Azjol-Nerub (72-74)

This time around for the Ekerameter (gosh that name is clever, it's so catchy and not at all retarded) I'll be taking a look at Azjol-Nerub, the city of the Nerubian spider people... things. For thousands of years, the Nerubians dwelt beneath the glaical ice of Northrend, building, amassing knowledge, and generally being creepy as shit. Once the Lich King showed up, however, he conquered them and raised those he had killed from the dead to serve him. Of the living Nerubians there are few left, and while they're evil, the Lich King is more evil. Enemy of my enemy is my friend and all that, so you're tasked by one of them to fight your way into Azjol-Nerub and slay the traitor king, Anub'arak.




For both factions, Azjol-Nerub is very easily accessible, although it's not immediately obvious. Outside Icefall Village in western Dragonblight, there's a hole in the ground called the Pit of Narjun. It is from here that the Lich King's Nerubians have spilled to flank the Horde and Alliance on their march to Icecrown. Thus, Azjol-Nerub itself is very quickly reachable from Star's Rest (for Alliance) and Agmar's Hammer (for Horde).

The questing for this place is very simple. While there are quests in and around Icemist Village for both factions, none of them lead to any actual instance quests. Instead, just outside the instance, you'll find Kilix the Unraveler, one of those "friendly" living Nerubians, who asks you to stroll on inside and finish a couple things for him. While there isn't any loot involved in either (beyond what you get from bosses), you get a hefty amount of XP for both, and neither requires any excessive time investment.



Azjol-Nerub Ekerameter:

Difficulty - 3
Loot - 2
PUG Factor - 2
FUCK YEAH Quotient - 4
Overall - 3

Comments - Azjol-Nerub is short. Very very short. Not including what is directly connected to bosses, there are 6 trash pulls in this place. Six. Counting the first boss, that's nine. If your group's all been here before and knows the pulls, I could see knocking this place out in 20-25 min if not faster. For all that, though, it can be tricky. The trash packs connected to the first boss can be dangerous if you don't know how to handle them correctly, although the boss himself is kind of a pushover. The final boss, good old Anub'arak from Warcraft III: The Frozen Throne, is not especially challenging, but can be made a lot more annoying by slow players.



Lootwise, three bosses plus no quest loot doesn't make for much in the way of rewards, but what does drop is generally useful. Plate-wearing DPS will want to look elsewhere, though. Design-wise, this place is stunning. The Egyptian/Mesopotamian feel of the Nerubians is really brought to life here, and you will spend a whole lot of time looking around in awe at the scenery, even in such a short instance. This is actually improved by the lack of trash, as you'll have long periods of running to see the sights. The bosses themselves are fairly fun and engaging, and the speedy nature of the place is helpful for quick XP and loot.

All told, this isn't really a place you'll run more than once or twice, unless you're desperate for a piece of loot from here. It's very very neat to see, and plus there's the novelty of killing a big name like Anub'arak, your feelings on a WC3 hero being "just" a 5-man boss aside. The shortness of the instance does kind of detract though; it takes away a bit of the epic feel. Granted, this has to be only a small portion of the true size of Azjol-Nerub (it's purported to, at minimum, span the length and breadth of the Dragonblight underground), but considering Blizzard's very early plans were to make AN a whole underground zone unto itself, it would've been nice if this instance was a bit longer.