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[Patch] The Depths of Grim Batol - Please Comment!
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Post by
Arathanar
Post-Cataclysm Info:
Yes, Grim Batol is now an instance and raid in Cataclysm. I still like writing this, however, and I like to think it's still kind of a good read. So, the patch continues!
Reading Music
Introduction
For those of you who are unaware, Grim Batol is a location in the Wetlands. It can been found to the southeast, through the long, hostile red dragonkin-filled Dragonmaw Gates.
The reason these Red Dragons were hostile was because they represented trash mobs for those killing
Axtroz
for the
Horde Onyxia Chain
. Now that a key is no longer required for that instance, these dragons no longer need to be hostile, and the storyline that was established in Night of the Dragon can continue from the point of view of the players.
Note: this takes place in my imaginary theoretical expansion, Fury of the Maelstrom. It won't come into this idea much, I promise.
The Story So Far
Three hundred years ago, in the first War of the Three Hammers, after the death of High King Modimus Anvilmar, control of Ironforge Mountain was contested between the Bronzebeard, Wildhammer, and Dark Iron clans of dwarves.
The Bronzebeard Clan was eventually victorious, and though they remained opposed to to the Dark Iron Clan, they quickly restored ties with the Wildhammer Clan, which had rebuilt their holdings, and more, in their new capital, the city of Grim Batol.
However, the Sorcerer-Thane Thaurissan of the Dark Iron nation was not content to brood in his holdings in what was then the northern Redridge Mountains. He prepared to wage a second War of the Three Hammers, this time leading a two-pronged attack on Ironforge and Grim Batol.
Both Thaurissan and his magus wife, Modgud, possessed knowledge of an incredibly destructive secret: the
Cipher of Damnation
, a terrible curse that sunders the barrier between a world and the elemental plane.
While Thaurissan lead the attack against Ironforge, using the Cipher to destroy the Redridge Mountains and summon Ragnaros the Firelord, Modgud lead her forces towards Grim Batol. There she used the words of Damnation to bring forth unspeakable horrors from the eternal prisons below Azeroth.
The battle was eventually won for the Wildhammer, but Grim Batol was forever cursed. They sadly abandoned their home for the second time, and journeyed north, into the forests of Lordaeron, where they would establish Aerie Peak.
Grim Batol would lie abandoned and silent for nearly three hundred years, until, after the Second War, the desperate Dragonmaw Clan, controlled by the hand of Deathwing, took up the fortress-city as their base of operations, not dwelling deep enough to provoke the horrors in the depths.
The Dragon-Queen, Alextrasza, was ensnared their for a time, restrained by the power of the Demon Soul, an incredibly powerful artifact with the power of all dragonflights, excluding the black.
However, the Dragonmaw were defeated, and Deathwing was forced to flee. However, his whereabouts have been completely unknown for twenty years, and all paths seem to lead back to Grim Batol.
Recent Developements
With the birth of the Moira Bronzebeard's half-Dark Iron son and heir to the Ironforge throne, a new chance for peace between the factions of Khaz Modan is ever close.
However, the Black Dragonflight has been spotted in massive numbers near Grim Batol, and the forces of the Red Dragonflight in the area have been pushed back to the entrance of the Dragonmaw Gates by their incursion. The small intelligence that can be gathered suggests that experiments on the remains of the Demon Soul have continued, and the newly-formed Twilight Dragonflight has grown in number exponentially.
Worse, even the Black Dragonflight is having trouble containing the faceless horrors, which, after all these years, seem to have finally risen from their slumber to attack those who would intrude upon their home, and who knows what dark power may control them from below. Because of these recent developments, the neutral Bronzebeard Expedition has arrived on the scene to study the situation.
When the situation could not seem to get any worse, the unthinkable happened: in the depths of the Chamber of Aspects, thousands of Black Dragonkin sprung from the Obsidian Sanctum, slaying hundreds of the Wyrmrest Accord. Thankfully, with the aid of the reallied Blue Dragonflight, the attack was staved off and the Sanctum's portal destroyed.
A massive offense has been launched on Grim Batol, and new allies have been found: The Thorium Brotherhood, not content to allow their Dark Iron clan to convert entirely into the monstrous
Skardyn
, have appealed to King Magni Bronzebeard. With his new grandson's heritage, the dwarven king has agreed to allow the Brotherhood into the Bronzebeard Clan provided they assist the Explorer's League in researching and sealing the evil beneath Grim Batol.
4.1: The Depths of Grim Batol
The actual patch is named "The Depths of Grim Batol". Like Fury of the Sunwell, Secrets of Ulduar, and Call of the Crusade, The Depths of Grim Batol incorporates content on many levels: solo play, five-man instances, player vs. player, and raiding. As the first patch of the third expansion, Fury of the Maelstrom, the difficulty of Grim Batol is comparable to Serpentshrine Cavern, The Eye, and Ulduar.
Factions
Like any large patch, The Depths of Grim Batol adds a new faction. Two, in fact!
The Ruby Union
Bound by their betrayal by the Black Dragonflight, born in the bowels of the Obsidian Sanctum, the four remaining dragonflights - with the blues lead by
Arygos
as an interim measure - have banded together to defeat the Black Dragonflight. Their rewards consist mainly of tank and healer items, along with a new Brood of Alexstrasza drake mount at exalted. Reputation is rewarded from Dailies, the Netherwing Chambers, and Upper Grim Batol. This faction is NOT championable.
The Bronzebeard Alliance
Bound by their oath to King Bronzebeard and the deteriorating future of their race, the Thorium Brotherhood has beseeched the dwarves of Ironforge for help. Striking a deal with the Explorer's League, this alliance of Dark Iron and Bronzebeard Dwarves seeks to research and seal away the evil beneath Grim Batol. Their rewards consist mostly of magical and melee DPS items, along with the title "Prospector" at exalted. Reputation is rewarded from Dailies, the Twilight Citadel, and the Underhalls. This faction is NOT championable.
Solo Content
In much the same way as Fury of the Sunwell did, The Depths of Grim Batol adds a new daily quest hub around the PvE focus of this patch, Grim Batol.
More specifically, the Dragonmaw Gates, Grim Batol, and the mountain separating it from the rest of the Wetlands now belongs to its own zone, Garok Modan. Also like Fury of the Sunwell, the daily quest hubs are progressive: the more daily quests complete, the more hubs. Each hub confers it's own zone-wide buff.
Unlike Fury of the Sunwell, however, completing a certain amount of daily quests does not unlock the new hub immediately. Rather, completing the required amount triggers a 36-hour event in which the forces of the Red Dragonflight and the Bronzebeard Expedition battle either the faceless ones or the Black Dragonflight, depending on the location. Each acquired location engages one of these events, which are unique to each to each hub.
During these 36 hours, event-only quests are available to shorten the time of the event down to a possible 6 hours. It is not possible to "fail" an event; only to allow it to take the maximum amount of time. During the event, normal daily quests are not available, and many NPCs are in entirely different locations.
Some hubs require other hubs to be unlocked to become available, and a linear path does exist for main locations. Optional hubs do exist, and exist purely for the extra quests and zone-wide buff they provide. Quests to unlock new locations on the main path come from the point before them, while those that unlock optional hubs come from the location those optional hubs require.
A list of locations is below, in order of the linear path, and with optional locations in sublists.
Ruby Enclave (starts unlocked)
Gate Ruk'tharWrecked Caravan
The Obsidian Maw
Netherprison
Chromatic Laboratory
Gate Mosh'drak
Anak'zuum Rift
The Tenebrous Overlook
The Faceless Drop
Molok's Fall
Gate Gan'krush
Ebonwing Post
Dun Thaurissan
Grim Batol
Neltharion's Roost
Twilight Bulwark
Blackbrood Cave
Shrine of Xanas
On Hard Modes and Item Level
Almost every encounter has a hard mode. Some are binary (normal and hard mode), some are trinary (normal, hard, hardest), some are quarternary (normal, hard, harder, hardest), and some are pentanary (normal, hard, harder, very hard, hardest). Generally, the number of hard modes corresponds to the importance of the boss. End bosses and bosses at the end of a section generally have more hard modes, where minibosses and regular bosses have fewer or none.
Item levels are adjusted accordingly. In Rage of the Maelstrom, the Heroic iLvl is 298, roughly equivalent to iLvl 200 items now. Tier 11 (raids in 4.0) raids drop iLvl 312 items, equivalent to iLvl 213, and Tier 12 (Depths of Grim Batol) raids drop iLvl 326, equivalent to iLvl 226. End bosses and other important encounters will always drop items of an iLvl 14 higher than the rest of the instance, factored in after considering hard modes. Hard modes adjust as such:
Binary hard modes are simple. Hard mode kills result in iLvl 340 items.
Trinary hard mode kills drop iLvl 333 items on hard mode and iLvl 340 on hardest mode.
Quarternary kills drop iLvl 331 items on hard mode, iLvl 335 on harder mode, and iLvl 340 on hardest mode.
Pentanary kills drop iLvl 330 items on hard mode, iLvl 333 on harder mode, iLvl 337 on very hard, and iLvl 340 items on hardest.
Example 1
: Deathwing, an important boss with a pentanary hard mode, is killed on the Very Hard setting. This means he starts out at iLvl 326, but gets an additional 11 for Very Hard mode and 14 more for being important. The final result is an iLvl of 351.
Example 2
: Twilaggus, an unimportant boss with a trinary hard mode, is killed on Hardest difficulty. He starts out at iLvl 326, and gets an additional 14 for Hardest mode. The final result is an iLvl of 340.
On Raid Tokens and Raid Modes
Tokens in Fury of the Maelstrom are represented by Sigils, which function almost exactly like Emblems in Wrath of the Lich King, except for a few differences.
You may have noticed that I did not differentiate between 10-man and 25-man iLvl rewards. This is because they are the same. 10-man and 25-man follow identical progression paths. The only difference is the amount of loot dropped.
Normal and Heroic raid modes, introduced in 3.2, are not applied. Hard modes are not always binary and are activated manually in a boss-by-boss manner.
Item Level increases of more than 14, caused by Hard Modes or Important Bosses, will merit an upgrade to the next badge level. This stacks, meaning that completing an important encounter on Hardest mode grant you Sigils two tiers above that of the current dungeon. The last two badge varieties are only found this way.
Finally, you can trade up lower tier Sigils for higher tier varieties.
8 Sigils of Chivalry, tokens awarded in heroic five man instances, can be exchanged for 1 Sigil of Knowledge, the Tier 11 token..
10 Sigils of Knowledge can be exchanged for 1 Sigil of Exploration, the Tier 12 token (and the one used in this patch).
12 Sigils of Exploration can be exchanged for 1 Sigil of Bravery, the Tier 13 token.
14 Sigils of Bravery can be exchanged for 1 Sigil of Victory, the Tier 14 token and final token of Rage of the Maelstrom received normally.
16 Sigils of Victory can be exchanged for 1 Sigil of Dominance. This token can be obtained by completing Tier 14 bosses on Hardest mode or defeating important Tier 14 bosses on any difficulty mode lower than hardest.
18 Sigils of Dominance can be exchanged for 1 Sigil of Creation. This token may only be obtained by defeating an important boss on Hardest difficulty.
For example, fighting Deathwing on normal mode or Twilaggus on Hardest mode would reward a Sigil of Dominance. However, fighting Deathwing on Hardest mode would reward a Sigil of Creation, if they were Tier 14 bosses.
These exchanges do not apply in reverse. Instead, higher-to-lower is a 1:1 ratio, meaning that 1 Sigil of Creation equals 1 Sigil of Chivalry, not 3,870,720. However, it
does
require 3,870,720 Sigils of Chivalry to get one Sigil of Creation. Thus, unless you're willing to spend 271 years running 10 heroics per day, people who've never run a raid in their life won't be getting Sigils of Creation.
Titles are awarded for achieving a minimum item level for each Sigil in all slots, as follows:
Full iLvl 298 confers "<name> the Chivalrous".
Full iLvl 312 confers "<name> the Knowledgeable".
Full iLvl 326 confers "<name> the Dungeoneer".
Full iLvl 340 confers "<name> the Brave".
Full iLvl 364 confers "<name> the Victorious".
Full iLvl 378 confers "<name> the Dominant".
Full iLvl 392 confers "<name> the Creator".
Sigils are turned in in different places, usually associated with the instance their ILvl is found in. A list of locations is below:
Sigils of Chivalry are turned in at Boralus in Kul Tiras for the Alliance and Zul'Dazar on Zandalar for the Horde.
Sigils of Knowledge are turned in at the Argent Fleet above the Maelstrom.
Sigils of Exploration are turned in at the Ruby Enclave in Garok Modan.
Sigils of Bravery are turned in at the Undermine on Kezan.
Sigils of Victory, Dominance, and Creation are turned in at the Tirisfallen Grove on the Broken Isles.
Read on several posts down.
Post by
Adamsm
Shade of Cho'gall
Cho'gall's shade is a transparent two-headed ogre, robed in purple garments covered in the Hammer's insignia.
That wouldnt work man, Cho'gall is the new weapon of the Old God's in Silithus, he's fighting Valeesa right now in the comics.
As for the rest, yes Grim Batol is cursed, but not by the Old God's. Between what the War of Three Hammer's stirred up and Deathwing, if there was an Old God there it would have attacked long before now.
Post by
Arathanar
Shade of Cho'gall
Cho'gall's shade is a transparent two-headed ogre, robed in purple garments covered in the Hammer's insignia.
That wouldnt work man, Cho'gall is the new weapon of the Old God's in Silithus, he's fighting Valeesa right now in the comics.
As for the rest, yes Grim Batol is cursed, but not by the Old God's. Between what the War of Three Hammer's stirred up and Deathwing, if there was an Old God there it would have attacked long before now.
Shade. I'm presuming he's dead at this point.
The Old God stuff is speculation. The language used to describe Modgud's curse seems fairly similar to that of the Old Gods. Most likely untrue, but hey, why not?
Also, I never actually mentioned the Old Gods. Faceless ones, yes, but not Old Gods.
Post by
ArgentSun
I believe what Adamsm meant was that Cho'gall is alive and in an entirely different place (AQ). So if his Shade implies his death (like with the Shade of Aran)... it just doesn't work. He is alive, so his Shade cannot exist.
The thing is, the last time I checked the comic, it was a little outdated, compared to the current action in WoW. By the time this supposed patch comes to life, everything could have happened.
But even ignoring the difference in time periods, Cho'gall's problem is easily fixable:
The Shade is a mere avatar of Cho'gall, who was sent to Grim Batol to oversee the Cult's activity/progress.
There is no Shade, but Cho'gall himself, who teleported himself to the Tower to personally inspect the Cult's activities/progress.
As for the "patch" itself, I again like it. Regardless of what you are not telling us (yet?) about the raid content, I too am starting to believe that there is an Old God lurking underneath Grim Batol. There have been quite a few indications in both game and books that the evil there is something darker, different, and potentially greater than the black dragons, who seem to like the place.
Good job overall, and especially with the daily quest hubs with the twist added.
Post by
Skreeran
I think Aranthar means that by the time of the proposed patch, Cho'gall has in fact been killed and taken care of and now his shad haunts Grim Batol. ;)
Post by
Gnub
Seems an awful lot like the writeup I did concerning the connections between Deathwing and the Old Gods, before Ulduar was released.
You can read it
here
, if you want to. We have a lot of ideas in common! :)
<- huge Deathwing-fan. :P
Post by
Eveko
nice ideas. But i would not think of any old gods in Grim Batol...
Btw how do you do those red squares ? i would like to use em as well for future posts
Post by
Arathanar
I think Aranthar means that by the time of the proposed patch, Cho'gall has in fact been killed and taken care of and now his shad haunts Grim Batol. ;)
Exactly. I'm assuming that Valeera or whoever will break out the kung-fu Mary Sue action and wtfpwn Cho'gall before this imaginary patch ever happens.
As for you, Gnub, I had not yet read that, but it was interesting. In this patch, however, the Black Dragonflight and the Old Gods are opposing forces, frequently seen battling each other.
Post by
ArgentSun
Nice tossing Zendarin in there.
Post by
Arathanar
Well, the expansion is coming out. Deathwing is related to Grim Batol, Grim Batol IS a raid instance, and the Twilight's Hammer are located there. Hooray for awesome predictions!
And maybe some thread necromancy...
Post by
Adamsm
Meh, heh. Of course only thing of yours I didn't like was Cho'gall so.... lol.
Post by
Arathanar
On Tier Sets and Tokens
Unlike previous class sets for raids, Tier Sets in Fury of the Maelstrom are received in a far more linear fashion, and it much more likely to receive a full set of each tier before moving on.
Instead of Set Tokens, there's now quests for Tier Sets, a la Dungeon Set 2. However, instead of requiring another set at reagents (like DS2 required DS1), they require Sigils. For example:
Arathanar wants to get Drakestalker Armor.
Arathanar goes to the Ruby Enclave and starts the quest for said armor.
Arathanar completes the quests for each piece, in order. Generally, each quest involves one boss inside the instance.
Arathanar turns in the quests, each time also paying a variable amount of Sigils.
Arathanar then gradually receives his Drakestalker Armor.
Pieces would still be positioned as they are now. Gloves and belt, for example, would be on earlier (but not the first) bosses, whereas headpieces and chestpieces would be on penultimate and final bosses.
Tier Sets for each class for 4.1 are named as follows:
Priest: Lightwalker Raiment
Druid: Ursoc Battlegear
Hunter: Drakestalker Armor
Warlock: Witherheart Regalia
Mage: Evocation Regalia
Paladin: Depthforged Armor
Warrior: Executioner Battlegear
Shaman: Earthmender Raiment
Rogue: Etherblade Battlegear
Death Knight: Bonefrost Armor
Runemaster: Lavascribed Battlegear
Five-Man Instance
Depths of Grim Batol has two five man instances: the Twilight Citadel and the Netherwing Chambers, both on equal difficulty levels.
Twilight Citadel
The Twilight Citadel is the hub of Twilight's Hammer activity in Grim Batol, laying directly north of the Twilight Bulwark. If the server has not yet unlocked the Twilight Bulwark, players may ride to the Citadel on the back of a red drake from the Ruby Enclave.
The Citadel is essentially a very large version of the standard mage tower, but entirely of dark stone. Trash mobs are found in the outer, upward spiraling hallways, and boss encounters take place in the center chambers. The bosses are as follows:
Shadow Lord Dementrus
Dementrus is a standard human, using the cultist skin (with purple marks on the face and albino skin), in standard dark robes and shoulders that generate a green flame.
Conglomerous, Pyran, Aeruun, Aquiis, and Terrag
Conglomerous is a mana elemental, with mana flares surrounding him, whereas Pyran, Aeruun, Aquiis, and Terrag are fire, air, water, and earth elementals, respectively.
Shade of Cho'gall
Cho'gall's shade is a transparent two-headed ogre, robed in purple garments covered in the Hammer's insignia.
Netherwing Chambers
Like the Twilight Citadel, the Netherwing Chambers are an extension of a daily quest hub, Blackbrood Cave. The chambers are located in the cliffside of the northern mountain, and those who have not yet unlocked Blackbrood may take a fight to the area via Ruby Enclave.
The Chambers are the most important series of Twilight Dragonflight brooding areas outside of Grim Batol itself. In the chambers, the essence of captured Nether Drakes is extracted, corrupted with a shard of the Demon soul, and then used to birth a Twilight Dragon.
Qerraku the Broken
Qerraku is a nether drake, bound by magical chains. At the end of the fight, Qerraku becomes friendly and helps the players navigate the instance.
Broodlord Whipstriker
Whipstriker is a black drakkonid, that transitions to a twilight drakonid after destroying enough of his eggs.
Zendarin Windrunner
Zendarin alternates from a normal blood elf in Hunter Tier 6 to a Felblood with similar equipment, and transitions into a Wretched near death.
Inkmaw
A twilight dragon, Inkmaw is incredibly unstable and coursing with dark twili energy, and his whole body emits a sickly purple glow.
Raid 1 - Upper Grim Batol
Boss and Section listing
Assault on Grim Batol
Obsidian General Vezarion
Ebony Encampment
Forgemaster Bexxliz
The Outer Ring (Current)
Overcultist Drannak
Brood Overlord Voidscale
Zendarin Windrunner
Drake Trio: Smoulderwing, Ebongor, Searscale
Defense of the Foothold (Planned)
Neltharaku
Breach Commander Zelaria
The Inner Ring (Unplanned)
Twilaggus
Chromatic Remnant
Echo of Zuluhed
Deathwing's Sanctum (Unplanned)
Deathwing
The first raid of 4.1 are the upper chambers of Grim Batol, where Deathwing and the Black Dragonflight's main army resides.
Unfortunately, the fortress entrance is surrounded by thick battle, and cannot be entered. Thankfully, the Red Dragonflight is willing to help. The first two bosses and trash sections take place outside the actual dungeon, as part of the Battle for Grim Batol. Instead of a typical instance entrance, the drake Acridistrasz can be spoken to once outer Grim Batol has been captured to enter the instance and begin the event.
Upper Grim Batol
-
Section 1: Assault on Grim Batol
Section 1 - Assault on Grim Batol
After starting the event, waves of Red Dragonkin will leave the Grim Batol base, and waves of Black Dragonkin will be summoned in by a nearby powerful Black Drake, Dragonspawn, or Drakonid, whereas the Ruby Union's forces will be marshaled by Broodmasters, powerful Red Drakonids who remain at the Ruby Union base. There are a varying amount of Broodmasters on 10 and 25-man modes, and achievements exist for making sure a certain number survive. If all Broodmasters die, the event must be restarted. During the event, the HUD will show how many Summoners and Broodmasters remain. The following can spawn:
Whelp Pack: A varying (but large) amount of non-elite whelps will fly toward the opposing side's base. Nearly incapable of inflicting any damage on multiple targets, but can be powerful against single targets, such as drakes.
Dragonspawn Group: A smaller group of elite dragonspawn will march toward the opposing base. Their AoE attacks make them very strong against whelps, but weak against single drakes.
Drake: A single drake, more powerful than either dragonspawns or whelps, but far less powerful than a summoner, will swoop toward the foe's base at great speed. Their cleave attacks and fire breath make them powerful against dragonspawn.
Black Dragonflight Summoners also come in three varieties, and while engaging them, they cease to summon new troops:
Dragonspawn: The physically weakest in melee damage and health, the Dragonspawn makes up for it with a devastating arsenal of spells. Dragonspawn can cast Fire Nova, a PBAoE, Meteor, an AoE who's damage is split among all targets it hits, and Living Bomb, which causes a target to explode after 8 seconds and deliver effectively fatal damage to all nearby targets. Living Bomb can be used, however, to damage the Dragonspawn.
Drakes: The all-around summoner, Drakes have average health and offensive ability. Many of their abilities are conical, so only the tank should take much damage during the fight. Their Fire Breath applies a fire DoT to all targets in front of the drake that is fatal without healing, Claw does straight physical damage in a frontal cone, and tail whip is a very small and slightly damaging rear conical knockback that functions mainly as an interrupt.
Drakonids: Thought offensively poor, Drakonids have a massive health pool and fairly powerful (if slow) melee attacks. Their main ability, however, is the potential to summon a large pack of whelps which attack with a weak fireball. However, this fireball applies a debuff that increases the damage of the Drakonid's attacks, and the whelps must then be quickly AoE'd to death.
After working their way through several waves of Summoners, players will eventually reach a much larger purple portal in a cleared-out valley, currently inactive. As players approach it, however, Deathwing's voice will be heard, and the Destroyer will send out a more qualified minion through the portal.
Boss 1: Obsidian General Vezarion
The first of many full-fledged Black Dragons to be found in Grim Batol, Vezarion is a massive Black Wyrm with a nasty skillset.
Phase 1
:
Thankfully, Vezarion spends most of the battle circling the valley. The main combatants are Twilit versions of the summoners faced earlier: more powerful, in groups, new spells, and meaner than ever.
Dragonspawn: The Dragonspawn have Fire Nova swapped for Twilit Blast, a
Frost Trap
-esque PBAoE, Meteor for
Devouring Cold
, and Living Bomb for
Entropic Aura
which does
not
stack on itself, and they also gain
Shadow Bolt Volley
. They start coming in pairs, however two more are added per group for each time Vezarion lands (see below).
Drakes: Drakes are largely unchanged, but all their attacks obviously do more damage. They also will occasionally dump threat, turn to the side with the most players on it, and use
Shadow Breath
on some hapless DPS. This can be avoided by having all DPS and healers on one side of the drake, meaning the drake will always attack that side. As soon as the drake begins casting Shadow Breath, all DPS and healers can run to the other side. They start coming one at a time, and one more is added per group for each time Vezarion lands.
Drakonids: Drakonids have improved the most of all three summoners. Their melee attacks are augmented by a powerful
Whirlwind
, and their summoned whelps can now
Drain Life
, the health from which goes directly to the Drakonid, meaning the need to kill the whelps is even more urgent. The start coming one at a time, and two more are added per group for each time Verzarion lands.
During this period, Vezarion will fly around taunting the raid group. If a group spends more than five minutes on a pack of summoners, Vezarion will
enrage
them and wipe the group.
Phase 2
:
Phase 2 begins after killing a certain amount of summoners. Vezarion will decide to "deal with you himself", and land. His attacks consist of a garden variety
Flame Breath
as well as
Volcanic Geysers
coupled with a
Fiery Aura
, which deals fire damage to all engaged targets.
During this time, and ONLY this time, the raid can damage Vezarion. After taking off 33% of his health or after an amount of time passes, he will lift off back into the air, signaling a return to Phase 1. This cycle repeats until Vezation dies.
Hard Mode: Vezarion and Summoners
To engage Hard Mode, a raid member must tell a red drake NPC found before the battle to attempt to destabilize Vezarion's portal. This will result in the drake's death, and the ability for Vezarion to portal in summoners
while landed
.
Battle Quotes
Intro
:
Deathwing
: So, my inferior brethren seek to enter Grim Batol? They seek to end my work? To destroy any hope of a perfect race? Fools. They cannot understand the forces they are dealing with. Vezarion, kill them quickly.
Vezarion
: Yes, Earth-Warder.
Aggro
: The Earth-Warder demands it, and so it shall be. Die!
Initial Flight
: I think some old friends are simply dying to meet you.
Enrage
: Do not hold back! Destroy them!
Land
: Incompetence. How disapointing. I will deal with you myself.
Land (Hard Mode)
: Perhaps an intervention is in order.
Flight
: Summoners! Destroy them utterly!
Flight (Hard Mode)
: Do not stop! They must die!
Death
: Failure...
Section 2 - The Ebony Encampment
When Vezarion is dead and looted, red drakes will swoop in and carry the raid back the the Ruby Union Base. There, Krasus will brief the raid on the next objective: eliminating the rest of the Black Dragonflight's standing forces in the Ebony Encampment, just outside the entrance to Grim Batol.
Similar to the Black Morass and the Violet Hold, up to five players can choose to receive Crimson Gems which work exactly like
Chrono Beacons
. Achievements would exist for those taking fewer or no gems. After taking (or not) the gems, Krasus will send you on the backs of red drakes to right outside the camp.
The main difficulty of the camp is that nearly every mob inside it patrols. If the raid pulls incorrectly, up to twenty mobs could come barreling at them - which is what the gems are for.
The camp is filled with makeshift black tents and dark crystaline spires, along with several huge forges and anvils, and the skybox will turn to that of burning Stratholme as soon as players enter, while soot and dust cling to the air.
Several forms of Dragonspawn can be found here, as well as Deathwing's goblin servants - masters of weaponsmithing and the dark ores found within Grim Batol. Stationary Drakonid guards are the only non-patrolling enemy within the camp - everyone else will be going about their normal duties.
The camp is L-shaped on a hillside, and follows a pattern similar to Jintha'Alor in the Hinterlands, meaning each level must be cleared before reaching the master forge and entrance to Grim Batol at the very top, where a large group of goblins can be found surrounding a much larger, well armored goblin.
Post by
Arathanar
Boss 2: Forge Overmaster Bexxliz
Requiring less skill but better gear than Vezarion, the two bosses are similar in that Bexxliz won't fight you directly at first.
Phase 1
:
He'll send his cadre of Goblin Weaponsmiths at you, who will attack with elementally-damaging melee attacks. However, stacks of enchanted elementium ore lay stacked around the forge, one for each element. Staying near the stack of the Weaponsmiths' current element will decrease their damage done by 75%.
After killing a certain number of goblins, Bexxliz will recall the goblins to change their weapons to a new element. After going through every element, which will mean every goblin is dead, Bexxliz will engage the raid personally.
Phase 2
:
When Bexxliz aggroes, he will run toward a random pile, take a bar, and forge a blade from it at the forge. He will then animate it, and will attack the raid while Bexxliz continues to smelt new swords. If a sword is destroyed and Bexxliz has less than two swords equipped, he will grab it off the ground and equip it.
After twenty melee attacks with a sword, Bexxliz's swords will break. The raid must continue to DPS down the swords while damaging Bexxliz down to 10%.
Phase 3
:
At this point, he will
enrage
, stun the raid, stop animating blades, and forge two unbreakable swords. He then basically becomes a tank and spank fight with very powerful melee attacks.
Hard Mode: Disarmed
Bexxliz's hard mode involves not attacking any of the summoned swords until Phase 3 begins. If Bexxliz's weapons break, he will kill a sword himself and wield it. Unforetunately, this means you cannot control the number of swords or which element Bexxliz uses.
Battle Quotes
Intro
:
Bexxliz
: Ehee! So you're the big ones killing all my servants. That won't do! Not one bit! Forgemasters! Time for them to die.
Section 3: The Outer City
At this point, every player in the raid will be rewarded with a Grim Batol Gate Key, allowing any raid with said players in it to skip the first two sections, if they so chose. This may be done by speaking with Acridistrasz before beginning the event.
The instance will then phase, moving most NPCs from the Ruby Union Base to a smaller encampment just inside Grim Batol's gates, in the first hallway - the Ruby Foothold. This is the first "traditional" dungeon segment of this instance, with typical trash packs, a non-linear set of bosses to go through, and no additional mechanics.
Grim Batol's structure is not dissimilar to Shadowforge City in Blackrock Depths; both contain an outer layer and an inner section, the two being separated by a nigh-bottomless magma fissure. However, the entirety of each layer is explorable in Grim Batol, and the layers are octagonal and triangular, respectively.
The obsidian drawbridges to the inner section are lifted from the far side and guarded by black dragons unhesitant to destroy any red dragon that comes close, and are thus currently inaccessible. Every other vertex of the octagon has a boss, and defeating all four will unlock a new boss at the Ruby Foothold. This boss, when defeated, will lower the bridges. For the purposes of this post, we'll go clockwise around, but it is possible to do them in any order - red drakes at the Ruby Foothold can fly you to the start of any of the four sections.
The first portion of the octogon consists mainly of humanoid trash in the form of Wyrmcultists. You know -
those guys from Blade's Edge
? Their architecture consists mainly of tents and ritual devices set up within the already existing great stone halls. Many of the cultists can become Drakonids at low health, and can use dragonesque abilities, such as their
breath
and
claws
.
Boss 3: Overcultist Drannak
A human cultist in
dreadgear
, Drannak's encounter has a falsely easy beginning, followed by a brutal finale.
Phase 1
Drannak will begin the fight by tossing out a
Shadow Bolt Volley
, which he will continue to do every ten seconds. Five seconds after that, he will instantly cast
Shadow Nova
, which will be recast every twenty seconds. In the meantime, Drannak will use a simple
Shadow Bolt
.
Shadow Bolt Volley is blocked by line of sight, and the stone hall is collapsing as the fight progresses. This means that the falling chunks of ceiling not only serve as an AoE hazard - they can also be used to block Drannak's Volleys.
Phase 1 continues on this strict pattern until Drannak reaches 10%. While this seems to be a lot of health, Drannak actually has very low health for a raid boss and most raids will reach 10% within a minute, at which point he will stun the raid and proceed to the next phase.
Phase 2
After the raid has become incapacitated, Drannak will hover into the air and become untargetable. He will actually do very little for around 25 seconds, during which the raid is able to move again, harmless purple lightning arcs from Drannak's body and ceiling chunks fall much more frequently.
After this mini-phase, he will cast
Shield of Suffering
, which will reduce all damage he takes by 95% for the rest of the encounter, greatly prolonging the last 10% of the fight.
Once he becomes active again, he will start using his most dangerous (and only) attack:
Void Bolt
. Void Bolt will be evidenced by a thin purple lighting bolt connecting with the ground under a random player and causing purple sparks on the floor there. After four seconds, Drannak will fire a thicker, darker purple bolt at the spot, instantly killing anyone nearby and spawning a
voidwraith
.
The voidwraiths have a static aura that will randomly damage players within 20 yards of the voidwraith. The voidwraith does not have an aggro table, and cannot attack with melee. Thus, if there is at least one player within 20 yards, it will simply stand still and shock that player. If there is not, it will
sprint
towards a new target. This aura applies a debuff which increases the damage done by it as it remains on a target.
Because melee DPS and the tank cannot damage Drannak due to his elevation, they should be controlling the voidwraiths, occasionally switching out to void the damage-increasing debuff.
At 5%, the thin purple beam will be in motion for the four seconds, and the actual bolt will strike its final location, requiring players to look ahead. After Drannak's final 10% is destroyed by Ranged DPS, he will finally be defeated and drop to the ground, ending the fight.
Hard Mode: Blessing of the Black Flight
Flying around the boss area is a Zelarian Sentry - a black drake that can be safely pulled without aggroing Drannak. Pulling him will result in Breach Commander Zelaria, a black dragon, being alerted to the raid's presence. She will then grant Drannak the following powers:
Drannak's Shadow Bolt Volleys are replaced with Twilight Volleys, which destroy rubble after being blocked by them but otherwise act the same.
Voidwraiths take half the time to explode.
Phase 2 begins at 20%, and mobile Void Blasts begin at 10%.
Battle Quotes
Intro (First Encounter)
:
Breach Commander Zelaria
: Are your forces prepared enter the Underhalls, Drannak?
Overcultist Drannak
: Indeed they are, Commander. The Wyrmcult will serve the Black Flight.
Breach Commander Zelaria
: Good. Your forces will- what? The intruders? Here?
Overcultist Drannak
: Idiots. I will destroy them, Commander.
Breach Commander Zelaria
: ...indeed. Report your success to me when you are... finished.
Intro (Other Encounters)
:
Breach Commander Zelaria
: Drannak! Intruders have penetrated our defenses. Ready yourself.
Overcultist Drannak
: Have they, Zelaria? I had assumed that was your responsibility.
Breach Commander Zelaria
: I have no time for this. They are agents of the Accord. They could ruin all.
Overcultist Drannak
: I could
try
to slay them, Commander, but a little extra help would be appreciated.
Breach Commander Zelaria
: Fine. Take the power of the Black Flight and choke on it. Just destroy them.
Aggro
: Time to die, interlopers.
50%
: Why must you persist? This is so tiresome.
Ending Phase 1
: No. No, no, no, no. You lose. And... I win.
Beginning Phase 2
: Why? Why don't you just DIE?
Void Bolt
: Taste the true power of the Black Flight!
Void Wraith Explosion
: Justly deserved, simpleton.
Mobile Void Bolt
: This is over! OVER!
Death
: No! I won! You...lost...
The second octagonal section is the first brood area. Encounters consist mainly of single drakonid patrols and large packs of various dragon whelps. Though the architecture is mostly the same, the structure of the area is much more damaged, there are no tents, and many of the cracks in the stonework have been filled with lava pools. The dominating feature, however, is that every inch of the complex is filled with dragon eggs.
Eventually, the raid will reach a large square chamber with a high ceiling. In the center is a very large hole, above a pit of lava. Suspended above it by chains is a big, round, stone platform, on which a very large, very nasty twilight drakonid resides, armed with a fiery, spiked poleax.
Boss 4: Brood Overlord Voidscale
Phase 1
Voidscale will begin by slamming his poleax into the platform, launching everyone on it, except himself, into the air. He will then cast Voidscale's Gaze on a random player and begin chasing him or her at a somewhat quick speed - this player must kite Voidscale around. If any player comes into melee range of Voidscale other than his target, he will knock them away and cause a large amount of damage. Voidscale moves too quickly to kite alone, however.
Voidscale has the Void Scales buff, which grants him a damage shield equal to 5% of his health. Ranged DPS must focus on removing this buff. When the shield runs out, Voidscale will then slam the platform again and launch everyone into the air. He will then reapply the shield and cast his Gaze on another player. This process is the way to prevent Voidscale from overtaking the player he is chasing.
Meanwhile, every 15 seconds, Voidscale will spawn a cluster of 10 twilight dragon eggs. After another 5 seconds, they hatch. The whelps have no aggro table and will randomly start attacking players. Melee characters must kill them quickly. After killing 40 whelps, Voidscale will become enraged, entering Phase 2.
Phase 2
In Phase 2, he will chase his target at much faster speed. However, when removing his damage shield while he is enraged, Voidscale will instead start casting Twilight Strike. The casting time for this spell is 20 seconds, and during this time Voidscale is damageable and takes 300% damage. After it finishes casting, Voidscale will strike the platform with Twilight energy, shattering the section in front of him, dealing massive damage to everyone on it, and throwing everyone up into the air much higher than usual.
The extra damage incurred as well as the falling damage means that all players must be at full health right before Voidscale finishes casting Twilight Strike.
After everyone lands, he will reenter Phase 1. This continues until either the platform becomes damaged enough to fall apart (65% destroyed) or until Voidscale dies.
Hard Mode: On Thin Ice
Voidscale's binary hard mode involves damaging the chains holding up his platform during the fight. They can't be destroyed - at 1%, they will gain a buff reducing all damage taken by 100%. The effect of this damage is the further weakening of the platform, meaning only 30% of the platform needs to be destroyed to fall apart.
Voidscale also gains the Caution buff, reducing all damage taken by 33%. This means that he only takes 200% damage while casting Twilight Strike.
Battle Quotes
Intro
:
Breach Commander Zelaria
: How is the latest batch coming, Overlord?
Brood Overlord Voidscale
: They shall hatch soon, mistress. Within the day.
Breach Commander Zelaria
: Lovely. Report to me... what is this? The interlopers!
Brood Overlord Voidscale
: No! The eggs are not yet ready! I will crush them!
Breach Commander Zelaria
: Do so, and quickly.
Aggro
: You dare to attack our children? MY children? You... will... PAY!
Slam
: Enough of this!
Hard Mode
: The chains... you fools! You'll kill us all!
Spawn Eggs
: Children... you are ready! Assist me!
Enrage
: You... the whelplings... NO! NOW YOU WILL
DIE
!
Twilight Strike
: Twilight will consume you!
Platform Collapse
: Not quick enough, interlopers.
Death
: I die... so they... may... live...
Post by
Arathanar
The third section is guarded mainly be twilight dragonkin - the majority of which are dragonspawn. The otherwise unnotable trash is broken up, however, by three drake minibosses.
Does
this
remind
you
of
anything
?
Minibosses: Smoulderwing, Ebongor, and Searscale
The three drake minibosses fight exactly the same. Each is engaged alongside two Neltharian Spellscales, black dragonspawn that throw fireballs at their opponents and heal the drake. They must be killed before the drake is targeted.
The drake itself is rather simple: every ten seconds, the drake will spit fire at a random player, causing minor fire damage and leaving a patch of flame on the ground that must be avoided.
The drake's melee attacks also apply a stacking debuff, Immolating Strikes. If Immolating Strikes reaches 20 stacks, the victim will be stunned for 10 seconds while taking high fire damage. All stacks fade from a target if the drake attacks someone else. Thus, an off tank must be used.
Boss 4: Drake Trio: Smoulderwing, Ebongor, Searscale
Upon entering the room, where the corpses of the three drakes have been placed, Breach Commander Zelaria will fly into the alcove. Switching to the form of a female blood elf, she will then revive the trio as twilight drakes before flying away.
Phase 1
The fight begins when the three drakes have been engaged. Each has two fairly weak abilities:
Smoulderwing:
Wing Buffet
: Knocks everyone within 15 yards of Smoulderwing away other than the current aggro holder. Smoulderwing uses this every 12 seconds.
Melt Armor
: Every five seconds, everyone within 15 yards of Smoulerwing has their armor reduced by 250. This stacks 100 times.
Ebonroc:
Ritual of Summoning
: Summons the other two drakes and their tanks to Ebonroc's position.
Spell Reflection
: Ebonroc periodically reflects all spells cast at him for 6 seconds.
Searscale:
Fiery Breath
: Searscale will shoot a large fireball into the air towards a random player not within 15 yards of a drake. This leaves a patch of fire on the ground that will kill anyone who stands in it for more than a few seconds.
Pyrogenics
: Buffs a random drake (Searscale included) with Pyrogenesis, adding 100% of their base weapon damage in fire damage to each attack.
Phase 2
Placeholder.
Hard Mode: Twilight Revenge
Similar to the Iron Council, the order in which the drakes are killed determines which difficulty setting the fight is completed on. To calculate the difficulty level, use this listing.
Smoulderwing: 0 points.
Ebongor: 1 point.
Searscale: 2 points.
The final value equals (2*First Drake Killed) + (Second Drake Killed).
1 - Normal Mode.
2 - Hard Mode.
4 - Harder Mode.
5 - Hardest Mode.
Battle Quotes
Quote placeholder.
Post by
ArgentSun
Could easily name them "Shards". I think it would fit nicely with the Cataclysm theme.
Post by
Arathanar
Could easily name them "Shards". I think it would fit nicely with the Cataclysm theme.
Eh, it would conflict with Enchanting.
Hmmm... thesaurus isn't very helpful. Token, maybe. Maybe even Marks, to simplify the reward system.
In other news, I've clarified all the iLvl stuff and actually added in the info on Sigils. I'll probably be back to actually working on the instance later today. Also, Outer Ring bosses have had their hard modes redone.
Also, I changed the reading music to something that is actually WoW music, if a bit obscure. I think it goes quite well, however.
Post by
ArgentSun
Large Brilliant Shard =\= Shard of Brilliant Protector/Vanquisher/whatever-else.
Post by
Arathanar
Oh, I see, you mean for SET tokens.
Actually, in the wee hours of the morning I added a corollary to the ever-growing, ever-technical section explaining loot and iLvl and stuff.
Instead of Set Tokens, there's now quests for Tier Sets, a la Dungeon Set 2. However, instead of requiring another set at reagents (like DS2 required DS1), they require Sigils. For example:
Arathanar wants to get Drakestalker Armor.
Arathanar goes to the Ruby Enclave and starts the quest for said armor.
Arathanar completes the quests for each piece, in order. Generally, each quest involves one boss inside the instance.
Arathanar turns in the quests, each time also paying a variable amount of Sigils.
Arathanar then gradually receives his Drakestalker Armor.
Pieces would still be positioned as they are now. Gloves and belt, for example, would be on earlier (but not the first) bosses, whereas headpieces and chestpieces would be on penultimate and final bosses.
Post by
Arathanar
Does anyone besides AS have any comments on this? I've refreshed this page so many times, I can't actually trust the view count.
Post by
Arathanar
I've added some new bosses and added more to the badges section.
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