WoW Dungeons & Raids Panel Rundown
I had a chance to sit up close and follow the WoW Dungeons & Raids Panel. You can read my rundown of the entire panel after the jump.
- How an epic idea forms
- Where is this place?
- Who lives here?
- What will players do?
- Why is this epic?
- Layout
- Created in a 2D layout
- Shows player flow
- Bosses
- Points of interest
- Four Floors in Icecrown Citadel
- Must kill 2 bosses in Sanctuary of the Gods to activate the elevator to access the rest of the instance.
- Block it out
- Layout in 3D
- Very basic no or very little art
- Ingame and playable
- Check the scale... check it again... one more time.
- Teleporters should be seen more like in Ulduar
- This is a template for Artists
- Dungeon Interaction
- Doors and Elevators
- Destructible objects
- Choosing wisely
- Works closely with Artists
- Awesome Artists
- Amazing Concepts
- Dungeon Artists begins final art
- Works closely with the design team
- Encounter Design
- Starts with a brainstorming session of the encounter team
- They identify new art and technology they could use.
- What makes it cool?
- Provide variety
- Bringing it to Life
- Use their own custom tool called "Wowedit"
- Creature placement
- Spell creation
- Action Scripting - Such as how mobs pat around while not in combat.
- Playtesting
- They play the Dungeons first
- 5 people on the team
- Lots of different iterations
- Goes to QA and then to PTR
- They do listen to feedback even know they don't respond.
- Cataclysm Preview
- Raids
- Grim Batol
- Skywall
- Firelands
- Blackwing Descent
- Dungeons
- Grim Batol
- Uldum
- Deepholme
- Skywall
- Abyssal Maw
- Blackrock Cavern
- Abyssal Maw
- 5 player instance in the Sunken City of Vashj'ir
- Has two wings.
- The entrance is the giant vortex in the middle of the city that literally pulls you in.
- Experience a dungeon on the ocean floor.
- Non-linear dungeon
- Windows on the sides of the dungeons that lets you take a peak into the world outside.
- Levels 78-82
- Halls of Origination
- First of two dungeons in Uldum
- The Ultimate Titan Dungeon
- It is World of Warcraft's take on Egyptian pyramids.
- Non-linear dungeon.
- What will Brann Bronzebeard discover in these Halls?
- There is a secret weapon rumoured to be located here that everyone wants.
- Blackrock Cavern
- Entirely new instance in Blackrock Mountain
- Chance to reinvent a fan favourite
- Occupied by the Twighlight Hammer
- New art, loot, and creatures
- Why is the Twighlight Hammer here?
- The Beast still lurks...
- Raids
- Icecrown Citadel
- 31 Bosses... 12 Bosses
- Makes usage of teleporters similar to Ulduar
- Sindragosa and the Lich King himself are here.
- Four floors in the instance.
- At one point you will ride your faction's airship and race the opposing faction to the top of the citadel.
- You will need to use cannons and jet packs to board the other ship and disable it also while protecting your own.
- The fourth floor will contain the Frozen Throne and the Lich King himself.
- The floors will break and fall during the Arthas encounter.
- Icecrown Dungeons
- Three separate dungeons must be unlocked in order.
- 8 bosses total.
- An epic quest line.
- Fight alongside major lore Heroes such as Jaina.
- Blackwing Descent
- Fly into Nefarian's lair and a raid portal will be there to enter the new raid.
- Nefarian makes a return.
- Inspired by Blackwing Lair.
- Old friends with make an appearance.
- The Firelands
- Elemental Plane of Fire
- Ruled by Ragnaros
- Exterior Raid zone.
- A chance to fight Ragnaros finally at his full strength.
- Onyxia 5th Anniversary
- Updated mechanics
- New and updated loot based on the original drops.
- Many whelps and MORE DOTS!
- Even more Deep Breath randomization!
- Some loot from Molten Core was updated and added to Onyxia.
- Cross Server Looking for Group
- Supports only 5 player dungeons right now.
- Similar to how Battlegrounds work where everyone in the same Battlegroup can do the same instance.
- Designed for PUG's
- A reward system for people who lead groups through instances.
- Coming in 3.3
