In the Season of Mastery of WoW Classic, everything gets a bit harder. The most famous raid from World of Warcraft is likely to become quite challenging.
In World of Warcraft Classic, the “Season of Mastery” is starting soon. It is basically a “Classic+”, as many players have requested. It is now also known how Blizzard wants to reinforce some bosses and what that will mean for the fights. Especially Molten Core is likely to be very challenging and will test Classic players.
What is the Season of Mastery? It is basically a re-release of “WoW Classic”, but with significantly more changes. As players have become more experienced over the years and information is more accessible, WoW Classic has been too easy for many players.
With the Season of Mastery, the developers want to offer a fresh experience: faster leveling, faster release of various content phases, removal of the debuff limit – and new or improved abilities for bosses.
How Blizzard is changing Molten Core
Molten Core was the first real raid of World of Warcraft and has become a cult classic among players because of that. To ensure that there is a solid challenge in the Season of Mastery and that players do not just “roll through the content”, Blizzard is making several changes to each encounter. These are:
Lucifron
- Lucifron now has 4 Fireguard Protectors assisting him in battle instead of 2.
Magmadar
- About 20-30 seconds after the pull, Magmadar summons 2 core hounds that must also be fought. They must die nearly simultaneously, or they will resurrect each other.
- Every minute, 2 more core hounds appear.
- Living Bomb is cast much more frequently, causing more areas on the ground to be covered in fire.
Gehennas
- Gehennas is now accompanied by 4 Fireguard Protectors instead of 2.
- Rain of Fire is cast much more frequently, requiring players to move more.
Garr
- During the fight, Magma Golems appear repeatedly, charging at a random player in the raid and then exploding.
Baron Geddon
- Baron Geddon’s Living Bomb now targets 3 players at the same time instead of just one.
- After the Living Bomb and Inferno expire, a fire ground effect remains that deals damage when players stand in it.
Shazzrah
- After Shazzrah uses Blink, an image of Shazzrah remains at the position, casting Arcane Explosion repeatedly for the rest of the fight.
Golemagg the Incinerator
- Golemagg’s Core Hounds are now permanently enhanced by Golemagg’s trust.
- Golemagg casts Earthquake more frequently in combat and not only when his health falls below 10%.
Sulfuron Harbinger
- The Sulfuron Harbinger and his 4 Fireguard Priests now share a common health pool.
- Inspiration is now more powerful.
- The Priests can cast Inspiration on each other.
Majordomo Executus
- The Fireguard Elite now has a spell called “Fireball Volley” that damages all players in the immediate vicinity.
- Flame Warden Priests become immune to control effects after just 2 deaths.
Ragnaros
- Ragnaros will now always submerge when his health reaches 50%.
- After Ragnaros emerges from the lava, Sons of Flame may appear at random positions in the lava for the rest of the fight.
- Ragnaros has a timer of 60 minutes after being summoned for the first time. If he is not killed in that time, he retreats and despawns.
Some “new” things are ancient: Particularly interesting is that some of these abilities existed in the game data back in Vanilla. The additional mob for Garr, for example, has been in the databases since 2006 but was never used. It was probably an ability that was once considered but never made it into the live game.
What do you think of these changes? A cool thing to keep WoW Classic “fresh” with the Season of Mastery? Or should the original WoW not be changed further?
