Heroic dungeons now require "Honored" reputation
by David Bowers 
Oct 20th 2007 at 3:03PM
This just in: In addition to the latest Patch 2.3 updates we just noted, the various heroic instance keys will no longer require "Revered" reputation with the various factions around Outland. "Honored" is now sufficient to get you in to Heroic dungeons everywhere.This raises myriad questions: Does this devalue the heroic instances at all, or does it simply open them up to more players? Is it a slap in the face to all those who had to grind their way to revered up to now, or is it just the natural progression of opening up content for more and more people to access as time goes by? Will anyone run regular Steamvents, Shattered Halls, or Shadow Labyrinth when they can just skip to the heroic versions? Will this get thousands (or millions?) of players who got burned out on the rep-grind back into the game?
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 3)
plixer Oct 20th 2007 3:10PM
it feels like a slap in the face, but it's prolly good because LOTS more people will be keyed for it, yo
Baerstan Oct 20th 2007 3:11PM
Though it's a nice change, most people won't skip the regular ones, or shall I say they will wipe many many times on the heroic Shattered Halls and go back to normal.
The fact of the matter is if you need some stuff from the normal dungeons then most of the time you probably don't have what it takes to do the Heroic Dungeons.
Dyyne Oct 20th 2007 3:12PM
Ya, because after running Shadow Labs 12 times to get to honored, I really look forward to running it an additional 18 times just so I have a chance at slightly better loot. I admit, the honored change is a bit of a nerf in some regards; hell; one can barely finish quests in Zang. without being honored with CE. But in places like Lower City, it's damn near impossible to get revered without running Shadow Labs so many times your eyes bleed.
Richard Oct 20th 2007 3:14PM
Sweet, now when the priest I've been leveling up hit's Outland I wont have to wait too long to get him Kara-ready.
evestraw Oct 20th 2007 3:22PM
great now we have to deal with noobs in heroic
honored is way to easy
Steve Oct 20th 2007 3:26PM
On one hand, if you are running in PUGs you are more likely to have undergeared players in your group. I think that right after the patch there will be a lot of groups that can't get past the first few pulls in a heroic instance.
On the other hand, players will quickly learn that heroics are very tough and stop trying them unless they already have the gear and skill. In the end, I think it won't change things much.
FireStar Oct 20th 2007 3:32PM
bad geared chars in heroics ftl.
oh well at least that takes the pressure off my gear which is barely worth heroics.
Kanuris Oct 20th 2007 3:36PM
Certainly a welcome addition for me. i reckon i have the gear to do certain heroics, god knows i need them for gear, but just dont have the rep.
Also helps people leveling alts in outland, getting them karak ready.
Kiwibird Oct 20th 2007 3:36PM
I just told my boyfriend about this. He says that he thinks Blizzard is just trying to make regular content easier so that more people can try end-game content before WotLK comes out next year.
The way things are going no, it's still going to a while for a fresh 70 to see Black Temple... maybe they're just easing the process so that more people will see it before it gets neglected.
Nails Oct 20th 2007 3:44PM
i can't wait to run Heroic Steamvents!
the vaults are just too hard
Denniz Oct 20th 2007 3:46PM
@9 Kiwibird:
I think this is a very plausible reason why Blizzard is taking this path. Although much content is available to casual players, there is also much content out of reach (or nearly impossible to get attuned for) for casual players.
This is certainly a welcome change so that more players get to experience more end-game content before WotLK comes out. They are lessening the tendious grinding process and make good gear somewhat more easy available to more players, because they don't have to grind for all the factions anymore.
amasen Oct 20th 2007 3:48PM
This is both a fantastic change and a horrible one.
It's fantastic for players who are already geared well and know the instances but who havn't bothered to grind out instances 4-6 more times simply because the instance offers nothing to them. This is also a great change for alts who generally the second they hit 70 are decked out in craftable epics and other very nice gear.
This is a bad change because a lot of players who don't know how to play their class nor who are geared well enough for heroics will now be doing heroics. Time to be using the armory for every member of your PuG heroic...
Sl0th Oct 20th 2007 3:57PM
I'm... Disappointed. I liked that it took revered to get in. Gave people a good measuring stick of your skills before you grouped with them for a heroic. It means they actually know the instance when they get in there.
I was honored with HH and CE well before I set foot in an instance thanks to the plethora of quests on Hellfire, turn-ins in Zangarmarsh. I certainly was honored with the Sha'tar quite rapidly due to the quests and turn-ins for Scryer rep. Had I not been saving them for revered, I'd have been honored with Lower City too before ever entering Shadow Labyrinth.
In essence, if someone is a smart solo player, they could enter heroics without ever doing a normal instance run. And considering the horrible PuGs I've run with people who couldn't even survive the simplest of normal runs, that is a bad thing.
Rich Oct 20th 2007 4:00PM
I love how people are screaming the noobs are got their way and not can get into the heroics...
This was done for one reason and it was the same reason reason they removed the attunement for BT, to let guilds get new players/alts geared up quicker. People were screaming gloom and doom and noobs will ruin it, then too.
If you've got T5 and T6, you can 4 man any of the heroics. You have that 5th spot open for the new player/alt and then drag them through for other attuments/gear.
This is going to effect exactly nothing.
TotalBiscuit Oct 20th 2007 4:06PM
Rep grinds are not difficult, they are simply time-consuming. To argue that 'noobs' will now have access to heroics and this is the end of the world as we know it as akin to complaining that I shouldn't be in Black Temple because I haven't ground out 5000g for an epic flyer.
therationalpi Oct 20th 2007 4:23PM
Some may take it as a bad thing, but as someone who ground up to revered, I welcome the change. Moreover, I think it comes at the right time.
Originally, you needed to be "well" geared to do heroics. But now, after some time has gone by, we have a larger population of players with raid gear. Those players now offer a way for players with less gear to be succesful in heroics. This is a big buff for raiders bringing up new characters, because there won't be the long rep grind before they can start picking up relevant gear outside of kara. For casual players, this may cause some frustration, as they may waltz into heroic dungeons they aren't ready for, but I think there are already players going into heroics unprepared.
Instances get easier over time, because of the gear levels of other players. I remember when Heroic Arcatraz was a test, now it's a laugh. For players going with me, it's not as daunting as when I went in with four other barely ready prepared character. As such, I don't think the players need to be revered anymore.
Dave Oct 20th 2007 4:28PM
On one hand, good! I don't have to grind shattered halls just to run the heroic hellfire stuff, and I'm already honored with Sha'tar so I can grind my exalted with them using heroics as well.
On the other hand, i just hit revered with Lower City by running shadow labs 3 times a day for a week for the most part, so that sorta sucks. I'll probably end up running the Tempest Keep stuff enough to be revered before the patch hits as well so it won't actually help me much.
Honestly, you should be running the non-heroic versions of these instances enough to totally figure them out before sealing your doom in the heroic variants. I predict a lot of crap play from people who don't have the gear or experience to survive them. Then again, if it's your 3rd 70... you should know what to expect so it's not a huge expectation to think that a lot of people can do well when they're only honored. (and the heroic rewards are sure better than the normal ones)
jaxson_bateman Oct 20th 2007 4:30PM
Bad players can still get to revered and into heroics, so this won't change much. That said, it'll be easier for them to get in now. Personally, I've never pugged heroics as I've had too many bad experiences with it. Just run with your guild and you can't go wrong.
For the people commenting on gearing up alts though, a T6 level guild could clear Kara in about 3 hours, even if they only use 7 or 8 highly geared people. Kara holds much better loot than the heroics so it'd be much better to run alts through there.
rick gregory Oct 20th 2007 4:56PM
It will be bad if it leads to a ton of QQ about how the heroics are too hard from people who really aren't geared for them AND if that leads to Blizz nerfing the heroics. Why? Because in 2.3 heroci badges can purchase armor that's T5 equivalent and it would be annoying to see people go from greens/blues to T5 level gear with little effort. Yes, it should take effort to get that gear.
Other than that, meh, who cares?
Jack Spicer Oct 20th 2007 4:40PM
I hate this change.
Why? Because almost all the good recipes and the start of the nice loot on reputation quartermasters is at revered. Maybe I don't want to run heroics to learn Transmute Primal Fire or Enchant Ring Healing.