Oculus

The Oculus
The Oculus loading screen
Location	Coldarra, Borean Tundra
Race(s)	Blue dragonflight
End boss	Ley-Guardian Eregos
Instance info
Advised level	80
Player limit	5
Bosses
Drakos the Interrogator Varos Cloudstrider Mage-Lord Urom Ley-Guardian Eregos (lore) (lore) (lore) (lore) Other Nexus instances The Nexus (5) The Eye of Eternity (10/25)

The Nexus
The Nexus (5)
Commander Kolurg (heroic ) Commander Stoutbeard (heroic ) Grand Magus Telestra Anomalus Ormorok the Tree-Shaper Keristrasza
The Oculus (5)
Drakos the Interrogator Varos Cloudstrider Mage-Lord Urom Ley-Guardian Eregos
The Eye of Eternity (10/25)
Malygos

The Oculus bosses

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

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.

Geography

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

• Air elementals
• Arcane guardians
• Blood elves
• Blue dragon (one, Ley-Guardian Eregos)
• Blue dragonspawn
• Blue dragon whelps
• Blue drakes
• Blue drakonid (one, Varos Cloudstrider)
• Bronze dragon (one, Eternos)
• Bronze drakes
• Fire elementals
• Green dragon (one, Verdisa)
• Green drakes
• High elves
• Humans
• Mammoths
• Murlocs
• Naga
• Ogres
• Red dragon (one, Belgaristrasz)
• Red drakes
• Sparks
• Spiders (critters)
• Water elementals
• Wind serpents
• Wolves

Bosses

• Drakos the Interrogator
• Varos Cloudstrider
• Mage-Lord Urom
• Ley-Guardian Eregos

Encounters

Bosses	Monsters
Band of Variance Drakos the Interrogator	Azure Inquisitor Azure Ley-Whelp Azure Spellbinder
Band of Acceleration Varos Cloudstrider	Azure Ring Guardian Centrifuge Construct Ring-Lord Conjurer Ring-Lord Sorceress
Band of Transmutation Mage-Lord Urom	Phantasmal Air Phantasmal Cloudscraper Phantasmal Fire Phantasmal Mammoth Phantasmal Murloc Phantasmal Naga Phantasmal Ogre Phantasmal Water Phantasmal Wolf
Band of Alignment Ley-Guardian Eregos	Greater Ley-Whelp

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]^ω ϖ—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]^ω ϖ—Allows the Ruby Drake to generate Evasive Charges when hit by hostile attacks and spells. Instant. Passive.
•   [Evasive Maneuvers]^ω ϖ—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]^ω ϖ—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]^ω ϖ—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]^ω ϖ—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]^ω ϖ—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]^ω ϖ—Poisons the enemy dragon, leeching 1300 to the caster every 2 sec. for 12 sec. Stacks up to 3 times. Instant.
•   [Touch of Nightmare]^ω ϖ—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]^ω ϖ—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: The Oculus loot

Quests

The Nexus quests
	Quest Name	Quest Giver	Subzone
	[80] The Struggle Persists	Raelorasz	The Oculus
	[80] A Unified Front	Belgaristrasz	The Oculus
	[80] Mage-Lord Urom	Image of Belgaristrasz	The Oculus
	[80] A Wing and a Prayer	Image of Belgaristrasz	The Oculus
	[80] Timear Foresees Centrifuge Constructs in Your Future!	Archmage Timear	The Oculus (Daily)
	[80] Proof of Demise: Ley-Guardian Eregos	Archmage Lan'dalock	The Oculus (Heroic)

Achievements

Normal mode

•  The Oculus

Heroic mode

•  Heroic: The Oculus
•  Experienced Drake Rider
•  Make It Count
•  Amber Void
•  Emerald Void
•  Ruby Void

Media

Images

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

Normal mode

Heroic mode

Notes

• The use of flying combat and 3D space about halfway into the instance resulted in enough player confusion that it became one of the most infamous instances in the game, to the point Blizzard acknowledged the problems of players either leaving it out of dungeon queues or immediately dropping group when transported to it.^{[citation needed]}

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 (08-Dec-2009):
  • 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 (04-Aug-2009): 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.
  

External links

• Wowhead
• Thottbot
• WoWDB