Breakfast Topic: The new 5-mans
by Allison Robert 
Nov 24th 2008 at 8:00AM
5-mans are still my favorite part of the game. Guild runs, PuG-runs, something in between...doesn't matter. And I've had a fabulous time in Northrend 5-mans so far. Yes, Herald Volazj is pretty much the clear winner of the early 5-man bosses (gotta love that Insanity debuff), but Azjol Nerub's been very popular, and the questline leading to the cutscene at the end of Drak'tharon Keep is getting a lot of good press. Not enough people are in the late '70's or at 80 to have had a good crack at Halls of Stone, Halls of Lightning, Utgarde Pinnacle, or Culling of Stratholme, so I'm not sure how those are going to go over, but I think players in general have really enjoyed the new dungeons.That there's markedly less emphasis on soul-crushing trash (I'm looking at you, Shattered Halls) and more emphasis on cool boss mechanics and gorgeous scenery is also pretty awesome. And then there's that giant drop in Azjol Nerub taking you past several levels of the ancient city that never fails to kill someone. I shouldn't find it funny, but I do, even when it's me.
How far along are you on the new Northrend 5-mans? Have you picked a favorite yet? And how many people have you seen die on the Azjol Nerub drop?
Filed under: Analysis / Opinion, Breakfast Topics, Instances, Features, Wrath of the Lich King
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 4)
ROB13 Nov 24th 2008 8:10AM
12, and counting, should get more over this Thanksgiving weekend
Mumlock Nov 24th 2008 8:11AM
Only done The Nexus... once... and trying to find a group to go there (for the second day).
Yay me!
Alex Nov 24th 2008 8:13AM
I've done every 5-man except Halls, Oculus & Start... only been 80 for a few days so I'm putting them off till my group wants to do their heroic version. o.o
Heilig Nov 24th 2008 11:01AM
You should do the oculus ASAP. It is a freaking blast, and it lets people take on different roles in the group than they normally would. For example, I'm a tank, but I almost always heal on the last boss. It's incredibly cool, especially if you've taken some time to fly around in the nexus, as it is technically outside, even though it is instanced.
Cleddryk Nov 24th 2008 9:50AM
I've done everything except Utgarde Pinnacle and the Oculus. My favorite 5 man is, by far, Halls of Lightning. The boss encounters are fun, the atmosphere is just amazing.
Dawnrose Nov 24th 2008 8:17AM
As there are like 5-6 upgrades for my gear in Halls of Lightning that will be my favourite instance I guess :)
But seriously, I'm only level 76 atm. Levelling 4 chars at same time doesn't happen over night. I'll be spending most of my time in Halls of Lightning though til I got some upgrades to prepare for Naxx. So far, I have yet to see a single upgrade for my gear at level 76.
Will Nov 24th 2008 8:19AM
Having done nexus and utgarde only so far it seems there is a lot less trash to deal with before the bosses and you must actually know what you're doing with each of them to get the reward. I've been teaching this game to a friend and for him to finally see that bosses require teamwork and coordination etc has been good for him to progress to naxx and more end game content.
http://www.wowconfidential.com
Josho Nov 24th 2008 8:20AM
I lost interest at lvl 73 and went to go play a different game. It takes way too long to level. But I did enjoy Utgarde Keep and Azjol-Nerub... (The Nexus was very long, very boring, and very...high tech, like Tempest Keep. I hated the futuristic aspect in TBC)
Garviel Nov 24th 2008 9:19AM
Really? I've found that leveling almost happens by accident IMHO. Doing solo mostly Ive been averaging about 1 level every 2 days just on playing at night for several hours.
nospam4chris Nov 24th 2008 12:50PM
No way! I thought leveling was very fast, maybe even too fast. I remember hearing something back in TBC that leveling from 60-70 would take as long as leveling 1-60. This is before the leveling gains that Bliz put in over the last 6 months or so. So when 70-80 was done in a fairly short time, I was surprised. The first few levels can be a bit of a bear, but the later ones, especially 77+ when you have flying again zoom by.
futurebiblehero Nov 24th 2008 11:08AM
Did you buy your 70 on eBay?
Guido666 Nov 24th 2008 11:54AM
"very long and boring"? The Nexus? Which Nexus are you running, because even at 71 it took us less than 45 min to complete the first time.
Are you off your A.D.D. meds?
Hesston Nov 24th 2008 1:10PM
Way too long to level? What are you doing?
I went from 70 to 78 since the release of the expansion with only a few hours a night of casual play and no grinding, all quests.
I thought they did a good job of moving you forward, in both gear and leveling. I haven't had many spots where I was stuck, frustrated or felt that things weren't put together properly.
Vince Nov 24th 2008 8:20AM
Lightning Halls is definitely my fav so far.
pifly44 Nov 24th 2008 8:21AM
So far I've seen 0, but our death knight has been itching to use path of frost every time.
leelad Nov 24th 2008 10:04AM
I didn't think it was possible to die from that drop? It all seems well thought out to prevent stuff like that happening. No getting snagged on anything.
Now jumping down the hole at the middle of ST....that was fun the first time.
Zonin Nov 24th 2008 8:28AM
I've yet to see anyone die to the drop in Azjol-Nerub.
I HAVE however seen the 2nd boss somehow get killed by the non-elites before we even got to fight him O.o
Afrit Nov 24th 2008 8:28AM
I tried the Culling of Stratholme on normal with some guildies, and wanted to tear my hair out.
It's not so much the bosses are difficult, but there are random undead non-elites that pop out of the ground every so often. They only have about 600 health, but they will put you in combat, preventing eating/drinking, rezzes, etc.
Plus, again... Why are we helping Arthas?
Axolotl Nov 24th 2008 8:34AM
It's a timeline thing, not culling Stratholme would've put the scourge on a faster route to total annihilation of life on Azeroth.
Culling it, makes Arthas go North, Kill a Dwarf (yay) and get this badass twohander to kill demons with (erm and O yeah, become head of the scourge himself ... can't win 'em all I guess)
Malkie Nov 24th 2008 8:48AM
We hit the Nexus pretty much as soon as 5 guildies had finished installing wotlk, and we did Utgarde Keep, Azjol-Nerub and most of Ahn'Kahet at 70. We've since done Drak'Tharon and Gundrak, also at well below recommended level.
We ran Culling of Stratholme last night (with 3 out of 5 of us being level 75 :-< fortunately tank and healer were closer to the right level).
I've loved every minute of every one of them.... BUT
Even running them at well below recommended level (I have so far not won a single drop I could use right away) they have been pretty easy. Strat was more challenging, for the reasons Afrit stated, but we still only suffered one wipe (got to keep away from those zombie corpse explosions).
I'm hoping it's because we were reasonably well geared going in and that heroics will step up the difficulty a bit.