User:Basher1200/Beneath the waves(Maelstrom Expansion idea)

Introduction
Heya! This is my idea for an expansion for an expansion connected to the MAelstrom. Feedback welcome, but if wanted please add a Talk: page on this. Thank you.

Naz'redine Background
Ten thousand years ago, during the reign of Queen Azshara, there was an elite magic-using sect known as the Highborne, who dabbled in magics that many other elves considered heretical by drawing upon the power of the Well of Eternity. When the War of the Ancients erupted, these Highborne sought to abuse the Arcane to bring demons into the world. The Night Elves defeated these at a great cost, however, the magical backlash shattered the entire world, bringing to existence Kalimdor, the Eastern Kingdoms, and the rest of the world as we know it today. This implosion of the Well of Eternity, The Sundering, created a great sea and a crushing whirlpool at the former location of the Well of Eternity - The Maelstrom. In the end, Queen Azshara and her insidious followers was sent plummeting into this whirl. Most were killed, however, others were transformed into the Naga - Malevolent, serpent-like humanoids. Deep below, in the abysses-trenches below the Maelstrom, they built their new capital, Nazjatar.For thousands of years no surface dwellers knew of the hateful, serpentine creatures living below the Maelstrom. However, not all transformed Highborne dwelled there.

At the Sundering, some Highborne were killed, and some were transformed - However, some were partly mutated into elf-like, scaled creatures partly gifted - or Cursed - with the ability of water-breathing. Although these elves was dragged below the surface too, however, their transformation had shown them the wrongness of summoning the Legion. They retreated to a ledge separate from Nazjatar, the new Naga capital, and establised the great city of Zha'yezin. Azjar the Abyss-king, the leader of these survivors, kept the Naz'redine hidden from both the Naga and the surface world, remaining hidden just like the Naga. However, this was not to last.

When Illidan called upon the Naga in his quest to destroy the Frozen Throne, Lady Vashj's forced coincidentally discovered the dwelling of the Naz'redine. Intent on destroying these "Traitors" to Azshara's reign, Lady Vashj reported their location to Azshara, who dispatched the Bladefin clan of Naga to crush Zha'yezin.Azjar and the Naz'redine held off for quite a time, however, when the Bladefin at one point seemed to close in on Zha'yezin, the Naz'redine sent their emissaries to the Surface world. Pleading the human-lead alliance for aid, the alliance refused due both to their past of Highborne and their similarity to the Naga. These emissaries, all except one, were brutally tortured to revealing the location of Zha'yezin. In the end, one emissary revealed the location in exchange for freedom. The humans sent troops to deal with this "threat", and executed the emissaries - however, one managed to flee. This tortured and mentally broken emissary fled to Lordaeron, where he found the Sin'dorei, or Blood Elves. Desperately pleading the Regent Lord, Lor'themar Theron for help, the Regent Lord in the end saw the Naz'redine as valuable friends, both due to their history of the Arcane and the blood elves' history with their "cousins", the Naga. Lor'themar sent his rangers and Blood Knights to the plains of Sel'ey, the Naz'redine homeland, and aided Azjar's forces in the dispatching of Azshara's Bladefins. As a Naz'redine, or Survivor, your mission is to defend our new allies and crush Azshara's ´reign...

Starting Areas/Additional Zones
Untested Naz'Redine starts out in the Thel'jalar Moor, moves onto Azjar Retreat and finally goes onto Zha'Yezin itself.

When the Naz'redine are tested, they are sent to the Khel'thar Forest where they resume their training. (IOW - Zha'Yezin(Capital), Sel'Ey Plains (1-10 Starting area) and Khel'Thar Forest (10-20).

Factions/Reputations
Due to their rescue from the Blood Elves, the Naga starts at Friendly with Silvermoon. Due to their similarities in the use of Arcane magics to the Forsaken, these also start at friendly. The Orcs, Trolls and Tauren, however, all has distrust in these mutated highborne, and thus, The Naz'redine starts out at Neutral with Orgrimmar, Darkspear and Thunder Bluff Forces.

Classes
Mage: Due to their long-term Arcane wielding, the Naz'redine can naturally become Mages.

Warlock: Despite seeing the summoning of the Legion wrong, many Naz'redine has begun wielding demonic energies to gain power for themselves, openly excusing it with "using their enemies".

Warrior: For long, the Naz'redine Vanguards has been using melee weapons in close combat. These Vanguards excel at dealing heavy melee blows to their opponents. (Naz'redine Vanguards(AKA Warriors) has a racial skill in place of Slam, Vanguard Blow, that deals instant weapon damage +([Weapon Min Damage]/6+[Weapon Speed*3]), Cost 20 Rage, and can NOT be mitigated. This can only be used with a 2-hand weapon. An example - Whirlwind Axe Vanguard Blow'ing will deal (102/6+3.6*3=27.8) 102-154+27.8 Damage. Vanguard Blow has a 5min CD.)

Rogue: Naz'redine rogues excel at stealth and assassination, thus being perfect rogues.

Racials
1) Swim Speed - Swimming speed increased by 5%.

2) Water Breath - Same as undead one.

3) Arcane Pulse - Instantly regenerates (Level*10) Mana to all nearby(20yrds) party members. Doubles when cast underwater (EG Level*20 when underwater)(EX - This cast at 90 will yield 900 mana when cast, 1800 when underwater.) 2 min Cooldown.

4)Arcane Wield - Increases damage dealt with all 2handed weapons by 5%.

Alliance Race - Predaar, The Honoring
I'll start building up the Predaar soon. Basically, I took a bit from the Predator movies (A honorable hunter race) and added in some reptiles/Nature-communing blends. I'm trying to create for the Alliance what the Tauren is to the horde, in an alternative way. What they'll be like is a kind of Bipedal-humanoid reptile with the beliefs of tauren druids, but still with the advanced technology of other races. In other words, a blend between the fantasy "HUnter" races and space-age tech.

Predaar Background
Satisfied that the small world had been ordered and that their work was done, the Titans prepared to leave Azeroth. However, before they departed, they charged the greatest species of the world with the task of watching over Kalimdor, lest any force should threaten its perfect tranquility. In that age, there were many dragonflights.

One of these were the Transcendent Dragonflight - Dragons of pure Ley energy, wise and eternal. Although a lesser flight, the Transcendent held many secrets in their eternal knowledge.

Until one faithful day.

When the Well of Eternity imploded, these tranquil dragons, content so far with minding their own business, were drastically damaged by unexpected Arcane energies erupting from the imploded well. These energies totally devastated the Transcendent, transforming them into vaguely humanoid, reptilian creatures. However, not all that was caused was damage - these devastated creatures had gained an unexpected insight into Nature itself. Naming their new status the Predaar - the Honoring - they set out to find a homeland to harbour their new beliefs of honor, respect and hunting.

After long searching, they found the tranquil Broken Isles... There they settled for millennia, successfully holding off the murlocs of the islands. However, then the Trolls came. The Darkspear tribe, seeing the Predaar as a threat to their survival, began fiercely murdering the tranquil reptilians. Unseen by the Trolls, the murlocs of the islands saw this as their chance to destroy the Predaar, and in the shadows they murdered the Predaar as well...

This unintentionally joint assault on the Predaar almost wiped them out. The few that remained - As few as 50 Predaar out of thousands - Fled to the jungle of the isles, and hid there until the trolls eventually left the isle.

Then, disaster struck again. A particularly weak part of the Islands broke off to the Maelstrom. In the end, the Predaar saw that they had to leave, and thus the remaining Predaar set out to find a stable home.

They found the Shatterered Isles, a chain of islands not far from the Maelstrom - Laying directly between Azshara and the Maelstrom. On these jungle islands, the Predaar set out.

As usual their peace didn't last. Naga explorers eventually found the islands and began savagely battling the Predaar in order to gain control of the Islands for their queen. Seeing that this battle could never be won by them alone, they called upon Nature itself to aid them in their vain combat.

She answered.

In the Emerald Dream, Malfurion Stormrage came to know of these "Predaar". In the end, Tyrande Whisperwind was informed of the communing - yet failing - creatures that were locked in combat with the Naga. Understanding their bond with Nature itself, she sent a small contingent of Sentinels to the isles.

Understanding that Nature had answered their call, the Predaar pleadingly accepted the aid of the Night Elves, and together they managed to push back the Naga. Eager to pay back the favor, the Predaar offered their limited aid to the Night Elves and their allies.

They accepted, and at last the Predaar had allies to fight along in the waking world - The Alliance...

As a young Predaar, your mission is to protect our new lands - The Shattered Isles - and aspire to crush our former enemies; The Darkspear, and Queen Azshara's malicious forces...

Young Predaar start out at Camp Emerald on the southernmost Isle, then move on to Kal'Daar Watch (In honor of their Night Elven saviors) and then moves to the Shatterspire, the capital of these noble beings...

(I'll work in a Racial Leader somewhere. So far he/she's yet to be decided.)

- MORE SOON -

Classes
Here's the racial classes.

Hunter - Being in deep touch with Nature and their pets, the Predaar are Hunters to the bone.

Druid - The Predaar communes deeply with Nature and the Dream, thus being perfect Druids.

Shaman - Some Predaar choose to follow the Elements, thus becoming Shamans.

Warriors - Being honorable killers, the Predaar are natural Warriors.

Rogues - Slender and agile of nature, Predaar makes quick work of enemies as Assassins.

Hero Class: Felshifter
The Felshifter is a sort of hybrid between a Druid and a Warlock (You'd never imagine that :]), using Fel energies to assume various demonic forms while also wielding nether magic to damage and enslave various demons.

Abilities:
Can Melee DPS and tank. (See Forms below)

Can Spellcast DPS.

Can, to a lesser degree than Warlocks, both summon one demonic pet and enslave various demons (Albeit the enslave both lasts shorter and has lesser benefits than the warlock one).

Can do various utility spells that may prove significant to whole parties.

Can summon Aural Orbs that provides nearby allies with powerful auras. (This is tricky. Basically, it's a fuse between Eye of Kilrogg, the warlock "look around" spell, and the PAladin auras. The Felshifter summons a flying orb, which he takes control of, that gives an aura similar to Paladin auras, but MUCH more powerful for the level (EG a paladin's Dev Aura may at one level gives off 400 Armor, whereas the Orb's armor aura might give off 600.) Now here's the catch - The Felshifter is ENTIRELY immobilized, similar to a priest's Mind Control, and any damage caused to the Felshifter while casting the Orb will cancel its effect. This means that a group will have to choose whether to have the Felshifter fulfill a class role, EG as tank, DPS of Off-tank, or to provide the party with passive buffs.)

Forms
A Felshifter learns only one spell between starting and 5-10 levels up, as opposed to Druids, who has to rely on spells from start until level 10, when they get their melee Bear form. The Felshifter starts out at level 55, and at level 56 he learns his first form, the Netherraptor Form (Felshifter version of Cat Form. Basically a demon-influenced Raptor form with a bit of fire/green glow around.) This is the list of forms -

Level 56 - Netherraptor (DPS/Rogue Form)

Level 60 - Nethersaur (Talented Caster Form, similar to Moonkin. A large, hulking, "Nether" lizard. (Did you ever see Groudon, from Pokemon Ruby? Explain the concept to our non-gameboy-playing friends please :P If you didn't see it check up on Wikipedia.)

Level 66 - Felguard (Assumes a Felguard form - Through a quest series every 5 levels, the Felshifter will gain a new weapon/damage stats for his Felguard form! No more running around with the same boring look for 20 levels! The Felguard form is a Tank Form.)

Level 70 - Fel Whelp (Flight Form)

Level 70 - Lesser Netherdrake (Haven't you always wanted this, druids? :P)

Level 75 - Netherrunner (Travel Form - 80% Increase. Druids should have this speed too. A Netherdrake-inspired cat.)

Level 90 - Spirit of Cataclysm (A form that is assumed for 15 seconds after death, like the priest one. This one... Well, it's a flaming Spirit Healer with a periodical fire damage AoE, and that can cast any of the Felshifter's direct damage spells free of mana cost. While in this form the Felshifter can't tag enemies, and he will not gain experience from enemies killed. (This is to prevent mass AoE farming in this form.))

Nether Combat
This is the FS's spell damage tree. It includes DDs, DoTs, and of course, the Nethersaur form.

A sample Nether Combat spells include:

Level 55 - Cataclysmic Flame - A Direct Damage spell that deals fire damage and increases all Fire Damage taken by 3% for 10 seconds. This is the only spell a FS has from start, and he must gain level 56 using only this and a weapon (Hey, look at Druids - They take 10 levels with 2 freakin' spells and 2 heals! How's this compared? :P)

Level 60 - Nether Corruption - A 10 second DoT that deals Arcane damage. A talented 25% chance to silence the target for 5 seconds at the end of the DoT can be added (Why at the end? Simple - to prevent spamming this spell to keep a target silenced, you'll be forced to wait for the DoT to wear off or no silence!)

Level 62 - Aetherblast - A high damage, high-casttime spell similar to Pyroblast. Deals 500 Arcane and 500 Shadow at lowest rank.

Demonic Shift
Demonic Shift is the FS's main melee tree - Including all melee forms, shapeshifting utility and such. (In comparation toa druid's Feral tree). Samples:

Level 66 - Demonic Charge - Charges the enemy, stunning it for 3 seconds and increases the damage of your next ability by 6% (8%/10% with talents). Can inly be used out of combat. Requires Felguard Form)

Binding
The FS's utility tree. Basically, Bindingincludes all CCs, enslaves(Yup, more than one) and general utilkity spells.

Samles:

Level 60 - Enslave Demon:Fire - Enslave target enemy demon, causing it to follow the FS's bidding and deal extra fire damage.

Level 70 - Summon Warpwyrm - Summons a Warpwyrm to protect the FS for 30 seconds. The Warpwyrm deals arcane damage and periodically returns some of its life to the FS.

The big trick is...
"..How can you make an expansion underwater?? WHINE WHINE NOT POSSIBUL!!!!" I bet myou're all thinking that. Well, the trick is a slight lorical addition - When the Well of Eternity imploded - THe Sundering - It supposedly released ENORMOUS amounts of arcane energy. My point is that the energies may have charged the Maelstrom waters magically, thus enabling surface creatures to walk, breathe [ See PBC on Wikipedia ]while still allowing nautical creatures (Such as the Naga) to breathe and walk through it. This solves the common problem with not including Nazjatar and the lots as an expansion by lorewisely allowing surface-dwellers to survive for prolonged periods there.

Swimming Mounts
...With WoW Classic came Mounts, with TBC came Flying mounts,with WLK came a lot of new mounts (probably/hopefully.). Now, with WoW:BTW might come... The Swimming Mounts!


 * Requires level 85 to attain, to prevent players from racing to 90 in order to gain them.
 * 2 Ranks - Normal (Increases Swim speed by 80, Epic: Increases Swim Speed by 300%)
 * Allows water breathing.
 * Can be used anywhere, but only in liquids that is normally swimmable. Fatigue will still apply.
 * Usable in the Maelstrom - When used there, applies as flying mounts do in TBC.

More on this soon.

New Zones
IMPORTANT NOTE: I've modified/added slightly to the Lore, due to the fact that not Maelstrom information is found on the site and I didn't want it to be all volcanic. Deal with it.

Zhalaplex City

A Sanctuary city originally founded by the Naz'Redine, Zhalaplex now welcomes any refugees and opposers of Queen Azshara's reign. It rests on a pillar in the northwest Pillar Deep.

World Zones

Pillar Deep (78-82) - These plains were shattered during the sundering. Now a veritable Forest of rocky columns, the Pillar Deep holds numerous caverns and Tubeworms, and strained bridges connects these pillars.

Drowned Reaches (81-84) - A graveyard of crashed ships, the Drowned Reaches is a barren, current-streamed place that holds numerous undead creatures.

The Boiling Terrace (83-86) - A molten nightmare of literally boiling waters, the Boiling Terrace holds extreme Volcanic activity. Caution should be exercised in this steam-hot area.

Zyat'Thral Forest(85-87) - A jungle of kelp and undersea growth, the Syat'thral Forest holds numerous strange beasts. The dense forest houses both Nazjatar and Mak'Aru, the Naga and Makrura capitals respectively.

Khel'yar Barrens(86-90) - A rocky undersea desert, the Khel'yar plains is an extremely unhospitable area.

Gis'han Caverns (86-90) - A series of deep fathoms and caves, the Gis'han caverns are generally avoided by both Naga and Makrura - As they are rumoured to hold gargantuan sea creatures...

The Rift (89-93, Raid Area) - The very location of the sundered Well of Eternity itself, the Rift is an extremely deep crag, reaching to the very core of the world. Holding many dangerous beasts, the Rift should generally be avoided by lone travellers...

Dungeons/Raids
I haven't got my notes on this PC, but I'll stick in a few of the larger raids.

Nazjatar (25-man raid, Raid 6 in progression (And last!)) The Capital of the Naga, the seat of Queen Azshara herself, this is the head of the beast. Resting on the very edges of the Rift itself, this is the ultimate mission - Dare you venture inside and slay Queen Azshara herself to liberate the world of the Naga? (Basically, it's an extremely big city that rests on the edges of the Rift. Check Nazjatar.)

Tidecrusher's Gauntlet (25-man Raid, Raid 5 in progression) An abandoned sanctum located at the bottom of the Rift. Naga summoners has recently entered the temple, and they have managed to summon Neptulon the Tidehunter into the mortal world! Brave the Naga inhabiting the Gauntlet, and aspire to banish the Tidehunter to the Abyssal Maw... (Imagine Ragnaros being summoned on his own command. ...The "Banish" part? Well, I assume Blizzard will want to stuff in the Elemental Plane itself at some point, and I don't want to destroy the possibility of including him as a raid encounter then.) SEE BELOW

...Then a few 5mans...

Xhal'Jatar - A Naga fortification, located in southern Pillar Deep. Holds 2 5mans and a Raid, the Xhal'Jatar Depths.

5man 1 - Xhal'Jatar Towers 5man 2 - Shredderfin Halls

EDIT: A Peek at a planned drop, First boss Towers.

Hydralok (88-90) - Also located in the Pillar Deep (But separate from Xhal'Jatar.) An ancient Naga camp, Hydralok is where the Naga trains their beasts of War - Truebred Hydras, Snapdragons and Turtle Carriers... Venture inside and stand against this slavecamp!

Blacktide Fathoms (85-87) - The murky heart of the Gis'han Caverns, a slumbering monstrosity is rumoured to reside here...

Moonshine (82-84) - An ancient Kaldorei vessel, Moonshine now hosts the undead beings that once piloted it... In addition, a band of Naga scavengers has taken residence here.

'''Note: I have about 12-13 5mans and 6 Raids in my notes on my own PC. However, as I currently has no internet, I'll add them 2-3 at a time.'''

TideCrusher's Gauntlet
Decided to add a few more details on the Neptulon raid.

First of all, the raid layout.

TCG will contain 4 boss fights, Lined up;

1) 3 Summoners 2) Azjal the Abyss-Guardian 3) Elemental minibosses (12 Pieces!) 4) Neptulon

I'll outline the raid itself;

The dungeon is shaped a bit weird :P,

Firstly there's a big hall with trash. When you reach the end of the hall there's a gate (Not locked) down to a big hall where Neputlon is in Banish status. THere's three ways upwards. Each of these paths end in a room, each holding one of the Three ´Summoners. When one are aggroed, all 3 will teleport to Neptulon's Chamber. THey must be tanked separately.

When they are down, Azjal will spawn and run towards the raid (Shouting "None shall incline the Tidehunter's reign!"). He's a hard Tank-Spank fight. After him, the raid will have a break.

Azjal drops an [Abyssal Sea-Gem] which is used to turn Nept's banish off. Activating the gem starts a 120-second channel, every 10 seconds a Water-elemental miniboss will Portal to the raid and start attacking. They must be killed quickly, as if 3 are spawned at the same time the group will likely wipe. They hit for 1-2k on plate.

When the channel is finished, Neptulon will immediately Aggro the channeler (Thus, the channeler should be the MT). Any elementals not killed will remain in the fight until killed.

Neptulon has 8.5m HP. Abilities:

Drench - A nasty DD Frost spell that deals 8-9k Damage. It also drops a nasty 20second CD on all fire spells, rendering them unusable for most of the fight, since the CD gets renewed whenever he casts it. It cannot be interrupted.

Frost Storm - IN itself, Frost Storm is a nasty form he'll take on during phase 2 and 4. It deals ~500 auto Frost damage on every melee hit he takes. However, it allows him to cast the following :

Block of Ice - A 10yrds AoE total freeze. Any targets caught in it takes 700 Damage every 3sec. Here's the catch; Any targets affected are vulnerable to Fire spells. This means that if a warrior is "Frozen", a mage FIreball will remove the freeze but still deal damage. (Consider Flamestrike.)

Chilling Touch - This is a buff Nept will have on constantly during the Storm. It's basically a Frost armor that increases his speed by 20% (Attack and Movement) and Chills any melee attackers (Refer to mage Frost Armor for details.)

Ice Crystals - An AoE Blizzard strike (Although only one "Shard" strikes), Ice Crystals deals ~10k Frost damage. It is not limited by range or LoS. The AoE range is 30yrds.

Slam - When in Storm form Nept will randomly strike with this. It is a frost-daming Melee strike that isn't limited by range. It deals 5k Frost damage and ~3k melee damage (Note that since it is a Melee attack both the Frost damage and Melee damage is mitigateable by Armor.) It is NOT affected by aggro.

Vortex - In Phase 3, Nept will transform to this. When in this phase Nept will deal ~300 Frost damage every 3 seconds to everyone in his Chamber. All casting speed's also slowed by 60%.

Fight outline:

Phase 1 - Aggro phase. Nept will deal Melee Damage primarily, although still using Drench at will. Tank and spank.

Phase 2 - At 70%, Nept will go into Frost Storm. He will cast any of the 4 Storm spells at will.

Phase 3 - At 40%, Nept will change to Vortex form and banish himself for 10 seconds. 20 Water Elemental adds are spawned, and all of them must be killed before the 10 seconds are up. The elementals will NOT despawn.

Phase 4 - Stormtime! His Chilling Touch will increases speed by another 50% and also increase all damage dealt by 30%. This happens at 20%.

Additionally Nept himself melees for 9-11k on plate.

Some Lewt;

Dire Claw of the Tidehunter

More soon!