Is Karazhan worth it?
by Elizabeth Wachowski 
Feb 2nd 2007 at 2:44PM
Reviews are beginning to filter in for Karazhan, the first ten-man raid dungeon in the Burning Crusade, and many raiders seem to be underwhelmed. Complaints include:
- The trash is harder than some of the bosses and respawns very quickly.
- The bosses are really tough on melee classes. Rogue and hunters may have a hard time contributing well to groups, and the amount of undead makes a priest nearly a necessity (and druids superfluous.)
- Nightbane has a pretty strong fear, potentially giving Horde guilds a tougher time (no fear ward.)
- Most of all, the itemization is lacking, particularly on the first few bosses. Endure of Greymane notes that an epic paladin chestpiece is about equal to a blue one from Shadow Labyrinth, while Tiare of Frostwolf compares Karazhan druid shoulders to a better piece from the Botanica. Oh, and then there's these two, which aren't Karazhan related but are definitely the worst itemization mistake I've ever seen.
Personally, I'm definitely going to do Karazhan just because it seems so dang cool (and I desperately want this dagger), but if it ends up being high difficulty/low reward, it might be better to farm the heroic instances or level 70 5-mans instead to prepare for raids. Or it may end up being like AQ40, where the last two bosses drop great things but you have to clear through a bunch of sidegrades to get it.
Have you done Karazhan? If so, how would you rate it?
Filed under: Items, Analysis / Opinion, Instances, The Burning Crusade
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
priest Feb 2nd 2007 3:03PM
Interesting you bring up a fear effect because this is really starting to bug me - I have a dwarf priest and forget anywhere else - Coilfang Resevoir is full of fear effects that fear ward doesn't work on. Great. Just what we need.
Kristoffer Belau Feb 2nd 2007 3:32PM
umm there is a simple answer to this question. If you have any desire to progress into the end game, then you HAVE to do Kharazan. Personally, I really love the lore surrounding medhiv, and the instance itself looks like it has some interesting boss fights...
And since when did we play this game expecting loot vendors in every instance or else "it isn't worth it"... BS if you ask me
BTW. I'm the video game blogger over at http://www.become.com/pocketchange I read your site 2-3 times a day and love it. Hope to see more, maybe we the two sites can work together on something in the future!
scotje Feb 2nd 2007 4:04PM
@1: What the Fen Rays in The Underbog do is technically a "horror" effect which has always been distinct from a "fear" effect. Fear Ward only blocks "fear" effects.
Similarly, while the Warlocks "Fear" spell is a fear effect (duh), the "Death Coil" spell is a horror effect.
barb dybwad Feb 2nd 2007 4:08PM
/e wipes drool off desk after peeping that dagger...
Melador Feb 2nd 2007 4:47PM
Other than the quickly respawning trash, Karazhan is great. Some of the rewards are mediocre, but some are unbelievable, especially given how easy the first few bosses are. Plus the general feel and theme of the instance is superbly done.
I mean, check out this mace from the Maiden of Virtue (a seriously easy boss that you can trivially get to:
http://wow.allakhazam.com/db/item.html?witem=28522
Even this gloves are awfully nice for any resto druid:
http://wow.allakhazam.com/db/item.html?witem=28521
The Chess event is a blast and free epics, and bosses like Aran are tons of fun and a melee damagefest -- he's got 0 armor!
Eliminate trash respawns (or greatly increase the timer) and it'd be just about perfect for an entry-level raid instance, IMO.
crsh Feb 2nd 2007 4:42PM
I say welcome to a rogue's world; raiding always had its share of "nuh-uh!" moments with bosses/trash immune to our poisons and stuns (tho I agree bosses should not be stunnable, that'd be way too ridiculously easy, but I remember a lot of Naxx trash was immune to stuns).