The Haunted Mansion Returns: Karazhan Dungeon Walkthrough

It’s nearing Halloween and everyone’s favorite haunted mansion raid has gotten a facelift. Starting October 25th, World of Warcraft veterans and noobs alike dived back into the tower of the guardian.

The art, the music, and the feeling Karazhan inspires has a special place in the memory of Burning Crusade players. As soon as Blizzard announced the old hollow tower was finally going to be made into a raid players were excited.

Medivh’s story is a major part of the old wars and he was due for his time in Wow’s limelight. The haunted mansion theme was in other parts of the game, but not on this level. Karazhan dwarfed Scholomance in size and story value.

Players now may only know Karazhan as a weekly raid to get transmog gear, but those of us from the old days remember most of it fondly.

You enter the new mythic dungeon through the old Karazhan side entrance and begin by working your way down toward the opera event. Blizzard has added new stories, including beauty and the beast. The best part: you run into the old actors from the original opera event backstage. Players are able to speak with them and get a few silly reminders of the old raid. My favorite is the big bad wolf. You can pester him into saying his famous line, “Run away little girl.”

You continue on to the maiden of virtue. Like the other bosses, she’s been revamped for 5 players. After this battle you see the first of a few interesting cut scenes in the dungeon.

The next boss is Medivh’s butler Moroes. On the way to him you’ll spot ghostbusting gnomes that leave behind lootable traps.They help you lock down his new guests and make victory possible.

Attumen the Huntsman. He starts the fight mounted on his steed Midknight. From there you end up making your way to the Curator. Killing him prompts another cutscene and a portal.

The portal leads to the Guardian’s library. Spoiler warning: it is upside down. You climb through the inverted architecture while fighting legion invaders. Your path takes you to the shade of Medivh. During that battle, he brings out a crowd favorite: Some old Kara raiders will remember the Flame Wreath song. It’s exactly like the original. If you move out of the circle, the raid(party) blows up.

After you slay Medivh’s shade you fall into a large hall; only to realize it’s not the hall that’s large. Players are shrunk to the size of a small mouse, and must climb down a pile of tomes and clear a floor filled with spiders, rats, and enchanted tomes. You come upon a huge chest, but can’t reach the latch to open it. As you explore, you run into a massive mana worm. These harmless creatures from the Blood Elf starting zone are powerful when you’re 4 inches tall. After killing it, you regain your size and can open the chest. This unlocks another cutscene.

Players continue on into a room with a massive globe of Azeroth and several minor globes around it. They leave through a twisted corridor that leads to a revamped chess event. It’s not a boss, but there’s a chance of obtaining replica armor from the original event. Finally, players run into Khadgar and Medivh at the back of the room and step through a second portal.

I won’t tell you what happens next because of how cool it is. I recommend you wait until you run the dungeon yourself. As a veteran, I thoroughly enjoyed the new instance and its length was a solid throwback to the old raid. It was rampant with nostalgic creatures and places, but wasn’t boring. I look forward to the next place Blizzard decides to revamp. They’ve definitely got the formula right. Gather up a group of your friends and go pay Karazhan a visit! Happy Hallows end!