WoWGrrl's World

The Occulus is a level 78+ dungeon instance found in the zone of Borean Tundra, up in the area marked as Coldarra on the map.

Below the Occulus is The Nexus, which is one of the level 68+ instances in Northrend that dungeon-running players will first run into in the new land.

Above it is the Eye of Eternity which is a raid instance for level 80s that features Malygos the dragon.

All in all, Coldarra tends to be a pretty rockin' place during the evening, with all of the Northrend players of various levels and skills and gearing heading into their various unique challenges that the instances present.

Doing The Occulus For The First Time

My Priest hit level 80 on December 6, so these pictures are a bit outdated as is the story if we were to compare it to reality, but I hope the information is fun and informative just the same.

The first time through Occulus for me was like the first time through most of the Northrend dungeon instances - confusing and weird, yet exciting.

While leveling up from 77 to 80 I befriended a Paladin who was tanking his way through quests and instances at the same rate I was, and we explored a number of the instances together for the first time.

This was good, because when the DPS players we'd pick up would appear nervous that none of us knew what to expect in the dungeon, I'm sure it re-assured them to see that neither the tank NOR the healer shared their nervous worry.

In fact, the both of us had a great attitude about it all - we knew we were geared and skilled well enough to handle whatever was put in front of us, and we laughed at the challenges and the multitude of ways that we could possibly die.

Rule #1 If You Don't Know A Dungeon Fight

When you're going into a fight you've never seen before and you don't know truly what to expect from it, here's a tip that I offered the DPS in our parties while we learned new instances:

If It Hurts, MOVE!

That's it.

If something's burning under your feet and it's hurting you, move.

If something's falling down from the ceiling on top of your head and hurting you, move.

If you've got an Arc Weld on you and it's not hurting you, don't move! It'll hurt you!

Practicing The Dragon Ride

The encounter against the final boss is clearly the most difficult portion of the instance for someone new to it.

While most of us are pretty proficient at going through dungeons when our opponents are laid out in front of us, around corners and behind doors, it's quite another thing to deal with opponents that are above and below us as well.

And of course, you're not just flying the pretty dragon to get from place to place, you're having to engage in battle, mid-air, and having to watch your own dragon's health to make your ride doesn't die beneath you.

If you haven't been into the Occulus yet, I recommend trying the Aces High! quest in Coldarra, outside of the instances, way up in the air. It's a daily quest you can do for practice.

Also, in Wyrmrest Temple there is another "fly the dragon, bomb stuff, fly evasive maneuvers" quest that earns you Wyrmest Accord reputation as well - look for the dailies there in Dragonblight!

Tips and Tricks For Healing The Occulus

This entry is long enough for now, but know that I'm putting together some information for healers in how to handle healing in the Occulus when you're new to the role.

Stay tuned, that'll be coming out soon!

I'll post about it on Twitter, so feel free to sign up and subscribe and become part of the MicroBlogging community! (link on the right side of this site)

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Related posts:

1. Practicing The Adventure of Malygos

Tagged as: eye of eternity, level 80 instances, malygos, the nexus, the occulus