November 14, 2024

SoD Phase 6 new raid difficulty system: Descent into Madness!

SoD Phase 6 keeps on giving. Blizzard has recently added a news snippet that spotlighted topics like release date, event calendar, and the new raid difficulty system mode.

Table of Contents

New Raid Difficulty System
How Descent into Madness works
Players reaction

New Raid Difficulty System

Season of Discovery Phase 6 will launch on November 21; this surpasses our predictions on SoD Phase 6 release date by a mile. With more information coming, we’ve now got a good grasp on the contents of SoD Phase 6. The new Season of Discovery will have several stages reminiscent of the Gates of Ahn’qiraj event with some twists. One of the new twists is that Ahn’qiraji raids will feature a brand new raid difficulty system, featuring a rogue-like addition “Descent into Madness.”

Before trying out Descent into Madness, a raid group will be offered to try out this new difficulty. If they pick a new Descent into Madness, raid bosses will feature new mechanics and increased stats to provide a significant challenge. The raid group will have limited tries for the boss, so if your raid party won’t be able to take out a more complex version of the boss, the difficulty will return to normal.

If the raid group completes the new Raid Difficulty System, on top of regular loot, players will get an extra chest after progressing through the checkpoint. It is unknown how the checkpoints will spread through Ahn’qiraji instances; however, players will still earn rewards if they don’t fully complete the raid boss checkpoint (for example, defeating only one new Raid Difficulty System boss will still give you some extra loot). These rewards won’t be better than regular raid loot; players will just loot more gear from such encounters.

How Descent into Madness works

We now have more information from Blizzard Blue Post. When players get to the first boss, like Prophet Skeram or Kurinaxx, they see an interactive obelisk. This obelisk defines the normal difficulty and can be deactivated if a raid group wishes it. After deactivating the obelisk, bosses will get sanity-based mechanics, and the raid group will have a finite number of attempts to defeat the three next bosses. After the raid ground exceeds all attempts, the chest won’t appear as well as the next obelisk.

After defeating a boss with an obelisk deactivated, an additional reward will spawn. However, after this chest, players will be able to choose whether to pick the reward now or descent into madness even further, refraining from the reward. After defeating 3 bosses players would reach a checkpoint. According to Community Manager Kaivax:

“After every third boss, the raid will reach a “checkpoint” and be able to open their chest and collect the rewards accrued to that point without ending their descent into madness run. The checkpoints occur after defeating the following bosses:

Battleguard Sartura or Moam

Princess Huhuran

C’thun

Due to the nature of this new challenge, the Season of Discovery version of Ahn’qiraj is now expected to be completed in the following order:

Prophet Skeram → Bug Trio → Battleguard Sartura → Frankriss the Unyielding → Viscidus → Princess Huhuran → Twin Emperors → Ouro → C’thun

Kurinnaxx → General Rajaxx → Moam → Buru → Ayamiss → Ossirian”

— Community Manager Kaivax

Players reaction

Currently, many players think that Blizzard doesn’t offer brand-new systems to SoD Phase 6. They say that such a rush of content may damage SoD in the long run. Many players want new content added to the game, or at least new Runes or questlines. Instead, they get some revamped old systems that don’t change the game’s flow. However, many players still think that the new SoD Phase will offer a great experience of the Gates of Ahn’qiraj event to a newer audience.

Many players were dissatisfied with how the last SoD Phases went. They were offered very little content compared to the start of Season of Discovery when players had many new systems to try. It seems, however, that Blizzard doesn’t want to add brand-new Runes or questlines like they did in previous phases. This, of course, downplays the expectations of many players, making them feel frustrated and disappointed.