DUNGEONS & RAIDS
TORGHAST, TOWER OF THE DAMNED
At the center of The Maw, is this mysterious place called Torghast, Tower of the Damned. Yes, this is the tower that you saw sticking out of the sky above Icecrown Citadel.
What does that mean in gameplay terms? I would call this our second major feature after Covenants. Because Torghast is a bit different from anything we’ve seen before. What Torghast is is effectively an endless dungeon. It’s ever-changing and defies the laws of reality, in a lot of ways. Crafting Torghast, we looked for inspiration to a lot of our favorite Rouge-like games… and well, what does that mean?
It means: environment that changes every time you come there, when you create this experience, you want it to be one that you can enter solo or with friends. If you want a sense of endgame progression, that is meaningful and challenging that doesn’t require bringing a group with you, Torghast is there for you. Of course, if you want to bring your friends with you, don’t say no, you can do that too.
As you ascend the tower on visits that will change from run-to-run, from visit-to-visit, you can earn permanent upgrades that you can take out with you; but also on the course of your visit you’ll be able to absorb powerful concentrations of Anima that massively change and enhance your powers. Because this is one of the other really fun parts of Rogue-like gameplay: it allows us to offer huge upgrades, transformative things that make each visit different from the next.
You can play to your strengths, shore up your weaknesses, and much more. This is the thing we’re going to talk a lot more about tomorrow; just so teeing it up here; but it is a random example of a choice that you may be faced with early on in your journey into Torghast.
Let’s say you’re playing a shaman. You get a source of upgrades, you want some, you know, passive damage and healing — which of course everyone wants… or a permanent, transformative upgrade to one of your abilities that will last throughout the rest of your journey. A different journey might offer different options and different upgrades, non is going to be quite like the others.
The interior of Torghast definitely calls upon the architecture that we saw in Icecrown Citadel, and elsewhere. Though as you ascend the higher reaches of the tower, who knows what you’re going to find.
In addition to Torghast, we have 8 dungeons on offer. Four for level up. One in each zone. Each of these dungeons, of course, comes with the normal modes, heroic, mythic, mythic plus (with all new Affixes coming for each season in Shadowlands); and 4 max level dungeons.
One of my favorite I want to call out here — there’s this dungeon called The Other Side, or D’Other Side in Ardenweald — which is a pocket dimension. Home to none other than everyone’s favorite Loa: Bwonsamdi.
(Cheering)
He’s been quite the trickster, and we never really know exactly whose side he’s on, or what he’s up to, who he serves, and this is going to give us a chance to explore that. It’s a great opportunity to revisit one of our favorite characters coming out of Battle for Azeroth; and of course, he is rooted in the Shadowlands.
We also have a 10-Boss Raid at launch called Castle Nathria. This was a super fun project for our dungeon team, and our encounter designers like — that ask was literally: “build Dracula’s castle,” make it a Raid. It kind of writes itself. It’s going to be pretty awesome.
Here’s an early layout as we’re starting to figure out how it’s going to flow. You’ll come in the main front door of the castle, for once you’re not coming in through the sewer.
(Laughter)
And, it’s a Winged Raid so you’ll have a choice of descending into the catacombs or exploring the royal quarters — each of which has three more bosses. Once you’ve cleared both of those wings, the upper reaches of the castle will become available as you ascend to the upper spire to face the lord of the castle himself.
NEXT: SYSTEMS & REWARDS
| WORLD OF WARCRAFT: WHAT'S NEXT PANEL TRANSCRIPT | |||
| 1. Intro to the Shadowlands | 2. Zones | 3. Covenants | 4. Oribos & The Maw |
| 5. Pre-Shadowlands World Event | 6. Alt Characters | 7. Dungeons & Raids | 8. Systems & Rewards |
| Buy the BlizzCon Virtual Ticket while VODs last. | |||
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