-man raid size.
This is an example of what the difficulty chart would look like:
Design
Epic 10-man would use fairly the same Mythic 20-man mechanics and stats but scaled down to a 10-player group scenario, and would only change the few specific boss mechanics where we would need a specific class ability to do it, since we need to take into account that the Epic 10-man group will not have every single class in the group. So, mechanics that would require "
Mind Control" or "
Spellsteal", for example, would need to work differently, but would still need to pose a challenge in a 10-man environment.
Since Mythic 20-man requires a lot more group coordination, would be unfair to compare both difficulties, as the Mythic 20-man could have a mechanic where 3 meteors have to be soaked, while Epic 10-man would have only 1 meteor (
a common situation in Cataclysm/Mists of Pandaria 10-man era), however, the effects would still be the same, like wiping the raid if not soaked, and would also apply the same nasty debuff.
Timegating
Like LFR, "Epic 10-man" would be gated, which would make World First guilds avoid it. This is an example of the raid unlocking schedule:
- Week 1: Normal and Heroic unlock;
- Week 2: First Wing LFR and Mythic 20-man unlock;
- Week 4: Second Wing LFR and Epic 10-man unlock;
Loot *
- 5 items for a single Mythic 20-man boss, 278 item level (example);
- 2 items for a single Epic 10-man boss, 274 item level (example), just two item levels above a fully upgraded Mythic+ base item;
- Epic 10-man Great Vault would reward the same item level of a +15 Mythic; *
Raid Lockout
- Epic 10-man and Mythic 20-man would share the same raid lockout;
Prestige
- Epic 10-man guilds wouldn’t be able to get Hall of Fame titles/achievements;
- The last boss mount wouldn’t be a guaranteed drop;
- None or reduced drop chance for legendaries compared to Mythic 20-man;
- Separated achievements for Epic 10-man and Mythic 20-man, example:
- Cutting Edge: The Jailer (20-player)
Defeat The Jailer in the Sepulcher of the First Ones on 20-Player Mythic difficulty, before the release of the next raid tier. - Vanguard: The Jailer (10-player)
Defeat The Jailer in the Sepulcher of the First Ones on 10-Player Epic difficulty, before the release of the next raid tier. - Ahead of the Curve: The Jailer
Defeat The Jailer in the Sepulcher of the First Ones on Heroic difficulty or higher, before the release of the next raid tier.
Why do we need a 10-man challenging raid difficulty?
- Without the logistical barriers, more people would come back to hardcore raiding and would remain subbed longer since Epic 10-man progression would be lengthy compared to Heroic;
- Epic 10-man’s would make raiding more attractive for both the Mythic + crowd and the new generation;
- The faction imbalance showed its sharp increase shortly after Mythic 20-man were introduced, and many "Old Heroic" 10-man groups got stuck in the easier and short-lived progression cycle of the new Heroic;
- Many guilds broke, and many people stopped attempting challenging raiding content due to it being locked behind an overly large fixed size;
- Guilds that do heroic raids nowadays with less than 20 players would have another raid option to try after getting AOTC;
- For many people, a 10-man group has a more friendly and healthier environment than a 20-man one, as people usually can run with just their friends or have close bonds with every raider, where everybody knows and hangs with each other most of the time;
- Everyone can talk and have a great time on “Discord” (voice chat) while raiding;
- Fewer recurring discussions, disputes, comparisons, feuds, and tense moments due to the lack of multiple people playing the same classes with different skill levels, and of course due to people having stronger bonds/close relationships in general;
I think this would be a great compromise to bring 10-man challenging raiding content back while keeping the prestige and the RWF of Mythic intact.
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*
Numbers based on 9.2 and the Sepulcher of the First Ones Raid.