Blizzard opens up old instances to soloers, changes quest items
by Mike Schramm 
Dec 12th 2008 at 2:00PM
Blue poster Daelo has good news for people aiming to solo old instances -- Blizzard has made a few changes to the way keys and unlocks work in the old dungeons, so that you no longer need keys or multiple people to get to the good stuff. The rituals in Blackrock Spire and Uldaman only require one click now, and quintessence (in Molten Core to summon Executus before the Ragnaros fight), the Scepter of Celebras (in Maraudon), and the Mallet of Zul'Farrak (in the ZF, obviously) are no longer needed to do their jobs. Additionally, Nightbane will be accessible in Karazhan without the Blackened Urn.Some may be disappointed that items we worked so hard for are now pretty much useless, but as you probably know by now, that's the way of things when an expansion hits. The good news, obviously, is that people running through instances solo or with just a few people will be able to hit all the content they couldn't get to before. And if you happen to be running the content, you won't need to worry about whether you left the Mallet in the bank or forgot the Scepter on a Princess run.
And unfortunately, collectors will be left out as well -- most of the items will actually change form into weapons or other useless objects, so even if you have the old items, they won't be usable in the same way. Sure, the Mallet was a pain to get, but it'll be a little sad to see it disappear in the way we know it forever.
Filed under: Items, Analysis / Opinion, Fan stuff, Odds and ends, Blizzard, Instances, Expansions
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 4)
Ando Dec 12th 2008 2:03PM
...the mallet
the only reason for which i never got my carrot on a stick
:D
It does take of of the flavor away though :(
Verymad Dec 12th 2008 4:23PM
Q.Q yes it does.
i remember that getting that mallet was one of the most epic things i did in wow when leveling. I talked in my group to go and get the mallet.. so we all fought up to the hill and later downed several red mobs...
We all thought "oh shit we gonna die" but none died not even once.
and it wasn't even like we knew what to do... i just heard and read some stuff. but couldn't remember exactly... the finding out was epic...
...
I loved to be the one to hit the dong. I think ZF is one of my favorite instances. I SSOOOOoo.. hope they gonna make ZF Heroic.
Rest in Peace the mallet.. such a epic thing - especially for me as a troll.. :)
jbodar Dec 12th 2008 6:25PM
@Verymad
The game has moved on, you might want to do the same. Check your "glory days" at the door. This is a boon to those newer players who would like to do old content without having to search out like-minded people, or bug their guildies to run Ulda with them or whatever.
Just let them see the damn content without jumping through antiquated hoops, I say. They still have to beat the dungeon at any rate, so it's not like they'll be doing this at lvl35 or something.
pudds Dec 12th 2008 6:49PM
"Sure, the Mallet was a pain to get, but it'll be a little sad to see it disappear in the way we know it forever."
No sadness here, I have it on at least 5 characters, and I'll be more than happy to finally delete it from my bags.
Mane Dec 12th 2008 2:05PM
woot! removing on instance reqs will clear up a few slots in inventory!
Jason Dec 12th 2008 2:06PM
I've got mixed feeling about this. I have the scepter and the mallet & I like having them in my bank for that "look what I did and can do again" feeling, but as an achievement @%*#& I like that I can get a bunch of achievements without dragging a bunch of guildies or lowbies with me.
Sarem Dec 12th 2008 2:08PM
World of Casualcraft. right?
Its too bad they dont make instances scale to lvl of the people zoning in.
I would Love for all the old instances loots to be BOE and still drop emblems if your whole grp was 80, and scale in difficulty.
So you could do ZF get 5 badges, have a kickass stairs encounter, and get some nice boe items to sell to pre outland lowbies on the AH.
Dave Dec 12th 2008 3:10PM
uh, I don't think the average CASUAL player is going to go solo Molten Core.
These are just good chances so that when you get a run through a low level instance by a higher up, because who the hell actually WANTS to run uldaman again with a full 5-man party of mid 40's, you won't get cockblocked by the dungeon itself. I've had it happen a few times where I could get one person to run me through anything I wanted, but we couldn't do the stuff you had to get more than one top level to do.
They're still not changing any boss mechanics that insta-gib a solo player, so there are still some things that will remain moderately impossible... but these are still good things that let really bored players nail a lot of old achievements on new characters where they never could before.
Robert M Dec 12th 2008 4:06PM
OH TO HAVE AN EPIC STAIR FIGHT AT MAX LEVEL!!!
what a kick ass idea
Renivus Dec 12th 2008 4:14PM
That would be amazing, especially ZF (like you mentioned). It is by far my favorite "event" in an instance.
I wonder why they don't add a heroic version of them all. I imagine it would be a pain but man it 'd be sweet.
Will Dec 12th 2008 2:09PM
what a BRILLIANT move by blizzard, it gives new people to the game a chance to experience the old content, as I never had the chance to raid up to Black Temple etc... still makes it challenging and it brings them into the story line/lore of the game at the same time.
While the only benefit now of doing these instances is to get achievements/titles, blizzard can focus on giving out quests and rewards that matter to level 80's.
They can recycle old content they've already worked hard to produce to give the end game lvl 80 something else to do! very smart.
http://www.wowconfidential.com
offday Dec 12th 2008 3:30PM
Totally agree.
Also, I'd like to add that the low rating your post has received just further proves how sad and pathetic so many people who play this game are.
Firestride Dec 12th 2008 3:50PM
Might it have to do with the fact that he's trying to leach for advertising?
Kyushin Dec 12th 2008 2:09PM
I think I like this change, though I'm mixed about it. On one hand iI'm proud of my mallet, my staff, hell even the burn on my hand that lets me into BWL, however I am very happy that it will be so much easier to clear MC now for the achievement.
Corazu Dec 12th 2008 2:09PM
Maybe they'll add Feats of Strength for it..if you had it when they implement it, you get the FoS.
rogue Dec 12th 2008 2:10PM
I think it's a great move to open it up that way. And I like the other poster's suggestion of adding Feats of Strength as a nod to us old school players.
EmOtaku Dec 12th 2008 2:11PM
Will you still need the key to get into UBRS?
Back in the day people hated doing LBRS (still never got my beaststalker shoulders) and I was left missing one gem to form the key.
We just always hoped one person in the UBRS group had the key or would pay someone to come open it for us since getting an actual run was even more of a pain.
Would be great if UBRS didnt need that key to get into anymore.
Mitawa Dec 12th 2008 2:43PM
You can go back and get the gems for your 'key' to UBRS now, they drop every single time, but even now you don't need it. If I remember right it was part of the content that got thrown out when they remover Onyxia attunement.
Loudfiero Dec 12th 2008 2:56PM
You remembered wrong, I organized a Leeeeeeeeeroy! run last week and left my key in the bank. I had to hearth and fly back with it.
CSJenova Dec 12th 2008 3:53PM
The only reason they removed attunement for Onyxia is the alliance quest chain was impossible to complete after the King returned. I could easily be wrong, but I believe the eventual goal is to rework the quest chain so it is still in game...but that may never happen. I believe MC and BWL still have their attunements if you don't want to go in through BRD or UBRS respectively.