Patch 4.3: Blizzard's official preview of the End Time heroic dungeon
by Matthew Rossi 
Sep 19th 2011 at 12:30PM
Unlike previous CoT instances, this one sends the players into the future after Deathwing wins, to help Nozdormu find the reason he's blocked from accessing the past -- specifically, to the time before the Demon Soul was hidden by Malfurion. Along the way, you're forced to battle various former Horde and Alliance leaders, now reduced to echoes of their former sanity, and then the mysterious, malefic maestro of madness Murozond, an anomaly in the timestream not even Nozdormu can unravel.
Check out all the screenshots and get a preview of the experience at the official site, already. Not even a Volkswagen Beetle van full of heavily armed people could stop me now.
Brace yourselves for what could be some of most exciting updates to the game recently with patch 4.3. Look at what's ahead: new item storage options, cross-realm raiding, cosmetic armor skinning and your chance to battle the mighty Deathwing -- from astride his back! Filed under: Analysis / Opinion, Raiding, Lore, Cataclysm
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 6)
ElrithCC Sep 19th 2011 12:44PM
Illidan's custom model is amazing. I would kill to play a demon hunter or night elf that looked like that now. Argh! This looks great.
Moeru Sep 19th 2011 1:54PM
I'm still hoping all these teases are going to add up to a Demon Hunter something, if not hero class, then organisation or faction in the next expansion. This isn't the only time we've seen demon hunters being developed and explained beyond their uses as a NPC class.
ElrithCC Sep 19th 2011 2:00PM
With all the new demon hunter quests in Cataclysm, as well as this new order the Dark Embrace (and the secret hidden quest in Darkshore about the path to becoming a demon hunter) I think it's a good bet. I've been waiting since 2004 to become a demon hunter, I even organized Black Temple raids for months just to get my night elf warrior the Cursed Vision of Sargeras ,....no glaives though :( .
If anything, I hope they eventually how head slots in transmogrification to not be armor type bound in it's development so we can have hats and eye patches etc no matter what class we are.
I'd hate to re-roll a rogue just to finally see my dream realized.
Peregrine Sep 19th 2011 5:15PM
Murozond, clearly an anagram of Nozdormu.
dwaro Nov 29th 2011 11:22AM
Blizzard is teasing me with these bits of information. I want to know more!
ElrithCC Sep 19th 2011 12:46PM
http://media.mmo-champion.com/images/news/2011/september/patch43_4.jpg
Illidan 1
http://media.mmo-champion.com/images/news/2011/september/patch43_5.jpg
Illidan 2
Funny how Malfurion is such an old model.
Udderpowered Sep 19th 2011 1:13PM
Is there a reason is he has clawed feet? I thought the demonic stuff happened when he sucked up the skull juice in WC3,
ElrithCC Sep 19th 2011 1:46PM
Yes, lore wise in the D20 campaign books early demon hunters start exhibiting clawed feet and hands, as well as smoking eye sockets,....but even mundane night elves already have clawed feet and hands in some of Samwise' older concept art.
Demon Hunters in Warcraft3 are sort of a "chicken and the egg thing", there were hero class individuals besides Illidan who were bound with the energies of chaos, it's hard to say if Samwise originally wanted all Nightelves to have those claws, or if only demon hunters have those claws now. Or if Illidan was thought of before the WC3 hero class or if they created the lore to fit their ideas of hero classes.
Since the WoW nelf models lack them, you could just use it as a retcon or finalized design. But one thing is for certain, all demon hunters have claws like that, and I really hope if they introduce them as a hero class in an expansion we will have the claws seen in this early demon hunter concept art.
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v84/evilknick/WoW/Illidanthebetraver.jpg
trefpoid Sep 19th 2011 1:51PM
Demon Hunters tend to have their features changed over time as they manipulate the dark energies, transforming slowly into something very demonicm From wowpedia and the RPG book (Guess Blizz confirms the RPG book information on this matter with that picture):
"As a demon hunter grows in power, they undergo a gradual evolution, becoming more and more demonic in appearance. The changes are cosmetic and can take many different forms, from burning eyes to black blood. By the time the demon hunter reaches the pinnacle of his development, he is a twisted and dark version of his former self - though the chaotic energy in his body does not affect his personality and allegiance (or so the demon hunters claim), it wreaks great changes on his physical form. The demon hunter’s gradual evolution achieves its pinnacle as they become a demonic entity. Their appearance has changed to something frightening: The exact changes vary, but can include glowing red eyes; horns; clawed feet and hands; nonfunctioning wings; cloven hooves; a spiked tail; dark skin; a deep, rumbling voice; and similar cosmetic changes. The demon hunter becomes an outsider."
ElrithCC Sep 19th 2011 1:53PM
Here is an early Night Elf druid with similar claws from Samwise' concept art:
http://www.sonsofthestorm.com/viewer.php?artist=samwise&cat=warcraft&art=139
But normal demon hunters like Illidan who have their eyes burned/cut out have been infused with chaos/demonic energy, and have always had claws in the lore. The skull of Guldan made him ten feet tall and have horns and wings, he already had claws of a sort. Hope this helps answer your question.
Leviathon Sep 19th 2011 2:04PM
"Here is an early Night Elf druid with similar claws from Samwise' concept art:
http://www.sonsofthestorm.com/viewer.php?artist=samwise&cat=warcraft&art=139"
That's a druid of the talon.
ElrithCC Sep 19th 2011 2:32PM
The claws make more sense then.
Joseph Smith Sep 19th 2011 3:11PM
"Funny how Malfurion is such an old model. "
Well, it IS an old version of Malfurion...at the time he was far from a master of Druidic arts, being just a student of Cenarius'
ElrithCC Sep 19th 2011 3:17PM
True, I just think it's odd they made a modified new model for a younger Illidan but not a younger Malfurion. Perhaps this is yet another hint at demon hunter content coming in the future! But then I am hopelessly biased.
yagamimoon Sep 19th 2011 5:51PM
Nelf Illidan looks like the Agent Smith o_0
Malyse Sep 19th 2011 12:46PM
I really wish they'd used some other name for the bad guy... Murozond? Seems a bit... obvious.
Bumblebee Sep 19th 2011 12:49PM
I guess we just have to roll with the puns.
ElrithCC Sep 19th 2011 12:57PM
It's already been revealed in the Thrall novel.
Artificial Sep 19th 2011 1:13PM
Considering they made it obvious in quests from over two years ago, I'm not seeing how the anagram here makes anything any more obvious than it already was...
furrama Sep 19th 2011 4:32PM
KNEEL BEFORE ZOND!