Patch 6.2 Fury of Hellfire continues the story of World of Warcraft: Warlords of Draenor bringing with it tons of new content. Players will be able to build their Garrison Shipyard and journey into Tanaan Jungle to strike at the heart of the Fel Horde.
New Zone: Tanaan Jungle
Warcraft players must journey deep into Tanaan Jungle to stop Gul’dan from accomplishing his evil plan. Level 100 heroes will explore the darkest corners of Draenor, facing a new series of chapter-based quests and twisted new foes.
The warlock Gul’dan has twisted what remains of the Iron Horde into his long-awaited army of fel orcs with an insatiable bloodlust, bursting with demonic strength. The seemingly impenetrable Hellfire Citadel is the new bastion of power for Gul’dan as he continues to attempt to re-open a portal to unleash a massive invasion force.
Welcome to the Jungle
As players venture into the jungles of Tanaan, a new series of random quests will be available. These quests will be much like the previous Garrison Campaign chapter-based quests that will take players through the developing story and key locations throughout the zone. Warcraft players will learn that Gul’dan and his allies have even more sinister plans up their sleeve than just a portal invasion.
Getting to Tanaan
Preparations are to be made before crossing the enemy lines into Tanaan Jungle. Players will be waging battle against the new Fel Horde on both land and sea. But first, they must construct their own shipyard with help from the brightest naval minds.
Players will need to progress through a series of quests to build a Shipyard for their Garrison and then set up new forward base hubs once they land in Tanaan Jungle. New missions will unlock that will provide materials for the Shipyard, supporting ongoing efforts to control the seas of Draenor.
Robinson Crusio Home
Once Tanaan has been successfully invaded, players will need to go on the offensive at their new established outpost. Since the battle is focused on Tanaan, reinforcements from other zones will be able to join in the fray and provide their unique aid throughout the adventure.
Players will also be able to choose one of two hot spots each day to assault. The ultimate goal is to undermine Gul’dan and prevent all of Draenor being dragged into chaos. There will be seven new areas to explore:
- Ironhold Harbor: Stop the Iron Horde’s reinforcements from making landfall.
- Ruins of Kra’nak: Stop Gul’dan’s Shadow Council from recruiting the arakkoa.
- Temple of Sha’naar: Defeat demon-summoning Sargerei in this ruined temple.
- The Felforge: You’ll need to throw a monkey wrench into the manufacturing of fel machinery.
- The Iron Front: Hold the line in this massive battlefield to the west.
- Throne of Kil’jaeden: You and your party will face elite creatures and attempt to stem the demonic tide.
- Zeth’gol: Take your assault into the capital of the Bleeding Hollow.
Similar to the rest of Draenor, Tanaan Jungle offers more to be discovered. This new zone houses more than just Gul’dan’s new Horde and is home to the Bleeding Hollow clan and other savage wildlife that is being corrupted by the warlock’s influence.
New Garrison Building: Shipyard
Once players have recruited their own naval mastermind, a new Garrison building will be unlocked: the Shipyard. Players will be able to take command of their forces on a new front by waging war upon the high seas.
The Shipyard will be available to all characters who have reached level 100 and have a level 3 Garrison. Once players have traveled to the Iron Docks and discover where Gul’dan is affronting his sinister plan, the Shipyard will be top priority and players will need to begin construction of their first ocean vessel.
Setting Up the Squadron
Before becoming a full-fledged Admiral, one must first construct their convoy. And that can’t start without the first ship to transport troops to the mysterious Tanaan Jungle. This ship will serve as the backbone of the fleet as players begin to tread water.
Ships will be managed similarly to Garrison Followers. They will be sent out on naval missions and each naval mission will have its own challenges that need to be countered with ship abilities. If they fail to respond in kind, players will be shouting “you sunk my battleship” and will need to reconstruct.
Unlike Followers, players will have the ability to rename their ships. Many will come with randomly generated ones, but players can add their own flair to start their naval reputation.
Treading Water
And just like Garrison Missions, the Shipyard will need it’s own Garrison Resource to operate: Oil. By collecting enough Oil, players will be able to send their ships on many naval missions to unlock level 2 and level 3 of the Shipyard. And by unlocking those levels, it will allow for more ships to maintain and take on the threats of the high seas.
Most of this new Garrison Resource can be found within Tanaan Jungle. Which is why players will be returning to the shadow of the Dark Portal to take on Gul’dan’s Fel Horde.
Adventure Guide
While not exactly a brand new feature for Warcraft, the Adventure Guide is simply an improved version of the early Dungeon Journal feature with Patch 6.2. The Adventure Guide is designed to make it easier to find new content and activities that are relevant to your character.
The Guide is fully interactive and will provide suggested content based on a number of factors including, but not limited to character level, item level (ilvl), quest progression, and achievements. Players will also be able to accept relevant quests or search for groups through the Group Finder with a single click.
Mythic Dungeons
When Warlords first launched, players were able to face off against an assortment of enemies inside 8 new dungeons. Unfortunately, they quickly became obsolete as players began to venture into Highmaul and Blackrock Foundry. The solution is Mythic difficulty dungeons.
Mythic difficulty dungeons will be designed to be more challenging with an increased reward. Mythic will have a weekly lockout and drop gear that is ilvl 685 with a chance for ilvl 700 off the end-bosses. Players who are looking for difficult content with smaller groups will enjoy this alternate progression.
Mythic Dungeons cannot be accessed through the usual group finder tool like for Normal or Heroic Dungeons. Much like Challenge Mode, players will need to form a party of friends and travel to the dungeons. The leader can set the Dungeon difficulty to Mythic in the character profile image menu (right click on character > Dungeon Difficulty).
New Raid: Hellfire Citadel
Hellfire Citadel was the massive stronghold for the Iron Horde deep in Tanaan Jungle. It was designed to serve as the staging ground for the assault upon Azeroth, but has since been taken over by Gul’dan and his Fel Horde. Heroes will need to venture forth into the fel-twisted bastion and face the horror within that threatens Azeroth’s future.
Players will be able to earn items ranging in power from ilvl 675-685 in Raid Finder up to ilvl 735 in Mythic difficulty. Before jumping into the Raid Finder difficulty, players will need an ilvl of at least 650.
Release Schedule
- June 23 (Week 1 with the release of Patch 6.2)
- Hellfire Citadel Normal and Heroic difficulties open.
- June 30 (Week 2)
- Mythic difficulty becomes available.
- Raid Finder Wing 1 (Hellfire Assault, Iron Reaver, Kormrok) unlocks.
- July 14 (Week 4)
- Raid Finder Wing 2 (Hellfire High Council, Kilrogg, Gorefiend) unlocks.
- July 28t (Week 6)
- Raid Finder Wing 3 (Shadow-Lord Iskar, Socrethar the Eternal, Tyrant Velhari) unlocks.
- August 11 (Week 8)
- Raid Finder Wing 4 (Fel Lord Zakuun, Xhul’horac, Mannoroth) unlocks.
- August 25 (Week 10)
- Raid Finder Wing 5 (Archimonde) unlocks.
Ashran Updates
Azeroth’s Archaeologists are going to need a bit of help with what they’ve unearthed in Ashran. The Ashran Excavation will be available for PvP players to explore the large underground network. This area will behave similarly to other parts of the PvP zone with a new competitive event. Collect as many Apexis Marks of Redemption by taking down the Arakkoa ghosts haunting the site.
Belloc Brightblade and Harrison Jones have been busy unearthing a new artifact in Ashran. With this new development comes new quests that will not reward players with Conquest points instead of earning them by defeating faction bosses and events.
- Slay Them All! – A weekly quest to rack up 200 honor kills for a reward of 200 Conquest points.
- Ashran Dominance – Rewards 500 Conquest points when you kill the enemy faction boss and win five events—also weekly.
- Continue the Domination – A repeatable quest that unlocks after Ashran Dominance is completed. Rewards 500 Conquest points when you kill the enemy faction boss and win five events.
Weekend Bonus Events
To add a little bit more excitement to Warlords, a new system has been added for Patch 6.2 called Bonus Events. This new system will be on a rotating schedule of seven different activities that will run during the weekends (Friday to Monday).
These Bonus Events will grant a passive bonus to each activity and a once-per-event quest. Players can see which events are scheduled to appear by looking at the in-game calendar (located on the mini-map by clicking the day’s date).
These weekend events are:
- Timewalking: Burning Crusade
- Timewalking: Wrath of the Lich King
- Draenor Dungeons
- Battlegrounds
- Arena Skirmishes
- Apexis
- Pet Battles
Timewalking (tBC/Wrath) Weekends
This is an exciting new feature in Patch 6.2. Timewalking will be one of the events during a three-day-long weekend holiday for players to venture into old-school dungeons with a new twist.
When you Timewalk these dungeons, you’ll find that your character’s power and gear has been scaled down to a fraction of what they normally are. For the first time in years, some dungeons you outgrew long ago will once more put your skills to the test.
Characters over level 71 will be able to queue for Burning Crusade. Timewalking while 81 and up will have Wrath of the Lich King accessible as well. These dungeons will have a new “Heroic” difficulty that will adjust your gear down while still retaining skills and talents.
Every good challenge deserves a good reward. Every piece of gear from these Timewalker dungeons will scale up to an appropriate ilvl. Players who complete the quest during the event will be awarded with the new Seal of Inevitable Fate that will not count towards the weekly cap.
Draenor Dungeon Weekends
Since most of Warlord’s reputations were a complete grindfeast, players will have an added option during the Draenor Dungeon weekends. While defeating enemies in any of the Draenor dungeons, players will be awarded reputation with an appropriate faction.
During the event, players could be awarded a Heroic Hellfire Citadel Raid cache, but only if they complete two Mythic-difficulty Warlords dungeons. This provides another option for gear progression.
Battlegrounds Weekends
This should be familiar as it once rotated BGs during the weekends and provided extra reward. Unfortunately, it had been retired when Blizzard added new battlegrounds during Cataclysm. Many PvPers will be excited for its debuting return.
During the Battlegrounds bonus event, players will earn triple the Honor points from random battlegrounds. Those who complete the event quest by winning a few battlegrounds will be awarded with 500 Conquest points which will not count towards the weekly Conquest cap.
Arena Skirmish Weekends
Similarly to the Battleground weekends, the Arena Skirmish weekends will allow players to earn triple the Honor points from random Arena Skirmishes. And competing in these Skirmishes won’t diminish that hard-earned ranking. PvPers who complete the quest by winning several Arena Skirmish matches will be awarded 500 Conquest points that won’t count towards the weekly cap.
Apexis Weekend
Just like Warlords dungeons, Apexis Crystals also lost value as players progressed into raids. But stocking up on them play a crucial point once again in Tanaan Jungle.
Players will be able to gain triple the amount of Apexis Crystals from eligible creatures during this event. Completing three area assault objectives will also reward a sizable amount of Oil to fuel new Naval Missions with the Garrison Shipyard.
Pet Battle Weekends
For the Pet Trainer in Warcraft, the Pet Battle weekend will be the perfect excuse to quickly raise some neglected pets. During this event, Battle Pets will earn triple the pet experience from battles. Win five PvP Pet Battles as part of the quest and earn an Ultimate Battle-Training Stone that will raise a pet’s level to 25 instantly.
The Legendary Quest Line Continues
Unlike the Legendary quest line in Pandaria, the Legendary rings won’t be easily available on the first day of Hellfire Citadel unlock. Players will be required to build their Garrison Shipyard, complete two Naval Missions, and another collection quest inside Hellfire Citadel.
The Final Assault: Darkness Incarnate
News has spread that Gul’dan has taken over what remains of the Iron Horde, ensuring that history shall repeat itself despite the efforts of the Horde and Alliance forces. Khadgar will meet players at their new dock to explain the next steps to earn their Legendary ring.
First, players will need to work on upgrading their new Garrison Shipyard to Level 2. This will allow them to take a legendary naval mission to earn the Draenic Sea Chart. Heroes will also need to venture into Hellfire Citadel to collect Tomes of Chaos by defeating the bosses within.
Finally, the corruption within will be revealed and players will need to fight for their right to keep their Legendary ring. Characters will then receive faction appropriate blessings to get their shiny new Legendary ring. Just in time to face off against Gul’dan.
Group Effort
The Legendary ring from Khadgar will also behave differently from other Legendary items of the past. Instead of the self-procs for the earlier epic level rings, the Legendary rings will be triggered by any raid members to unleash an empowering effect based on roles, a group-wide proc. This takes a different approach from previous Legendary items, as Ion “Watcher” Hazzikostas explained:
Whether we’re talking about seven rings for the Dwarf-lords in their halls of stone, about Captain Planet, or about common social covenants in our own societies, rings tend to be paired with counterparts, and to have their meaning derived from the connections entailed therein. A lot of fluff, perhaps, but that’s what got us thinking along the lines of a group effect rather than a personal one. This certainly isn’t a template for all future legendaries, but we find it very fitting for this particular one.
Upon earning Chapter IV: Darkness Incarnate, players will finally be awarded their Legendary ring! It will be ilvl 735 but appears to be upgradeable to 795.
Published: Jun 22, 2015 09:15 am