WotLK Raid Ladder

[Corvus]

OK, here's the raid ladder as it currently exists in Beta. Using that, here's a rough sketch of what we are looking at in terms of how we'll progress through it and some explanation of each instance, after the list.

Naxx-10
Obsidian Sanctum-10
Eye of Eternity-10
Ulduar-10 (unimplemented)
Icecrown-10 (unimplemented)

That is our progression.

Now, Obsidian Sanctum (OS10) is very much like Zul'Aman in that it is somewhat interchangeable with Naxx-10, once you've progressed far enough thorugh Naxx-10 and geared some.

Another similarity with AZ that OS10 shares is a unique raid environment. Whereas ZA had the bonus timers, OS10 features 3 mini-bosses with a single end-boss and aminimal amount of trash mobs. The rewards you receive depend on how you tackle the content. If you systematically take down each mini-boss anthen the end boss, you'll recieve 5 epics per run (3 mini/2 boss). However, if you instead attack the instance as a single encounter or some variaiton of pre-clear and then boss, your rewards increase. For instance:

Kill 2 minis / attack boss w/ 1 mini = you get 3 for the minis and 3 for the boss
Kill 1 mini / attack boss w/ 2 minis = 3 for minis and 4 for boss.

Each mini that is added to the boss fight adds an additional epic to the boss' loot table, as well as added difficulty. If you add all three minis to the boss, he drops 6 epics, plus an epic flying mount, the Black Drake Mount.

It seems to me that Blizzard has really thought about unique ways to kepe the content fresh and challenging, allowing guilds to truly decide what sort of difficulty they want to try content within.

Sounds fun!