Horde For Life

MMO raids offer not only some of the most engaging mechanics, but generally the best artwork and detail that the game has to offer. The World of Warcraft is no different, but among the many raids that are available to us in game, three stand out as the most exceptional. The following offer an experience that all players casual and hardcore alike, should experience.

3. The Sunwell

Really a tough call here at number three and I wanted to take the easy route and just call it a tie between The Black Temple and The Sunwell as they both offer examples of the best artwork and mechanics the developers of the time could put in game. While my heart and favorable experiences (read not wiping as much) want me to say BT, I have to acknowledge that Sunwell has better textures, better and certainly tougher encounters and unlike black temple, the final boss fight was nearly as much of a letdown. Points for Illidan’s Warglaives but Sunwell is the all around better raid instance.

No wonder this raid curb stomped so many teams at launch... look at him!

2. Karazhan

My former favorite raid of all time, Kara stills offers some of the most original encounters in the game. You can really feel the developer teams soul in this raid and despite its age, is still engaging and incredibly fun. Karazhan is a text book example of how to make a raid about more than gear. The Opera Event with the Wizard of Oz, Romeo and Juliet or Little Red Riding hood is the most creative of encounters and should not be missed while the Morose and Curator dialogue and voice work are exceptional. The amount of trash while heavy at times was not terrible, especially in relation to the raids of that expansion and era. Simply a great raid that screams for an update, Karazhan will always hold a special place in my gaming heart.

Gives you that Van Helsing vibe... right?

1. Ulduar

If loot is your raid objective and/or you joined the game late in the Wraith expansion, then Ulduar probably fell under your raid radar. I am simply amazed at how many people are in game right now that have NEVER seen or experienced the best example of raid art and mechanics in game. Epic in scope, diverse in its story; Ulduar truly offers the best raid experience, design and visuals Azeroth has to offer. While Flame Leviathan, the raids first encounter can get stale, the remainder of the encounter is epic and increasingly fun ending with Yogg Saron and Algalon encounters that are infinitely more enjoyable than the Lich King fight in Ice Crown Citadel.

The only negative to Ulduar is that the developer team decided to cut the raid off at the knees by introducing Trial of the Crusader prematurely and thus killing interest in Ulduar LONG before its time. As a result, many raiders never experienced this incredible raid. However despite its fate as a short lived end game raid, Ulduar still offers an experience like no other. Where else can you fight dragons, a fire and ice giant, an enormouse robot with the voice of a 5 year old, enter the brain of an old god and if you are lucky fight a celestial being that looks like a constellation and gives you a fancy title?!

Exactly… put it on your guilds calendar today.

Every step you take in Ulduar feels epic

This entry was posted on March 26, 2011 at 1:14 pm and is filed under General, MMO, Raiding, World of Warcraft. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.