World of Warcraft: Scholomance
Lore:
There was a giant mansion in Caer Darrow in the the Plaguelands. It was owned by the Barov family and featured a fairly large magic academy, probably one of the biggest outside of Dalaran. Then the Scourge came and wiped out the city, of course, all of that changed.
They ressurected Barov and left him and a Lich in charge of the place, but now it’s a school for members of the Cult of the Damned. A place where they can learn and practice necromancy in secret. Well…it would be a secret, except literally everybody knows what’s going on in there. And you’re supposed to go in and clean it out, of course.
Degree of Difficulty: Medium
Scholomance is a difficult instance to read. There are a TON of trash packs here, and most of them feature runners, so it’s a good bit of management. A good group, or a well geared group, will have no trouble breezing through the instance. One mistake or a poorly geared tank/healer though, and this place can take forever.
As for the bosses, they’re all pretty great gear checks for this level. Which is pretty worthless now with heirlooms, and the fact that you don’t need gear checks any more until you’re level 80. Still, there are some fun fights to be had here (including one where you get teleoported out of the boss room), and it’s worthwhile to do a clear to play through the different boss mechanics.
Special Features:
There’s a special boss that Paladins can summon as part of the Deathcharger quest. Warlocks also have a special quest in the labritory. If you’re doing the “Well Read” achievement, there are several books that can all be found clumped together in the library. Scholomance is the first truly locked instance, you need to quest to get the key to open the door, or have a rogue who can pick it. Alternately you can die in front of the door and resurect on the other side.
Recommended for Levels: 55-60
Scholomance is a well situated instance right at the cusp of Burning Crusade content, where players leveling through the LFD tool can get some decent gear before moving on to Outlands. But to a certain extent, it’s kind of a wasted instance at this point, because by the time you get through it and get the gear you need from here, it will be useless in a few days.
You’ll still want to do it because it’s a weirdly fun instance. Yes it’s a mess of rooms and corridors, which I hate. And there’s a really dumb “secret passage” mechanic halfway through that if you don’t know about will prevent you from finishing the instance. On the other hand, I’ve always been weirdly in love with Scholomance, and I think it’s a worhtwhile dungeon to do. Even if just for achievement whoring.