Cataclysm to include outdoor heroic 5-man bosses
by Matthew Rossi 
Oct 26th 2010 at 5:00PM
In vanilla and BC, there were world bosses like Azuregos and Doomwalker that spawned out in the open world and could be taken down by a raid. While these bosses were often farmed by the highest progression guilds on the servers, they were often so quickly killed and so long in respawning that not many players got to see them. Now, in Cataclysm, a new take on this idea is being implemented.
Valnoth - Re: Thank you for the outdoor raid bossesQ u o t e:
No, I'm not being sarcastic. I am genuinely happy that they have been brought back in Cataclysm since they really do play a part in developing a server's community, especially when there is more than one guild that's capable of putting out enough people to down them. And going by the health of the current ones, they seem to be balanced towards a 10-man raid which means a lot of people will be able to actually have a shot at getting them. Here's to some competition and some good-natured trash-talking between guilds come Cataclysm. \o/
No, I'm not being sarcastic. I am genuinely happy that they have been brought back in Cataclysm since they really do play a part in developing a server's community, especially when there is more than one guild that's capable of putting out enough people to down them. And going by the health of the current ones, they seem to be balanced towards a 10-man raid which means a lot of people will be able to actually have a shot at getting them. Here's to some competition and some good-natured trash-talking between guilds come Cataclysm. \o/
There are a COUPLE of these bosses in Cataclysm, but they're not true outdoor raid bosses. They're just much harder group bosses that drop heroic dungeon level items and specialty items. Have fun!
Valnoth later responds to a player's concerns that these bosses will definitely be doable by a five-player group and are not intended as true raid bosses. Frankly, while I loved farming Azuregos, the Dragons of Nightmare and Kazzak back in the day, it was really a drag trying to do them with smaller-than-optimal raid groups in order to beat other guilds. There was a lot of griefing, and the spawn rates were terrible. Hopefully, with their being made heroic 5-man quality, they'll be able to spawn more often and more people will have a shot at them.
World of Warcraft: Cataclysm will destroy Azeroth as we know it; nothing will be the same! In WoW Insider's Guide to Cataclysm, you can find out everything you need to know about WoW's third expansion (available Dec. 7, 2010), from brand new races to revamped quests and zones. Visit our Cataclysm news category for the most recent posts having to do with the Cataclysm expansion.Filed under: News items, Cataclysm
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 3)
Carson Oct 26th 2010 5:06PM
Good idea, as long as they've learned the lesson with regards to fight mechanics that allow players of the same faction to grief you. Like the green dragon thing where bad things happened when players died, allowing suiciders to mess up your attempt.
I'd be delighted to see a day-long faction vs. faction brawl on a PvP server, with no group remaining unattacked long enough to take down the boss. But if it's your own faction-mates, it should be a race and nothing more.
TJC Oct 26th 2010 5:08PM
Agree with Carson on all accounts.
Can one be at Southsore for old time outdoor PVP sake?
slartibart Oct 26th 2010 5:19PM
I agree as well Carson, but I think it'd be naive to assume they haven't learned anything since patch 2.0 :)
Seeing the problems they had with Doom Lord and the dragons, I'm looking forward to these mobs just adding more flavor to the world.
Cephas Oct 26th 2010 5:33PM
Ruins of Southshore is becoming a 20-25 Horde quest hub, so putting a 5-man heroic boss there is probably not a good idea.
Fletcher Oct 26th 2010 6:03PM
Not a good idea, Cephas? I agree - it's a GREAT idea! I would LOVE to go through the Forsaken like a scythe of retribution, cleansing Lordaeron of the foul taint of undeath.
gamerunknown Oct 27th 2010 4:01AM
Irony? All the old world bosses were in levelling zones. I still get chills when I think of seeing "PEACE IS BUT A FLEETING DREAM, LET THE NIGHTMARE REIGN" while levelling in Duskwood.
I'd recommend hitting up the world dragons while you still have time: they're 2 mannable with some good kiting, or soloable with high enough nature res.
and I don't think having them tuned for 5 mans is a good idea for reasons already stated. Just adding my voice to the pile.
swcdrumman Oct 26th 2010 5:08PM
sounds like a lot of fun.
Banic Rhys Oct 27th 2010 12:10AM
Sounds like a lot of griefing and hate.
relmatos Oct 27th 2010 8:54AM
Sounds like content I'll not see since the mob will always be tagged by someone else.
MockTurtle Oct 26th 2010 5:23PM
Magatha Grimtotem, perhaps?
matiaid1 Oct 26th 2010 5:43PM
she has to be the main boss for the next expansion.
DonFerren Oct 26th 2010 5:33PM
Phasing would be absolutely perfect for this. You and your party would have to get a group quest just to even SEE the boss. Combine it with some sort of 5 man equivalent of the raid ID and you have no griefing even possible. No one but your party can fight, or even see, this particular "instance" of the outdoor boss.
Cephas Oct 26th 2010 5:39PM
I hope they DON'T do that. They're not even really "outdoor bosses" at that point.
Elmouth Oct 26th 2010 6:03PM
They're still outdoor.
There really is no point in adding bosses like kazzak and doomwalker because they'e always dead within 15 mins of the server reset.
If they don't find some way to make them available for everyone then I don't see a point.
Racing people to a 5-man boss is just silly.
If you're a competition whore there's always arena to strike at your epen.
Lemons Oct 26th 2010 5:33PM
I can already imagine 100+ players camping the spawn locations.
It's gunna be so...much...fun....
Krz Oct 26th 2010 9:25PM
Maybe Tol Barad won't be an utter lagfest like WG is now, then! :D
Deathknighty Oct 26th 2010 5:35PM
As someone who never got to experience any old-time outdoor boss, this sounds great. I'd hoped they'd do something like this.
I hope it's phased, to avoid the chaos that I understand accompanied the original bosses.
Angus Oct 26th 2010 6:00PM
Then what's the point? It's just a dungeon outside.
Kazzak was a difficult boss not because he himself was that bad. He was har because people, both Alliance and Horde, would drop dead to him causing all sorts if grief for the people killing him. It was a testimony to your guild's skill at begging, pleading, threatening and adapting to these folks as much as killing the boss.
"Inciming naked human"
"everyone get ready for a spike from that griefer dying"
wutsconflag Oct 26th 2010 5:36PM
Awesome to see something like this is being added back to the game.
jfofla Oct 26th 2010 5:46PM
I hope they spawn at the same rate as Chillmaw.