5. Scarlet Monastary

4. Sunken Temple

3. Black Rock Depths

2. Deadmines

1. Maraudon

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I HATE HATE HATE troll instances so you won't see any of them on my list. I love trolls. I hate troll instances (except for one).


5: The Sunken Temple - Okay, so I do like one troll instance. Maybe it is just that I hate outdoor instances. *shrug* Everyone seems to hate the Sunken Temple but I just love it. So confusing when you first go in there and try to figure out the fastest way to complete everything, but once you got it down, it can be loads of fun.

4: Blackwing Lair - I would have to agree about BWL. Fun instance. Lots of bosses, not so much trash.

3: Dire Maul: North - *shrug* I enjoy tribute runs.

2: The Deadmines - Yes, I am horde but damn to I love the Deadmines. Just the entire feel of the instance is amazing. And the pirate ship at the end. Goonies much?

1: Upper Blackrock Spire - Ah the bane of all PUGs. I love this place. Not much to say about it, but nothing beats a good run through this instance... except when we do a good run through it with people in teir 2. (Fighting Rend behind the gate he spawns at, fighting the Beast on the bridge to Drak's room).

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What? No Shadowfang Keep?

SFK would be number one on my list - OK, I've not done Blackrock Spire, but I've gone at least some of the way through all the rest.

The design's great, there's a nice variation in monsters, quite a few of the encounters keep you well on your toes, there's a fair chunk of theatre in there (including all of Arugal's cameo appearances), and the end fight with Arugal is arguably the most interesting (and, for the level, hardest) boss fight until The Headmaster in Scholo.

Gnomegerran's another great instance - the alarmbots keep you on your toes, the style and feel of the place is different to any other instance, there's comedy, and the end fight with Thermaplugg's fantastic.

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Hmmm good question.
5. Scarlet Monastary
4. Stratholme
3. Dire Maul
2. Zul' Farak
1. Warsong Gulch:)

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Deadmines - So much work put in for a low level instance and the story line involving the Defias goes on from the first human quests all the way through level 30. Very cool.

Uldaman - So many hate it, but the scripted boss event with Archaedas is one of the most unique single-group encounters in the game.

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5. DM --All of them i think are great!
4. Strat ---Some Fun Mobs in here.
3. SM --Killing humans!!
2. Scholo ---since the cap this is a fun place!
1. ZG ------Really makes everyone play there class.

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5. Shadowfang Keep - decent loot for such a low level instance, and a challenging boss fight at the end.
4. Scarlet Monistary
3. The Deadmines - Horde gets the shaft with WC. This is one of the most original and fun instances i've played.
2. Zul'Farrak - Most people don't like this one, but I enjoy outside instances. It's a nice change of pace from the indoor ones.
1. The Stockades - Most people bitch and moan about this instance, and it's complete lack of loot. I like it because a good group can blow through it in 20 minutes and get at least half a level of XP and lots of cloth. Again, Horde gets the shaft, but they make up for it with their easy access to SFK, BFD, RFK, and RFD.

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#1 Naxxramas
#2 AQ40
#3 Dire Maul
#4 Stratholme Light
#5 Blackrock Deeps

Although I hate BRD .. the instance has really a whole bunch of quests and an interesting story line..

Dire Maul is simply dire maul .. the last challenging 5 man instance in that game (Challenging = not able to AE through everything)

AQ40 really sucks from a loot perspective if you haven't downed the Twin Empereors.. but I think those bossfights there are the greatest in the game before you encounter Naxxramas.

Naxx .. great instance.. look and feel really brings you into the setting.. bossfights are really great designed to most parts..

greetings Tigraine

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when i hit 60, clearing UBRS was about a 50 minute clear.

18 months (and quite a few epics) later, UBRS is still a 50 minute clear.

i have it down as one of the most boring and uninspired instances in the game.

deadmines, Sfk, ZF, dead strath and to some degree, AQ40 would be my list -- but i'll note that if we included the xpac, i think almost all of these would be replaced with stuff like CoT (southshore), seththekk and shattered halls.

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Oh, I forgot about Uldaman and Gnomeregan. Those instances are fun if you've got a big mug 'o coffee and a bowl of pretzels, but they're so friggin long!

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My personal favourite 3:
3 Scarlet Monastery - Cool location (for Alliance we have to walk because usually most of us aren't level 40 when we do this), cool story, sectioned off with difficulty levels.

2 Maraudon - Amazing Scenery throughout the whole instance. 3 sections in case you don't clear on first attempt.

1 Deadmines - One of the greatest instances Blizzard has made. Amazing story. Astounding scenery.

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5. Scarlet Monastery - The classic, and sometimes one gets the impression the only instance people run before they hit 60. Great loot, and the wing design that allows shorter runs.
4. Zul'Farrak - very different in design because it's outside, and the stairs script is still exciting to this day.
3. Blackfathom Deeps - the underdog of instances. Take a warlock or an underwater breathing potion, and you'll find one of the prettiest instances out there.
2. Dire Maul - I've only been to East and West, but the scenery is really beautiful and it's such a wonderful refreshing change after the gloomy instances like BRD or Stratholme.
1. Shadowfang Keep - A must-visit for any cloth-wearer, and I got a wonderful sense of immersion and story there, in Arugal's dark castle. I always gladly go there.

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1. Dire Maul
2. Shadowfang Keep
3. Mauradon
4. Deadmines
5. Scarlet Monestary

1. I think instances improved in quality and design the more recently they were implemented... DM is an example of this. I really like winged instances.

2. SFK is just a really cool place. Nice layout, cool looking mobs (I love worgen), and a nice storyline.

3. Mara is another example of better design coming at a later date. It has a nice feel to it and an interesting back story.

4. Deadmines is great. Best of the lowest level instances. The scripted events are cool to this day. Why didn't the other low level instances follow suit?

5. SM... again, I like winged instances and the boss fights are fun.

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My turn, my turn!

5. Deadmines: Classic.

4. Blackfathom Depths: This is actually the first instance I ever did (I started as an NE and had never heard of Stormwind or Ironforge yet), and it's still a great one.

3. Zul Gurub: You're right, there's something very cool about this instance-- from the Edge of Madness and spider drunk effects to the fact that it's like an old videogame where you have to take out aspects to take power away from the boss.

2. Maraudon: Probably the most beautiful instance in the game. A little long, but I still love it.

1. Strat Baron: The Live side is fun, but I like the UD side better. Plus, I'll always do a run for the Baron, just in case that mount drops...

SM is a great instance, but when you look back on it, it's really just a long grind to a boss fight at the end of each one. It's a classic instance, no doubt, but I think it could use a little more variety than just pull, pull, pull boss.

I liked UBRS and ZF... the first million times I ran them.

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5. Shadowfang Keep
4. Dire Maul
3. Blackwing Lair
2. The Deadmines
1. Maraudon

I don't know about Shadowfang Keep and Dire Maul but 1&2 are definately my favorites. Blackwing is great as raid instances go, haven't done AQ40 or Naxx yet though.

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5. BWL - i thought this place was kind of lame looking until you get to the dead dragon room. I probably took 20 screenshots my first time there.
4. UBRS - Remember when this was THE endgame!! I had so many good times in here. How many people had that one guy in their guild that always got kicked into the welp pits.
3. Wailing Caverns - Everyone gets their first blue here, it really is your first clue about what can happen if you draw aggro.
2. ZG - Cool outdoor fun fights organic scenery
1. MC - I just like the epic feel to the entire fight. Huge dogs, firey giants. The first time you see ragnaros its a VERY epic feeling.

1.b - Give some love to Onyxia - it was probably one of the first times i felt nervous/excited about any encounter in the game.

-----WORST List--------

1. AQ20 - Bland scenery, all bosses aside from Ossi are pretty bland as well.
2. LBRS - i cant even remember a boss encounter here.
3. Scarlet Monastery - Never did it for me in any way. I had more fun pvp'n in front of this instance.
4. Scholo - Boring. The only reason to go into this place is to get a naxx atunement or to sight see as a lore junky.
5. Live Strat - see #4

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From non raiding perspective.

My favorites are:

Shadow Fang Keep (great lowbie loot)
Dead Mines (top noch story)
Black Fathom Depths (like how it looks)
ZF (I've yet to be in a group that didn’t wipe out in the freeing of the slaves part).
Dire Maul (simple layout)

It's too bad that with most of the instances I've run so far, only Deadmines has such a well thought out and compelling story. It's starts all the way in Northshire, when you first meet this mysterious band of thugs called the Defias Brotherhood. Deadmines is a great completion to that story line (I love it when Van Cleef yell's that his cause is just). I've been very disappointed that most of the other instances don’t offer an equally compelling story line leading up to it.

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5. Scarlet Monestary
4. Zul'Farrak
3. Scholomance
2. Naxxramas
1. Blackwing Lair

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5. Gnomer
Gnomer is where my first blue dropped. The high-tech look is a nice change from all the other gloom and doom instances.

4. Scholo
Scholo is great eye candy. The burning, ruined town is great to look at from any angle. There’s depth and details in every direction. There’s good loot in there for non-raiders.

3. Zul’Gurrub
Another instance that scores well for eye candy. Its fun to run around in there. (You can’t kill too many trolls. Die, troll, die!) In this instance the loot is based on XP and those idol and coin thingies, so its not as frustrating as trying to get your tier 0 stuff out of Strat.

2. Dire Maul
The loot isn’t so great in here. Dire Maul does look great, though, and as a Warlock I’m worth more here than in Strat and Scholo, due to there being so many elementals in here.

1. Dead Mines
The dead mines are just fun. They look great, the most non-Blizzard look in the game.


Worst:

1. Molten Core
I love the loot in MC, but the lava and cave motif is ugly. It takes forever to run it. You gotta go in here for your tier 1 gear. It’d be nice if they put in a chorus line of dancing succubi or something to relive the industrial monotony.

2. Oxy
Never been there. That’s why it sucks! Plus having to do that quest line to get in sucks.

3. BWL
See # 2 above.

4. Strat
Just try to get your tier 0 gear. It’s practically a rule: stuff will drop for whatever class isn’t in your party. Go buy the BOE tier 0 gear for your class in the auction house, and skip over to raiding.

5. Naxx
Get your rep up to revered with Argent Dawn, grind away in Scholo to get the righteous orb, get all the other crap you need in the AH. Then wait until your guild can handle it!

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1. SFK - I love the feel of the whole place, it has some sexy drops, I just wish there were more quests there for alliance.

2. 45 min UD strath - I love the challenge, I love that you get extra loot for doing it, also strath is a pretty cool looking place, I mean fighting your way through a burining town? fun.

3. BWL - The Nef fight is just way too fun, It keeps everyone on their toes without going overboard. The other fights are nice fun too, I just wish the suppression rooms weren't so effing long.

4. Scholo - I love UD instances, what can I say, It might have something to do with me playin a paly. But this instance is really fun too, and I like the school aspect.

5. Naxxramas - It looks cool, the loot rocks, the bosses are interesting, but...

WORST Instances:

1. Naxxramas - I hate this place, last week we kill raz and anub with ease. This week the gods of randomness were not on our side. MCs broke early left and right in raz, and we barely got him down. Anub's locust swarm is on a random timer, and the casting animation didn't alway go off killing our MT multiple times, the corpse scarabs running and killing the MT's Aspect of the pack dude was also bothersome, but that's more preventable. I hate how random this place, and simple luck is is your biggest friend here.

AQ40 - The encounters are fun, but the loot sucks, and the rep grind is crazy. We've taken down half the bosses (only stalled by our lack of NR for Huhu) and I'm no where near getting out of hated rep. I suspect we'll have to farm the place to get the nice ring, sounds like it's going to turn into another...

MC - This place is too damn boring, the whole place is bland to look at, most of the fights are boring, and the loot is so so. I ended up passing on almost all of my T1 set as my random blues were better. The only interesting fight is Domo, other than that it pretty stratiforward with maybe a little bump in the middle of the fight. Furthermore, We've been runing it for a year, and have never gotten the binding from garr to make a thunderfury, or an eye for sulfurus, basically this place hates my guild.

Mauradon - This place looks pretty sometimes, but other times it has an MC thing going... except the princess, I think all the fights are tank and spank too... which makes for boredom.

BRD - This place is way too big for it's own good, it should have been modularized better.

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