Patch 3.3: Icecrown raid preview

Some of the key pieces of information from the preview:
- "Join the legendary heroes Highlord Tirion Fordring, High Overlord Saurfang, Muradin Bronzebeard, Highlord Darion Mograine, and King Varian Wrynn in an epic battle against the Scourge and their master."
- "Icecrown Citadel features 10- and 25-player versions of the raid dungeon, and each version has 12 encounters. Each encounter can be fought in either normal or Heroic mode, and players can use a new user interface feature to toggle easily between difficulties."
- "The rewards in the raid dungeon start at item level 251 in the normal mode with 10-player encounters, increase to item level 264 in the Heroic mode mode with 10 players and the normal mode with 25-player encounters, and then finally reach item level 277 in the Heroic mode with 25 players."
- "...two new forms of abomination in Festergut and Rotface, who currently protect their devious creator, Professor Putricide."
The entire text of the preview after the break.
From Blizzard's Preview:
All across the lands of Northrend, many battles have been fought against the vile Scourge. Countless lives have been lost since the Alliance and Horde first reached the frozen wastes, but the champions of Azeroth continue to march forward. Now Icecrown Citadel, the cornerstone of the Scourge's power and the home base of the Lich King, is their final target. Tirion Fordring and the Argent Crusade have forged an alliance with Darion Mograine and the Knights of the Ebon Blade to form the Ashen Verdict. The strongest combatants of this coalition, along with the champions of the Alliance and Horde, will lead the charge against the citadel.
This dungeon reveals the culminating story events and battles of the Wrath of the Lich King expansion pack. Join the legendary heroes Highlord Tirion Fordring, High Overlord Saurfang, Muradin Bronzebeard, Highlord Darion Mograine, and King Varian Wrynn in an epic battle against the Scourge and their master. Icecrown Citadel features 10- and 25-player versions of the raid dungeon, and each version has 12 encounters. Each encounter can be fought in either normal or Heroic mode, and players can use a new user interface feature to toggle easily between difficulties. The rewards in the raid dungeon start at item level 251 in the normal mode with 10-player encounters, increase to item level 264 in the Heroic mode mode with 10 players and the normal mode with 25-player encounters, and then finally reach item level 277 in the Heroic mode with 25 players.
Grand Entrance of the Citadel
After breaching the fortress, players will face a legion of undead guards directed to repel any invaders. Commanding the defenders is Lord Marrowgar, a monstrosity fused together from the bones of the undead. Supreme Overseer of the Cult of the Damned, Lady Deathwhisper is the next opponent. She bolsters the faith of her followers by promising them the opportunity to give eternal service in undeath.
As they continue their ascent, the Alliance and Horde heroes ultimately end up outside of the citadel where their hatred for one another erupts into a battle for dominance over the Rampart of Skulls. Players will join in battle alongside High Overlord Saurfang on the Orgrim's Hammer gunship or Muradin Bronzebeard on The Skybreaker in a unique encounter. Each faction will protect its gunship and try to destroy the other one in a back-and-forth battle to see who is truly worthy of facing the Lich King.
The Lich King's most powerful death knight then stands as the final obstacle for the heroes to enter the upper reaches of the citadel.
The Wings of Icecrown Citadel
After the heroes of the Alliance or Horde defeat the other faction on the gunships and wipe out the creatures near the entrance, players will venture into an area with three separate wings. Here they will face a multitude of terrors that must be vanquished in order to confront the Lich King.
In the Frostwing Halls players will battle alongside the Ashen Verdict and push into the lair of the deadly frost wyrm Sindragosa, who continues to strengthen her brood with the help of Ymirheim's vrykul. Along the way, the heroes will stumble upon Valithria Dreamwalker, a captured green dragon whom the Scourge is using as a test subject for their own ends....
The Plagueworks contains the most twisted experiments ever produced by the Scourge. In this wing players will face two new forms of abomination in Festergut and Rotface, who currently protect their devious creator, Professor Putricide.
The Crimson Hall contains the leaders of the San'layn, undead blood elves who oversee the Scourge's operations throughout Azeroth. The blood-princes Valanar, Keleseth, and Taldaram were raised into undeath by the Lich King to avenge themselves while protecting their blood-queen, Lana'thel.
The Frozen Throne
After clearing all three wings, players will ascend to the Frozen Throne, where the Lich King and his runeblade, Frostmourne, await to deliver them to their deaths....
Patch 3.3 is the last major patch of Wrath of the Lich King. With the new Icecrown Citadel 5-man dungeons and 10/25-man raid arriving soon, patch 3.3 will deal the final blow to the Arthas. WoW.com's Guide to Patch 3.3 will keep you updated with all the latest patch news.Filed under: Patches, News items
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Reader Comments (Page 4 of 8)
Tomatketchup Oct 7th 2009 3:32AM
Dammit, I was really hoping for Kael'thas to be one of the San'layn. "MAGISTER'S TERRACE WAS JUST A SETBACK."
loreaddict Oct 6th 2009 3:17PM
Epic raid is Epic. The only thing that worries me is the gunship battle.
Oomu Oct 6th 2009 3:17PM
@Sedna
they are recents. in fact, you can see them like the traitors who allows the scourge to destroy Quel'thanas.
Even one tried to use Karazhan to spread scourge in azeroth (in the halloween season event last year)
bushkanaka86 Oct 6th 2009 3:17PM
Does anyone know if the gunship fight is considered a "boss" and does it drop loot? I remember them saying at Blizzcon that is isn't a mount fight but you can jump from one ship to the other and fight on the other ship.
I was trying to count it up and they said 12:
1. Lord Marrowgar
2. Lady Deathwhisper
3. Air Ship Battle?
4. Lich King's most powerful death knight?
5. Valithria Dreamwalker
6. Sindragosa
7. Festergut
8. Rotface
9. Professor Putricide
10. Valanar, Keleseth, and Taldaram
11. Lana'thel
12. Arthas
And I wonder if that is the intended level of difficulty as well? Or if the wings were just listed randomly.
Tim Oct 6th 2009 3:47PM
Im hoping that when they used the word encounter they count multi boss fights as 1. Rotface and festergut as one. Thats how I took it. Thoughts?
bushkanaka86 Oct 6th 2009 4:01PM
Yeah, I thought about that. That Festergut and Rotface might be one fight. But where does the 12th fight come in? It would make sense for them to be 1 fight because then there are 2 bosses in each wing.
But that only places:
2 Grand entrance bosses
Air ship "boss"
Deathknight boss
3x2 bosses in the wings
Arthas
Totalling 11....unless we are missing something.
Eli Oct 6th 2009 6:35PM
We might be too late to save the green dragon, and she becomes undead, forcing us to kill her. Anything like that, where someone who is on our side or someone we're trying to save in the Citadel dies, turns undead, and starts fighting us while we're in the raid.
bushkanaka86 Oct 6th 2009 4:42PM
So I was looking at the pictures really quick and I take it from the pictures the Boss in #2 is Lord Marrowgar to fall in line with "...a monstrosity fused together from the bones of the undead."
Picture 6 looks like a lich. Now, it sort of makes sense for Lady Frostwhisper to be a lich (related to Ras Deathwhisper in Scholo?) except for one fact. We have never seen a female lich right? Scholo, RFD, KT, DTK, etc.
So my question is, is the Lich found in that picture indeed our first Female Lich, Lady Frostwhisper? Because it can't be any of the other bosses listed:
Lord Marrowgar - made of bones
Lady Deathwhisper - maybe her?
Air Ship Battle - um...air ship, not lich
Lich King's most powerful death knight - a Death knight
Valithria Dreamwalker - A dragon
Sindragosa - a bigger dragon
Festergut - Abomination
Rotface - Abomination
Professor Putricide - Undead humanoid, most likely. But he could be the lich I suppose...
Valanar, Keleseth, and Taldaram - blood elf DKs or something like that
Lana'thel - Blood elf DK again
Arthas - Duh
So either that lich is Lady Frostwhisper and we have the first female lich, that I am aware of, the lich is the Professor, which doesn't make much sense, or the Lich is the 12th boss who isn't mentioned yet and Rotface and Festergut are one encounter.
ayalafatalis Oct 6th 2009 3:18PM
"The Crimson Hall contains the leaders of the San'layn, undead blood elves who oversee the Scourge's operations throughout Azeroth. The blood-princes Valanar, Keleseth, and Taldaram were raised into undeath by the Lich King to avenge themselves while protecting their blood-queen, Lana'thel."
I CALLED IT! I knew there would be a 'Scourge Council' in here! HAH!!!! *fistpump*
Yukeake Oct 6th 2009 4:24PM
Naxxanar, Utgarde Keep, and Old Kingdom were merely setbacks!
Evelinda Oct 13th 2009 9:33AM
seriously, for a bunch of nancy boys, blood elves jut will NOT stay down
Taedran Oct 6th 2009 3:18PM
Sounds amazing. Who's the Lich King's Most Powerful Death Knight?
I'm assuming it's either Bolvar or Saurfang. (There was a recent datamine that found "Deathbringer Saurfang" as an NPC)
WampaBoy Oct 6th 2009 3:20PM
I'm a little confused, can someone enlighten me?
There is going to be three separate 5 man instances, that I thought was going to end with the player fighting The Lich King at the end. But now it looks there is also going to be a 25 man raid?
Does this mean to fully get the whole story, you will need to complete each instance, and then complete the raid?
Meethan Oct 6th 2009 3:23PM
The Lich King is not to be defeated in the 5 man, only fought and possibly understood. Understanding your enemy is a powerful weapon.
jealouspirate Oct 6th 2009 3:25PM
That's correct, to see the whole story you need to do all the 5-mans and the raid.
The 5-mans are like a small, elite force doing a surgical strike to weaken Arthas and his Citadel, the raid is the all out assault.
Details are sparse, but the fight with Arthas in the 5-man will likely end with you escaping, leaving the Lich King alive for the raid to kill.
vyziel Oct 6th 2009 3:25PM
i'm betting Frostmourne will be a hunter weapon :D
bushkanaka86 Oct 6th 2009 3:27PM
Frostmourne isn't dropping. They already said that at Blizzcon.
Instead they are creating Shadowmourne which will be a legendary item. I believe it was an Axe...but I could be mistaken.
Eli Oct 6th 2009 6:35PM
Yeah, a 2h axe.
Unfortunately, they did announce at blizzcon it would be a hunter weapon. yay for me?
Phaelan Oct 6th 2009 9:08PM
they said it was a hunter weapon as a joke, also said it was a DK but that part wasn't (makes sense as this whole expansion is about DK's. sense DK's use the same stats as Wars and retadins it'll probably be a ton of STR and STAM with hit and armor pen on it
Volaro Oct 6th 2009 3:31PM
Keleseth: Howling Fjord was merely a setback!