Throne of Thunder



Throne of Thunder is the Patch 5.2 raid instance. Emperor Lei Shen, the Thunder King, has returned to wreak his vengeance on Pandaria. It falls to the heroes of the Alliance and the Horde to stop the newly resurrected tyrant and his Zandalari allies in the Throne of Thunder. The Throne of Thunder is a sprawling citadel housing 12 raid encounters, and players that defeat Emperor Lei Shen in Heroic mode can earn the opportunity to face an additional 13th foe, Ra-den.

The Raid Finder version of the Throne of Thunder is divided into 4 different wings, and each wing opened a week (or two) after the previous. The instance opened on 5 March 2013, Heroic mode and "Last Stand of the Zandalari" LFR opened on 12 March, "Forgotten Depths" LFR opened on 19 March, "Halls of Flesh-Shaping" LFR opened on 2 April, and "Pinnacle of Storms" LFR opened on 16 April.

Join the Shado-Pan Assault in their singular drive to see Lei Shen, The Thunder King defeated once and for all, and gain access to impressive Valor reward items. Reputation with this faction can be earned only within the Throne of Thunder raid dungeon.

Background
Once the young Lei Shen had come of age and commanded his own legions, he announced his intent to awaken the gods. Only his most loyal of followers accompanied him where no mogu had dared tread: into the very heart of the Thundering Mountain, the sacred home of the one the mogu had called their master. What he found was illuminating: the titanic watcher Ra-den, who stood guard over a powerful titan device, the Engine of Nalak'sha. Lei Shen claimed dominion over both. It is said that he tore out the very heart of the mogu god. And from that hateful act, he gained power over wind and storm.

Lei Shen, now calling himself the "Thunder King", declared the Thundering Mountain to be his seat of power and atop its summit he built a majestic and forbidden city. Following the Thunder King's death, the new emperor, Dojan Firecrown, moved the capital of the empire from the barren Throne of Thunder to Mogu'shan Palace in the fertile Vale of Eternal Blossoms.

Dungeon Journal
''When Pandaria separated from Kalimdor many thousands of years ago, a veil of mist kept outsiders from discovering the newly-formed continent. The mists also hid a reminder of an ancient evil: Lei Shen's Throne of Thunder. During his rule, this fortress was the seat of the Thunder King's power. Even after his death, great swathes of corrupted energy lingered, and now, the resurrected Thunder King and the Zandalari trolls intend to harness that energy to establish the reign of Lei Shen once again.''

Encounters
The forces of the Zandalari have rallied in the ruins surrounding the Thunder King's island citadel.
 * Last Stand of the Zandalari

Beneath the foundations of the Throne of Thunder lie vast caverns, teeming with ancient horrors.
 * Forgotten Depths

In the horrific chambers beneath Lei Shen's citadel, the mogu conducted terrible experiments into reshaping life.
 * Halls of Flesh-Shaping

From within his inner sanctum, the risen Thunder King plots the return of the great mogu empire.
 * Pinnacle of Storms

Getting there
First get to the Isle of Thunder by taking a portal from the faction camps outside Shado-Pan Garrison in Townlong Steppes. The Alliance camp is at to the north, and the Horde camp is at  to the southeast. Once on the isle, head to the Diremoor and follow the main path northeast through the jungle. At the Emperor's Gate, turn left and head due north to find at a sewer entrance called the Bleak Hollow, which is a small Shado-Pan camp. The sewer grate will teleport adventurers to the inner courtyard and at the instance line.

Quests

 * Faction
 * Life Blood
 * Securing A Future


 * Weekly
 * Agony and Anima
 * Eyes of the Thunder King
 * Requiem for a Queen
 * Rocks Fall, People Die
 * Something Foul is Afoot
 * Taming the Tempest
 * Zao'cho the Wicked

Achievements

 * Last Stand of the Zandalari
 * Lightning Overload (achievement)
 * Cretaceous Collector
 * Cage Match
 * Forgotten Depths
 * One-Up
 * Head Case
 * Soft Hands
 * Halls of Flesh-Shaping
 * You Said Crossing the Streams Was Bad
 * Genetically Unmodified Organism
 * Ritualist Who?
 * Pinnacle of Storms
 * Can't Touch This
 * From Dusk 'til Dawn
 * A Complete Circuit
 * Throne of Thunder Guild Run
 * Heroics
 * Heroic: Jin'rokh the Breaker
 * Heroic: Horridon
 * Heroic: Council of Elders
 * Heroic: Tortos
 * Heroic: Megaera
 * Heroic: Ji-Kun
 * Heroic: Durumu the Forgotten
 * Heroic: Primordius
 * Heroic: Dark Animus
 * Heroic: Iron Qon
 * Heroic: Twin Consorts
 * Heroic: Lei Shen
 * Ahead of the Curve: Lei Shen
 * Cutting Edge: Lei Shen
 * Heroic: Lei Shen Guild Run
 * Heroic: Ra-den
 * Cutting Edge: Ra-den
 * I Thought He Was Supposed to Be Hard?
 * Heroic: Ra-den Guild Run
 * Realm First! Ra-den

Loot
In addition to the items in the tables below, all bosses have a chance to drop Sigil of Power, Sigil of Wisdom (both after patch 5.4.0, Secrets of the Empire for Secrets of the First Empire, the last six bosses (Durumu to Lei Shen) have a chance to drop a Titan Runestone for Echoes of the Titans, and Heart of the Thunder King drops from Lei Shen for Heart of the Thunder King (quest).

Trivia

 * The Throne of Thunder ended up linear because of the story being told. However according to Ion Hazzikostas many players missed the less linear progression that was seen in Ulduar and Icecrown. Giving players the option to work on another boss is helpful and there were areas in Throne of Thunder that could have been designed with this in mind.
 * Ra-den didn't work out completely as envisioned. The sense of mystery associated with a boss that no one knows anything about is nice, making the content a bonus prize for defeating Lei Shen. It was hard to balance and test without the regular player testing, which resulted in clever use of game mechanics to defeat Ra-den. Normally hotfixes would have been used to solve the problem, but limited attempts made it a more complicated situation.