Nestled in an island off the coast of Stormsong Valley, the dark work of N’Zoth is carried out by his servants within the Crucible of Storms.
While it may be a relatively small two-boss raid, the Crucible of Storms still has a lot to see! Boasting a large inaccessible harbor complete with a full-sized Kul Tiran warship, a sprawling island overlooking a stormy ocean, the inescapable maw of N’Zoth’s corruption, and a sunken cannon!
To escape the raid, you’re going to want to grow through the ceiling of the underwater cave by the first boss.
(A more detailed explanation can be found at the start of the video above.) From here you can go two directions; if you swim down and away from the cave you’ll find yourself outside in an undecorated version of the island.
Traveling around the island leads you to a portion of ocean that suddenly rises into the air due to the higher water level inside the cove. The reason you can’t see the side of the water is because water doesn’t actually have a texture in-game. Instead, the surface of a body of water has texture, and when your camera is inside a body of water it will get an underwater effect, but the water itself is simply an area of space you can swim through. This means that when a water level abruptly changes like this, you can swim around inside it without seeing anything, but once you move your camera inside the body of water…
But rising sea levels are only one of the many wonders hidden within the Crucible!
Scaling the side of the island grants you access to an overhead view of the cave where players fight the Restless Cabal, as well as the ability to glide over the invisible wall that normally blocks you from accessing the cove.
Once inside the cove, there’s a couple things to check out. The boat is interactable and can be walked on, although it doesn’t have any decorations inside of it. However what it does have is an absolutely massive seagull perched on the bow who you should make sure to say hi to as you pass.
The floor of the cove also has a surprisingly large number of decorations, including a sunken rowboat and a cannon (shown earlier). It’s especially odd that Blizzard would go to the trouble of decorating the seafloor given that we never actually see it while completing the raid.
Plus it has giant spooky boat doors, which are always cool.
Circling back to where you first clipped through the cave, if you elect to keep going down and in rather than outwards, you’ll find yourself falling above the maw of corruption where you fight Uu’nat. This drop can be a bit tricky to navigate, as the camera will randomly cut to grey and both you and the building will pop in and out of view.
Be careful where you aim, if you glide inside the maw you won’t be able to get back out, and if you miss it entirely and fall past it you’ll get stuck in a disconnect loop until you log out for a half hour and get ported back to the start.
If you plan your descent carefully, you can land inside inaccessible edge of the tunnel and walk along it. There’s not much to see in the Uu’nat boss room since the dome and tunnel are both floating in the void, but N’Zoth will give you the stink-eye.
Between sunken cannons, hidden coves, very large seagulls, and the unblinking gaze of N’Zoth, there’s something for everyone to see (or wish they’d never seen) in the Crucible of Storms!
So whether you’re an avid explorer, or just trying to free yourself from t͡h҉is̀ èver̷ ͞c͟r̰̻̬̝̕e͎̗̗̜͎͉e͚̠p̵i̥n͕̫̜̯̯̫͈͘g̱̳̥̥͡ m͖̺͎a̡̖̳̯̰d̛͔̞͚̰̣n̰̺͘e͏̦͕͍̺͕s͕̮̳̥̩̫s͏̜,̙̘̤̝̥̩ ̣́ț̸̼̩̰̘̻ḫ͞e̮ͅ ̣̗͍̰͡C͏̺̲̙̺̪̺̲͘r̡̘̙̖͘u̱̝͎̜͎̪͉̕͠ć̡̮͝i̶̞b̯̠͙̠̝́ͅͅl̛̬͚̹̰̮̖̭͡e̷̮͓ͅ ͏̺̦̀o̧͈̘̰f̣̜̳̤ ͙̀Ş̱̤̥͈͉̭ţ̖̱̻͈̫͜o̩͓̖̟͘͠r̞̝̦̗͓̞̤̯m̨̢͚̜̬̰̭͇̮̲͞s̵̺̝̮̩̼̠̺ͅ ͉̤̩̤̫̥͢͞͞i̛̩̫̦̫̝̲̤̠̦͎̣̩̜̘̟̼̣͜s̡͚̗̲͉͈̣̞͚ ̸̶̸̢͍̠̪̝̼̯̗̟̻̦͔͢ͅw͏̡̤̱̫͔͍̱̗̖̜̱é̥͎͕̙̙͕͚̠̺͉̟̕͘͜l̶͎͚̘̤͓͙͖̤̲̘̣͟͠ĺ̴͖̥̦̻̱̞͕͈̭̫͎̬̬͇̫͠ ͘͏͏̫̫̜͎̣̙w̡̭̖͈͓͈̭̳͓͖̤̳̥̙̝̘̦̹o̶̸̡̥̣̼̝̯r̨͍̠̬̯̺̱̹͖̰̘̣͕͙̯͖̞̞̬̕̕̕͜ͅt̵̷̪͇̩̟͇͙͉̜́ḩ̭̙̗͎̳͝ͅ ̸̛̼͇̫͔̗̙̹͇͍̝͓͍̲̲͍͚̞̩͔t̝̫̥̱̟̱̰̠͠ẖ͙̞̞̲̜̹̦͎̳̟̱͓̗̟͎͔͉͘͘è̟̯̻̤̥͓͕͉̞͚̱̻̜̖̘̩̙ ̛͡҉͠҉̰̩̟͚̫͚̞̻͈̼v̷̶̨͙͚̱͚͔̦͕͎̦̖͙̯͕͙́͞ͅí̵̤̼̲͇̬̭̪̺̰̝̬̯͙̠̬͔͍̳̀͘͠s̨̧҉̵̖͙̬͚̩̲̳̝ì̷̷͇͍̖̱̻̳͔͓͍̤̪̰̀̕ṯ̴̡̧͔̩̞̳̣̕͝!̷̧̢̨̭̼̬̳ ̴̡̛͚͎͈̹̤͙̩͙̟̱̻͍͉̮̼̘̕
