Greetings!
As we’ve put a lot of thought and care into crafting the upcoming Mists of Pandaria Classic experience, we’ve developed two important updates, and we’d like to provide insight into them.
Raid Finder in MoP Classic
The journey through development of Classic expansions has given us countless opportunities to look back on the intent (and the outcomes) of decisions that the original team made about certain features. Fortunately, we’ve gotten to discuss those decisions with the same team members who made them (because they’re still here at Blizzard) and ask whether they were successful in accomplishing their goals.
We’ve also listened intently to players as they recounted their memories and experiences with the original content, which we’ve been given the incredible opportunity to bring to life once again, both for players who experienced it first back in the day, as well as for all-new players living it for the first time.
In 2011, raiding was a relatively niche activity, largely limited to organized guild groups that expected a fixed raiding schedule, and pickup groups doing current content were nonexistent on most realms. Thus, the development team introduced Raid Finder towards the end of Cataclysm to make raiding more accessible, despite recognizing that it would weaken some social bonds, because so few people were actually getting to face the Lich King or see Ragnaros after playing through Molten Front content.
In progression Classic, however, we’ve seen far, far more players participating in Normal raiding, and there is every reason to expect that to continue into Mists Classic.
Considering all points of view and weighing our options very carefully, we made the decision to develop MoP Classic without the Raid Finder system.
Classic Progression realms have evolved differently over the last five years than original WoW did in 2007-2012. Classic players have built a robust and consistent raiding ecosystem, and we believe that moving into MoP Classic without a Raid Finder system will set the stage for a stronger raiding community to emerge.
Of course, that leaves us with two questions: How will players progress through the Legendary quest, and how will players obtain “Raid Finder-tier" gear?
Introducing Celestial Dungeons
Celestial Dungeons are a new dungeon difficulty in Mists of Pandaria Classic that stand as the culmination of everything we’ve learned from Titan Rune Dungeons in Wrath of the Lich King Classic and Elemental Rune Dungeons in Cataclysm Classic.
Celestial Dungeons are:
- A new, additional difficulty tier.
- Selectable from the Dungeon Finder.
- Designed for players who are ready to move beyond Heroic dungeons.
- Infused with occasional raid-level mechanics and enemies, including appearances from bosses of the current raid tier.
Inside, players will commune with the August Celestials, gaining powerful blessings to help overcome enhanced challenges. Strategic use of these blessings will be key to success. You’ll also find:
- Gear that offers more power than Heroic Dungeon gear, including all items that used to drop in Raid Finder, particularly tier pieces.
- Items that will be target-farmable as well as random drops.
- Currency dropped by bosses that can be used to purchase a wide variety of the above.
- Legendary quest progress, with quest additions made to preserve the lore, should players choose to use Celestial Dungeons rather than Raids to progress the legendary quest chain.
And Celestial Dungeons will grow with each raid tier. Throne of Thunder and Siege of Orgrimmar will bring new threats and rewards and new Celestial powers to master. Previous tier rewards will remain available, so transmog hunters and collectors won’t miss out.
Celestial Dungeons will go live two weeks after Mogu’shan Vaults opens, giving players time to explore the raid before diving into this new challenge.
We believe this approach keeps the spirit of Classic alive—rewarding commitment, encouraging social play, and offering meaningful progression, while still making content accessible in a more engaging and respectful way.
Thank you for all of your feedback on the development of Mists of Pandaria Classic, and thanks for going on this journey with us. We can’t wait to see how you tackle the challenges ahead!
—The WoW Classic Team