Halas Reborn, scheduled to launch at the end of May, brings us two new raid zones. The first of which is the Underfoot Depths, accessed via The Hole. Naturally, we can't tell you all the uber strategies to beat the zone... Wouldn't that be nice! But we can tell you a bit about what to expect, and we got Brett "Timetravelling" Scheinert to give us the goods.

The Skinny from Timetravelling:

Brett “Timetravelling” Scheinert assisted Roger Uzun (who created the boss encounters) and Peter Chang (who created the base population) in the creation and planning of this massive new raid zone. He took a few minutes out of his day to sit down and answer some important questions.

What level is this raid zone and what size raid is meant to tackle it?

The Underfoot Depths is a level 90, four-group raid instance.

What raid zones are of comparable difficulty?

All of them! Hehe, the zone is very large and so has a wide variety of difficulties present within. The first two wings are of moderate difficulty for x4’s, and each has an optional challenge-mode encounter at the end. The final wing has no normal-mode encounters and is all challenge-mode encounters.

How many named mobs are there?

Each wing has five boss encounters. The final bosses in the 1st and 2nd wings each have a challenge-mode version of their encounter. The final wing offers five challenge-mode encounters.

What's the lockout timer for this zone?

The minimum lockout is 4 days and 20 hours, with a max of 9 days.

How long do you anticipate the zone will take to complete?

Doing the zone from start to finish and clearing all three wings will likely be a significant undertaking. We extended the time upwards from normal raid lockouts (2d20h) because we wanted to give players the time to tackle different portions of the zone over the course of several days.

What’s your favorite part of the zone?

Our own diabolical Peter Chang created a very deadly set of traps in the second wing of the zone that I am excited to see…

What do you think is the most impressive part of the zone?

The scale and scope of the content being added. Players have cleared all of Sentinel’s Fate’s normal-mode encounters and all but one of the challenge-mode encounters…just in time for us to add 20 more normal-mode encounters and eight more challenge-mode encounters (which practically doubles the raid content available at level 90). I am very excited at the chance for players to test their mettle against both the Underfoot Depths and the new Icy Keep raid!

More Skinny!

What You'll be Fighting

You’ll encounter many creatures that one would expect to see in the subterranean pathways near the Underfoot. The Roekillik are certainly at home here, ready to defend their stronghold against invaders; these are not your run-of-the mill vermin! They share this space with a wide variety of pure elemental forms embodying earth, air, fire and water. Skeletons and consructs rattle around in various places, along with tough granite beetles.

The named encounters will be challenging and require some tactics be applied. If you manage to reach Master Yael himself, you’ll be ready to take on the most challenging encounter yet!

The Story

When Odus was phased into Ultera, the mystical bond that connected that continent to the Underfoot through the Vault of Living Stone remained intact. The denizens of the Underfoot, including the mighty Master Yael, were content to remain within their plane as long as the door to the Vault remained closed.

Unfortunately, corrupted Erudites opened a rift between Ultera and the Void, which began to pull the entire continent of Odus into its reality. Sensing that the Vault was in danger of being pulled into oblivion, the Underfoot began to pull the other way, resulting in a metaphysical tug-of-war between the two planes of existence that threatened to tear Odus asunder.

When adventurers severed the link to the Void, the bonds that pulled Odus inexorably into that plane were weakened, thereby strengthening the Underfoot's hold on Odus. Angered at the near-destruction of the entire existence of the Underfoot, Master Yael chose to take advantage of this opportunity to strike back.

Charged with the protection of the Vault and ultimately, the security of the Underfoot as a whole, Master Yael deemed this dire threat as a direct assault on the Underfoot, and allowed the mighty door to the Vault of Living Stone to be opened, so that his armies of elementals can flood out into the Hole once again. Their intent is to protect the Underfoot by any means necessary, even if it means wiping out every living creature on Odus.

With the power of an entire plane behind him, Master Yael and his minions could prove to be the greatest threat Odus has ever faced.

 

 

 

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