Breakfast Topic: Your best instance run ever
by Mike Schramm 
Jul 30th 2009 at 8:00AM
I love instances. They're far and above my favorite part of the game -- I'm definitely a co-op PvE kind of player, and PvE instances are, to me, what's really great about MMOs: a group of players can sit down, and in an hour or a few hours, take down dragons, kill some monsters, and nab some epic loot.And of course I've had lots of bad instance runs. But today we're not talking about good or bad -- we're talking about the best. What's the best instance run you've ever done? If "best" can be described by how much loot you get, then a recent Naxx run probably meets the criteria for me, as by the time we'd toppled Kel'thuzad as a raid, my Hunter had picked up at least four epic upgrades (and gained probably a good thousand DPS along with those). If "best" means most fun, I can think of some old UBRS runs back in the day in which every single one of us knew the instance and each other so well that we weren't so much fighting bad guys as just hanging out and telling jokes while picking up loot.
If "best" means most exciting, then I have to think back to BlizzCon a few years ago, where we got our first hands-on of Wrath of the Lich King. I went into Utgarde Keep for the first time ever with a few guys from the press room, and though we only made it to the first boss (and I don't think we even beat him), I was just so fascinated by all of the new stuff we were seeing, my first look at the Vykrul and the huge Forge in the entryway there. So "best" can mean anything -- what's your best instance run?
Filed under: Analysis / Opinion, Fan stuff, Breakfast Topics, Instances, Raiding
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 8)
scbromley Jul 30th 2009 8:06AM
Maybe my first Old Hillsbrad run/first Black Morass. The whole CoT concept is brilliant, I loved those instances. Black Morass was pretty challenging too IIRC. Also my first 25man raid, Magtheridon's Lair, was a pug and it all just seemed so mental. As a TBC Priest I just happily spammed CoH and tried to stay out of the proverbial fire :)
spears Jul 30th 2009 10:10AM
Back in Outlands, I ran my first Sethekk Halls with some puggers... my bf was a prot warrior, but he was on dps, since we had a pally tank, so things were going slow but steady. We make it to the final boss, and our three dps went down immediately. The tank and I had about 1/4 of our health, while Ikiss was at full health, and very, very slowly, we beat him. The dps guys were like "nerf pally/priest" and laughing their heads off that we managed to do it by ourselves.
Nick S Jul 30th 2009 10:26AM
My first Heroic Black Morass. I was a Frost Mage at the time, so I was selected to manage adds.
This was back at the very beginning of BC, when we were all in dungeon blues - the tank had something like 11k HP fully buffed. Killing those adds was the single hardest thing I'd ever done in WoW up to that point, and it totally changed my perspective on the game.
elvendude Jul 30th 2009 3:02PM
@Nick S: Reminds me very strongly of a relatively recent run through Naxx. On Heigan, about half the DPS went down to the first dance. Now it's slow going. The off tank, raid healer, and all but one dps go down on the second dance. The remaining dps goes down on the third dance. It's me (a priest) and a pally tank left. It took us a good ten minutes, but the two of us had no problems killing him.
Microtonal Jul 30th 2009 3:40PM
@ elvendude:
Nice. Same thing happened to me back in February, or so. Our druid main healer/guild master solo-healed the MT, OT, and two melee dps *through his diseases*. It was freaking epic.
I think my favorite instance experience was in heroic Old Kingdom. We went in to do the Taldaram achievement (kill him with four or fewer people), but were having such a good time that we decided to clear out the rest of the instance with four, too, and even did the Jedoga achievement on the way. That one took us three or four tries, just to figure out how to do it, but we got it. Granted, we were all kitted out in Naxx-25 stuff (this was before 3.1), but still, it was a blast.
Microtonal Jul 30th 2009 3:54PM
Oh, jeez, and I can't believe I forgot about the first time I did Thaddius in Naxx-25, with an alliance between my former guild and another, larger guild.
It was slow going, and people were pretty steadily getting picked off from crossing charges. He enraged with maybe six or eight thousand HP left and only three hunters still alive (I was one of them). We kited him around the platform while letting the dots and such tick, and FDing if he got too close, which took a while, because none of us were really all that well geared yet (I still had a bunch of blue quest/rep pieces on). He mercifully dropped about a quarter of a second before shit-stomping me through the floor, with all three of us still alive.
Andelor Jul 30th 2009 6:21PM
Had to be a Kara run before WotLK came out. I was suppose to offtank for a guild that wanted to get me geared to tank. Well, another manager called in and i had to sub for him at work, so i couldn't go.
Well, EVERY boss dropped tanking plate, and then the King's Defender dropped. The other tanks didn't need any of it. My roomie and the GM were pissed. The GM apparently said "Well damn, tonight Khrang (My orc) shoulda been here..."
I was heartbroken. lol
Waste Jul 30th 2009 8:08AM
My best instance run was the first time I went into deadmines. I never even realised how big instances in wow could get.
Xirifus Jul 30th 2009 10:00AM
Speking of Deadmines, I hate that place... just because I had my first-ever tanking experience there... I think I did fine, but hunter had some propblems with his pet (apparently didn't know how to turn 'aggressive' off) and healer (druid) had lag and many DCs...
It was a mess.
Haven't been tanking ever since.
DPS FTW.
jjcoola998 Jul 30th 2009 10:03AM
Yea, I have a feeling there's a lot of good first deadmines runs stories!
I remember seeing the ship like whoa, and getting cruel barb and deciding i needed to take a screenshot lol XD
jjcoola998 Jul 30th 2009 10:04AM
I forgot too, my first UBRS was really epic too, first time doing a raid i remember they explained the boss i was like "oh man this sh!t's serious" heh.
Jehanne Jul 30th 2009 12:34PM
My best run ever was a recent at level run of deadmines. In the forge area, the druid tank went back to check for patrols and instead of the usual two we got six. It was insane. By the end, it was just my warlock, and a dwarf priest. I luckly had my voidwalker out, so he kept some of the elites away while we took them down one at at time. We were both nearly out of health and mana by the time the last went down. It was awesome.
Josin Jul 30th 2009 8:08AM
I think my best instance run will likely be the one when the Baron's Deathcharger FINALLY drops. 82 runs since 3.0 (probably well over 125-150 total) and still hasn't dropped. CURSE YOU, RIVENDARE!
Blacksword Jul 30th 2009 1:51PM
You and me both.
Dreadmaker Jul 30th 2009 6:31PM
+1
I despise the drop rate on that mount.
Omega2k3 Jul 31st 2009 1:43AM
The other day, I killed Baron for the first time ever, and he dropped Deathcharger's Reins. I nearly shat myself. Proof @ Armory: Omegamatt on Bleeding Hollow.
Josin Jul 31st 2009 8:19AM
Omega, I hate you. ;)
Last night I hit my 86th run. No mount yet. I fully expect to hit 100 runs without seeing it drop. I'll definitely hit 90 tonight, unless by some divine blessing, the reins drop for me.
Calill Jul 30th 2009 8:10AM
The beset run I have ever done was when I was tanking on my DK.
It was a PUG for H HoL and we managed to clear the instance in 35 mins. No joke.
Xiol Jul 30th 2009 8:41AM
It's crazy how fast an experienced, well geared group can clear instances.
I've done many ~30 min runs with my guildies in Ulduar25 gear.
Sadly, because we all outgear the content it turns into a "lets annoy the tank"fest and they were ninja pulling 2-3 groups at once. -_-
Probably why we clear them so fast!
nyctef Jul 30th 2009 9:13AM
Some of my best (most fun) instance runs have been with overgeared guildies -- just laughing and making jokes on vent, annoying/challenging the tank and healer and generally having a good time messing around.