The Elemental Rune Dungeons are a new difficulty added to the 5-man Heroic Dungeons in Cataclysm Classic, functioning similarly to the Titan Rune Dungeons introduced during WotLK Classic! This new difficulty functions as a catch-up mechanic, offering players the opportunity to either gear up alts or acquire powerful equipment for their main characters as well as many rewards related to the previous raids from Phase 1 & Phase 2.
How to Access the Elemental Rune Difficulty Dungeons
The Elemental Rune Difficulty is accessed in two separate ways: You can go directly to a Heroic Dungeon and interact with the “Mysterious Elemental Device” or queue up from the Dungeon Finder. If you plan on queueing directly from the Dungeon Finder, you will need the following item levels:
- Protocol Interno Dungeons: 346 Ilvl or higher
The Mysterious Elemental Device will always be found right at the entrance of a Heroic Dungeon! To activate the Mysterious Elemental Device, players will need to click on it and select the specific Protocol they intend to play, in this case, Protocol Inferno. Once players select the Protocol Inferno option, a floating shard-like structure named “Protocol Inferno” will appear. Players will have to interact with the structure, channeling it similarly to a summoning stone. On the current PTR version of Protocol Inferno, only one player is required to channel for the Protocol Inferno to be activated but on the upcoming live version, all 5 players that join the dungeon will need to channel it for the Protocol Inferno to be activated.
Elemental Rune Dungeons Difficulty Levels
Phase 3 brings the Protocol Inferno Dungeons, but if we take into consideration the way Titan Rune Dungeons functioned in WotLK Classic, further additional difficulties will be released in the upcoming Cataclysm Classic phases!
- Protocol Inferno (Heroic +)
Protocol Inferno Difficulty Dungeons
Protocol Inferno Dungeons function similarly to the Heroic Dungeons in the sense that they offer Valor Points upon completion along with a small sum of Gold and a similar loot table, but the similarities end there. Protocol Inferno Dungeons are harder than Heroic Dungeons, with both the Trash Mobs and the Bosses receiving the Fury of the Firelord buff.
The Fury of the Firelord buff increases a mob/boss’s Health by 100% and all Damage by 25%! There are no specific affixes similar to Mythic Retail Dungeons or particular buffs that players can receive such as the ones from Titan Rune Defense Protocol Gamma from back in WotLK Classic. However, as the expansion progresses, we can expect the new variants of Heroic++ to feature possible affixes or particular buffs, depending on how hard the Devs decide to make them.
Besides the Fury of the Firelord buff, the Protocol Inferno Dungeons offer the same loot table, with one exception, the new Fissure Stone Fragments currency! This currency functions similarly to the previously available Sidereal Essence or Defiler’s Scourgestone currencies, offering a plethora of rewards that players can access by visiting a new NPC. The NPC is named Kyanite Stonetender and can be visited in both Stormwind and Orgrimmar, depending on whether you are Alliance or Horde.
Each boss will grant a player 2 x Fissure Stone Fragments, guaranteeing that every single player out of the 5 players who do the dungeon will gain 2 x Fissure Stone Fragments per boss. The final boss of a Protocol Inferno Dungeon will drop 5 x Fissure Stone Fragments in case every other boss from the instance has been slain. This specific setting has been placed in a way to incentivize players to do full clears instead of skipping to the last boss. In case players skip even a single boss, the last boss of the instance will no longer grant 5 x Fissure Stone Fragments, offering 2 x Fissure Stone Fragments instead.
Rewards
Protocol Inferno Dungeons function differently from their WotLK Titan Rune counterpart, offering no special loot from the bosses themselves. Instead, the new Protocol Inferno Dungeons offer Fissure Stone Fragments that can be exchanged for a plethora of items related to the previous raids from Phase 1 & Phase 2. You will be able to gain some of the Heroic-version items from the Throne of the Four Winds, Blackwing Descent, and The Bastion of Twilight, along with the T11 Normal Helm & Shoulders Tokens, and 3 separate mounts!
Fissure Stone Fragments can be exchanged for items by interacting with Kyanite Stonetender in the Command Center (Stormwind) for Alliance players and Grommash Hold (Orgrimmar) for Horde players. Keep in mind that Fissure Stone Fragments cap at 160, so you won’t be able to stockpile more than that.
List of items that can be bought with Fissure Stone Fragments:
Item | Cost | Original Source |
|---|---|---|
60 Fissure Stone Fragments | ||
60 Fissure Stone Fragments | ||
60 Fissure Stone Fragments | ||
60 Fissure Stone Fragments | ||
60 Fissure Stone Fragments | ||
60 Fissure Stone Fragments | ||
60 Fissure Stone Fragments | ||
60 Fissure Stone Fragments | ||
50 Fissure Stone Fragments | ||
50 Fissure Stone Fragments | ||
50 Fissure Stone Fragments | ||
50 Fissure Stone Fragments | ||
50 Fissure Stone Fragments | ||
60 Fissure Stone Fragments | ||
60 Fissure Stone Fragments | ||
50 Fissure Stone Fragments | ||
50 Fissure Stone Fragments | ||
50 Fissure Stone Fragments | ||
80 Fissure Stone Fragments | ||
80 Fissure Stone Fragments | ||
80 Fissure Stone Fragments | ||
80 Fissure Stone Fragments | ||
80 Fissure Stone Fragments | ||
80 Fissure Stone Fragments | ||
80 Fissure Stone Fragments | ||
80 Fissure Stone Fragments | ||
80 Fissure Stone Fragments | ||
80 Fissure Stone Fragments | ||
80 Fissure Stone Fragments | ||
80 Fissure Stone Fragments | ||
80 Fissure Stone Fragments | ||
Satchel of Cloudburst Cloak | 28 Fissure Stone Fragments | |
Satchel of Cloudburst Ring | 28 Fissure Stone Fragments | |
Satchel of Cloudburst Necklace | 28 Fissure Stone Fragments | |
Satchel of the Gale Rouser Belt | 28 Fissure Stone Fragments | |
Satchel of the Gale Rouser Leggings | 28 Fissure Stone Fragments | |
Satchel of the Lightning Well Belt | 28 Fissure Stone Fragments | |
Satchel of the Lightning Well Legguards | 28 Fissure Stone Fragments | |
Satchel of the Mistral Circle | 28 Fissure Stone Fragments | |
Satchel of the Mistral Drape | 28 Fissure Stone Fragments | |
Satchel of the Mistral Pendant | 28 Fissure Stone Fragments | |
Satchel of the Permafrost Cape | 28 Fissure Stone Fragments | |
Satchel of the Permafrost Choker | 28 Fissure Stone Fragments | |
Satchel of the Permafrost Signet | 28 Fissure Stone Fragments | |
Satchel of the Planetary Amulet | 28 Fissure Stone Fragments | |
Satchel of the Planetary Band | 28 Fissure Stone Fragments | |
Satchel of the Planetary Drape | 28 Fissure Stone Fragments | |
Satchel of the Sky Strider Belt | 28 Fissure Stone Fragments | |
Satchel of the Sky Strider Greaves | 28 Fissure Stone Fragments | |
Satchel of the Soul Breath Belt | 28 Fissure Stone Fragments | |
Satchel of the Soul Breath Leggings | 28 Fissure Stone Fragments | |
Satchel of the Star Chaser Belt | 28 Fissure Stone Fragments | |
Satchel of the Star Chaser Legguards | 28 Fissure Stone Fragments | |
Satchel of the Tempest Keeper Belt | 28 Fissure Stone Fragments | |
Satchel of the Tempest Keeper Leggings | 28 Fissure Stone Fragments | |
Satchel of the Thunder Wall Belt | 28 Fissure Stone Fragments | |
Satchel of the Thunder Wall Greaves | 28 Fissure Stone Fragments | |
Satchel of the Wind Stalker Belt | 28 Fissure Stone Fragments | |
Satchel of the Wind Stalker Leggings | 28 Fissure Stone Fragments |
Achievements
Similar to how the Titan Rune Dungeons offered a list of individual achievements and a single overall achievement for completing all of the Titan Rune Dungeons, so do Elemental Rune Dungeons have their list of achievements! The general meta-achievement of Protocol Inferno Dungeons, Protocol Inferno: Terminated, doesn’t offer a special reward like the Defense Protocol Gamma: Terminated does. However, we can probably expect the new upcoming variants of Heroic++ to feature a special reward in future phases!
Below are all of the achievements that are available for the Protocol Inferno Difficulty:
- Protocol Inferno: Blackrock Caverns
- Protocol Inferno: Throne of the Tides
- Protocol Inferno: Lost City of the Tol’vir
- Protocol Inferno: The Stonecore
- Protocol Inferno: The Deadmines
- Protocol Inferno: Halls of Origination
- Protocol Inferno: The Vortex Pinnacle
- Protocol Inferno: Shadowfang Keep
- Protocol Inferno: Grim Batol
Protocol Inferno Heroic Dungeons List
Blackrock Caverns
Fury of the Firelord
Damage increased by 25%.
Health increased by 100%.
No other special affixes.
Click here to see the dedicated loot for the Blackrock Caverns dungeon!
Throne of the Tides
Fury of the Firelord
Damage increased by 25%.
Health increased by 100%.
No other special affixes.
Click here to see the dedicated loot for the Throne of the Tides dungeon!
Lost City of the Tol’vir
Fury of the Firelord
Damage increased by 25%.
Health increased by 100%.
No other special affixes.
Click here to see the dedicated loot for the Lost City of the Tol’vir dungeon!
The Stonecore
Fury of the Firelord
Damage increased by 25%.
Health increased by 100%.
No other special affixes.
Click here to see the dedicated loot for The Stonecore dungeon!
The Deadmines
Fury of the Firelord
Damage increased by 25%.
Health increased by 100%.
No other special affixes.
Click here to see the dedicated loot for The Deadmines dungeon!
Halls of Origination
Fury of the Firelord
Damage increased by 25%.
Health increased by 100%.
No other special affixes.
Click here to see the dedicated loot for the Halls of Origination dungeon!
The Vortex Pinnacle
Fury of the Firelord
Damage increased by 25%.
Health increased by 100%.
No other special affixes.
Click here to see the dedicated loot for the Vortex Pinnacle dungeon!
Shadowfang Keep
Fury of the Firelord
Damage increased by 25%.
Health increased by 100%.
No other special affixes.
Click here to see the dedicated loot for the Shadowfang Keep dungeon!
Grim Batol
Fury of the Firelord
Damage increased by 25%.
Health increased by 100%.
No other special affixes.
Click here to see the dedicated loot for the Grim Batol dungeon!
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