Yesterday Blizzard unveiled some new standards for how raids will function in the Cataclysm expansion. The most important change of all, and that without a doubt everyone should know, is that the Loot differences of the 10 and 25 player versions disappear. That is, whatever version you go in, you will take the same object, with the same statistics. In addition, the saves of 10 and 25 are joined.
This means that 25-player raids will no longer yield better loot than 10-player raids (although they will yield more gear, more emblems, and more gold) and that players will no longer be able to "farm" the 10 and 25 versions each week. .
Let's see the key points:
- The 10 and 25 player gangs in Cataclysm will share the same save
- All raids will be able to choose Normal or Heroic mode in Cataclysm for each boss, in the same way as now happens in Icecrown Citadel
- Difficulties 10 and 25 will have a very similar difficulty
- Raids of 10 and 25 will have exactly the same loot
- The bosses of 25 will give more quantity of equipment, emblems and gold but the quality and statistics of them will be equal to those of 10 players.
- Bosses will become available over time, just like in Icecrown Citadel or Trial of the Crusader.
- The first Cataclysm raids can be made by players with blue and crafted items.
Without a doubt they are quite important changes and that do not leave anyone indifferent. Personally I like the changes but those are letters from another opinion article that I will write later.
The blue, in full, you can read behind the jump.
We're continuing to refine the progression paths in Cataclysm, and today we'd like to share some of the changes with you. Enjoy them!
The first refinement we're going to do is combine all the band sizes and difficulties in a single save. Unlike today, the 10 and 25 player modes of a gang will share the same lock. You can defeat each raid boss once a week per character. In other words, if you want to make the raid in both 10 and 25 player modes in a single week, then you would need to do it in two different characters. Normal or Heroic mode will be selected for each boss in the raids in Cataclysm, the same way it works in Icecrown Citadel. Obviously, the raid lock change does not apply purely in terms like the Citadel, as this change is accompanied by others to raid progression in Cataclysm.
We are designing and adjusting the raids so that the difficulty between the 10- and 25-player versions of each mode is as close as we can get. This closeness in difficulty also means that the bosses will give the same items in the bands of 10 and 25 players of each difficulty. They will have the same name and attributes; they are, in fact, the same objects. Choosing heroic mode will give you an augmented version of these items. What we hope is that players will be able to associate each boss with their specific loot table and even associate art design with specific item names on a much larger scale than today.
Dungeon Difficulty and Rewards
10- and 25-player (normal difficulty) - Very similar in difficulty, they give exactly the same items.
10- and 25-player (heroic difficulty) - Very similar in difficulty, they give more powerful versions of normal difficulty items.
Of course, we recognize the logistical implications of organizing larger groups of people, so while the quality of the loot will not change, the 25-player versions will offer a higher amount of loot per player (items, but also emblems, and even gold), making it a more efficient route if you can gather the necessary people. Raid designers are creating battles with these changes in mind, and class designers are making changes to classes to make groups of 10 even easier to create. And unsurprisingly, doing bands of 25 players should be a bit more lucrative, but if for a week or two you need to do bands of 10 because half the sorority is on vacation, then you can do that and not suffer a dramatic loss in your ability to win. get the objects you want.
We also recognize that very long raids can be a barrier for some players, but we also want to provide enough battles to make the experience epic. For the first tiers of band our plan is to provide multiple small bands. Instead of a gang with eleven bosses, you might have a gang with five bosses and another with six. All of these bosses would give the same item level, but the dungeons themselves would be different environments and provide some variety in location and visuals, plus separate raid locks. Think of it like when you could make bands in Serpent Shrine Cavern and Tempest Keep separately, but still wanted to do both every week.
We like how opening access to bosses over time allows the community to focus on individual fights rather than rushing to the final boss, so we'll likely stick with that design in the future. We do not plan to re-enforce try limitations, except perhaps optional rare bosses (such as Algalon). Heroic mode may not be open from day one, but will be available after beating normal mode perhaps as little as once or twice.
In terms of tightness, we want groups to be able to get into the early raids fairly quickly, but we also don't want them to overshadow the 5-player Heroic dungeons and more powerful quest rewards. We'll design the first raid zones assuming players have accumulated some blue dungeon gear, crafted gear, or quest rewards. In general, we want you and your guild to participate in and enjoy the experience of leveling up.
We designed our raids to be accessible to a broad spectrum of players, so we want groups to be able to decide whether to attempt the normal or heroic versions fairly quickly. The goal with all these changes is to make it a choice or an effect of circumstance if you band as a group of 10 or 25 as possible. Whether you are in a large brotherhood or a small brotherhood, the choice will not depend on which items are obtained, but on what you like the most.
We are aware that, as with any change to progression routes, there are going to be questions. We are looking forward to answering any that we have left unanswered. Comment!