- Elite mobs outside of pre-Burning Crusade dungeons have been changed to non-elite.
- The level ranges of pre-Burning Crusade dungeons have been adjusted to a narrower range.
- Meeting stone level requirements, the Looking for Group system, and quests have been adjusted to match the new dungeon level ranges.
- All old world dungeon bosses have had their loot revisited. Players will now find that the loot dropped inside instances will be of Superior (blue) quality.
As stated in the patch notes, the mobs hanging out around instance entrances are all now no longer elite. This means the un-instanced parts of Deadmines, Sunken Temple, and so forth.
Ragefire Chasm: I wasn't able to test this out due to not having a Hordie on the PTR. It's 13–20 in 2.2. Anyone know what level Zelemar is now? 16 or 17 would be my guess, based on how they've changed the other instances.
Wailing Caverns: 16–20, from 16–22. This was actually my first time ever going there. It looks pretty cool, although a lot easier to get lost in than Deadmines. I liked the scripted event at the end.
Deadmines: 17–20 in 2.3, from 17–21 in 2.2 Not much of a change there; mostly it's just that Edwin VanCleef got nerfed a level. And check out Rhahk'Zor's Hammer going from a white to a blue.
Shadowfang Keep: 18–21, from 18–26. The new lower level combined with the better rewards makes it much more attractive. I might not even skip it this time.
Blackfathom Deeps: 21–24, from 21–28. I really enjoyed going back here; I'd forgotten how cool and atmospheric it is.
Stockade: 23–25 in 2.3, from 23–29 in 2.2. That means Bazil Thredd has gone down 4 levels.
Blackfathom Deeps: 21–24, from 21–28. I really enjoyed going back here; I'd forgotten how cool and atmospheric it is.
Stockade: 23–25 in 2.3, from 23–29 in 2.2. That means Bazil Thredd has gone down 4 levels.
Gnomeregan: 24–28, from 24-34. Somewhat surprisingly, Techbot is no exception to the no-elites-outside-of-instances change.
Razorfen Kraul: 24–27, from 24–33. It was my first time there as well.
Scarlet Monastery Graveyard: 30–32, from 30–34
Scarlet Monastery Library: 33–35, from 33–37. This is a new item. Apparently the efficacy scales down with level, so it's no use getting it as a 70.
Razorfen Downs: 34–37, from 34–41. Another dungeon for which this was my first time, although I wasn't particularly impressed by it. Obviously, though, sneaking through it and ganking Amnennar doesn't really give me a good impression for how it plays out.
Scarlet Monastery Armory: 35–37, from 35–40. I can't find any changed Armory items, so here's a Library one.
Scarlet Monastery Cathedral: 36–40, from 36–42
Razorfen Kraul: 24–27, from 24–33. It was my first time there as well.
Scarlet Monastery Graveyard: 30–32, from 30–34
Scarlet Monastery Library: 33–35, from 33–37. This is a new item. Apparently the efficacy scales down with level, so it's no use getting it as a 70.
Razorfen Downs: 34–37, from 34–41. Another dungeon for which this was my first time, although I wasn't particularly impressed by it. Obviously, though, sneaking through it and ganking Amnennar doesn't really give me a good impression for how it plays out.
Scarlet Monastery Armory: 35–37, from 35–40. I can't find any changed Armory items, so here's a Library one.
Scarlet Monastery Cathedral: 36–40, from 36–42
Uldaman: 35–40?, from 35–47. 12 levels is too much for one dungeon to span; I'm glad it's been tightened up. I didn't get to fight Archaedas, because he requires 3 people to summon, but he used to be one level higher than the Ancient Stone Keeper, who's 40 now (used to be 46), so Archae should be either 40 or 41.
Maraudon: 42–48, from 42–51. This makes it the dungeon in 2.3 with the largest level range. Going through it again gave me the opposite reaction to going through BFD; I now have no desire ever to see the place. Especially the Princess.
Zul'Farrak: 43–46, from 43–48. Not much of a change there, but ZF was already one of the better tuned leveling dungeons. Doing the pyramid script by myself was...interesting.
Sunken Temple (aka Temple of Atal'Hakkar): 47–50?, from 47-55. The reason for the question mark is that I didn't actually get as far as the Shade of Eranikus, because that would have required killing Jammal'an, which in turn requires killing the six troll dudes upstairs. I didn't feel like slinking around ST for that long. But we can be pretty sure Eranikus is either 50 or 51 now, since he was 55 and Jammal'an has gone from 54 to 50.
Blackrock Depths: Sorry, faithful, I couldn't quite make it through this one. After getting owned a few times in the Grim Guzzler, I decided whoever wants to go see what level the Emperor is now can do it themselves. It's 48–59 in 2.2, so if it follows the same pattern, it should be something like 48–52 now, but I really don't expect they nerfed it that much.
And that's all the dungeons under level 60. Overall, these are some excellent changes. Some much-hated dungeons, especially Uldaman, just become a lot more viable, and a lot more worthwhile. I'll still probably skip a lot of this stuff as I level alts, simply because I like to solo and it slows me down to have to wait around for a group to form, but I might pop in a few dungeons instead of not doing any like I usually do.
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Reader Comments (Page 1 of 2)
11-12-2007 @ 10:13AM
mcclary said...
Nice work!
Reply
11-12-2007 @ 10:17AM
Wraeth said...
Does this mean Jintha'alor is now non-elite?
"And there were many cries of joy from the 70's I had run my numerous alts through Jintha, that no longer would an hour of their time be wasted"
:>
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11-12-2007 @ 10:18AM
Ryan said...
I think it's time to start leveling some toons on a PVP server for WOTLK. Ironic how the PVE enironment on a PVP server is so much better.
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11-12-2007 @ 10:19AM
Milktub said...
Wow. That Deadman's ring from Scarlet Monastery looks sick. Makes me want to roll yet another toon just to pick that up.
Overall, one of the better changes coming in 2.3. The heroic key at Honored thing ... don't get me started.
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11-12-2007 @ 10:19AM
Markov said...
Good work- this must have been a pain in the tail, but I appreciate the information. Makes me excited to start my new alt!
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11-12-2007 @ 10:27AM
Recession said...
Thank you. I was wondering what the new instance levels would be.
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11-12-2007 @ 10:29AM
Naix said...
don't get me started don't even get me started.
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11-12-2007 @ 10:35AM
Fletch said...
This really is the best change in the entire patch. Hopefully next patch they'll take a look at some quest rewards and fix those up. No more Doomsayer's Robes (http://www.wowhead.com/?item=4746) would be nice.
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11-12-2007 @ 11:00AM
Acceptable Risk said...
Aw, I'm gonna miss the elite Devilsaurs cruising around Un'Goro and murdering me every time I've got my back turned now.
I think they should have left some of the non-instance elites in place. It made for good flavor. The Devilsaurs were the Fel-Reavers of Azeroth.
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11-12-2007 @ 11:03AM
Ryan said...
They're just askin for it with the twink community.
Reply
11-12-2007 @ 11:07AM
icer said...
i saw this page a while back http://www.mmo-champion.com/index.php?page=229
i guess there's more items getting changed
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11-12-2007 @ 11:08AM
Eliah Hecht said...
Well, *some* of the non-instance elites still are there. Hogger, for instances. I just checked Jintha'alor and those guys all seem to be non-elite. I'll swing by Un'goro as soon as my hearthstone cooldown is up.
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11-12-2007 @ 11:21AM
Nails said...
are the bosses just going to drop new items? or do current items change as well?
for example, my priest currently has the Illusionary Rod. will i log on tuesday night to find it changed in my inventory?
forgive me if this question has been answered before. i didnt see it anywhere
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11-12-2007 @ 11:31AM
Ashwin said...
Ahh the killer level ranges of Gnomregan and Uldaman(2 of the most infamous I think) have been done away with. If this game remains active for a couple more years we can tell the newbies about how we faced the old dungeons. :p
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11-12-2007 @ 11:36AM
Hank said...
This actually makes me feel better that I rerolled as Horde...
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11-12-2007 @ 11:39AM
Wraeth said...
I believe that, in the same way as with "high end" item changes, the items you already have will alter to the same as the new drop ones.
Thus your illusionary rod will gain its spell crit even though you got it before 2.3 ^^
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11-12-2007 @ 11:41AM
Eliah Hecht said...
Devilsaurs are still elite. It took me a while to find one, though, so it's possible that there are fewer of them.
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11-12-2007 @ 11:46AM
Khemjin said...
So I have a collection of the unique whites that drop in low lvl instances, like Rhahk'Zor's Hammer, sitting on a bank alt. When the patch hits, will they all be soulbound to the bank alt? Guess I better ship them off to somebody else who might actually someday equip them before tomorrow. That sucks though, because I was waiting to send them to future alts with appropriate classes.
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11-12-2007 @ 11:59AM
bonse said...
as to devilsaurs and hogger still being elites i assumed they would be, as they are not elites guarding a pre-TBC instance, which are the ones that were said to have been changed
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11-12-2007 @ 12:02PM
Tiforix said...
Hortus said they didn't nerf Hogger because he "just wouldn't be Hogger" if they did. I'm glad about that.
One guy I did check out was High Chief Winterfall in Winterspring. He's now a 59 non-elite, and has only one add instead of two.
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