Best and Worst of Dungeons and Raids!

[Madruga]

Top 5 Best Dungeons:
5 - Halls of Stone/Lightning - I found troublesome to choose just one of them, so I put them together. I love these 2 dungeons because of the continuation of the lore from Storm Peaks and introduction to Ulduar. There is just a whole shit load of lore in these two, you discover about the creation of dwarves, discover a lot about the Titans, find out about Yogg-saron´s scheme and the defeat of Loken marks the bringing of the end of the world, with the signal sent to Algalon. The lore is only continued much later, in Uldar itself.

4 - Stratholme(classic one) - You enter in the middle of a fight between the Scourge and Scarlet Crusade, only to find that the latter was being manipulated by Balnazzar in his quest to take revenge on Arthas. It was also incredible to enter so deep into Scourge territory, and sad to see the sense of loss everywhere in this once thriving city. Seeing what became of the town purged by Arthas was fascinating for me.

3 - Halls of Reflection - Much like HoS/HoL dungeons, this is the introduction to Icecrown Citadel, but here I am not going to list all three dungeons, but only the last one. Here you see what became of the human expedition Arthas brought with him to Northrend. It is sad to see the once proud warriors of Lordaeron, along with Falric and Malrwyn, fallen into darkness and doomed to serve forever the undead. Also, the confrontation with Arthas is epic, even if you just get your ass kicked and have to run fast. This encounter made me feel so much like I needed to fight Arthas and bring him to justice.

2 - Blackrock Depths - I know, a lot of people hate this dungeon, but I love it. It takes forever, there is a lot of trash, some of them are hard and will wipe you. But no other dungeon gives such a dimension of a city like this one. It has everything, even a bar where the mobs are more concerned about drinking than fighting you. The attention do detail is amazing here, there are a lot of bosses and there is a very important piece of lore in the Thaurissan encounter. I mean, if you did it back in Classic. Back then, if you didn´t kill Moira you got to see she was pregnant of the heir to Ironforge throne. One thing that would bring doom to both Alliance and Horde and gave birth to the Council that rules Ironforge now. So much to love in this dungeon.

1 - Well of Eternity - Epic. No other world can describe this dungeon. The scenario is amazingly beautiful, it is incredible to fight alongside Illidan, you feel the menace of the Burning Legion so deeply. Seeing Azshara so calm, so confident, while the world crumbles around her and her people die makes you feel like the woman doesn´t have his head straight. Seeing the cutscene with the Aspects gives a very nice insight into Deathwing, one thing I think he deserved more. And the Manoroth encounter is simply the best dungeon boss I ever did. Tyrande and Illidan kick so much ass here. Illidan is one of the best characters in WOW ever, I hope he will return to get the attention he deserves.

Top 5 Worst Dungeons

5 - Auchenai Crypts - Invisible trash, anyone? Almost every trash has that annoying mob that only appears after tank already used his abilities to get agro, so inevitably the extra mob would run to the healer. I remember the frist time I did this with some pugs, someone died nearly on every trash. With some wipes as well. Ugh.

4 - The Mechanar - The trash here is so tight, forcing the tank to agro from afar. But there are always caster mobs who don´t move and end up agroing the patrol, giving us 6 to 8 mobs to fight. The timed spawning trashs before Pathaleon is annoying as well, if the healers werent very good they would end up OOM before they finish spawning. Too bad, because it is actually cool to see what Kael is doing within Tempest Keep in here.

3 - Slave Pens - Also has a lot of tight trash and there is something in this dungeon that doesn´t please me. I don´t know what it is, maybe it is those annoying healers, the fact that people always got lost. I just dislike this dungeon.

2 - The Stonecore - The killer dungeon from the beginning of Cataclysm. All the bosses had insta-shots, baddie-tracker abilities. The number of times I wiped on Ozruk was not fun, the tank made ONE mistake an it was a wipe. It is no wonder Cataclysm lost so many people, this dungeon is the epithome of the unforgiving soul-crusher spirit that was present bakc in patch 4.0.

1 - Dire Maul - Oh, I hate this dungeon with a vengeance. I don´t have a problem with winged-dungeons, but all wings in here were so long, so boring, ugly scenario, non-insteresting trash, annoying bosses. The magic wing in particar, it is really anoying to track all the pilars. "Ok, think we got them all. But the Occuthar-like boss is still surrounded by lighting! Sigh, let´s keep looking... Look out for that energy-patroling-mob! Oh noes... You moron! -- Player left the party --" Also, the fact that I had to grind reputation in here doesn´t help.

Next post, Best/Worst Raids!

[Jhoff]

ToGC ---- I don't care what anyone says, but if you actually paid attention to the tournament dailies, a tournament raid made perfect sense... The faction champs is still best encounter ever in my book.

I am not sure anyone is saying that it didn't make sense, but it's still a horrible raid. Walk in, nothing to explore, just a ring with bosses incoming when you push a button. Add to that, 4 versions if you count 10- and 25-man, normal and heroic. It was just horrible

[Azaael]

Let's see...I'll try to make my list with no more than two dungeons/raids from each expansion(in other words, trying to spread out the best and worst and not picking too hard/praising any one expansion too much.)

Top dungeons(no particular order)

-Old Scholomance(brutally balls hard, sure, but I'll never forget it, and it really felt like a giant mansion of necromancy)
-Old BRD(Yes, it's unforgiving, yes it took forever, but it felt like you were actually in the Dark Iron city. I can't think of a dungeon that actually gave a sense of atmosphere since this one. Even with it's flaws, I just think it's overall sheer awesome design makes up for them.)
-Gundrak(I really like this dungeon for some reason I can't figure out)
-Well of Eternity(Illidan hanging out with us makes the entire dungeon worthwhile for me. He's like my favorite lore character though, so heavy bias here.)
-Old Stratholme(Yes, the three hours of RP could get annoying, but being able to replay the famous encounter was a lot of fun for me.)

Runner Ups:

Nexus(Design-wise)
Old SFK(Flavor-wise, it lost something in the transition though)


Worst Dungeons:

-Halls of Reflection(annoying trash, straight line. Getting an LFD group became impossible as it was dropped instantly after awhile.)
-Stonecore(just do not like it)
-Gnomeregan, any version(I like other long heroics, but...bleh. Just bleh.) I'm a Vanilla nostalgia nut who actually loved BRD, but..just no.
-Oculus(I don't get how FL's vehicles could be fun, especially on hardmode, but then this sucked so much)
-Stockades: Just...bland. I mean, you get Hogger in the new one which is amusing, but the original Stockades was...just a bleh dungeon. It was a bunch of rooms thrown together.

Runners Up:

Slave Pens(Just boring somehow for me)
ZA Remake(just...bah. After I loved the raid so much...)


Top Raids:

-Ulduar!(Probably my favorite of all time, though BWL kinda ties it. Ulduar was a masterpiece.)
-Blackwing Lair(Just a classic. Loved the fights in this.)
-Naxx-40(Unforgiving and downright creepy when it came out)
-Karazhan(Atmosphere out the ass. I love this place.)
-Zul'aman(BT could have gotten this, had I not have a horrific bad taste in my mouth that this was the place that Blizz completely screwed Illidan over in. Again, bias toward fav character talking. Still, ZA 10 man was a fantastic raid.)

Runner Up:
AQ40

Worst Raids:
-TotC(...yeahh...)
-Naxx-Wrath(They could have picked something else to tune to entry level IMO. Yeah, undead and all but still.)
-Molten Core(while i have a nostalgic draw to this, yeah, the design was very primitive)
-Firelands(I think I have something against fire)
-Throne(I'm putting it here because it was a beautiful LOOKING raid that was extremely rushed and unfinished.)

Runner Up:
Magtheridon's Lair(''Okay, whose got lag tonight? You're out, you're out, you're out...'')
Ruby Sanctum(''Ohai guys. I'm a filler.'')

[Madruga]

Top 5 Best Raids:

5 - Naxxramas- This was my first raid ever, already the "toned-down" version of WOLK. I was amazed to be along 24 other players, shooting spells, devastating those mobs. Learning the strategies from the bosses for the first time was great, it felt so good to be able to pound those bosses with millions of HP, something that I alone couln´t do. I fell in love with raiding because of Naxxramas. That, and the scenario here is simply amazing, you sense the evil of the Scourge, you can smell the place with all those rotting corpses, ooze everywhere. You can sense the power the Scourge has in this place. And the screams from the children trapped inside Thaddius gives me the creeps to this day...

4 - Black Temple - How amazingly done this place is. Everything here is well done, the trash is interesting and makes sense as long as you progress through the temple. You get to see orcs, demons, satyrs, elfs. You can fell the pacts Illidan did with the various races in his conquest of Outland. Also, all the bosses are really interesting. I fell in love with Reliquary of Souls and his so differente phases. It is nice fighting against Teron. And, of course, seeing Illidan after such a long time is refreshing.

3 - Karazhan - This place is simply AMAZING. It has so much ambience, the environment is great, clever bosses and, of course, the chess encounter! I think Blizzard really outdid themselves with this place.

2 - Icecrown Citadel - To this day, the first time I killed Arthas is the best memory I have from Wow. I progressed through his entire history, since Warcraft 3, I saw the proud paladin become the very evil be swore to defeat. I saw him lay waste to the places I learned to love in Warcraft 2. I saw him ascend to power. I felt his presence all through the progress in WOW. And it finally came to this, the encounter in the Frozen Throne, to this day the best Raid enconter I ever did. It felt so good to break the elite of this forces, the mastermind of the Scouge Plagues (Putricide), the fallen elite from Queltalhas (Princes and Queen), the Frost Brood (Sindragosa), to finally get to him. And to find out that we were all part of his scheme, to become his ultimate weapon, only avoided because of the power of the Light. No other moment was so epic for me in the game.

1 - Ulduar - The best raid blizzard will ever make. Amazing environment, amazing trash, amazing lore. Everything in here was so perfect, you actually progress the lore when questing and making dungeons to get to this raid. Here you learn a lot about the Old Gods and their fight with the Titans, you sense how powerful the Old Gods are to corrupt their own jailors. And you fell the biggest threat ever, the end of the world itself, brought by Algalon and his reorigination devide. Clever bosses mechanics, interesting hard-mode activation. The Yogg-Saron encounter is one of the best in the entire game, following the Lich King encounter closely. And his quotes are so amazing... BOW DOWN BEFORETHE GOD OF DEATH! As if it werent enough, there is a crap load of achievements here. So you have a reason to come back here often (which I did). This is Blizzard at their best.

Top 5 Worst Raids

5 - Blackwing Descent - I thought tier 11 was terrible. In the beginning, I enjoyed the harder bosses, but after a while, it became annoying to wipe to mechanics over lack of attention. Also, I hate the Nefarian encounter. The mechanics are really cluncky, having to kite the adds away from the tanks, praying that they don´t accidentaly get agro. If they did, game over, that add would never die, because he would get the Shadowflame and become immortal. Then, the dreaded pillars of doom. One person lagged when jumping to get out of the lava and died. There was ALWAYS one person who screwed up in each pillar they had to stand, or someone who was sleeping and forget to interrupt, causing us a wipe. Also, you HAD to bring 3 healers, ALWAYS. Ugh. For gods sake blizzard, bring us some better mechanics!

4 - Serpentshrin Cavern - I think I have a problem with Naga. I hate the trash in this place. There were even some who would knockback you, causing you to fall in the water and swim half the instance only to be able to get back to ground. Also the Vashi encounter, I guess people should learn how to play football before stepping in this place.

3 - Blackwing Lair - This and Molten Core ae so high up specially because of their age. These were the first raids in the game, when blizzard was still learning. Most bosses here are tank and spank types of bosses, even if there are some interesting ones, like Cromaggus. Also, I have nightmares with that supressor room... Nowadays, I even dread go back there for transmog runs because of that room. Again, it is not BWL´s fault for being one of the worst raids in the game, it is just that it really feels old.

2 - Molten core - The very first raid in Wow. Ugly scenario, practically non-existant bosses mechanics, long raid, much trash. I keep running this place in order to farm reputation and man, it is amazing to see how much Blizzard improved thier designs. It must have been a really pain in the butt to grind this place back in the time, when all bosses were gated and you had to power the quintessence in order to open them up. The grandfather of raids, it deserves to be number 2 mostly because of its age, really. It is even unfair to compare it to the raids nowadays.

1 - Ruby Sanctum - I was not going to list this one, because this is a one-boss raid. If we were to count one-boss raids, every single raid in Top 5 Worst would be a one-boss raid. But, this one deserves to be mentioned, because it came after Icecrown Citadel as the herald of cataclysm. Some people even say Halion is the last boss of WOLK, which is absurd, how could an unknown dragon be more important than Arthas, the Darth Vader of Wow? It only came as a filler because ICC was out for so long. And man, how annoying Halion is. One of the most boring encounters ever, I learned to hate Twillight Cutters after him. I defeated him just once in the day, then didn´t step foot on that raid again. That is, until people decided to do his heroic mode when we already were in cataclysm, and surprise, the Cutters were still decimating the raid, as much as they did when the raid was current content. Thank god I already got all achievements from him, so I never have to see the half-baked "Herald of Deathwing" again!

[Jimmyd]

Worst dungeons
5: New Zul'Aman. Butchered Piece of a raid i used to Really enjoy. Another of blizzards failed remakes
4: Trial of the Champion. Hate mounted BS. Bosses lacked anything, and please fain some monty python references for a Black Knight boss.
3: Mana Tombs. Just a grind. People wanting to do escort quest every single run took its toll. Liked rest of auchindon
2: Gnomer. Something everyone can agree on. Just an all out grind through mindless shit that took forever. Only part of Dun Morogh I really hate
1: Oculus. Mounted combats sucks, takes too long, boring, grind, bullshit. You can come up with your own ideas to hate this place left and right

Best Dungeons
5: Halls of Lightning. Challenging yet fun. The fact that its part of Ulduar puts it on this list anyway
4: Razorfen Downs: Always loved the place. Love the eery light and the scenery.
3: Well of Eternity: Lore wise this place takes the cake. Also gotta love doin mad dps on beginning packs with Illidan
2: Grim Batol: Perfect mix of difficulty in a dungeon, bosses are challenging, dragon run makes trash almost non existent. Wish they had made it into a raid though
1: Blackrock Depths: May be extremely long, hard at times back in vanilla and hard to navigate, but the architecture is awesome and the feel of the place is spectacular. Holds my best moment in Wow, killing the final boss and sittin in that sexy chair.

Worst Raids
5: Naxxramas 2.0. Still enjoyable encounters, but was a piece of shit after experiencing original
4: Battle for Mount Hyjal. Wave based raid? Horrible Idea. Archimonde was sick though
3: Dragon Soul. Just recycled crap rebundled in a new pack. Was hoping for a much more epic end to Deathwing, being he was the center of this expansion if im correct.
2: Molten Core: Too much trash...Nuff said
1: Trial of the Crusader: Terrible in just about everyway. I do get the tournament aspect of it, but was still crap.

Best Raids
5: Black Temple: Loved every aspect of it. Great end to the protagonist of TBC. Great bosses, great trash, great battleground.
4: Icecrown Citadel: Nice easy chill raid to finish off the expansion, nice looking gear, great lore ending to the lich king built up through Wotlk. Perfect way to end out such a massive story regarding Arthas. Lich King 25h is still one of my favorite fights
3: Karazhan: Beautiful instance, loved every part of it. Ran it whenever I could even after mass overgearing. Made me love TBC
2: Naxxramas 40: Easily the hardest raid to date. Was challenging on every single front. Loved the lore behind it. Encounters made me punch a hole in my wall (not joking) Only guild to complete it on my server before TBC, makes me happy. Four Horsemen literally kept me up at night. So fucking hard
1: Ulduar: Perfect. Lore was amazing. Architecture is beautiful. Whole place is beautiful. Encounters are easy but still insanely fun. Hard Encounters if you really want. Favorite looking gear out of all raids. Algalon twist at end was fucking awesome. The mix of lore, difficulty, a giant guy acting as a bridge, the watches, the titans, architecture and yogg saron at the end made this into the best thing Blizzard will probably ever make.

Just for fun. Top Five Encounters(no order)
Yogg' Saron Alone in the darkness
Lich King 25H
Four Horsemen in 40Nax
Prince Malachazar
Ragnaros Heroic in Firelands

[Madruga]

Worst dungeons

1: Oculus. Mounted combats sucks, takes too long, boring, grind, bullshit. You can come up with your own ideas to hate this place left and right

I used to love the Oculus and din´t understand why people hated it so much. Yeah, you had to know how to use the drakes but that was no big deal, right?

That was until this very week... I am leveling a warrior tank and ended up in the Oculus... Of the entire group, just me and a DPS knew there were even drakes in there...

The others took about 10 minutes to mount and start following me... Agroing every blue drake on the way... And after every trash, someone would get lost and die... And I had to go pick them up in the entrance... The run never ended, they were too clueless to do anything on Eregos...

After that run, I understood why people hate Oculus so much... And it was not even Heroic Mode...

[Maester]

Not a big raider, so I'll give my top 2 favourite and bad raids (normal mode), and I'm tired, so I'll give my 2 favourite and bad dungeons (both normal and Heroic mode).

Favourite Raids:

Blackwing Descent - All the fights were actually really fun and required everyone to know their stuff. I loved the layout, and I think Atramedes and Nefarian were the best boss fights I have ever experienced, Nefarian being the #1 best.

Naxxramas (WoTLK) - I know you're probably wondering why, but I honestly really enjoyed this place. It definitely was very easy, but I still loved the visuals and boss fights. Except for Patchwerk. Boss fights that stand out to me from here are Thaddius, The Four Horsemen, and Kel'Thuzad.

Worst Raids:

Throne of the Four Winds - Not much to say here, just that it was lacking in everything but visuals.

Mount Hyjal - Way too much trash, and I'm really not a fan of the wave system. Could have been much better.

Favourite Dungeons

Zul'Gurub (Cataclysm) - I would always be really happy when I got this place instead of Zul'Aman. This was great, awesome boss fights that were worth the loot, and a great layout.

Well of Eternity - I'm not a lore guy, but the story of this dungeon really got me interested. Loved every minute of it, even though it was incredibly faceroll. Really nice visuals, the perfect amount of trash, and entertaining (albeit extremely easy) boss fights.

Worst Dungeons:

Shadowfang Keep - Horrible. Hate this so much. Disgustingly long and horribly laid out, god I think the only place worse than this is Deadmines.

Deadmines - See Shadowfang Keep.

[Jimmyd]

After that run, I understood why people hate Oculus so much... And it was not even Heroic Mode...

Story of my life