The Legion expansion for World of Warcraft has turned out to be one of the better designed expansions of the twelve year old game. Partly because Blizzard was clever enough to remake the older fan favorite dungeons and raids and update them to be released with their expansion packs. One dungeon I’m super excited to see return is Karazhan. It was, by far, the most fun and interesting dungeons to explore that Blizzard has created. It had oodles of lore to uncover with bosses and events that required more thought than simply “avoid the fire”.
In the spirit of resurrecting old dungeons and playing them anew, here are 8 that one can find, in no particular order, scattered throughout World of Warcraft that we would love to be given a revival someday.
Shadowfang Keep
“The archmage’s madness is ended, but Shadowfang Keep is far from sanctified. The traitorous Gilnean noble, Vincent Godfrey, has seized control of Shadowfang while fleeing from his many enemies. Surrounded by remnants of the Scourge and the whispering ghosts of those who’ve met their end in the keep over the years, Godfrey now plots the downfall of both the Alliance and Horde.”
Given that in Legion, the Gilnean King is now the faction leader of the Alliance, it would be wonderful to see a remake of this timeless dungeon. Sure, it had a minor remake in Cataclysm, but not much else was changed aside from making the first fight a tad bit easier. This was always a favored dungeon amongst those who ran them constantly and it would be great to see its return.
Temple of Ahn’Qiraj
“Now that the Scepter of the Shifting Sands has been reassembled and the seal has been broken, the way into the inner sanctum of Ahn’Qiraj is open. Beyond the crawling madness of the hives, beneath the Temple of Ahn’Qiraj, legions of qiraji prepare for invasion. They must be stopped at all costs before they can unleash their voracious insectoid armies on Kalimdor once again, and a second War of the Shifting Sands breaks loose!”
I still have the Scepter of the Shifting Sands in my bank on the character I completed the quest with, along with Dirge’s Kickin’ Chimaerok Chops. Although I didn’t complete it in time to get the mount. To open this dungeon, a hardcore group of raiders had to run a gauntlet of difficult quests and raids in order to complete the line. It was a massive event when the guild on my server announced when they would do it. That was just the pre-requesite to gain access! Then we could finally enter the raid itself and begin the adventure of coordinating 40 players to work as a team in order to take down each boss. Even the first boss was a gear check challenge and prevented many folks from even gaining access to the rest of the enormous area for quite some time.
Dire Maul
“The ruins’ three distinct districts have been overrun by all manner of creatures – especially the spectral Highborne, foul satyr and brutish ogres. Only the most daring party of adventurers can enter this broken city and face the evils locked within its ancient vaults.”
Dire Maul was always a fun one. After all, completing it meant you became King of the Ogres! At least for as long as you stayed in the zone. For a five man dungeon, this was a huge area. Of course, it was split into three seperate dungeons, they were all linked and could be completed from any starting point if one had the time to do so. Each wing had a seperate goal that was unique to each wing. The North, for example, gave special bonus loot should you manage to bypass killing a majority of the ogre’s walking around the dungeon. It wasn’t too difficult but still managed to be a fun zone to fight in.
Molten Core
“The burning lake where Ragnaros lies sleeping acts as a rift connecting to the elemental plane of fire, allowing the malicious elementals to pass through. Chief among Ragnaros’ agents is Majordomo Executus – for this cunning humanoid is the only one capable of calling the Firelord from his slumber.”
The original and most memorable raid, Molten Core was the first raid to offer a real challenge and a reason why the reset timer on the zone was a week long. It was massive and unforgiving. In fact, Blizzard did open the zone up for a limited time special event at level 100, giving a chance for newer players to find out just how “fun” and see for themselves if the stories from the veteren players about Molten Core’s difficulty were true. Aside from a very buggy instance queue to get in, it was a bit humorous for someone that raided in this zone initially to see how others coped with some of the challenges that faced them.
During its twilight months it was whimiscally called “Molten Bore” as after dozens of run throughs, the raid became more of a simple loot pinata farming period and guilds created their own personal events to try to liven things up a bit. My guild, a bunch of older players, made it into a drinking game. Everytime we wiped, we took a shot; Everytime a hunter pulled aggro, we took a shot… you get the idea.
Scholomance
“Though Kel’Thuzad no longer resides in the crypts, devoted cultists and instructors still remain. The powerful lich, Ras Frostwhisper, rules over the site and guards it in the Scourge’s name – while the mortal necromancer, Darkmaster Gandling, serves as the school’s insidious headmaster.“
Scholomance was one of the darker and more, well morbid of the dungeons that exists in World of Warcraft. The lore behind the zone and those who resided in it halls is one of tragedy and treachery. I’ve always thought of this dungeon as a class D&D style area given the amount of undead and other monsters that lurk in its halls.
Naxxramas
“Above the war-ravaged wastes of the Dragonblight, Naxxramas has returned with renewed fury. Kel’Thuzad, once again seated in the frigid heart of the necropolis, has laid siege to the Alliance fortress of Wintergarde Keep. As factions from around the world converge at the gate to Icecrown, the war against the Scourge enters its most pivotal hour. It is within Naxxramas that the tide of battle could turn against the Lich King… or irrevocably in his favor.“
Okay sure, it’s had a renovation in Wrath of the Lich King but damnit I want another one! Four wings of undead, each with their own style and damage type made the Necropolis one of the most challenging of its time and when it was renovated, became a dungeon of nostalgia for those who tackled it when it was the most difficult raid in the game. I would love to see it brought back in its full glory with a mythic level of difficulty. Imagine the fun of getting past Patchwerk and Instructor Razuvious again!
Black Temple
“When Illidan the Betrayer fled to Draenor (now called Outland), he ousted the Temple’s ruler – the pit lord Magtheridon – and claimed his throne as the lord of the blasted world. Despite the bitter retribution of his enemies, Illidan has begun to tighten his grip on Outland from within the profaned sanctum, where he awaits any and all who would challenge his rule.“
Ah, Black Temple, home of the emo-king himself. The Burning Crusade is considered to be the best expansion of the World of Warcraft franchise and the Black Temple was a perfect end to the expansion. Illidan‘s storyline was always one of the more interesting ones, and the Black Temple‘s history with demonic involvement has always been rather interesting. All I can request if they ever update this dungeon is allow us to mount indoors! Half the time running through the raid was just that, running.
Blackwing Lair
“And, yet, the Lord of Blackrock is not a mere scientist – he is a great dragon cornered in his lair. Can he truly be defeated by mortal hands?“
Ask any player who’s been around since the original game which Dungeon or Raid was the best and most of them will say Blackwing Lair. From the first boss to the last, each encounter was entirely different and required the entire raid group to work perfectly to defeat the bosses that resided in this area. Also, who doesn’t love dragons?
