Razorfen Downs
by David Nelson 
Oct 8th 2006 at 2:40PM
I have been playing WoW since release, and have 3 level 60 characters. You'd have thought I would have, at some point, visited Razorfen Downs. You'd have thought wrong.For some reason I never made it to RFD. I don't know if it is because two of my 60s are Alliance and I never made it to the Barrens, or maybe it has something to do with the Scarlet Monastery-centric world we are forced to live in. It seems like from Gnomer until Uldaman all I hear people asking for in LFG is Scarlet Monastery.
It is really too bad, because RFD, while not nearly as big, is certainly a fun little instance. It has undead in it, so priests can work on their shackle before Scholo or Strat, and it has some living mobs as well, which are great for other crowd control classes. The gong fight, while not the most exciting event in the history of WoW, is certainly more interesting than simply working your way to a boss and pulling him. It adds a little something for the enemies to come in waves, and it is good practice for newer players. Yes, RFD is a little drab on the inside, but the final boss looks very, very cool. And I believe he is the first lich that you fight in the game. What's not to like about that?
All in all I enjoyed my trip to RFD. Are there any big WoW places or dungeons that you, for some odd reason, have never visited?
Filed under: Analysis / Opinion, Instances
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
Argent Oct 8th 2006 2:46PM
if gone to RFD with every alt i've ever made. the loot in that zone is pretty darn spectacular for cloth, leather and plate wearers (it's the first instance you can get plate in, if i recall right.)
and vanquishers sword (quest reward item) for almost any melee class is just fantastic.
Daft- Oct 8th 2006 3:16PM
lets not forget about robes of the lich.. and the dagger that drops off him. And the plate off the spider.. o ya and the gloves off the spider...
..to be honest this is one of the best loot for your lvl instances.
T Oct 8th 2006 6:24PM
Still have my robes of the lich at lvl 55 from running this with a lvl 60 guild member a long time ago. Had to wait 7 lvls to wear it but, boy was it nice.
Andrea Oct 8th 2006 6:42PM
This instance is fabulous for loot runs, because if you turn right at the entrance, you're on a direct route towards the end boss. It's the first instance with plate drops, and of course it has the uber-robe, the aforementioned Robes of the Lich.
But not only that, I find you get great fun moments in there. The boss of the gong fight is creepy as heck (if you hate spiders like me) and I still have to laugh every time I see Mordresh on his pile of bones, with his crew of headbanging skeletons.
With my current main I have made it a point to run every single instance in the game, and RFD is one of my favorites. My other favorites are Blackfathom Deeps (really beautiful underwater), Shadowfang Keep, and I enjoyed Inner Maraudon. I pretty much despise Gnomeregan, and would like Uldaman better if the loot-tables were just a bit nicer.
robert Oct 8th 2006 10:34PM
also the quest ring, that no one ever seems to do the first quest first... anyhow 10 stamina ring, can be earned at like lvl 30 GREAT STUFF!
Aaron Oct 8th 2006 11:14PM
When I saw the title of the article, the Gong fight was the first thing I thought of.
I remember popping a couple of Pocket Shredders on my Hunter to keep my group alive the first time we did it.
Acariquara Oct 9th 2006 1:44AM
For Horde Locks, the Robes of Lich easily surpasses the (expensive or hard to grind in alliance territory) Robes of Arcana --> Enchanted Gold Bloodrobe quest, at roughly the same level range. I went with a friend to that tower @ Darkshore and murdered Dark Strand Voidcallers until the recipe dropped (took about 15 clearances of the whole tower), just to enable my OTHER guildies to complete the damn quest, but it is WAY easier to just get a mage/60 and AOE the skeletons away and grind Ammenar for the robes.
Bri Oct 9th 2006 2:36AM
I never made it to Shadowfang Keep for some reason...
Ravven Oct 9th 2006 7:03AM
I tend to mainly solo while levelling, so I've never seen SFK, Uldaman, Gnomeragan, and I finally just did a run through Mauradon with some 60 guildmates just to pick up some nature resist gear - I'd never actually done that as an instance, either.
Actually, I finally killed Hogger for the first time with a new alt a few months ago...the staple of jokes, the first shared experience for anyone playing humans, and I'd never killed him. Can you believe that?
Theadrick Oct 9th 2006 10:15AM
I did every instance (except Ragefire Chasm, Wailing Caverns, and Razorfen Kraul) on my main when I was levelling up initially. This includes the now little used Blackfathom Depths and Razorfen Downs. RFD has a very nice plate BP from the Nerubian boss, and quite a bit of excellent caster gear (from the lich and others).
I have since done the other 3 instances above on Horde characters.
That being said, on all of my alts (I have several) I tend to skip most instances while levelling up and simply go to those zones with maximum quest content per level range. Generally on my alts I tend to only hit the following:
Deadmines
Stockades
Scarlet Monestary
Blackrock Depths
Zul'Farrak
While levelling.
Once I hit 58 or so I'll do Strath/Scholo/DM/BRS for gear (multiple times) and continue with BRD for the Ony and MC quests.
Prauche Oct 9th 2006 10:27AM
OOOOHHHHH, I STRONGLY recommend SFK. Only been in RFD once; looks like I'll have to run my alts through there with a little more consistency.
FYI, SFK has good loot for the level, and I sometimes farm it with my lvl 60 hunter for a 1-hour 5g AH run. I can fill up 3 16-slot bags full of greens with the occasional blue from a SFK run. Love that joint!
Theadrick Oct 9th 2006 1:09PM
I love SFK as well. It is well designed, has a great atmosphere and interesting back story... it's just a cool place. Shame it is so out of the way (for Alliance anyway).
It is probably my favorite newbie instance.