So Blizzard is always talking about the fact that they wish they could make a truly epic boss that doesn't get beaten down within a couple days, so I thought for fun (and to relieve myself of boredom) I would share my Deathwing encounter ideas.
So I'm not sure how it should start off yet - since I don't know all the things Blizzard has planned for Deathwing to do outside of instance (involving other Dragon Aspects and questing events), but let's say it goes like this:
You enter a very large room (about twice-three times the size of the Twin Emperor's room in the Temple of Ahn'Quiraj) and in the distance the raid can see a very large throne made from scales of various Dragonflights, excluding black. Torches and flames outline the room, but aside from eerie scenery the large domain is empty.
Alexstrasza (forgive me if I'm spelling her name incorrectly) in her blood elf form is standing beside you and looking around with you - she suddenly says "This doesn't look promising, after all we've been through in this dreadful place their King himself is absent. If we just.."
(Deathwing's voice echoing) "You blind fools... Not only do you have the audacity to assault my newly made home, but you've gained enough wit to challenge me, the Worldbreaker, in a battle that can only end one way..."
(Alexstrasza) "Deathwing... You've gone too far! Look at what you've turned yourself into! Look upon the chaos you've created and the havoc you sewn through the world you were made to protect! The Old Gods have tainted your mind far beyond repair... and I know my words won't distinguish your endless lust for gain."
(Deathwing) "Lifebinder... do you realize what I have become? More powerful than any being in the realm of Azeroth - something that you and my other kin could never hope to accomplish. You see me as a tainted, but your mind can only comprehend so much. My power is limitless, and death is the glorious gift I shall give to the unworthy of this world... only those who stand before me willing to slave away to my will can survive (Deathwing (human form) enters across the room, a small sillohette can be seen making his way toward the large throne structure).
(Alextrasza turns to the raid) "I only sense death here... you must leave! I will handle this monstrosity myself! Your lives are too preciou..."
(Deathwing, now sitting atop the large throne) "Enough petty conversation! There is no escape, not for this world, and not for you. (All surrounding access closes off) - Prepare yourselves, for your inevitable doom awaits you here."
(Alexstrasza) "We'll have to face him together this time... gather yourselves (horde/alliance)! Not even I can predict the outcome of this madness... Tonight we fight for Azeroth."
(Deathwing) "Your words are as empty as your future, Lifebinder! (Now yelling) COME, FACE THE DARK ONE HIMSELF!! (Loud, echoing roar)!
The battle then begins, the raid is already in combat though Deathwing still stands upon his throne far in the distance of the room - Deathwing then casts a very noticeable spell that thunders from his arms and hits the stone ceiling, it blasts off to reveal a red sky, swirling with dark storms.
At this point, the raid moves forward, approaching Deathwing's great throne (so far the battle has just been an in-game cinematic.. now the encounter actually begins) meteors, called on by Deathwing, fall from the sky and make getting close to Deathwing difficult. (Phase 1 is actually getting up to Deathwing's throne, rocks are falling from the sky and maybe other obstacles such as fire are present - you'll have to learn a rotation similar to the "DDR fight" in Naxx in order to survive).
Phase 2, players finally come in contact with the throne but it's tall and Deathwing (still in human form) is out of reach. He lets out a large grunt and says something quickly in draconic while jumping from his throne to the opposite side of the raid. Upon cotact with the ground Deathwing begins transformation in Dragon form - the raid stands in awe as the figure (about three times the size of Nefarian) finally stands before them. The tank must gain threat because Deathwing randomly targets a player from the raid (which will = immediate death upon attack aside from the tank).
(Deathwing amidst transformation) "NO ONE WILL ESCAPE... NOTHING CAN STOP ME... MY ...POWER... IS ETERNAL!!!!" -- Now the fight, which I haven't thought all the way through, proceeds as rock still falls from the sky and the raid must avoid these obstacles in order to stay alive.
Now, since I don't have the entirety of the fight scoped out, I'll just share a few tactics and/or phase events that I thought would be a refreshing, fun change.
Prioritize/Timer Mechanic -- Deathwing, under his health tooltip, will have a "chaotic energy" bar, which will slowly fill throughout the fight. If this bar ever gets COMPLETELY full, Deathwing will cast a spell called "Dark Incineration" that sends a wall of black flames from his body in all directions, that - besides having an awesome animation - will inevitably wipe the entire raid. THIS IS NOT an enrage timer, it's a fight mechanic that will have to be watched throughout. In order to avoid certain death, the raid will have to stop attacking Deathwing himself, and target a peice of armor holding him together (HP of the armor pieces will vary by size, the raid will have to prioritize based on what phase of the fight they are in, otherwise it will take to long and/or get too complicated) Once a piece is knocked off it will buy the raid more time to lower Deathwing's HP (Ugh, okay, I just thought about the fact that the armor is holding him together to keep his power from consuming him... so it wouldn't really make sense if this "lowered" the bar, but bare with me here - something to that extent, let's say).
Flying Mechanic -- I thought it would be awesome if at some point Deathwing's massive body took to the air and while the rest of the raid avoided his attacks and the rocks falling from the sky, a few players would have the oppurtunity to mount Alexstrasza (at this point in Dragon form) and control her as a flying mount with multiple abilities - kind of like the Occulus instance. There would be like 4 players on her back, controlling various things (one for moment, another for firebreath, another for a healing ability when the time is right). This would happen a few times so most of the raid would get a turn, and the rest of the raid would probably be doing something besides "dodging" - maybe fighting unique black dragon mobs, or something similar.
And lastly,
Ending Mechanic -- I'm not sure if this one would even work out in the slightest way, but I thought it would be AWESOME, and different. So when Deathwing gets to about 5%, his "chaotic energy" bar fills and there is nothing you can do, since at this point all of his armor will be knocked off - therefore making his power increase at an unstoppable rate. When it fills, he starts casting the unblockable, always killing spell - but before he finishes, Alexstrasza desperately sacrifices herself to save ONE member of the raid from the explosion ("To you... I grant the last of my power... finish this monster off..."). All other raid members die.
THEN, it breaks off into a couple minutes of talking again - Deathwing says something to the extent of "Alexstrasza gave her power away to an imbecile like you? HA HA HA HA... Now I see how blind the old aspect really was. Make no mistake, you don't stand a chance agaist limitless power!" - but because the raid knocked so much of his armor off, and being in a weakened state, Deathwing is forced to return to human form to reserve energy. THIS is where the final stage begins - a one on one DUEL between a RANDOM member of the raid (already chosen at this point), and Deathwing himself.
-- Now, they could do so much with this and make it unbelievably epic, but I thought of a few things just now that would make it incredibly exciting.
Okay, the rest of the raid is dead, BUT they are in spirit form - UNABLE to move around, they can only stand right above their dead bodies. The one on one duel is going on, but it's impossible for the one member of the raid to finish Deathwing off, even at 5% and to withstand Deathwing's powerful blows, so the rest of the raid in spirit form (I'm not sure how this would be explained - something to the extent of Alexstrasza let off an aura when sacrificing herself that contained the spirits of those who died, and they'll later be rezzed if the "dueler" succeeds) will have to buff, heal, and grant extra DPS to the dueler -- more on certain areas depending on the class of the dueler... keep in mind, it could be a clothy priest.
--So this adds all sorts of mechanics, during the earlier fight you need to WATCH WHERE YOU DIE, to make sure you can reach the dueler if you will be granting heals and such. Also, the dueler needs to kite Deathwing around based on where certain dead bodies are in order to survive.
So, to summarize, the final phase would be an epic duel between a random raid member (enhanced with alexstrasza's power) and the rest of the raids spirits for buffs in order to bring Deathwing to defeat. In my opinion, this would add an aspect of excitement each time you'd go in for the Deathwing encounter that couldn't be matched in any other fight thus far. Plus, they should make an AWESOME title for the person who survives fighting Deathwing one on one. "CHINMASTER <Name>" for example.
As for Alexstrasza, I'm not sure if they are planning on killing her off, in fact I would guess that they aren't. But that's the only way I thought I could justify one member of the raid surviving Deathwing's explosion of chaos.
ANYWAY, sorry for the EXTREMELY long read, as you can tell I am quite bored at the moment, and I thought it would be fun to get some feedback, see what you guys out there think of this whole idea. (Keep in mind, I only took about 15 seconds on each of the dialogues - so don't hate, I know they could be much more epic and realistic sounding. That's where Blizzard comes in.)
POST AWAY! ...and thanks for reading!