Lore:</>

Al’Akir is pretty freaking excited to have a portal to Azeroth again, and so he’s sending all his lieutenants ahead of him to clear things out for his manifestation in the mortal plane. We’ve already seen his goons already at the Vortex Pinnacle.

But the heart of his forces were already through there and setting up a fortress for their master in an ancient and heretofore abandoned city in Uldum. It’s from here that his lieutenant Siamat prepares to…sit around and wait for his master to hurry the hell out of the Skywall already.

Degree of Difficulty: Medium

The trash in the Lost city is not particularly difficult at all. If you are able to CC the healers and mages from packs of Tol’vir scattered around, by all means do it, but you shouldn’t have any serious issues if your group is at least competent in their pulls.

The bosses, if you aren’t ready for them, can be tricky. General Husam has a charge and a lot of AoE including easily avoidable bombs that explode periodically and a shockwave that goes out from him in the four compass directions. Lockmaw and Augh are optional bosses. After a simple fight with the Pygmy Augh, you fight off the crocolisk Lockmaw who has a tail flail, a bleed that summons a bunch of adds, an enrage and a poison. Augh returns after that fight, a simple tank and spank with a short range AoE (that briefly reduces threat), an easily avoidable spin attack, and a light poison attack. High Prophet Barim is a Tol’vir and what can be a difficult fight, he has a chain attack, and sends the party into a “spirit world” where you have to DPS down a mob before the DoT damage kills you. In heroic, an additional fire mob is added to the fight.

Finally, Siamat appears just a short jump up to the rooftop above the city (where you started your Uldum quests). In the first phase, you can’t damage Siamat, so you just clear out the adds he summons while the tank holds his aggro. Killing Servants of Siamat will eventually take down this protection, but also creates damaging zones around their bodies. Once you’ve killed three of the Servants, you will get tossed around the platform briefly, and then the fight becomes fairly simple.

Special Features:

Using a Tol’vir Hieroglyphic Item on the gravestone at the beginning of the instance will provide a 10% boost to damage against Neferset in the instance. Completing this dungeon grants reputation based on the tabard equipped.

Recommended for Levels: 84 (Normal)/85 (Heroic)

While the bosses themselves can prove to be difficult for many groups, this is not a typical Cataclysm “raid training” dungeon. The fights feature mechanics which are similar to raid mechanics (Barim’s phases, Siamat’s shield) but aren’t really analogous to anything you’ll face in this cycles’ raids.

That said, it’s a fast moving instance that decent groups should be able to tackle in good time, which is good for people running LFDs and quick runs during the transition from 84-85. Also, the gear is decent for that gap from regulars into heroics. So as a filler dungeon or for speed runs, it’s worth running.

Lore:</>

The Temple of Earth is nestled safely in the Realm of Earth underneath the…well, let’s just say “underneath Azeroth” ok? It houses the Stone Core, the center of the center of Azeroth.

Until recently, the Stonecore was the home of Deathwing. Pretty good spot to look around if you’re trying to kill him, eh? Unfortunately, his servants have taken up residence there and are trying to take over the Earthen Plane. So it’s not a bad idea to get in there and clean them out.

Degree of Difficulty: Medium

Handled one group at a time, the Stonecore’s mobs aren’t that difficult. Take control of the Flayers and Rock Borers and keep control of the crowds you’re fighting and you’ll be fine.

The bosses, however, ramp the difficulty up significantly. Corborus is a giant gyreworm. He launches crystals at the ground which you can dodge, he burrows between two phases, and in heroic and he fires off a bunch of adds which explode doing around 20k damage. Slabhide is a stone drake who drops lava pools and stalactites which you need to hide behind during his massive AoE attack in heroic. Ozruk is a Stone Giant with a knockback, a paralyze attack, and a shatter attack that does massive damage if you don’t move out of the area in time. High Priestess Azil, by comparison, is fairly easy. She drops gravity wells which the party should avoid except to kite adds through, throws boulders, and has a slam attack.

Special Features:

Using a Dwarven Runestone Item on the pillar at the beginning of the instance will provide a 5% reduction in physical damage. Completing this dungeon grants reputation based on the tabard equipped. Slabhide drops a stone drake mount, the Reins of the Virteous Stone Drake

Recommended for Levels: 82 (Normal)/85 (Heroic)

Another training dungeon with a lot of things going on that you have to be paying attention to deal with. The drake fight features a lot of the hiding and AoE that Blizzard loves to do with Raid bosses. Ozruk, similarly, involves a lot of coordination between healers, DPS and tanks, good training for those getting ready for raiding.

It’s worth doing a few times just to familiarize yourself with the tricks (though Corborus is just a jerk and that has nothing to do with learning anything). And of course, there’s the drake mount that you might want to get, which is reason enough to keep you coming back to the Stonecore several times.