User:GoldenYak/World's Heart/Dungeons

Dungeons in World's Heart.

The Underworld
Azeroth's underworld is filled with nightmarish terrors, and the evil is on the rise.

Dungeons

 * Doorward Undervault - The deepest levels of Doorward remain in the slithering clutches of the Old Gods and their spawn. The forces of Doorward must remain vigilant against the fiends of below and the whispers of their dark masters. Even the most stalwart can, and have, succumbed to the dread power of the Old Gods.
 * Ahn'Vekir, the Crawling City - An ancient nerubian city, built during the glory days of their empire. It fell to the Scourge when the Lich King came to Azeroth, but with the rebirth of the nerubian empire, Ahn'Vekir lives again, crawling with the numberless arachnid horrors of Azjol-Nerub.
 * Riplash Ruins
 * Castle Draugarde
 * The Hanging Tower
 * Dreadstorm Bastion
 * Terrormaw Hold
 * The Halls of Fire
 * The Halls of Horror
 * Altar of the Old Gods (Mythic Only)
 * Ruins of Naxxramas (Mythic Only) (Unlocked in X.1)

Grand Dungeon Mode
Mythic-only difficulty dungeons are available in two distinct modes - standard Mythic Dungeon mode, and new Grand Dungeon mode.

A standard mythic dungeon will have between 3 and 5 bosses, and completing one will run roughly 30 minutes. Grand Dungeons take the original layout of a standard mythic dungeon and greatly expand on it, adding many new regions to explore, new enemies to battle, powerful new bosses to defeat including a new final boss, new lore to experience, new secrets to discover, and new treasure to obtain. Grand Dungeons offer an expanded storyline as well for only the worthiest of adventurers to complete.

The following example uses the dungeon Ruins of Naxxramas to show how Grand Dungeon mode works.

Ruins of Naxxramas - Grand Dungeon Mode explained
In the standard mythic dungeon version of Ruins of Naxxramas, adventurers travel into the fallen necropolis to hunt down the rogue forsaken alchemist, Plaguemaster Middleton, who has stolen the phylactery of the infamous arch-lich Kel'Thuzad and has fled into the depths of Naxxramas to carry out some dark ritual. Naxxramas fell from the sky after it was abandoned by the Lich King, but the massive fortress still seethes with necromantic energies and is infested with dangerous undead monsters.

In mythic standard mode, players progress through the ruined sections of Naxxramas to destroy Middleton and the undead creatures he's unleashed. The runic teleportation network in Naxxramas remains active, allowing players to teleport from quarter to quarter easily. The restless dead of Naxxramas hint at a greater, more powerful evil being the rumblings of the fallen necropolis. Players will encounter Patchwerk in the ruins of the Abomination quarter, while Lady Blaumeux's fragmented spirit haunts the Death Knight wing. Heigan the Unclean attacks trespassers in the Plague wing, while the reanimated corpse of Grand Widow Faerlina prowls the Spider quarter. Finally, players will enter the secret sanctum of Kel'Thuzad to confront Plaguemaster Middleton, who attempts to resurrect the lich and must be slain before he succeeds. With the defeat of Middleton and the shattering of Kel'Thuzad's phylactery, it seems that the evil of the necropolis has been thwarted, but the shade of Kel'Thuzad appears to taunt the adventurers, promising that he will surpass the power of the Lich King and make the Shadowlands his.

In Naxxramas' Grand Dungeon mode, players must explore more of the fallen Necropolis. With the runic teleportation network down, adventurers must brave the putrid inner workings of the necropolis and battle through hideous undead monsters to make their way from quarter to quarter. The bosses encountered in standard version are present in Grand Dungeon mode as well, but are even more powerful and some boast new mechanics. There are also new bosses to encounter as well - in the ruins of the Death Knight quarter, the storm giant death knight Guillotivus waits for worthy challengers. In Frostwyrm Lair, the unquiet spirit of Sapphiron prowls, unable to find rest. In the ruins of the Abomination wing, the party finds Festerface, a hideous protoype abomination created by Professor Putricide and shipped to Naxxramas before his demise.

In Grand Dungeon mode, after defeating Plaguemaster Middleton, the shade of Kel'Thuzad will do more than simply taunt players. The spectral lich tears open a massive death gate into the Shadowlands themselves and pulls the players through it, trapping them in the nightmarish realm of the dead. Adventurers must survive the bleak landscape and the endless unquiet dead, including an encounter with the dark val'kyr Svetlana Sorrowgrave. Finally, the heroes track down and confront Kel'Thuzad himself, who has become a frightful wraith by feeding on the dark power of death and decay in the Shadowlands. After a desperate battle with the archlich, the Lich King himself appears to oversee the battle. The players must survive a final showdown with the infamous lich, caught on the very precipice of death.

Grand Dungeon Mode in Other Dungeons
Grand Dungeon Mode will be available for all dungeons that are mythic-only in difficulty. The Altar of the Old Gods is initially available in mythic standard, and will obtain a Grand Dungeon Mode in Patch X.1. Grand Dungeon Mode will offer expanded storylines for all dungeons as well, and adventurers returning to a previously completed dungeon in Grand Dungeon mode may find that their first adventure did not reveal the full truth of things. New foes to face and secrets to uncover offer an incentive to explore once again.


 * Altar of the Old Gods
 * Ruins of Naxxramas
 * The Timeblight
 * Vault of the Titans
 * Siege of Malykriss