World of Warcraft’s current expansion, Battle for Azeroth, is nearing its climax. For the grand finale, Blizzard is treating us with a new raid: Ny’alotha, the Waking City. It’s time for another Old God to bite the dust!
The inter-faction war between Horde and Alliance is still raging on the world of Azeroth. But it is all a façade, a machination by greater, older powers. With its incoming Patch 8.3, World of Warcraft brings to the fore its deadly manipulator: the Old God N’zoth, and his Waking City, Ny’alotha. So, what terrors hide within?
The nightmare beneath the tides
Of course, Blizzard already gave us a glimpse of Ny’alotha. It came with Azhara’s Warbringers cinematic at the start of this expansion:
After Azshara’s defeat at her Eternal Palace, the Old God is free from his underground prison and his corruption is seeping into the world. It will manifest itself in various events and invasions. We will also have a new Legendary cloak to assemble, and various other ways to prepare for combatting N’zoth. There is a new type of gear which yields great power. But beware! The Old Gods never give anything for free: amassing Corrupted gear will also have crippling, often deadly effects:
But where is this raid located, you will ask? The answer to this is: depends. Ny’alotha is as duplicitous as its master, and it changes location. So far, it appears only Uldum and The Vale of Eternal Blossoms are affected:
Inside the raid
The patch will also mark the return of an old friend: Wrathion. One of the few still uncorrupted Black Dragons out there, the Black Prince is going to assist players with creating their Legendaries. It seems, however, that he too will succumb to the deadly allure of Ny’alotha. How do we know? He’s the first boss there: Black Emperor Wrathion!
Since most first bosses act as a gear and skill check for the rest of the raid, his mechanics are fairly basic. He features the usual attacks we’ve come to associate with Dragons:
- frontal-cone breath
- tail swipe
- flying up and becoming untargetable
- summoning adds
But do not worry about the Black Dragon’s fate! Raid mechanics in further bosses down the line suggest that he’s going to come back to his senses after the fight and start helping us again! So, who’s next?
After Wrathion, the raid progression is somewhat non-linear. This means that those who delve into Ny’alotha can often pick and choose who to go for next, based on gear, composition and personal preference:
Farther down the progress tree, some familiar names are also popping up. This is the second time we’re meeting Il’gynoth, the Heart of Corruption. After players defeated its astral form in the Emerald Nightmare, it went back to Daddy, so now we’re meeting it in the flesh, so to speak. Keeper Ra-den is also making a return from the Throne of Thunder. The disillusioned Watcher is now fully under the influence of N’zoth, and is known as Ra-den The Despoiler.
And what about tactics? For all bosses, prepare for dealing with a lot of insanity-related effects, but Blizzard has some surprises for us. For Prophet Skitra, for example, you need to play detective and deduce which one of his copies is the real one! N’zoth himself has it all – an insanity counter straight from H.P. Lovecraft’s imagination, fighting inside a giant Mind Realm, dealing with tentacles, and literally fighting the Old God’s gargantuan brain!
And yes, WoW raid boss tactics are fun, but do you know what’s more fun than that? You guessed it:
The Loot
It would not be World of Warcraft without some wicked-looking pieces of gear. The first ten bosses of Ny’alotha yield the following gear depending on the raid mode:
- Item level 430 for LFR
- Item level 445 on Normal mode
- Item level 460 on Heroic mode
- Item level 475 Mythic mode
The last two encounters, Carapace of N’zoth and big ol’ Squidface himself, provide an even higher level: item level is at 440 for LFR, 455 for Normal, 470 for Heroic, and 485 for Mythic mode.
Gear’s not your thing? Don’t pass the Waking City by. There are some spectacular mounts in there for you, such as this Uncorrupted Voidwing:
Blizzard has announced that the raid’s first wing becomes available on January 14, 2020. But if you don’t feel like waiting, you can head out to the PTR and try it out right now! If you want to learn more about what the new patch is offering, don’t forget to check Blizzard’s Visions of N’zoth Survival Guide.
Ready to brave the realm of madness?
