The Instance from Hell

I was having a brief discussion -- through blog comments -- with Sal from the Elune's Grace podcast and she mentioned that she hated The Steamvault, the level 70 instance in Coilfang Reservoir. I guess "hate" is paraphrasing and it's a strong word, but she indicated dislike for the place. It kind of surprised me. Of the many instances that I've run in Outland, that one didn't strike me as particularly dislike-inducing. :)

The worst of it as far as I'm concerned are the first 20 minutes. Clearing the naga packs as you move around and hug the right wall are the worst. A few spots in there you're almost fighting blind with all the plant life. Once you clear the nagas, though, and that one elemental pack most groups clear, it's pretty smooth sailing from there. The first boss can be a pain if you're not watching for the AoE and/or you can't take down the adds fast enough. The second boss is pretty easy, and even the final boss is not much of a problem once you understand the mechanics of the fish tanks. When properly run with a minimum of deaths, you can get that place cleared in about an hour. (Yes... I'm sure you uber folk clear it in under 60 minutes.) The end boss is great for us hunter-folk, since two pieces of our Beast Lord set drop in there. I've still only managed one piece after probably nearly a dozen runs, but....

The place I dislike the most -- and I've heard this echoed by many, so I know I'm not alone -- is Shadow Labyrinth. That place just has a huge combination of annoying situations and pulls that make it actually warrant that "hate" word. The first room or two are OK, and the first boss can usually be handled without problem by dragging him into a hallway to limit his fear-bomb. After that, things get rough. The 5- and 6-pulls before Blackheart the Inciter are horrible, and even after they reduced the number slightly with one of the patches, it's still not a fun place. Add to that getting jumped from behind by the stealthed *elite* assassins and an already difficult 6-pull can turn into a nightmare wipe as the add goes right after a cloth-wearer. Blackheart is no treat either, and the fight actually becomes *harder* the more well-geared you are because you spend half the fight killing each other with your own upgraded gear. After that room, things mostly settle down, but Grandmaster Vorpil can give groups fits sometimes. Murmur can also be a group-buster if you don't have the right combo of if the wrong person gets flagged as the "bomb" one too many times. The number of times I ran that place trying to get my spear made me dislike it more and more each time and my guild continues to run it as we help our members get their Karazhan key parts. As luck would have it, after I gave up running it for my spear and bought the reputation reward from Thrallmar, the spear dropped on my next trip in there helping a guild-mate. :)

I can't think of any other instance in the game that draws as much of a groan (collectively) in guild chat when someone asks for a run in there.