Project Lore

When you announce something like a new raid dungeon so far ahead of time, you're bound to get a bunch of questions. Thankfully, unlike so many other things lately, Blizzard is being surprisingly open about answering them (looks like you can blame Tom Chilton for spilling the beans on that one).

And with data-miners around the world already yanking gobs of information out of the latest set of PTR files, there's really little reason not to.

Zarhym was kind enough to continue the dialog with fans, touching on issues such as the nature and difficulty of the fight, as well as its position within the lore. As someone who chided the idea of another one-room boss at first, I have to admit I'm starting to come around to the idea.

Hit the jump to read what he had to say.

(All questions para-phrased):

Didn't we fight the Black Dragons already? Why are we having to do it in the RUBY Sanctum, as well?

It's much more than that. You'll learn more in due time, I assure you. This could quite possibly be the very beginning of Deathwing's plan to dismantle the Wyrmrest Accord from within.

When you're able to enter the Ruby Sanctum, you'll find yourself in the wake of an assault that's already taken place.

Will the Ruby Sanctum be on par with the fight against the Lich King?

This is the basic idea. The Lich King is still intended to be the most difficult boss in Wrath of the Lich King.

Will Heroic Mode be activated like it was with Sartharion?

Most likely that will not be the case for activating Heroic difficulty. We'll provide more information to confirm this later, but the current plan is to use the difficulty system present in Icecrown Citadel for the Ruby Sanctum.

This doesn't necessarily mean this is the only way we'll be implementing Heroic difficulties going forward. We are sticking to the UI-switch mechanic you see in Icecrown Citadel for the Ruby Sanctum though.

Then what is the nature of the fight compared to Sarth?

The lieutenants are sub-bosses which will each drop an Emblem of Frost. Halion is the main boss. While the activation of Heroic difficulty is different from the Obsidian Sanctum, the overall raid format for the Ruby Sanctum is very comparable. 

Will releasing this fight result in another delay of Cataclysm?

There's no real reason to make this inference. This raid will not only provide a bit of additional content to pair with the current content of patch 3.3, it will be the beginning of an advancement in the storyline for Cataclysm. 

What about the loot? Is it on par with Icecrown Citadel?

You're likely to find some random pieces of armor on par with Lich King loot, similar to the items Onyxia dropped while Trial of the Crusader was the top-tier raid. You can also expect to see some more trinkets and things of that nature.

The hell, Blizzard? Where's my new Troll raid?!

You people and your troll raids. Just can't let it go! :p

So there you have it. Some people are still miffed about not having a new Zul'Insternamehere as the absolute final raid of the expansion. Here's hoping they pay us Troll fans back in the expansion, but the Ruby Sanctum doesn't sound so bad anymore, does it?

At the very least, it will play a large role in the events leading up to Cataclysm, instead of being some outlier implemented for the mere reason of placating the fans.