Quote Originally Posted by 'echo',index.php?page=Thread&postID=167979#post167 979
1) how long did it take you to level with rested on average? 3 runs? 4? 5? how long per run? any wotlk instance better for grinding in than others? (like the bf recommendation for TBC earlier in this thread)

Oh, it'll take longer than just 5 runs of anything at any point. I don't know exactly how many runs of a given instance it would take. By "run", you may also change that to mean the path you are intending to clear, not necessarily a full clear. I would often bop into an instance, kill 1-2 bosses, then reset and keep on going. The goal was really getting the blue dungeon drops my characters needed, not completing the dungeon. I killed Maiden of Sorrow in Halls of Stone 26 times to get cloaks for my hunters, but only did the whole instance 8 times. Here are some good grind-out-XP instances for my team in WotLK:

Nexus (I like this better than Utgarde Keep, personally. UK isn't necessarily bad, though)
Drak'tharon
Gundrak
Halls of Stone

Nexus has loops that make it easy to clear and exit in a hurry. I generally skipped last boss. Gundrak and HoS are similar in that they are non-linear. I farmed Nexus until 74-75, Drak'tharon until around 77, and used Gundrak and Halls of Stone for 77-80. Use Wowhead to find good blue drops for your team and concentrate on the instances that drop them.



Quote Originally Posted by 'echo',index.php?page=Thread&postID=167979#post167 979
2) you said ease of the run varies with group makeup (obviously) in your experience, if you can make up a dream team for instance running, what would you recommend?
That's a hard question to answer without knowing your eventual goals. Healer+4xHunters is a breeze to run instances with for leveling, but then it hits a bit of a hard wall for doing Heroics. If heroics is your goal then you probably would prefer a bona fide Tank+Healer+DPS setup. If heroics is your goal, yet you still want to PvP with some/all of your team, then it's hard to go wrong with a 4xShaman+Tank setup. 5xDruids is very flexible as well, and is starting to get some attention in the community. If all you want to do is Heroics and no PvP, you might get maximum class synergy out of a Pally+Shaman+Mage+Warlock+Boomkin setup (or any number of other synergistic ranged DPS setups).

Gotta know your eventual PvE and PvP goals before I can really recommend anything.