The first three raids of the Cataclysm expansion are now available in WoW Classic, so players can head in there with a team of 10 or 25 to start acquiring their best-in-slot gear!
Note that unlike in the original launch of Cataclysm, raid groups can clear these raids on Heroic difficulty without ever clearing them on Normal. With that in mind, we should see the World Firsts start rolling in before too long.
New in this expansion is the ability to swap between Normal and Heroic difficulty from boss to boss. Loot is also the same on 10-player and 25-player difficulties, with more items dropping in the larger versions of the raids.
In addition to these three raids, the Baradin Hold raid will open June 4th with its first boss available to take on. World bosses will also begin to spawn on that date.
Take your new adventures into three new raid dungeons: The Bastion of Twilight, Blackwing Descent, and Throne of the Four Winds.
The Bastion of Twilight
The Bastion of Twilight stands as a dark symbol of the Old Gods’ burgeoning power on Azeroth. Various branches of the Twilight’s Hammer dwell deep beneath the towering form— considered the cult’s foremost command center— along with their twisted leader, Cho’gall. There he, and his servants, conspire to bring the Old Gods’ apocalyptic visions to fruition by bleeding Azeroth of all sanity, hope, and life.
Zone:Â Twilight Highlands
Difficulty:Â (10) Normal, (10) Heroic, (25) Normal, (25) Heroic
Bosses:Â 4 (5 on Heroic difficulty)
- Halfus Wyrmbreaker: Imbued with unnatural power and stamina by Cho’gall the ettin Halfus Wyrmbreaker captures dragons for use as fodder in the Twilight’s Hammer’s rituals. To this end, he has enslaved a behemoth proto-dragon to aid him in hunting down his winged prey.
- Theralion and Valiona:Â Magically aged to adulthood, Valiona and Theralion were to be paragons among a new clutch of twilight dragons, leading their brood in scouring Azeroth of life. Instead, they waste their incredible powers constantly bickering and fighting each other.
- Ascendant Council: As the most powerful Twilight’s Hammer cultists to be twisted into elemental beings, the Ascendant Council members have long forgotten their existence as mere mortals. From their wicked sanctum they oversee the selection of new ascension candidates.
- Cho’gall: Under Cho’gall’s control, the orcish Twilight’s Hammer clan was transformed into a murderous cult obsessed with the Old Gods and their herald, Deathwing. Extended contact with his dark master has hideously warped both Cho’gall’s mind and body.
- Sinestra (on Heroic difficulty only):  Originally Deathwing’s prime consort, Sinestra created the first twilight dragons, but was later obliterated by one of her terrifying creations. Now a ravaged husk reanimated by insidious magic, Sinestra oversees the creation of new twilight clutches.
Blackwing Descent
Nefarian and his warped attempts to create a new breed of dragon were thought to be defeated after his death in Blackwing Lair. Yet tales have emerged that his father, Deathwing, has reanimated Nefarian and set him to work in Blackwing Descent. The gruesome experiments being conducted there are feared to be on a level of wickedness far surpassing Nefarian’s previous crimes against nature.
Zone:Â Burning Steppes
Difficulty:Â (10) Normal, (10) Heroic, (25) Normal, (25) Heroic
Bosses:Â 6
- Omnotron Defense System: The Omnotron Defense System was once touted as the Dark Iron dwarves’ greatest technological marvel. When Nefarian arrived in Blackwing Descent, he repurposed the run-down system to annihilate anyone intruding on his laboratories.
- Magmaw: Magmaw is a colossal lava worm summoned from the Firelands centuries ago by Ragnaros’ Dark Iron servitors. Nefarian largely considers Magmaw a worrisome pest but has grown fond of feeding the beast his failed experiments… and servants.
- Atramedes: Atramedes, or Experiment 25463-D, is a failed attempt to bestow enhanced senses on a black dragon whelp. The toxic salve applied to the broodling robbed him of sight, forcing him to rely on sound and smell for survival. A tragic story… if Atramedes weren’t so evil.
- Chimaeron:Â Terrifying. Ugly. Evil. Kill it.
- Maloriak: The human Malory was a bright young alchemist until he was kidnapped by Nefarian and fused with the corpse of a dragonspawn. The result— Maloriak— is a bumbling minion who possesses only a dull glimmer of his former intelligence.
- Nefarian’s End: Deathwing’s son, Nefarian gained infamy for his horrifying efforts to create chromatic dragons from the essences of Azeroth’s various dragonflights. After his death in Blackwing Lair, he was reanimated and charged by Deathwing to continue his insidious endeavors.
Throne of the Four Winds
Al’Akir the Windlord’s personal lair, the Throne of the Four Winds, glides high among Skywall’s boundless vistas. Now the barriers of the Elemental Plane have been ruptured, Al’Akir is free to travel Azeroth’s winds at his leisure. He has mustered his fiercest tempests to scour Uldum of life and seize control of the mysterious titan-forged Halls of Origination.
Zone:Â Uldum
Difficulty:Â (10) Normal, (10) Heroic, (25) Normal, (25) Heroic
Bosses:Â 2
- The Conclave of Wind: With Siamat, Lord of the South Wind, imprisoned by the Neferset tol’vir, Al’akir’s lieutenants are vying to fill the power vacuum that now exists in the Conclave of Wind. The remaining conclave members are Anshal, Lord of the West Wind, whose gales can heal allies or poison enemies; Rohash, Lord of the East Wind, whose tempests can grind the mightiest mountains to dust, and Nezir, Lord of the North Wind whose frigid storms have claimed more lives than all other cardinal wind lords combined.
- Al’Akir: Gifted with great intelligence and cunning, Al’Akir the Windlord once served as the foremost tactician in the Old Gods’ horrific armies. In the wake of the Cataclysm, he has aligned with Deathwing and turned his godlike power against many of the air elementals’ ancient tol’vir nemeses.
Your adventures await!
About the Author
