The temperature rises with the release of Molten Core on 25 July, at 21:00 BST. Season of Discovery is presented with a unique challenge, as a new “Heat” mechanic is introduced in the Molten Core, which is not to be taken lightly.

When you first zone into Molten Core, speak with a Hydraxian Waterlords NPC at the entrance to choose one of three different Heat levels—Sweltering, Blistering, or Molten—with an increase in difficulty at each level.

If things get too hot to handle, you can swap Heat levels anytime. Simply speak with the NPC at the entrance to the Molten Core while not in combat. You will also have another opportunity to swap Heat level again with NPCs that spawn after using Aqual Quintessence to douse boss runes.

• Sweltering Heat – Level 1
  • The easiest of the three modes is designed to be approachable to almost all groups. Sweltering Heat is for those visiting the Molten Core who are less prepared to handle the Heat—fewer consumables, fewer fire resist buffs, etc.
• Blistering Heat – Level 2
  • A normal mode that requires more coordination and basic preparation. For those who have a moderate amount of consumables, enchants, buffs, nominal fire resistance, etc., Blistering Heat should be a breeze.
  • Gear rewards for Blistering Heat are the same as Sweltering Heat, with an additional drop for most bosses.
  • Recommended Fire Resistance: +96 or higher
• Molten Heat – Level 3
  • The Heat turns up in Molten Heat for skilled groups prepared to face the fire.
  • The rewards for Molten Heat are the same as Blistering Heat, with a few additional items available from later in the Raid, along with unique weapon cosmetics.
  • Recommended Fire Resistance: +226 or higher

Can You Handle the Heat?

With each heat level comes increased difficulty with additional mechanics, damage, and an increased requirement for “fire resistance.” In original World of Warcraft, Resistance was often an inconsistent statistic. Sometimes, you would fully resist all damage; sometimes, you would resist none, even with the maximum fire resistance being worn. Resistances still work this way; however, once you get to Blistering Heat or Molten Heat, those difficulties will require a certain amount of fire resistance to progress consistently, and the required amount will increase between Blistering and Molten Heat levels. This is an additional layer to the usual “have some resist gear and hope it saves your healers some mana” mechanic from the original WoW. Some mechanics could leave you burnt to a crisp if you don't meet the required Fire Resistance requirements.

We point this out because the need for resistance and resistance fights has long been contentious in World of Warcraft. While it’s an iconic part of WoW, it’s easy to see in hindsight that it’s not always a great feeling to be incentivized to NOT wear your best gear for appropriate fights. We recognize this, and that’s part of why we felt it important to explain the intended design of this mechanic. One of the most fun and iconic things about Classic is preparation (or, at times, over-preparation) for challenges, and the base game heavily rewards players for that preparation. We want to use fire resistance to play up that aspect of raid preparation and promote healthy and satisfying gear progression as you gear up within Molten Core.

When you first enter the Molten Core and want to tackle Blistering or Molten Heat difficulty, you may need to wear sub-optimal pieces of gear simply to survive. Fairly quickly, however, more and more gear will drop in the raid that is optimal for you to be wearing, including tier sets, which you will notice all already have a certain amount of fire resistance. The idea here is that as you obtain items you want to wear, they convey much of the same benefit as the less powerful pieces of fire resistance you may have farmed or crafted before your first trips into Molten Core. The eventual goal of this gear progression is to allow you to succeed on the highest difficulty level primarily by using your tier set, appropriate group or raid buffs and consumables, and good group coordination.

A New Boss Heats Things Up

Lastly, the Molten Core raid will have an additional not-yet-known bonus boss. When Molten Core releases, this bonus boss will only be available for Molten Heat, requiring players to clear every boss before gaining access. This boss is an optional challenge that groups can work towards over time.

We do not wish to gate exclusive rewards behind this challenging content. Because this boss will be tricky and require progression through the rest of Molten Core on the highest difficulty, the boss will NOT drop unique or exclusive loot. Instead, he will drop tier gear tokens and a chance at a few other exciting items, but all gear can be obtained elsewhere in the Molten Core.

We hope to see a wide variety of groups attempt Molten Heat difficulty, have a satisfying progression, and not feel like they are missing out on exclusive power-impacting gear if they aren’t able to clear every boss on Molten Heat each week. Like many things in Season of Discovery, this is an experiment—we hope to use lessons we learn from this boss and the Heat system and apply those lessons to future Classic Raid tiers and potential future content.

We hope this helps set the groundwork for what to expect going into the Molten Core and also helps illustrate our intentions for resistance fights and Raid difficulty with this raid tier. We want to emulate the feeling of gear progression from original WoW as much as possible, with the added benefit of more powerful, bespoke gear for a wider variety of playstyles within each class.

We look forward to seeing you beat the heat in Molten Core and Onyxia!