Its been a few months since Cataclysm hit, and people are beginning to finish up the first tier of raid content. With a general idea of the lore established in the various 81-85 questing zones and generic hints or rumors about which direction Blizzard is heading in, I began to piece together a rough idea of what the future raid content and lore might explore. Warning, there will be lots of speculation and some spoilers below.

First let me say that I am happy with how Blizzard is handling content and raids this expansion, as it seams there is enough lore to support multiple smaller raids each tier. I always felt that having several smaller raids of the same tier as well as more frequent content patches makes the game more interesting. Additional content added between the giant raid patches ensure there is more to see and do, and less of a chance for the player to get bored or burned out. In addition it allows Blizzard more chances to address players or developers concerns by tweaking classes, adding new items and achievement, much the way patch 4.1 is adding a slew of new stuff.

Now as for the future content, we know that 4.2 will feature both the Firelands raid as well as the Caverns of Time: War of the Ancients raid. After that question is what are the major threats hinted at during the corse of the expansion, and also whether that threat is something that can or should be resolved in a dungeon or raid. Remember that all of this is just speculation from me, and might not be every possible raid, so feel free to chime in and discuss.

Islands of the Maelstrom

Blizzard has been asked several times about numerous islands in the seas surrounding the Maelstrom and why are players not allowed to travel to them. Blizzard has hinted that they deliberately left them out at the launch of Cataclysm in order to add them later in content patches. Several possibilities for raids and quest hubs spring to mind, such as the Tomb of Sargeras, resting place of Gul’dan. The other major island is Zandalar, home of thousands of trolls and birthplace of every troll race.

Rise of the Zandalari

The addition of Zul’Aman and Zul’Gurub as well as their back story hint that a larger conflict may play out on Zandalar. “Led by a mysterious prophet known only as Zul, the Zandalari have issued a call to Azeroth’s embattled troll populations: unite into a single mighty empire and save their race from extinction” Also there is the fact that Vol’jin is opposed to the Zandalari and their warmongering setting the Horde and the Alliance in a position to both fight against the trolls of Zandalar.

Emerald Dream

If you read the novel Stormrage, in the end of the book Malfurion is able to push the Nightmare of the Emerald dream back into the Rift of Aln, and seal it shut. The problem with this is obvious to anyone who was around when we opened the gates of Ahn’Qiraj. The barrier will hold for perhaps thousands of years, the evil remains behind it, and must eventually be dealt with. Judging from the quest in Hyjal where we transport Fandral Staghelm through the Emerald Dream, minor aspects of corruption are already beginning to reappear. It isn’t known if the evil will be confronted in the Rift or in Azeroth, as Chris Metzan revealed at Blizzcon that the Old God N’Zath who is responsible for the Emerald Nightmare. This leaves the possibility two raids where we battle the same final boss, once in the Emerald Dream to banish him from the rift, and then finishing the battle by confronting N’Zath’s physical body on Azeroth.

Deathwing’s Demise

Finally, we all know that Deathwing will play host to the final tier of raiding for this expansion. Without a doubt many of the large questions will be answered when we finally fight the world-breaker. The healing of the world by Thrall and the Earthen Ring, the vacant seat left by the Earthwarder’s decent into madness, and whether Deathwing is acting on his own or still being manipulated by the Old Gods that transformed him into what he is today. Given how Blizzard improves with their story telling each expansion, I can only anticipate a truly epic resolution.