Cory Stockton and Scott Mercer gave an in-depth look into the dungeons and raids available at the launch of WoW: Cataclysm during the Raids and Dungeons panel today at BlizzCon. We'll look at the dungeons first.

OVERVIEW:

At launch, World of Warcraft: Cataclysm will ship with eight 5-man dungeons and two heroic versions of old-world dungeons.

Grim Batol: One level 85 5-man.
Skywall: One level 80-82 5-man.
Abyssal Maw: Two 5-mans; level 80-83 and level 82-84.
Deepholm: One level 80-83 5-man.
Uldum: Two 5-mans; level 83-84 and level 85.
Blackrock Caverns: One level 85 5-man.
Shadowfang Keep: One level 85 heroic 5-man.
The Deadmines: One level 85 heroic 5-man.

Descriptions and info after the jump for dungeons that were covered in depth in the panel.

Abyssal Maw: Two 5-Man Dungeons

Abyssal Maw is the entrance to the Elemental Plane of Water and home of the water elementals. It's an early 5-man. Stockton explained that the entrance to it is a gigantic whirlpool outside the Sunken City of Vashj'ir that players have to jump into! The Naga are interested in this place due to their association with, well, water.

Stockton mentioned that players will be able to look out the "windows" of the instance and see the ocean floor outside, taking advantage of the new water tech used in this expansion. The look of the place is nothing we've seen in WoW before; eexactly the kind of place you'd think water elementals would live. The dungeon we saw was non-linear, with a neat water-filled elevator in the middle.

No news on the available bosses for either unnamed dungeon.


Uldum: Two 5-Man Dungeons

Uldum is the secret desert Titan outpost, located southwest of Tanaris. Originally obscured by advanced Titan machinery, the area has become exposed due to the Cataclysm destroying said machinery.

The zone is home to two 5-man dungeons: The Halls of Origination and the Lost City of Tol'vir. We got a glimpse at the Halls of Origination, which was essentially Ulduar in Egypt. Very impressive architecture; glowing green scarabs, pyramids, heiroglyphs on the wall, a different kind of Egyptian motif than we're used to from Ahn'Qiraj. The Horde, Alliance, and Twilight's Hammer Cult all want what's hidden in the Halls -- which is rumored to be a super-weapon. Admittedly, me and Daniel Whitcomb are hoping that Watcher Tyr, the conspicuously-absent Ulduar Keeper, will make an appearance there too.

Brann Bronzebeard will be there, of course.

The Lost City of Tol'vir is a huge open-air instance home to the Tol'vir, a titan-created race of "stone cat people". Worgen may dislike this race for no apparent reason. (Joke.)

The Halls of Origination will contain seven (!!) bosses.


Blackrock Caverns: One 5-Man Dungeon

The team described Blackrock Caverns as "bringing back an old favorite". The architecture and motif is very similar to Blackrock Spire, but the assets and art are all new. The dungeon is a new area of Blackrock Mountain, taken over by the newly-empowered Twilight's Hammer Cult, now in service of Deathwing. Blown away by the look of the place, very classic but very new. Deathwing has drilled a hole from Blackrock Mountain to Grim Batol! he's transporting troops, supplies and ... eggs?

Stockton says The Beast is back! Hopefully with another ridiculous knockback ability.


Grim Batol: One 5-Man Dungeon

This is Deathwing's new home. Grim Batol is the old dwarven stronghold where all of the Dragonflights used to store their eggs, and Deathwing's taken over the place to create a new, incredibly powerful dragonflight. Not a whole lot of information about what the dungeon contains, necessarily, but the art shown has a very grim, dwarven look to it; sort of a reverse Ironforge, which appears to be the point.

The zone contains four bosses.

That's what we learned about dungeons today -- we'll have a roundup of the raid zone information for you soon!

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BlizzCon 2009 is here! WoW.com has continuing coverage, bringing you the latest in Cataclysm news, live blogs, galleries, and reports right from the convention floor. Check out WoW.com's Guide to BlizzCon for the latest!

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Filed under: Instances, Expansions, BlizzCon, Cataclysm