6. Firelands (Cataclysm)
Firelands was an 8-boss raid released around midway through the life of World of Warcraft’s Cataclysm expansion and it was a doozy. Thematically, Firelands’ design was one of the most beautifully crafted environments ever seen before in a raid. Ironically, this raid acted as a bit of fresh air for raids as much of the mechanics for it weren’t re-hashes of formerly used ones, but felt new and different. Using a combination of linear and free progression, Firelands gave players a chance to explore the first half Elemental Plane at their leisure, while sending them down the proverbial rabbithole for the latter half which directly led up to the return of another fan favorite boss, Ragnaros.
Firelands acted as a not-so-subtle way for players to re-experience a better made version of Molten Core. With many bosses making their return and a more fleshed out storyline, the Firelands was everything we expected from an Elemental-based raid set in a place of oozing magma and scalding flames.
