The Nexus (70-73)

This time out, I'll be reviewing one of the first two dungeons you'll get a chance to enter after arriving in Northrend, The Nexus. The instance is situated at the center of the stronghold of the blue flight, Coldarra, which itself is off the western coast of the Borean Tundra. Based here is Malygos' plan to divert and destroy all magic on Azeroth; the Aspect believes the mortal races have abused the power of magic for too long and seeks to rein them in by ensuring they can no longer use it. Allied against the blues are Alexstrasza's red dragonflight and the Kirin Tor, the latter of whom obviously have a vested interest in not losing their magical ability. Dalaran would probably look less spectacular if it were cratered in the middle of Crystalsong Forest.




The Nexus, as stated, lies in the subzone of Coldarra, accessible by flight from the Amber Ledge in the Tundra. One can run the place fresh off the zeppelin or boat, however... the flight path is available already to all players, and though Blizzard states the place is suited for 71-73 level players, I've done it multiple times in a group of all 70s without a problem.

There is a significant amount of quest support for this instance. No less than FOUR quests, all providing blue rewards, are available eventually. All of them require you to do a quick pre-questing line that starts at the Amber Ledge, and then a bare minimum of questing in Coldarra itself. One comes at the end of a very long line, but all in all, it's worth it to get all four. The rewards are very good, especially for newer 70s, and there's a significant amount of XP to be had leading up to them.



The Nexus Ekerameter:

Difficulty - 1
Loot - 5
PUG Factor - 4
FUCK YEAH Quotient - 4
Overall - 4

Comments - The Nexus is easy. VERY easy. It's intended to be, however, as it's an entry level dungeon. Like Hellfire Ramparts, you're expected to be able to run this place with damn near any group composition, and in the very worst of gear. To that end, Blizzard has accomplished a decent effort at sleight of hand - the boss fights are engaging and fun for being so easy, and if you do all the pre-questing, a run here is a literal XP and loot bomb. Four blue rewards await you from quests, plus four bosses worth of loot that is equivalent to or better than Black Temple epics.



The design of the instance is very good, and reminiscent of the Tempest Keep flavor of dungeons. It acts as a nice counterbalance to the Viking-themed Utgarde Keep and the relative "normality" of the Howling Fjord's vrykul. The instance is circular, so one can go in almost any direction to start with, arriving back at the beginning for the final boss fight once the rest have been defeated.

All told, this place functions very well as an introductory dungeon to Wrath of the Lich King. The loot is good (great if you're going through on a poorly-geared TBC alt or if you're relatively new to the game), and it's fun and great XP. Plus, you get to fuck with the blue flight, payback that's long overdue considering all the times those shitheads dazed me off my mount in Azshara while I was farming for Dreamfoil.