Guides to the Raids and Heroic Dungeons
The raids, bosses, “how to” and other notes.
Go to: Mists of Pandaria Instances — Cataclysm — Wrath of the Lich King — Burning Crusade — Classic — Tips
Raid Finder eligibility is based on character level, average item level, and specific raid achievements. Generally, the first wing of a raid tier does not require any achievements, but subsequent wings (in the same raid instance or not) require the previous wing’s achievement. This means that you will need to get the first three achievements for Siege or Orgrimmar before you can kick G. Hellscreams’s butt.
Minimum item levels are what you need to allow the system to let you into the raid. Your group may require higher ratings. In Warlords of Draenor you will need a “Silver Achievement” from the Proving grounds (for your class and spec) to do LFR or random dungeon heroics. Other instances and groups will not require that, at least the system won’t. Your group might.
Mists of Pandaria Raids and Dungeons
Item level requirements are the same regardless of normal, heroic, or raid size (eg: 10 man, 25, or flex.)
Siege of Orgrimmar
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Heart of Fear
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Mogu’shan VaultsMinimum item level 460.
Raid Finder, MV:
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Terrace of Endless SpringMinimum item level 470.
Raid Finder, ES:
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Throne of ThunderMinimum item level 480.
Raid FInder, T of T:
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Pandaria’s World Bosses
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The Dungeons
- Gate of the Setting Sun
- Mogu’shan Palace
- Scarlet Halls
- Scarlet Monastary
- Scholomance
- Shado-Pan Monastary
- Siege of Niuzo Temple
- Stormsnout Brewery
- Temple of the Jade Serpent
Cataclysm
Deathwing remodels the place, level 85 cap.
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Wrath of the Lich King
level 80 cap, Arthas’ zombie army invades the world.
- Icecrown Citadel
- Naxxramas
- Onyxia’s Lair
- The Eye of Eternity
- The Obsidian Sanctum
- The Ruby Sanctum
- Trial of the Crusader
- Ulduar
- Vault of Archavon
The Cataclysm Heroic Dungeons bring a new level of difficulty to the dungeoning experience and require more coordinated team play then previous heroics. Here you find our Heroic dungeon guides (links below) and tips for beating up on the bosses. Links to the dungeons are lower down.
Outlands Raids
Level cap raised to 70, a new world full of demons and bad things.
- Black Temple
- Gruul’s Lair
- Karazhan
- Magtheridon’s Lair
- Serpentshrine Cavern
- Tempest Keep
- The Battle for Mount Hyjal
- The Sunwell
Classic Raids
from original WoW, when the level cap was 60
- Molten Core
- Ahn’Qiraj Temple
- Blackwing Lair
- Ruins of Ahn’Qiraj
Here are some tips that apply to all of the dungeons:
Here’s a quick and dirty guide to DPS, Tank, and Heal tactics for all instances.
Make sure you have certain things covered before you step into the dungeon.
- Repairs: Make sure you’re fully repaired. It does no one any good if your gear breaks in the middle of the dungeon. Been there, done that, embarrassing. Engineers can make a Field Repair Bot 110G that can come in very handy, esp. mid raid and after a few deaths. Certain mounts also come with repair vendors, such as: Reins of the Traveler’s Tundra Mammoth (it’s a measly 20k gold, you can afford this.)
- Food: Various foods will buff your Agility, Int, etc. Get the foods appropriate to your class. Every little bit helps. Banquets will feed the entire group, providing them with the best stat automatically.
- Gems and enchants: The best enchants are usually expensive. The 2nd best are almost as good and are much cheaper. The same is often the case with gems. Even cheaper enchants add to your output and this is a good route to go if you’re upgrading your gear often and/or you just don’t have the gold. (If the gold is low, see our gold tips.) If you don’t have the gold then get what you can, starting with your primary stat. As for enchants, start with the biggest ones (such as weapons) and work down to the smaller ones (such as your cloak,) as you gold permits.
- Heirlooms: The level 85 Heirloom items should be put away by the time you hit 85. Maybe obvious, but the stats on the heirlooms are nice and maybe you haven’t yet seen (or can’t afford) a better head piece, cloak, or whatever. The problem is that they are iLevel 1 and will bring down the total iLevel of your gear and that iLevel is what WoW looks at to determine if you can enter heroics. Mists of Pandaria blues start at level 81 and you can often find them on the Auction House. They’re better than your heirlooms, so if you can afford them then go get them.
- Scrolls and potions: These will buff your bests stat for, usually, an hour but the scrolls do not stack with the flask/elixir buffs. Grab the scroll or potion that best suits your spec.
- Leave the attitude home: I don’t know about him, but I only kick people if they aren’t really there or for being sufficiently annoying. Be nice, offer suggestions if appropriate, fess up if you blow it, and remember that the other guys doesn’t like being called an idiot any more than you do. Keep in mind that the goal is to beat the dungeon, not each other.
- Help the Noob: Yeah, that other guy might be doing his first heroic. Help him out if he’ll listen to the help.
Locations of Cataclysm Dungeons.
If you need locations then you can check our post on the dungeon entrances. At the launch of Cataclysm it was necessary to find each dungeon before you could enter it. With patch 4.06 that requirement went away, but it’s sometimes handy if (when) your group is wiped and you have to run back in.
Click through the links for notes on the boss fights in the Heroic version of these dungeons.
Heroic Blackrock Caverrns
Location: Blackrock Mountain, Searing Gorge/Burning Steppes. Head towards the Blackrock Spire entrance portal, and take a right. Follow the hallway and take the first left. Follow this path until there’s a fork going left down a walkway, and straight upwards. Take a right down the path (or jump, for those daredevils out there) and take another right, and, Voila. Alternatively, take the Mole Machine from Finkle in Mt. Hyjal.
Heroic Deadmines
The dungeon gained a Heroic mode for level 85 players with the launch of Cataclysm. There are Goblin Teleporters scattered throughout the instance, usable only when the boss of the particular room they are located in is killed. Once unlocked, they can send players to either Ironclad Cove, the Mast Room, or the Foundry. The Goblin Transporter located at the beginning room with the quest givers only sends players further into the instance; it does not function as a destination point.
To get there: Go to Westfall. Entrance to the mine is in the southwestern barn in Moonbrook. One you enter, keep right without taking dead-ends and you’ll reach the instance entrance, eventually.
Heroic Grim Batol
After being kicked out of Ironforge, the Wildhammer Dwarf clan ventured north and forged a new home, Grim Batol, in the mountains of what is now the Twilight Highlands. The Dark Iron Dwarves, who established the city of Thaurissan in the Redridge Mountains, were consumed by the desire for revenge against past insults and desperate to control the entire dwarven region of Khaz Modan. The Dark Irons led a two-pronged assault on the Bronzebeards in Ironforge and the Wildhammers in Grim Batol. Despite their past differences, these two embattled rivals joined forces and drove the Dark Irons out of Khaz Modan, decimating the armies of the treacherous clan’s sorcerer-thane, Thaurissan. Victory carried grave consequencesand while the Bronzebeards rebuilt their glorious city of Ironforge, the Wildhammers felt forever changed by the horrors they witnessed at Grim Batol. They fled their cursed home and never returned.
Location: Twilight Highlands. Northwestern portion, north of the Bastion of Twilight and south of the Vermillion Redoubt.
Heroic Halls of Origination
Should players survive the perils of Uldum, they will be called to help Brann Bronzebeard unlock the mysteries within these treacherous titan halls and protect the titans’ ancient secrets.
Location: Uldum. North of Vortex Pinnacle. Entrance to the pyramid is on the eastern side. It’s likely that you’ll discover this dungeon on your map while questing since it’s smack in the middle of early Harrison Jones quests.
Heroic Shadowfang Keep
The keep is the former base of operations for the demented archmage Arugal, who wrested the keep from Baron Silverlaine with his worgen “children” and held it until he was defeated by agents of the Horde. The keep is now occupied by the followers of renegade Gilnean nobleman Vincent Godfrey, traitor to both his homeland and to the Forsaken who returned him from death.
Location: Silverpine Forest. Southwestern portion, north of The Greymane Wall.
Heroic Stonecore
It was inside this mysterious domain that the Twilight’s Hammer toiled over Deathwing, hammering elementium plates to the Dragon Aspect’s skin to hold his tormented body together. It was also here that Deathwing began his ascent into Azeroth, shattering the fabled World Pillar and destabilizing the entire region of Deepholm.
Location: Deepholm. West side of of the Temple of Earth. Fly up. The entrance is about two-thirds of the way up the central pillar. There’s a distinct landing platform once you get to that level.
Heroic Throne of the Tides
Neptulon has been nabbed by the Naga and it’s your job to free him.
Location: The entrance to TotT is in the Abyssal Maw in Vashj’ir. Go to Abysal Depths in Vashj’ir and go down into the Whirlpool.
Heroic Tol Vir
Having allied themselves with Al’Akir and Deathwing in exchange for regaining their stone bodies lost in effect of the Curse of Flesh, they now pose a serious threat and must be eliminated.
Location: Uldum. West of both Vortex Pinnacle and Halls of Origination, in the south portion of the river that bisects the zone. The entrance to the Lost City is at the far northern part of the city.
Heroic Vortex Pinnacle
Description: Here the armies of Al’Akir reside and they will not take kindly to any intruders in his elemental plane. The air elementals have entered an unholy alliance with the Worldbreaker, Deathwing, and now threaten the denizens of Uldum. It is up to the adventurers to stop the elemental incursion to the ancient land.
Location: Uldum. Southeast corner of the zone. The dungeon is up in the clouds.