WoW's next "big bad" is here.
World of Warcraft: Dragonflights next raid is Aberrus, the Shadowed Crucible. The raid will launch with Patch 10.1: Embers of Neltharion, and with it, WoW players will have the opportunity to face nine fearsome bosses, including the final boss of the raid, Scalecommander Sarkareth.
Aberrus is the personal secret laboratory of Neltharion (aka Deathwing). Its inside Aberrus that the aspect of the Black Dragonflight worked on some of his darkest and most infamous experiments, including the creation of the Dracthyr army. Additionally, its inside this laboratory that Neltharion ultimately gave in to the whispers of the Old Gods and turned into the horrific and defiled aspect known as Deathwing.
Although the living, breathing version of Deathwing wont be making a reappearance as a WoW boss anytime soonespecially since he was defeated permanently in the Dragon Soul raid back in 2011some of his minions, followers, and descendants could definitely line the walls of Aberrus. With Embers of Neltharion going live on the WoW Public Test Realm today, we have our first look at who the final boss of the raid is going to be.
According to the dungeon journal on the WoW: Dragonflight Patch 10.1 PTR, Scalecommander Sarkareth will be the final boss of Aberrus, the Shadowed Crucible.
Scalecommander Sarkareth is the leader of the Sundered Flame, a group of insurgents who broke away from the Dracthyr and the Dragon Aspects in hopes to bring about a new age of Dragonkind. We first encountered Sarkareth and his faction of rebels in the Azure Vault dungeon, of which they are the main antagonist.
According to Blizzard, Sarkareth and his forces seek to claim the legacy of the Dracthyr within Aberrus, and its up to us to stop the Sundered Flames efforts. While its still far too early in the raids development cycle to know for sure what Sarkareth is after inside Aberrus (and why we have to take him down), its likely that hes not going to go down without a fight. The Sundered Flame have been a thorn in our side since the beginning of the Dragonflight campaign, and with the story of Patch 10.1 to also include themes surrounding the Blue Dragonflightwho are direct enemies of the Sundered Flameits likely that Sarkareth and his followers will play a central role in the development of the games storyline this upcoming patch.
Although Sarkareth and the Sundered Flame do not pose as immediate of a threat as Iridikron and the Incarnates, there are likely going to be tie-ins to their combined stories since the Incarnates will also likely be looking to uncover the secrets within the raid.