Patch 3.2 Argent Coliseum details
by Matthew Rossi 
Jun 22nd 2009 at 12:15PM
- In the "Heroic" version of the Crusaders' Coliseum, you and your raid only have a limited number of attempts for each raid lockout period, and each time your raid wipes, one of your attempts will be used up. To embark on the epic Trial of the Grand Crusader, you must first prove your worth by clearing either the 10 or 25 player version of the Crusaders' Coliseum's normal mode. After you have dealt the killing blow to the coliseum's final heroic mode boss will you be able to collect the Crusaders' Tribute, and the fewer attempts you needed to complete the Trial of the Grand Crusader, the better your reward will be.
If you're looking for more details, scoot on over to the under development section and take a look. You can also take a look at the accompanying screenshot of the Argent Coliseum.
Patch 3.2 will bring about a new 5, 10, and 25 man instance to WoW, and usher in a new 40-man battleground called the Isle of Conquest. WoW.com will have you covered every step of the way, from extensive PTR coverage through the official live release. Check out WoW.com's Guide to Patch 3.2 for all the latest!Filed under: Analysis / Opinion, News items, Instances, Raiding, The Burning Crusade, Wrath of the Lich King, Europe
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 2)
Gnosh Jun 22nd 2009 12:21PM
Hmm. MGT-style attunes, for a raid?
Sean Jun 22nd 2009 1:00PM
I like this idea. I enjoyed ring of blood/ampitheather... violet hold-ish. So I'm all for more of that.
Retropally Jun 22nd 2009 12:25PM
I'm looking forward to this a lot, but to think that this will (I assume so) give better gear than Ulduar as its tier 9 I think the story that will go into it will be very limited compared to that of Naxx and Ulduar.
Will people even consider trying Ulduar's hardest mode if this is an easier alternative? I might have in the future...but I might not do if i'm going for lesser gear.
Still, if they continue to promise us fast updates and other things then roll on the next tier :P
Percy Jun 22nd 2009 12:29PM
The wording makes me wonder if we have to clear the -entire- normal mode, so all 5 bosses, before we can try heroic. If thats the case then it will take 5 weeks before anyone can try heroic because there is only going to be one boss added per week!
peagle Jun 22nd 2009 12:32PM
That was a surprisingly unpolished page for Blizzard. The "meet the bosses" section (though intended to be incomplete) felt like a first draft with no conclusion.
Valt Jun 22nd 2009 1:11PM
Agreed. I really hope theres no "generic magnataur/worm model #13456 VS teh raid!"
Kemikalkadet Jun 22nd 2009 1:41PM
Yeah agreed, the way it was described didnt really make it sound that interesting.. a magnataur and two (two!) worms. When the biggest selling point of the teaser is that you get to fight two big worms instead of one it kind of leaves me thinking "is that it?". There's no mention of a big bad at the end either, just seems we get into a pit and scrap about a bit with some mobs.
Don't get me wrong, i am looking forward to this raid. The format of it seems pretty exciting with no long hallways full of trivial trash to faceroll through. The different tier systems they're doing seem cool too.. i'm a predominantly 10-man raider and i like that we're getting our own heroic mode. But that under dev didnt do the raid justice at all.
devilsei Jun 22nd 2009 2:24PM
Blizzard can't top themselves right now, thats why this dungeon/raid is so... meh.
We went through Naxx, moved up to Ulduar, both places full of lore (and the former an old raid barely anyone cleared), and we are looking forward to Icecrown in the future. There's just no lore behind this. Why would they bring in creatures so powerful that it would take us, the players, to kill em. It can't obviously be for training their everyday soldiers. Hell, I bet some of their higher-ups might not be strong enough for a one-on-one duel with them.
If its anything, I bet we are fighting prisoners and the like that the Argent Dawn have found. Creatures and undead they couldn't (or didn't bother) kill, so instead locked em up. That wouldn't make much sense though because I haven't really seen any lore that would justify this, much less build a "coliseum" to kill them in.
In the end, it just feels unoriginal. Yeah yeah I loved the Ring-of-Death quests, but there's already been four (one in nagrand, one in grizzly hills, one in Zul-drak, and one in Icecrown) so making a raid out of the events just feels... expected, in a way, to me. And at least with those quests there was a bit of lore behind them, even if it was minimal at best. This though... just doesn't really seem like what a group of paladins would do.
Yeng Jun 22nd 2009 2:54PM
My guess is that the 'lore' is that they are captured to test the mettle of champions (the player characters) to make sure they are prepared to send after the Lich King.
Barinthos Jun 22nd 2009 12:34PM
I may be a bit unclear on something, or it's me over thinking/combining two different notes. But in order to access the normal modes (5/10/25) do you have to have the Crusader title? Or is that only the new items purchasable from the vendor?
Photograffiti Jun 22nd 2009 12:43PM
Does this mean that if you want to do Heroic you have to clear Normal in the same lockout period? Meaning you finish Normal on Tuesday/Wednesday before you can start on Heroic. And then next week you have to clear Normal again?
Sleutel Jun 22nd 2009 7:05PM
That was an option I hadn't even thought of.
I was wondering if it would be achievement-based, or something like the key for Malygos, and if that were the case, if it's just one person in your raid that would have to have done it on normal, or if the majority of the raid, or all of it.
Mannas Jun 22nd 2009 12:53PM
I wonder if the bosses will be the same for every lockout period. I know there will be 5 fights in the raid, but does that mean you will fight 5 bosses out of a larger pool of bad guys (as per Violet Hold) or the same 5 baddies every time.
If there were more than 5 bosses that would make it easier for them to distribute an entire tier of loot, without having bosses with huge loot tables. Bosses that drop tier pieces could on be possible to fight on the last 3 fights of the run for example.
Mannas Jun 22nd 2009 12:54PM
*could only be
kabshiel Jun 22nd 2009 1:03PM
Am I the only one that's kind of disappointed by the Coliseum? It kind of feels like WotLK's Zul'Aman: no real story, just some loot. I know that at this point we've killed off two of the three main Northrend threats (Malygos and Yogg-Saron) and that only the Scourge is left, but I feel like Blizzard could have come up with something with more story potential.
snowleopard233 Jun 22nd 2009 1:13PM
I kind of agree with you. The whole idea of staying in one room and awaiting the next enemy just seems kind of lame in comparison to exploring an entire sprawling raid dungeon like Ulduar. To me, the whole argent tournament/ coliseum thing just kind of feels like non-epic training filler. At least Zul’Aman was an actual place you could visit with lore and villains making evil diabolical plans. The stakes just don’t feel as high or immediate here.
ReyesOfHope Jun 22nd 2009 1:20PM
I just want to kill stuff. I don't need a story line. Pew pew.
impurezero Jun 22nd 2009 1:03PM
It would be nice if hard-mode achievements only exist in the heroic versions of the raid. That way there could be less complaining about guilds clearing nomal version hard-modes by using the heroic gear.
TheMediator Jun 22nd 2009 1:11PM
"That way there could be less complaining about guilds clearing nomal version hard-modes by using the heroic gear."
From the looks of things, the 10 and 25 man should be dropping the same quality of loot. At least, that's the direction things look like they're going (25 is no longer "heroic", badges dropping equally, blizzard's attitude towards players trivializing 10 mans with 25 man loot, etc.)
impurezero Jun 22nd 2009 5:31PM
Hmm...that makes sense. You're always such an insightful Mediator. :)