Podcast notes: 20+ new bosses, new mechanics for Molten Core

Episode 5 of Blizzard's official WoW: Forever podcast, an end-of-beta special, aired on October 22. Host Countdown to Classic was joined by Josh "Aggrend" Greenfield, Clay Stone, Ana Resendez and lead encounter designer Michael Nuthals. Together with recent interviews, it's the most concrete look at Forever's raids so far.

Molten Core got the most attention. Greenfield said returning raids like Molten Core will have new mechanics for players to discover, and used Golemagg as an example: don't expect to beat it with plain tank and spank. He didn't say which bosses change or how, and Molten Core still has no release date. We couldn't find any official source for the "Molten Core gets new areas" claim going around social media; Blizzard only says "revamped". The roadmap shows an unnamed revamped iconic raid for summer 2027, and it isn't confirmed to be Molten Core.

There are hints for the December 9 raids too. Barrow Deeps and Hyjal Summit have more than 20 new bosses between them. Encounter ideas mentioned include a damage buff that comes at a cost, a fight with two spiders, possessing ghosts and undead, and a body-horror encounter. In an earlier interview Nuthals said Barrow Deeps was inspired by Warcraft III's "Brothers in Blood" quest.

A few loot rules are clear. Every tier has at least one 10-player and one 20-player raid, and tier pieces can drop across all three raids. Every raid boss has a low-drop-rate, high-impact chase item. Power gains between tiers are kept deliberately small, so older raid items can stay best in slot for a long time. Which raid holds the tier sets and the legendary hasn't been announced.

Other notes from the podcast:

- Levels 30–60 and raids weren't tested at full scale in the beta; Blizzard expects some launch issues. - The level cap stays at 60 and Forever develops independently of Retail. - There are no realms but there are regional servers. Players pick a preferred language and matchmaking respects it. NA and EU can't play together at launch. - Thousands of secrets are hidden on purpose; some datamined content isn't meant for Forever. - Lighting, water, fog and weather are being improved. Gamepad support covers tanking, healing, DPS and dungeons.

We'll update the race page and the raid planner as boss names and mechanics are revealed.

Sources: Blizzard, "Dive into the End of Beta Special" — https://news.blizzard.com/en-us/article/24302577/dive-into-the-end-of-beta-special · Blizzard forums, episode 5 summary — https://eu.forums.blizzard.com/en/wow/t/the-wow-forever-podcast-episode-5-end-of-beta-special/637043/1 · Wowhead, raid philosophy and encounter teases — https://www.wowhead.com/forever/news/blizzard-teases-raid-philosophy-and-encounters-for-wow-forever-383546 · esports.gg, Michael Nuthals interview — https://esports.gg/interviews/world-of-warcraft/wow-forever-interview/