Last time we checked in, we’d snuck around to the back of Icecrown Citadel, and were ready to break in. And hey! We found the secret chamber where Arthas stores his horrible sword Frostmorne. Why, that almost sounds like a trap!

And it totally is. As soon as you break in with Jaina or Syvanis, Arthas sweeps in with his lieutenants Falric and Marwyn and traps you in the halls. Your help gets either killed or runs after Arthas, so it’s up to you to stop Falric and Marwyn once and for all.

Degree of Difficulty: Hard

Halls of Reflection gets sort of a bad rap because the trash can be difficult for an unprepared groups. There are 8 waves of fighters, a few of which (the Rifleman, Mage, and Footsoldier) that provide very little difficulty. But the Mercenary can hit extremely hard and the Priest has a heal and a fear. The enemies should be killed with this in mind, and can be bunched by breaking their line of sight in one of the alcoves.

Falric and Marwyn constitute the two bosses for the instance, and both are difficult but not hard. Falric has a stun and some hard shadow damage attacks. Marwyn has some really heavy damage attacks, including one that can effectively half your HP pool. The final “boss fight” is just an escape from the tower, killing off several waves of adds as quickly as possible so you can get past blockades. If your group comes in contact with Arthas (who is chasing you very, very slowly) you will wipe and have to start the event over.

Special Features:

The instance is available in normal and Heroic modes. Killing mobs in the instance will net you reputation with the Alliance or Horde Expedition if you run without a reputation tabard. Bringing the Battered Hilt into the instance starts an event in which Uther Lightbring warns you away from Frostmorne. The group then has to fight a possessed Quel’Delar, a relatively simple fight. Successfully defeating it furthers the owner’s quest to temper the sword.

Recommended for Levels: 80 (Normal)/80 (Heroic)

If you get used to it, Halls of Reflection is easily the best Wrath of the Lich King instance. The lore is great, with Arthas interacting with your group. The fights are fun and keep you on your toes (including a fun, but avoidable fight against your own group), and the boss fights aren’t too difficult.

It’s definitely worth a run-through, even today. The full story arc of the three Icecrown instances is among the best in the game, and Halls of Reflection is a worthy conclusion. The gear is even very good at level, and there’s a fair bit of XP to earn (though not as much as other, similarly leveled dungeons).