Beta Blog 5: Wrath of the Lich King

Our resident adventurer spends some time raiding and changing the world.

As most Warcraft players should be aware, Blizzard has revealed the release date for Wrath of the Lich King: 13th November this year. I’d better get onto all those plans I had for pre-expansion completeness! So many zones and levels to explore, so many herbs to collect for Inscription.

Not long after Blizzard announced the Wrath of the Lich King expansion, we started hearing bits and pieces of the developer’s plans for the game; one of those snippets was new dungeon design. Many original World of Warcraft dungeons (pre Burning Crusade in particular) were lengthy endeavours that could eat up a whole day. Blackrock Depths – I’m looking at you. Group make-up could be essential to these early instances and the longer the instance the more painful it could become as party-members had to be swapped out because you’d been there two hours longer than you originally planned and you’re still not done.

Soon after the expansion announcement developers revealed they were going to make changes to those long dungeon designs and instead focus on dungeon areas with separately instanced wings, like Scarlet Monastery. In BC we had Hellfire Citadel featuring Hellfire Ramparts and Blood Furnace for the lower levels and Shattered Halls for the 70s.
This trend is continued in Wrath with shorter instances all round and more winged dungeons. So, how does it work out? I’ve played through some of the early ones so far, The Nexus, Utgarde Keep, Azjol-Nerub and Drak’Tharon Keep, and they all seem to be fast moving, quick-to-finish dungeons.

Just one of the many new mounts being introduced in the expansion.

The Nexus sits out on Coldarra Platform off the Borean Tundra and is home to Malycgos and the Blue Dragonflight. You’ll be able to pick up a bunch of quests from the Kirin Tor mages who are lurking in the area. Ostensibly the first instance in the new continent (although really of a level with Utgarde Keep – people seem to go to Borean Tundra first), the Nexus also feels the longest – although I think that’s a lot to do with the design of the instance itself which, even after a couple of runthroughs, is very maze-like. This is my least favourite of the dungeons so far – although it could just be because I always get lost in there.


Utgarde Keep in Howling Fjord is inhabited by giant Vikings called Vykrul. This instance is really brief and if you’re after a very quick run it’s literally in and out in less than an hour. Utgarde Keep feels a bit like Ramparts – it’s short and sharp with the same indoor/outdoor quality. Which is in turn very similar to Drak’Tharon Keep – indoor and outdoor areas and with a good group you will move very quickly. There are four bosses but very little trash between boss encounters and the actual distance between bosses is minimal.

Violet Hold is the in-city instance in Dalaran – this is a very fun instance that functions much like the Caverns of Time Dark Portal quest, but without the annoying trash to clear around the portals. The Blue Dragonflight is trying to break though portals inside the Hold and get to Dalaran on the other side of the Hold, you’re locked in by the Kirin Tor to face wave after wave of dragons. Removing the trash element from this type of dungeon really improved it I feel. You’ll be out in half an hour – after facing three waves and three bosses.