Time for the first level 80 instance of the batch. This time, I'll take a look at The Oculus, that giant floating series of rings and platforms you see in the picture below. Using the Arcanomicon, a map of Azeroth's ley energies and lines, Malygos has been diverting them to The Nexus, where the magic is then redirected upward through the ascending rings of the Oculus and forcefully channelled back into the Twisting Nether. Malygos' end goal is to strip Azeroth of all magical energy and thus deprive the mortal races of what he considers to be a horribly misused tool. Because the game would be pretty boring if all the mana-using classes suddenly had to fistfight instead, you're out to stop him.
Like the previously reviewed dungeon, The Nexus, The Oculus is on the island of Coldarra, off the west coast of the Borean Tundra. As you'll have a flying mount by the time you're ready to do this place, it's a quick flight from either Warsong Hold or Valiance Keep. Don't forget to stop by the Transitus Shield first, however, to pick up the quest for this place.
There's only one quest line for the instance, beginning at the Shield, but it's interactive and takes you throughout the entire instance, involving all of the bosses. From the looks of it (doesn't appear to be finalized yet at the time of this writing) you'll receive two blue rewards from the line, making it definitely worthwhile since you'll basically trip over completion on the way through.
The Oculus Ekerameter:
Difficulty - 3
Loot - 4
PUG Factor - 3
FUCK YEAH Quotient - 5
Overall - 4
Comments - The Oculus is a landmark achievement for a Warcraft instance in several respects. First, it completely redefines the idea of a "dungeon", being that the entire thing is outdoors; the terrain you fight upon is literaly no different than if you were to fly up to the Oculus outside of the instance and look around. Second, much more importantly, a great deal of the place is completed while flying. After the first boss, you'll receive your choice of a red, green, or bronze dragon mount, each with their own abilities, that you'll use for the rest of the instance for both transport and combat. In fact, the final boss is fought exclusively using the dragons. In this respect, much of the instance is truly three-dimensional; it makes it almost disappointing to run other, more linear and "flat" dungeons.
Difficulty-wise, at least on Normal, the place isn't hard. There's a decent amount of trash, and some of it can be tricky, and each of the bosses has some abilities that can be fairly dangerous, but nothing to the point of group wiping unless you're on autopilot. Consequently, a shitty PUG won't be a huge hindrance, although the final boss fight isn't exactly easy; all three types of dragons' abilities are key in defeating him, and if someone slacks it could be trouble. Mostly, thoguh, the place is fairly intuitive.
In terms of loot, the four bosses here have a nice spread of gear available for the different classes, specs, and armor types. You'll get 5 total drops from bosses, plus the quest will net you two more blues the first time through, meaning this place is absolutely worth the bare minimum of one run. That being said, for FYQ, there is no instance I've seen yet in Wrath of the Lich King that compares to this place. The views are breathtaking, the design is innovative, and the use of "vehicular" combat as a central point in completing the dungeon and the general variety all combine to make this an absolute must-do. There's enough fun to be had here that I could see running it plenty of times in the future, especially on Heroic.
In short: do not miss The Oculus.
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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.
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As my last review was of The Nexus, one of the two opening dungeons of Wrath of the Lich King, I figured I'd follow up with a review of the other, Utgarde Keep. Situated in the center of Howling Fjord, Utgarde is the main stronghold for the recently returned Vrykul, a race of hulking half-giants reminiscent of Vikings in many ways. Having disappeared without a trace centuries ago, they've recently reappeared to wage war on the Horde and Alliance forces arriving in Northrend. It becomes fairly clear very early on that they're in league with the Lich King in some way, and as time goes on, you find out just how deep that allegiance runs.
Utgarde Keep is a stone's throw from Valgarde for Alliance, although getting there requries running the gauntlet of Wyrmskull Village. It's a big easier for Horde - up the dragon lift outside Vengeance Landing, and across the western forest to the dam that bridges Daggercap Bay. Either way, the trip there gives you some great views of the towering Keep, a great representation of the might of the Vrykul.
Here marks the first instance I've reviewed where there are seperate Horde and Alliance quests for it. Horde-wise, one quest becomes available through the opening lines at Vengeance Landing, which includes an introduction to Prince Keleseth, one of the San'layn and the head Scourge ambassador to Utgarde. The other two Horde quests are obtained just inside the instance entrance, and require no pre-questing. For Alliance, there appear to only be two quests, one involving some prerequisites, and both from the same NPC just outside the Keep.
Utgarde Keep Ekerameter:
Difficulty - 2
Loot - 3
PUG Factor - 3
FUCK YEAH Quotient - 5
Overall - 3.5
Comments - Like The Nexus, this place is easy, although the final boss of this place is more difficult than anything in its Coldarra counterpart. Trash can be tricky too, depending on pull composition and how well your group handles Runecasters. There are at least a couple places here where a retarded PUG healer or tank could get you killed, putting that rating middle of the scale. The loot here is slightly better for Horde than Alliance, as you pick up a nice set of bracers from the quest that the two factions don't share. All told, though, you're looking at 5 blues (4 for Alliance) vs. 8 from The Nexus, assuming you're doing all the quests for both. So this place loses out on that factor.
FYQ? This one comes with a caveat. I fucking love the Vrykul. Everything about them is cool to me - their design, how they dominate the Fjord, the imposing nature of Utgarde, the storylines that come up through questing, and so on. Plus, the instance itself is designed very well. From what I understand, the same person who worked on Shadowfang Keep (and, I'm guessing, Karazhan) put this and Utgarde Pinnacle together, and it shows. Each room/area has an obvious function, instead of just being "place where dudes congregate waiting for you to kill them." Forge, dragonpens, strategy room, tunnels dug through the rock, the outside balconies... this feels like a real place. On that note the instance, like many, is very linear, but it's got enough twists and turns that you don't necessarily feel like you're just being herded to the end (a major fault of Auchindoun instances in TBC).
Like The Nexus, Utgarde Keep is a great introduction to Wrath of the Lich King. It puts you squarely in the middle of the conflict with the Vrykul, and takes you into the heart of their stronghold. The twisting halls and tunnels and the outside balcony at the end are VERY reminiscent of Hellfire Ramparts, but then, that instance was very successful at what it did too, so that's hardly a mark against it. Plus, Howling Fjord is a HELL of a lot prettier to look at than Hellfire Peninsula. Definitely check this place out.
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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.
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