The level 80 pre-made characters come decked out in full level 80 beginner PvP gear - clearly meant to help beta testers work out the kinks in PvP at the new level cap. Naturally, this meant that the best thing to do was to check out some of the new dungeons, of course! So after a few minutes of looking for a group in the trade channel, I'd formed a party for the Halls of Stone in Ulduar.
Well, okay, the Halls of Stone isn't a level 80 wing; it's meant for players around level 77-78. So there wasn't much of a question that we'd blow through it, even in gear that wasn't quite optimal for PvE. At the time, the Storm Peaks still hadn't been opened up for players to explore, so the only way to test the Ulduar instances was through magical teleporting NPCs in the center of Dalaran. Still, even though I knew I wouldn't be getting the complete, authentic Halls of Stone experience, I was confident that I'd still have a good time.
As it turns out? I was pretty damn right. The Halls of Stone is, hands-down, one of the coolest experiences I've had yet in this game. I must confess, I'm quite a fan of the lore and mythology behind the Titans and their shaping of Azeroth, and it doesn't hurt that all the Ulduar instances are practically dripping with the stuff (as one might expect). Even so, I'd been expecting a loregasm or two - but I wasn't expecting to be awed the very moment I stepped foot inside the instance.
Visually, the Halls of Stone just has a remarkable aura of ... well, I'm not even sure how to phrase it. It feels powerful, it feels mystical, it feels absolutely ancient and, to use a terribly overexposed term, it feels simply epic. As much of a headache as Uldaman was back in the day, the feeling I first got when I walked into the room with dozens of statues lining the walls and Archaedas looming in the center has really been unmatched in this game. It was a sense of "Whoa, this is far more ancient and more significant than I have any right to be dealing with," and the Halls of Stone echoes that sensation perfectly.
It feels like you're Zefram Cochrane in Star Trek: First Contact when he first meets the Vulcans at the end of the film. Simply put? It feels like you're way, way out of your league. Now that I think about it, maybe a better comparison would be the Monolith in 2001 ... but I think I'm getting a bit off-topic, here.
Like the Monolith, the Halls of Stone are "full of stars." From spectral statues of Trolls and Night Elves lining the walls to translucent curtains to seemingly bottomless pits, there are little sparkles of light all throughout the dungeon. To be quite honest, I could run my mouth all day about how fantastic the visual direction is in this instance, but it wouldn't even do it justice.
The instance itself is pretty cool, though I can't think of anything that really stands out in my mind when it comes to trash mobs. As predicted, level 80 premades tore through this place without breaking a sweat. The first two bosses were fun, though nothing really extraordinary. The Maiden of Grief, like her virtuous little sister in Karazhan, will periodically incapacitate the entire party. However, she'll also spawn areas that do damage if you stand in them (like half of the bosses in this game post-BC), so if you can time it properly, it's actually helpful to stand in these things right before the incapacitate hits, as the damage will break it early.
The second boss, Krystallus, is a giant Crystal, uh, Giant. It's interesting to note that in the tunnels leading up to him, the Iron Dwarves seem to actually be excavating more giants out of the walls, which makes me wonder if that's how they're created in the first place. It makes some sense when you think about it, really. Do giants even have biologically different sexes, anyway? I haven't got the faintest idea.
If the Maiden of Grief fights like the Maiden of Virtue, Krystallus fights like Gruul. He hits hard (understandable, given his size), and will periodically do the same exact "bounce and Shatter" that the Dragonkiller does. Of course, it's much easier to avoid getting hurt when you only have four other people to dodge instead of twenty-four.
En route to the third boss, however, is where the instance really kicks in to high gear (it's worth mentioning that these three bosses can be done in any order; this is just the order in which I chose to list them.) After clearing a handful of trash mobs, the party will come face-to-face with Dwarf Explorer Extraordinare, Brann Bronzebeard - as well as a pair of Earthen guards, but let's be honest: nobody cares about them.
While Brann's been involved in the WoW story in the past (most notably during the Ahn'Qiraj storyline), this marks the first time players get to meet him in the proverbial flesh. It's also worth noting that since it's been hinted that Muradin actually survived his encounter with Frostmourne, all three of the Brothers Bronzebeard may well play some role in Wrath of the Lich King.
With the timely arrival of a group of five clearly-badass adventurers, Brann decides that it's time to get moving and head deeper into the Halls of Stone ... and the Titan lore comes right back into play like a ton of bricks. Titanic bricks, even. For most of the way, this is your standard escort scenario, though Brann seems more than capable of holding his own in a fight, which is always nice.
