Second wing of Icecrown Citadel to open in 28 days
by Matt Low 
Dec 9th 2009 at 4:06AM
Already, a number of guilds have cleared out the first bosses in the lower areas of Icecrown Citadel. After taking down the Deathbringer, talking to your friendly faction hero yields some information as to when the doors will open. In Trial of the Crusader, one new boss opened every week. In Icecrown Citadel, it seems like they're increasing the time between gates. As reported by Stratfu, the next area will open in 28 days (which is expected to be the Plagueworks containing Festergut, Rotface, and Professor Putricide). January 5th is the target date for the next set of bosses.
At the rate we're going (28 days between gates), we won't see Arthas until April.
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 Arthas. WoW.com's Guide to Patch 3.3 will keep you updated with all the latest patch news.
At the rate we're going (28 days between gates), we won't see Arthas until April.
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 Arthas. WoW.com's Guide to Patch 3.3 will keep you updated with all the latest patch news.Filed under: Analysis / Opinion, News items, Raiding, Wrath of the Lich King
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 4)
Rai Dec 9th 2009 4:23AM
Somebody call Muradin and inform him that if he leaves us gnomes in charge of the door for 28 days, Icecrown Citadel will become Gnomeregan 2.0.
Boz Dec 9th 2009 7:15AM
You have to admit, though, that tying in some lore to the required waiting period was a pretty sweet move by Blizzard.
Myf Dec 9th 2009 8:59AM
"The best gnomes we've got" ?
And I wasnt invited?
/cry
Lithpiper Dec 9th 2009 4:24AM
I think this is going to be the longest waiting period, with the rest being ~3 week. The reason for this is, it is the holiday season, and by waiting to open new bosses until after new years, they are taking pressure off of raiders to be online instead of enjoying time with their family.
Tooay Dec 9th 2009 4:28AM
beat me to it. Probably exceptional because of the holidays.
Brandon Dec 9th 2009 7:08AM
Another take: IMHO this doesn't have to do with the holidays and has more to do with the timing of the Cataclysm release. Blizzard has said previously that they regretted the long delay between the fall of Illidan and the WoTL expansion. By doing this (Arthas around April) they can release the new expansion in Q4 (around November again?) and keep the time from the "end" of WoLK content and Cataclysm release to the stated ideal of a 6 month window.
I'd like to be wrong, I'd rather see Cataclysm earlier than later, but to me this indicates more than ever that we won't be seeing it until the end of next year.
Super Healer Dec 9th 2009 9:55AM
I'm sure the fact that there are other high profile MMO's being released beginning/middle of next year has nothing to do with the delayed content either :)
Samantha Smith Dec 9th 2009 9:57AM
i think its got to do with both the holidays and the release of the expansion. Im sure the timing of this stuff has all been planned out. Summer release of expansion might be nice
Alanid Dec 9th 2009 10:47AM
Did no-one else think 28 Days Later when they read that? Am I the only one?
Muse Dec 9th 2009 10:48AM
Yeh. By Jan 5th, our main tank should be sober again from new years.
joggoms Dec 9th 2009 10:51AM
Makes perfect sense that the work by the gnomes would result in the longest delay. Seems logical the follow-up delays will be shorter.
Korey Dec 9th 2009 4:25AM
Im interested to see how this plays out. Especially with guilds not being able to do hard modes until they have killed Arthas? I'm going to try to keep an open mind about this, but it looks like the words farm content are going to become very familiar again.
William Dec 9th 2009 4:26AM
We are working as hard as we can, captain.
nonentity Dec 9th 2009 4:28AM
Oh c'mon, that's bull! 28 days for what, 3 or 4 bosses? And, according to your ICC-Guide, we won't even be able to do Heroic modes of the bosses implemented so far because to unlock that we have to beat Arthas once first?
gah I'm pissed... So we now essentially get 4 ToCs in succession, farming the same 4 bosses for 4 weeks.... great way to ruin the otherwise interesting ICC...
I really, really hope the release of the third wing will be sooner, that they're only delaying this one for so long because of christmas holidays etc. The goblins becoming more adept at blasting through the doors or whatever.
Miles Dec 9th 2009 4:36AM
IMO, this means Cataclysm is going to come Fall 2010 at the earliest. No way they'd release the new x-pack within like 6 months of guilds finishing hard mode stuff.
Brandon Dec 9th 2009 7:10AM
Oops, didn't see that someone had already posted this when I posted my reply to Lithpiper. I think you're absolutely right Miles! (Though I hope we're wrong since I'm looking forward to Cataclysm and would rather have it sooner than later).
Skonged Dec 9th 2009 9:32AM
Its going to be sooner than that.
Wolftech Dec 9th 2009 9:58AM
I beg to differ, but if you remember back to Blizzcon, they said we would still be dealing with Arthas when the Cataclysm came. I look for Arthas to open with 4.0 and the start of the Cataclysm world events. A few short months later, Cataclysm will arrive. They stated they wanted 12-18 months between expansions. That would put a release date in May 2010.
WyvernVJ Dec 10th 2009 2:14PM
@Wolftech /agree
I also foresee the release of Cat on May 2010 and ur guess of the Cat world events and Arthas step-in at the same time seems right to me.
In addition, i think not only one wing will be open that day since the other 3 are separate and non-linear ...except the Frozen Throne itself which has to be last.
Shassar Dec 9th 2009 4:38AM
Woo! On my birthday XD