Oculus
- For the drake, see Occulus.
| The Oculus | ||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
 The Oculus loading screen | ||||||||
| Location | Coldarra, Borean Tundra | |||||||
| Race(s) |
 Blue dragon | |||||||
| End boss |
 Ley-Guardian Eregos | |||||||
| Level | 20-30 | |||||||
| Player limit | 5 | |||||||
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The Oculus is a 5-man wing of the Nexus in Coldarra (a subregion of Borean Tundra in Northrend) designed for level 80 players. The Oculus is a tower of "magical rings" that float above the ground and the first instance to allow players the use of certain flying mounts. The gate of the oculus is located directly above the nexus gate, requiring the rampway to reach.
History
In response to the blue dragons' offensive, the Kirin Tor, the elite magi of Dalaran, have allied themselves with the red dragonflight, who are charged with the preservation of life. Their combined forces are subverting the blue Aspect's offensive, but time is running out. The only question that remains now is... can Malygos be stopped before his crusade reaches its cataclysmic finale?[1]
Now Malygos uses the Arcanomicon to locate and tap into the ley lines, diverting the magical powers that course beneath the earth to his home base in Northrend, the Nexus. Once harnessed, the energies are focused through the Nexus' ascending rings and blasted into the Twisting Nether. Malygos' redirection of the ley lines has carried disastrous consequences, however – splintering the world's crust and opening unstable rifts: tears in the very fabric of the magical dimension.
Legion
During the Burning Legion's third invasion, the ring and ground areas were invaded by the demons. The Tirisgarde led by their lead Conjuror, launched an attack in order to free Archmage Vargoth held prisoner here as well as get rid of the Legion. Their effort was successful, and they also captured Kathra'natir.[2]
Adventure Guide
In order to reestablish his dominance over magic, the blue Dragon Aspect, Malygos, has launched a ruthless campaign to sever the link between mortals and the arcane energies coursing through Azeroth. To this end, his blue dragonflight is redirecting the ley lines of the world to the Nexus, Malygos' towering lair.
Geography
Band of Variance
Band of Acceleration
Band of Transmutation
Band of Alignment
Subregions
| Band of Acceleration · Band of Alignment · Band of Transmutation · Band of Variance |
Entering
The entrance to the Oculus is located one level above the Nexus portal in Coldarra. Players must be at least level 75 to enter.
Dungeon denizens
Arcane guardians
Blood elves
Blue dragon (one, Ley-Guardian Eregos)
Azure dragonspawn
Azure dragon whelps
Azure drakes
Blue drakonid (one, Varos Cloudstrider)
Bronze dragon (one, Eternos)
Bronze drakes
Green dragon (one, Verdisa)
Green drakes
High elves
Humans
Red dragon (one, Belgaristrasz)
Red drakes
Sparks
Bosses
Encounters
| Bosses | Monsters |
|---|---|
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Band of Variance |
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Band of Acceleration |
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Band of Transmutation |
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Band of Alignment |
Flying combat
Players start by fighting around the rings and then teleport up a short distance in order to choose a drake. These drakes allow you to fight in the air while progressing through the instance. There are three different drakes, each with its own special abilities. Which drake you choose is independent of your character, for example: a healer may choose to use a tanking drake.
- Ruby Drake - Tank. Summoned by [Ruby Essence].
Searing Wrath — Breathes a stream of fire at an enemy dragon, dealing 6800 to 9200 Fire damage and then jumping to additional dragons within 30 yards. Each jump increases the damage by 50%. Affects up to 5 total targets. Instant.
Evasive Aura — Allows the Ruby Drake to generate Evasive Charges when hit by hostile attacks and spells. Instant. Passive.
Evasive Maneuvers — Allows your drake to dodge all incoming attacks and spells. Requires Evasive Charges to use. Each attack or spell dodged while this ability is active burns one Evasive Charge. Lasts 30 sec. or until all charges are exhausted. Instant. 5 second cooldown.
Martyr — Redirect all harmful spells cast at friendly drakes to yourself for 10 sec. Instant. 10 second cooldown. This ability is only available during the final boss encounter.
- Amber Drake - DPS. Summoned by [Amber Essence].
Shock Lance — Deals 4822 to 5602 Arcane damage and detonates all Shock Charges on an enemy dragon. Damage is increased by 6525 for each detonated. Instant.
Stop Time — Halts the passage of time, freezing all enemy dragons in place for 10 sec. This attack applies 5 Shock Charges to each affected target. Instant. 1 minute cooldown
Temporal Rift — Channels a temporal rift on an enemy dragon for 10 sec. While trapped in the rift, all damage done to the target is increased by 100%. In addition, for every 15,000 damage done to a target affected by Temporal Rift, 1 Shock Charge is generated. Channeled. This ability is only available during the final boss encounter.
- Emerald Drake - Healer. Summoned by [Emerald Essence].
Leeching Poison — Poisons the enemy dragon, leeching 1300 to the caster every 2 sec. for 12 sec. Stacks up to 3 times. Instant.
Touch of Nightmare — Consumes 30% of the caster's max health to inflict 25,000 nature damage to an enemy dragon and reduce the damage it deals by 25% for 30 sec. Instant. 10 second cooldown.
Dream Funnel — Transfers 5% of the caster's max health to a friendly drake every second for 10 seconds as long as the caster channels. Channeled. This ability is only available during the final boss encounter.
Loot
- Main article: Oculus loot
Quests
 The Nexus quests
| |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Quest name | Quest giver | Subzone | |
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 [20-30D] The Struggle Persists
|
 Raelorasz
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The Oculus |
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[20-30D] A Unified Front
|
Belgaristrasz
|
The Oculus |
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[20-30D] Mage-Lord Urom
|
Image of Belgaristrasz
|
The Oculus |
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[20-30D] A Wing and a Prayer
|
Image of Belgaristrasz
|
The Oculus |
Achievements
[The Oculus]
[Heroic: The Oculus]- [Heroic: The Oculus Guild Run]
[Experienced Drake Rider]
[Make It Count]
[Amber Void]
[Emerald Void]
[Ruby Void]
Trivia
- Oculus has in general seen low popularity in the WoW playerbase. During Wrath of the Lich King, when the Oculus' Heroic version was part of WoW's endgame content, it was not uncommon for players to immediately leave Random Heroic Dungeon Finder groups if being sent there despite the
[Dungeon Deserter] debuff. The lack of appeal stemmed from the Oculus' novel design of having players move and partially fight by using dragon vehicles - an approach many players found confusing and awkward - as well as the dungeon's confusing aerial layout. Not helping was the fact that 
Ruby Void, Emerald Void, and Amber Void are mutually exclusive per run. In 2010, a hotfix attempted to make Oculus more inviting by doubling the Random Dungeon reward players would get when completing it. This is why the 
[Cache of the Ley-Guardian] exists.
Gallery
The Oculus concept artwork.
Design layout from Blizzard Worldwide Invitational.
The Oculus artwork.
The Amber Drake used in Oculus
The Emerald Drake used in Oculus
The Ruby Drake used in Oculus
Oculus
Videos
Patch changes
Hotfix (2010-01-05): To encourage players not to shy away from the many invigorating adventures to be had in The Oculus, we will apply a change to enhance the rewards players are provided when selected for this dungeon via the Random Heroic option in the Dungeon Finder. Once Ley-Guardian Eregos is defeated, one loot bag per character will be provided in his chest in addition to the current rewards. Each loot bag will offer players rare gems, two additional Emblems of Triumph, and a chance of being rewarded the [Reins of the Blue Drake]. These fine treasures could be yours should you honor your fellow party members by besting the challenges contained within The Oculus! Keep in mind, however, that these extra loot bags will only be awarded to each party member if Oculus is selected by the Dungeon Finder when players choose the Random Heroic option. In light of this change, the 
[Reins of the Azure Drake] will have a chance of dropping in both 10- and 25-player versions of The Eye of Eternity. - Patch 3.3.0 (2009-12-08):
- Azure Ring Guardians aggro distance changed from 50 to 40 yards.
- Many bosses and creatures have had their total health reduced.
- Several bosses and creatures have had cooldowns on specific abilities increased, effect durations reduced, and damage on some of these abilities reduced.
- Ring-Lord Conjurers and Sorceresses now hang out in packs of 4 instead of packs of 5.
- Vehicle scaling on the drakes based on the rider's item level has been increased to make them more powerful.
- Patch 3.2.0 (2009-08-04): Drakes used by players in The Oculus and The Eye of Eternity will now scale in health and damage according to the rider's average item level.
- Patch 3.0.2 (2008-10-14): Added.
References
- ^ [1]
- ^
[45] Into the Oculus
External links
| Oculus | Oculus entrance | Mage scenario |
|---|---|---|
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