Patch 3.3.5: "Assault on the Ruby Sanctum"
Heartbourne on Friday, February 19, 2010 - 15 Comments Tags: Zarhym, cataclysm, chamber of the aspects, patch 3.3.5, ruby sanctum 
There has been a lot of speculation that there may be more raid content released before Cataclysm. We had hints of that in the Game Informer interview with Tom Chilton, but today we got confirmation from Zarhym in the official Blizzard forums:
As we prepare for the public testing phase of minor content patch 3.3.3, some players might come across information regarding upcoming content that isn't yet available. To avoid any confusion, we'd like to tell you about an exciting new raid dungeon we are working on for content patch 3.3.5.The Ruby Sanctum
A powerful war party of the Black Dragonflight, led by the fearsome Twilight dragon, Halion, have launched an assault upon the Ruby Sanctum beneath Wyrmrest Temple. By destroying the sanctum, the Black Dragonflight look to crush those that would stand in the way of their master’s reemergence into Azeroth and to ultimately shatter the Wyrmrest Accord – the sacred bond that unites the dragonflights.
The battle that is to come will surely deal a crippling blow to the Red Dragonflight, however, it is up to you to stop this unprecedented offensive and defend the Ruby Sanctum. First you must face the assault of Halion's servants, Saviana Ragefire, Baltharus the Warborn, and General Zarithrian, before squaring off against Halion the Twilight Destroyer, a new and deadly force in this realm.
The Ruby Sanctum will feature 10- and 25-player content, Heroic difficulties and all-new rewards! Stay tuned for more information as we get closer to its release.
This is pretty sweet. I think a lot of people had suspicions that the new raid content would be frivolous, but this sounds like a proper raid dungeon. It leads well into Cataclysm, sets the stage for the Black and Twilight dragonflights as the bad guys, and preserves the Red Dragons as the good guys (lord knows I don't want to see Alexstrasza succumb to some ailment like the Emerald Nightmare, knoweldge of her own demise, or other madness). It also is a different plotline than what we have seen in Wrath and doesn't undermine The Lich King or ICC.
I have long held the opinion that the Chamber of the Aspects would play a role in raid content for a long time. I wrote about it here as speculation for patch 3.2 speculation long ago and also pushed the idea when I was on the WoWInsider show. I still think that we will see the others open up in future expansions to keep people coming to Northrend, especially with many dragon-related plotlines in our future. Hopefully the Wyrmrest Accord will be a major player in the Cataclysm storyline and in the efforts against Deathwing.
Reader Comments (15)
I really like this. It's as a start to Cataclysm....From what it looks like... it should be similar to Black Morass or Violet Hold....but a raid (more EPIC)
Sounds like Obsidian Sanctum 2.0
Now with slightly less Twilights.
i hope a mount drops in this place but what would it be? we already have black, red, and twilight drakes. what color would it be?
First off... I'd like to say "Called it".
Ever since those fake 3.1 notes "leaked" all those months ago, I'd been a firm believer that this would happen one day. The interview with Chilton raised my hopes - and now look.
Anyway. I'm very excited for this raid. The Scourgewar is over, and Arthas lies dead. However, with the advent of the Cataclysm on the horizon, the Black Dragonflight seems real intent on keeping us in the snow a little longer - to buy their master time, no doubt.
Honestly, I would not be surprised at all if the other 3 Sanctums opened with a dungeon or raid between now and Cataclysm, as a result of continued Black Dragonflight aggression.
We praise the storyline WotLK brought us - and rightfully so. It was a great storyline, with lots of twists and turns, and moments of despair. But, I felt the Lich King (Arthas) got a fitting end to his story.
However, seeing that the Cataclysm event is *potentially* being kicked off with this raid (maybe more), it shows Blizzard definitely has plans - big plans. Deathwing is going to be made into one giant BAMF, that NOBODY wants to mess with
Not to be 'smart' or anything..but isn't that picture a picture of the blue dragonflight's sanctum? Just saying 'cause the blues are guarding this gate not the reds.
Ok, everything that was said by Octavix, I agree. Now, for the other matter. This is 3.3.5! That means we have something else coming out before it, and after 3.3.3 which is the PvP changes. So what might we see? The Troll "Zul Aman 2.0" people have been calling? Who knows, but Blizz definately has plans to keep us busy, and could exactly be the events that lead up to the event of the Cataclysm.
@ Laeltis
No, you're wrong.
There are many cases in which Patch "Build Number" does not chronologically follow the direct next number in line.
To make that a little more clearer: 3.3.0 was just released in December. Earlier this month, 3.3.2 was released.
Where was 3.3.1?
It never existed. Build Number is determined by Blizzard's own internal systems, not chronologically.
this raid will probably be easier than ICC but not as good with the quality (probably they want to avoid the mistake they made in sunwell and making BT just another raid so they probably will make it like ZA, easier than ICC but the loot quality will not be as good.)
@ Kazzoo, I disagree. I expect it will (at least attempt to) be on the same difficulty level as ICC, however it will probably be the difficulty of the first wing of ICC. It sounds like there are only 4 bosses, unless 'Halion's servants' is a council like thing, and also the other bosses may not be separate or could just be mini bosses. As of yet though we don't really know the structure of the dungeon, and that can play a huge part in difficulty.
@Tater, I'm excited about the drake too. Maybe it could be Ruby drake? It is the Ruby sanctum after all. I would be really surprised if there was no mount at all though, plus how would that help with my working up to 150 mounts for my as much expected 150 mounts in Cata achi =P
ok now i just read even the loot will be at par with ICC so it might be like the first wing in ICC (even though i havent done it yet) but then people will probably keep running it for easy epic gear (unless if its like VOA then the gear will probably be completely random making it not really a place to farm gear) hopefully they dont and make ICC still the best and hardest place to get gear.
@ Octavix
Wow...you did call it. My bad. I was actually wrong. DAMN YOU!
Cataclsym takes over from wotlk come patch 3.3.5 it seems! :D
I'm so glad that ICC is not the last raid nor the only place to get the best gear. well done blizz
No gear is completely random. And VoA has the least random gear of any raid, it just happens to have the largest loot table (60 or so items per boss), but you know exactly that gloves or legs and some pvp stuff will drop from Tora... gloves/legs/robe/pvp from Archa and so on. Sounds to me like an epic version of BM/VH/HoR which isn't necessarily a bad thing.
I'm a big dragon fan so anything involving our favorite wyrms is alway welcome.