All About Heroic Mode Instance Difficulty

You may hear the term “Heroic” mentioned a lot, but not always in the context of someone’s heroic deeds. It’s not always used in reference to someone’s actions, but can also be used in reference to a difficulty setting for most 5-man instances in Outland. Heroic mode (also known as Heroic Difficulty or Heroic Instances) is a difficulty setting available on 5-man instances that increase both the difficulty of the instance and the quality of loot received.

Heroic instances are always tougher, although there is a sense of progression here (some heroic instances are easier then others). The rewards are, of course, much better including the ability to get purple items. They still only require 5 players and generally don’t take that much time to complete assuming you’re able to handle the encounters well. It may be rocky at first, but once you have an instance down it becomes a breeze to run. If you're doing it for the first time then expect it to take a little bit longer. The difficulty is tuned for level 70s who are decently equipped, so be sure to be ready before entering!

Heroic bosses all drop Badges of Justice which can be turned in for Epic quality (that’s purple) Weapons, Offhands, Shields, Rings, Trinkets, Cloaks, and a few other things available from G’eras in Shattrath City (in the Terrance of Light). An example of the loot upgrade would be Kalithresh’s Beast Lord Leggings (Mail Pants: 30 Agility, 25 Stamina, 19 Intellect, 52 Attack Power, 7 mana per 5 sec) as normal loot and Pontifex Kilt (Cloth Pants: 22 Stamina, 27 Intellect, 24 Spirit, 3 gem slots, 59 healing). Not that big a different stat wise but it does have 3 gem slots making it way superior!

Not only that, but most heroic bosses drop rather rare gems (see our Jewel/Gem list) that can be used in the very nice armor you get from heroic instances. I wouldn't use any gem found in a heroic instance unless you were sure that armor piece was sticking with you for awhile.

To use a heroic instance you simply have to get revered with the appropriate faction. Once you become revered with them you can begin buying keys in order to enter the instances. Everyone in the party MUST have the key so everyone has to be revered in order to advance. The key works for everything in that instance group, so say Honor Hold’s key will work for all 3 5-man instances in Hellfire Citadel. The factions are:

Hellfire Citadel: Thrallmar & Honor Hold
Aucindoun: Lower City
Coilfang Reservoir: Cenarion Expedition
Tempest Keep: The Sh’tar
Caverns of Time: Keepers of Time

To switch an instance from normal to heroic, the party leader simply right clicks their user portrait at the top and adjusts the setting. Heroic instances ARE on a timer. They reset every day at 9 a.m. PST. That means you can only run each instance once per day. There are tons of instances with Heroic settings though!

Stay tuned as we expand this guide to include specific information on the changes from regular to heroic difficulty!

Ten Ton Hammer's Heroic Instance Guides:

Hellfire Citadel

Comments or questions? Email us (Xerin@TenTonHammer.com) or post on our forums!