WoW Instances Overview

Instances are personal copies of the game world designed for 5 to 40 players (depending on the encounter). Players are able to gain signification rewards after you have completed instances, such as WoW currency (copper, silver and WoW gold), exclusive items and equipments. With a game as large as WoW it becomes extremely difficult to keep special encounters special. In the instance, with as many players online, there is just too much possible interface to even consider having some of the better loot drop from bosses out in the wild that can be stolen, exploited with numbers, got World of Warcraft gold with members and just not done in a unique and interesting way. That’s why most (but not all) special encounters are held within instances. Here we are going to talk about types of instances in WoW.

Types of Instances

Each instance type (group, raid, PvP) of instance has it's own set of special rules that makes it a little differnt/unique from the other types.

Group Instances (Blue Portals)
Group instances are defined as any dungeon that can be reset by a group or raids leader. These are instances designed to be run in a few hours and provide high quality loot (mostly Blue items, although Purple quality items are often available). They are available for most levels and during the leveling up process provide a wealth of additional XP and helpful gear for leveling up. In matter of fact, players are able to allow earn more benefits, like much WoW gold, infrequent items and experience (WoW power leveling) if you have made up a group to exploration.

They have few rules. The standard instance rules apply, meaning each group gets their own copy of the dungeon. However, it can be reset at anytime (only so many times in an hour though) by the group leader. Players are not bound to these instances and freely switch groups at their own will (however, going in and out of an instance portal too much times in a short period of time will set off an anti-farmer code).

If everyone in the group dies then the instance will hold up for a short amount of time with no one in it. That’s why it’s advisable to leave someone at their corpse to keep the instance open for everyone to safely return. It takes longer, but it’s much safer. If you hope your group will get easy victory and large of WoW rewards including WoW money, you’d better to protect your life very well.

Monsters in group instances rarely will respawn after being defeated. It’s generally safe to return to wherever you were at if you should fall and need to zone in (just walk your ghost through the instance portal if you die and need to come back). Some instances do have a few respawning enemies (and some enemies will respawn after an hour or so).

Raid Instances (Green Portals)
Raid instances are very similar to group instances but provide content for much more skilled players. More players can join raid dungeons as well (20-40 for most regular raid dungeons, 25 for The Burning Crusade raid dungeons) and the content is generally much harder then what is found within a group instance. These instances are also reset on a schedule and once a raid slays a boss then they are bound to that instance until it resets.

Most enemies (outside of bosses) will respawn inside of raid dungeons. Bosses will not respawn and neither will certain group of enemies after a boss dies. When certain bosses dies some enemies will even despawn after a certain amount of time.

PvP Battlegrounds (Red Portals)
Arathi Basin, Warsong Gulch, Alterac Valley, and Eye of the Storm are battlegrounds. These are war zones designed to host PvP battles but are also instanced like the dungeons found throughout the world. In World of Warcraft, most players want to do PvP because of players are possible to get better rewards (WoW gold, items and experience). Recently these have been made cross-realm, meaning that entering these instances may pit you against enemies (or ally you with friends) from other servers.

Preparing to Enter an Instance

You should be well prepared for when you travel in an instance. For instance, you cannot be summoned into an instance, making getting supplies very difficult. You should always stock up on food and water (unless a Mage is available and doesn’t mind making you some), reagents, bandages, consumables (potions, buff items, seasonal buff items), and anything else you may need within an instance. Therefore, you have to spend much World of Warcraft gold. If you hope to buy cheap WoW gold, welcome to our site—Vcsale! Once you start it becomes near impossible for you to track back to town.

You’ll also want any and all quests for inside the instance, even if you don’t plan on completing them (there is always a chance you will on the way through). Our nifty WoW Database should have plenty of information available on what quests are available (along with our instance guides).

Be sure to keep some free inventory space for loot and quest items. Make sure your group has got loot rules down before you enter as well (standard rules would be need before greed (don’t roll on something if you don’t need it), disenchant parts are randomed off, and no one can loot anything they can’t use). Check out our Etiquette Guide for some more etiquette tips!