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  1. #1

    Blizzard Insider #45 – Mists of Pandaria – Raid Preview

    Blizzard Insider #45 – Mists of Pandaria – Raid Preview
    Originally Posted by Blizzard (Blue Tracker / Official Forums)
    With the launch fast approaching, Blizzard Insider sat down with Lead Encounter Designers Scott Mercer and Ion Hazzikostas to get an inside look at the expansion’s newest raid instance -- Mogu’shan Vaults -- and the ancient secrets and epic encounters that await players inside.

    Before we dive into the details, can you give us a quick overview of the lore behind the Mogu’shan Vaults? How does the raid fit into larger story of Mists of Pandaria?
    Scott Mercer:
    The mogu are an ancient race of evil, ogre-like sorcerers who once dominated Pandaria. At some point in the distant past, all of the warring mogu factions were united by a single tyrannical warlord known as the Thunder King. The Thunder King rose to power the “the mogu way,” namely by eliminating his rivals one by one. According to legend he was able to accomplish this with the help of a mysterious artifact that he found in the depths of a mountain. After his rise to power, he built the Mogu’shan Vaults to contain and protect this secret, and converted the surrounding structure into a sort of shrine dedicated to the mogu empire. The complex houses many of the empire’s lost artifacts and is the resting place of the spirits of old mogu kings.

    Ion Hazzikostas:
    At the time Mists of Pandaria begins, the Thunder King is long gone and the mogu empire has crumbled into isolated factions. As great and powerful secrets are wont to do, the Vaults have attracted a number of interested parties, including Zandalari trolls who are trying to enter the Vaults to get at the ancient source of mogu power, which is the key to their tribe’s survival. When the players arrive, they join forces with a pandaren Loremaster who knows of a way into the Vaults. The Loremasters are a new faction dedicated to learning and retelling the oral history of Pandaria, so the Vaults are naturally a place of tremendous interest to them.




    What’s in store inside the Vaults from the gameplay side?
    Scott Mercer:
    We’re building an epic new raid that includes 10- and 25-player versions with both normal and Heroic modes, as well as another 25-player version available exclusively via the Raid Finder. The Vaults contain six encounters with a wide variety of mechanics.

    What kinds of encounters are planned for the Mogu’shan Vaults?
    Ion Hazzikostas:
    The players’ characters are the first living beings to set foot inside the Mogu’shan Vaults in a few millennia,and the experience plays out as a classic “tomb raid” adventure, with mystical defenders and guardians emerging to protect the place’s secrets. In fact, the first boss encounter involves a pack of giant quilin -- magical, lion-like stone constructs -- that have stood motionless since the Vaults were sealed but awaken as fierce defenders once the players intrude upon their lair. The four quilin statues have different abilities based on the type of stone from which they were carved, and players will have to experiment to uncover their weaknesses. As players venture deeper into the Vaults, they’ll encounter other protectors, including a celestial dragon and the spirits of the mogu kings from ages past.

    Scott Mercer:
    It’s important to note, too, that the Thunder King doesn’t make a direct appearance in the Vaults, though his presence is certainly felt. His original source of power lies hidden deep within the Vaults, and the mogu have learned to use that power to create most of the guardians that the players fight in the Vaults. Observant players may even notice a certain “titanic” influence in lair’s defenses.




    What details can you share about the final boss encounter?
    Ion Hazzikostas:
    The core chamber of the Vaults contains an army of terracotta warriors that are built into recesses within the walls. If players look up, they’ll see these statue-filled niches stretching above them into the distance. When the players enter, the statues begin animating and attacking in huge waves, and the fight quickly turns into a free-for-all. There will be certain heavy-hitting statues that require tanking, and many of the other statues have special abilities to keep the non-tanks busy. It’s going to be a crazy fight that requires lots of crowd control.

    Scott Mercer:
    The encounter as a whole is known as the “Will of the Emperor,” and it represents the Vault’s last line of defense between the players and whatever mysterious power source originally allowed the Thunder King to rise to power. By the time players complete the raid, they should have a clear understanding of how the mogu were able to dominate Pandaria for so long.

    What design challenges have you encountered during the development of the raid so far?
    Ion Hazzikostas:
    In past raids, we’ve worked with a lot of the established races from Warcraft lore. For example, when we sit down to design a troll dungeon, we have a pretty clear idea of what that’s going to look like and what kinds of creatures the players are going to find there -- you know, besides just trolls. Pandaria offered us a blank slate of sorts, as the continent has been alluded to in Warcraft lore, but we’ve never really fleshed out the details until now.

    Scott Mercer:
    This meant we’ve spent a lot of time and energy on building out what we call the “kit” for each of the expansion’s new races. A kit includes all kinds of things, from the armor and weapons used by the race to the architecture and environmental themes that go with the race. Part of the “kit” includes what kinds of monsters are found together; for example, the mogu are fond of using quilin statues as guardians, so those two monster types are often seen together. Our primary goal was to make sure the mogu felt visually and thematically distinct from the other Warcraft races, while still making sure they fit into the larger world of Azeroth. Establishing the kit for the mogu, and indeed all of Pandaria’s races, has been a fun challenge.

    Let’s talk loot! What rewards await players who are strong enough to take on the raid?
    Ion Hazzikostas:
    The raid rewards players with powerful epic items, depending on the difficulty setting: item level 476 for Raid Finder, 489 for normal mode, and 502 for Heroic. There’s also a new mount that can be obtained by defeating Elegon, a celestial dragon found deep within the Vaults. The mount looks a bit like the Celestial Steed, but in the form of a serpentine dragon.

    How does Mogu’shan Vaults fit into the larger raiding plan for Mists of Pandaria?
    Scott Mercer:
    There will be two outdoor world bosses, along with the Mogu’shan Vaults raid instance, available when Mists of Pandaria first launches. One idea we’re considering is to delay opening Mogu’shan Vaults until a week or so after the expansion’s release, similar to how we’ve always handled the start of the PvP season, just to give players a little time to reach level 90 along with their friends and get acclimated to Pandaria’s new 5-player dungeons, daily quests, and scenarios. In any case, Mogu’shan Vaults is just the tip of the iceberg when it comes to the raid content we have lined up for Mists.

    Ion Hazzikostas:
    Mists of Pandaria will also include two other raid zones, which we plan to make available a few weeks after Mogu’shan Vaults: the Heart of the Fear and Terrace of Endless Spring. These two raids feature 10 bosses between the two of them and play out as a two-part story. In the first raid, the Heart of Fear, the players fight the mantid empress who has been possessed by the Sha of Fear. Sha, for those who don’t know, plague Pandaria as physical manifestations of negative emotions, like fear, doubt, and anger, and they tend to have a corrupting influence wherever they take root. When the players defeat the possessed empress, the Sha flees her body and hides elsewhere. In the Terrace of Endless Spring, the next raid instance, the players track down the fleeing Sha and finish it off. Both of these instances are a higher tier than the Mogu’shan Vaults and are designed to be tackled using gear obtained in the Vaults, which is why we plan to make them accessible a few weeks after the Vaults unlock.

    Scott Mercer:
    Yup, and all of this is just the raid content coming before our first major content update. We’ll be announcing even more raiding details in future when we start discussing patch 5.1.




    Thanks for your time. Is there anything else you’d like to share before you go?
    Ion Hazzikostas:
    I just wanted to say thanks to all of our beta testers. We’re very proud of our dungeon and raid content so far, and we’re looking forward to getting it all out there when Mists of Pandaria launches.

    Scott Mercer:
    Yeah, we have big plans for Pandaria’s encounters, and it’s great to see it all starting to come together. Keep the feedback coming!
    Last edited by chaud; 2012-07-30 at 04:35 PM.

  2. #2
    "Hey guys, let's take what was the least fun feature of WotLK raiding and bring it back in style, but with pandas."

    -Blizzard

  3. #3
    Deleted
    Gonna skip panda expansion.

    *Asia this way* ---->

  4. #4
    Stood in the Fire Rairu's Avatar
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    Didn't know till now that all 3 raids won't launch at the same time :<

  5. #5
    Herald of the Titans Theodon's Avatar
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    I really like the sound of an encounter where the fight escilates in to a free for all where reaction and critical thinking saves the day. It's an excellent break from the tank and spank/run away from the fire encounters that seem to make up the backbone of every encounter. I'm going to reserve my actual praises for when I see that the words used to describe the encounter are true however as I've seen selective truth used to polish turds in many a blue post.

    And outdoor raid bosses making a return! Be interesting to see how that develops.

  6. #6
    Making the hardcore raiders have to pace themselves.

    People complained DS was too short, and should have been gated.

    People complain that the initial raid tier of MoP is gated.

    MAKE UP YOUR MINDS. (This is a preemptive post to the oncoming barrage that will follow about all the raids not opening right away. I for one, welcome it. Means those first couple weeks won't be so hectic to try and get all that raiding in)

  7. #7
    They obviously need more time to polish those two dungeons, without delaying the expansion as a whole. I'm fine with that, but i doubt everybody is.

  8. #8
    Quote Originally Posted by ZeroEdgeir View Post
    Making the hardcore raiders have to pace themselves.

    People complained DS was too short, and should have been gated.

    People complain that the initial raid tier of MoP is gated.

    MAKE UP YOUR MINDS. (This is a preemptive post to the oncoming barrage that will follow about all the raids not opening right away. I for one, welcome it. Means those first couple weeks won't be so hectic to try and get all that raiding in)
    I've never seen anyone suggest DS should've been gated. It simply should have been a better end raid with more bosses and better-designed encounters.

  9. #9
    Deleted
    Let me say something
    DS wasnt that bad, and i was raiding for 4 months, i think
    Next raids are going to be released within month after the first raid, so i am totally agreed with that, seriously!

  10. #10
    good i like the fact that i dont have to play like a meth head in the first week to do every heroic 30 times over so i can be raid ready within mins

  11. #11
    I'm glad to see verification that 5.1 will be a raiding tier. And I did not know until now that both Heart of Fear and Terrace of the Endless Springs are both meant to done using gear from the Vaults. But the items aren't a higher iLevel, are they? I mean, I know they didn't meant to say it was an entirely different tier, unless I totally missed something.

    And for chrissakes people, quit your bitching about pandas. You're already playing make-believe in a world of magic and dragons and all sorts of other ridiculous things. It's not exactly the pinnacle of maturity, and if you're so damned insecure about the entire issue, then you're probably a 13-year old boy who still cares what their other little immature friends think about them. GROW UP.

  12. #12
    Fucking gating. This might be enough for me to just not go out and pay the 80 dollars I was going to on the CE. I have 0 interest in WAITING on content that is already finished. /none/

  13. #13
    High Overlord
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    Quote Originally Posted by moveth View Post
    Fucking gating. This might be enough for me to just not go out and pay the 80 dollars I was going to on the CE. I have 0 interest in WAITING on content that is already finished. /none/
    Ok mate, don't participate in the game at all because you have to wait 1 week for a raid. haha.

  14. #14
    This elastic perception of time that serves at the will of complaining, will that by way only serves the need to convince people themselves are "awesomer" than the rest, got old AGES ago.

    That's not a big deal. There is space for everyone.
    And if everyone having a shot bothers you, while each shot is niched and not overlapping, then you should ponder about how fragile is your belief.

  15. #15
    I am kinda curious why only Vaults on release?

  16. #16
    Gating is a viable tactic to give themselves more time to finish the raids. But at the same time. I hate when they use gating to artificially prolong content. If you have to gate something to make it last longer...then you should make more content so it isn't consumed so fast.

  17. #17
    Gated is better. both for casuals and hardcore. I also hope Vaults only come after the first week, so we have time to level, gear and maybe complete the challenge modes gold medals.

  18. #18
    Stood in the Fire Grimalkin of Old's Avatar
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    Do like, tier 11 was bit messy.

  19. #19
    Quote Originally Posted by moveth View Post
    Fucking gating. This might be enough for me to just not go out and pay the 80 dollars I was going to on the CE. I have 0 interest in WAITING on content that is already finished. /none/
    Last time I checked you still have to level up to 90 and then gear out in heroics. You aren't going to be waiting on the content. If anything, either way the content is waiting on YOU.

  20. #20
    Quote Originally Posted by Nekosom View Post
    I'm glad to see verification that 5.1 will be a raiding tier.
    That doesn't really mean anything. Firelands was suppose to be in 4.1 along with ZA/ZG but was pushed back because the raid wasn't finished yet.

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