List of each new raid mechanic tech per expansion

[garicasha]

List of raid mechanics by expansion: (updated 5/28)

Vanilla:

(Only including mechanics that weren't typically encountered while leveling)

Player Knockback (Onyxia)

Clickable items to control (Razorgore, later on Chess and Razuvious 10 adds)

Buff / Debuff lets you see invisible things (Jin'Do)

Damage split between all people soaking (Meteor)

Shared Health Pool (Twin Emperors)

Dynamic Line of Sight (Sapphiron)

Chain Lightning that gets stronger for every person it hits (C'Thun, Thorim)


Debuffs limited to 8 at launch, raised to 16 in patch 1.7

Crushing Blows (causing warriors to be the only real tanks)

Parry haste

Execute abilities

Weapon Skill used for parry / glancing blows

Five second rule for spirit-based mana regeneration

MP5 as a stat

Spells have a 1% chance to miss regardless of hit chance

Taunt counts as a spell and have a baseline 17% chance to miss raid bosses



Potions could be chugged every 2 minutes (regardless of being in combat)

Tier Tokens (AQ)

Weapon Stones / Oils

Flasks were considered absurdly expensive to make at the time, typically main tank only

Certain enchantments very expensive to make

World Buffs work in raids and are enormously powerful



Significant attunement questlines

Raid teleporter



Burning Crusade:

Do damage to nearby players (Gruul)

Soak the beam (Netherspite)
Fire follows the player (Archimonde)

Pinned until someone frees you (Warlord Naj'entus)

Phased Fights (Kalecgos, later on Herald Volazj, Algalon, Mythic Denathrius P3, Scalecommander Sarkareth)

(generally I'm not mentioning things that were just in one fight, but I think Lady Vashj and Kael'Thas get special mention for the ball throwing and legendaries)

Heroic Dungeons

Ratings for stats

Haste

Armor penetration as a stat

Spell penetration

Debuff limit raised to 32

Expertise added in patch 2.3

Arenas

Shamans for Alliance

Paladins for Horde

Notable new abilities: Mass Dispel (Priests), Spell Reflect (Warriors), Seed of Corruption (Warlock), Lifebloom (Druid), Tree of Life (Resto Druid), Bloodlust/Heroism (Shamans), Spellsteal (Mages), Cloak of Shadows (Rogue), Devastate (Prot Warrior)

Stackable HoTs (Lifebloom)

Drums

Crushing Blows disabled for some raid bosses (Archimonde)



Flight

Daily quests

Badges

Flasks slightly less expensive




Wrath of the Lich King:

Collapsing Floor / Dynamic fight arena (Malygos, Lich King)

Lasers follow the player (Kologarn)

Healing Absorb (Jaraxxus)

Orbs / Interacting with AoEs not from a mob (Twin Val'kyr)

Faction-specific fights (Deathbringer Saurfang)

Heal the boss (Valithria)

Vehicles and vehicle fights (Malygos, Flame Leviathan)


Extending Lockouts (3.2.0, Trial)

Debuff limit removed

Maximum spell hit % raised to 100 from 99

Spell Hit and Melee Hit merged in to one stat

Potion cooldown no longer starts until exiting combat

Trinkets that increase the higher of two stats (Death's Choice/Verdict)

Death Knights

Ability to move mobs (Typhoon, Thunderstorm, Death Grip)

Shamans can drop totems all at once

Spells can reset the duration of DoTs / HoTs (Shadow bolt refreshes Corruption, etc.)

Dual Spec

Achievements

Inscription / Glyphs / Darkmoon Cards

Raid attunements removed

Heirlooms / Items that change stats dynamically

Attempt limited bosses

Multiple raid sizes

Multiple raid difficulties (started with Sartharion)

Cinematic after killing boss (Lich King)

All tanks get a taunt

Replenishment

Most bosses become tauntable

All healers get a resurrect

Some weapon speed corrections

Raid wide buffs and lots of them and they made a huge impact on DPS

Feasts

Heroism/Bloodlust raid wide…err wait was that Cata but changed for classic?

Discipline priest becomes a viable PvE raid spec

Phasing

Most legendaries become shard based

Parry haste removed from most bosses

Attack power also scaling spell power

Paladins get Beacon of Light

Dungeon Finder

Smart Heals (Prayer of Mending)

More thought was also put in to what/how abilities were dispelled (gradual)

Notable new abilities (TBD, Shield Slam dispelled a magic effect, Chaos Bolt)

Flasks and potions no longer a significant expense

Weapon stones and oils removed



Cataclysm:

Special Action Button (Ultraxion)

Casting while moving (Spiritwalker's Grace)

Special "Meter" (Lord Rhyolith, Deathwing's roll meter)

Raid elements spawning on the ground (Alysrazor's feathers)

"Form a Chain" mechanic (Hagara, later Mythic Jailer)

Wind pushes you in a direction (Altair in Vortex Pinnacle, probably others)

Jumping Platforms (Al'Akir or Conclave of Wind)

Something does less damage the further you are away from it (Ragnaros Seeds)

Ragnaros Meteors / Knockback

Room fills with lava (Nefarian, don't think this was ever re-used)



Mastery Stat

Reforging

Talent tree overhaul, had to pick a spec then put 31 talents in it.

LFR (Dragon Soul) Heh and personal loot didn't exist yet, I think the randomly appointed raid lead could even select master loot.

Spirit no longer increases health regeneration

MP5 removed

Resistance fights removed

All healers get dispel magic

Every type of weapon has its own designated weapon speed

Mass Rez

Hybrid tax removed

Healing power of hybrids in DPS spec reduced

Hunter resource changed to Focus

Paladins get Holy Power as a resource

Warlocks get soulstones as a resource?

Shamans can move totems with one GCD

Discipline Priests get Atonement

Holy Priests get Chakras

Priests get "Life Grip" aka Leap of Faith

Interrupts go off the GCD

Interrupts don't cost resources?


Patch 4.1:

Interrupts off the GCD no longer miss

Soulstone and Raise Ally become Battle Rezzes

ZA and ZG become 5 mans

Transmog





Mists of Pandaria:

Removed talent trees

Raids reduced to 20 people

Specific "Active Mitigation" abilities for tanks (coulda sworn it was Cataclysm)

Bosses "Shield" from a certain direction (source?)

Tanks have much more control over their own health, less of a distinction between tank healers and raid healers, although this was a gradual change over many years

Expertise gives spell hit (I don't remember this at all)

Flex raid sizes (Siege of Orgrimmar or earlier?)

Personal Loot

Speed Run dungeons for transmog

Leaderboards?

wowarmory?

Monks

Legendaries for everyone

Symbiosis (druid ability)

All warrior abilities could be used in any stance

DKs had Gorefiend's Grasp by Lei Shen for sure, although it might have been Cataclysm





Warlords of Draenor:

Pushback waves

Get your soul back (Nhallish second boss of Shadowmoon Burial Grounds)

Trample the flowers / worms (Yalnu in Everbloom, Cragmaw in Underrot)

Take cover behind barricade (Skulloc in Iron Docks, Viz'aduum the Watcher in Return to Karazhan)

Falling through the floor between stages (Rend Blackhand)

Hands come from the earth and hold you in place (Kromog)

The Floor Moves (Hans'gar and Franzok)

Dispel an ability that doesn't show on the raid UI (Shadow Lord Iskar, Attumen in Mythic+ Lower Kara)

Trains!

I think Warlords is when raid mechanics started having arrows and pointers showing you what to do

Legendary ring...first item that other items your raid members are wearing affects how it works

Multi-strike

Versatility

Avoidance

Leech

Speed

Indestructible

Expertise removed completely

Hit removed completely

Pandemic effect becomes baseline

DoT effects now dynamically scale / removal of snapshotting (think WoD is correct)

Dodge and parry no longer itemized, but old items continued to have it

Spirit changed to a secondary stat

Agility and Intellect no longer add to crit %

Several raid buffs / debuffs removed

Warrior rage generation changed so they weren’t always weak in the first patch and completely off the charts by the last patch

Gladiator stance added, Berserker Stance removed

Reforging removed

Marksmanship hunters get a bonus to damage for standing still for 3 seconds

Abilities that do bonus damage to high health targets (Aimed Shot, Evokers later on)

Mission Tables



Legion:

Mythic+

Orbs move faster or slower (Grand Magistrix Elisande, Manifested Timeways, Chrono Lord Deios)

Ability to hide some raid elements (Kil’jaeden)

Triple cast tank swaps (Aggramar, later Skolex & Rashok)


Icons above the players head (possibly earlier) (Odyn, Star Augur Etraeus)

Spirit removed as a stat

Spellpower removed as a stat

Bonus Armor removed

Multistrike removed

Change spec any time out of combat

Glyphs removed

Cloaks and rings no longer itemized with a primary stat

Legendaries functioning like a talent / like Diablo 3

I think the middle of Legion is when items changed their primary stat

Battle Rezzes on timers

Removal of most raid buffs

Legendary weapon system / Artifact Power

Demon Hunters

Combat spec replaced by Outlaw for rogues

Survival hunter becomes a melee spec

Druids get Displacer Beast (this always made me laugh, they were always so mobile to begin with and then they get a Blink on top of it)

Druid tanks get multiple stacks of Ironfur

Gladiator Stance removed



Dynamic mob level in patch 7.3.5



Battle for Azeroth:

One person sees the "correct" thing to do (High Tinker Mekkatorque, later Hylbrande in Taza'vesh, Lords of Dread / Among Us. This is possibly the same thing as either Jin'Do or Shadow Lord Iskar)

Casting while channeling (Mind Blast during Mind Flay, Vivify during Soothing Mist)

Master loot removed?

Specific abilities for "Active Mitigation" removed

Stat Squish




Shadowlands:

Instant raid teleportation (Xy'mox, Denathrius, So'leah)

Remornia 1-2-3 attack indicated by arrows on the ground (also Failed Experiments in Aberrus)

First bosses that moved an enormous amount during the fight (Sylvanas, Halondrus)

Torghast and the Tarragrue in Sanctum of Domination

Raid buffs re-added

Covenant trees

Ability to melt laptops (Blood Price Denathrius P1)

Level squish



Dragonflight:

Empowering abilities (Fire Breath)

"Recording" spellcasts (Stasis for preservation Evoker, Empowered Tyrstone)

Trip the mob (Neltharus)

Mobs climb up walls (Assault of the Zaqali)

Standing under an orb makes it go slower (Chrono Lord Deios...this might not be new though)

Dragonriding

Return of talent trees

Evokers

Bards aka the Evoker support spec in development


Unanswered question: First boss where you squished bugs / something on the ground
And first boss where you hide behind the barricade aka Skulloc of Iron Docks or final boss of Return to Karazhan


And of course, the number 1 ability of all time:

SASHAY LEFT

[Woobels]

A large chunk of your list is general mechanics not raid mechanics. Anyways I think it was MoP that started the trend of arrows on the floor indicating something is coming from that direction though I'm not sure. Was it Cataclysm or WotLK that first had Extra Action Button in raid fights?

[Phob]

Hunters gained focus as their resource in 4.0.1 not 6.0.

[Infragtes90]

Armor penetration as a stat <- wasnt it comming with wotlk?

Shamans for Alliance <- nope they wehre horde only

Paladins for Horde <- alliance only

[Piando]

First floors that got destroyed were on Malygos in T7, not Blackhand in T17.
We had phased fights before Denathrius. First one that comes to mind is Kalecgos in T6.

I'd add
- the hand mechanic they used a lot since Kromog
- moving floor on Hans'gar and Franzok
- heal the "boss" on Valithria
- hardmodes on Sartharion

[kranur]

raid mechanics tech is misleading since most of them are not raid mechanics

also: - typhoon was added in LK
- titles for all were a thing in vanilla since there were pvp titles
- you also had limited duration items for the atiesh questline

[garicasha]

The extra action button was Ultraxion for sure...my macro for it is still called "Ultraxion" after all these years.

Hunter focus moved to Cata.

Infrag is well-intentioned.

Malygos I don't really count although that is a smart thing to say. The reason it's not quite the same is because in Malygos the arena basically gets removed, whereas in Rend there was probably different behind-the-scenes tech that allowed us to fight on the same x and y coordinates but with a different z. Although I could be completely wrong.

Added your suggestions.

Moved knockbacks back to Wrath, someone told me they were in BC but I was actually originally right.

Removed my references to titles and limited duration items.

Also added Warcraft's supreme raid mechanic at the bottom.

[Rustov]

Moved knockbacks back to Wrath, someone told me they were in BC but I was actually originally right.

What do you consider The Lurker Below's Water Spout?

[czarek]

Armor penetration as a stat <- wasnt it comming with wotlk?

Nope. It was TBC.

Oh the taunt resist That was so much fun. Ahhhh classic WoW.

[neescher]

Armor penetration as a stat <- wasnt it comming with wotlk?

Shamans for Alliance <- nope they wehre horde only

Paladins for Horde <- alliance only

Unless the original post was edited, they're currently listed in the BC category, which is correct. Alliance got Shamans in BC and Horde got Paladins in BC.

[Phob]

With your post saying denathrius is the first phased fight what about garrosh hellscream and his legit different forms through out the fight and having to go through 3 different health bars? lol and before that Ragnaros from firelands had a heroic only "phase". Phased fights have been in existence for a looooong time before denathrius.

[erifwodahs]

With your post saying denathrius is the first phased fight what about garrosh hellscream and his legit different forms through out the fight and having to go through 3 different health bars? lol and before that Ragnaros from firelands had a heroic only "phase". Phased fights have been in existence for a looooong time before denathrius.

Yeah, list is completely inconsistent in details - Denarius was not so much a "phased fight" - but "mirror phase" which is very different from the likes of lets say first phased fight - Kalecgos in Sunwell or Algalon in Ulduar (third, if you count OS with drakes). The whole list might as well be "notable mechanics and changes"

Also it doesn't mention Tazavesh from SL - the Music boss, the market event, mailman - tho that one is debatably just a modified mechanic of "click and drop". Doesn't mention random torghast powers in second raid either. I am sure if I looked at every boss in the last few expansions - there will be a lot of stuff missing here.

[danki1337]

weapon oils existed in vanilla

[Phob]

Yea I started in cata, I believe if a list like this is to be created it should have at least done a bit more research and compiled more correct information

[garicasha]

When I dreamt up the idea for this thread bored at work, I thought this was gonna be like a 2-3 item thing per expansion. But then I started including changes to itemization, and it just kept going.

But like the sheer size of the game with how old some of this stuff is...plus the fact that like in BC I didn't raid hardcore...or in Pandaria, sort of in WoD, not at all in BfA...so I know like half the game super well but there's all these gaps.

I updated Kalecgos to being the first phased fight but forgot to remove it from Denathrius.

I need to add Torghast, that was definitely new tech.

I don't really feel that Taza'vesh had new tech, although some of the mechanics were...well even those were probably from earlier fights.

What's the first fight with dynamic walls, like Neltharion in Aberrus? Sapphiron's ice blocks were sort of that but I have a hunch that internally the two are completely different.


Ok here's a possible toughie....

When did absorbs start getting reported to the client correctly?

[Echo of Soul]

Good job. Almost nothing in that huge wall of text are actual raid mechanics.

[LanToaster]

When I dreamt up the idea for this thread bored at work, I thought this was gonna be like a 2-3 item thing per expansion. But then I started including changes to itemization, and it just kept going.

Certainly an Interesting list, but I would recommend on Formatting it and add Categories, right now its just a Mess sadly.

[Thalanos]

Chain Lightning that gets stronger for every person it hits (Thorim)

C'thun P1 not counting?

[garicasha]

C'thun P1 not counting?

Heh funny you say that, as I was falling asleep last night I was like...wait a minute C'Thun had that

[Zafu]

Two for MoP:

-Shields that prevent you attacking an enemy from a certain angle.
-Forces that act to push a player in a specific direction - e.g. Lei Shi, Lei Shen.