n instance is a personal copy of the dungeon for you and your party. The only players in this instance will be yourself and members of your party - no one else can enter your dungeon instance. Instances allow you and a group of friends to have a more personal experience exploring, adventuring, or completing quests in your own private dungeon. The monsters in instance zones are typically more powerful, so groups of players will have to work together to defeat them, but with greater dangers come greater rewards!

Example:

Party 1 enters Razorfen Downs, an instance dungeon. They enter copy A of the dungeon. Party 2 comes along 20 minutes later and enters Razorfen Downs. They enter copy B of the dungeon, their own version. They do not come in contact with party 1, except perhaps if they both meet outside the instance. Party 3 comes along an hour later. They enter copy C of the dungeon.

Player 1 and Player 2 together outside an Instance
Player 1 inside Instance A		Player 2 inside Instance B

Player 1 outside the Instance

Player 1 and Player 2 outside the Instance

Player 1 and Player 2 inside Instance C

Further groups can come along and enter their own copies (example: D, E, F) of the dungeon at any time without having any effect on each other. Thus, everyone gets to benefit from a dungeon experience rather than having to take turns for the same monsters.

The Scarlet Monastery

Instance Portals

Blue Instance Portal: Group
Green Instance Portal: Raid
Red Instance Portal: PvP Battlezone

Heroic Difficulty

New dungeons introduced with The Burning Crusade have two difficulty options; normal and heroic difficulty. In order to unlock the heroic level of a dungeon, players will need to be level 70 and achieve other objectives. While the challenge at heroic difficulty is much greater, the rewards also scale up accordingly.

Heroic difficulty instances end bosses will always drop an epic item, in addition all bosses in Heroic difficulty instances will have a chance to drop an epic gem!

Additional Information

	When a player logs out in an instance dungeon and that instance resets, the player will be moved to the zone-in area they used to enter the dungeon.
	Many instances are linked to Elite Quests. Try to activate as many related quests as possible before entering the Instance Area.

Common Questions

Loading Screen

How can I Identify an Instance Area?
You can recognize an instance area by the swirling portals of energy. If you pass through these doors you will see a loading screen.

What if someone is in copy A and wants to be in copy B?
They must leave their first group and then exit the instance. The group in copy B must then invite that person outside the instance. The person can then "zone in" (enter) the instance and be in copy B.

How do I get a new copy of an instance when I'm done playing in my current one?
First, leave the current instance. The party leader has a right-click option from their own portrait (where you select the loot UI preference) that is "Reset all Instances". If this is selected all non-raid instances will be reset for the party.

What happens if I die? How do I get my body back?
When a player enters the instance as a ghost, they return to their body at the portal itself and not where they died.

Do the monsters respawn?
Generally, all non-boss monsters respawn after a certain time. In some cases, only some of the monsters respawn.