Hard Mode Raid Launches Tomorrow!

Hey everyone,

Tomorrow at 12 PM (Noon) US Central Time we’ll be launching our Hard Mode Waystation Crypt Raid. This is the same Raid that has been available now for several weeks, but with increased difficulty for those looking for a higher challenge.

Each of the fights has had its difficulty increased from a raw numbers perspective. Some fights have had additional mechanics (or “twists” to the existing mechanics) added as well for added challenge. Others retain their same mechanics, but the mechanics have been boosted in terms of the number of people affected or how often they occur.

Our hope is that this should provide a nice challenge for our most hardcore players, and I don’t at this point anticipate it being cleared tomorrow, I think it will take several days at least. (Of course, it’s always hard to tell…)

In addition to the increased difficulty of the fights, you can look forward to the following:

  • A new set of gear which retains the same base look as the normal mode gear, but with some additional added flourishes to indicate that you’ve taken on a tougher challenge.
  • We have decided that the gear which will drop from the Hard Mode Raid will be Level 21.2. The gear which drops from the upcoming Expert Mode Raid will be Level 21.4. So it will be an upgrade over the gear available currently in the Shard Dungeons, which will remain Level 21.0.
  • A new Raid Token currency specific to the Hard Mode Raid which can be earned once per boss per week, and used to purchase gear from a new vendor.
  • A new Windup Necro Boss and a new cape specific to the Hard Mode Raid.
  • Note that the Hard Mode and Normal Mode raids do not share a lockout for purposes of tracking loot or trash kills.

Thanks and enjoy!

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Awesome. I’m excited to give it a go!

This is exciting! Is there a new cape for Hard mode boss 5 kill?

Yes, there is a new cape as well.

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Does this mean the 5th boss is tuned harder than when we beat it pre-nerf? (hoping thats what it means:)

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Yes, it is tuned harder from a numbers standpoint for sure, I don’t fully remember exactly what the tuning was from a mechanics standpoint when you beat it the first time, but I’m pretty sure at least some of the mechanics themselves will also be more difficult.

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Cant wait! :grin:

How do we change the difficulty from normal mode to hard mode?

There is a separate entrance.

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Awesome! Thanks for letting us know

I AM … EXCITED ! :heart_eyes:

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Challenge accepted! :smiling_imp:

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Is the entrance near the normal one in the Necropolar?

Also, can the 21.2 weapons drop in legendary and are weapon visuals modified like the armor?

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Let’s get ready toooo struggle!!!

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Hey Riley (& team), Great Job! Good to see a reason to do raids from a gear-progression standpoint.

Will the dyes that drop from hard mode raids be the same or different from the normal mode raids?

Think again. Boss 5 down on hard 7 hours after release. Woop woop!

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Challenge completed! :smiley:

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Haha, I saw that. Congrats! Always hard to tell how long it’s going to take…

We are learning a lot from this first raid cycle, like how much of the challenge from the Raid was mechanics vs sheer numbers tuning…for the Expert mode I will have to put in some more mechanics twists so the same strategies won’t work as well :slight_smile:

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It was fun and awesome job devs! For expert, you should just add new raid bosses:)

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