Worst. Instance. EVER.
Posted by 
iTZKooPA on Monday, March 30, 2009 - 47 Comments Tags: Achievements, PvE, Ulduar, coldarra, difficult encounters, instancing, raiding, the nexus, the oculus, vehicle combat
iTZKooPA on Monday, March 30, 2009 - 47 Comments Tags: Achievements, PvE, Ulduar, coldarra, difficult encounters, instancing, raiding, the nexus, the oculus, vehicle combat 
My GM made a call to the general members when the guild hit its raiding roadblock the other week. I took up the call and set up a heroic night where members who needed badges, reputation, gear or something to do, could have a dedicated night where others would know to be online. I even put a little thought into it. I selected a weekday that the guild doesn't raid on, ensuring that the heroic night - should it become popular - would not interfere with the general operation of the guild. The plan was to have separate groups, or some sort of rotation, that would enable us to run a few heroics over the course of a night. Brilliant, I know!
The first week was not what I would call a raging success. I was only able to notify the guild via the little used forum, which don't garner too much attention. After about an hour sitting around in Guild Chat a group consisting of a healer, tank and ranged and melee DPS was formed, a PUG was found and we were off to tackle the Daily Heroic, The Oculus. It became the most agonizing instance run of my life, an amazing feat considering that we only wiped once.
I've run my fair share of piss poor PUGs, but that punishment came from other players due to messy pulls, not paying attention, bad play or what have you. Never have I gotten frustrated at the title's design itself, until last week. The Oculus is one of three instances inside Coldarra, the others being another 5-man dungeon, The Nexus (also the name of the area) and the 25-man raid against Malygos, The Eye of Eternity. Many of us have likely completed the other 5-man dungeon, as it is one of the easiest Heroics to participate in. The Oculus is known for the opposite reason, being one of the most difficult and least run heroics that Wrath introduced.
For me, the instance is, without a shadow of a doubt, the worst instance ever. The dungeon is high on the fail meter from a culmination of its length, inspiration, execution and general boredom. You spend most of your time flying around the outside of The Nexus killing trash mobs as you make your way to various constructs. The fights with the guardians and constructs are basic, uninspired quick kills. As if that wasn't boring enough, the trash is followed by uneventful tank and spank boss fights. It isn't until the third boss, Mage-Lord Urom, that an encounter becomes interesting. About 90 minutes after we zoned in - no wipes up to this point - we finally pulled Eregos, the only enjoyable aspect in the entire dungeon. Many players hate the final encounter because it's a very fickle battle, requiring knowledge and near perfect execution. Thanks to a fantastic explanation and constant communication, our group downed him in only our second go.
The designers attempted to make The Oculus heavy on vehicle combat but it just didn't work. The battle against the blue dragonflight is painfully boring mainly due to all the crappy trash you have to clear to do anything of consequence. Hopefully the team behind The Oculus learned from their mistakes, and passed that knowledge on to the team responsible for Ulduar's vehicle-based encounters. At least those fights inside Ulduar will enable gear to make a difference.
The Oculus was a valiant effort at trying something new, but it didn't come together. If you feel like torturing yourself then you can run it, just be prepared for agony. We ended on a high note, as the the entire party received a chuckle after we downed Eregos. This came by way of the Guild's GM receiving six, yes a half dozen, achievements all at the same time. As for Solidsamm, he shall never return there, daily or not.
Reader Comments (47)
I have only ever run Oculus on Normal and I hated it even then. Don't think I will ever run in on Heroic. btw first
HATE Occulus... I love the additions of vehicles in wrath but Oculus is just plain annoying.
on a side note, which 6 achievements did he earn at the same time??
I went into Oculus once, just after hitting 80. We never downed Eregos, and I've never set foot in there again.
Not for lack of trying, I want the Champion titile and the Red Proto-Drake very much, there just isn't a group. Ever. There are more people running Old-world dungeons than this...
First? My 1st 'first'! Do I get a prize?
Not 1st :(
it is THE WORST INSTANCE ever.. so frustrating, especially pugs who have never done it. the dragons take time to get used to.. which cause wipes for people that dont know how to use it.. but once your used to it, and you get people that know how to play then its not too bad. it does get confusing, on where to go.. i remember the first time i went in, we were clueless it took 3 times longer than a regular instance..
on normal its hard
on heroic its hell..
I must agree on this one. Though idea of the dragons you're riding on is good, it still not as smooth as it should be, even with groups that have done it before. I've only done it 3 times on heroic. And those where all daily quests. Wouldn't go there if it wasn't the daily. And that's actually quite a shame.
Oh, on a side note, my guild is rather small, so I've only tried it throug PUGs, so i consider myself lucky that I've actually completed it :)
Worst EVER? That's being a bit harsh.
The whole purpose of the mounted fighting was to get you used to the mechanic for future vehicle-based encounters. Could they have done this another way? Sure, but there was a purpose. I actually liked that aspect of The Oculus...it was something new and different.
You also have to give it high marks for its visual appeal, and how the encounters jump around to different platforms (don't you get tired of just running through corriders and up/down stairs? LOL).
I'll give you this, I hated it at first, but not because of the reasons you have noted, but because I couldn't beat it. However, once I found some other skilled players we owned that place and we will run it regularly.
I do not call this instance Oculus, I call it Suckulus. Unlike your group, we kept wiping over and over on Ley Guard Eregos, agonizing 2% wipes every single try. Hours later we finally got him down, and I will not go there again. Ever.
Maybe im just wierd, but i LIKE Oculus. It's not the best one in game, i'll say that, but i kinda like the drake flying.
Damn 6 achievements at once? Most i've seen was 3. what 6 were they?
Imagine that I've done the achievements in there..
I HATE the oculus and I REALLY HATE the last boss
not becuase I'm bad, but because the retards I group with don't know how to play (guild runs ftw?)
He actually popped 3 achievements, all of them having to do with him finally completing Oculus for th first time. Since it was his first time ever doing it, he received the achievements for heroic and normal level. They were the pair for doing the instance the first time, the meta achievement for doing all the instances, and another meta achievement for doing all the instances as dailies.
@Deadofknight
Yes, I consider it the worst instance in WoW. I agree that the vehicle combat was new, but it was horribly boring since you are essentially fighting one type of mob the whole time. Can you think of a worse instance in Wrath, or all of WoW? I can't.
ive run this instance several times on heroic, personally i dont mind it, i like the addition of vehicle combat.
I actually enjoyed the instance my first time around, but i quickly learned NOT TO PUG that instance on heroic. It requires so much cordination, that it was a good thing i was the healer. I do my job to perfection, but it only takes one person to fuck it all up and it can also bring a lot of arguements as to how to do Eregos. Pure and simple the strategy to use is 2 ruby, 2 bronze, and one green. one ruby is tank, the other ruby is dps whos blast will quickly kill whelps, one bronze stacks the debuff and periodically blasts to keep dps at its best, the other just continously blasts while both take turns on time stops when he enrages, and the healers job is pretty obvious. The other bosses are easy, but its not meant for retards in the game other than the 1st boss.
your such a crybaby, nothing wrong with alittle variety
This post is, of course, based on personal preference. I have to admit, Occulus is not my first choice when running heroics. The mechanic of having you fly around to kill mobs, is ok, not that bad. Eregos is a bitch, but that's what most bosses are anyways. As long as everyone knows hat to do, you'll have no problems. I as a DPS, had to heal H Occ, because the dedicated healer didn't know the fight, but that didn't drag us down, we just smashed it. And if you hate Occulus, who cares, run some easy shit like UK or Nex if you can't handle the challenge.
All I need for my Champion of the Frozen Wastes title is to down Maly and this dungeon...........
I have better odds of getting the Scarab Lord title.
Huh? This instance is bad because you have to kill uninspired trash in between boss fights... huh? What 5 man ISN'T like that?
I think it's a great design. Yeah, the learning curve is high, but once you get a hold of it, it's one of the most creative and original instances the game offers.
obviously the Oculus is NOT your average heroic/instance. And i can definitely sympathize with anyone dealing with a rough pug. Personally though, our guild also does a heroic night once a week and I have to say that the oculus is one of my favorite instances in the game. Simply because it's different! It's new! And as a previous blog (kara to ulduar) stated: it's practice for using vehicles in instances! In fact, our guild in order to get ready for ulduar has made it a necessary training ground that everyone runs it once a week! (aside from our Heroic Naxx and Now our Heroic Maylgos weekly raids). Sure the first time i ran it i remember everyone in the group was going "Huh??" but after a little research and some practice it's an easy clear.
If you haven't done this instance (heroic or not) and plan on doing ulduar when patch 3.1 comes out- I highly suggest you go look up some strategies (why go in blind?) and tackle it. People who ignore this instance (imo) prolly don't like/raid Maylgos. New changes are coming via patch 3.1 and here's an easy way to get ready.
YES!
Agree full on!
Ive never finished it totally because of all rage suffered in it.
I was a PUG for helping a group down the final boss because the previous caster rage quit.
After 14 tries we finally down the boss and the epic staff i need drops.
Unfortunately for me,my XPERL wouldn't let me roll on it because it couldn't comprehend the whole drake riding aspect and everything had to be disabled
Never hated WoW more.
Blizz should nerf this plaice imo
Oculus competes with Culling of Stratholme as one of my favourite instances in game. I haven't tackled it on heroic yet but unless it's drastically different, I cannot agree with ANY of your points.
The part where you're flying around on dragons is insanely cool, because you're FLYING AROuND ON DRAGONS!
That might wear off and get boring after the 50th time, but thats a lot.
Maybe I love it so much because I saw it here on PL before I had to tackle it myself. Seeing what fun they had, and how logically and simply they tackled the encounters left a good feeling about oculus so when i got to it myself it was a blast.
I only started heroics yesterday so I'm really looking forward to running oculus many times, getting all the achievements related to different colour drakes etc.
A far worse instance would have to be Violet Hold. Not only is it too easy on normal, but its too easy on Heroic. Its Black morass without the nostalgia. 6 waves of boring mobs then a random boss, most of whom are tank and spank, rinse and repeat.
I honestly love Oculus ... call me crazy but I love the new and different mechanics
Having run ALL the old school instances I've gotten tired of the same old corridors and walking and walking
I find the idea of mount combat very appealing especially because it;s different than any other mechanic in this game so far
And I mean ftw where else do you get to fly around on DRAGONS and Shoot things :) you sort of feel like you're part of the game :D
for WOLK this is my least favorite... and i try to avoid it just cause there is nothing i need from it. it was cool runnign it for the first time cause i didntknow know anything, but as i continue running it gets old
Variety is the spice of life as some of you have pointed out, but the vehicle combat presented through Northrend quests are on par, or more enjoyable than this. Frankly, I expect better of my instance content.
As for me being a crybaby or a whinning, I am not complaining about the instances difficulty as a major point. I noted that my run had no major problems. I am evalutating the instance and what it has to offer, not complaining.
If you enjoy The Oculus, more power to you! It is just not my cup of tea. I am sure I enjoy instance you don't (such as Zul'Farrak).