Season of Discovery is no stranger to mixing up nostalgic WoW instances, and to no one’s surprise, phase four makes a whole host of changes to Molten Core and Onyxia’s Lair. The changes should make the raids feel fresh but familiar with an extra dash of difficulty. Keep reading to find out what’s new.
All Molten Core changes in WoW SoD phase 4
WoW Classic Season of Discovery’s first two max-level raids, Molten Core and Onyxia’s Lair, go live globally on July 25. Check out our countdown timer for Molten Core and Onyxia’s Lair to see exactly when they start, or keep scrolling to see all the changes.
Raid size
Molten Core is now a 20-player raid, down from 40-player. You might think the raid would be harder with half as many people, but with all the powerful Runes and gear added in Season of Discovery, combined with the fact we’ve been doing the same raid for two decades, it’ll probably be easier than expected.
Scaling difficulty
To add a bit of extra challenge for seasoned WoW vets, Molten Core is getting a tunable difficulty setting called Heat levels. There are three levels—normal, Blistering Heat, or Molten Heat. Higher Heat levels drop more loot, rather than better loot, making them a great way to quickly gear up your raid if you can easily clear Molten Core.
Loot table changes
WoW Classic’s tier one sets are being redesigned to have a different version for every specialization or role. For example, Druids get four different tier sets: one each for Balance DPS, Feral DPS, Feral tanks, and Restoration healers. Shamans also get four, while Mages only get two—one for DPS and one for healers.
You get the tier pieces from Class Tokens instead of the items dropping directly. Blizzard is revamping off-set items, and non-set pieces are presumably changing to have more stats and better abilities.
Extra boss
Molten Core is getting an extra boss. Blizzard says it’s a “surprise” for “intrepid adventurers to discover,” so the details will be available after Molten Core goes live. If phase four’s extra dungeon is anything to go by, Molten Core’s extra boss will probably be harder than the others and will maybe drop better loot. In any case, stay tuned for the details.
Boss changes?
It’s possible the boss changes from Season of Mastery will also be implemented in Season of Discovery to add an extra sliver of challenge. We’ll find out after the raids become available on July 25.
All Onyxia’s Lair changes in WoW SoD phase 4
Scaling raid size
Onyxia’s Lair is being “adjusted to accommodate 40 or fewer players,” according to Blizzard. This likely means there’ll be changes to Onyxia’s abilities based on your raid size. With fewer raid members, she might target fewer people with her attacks, for example.
Loot table changes
Onyxia’s loot table is also seeing some additional adjustments. The items will probably be buffed so they meet Season of Discovery’s higher loot standard.
