Blizzard Insider previews Mogu'shan Vaults raid

The most recent Blizzard Insider interviews Scott Mercer and Ion Hazzikostas, lead encounter designers, to discuss the Mogu'shan Vaults raid coming with the release of Mists of Pandaria. Quite a few details about the upcoming raid are to be had, including the following:

• It will launch with the raid finder, 10-man and 25-man normal, and 10-man and 25-man heroic modes, for a total of five different modes for the raid.

• "Observant players may even notice a certain 'titanic' influence in lair's defenses."

• Since the mogu (and most other Mists of Pandaria races and settings) are entirely new with this expansion, the design team had to design their "kits," the kinds of monsters and art you'd expect to see in dungeons featuring them. The mogu kit includes the terracotta warriors, the quilien statues, and certain Titan-based themes.

• The raid as a whole is set in the Mogu'shan Vaults, which haven't been explored for thousands of years, and the defenses are activated by the player's arrival. It's a classic raid on an ancient tomb.

• The ending encounter, the Will of the Emperor, has elements of a swarm built in, with abilities players will have to react to and waves of terracotta warriors. Completing the encounter will reveal the ancient secret the Thunder King used to dominate Pandaria.

• Mogu'shan Vaults may be delayed a week after launch to give people time to run dungeons and otherwise level to 90 at a more relaxed pace. Two other raids currently in design, the Heart of Fear and Terrace of Endless Spring, will go live a few weeks after Mists launches. These two raids are intended to be completed by people geared up in Mogu'shan Vaults.

• In addition to Mogu'shan, there will be two world bosses at launch. All three raids mentioned above are considered launch content; there are more raids under development for patch 5.1 as well.

So head on over to Blizzard Insider and read the full interview.

It's open warfare between Alliance and Horde in Mists of Pandaria, World of Warcraft's next expansion. Jump into five new levels with new talents and class mechanics, try the new monk class, and create a pandaren character to ally with either Horde or Alliance. Look for expansion basics in our Mists FAQ, or dig into our spring press event coverage for more details!