Instance attunement

Instance attunement refers to the process of gaining permanent access to an instance. The term comes from one of the first of such quests created: Attunement to the Core. Many of the endgame instances originally required you to complete a quest or obtain a certain item to enter. This strategy has largely been phased out, although some instances (particularly select mythic dungeons) still require attunement.


 * For a detailed look at attunement to the non-Burning Crusade instances, see Instance attunement (Classic).
 * For a detailed look at attunement to the Burning Crusade instances, see Instance attunement (Burning Crusade).

Battle for Azeroth
Continuing with Legion's theme, Battle for Azeroth introduced two Mythic difficulty only dungeons that require personal attunements to access. The attunement requirements are different per faction. Patch 8.1.0 introduced Heroic modes for these dungeons that do not require an attunement to access.
 * Kings' Rest
 * Reach 7500/12000 with the 7th Legion and complete the Blood in the Water phase of the Alliance War Campaign.
 * Complete the achievement Zandalar Forever! (achievement).


 * Siege of Boralus
 * Complete the achievement The Pride of Kul Tiras.
 * Reach 7500/12000 with The Honorbound and complete the At the Bottom of the Sea phase of the Horde War Campaign.

Legion
The Legion expansion returned the concept of personal attunements to three Mythic-only dungeons in the form of lengthy quest-chains. Patch 7.2.0 introduced Heroic modes for these dungeons that do not require an attunement to access. These attunements were removed in Patch 7.3.0.
 * The Arcway & Court of Stars - Reach 8000/12000 Reputation with The Nightfallen and complete the quest Friends With Benefits (This requires significant questing with the Nightfallen faction).
 * Return to Karazhan - Complete the attunement quest-chain, starting with Edict of the God-King. This requires the player to complete the following four dungeons on Mythic difficulty: Halls of Valor, Black Rook Hold, Vault of the Wardens and Assault on Violet Hold.

Heroic mode keys
Previously, to enter the heroic mode version of an Outland instance you must have earned reputation status with a specific faction related to that instance. Once status is obtained, the keys can simply be purchased from that faction's quartermaster. The currently available instances and their respective factions are listed below. Please note that all party members must have a key to enter the instance in heroic mode.

Raids
There are presently no raid instances that require an attunement in World of Warcraft. However, many former raids previously required an attunement to enter.

Except for Karazhan and the Eye of Eternity, all raid members originally needed to become attuned to enter the following raid instances. Both Molten Core and previously Blackwing Lair provide attunement quests that allow the player to quickly travel to the raid entrance, but these are not required to enter the instances themselves.
 * Molten Core - No attunement required as of patch 5.4.0. Attunement quest is still available.
 * Onyxia's Lair No attunement required. Attunement quest removed in patch 3.0.2.
 * Blackwing Lair - No attunement required as of patch 5.4.0. Attunement quest removed in patch 6.0.2
 * Naxxramas Original Naxxramas removed in patch 3.0.2 (Revamped Naxxramas does not have an attunement). Attunement quests removed in patch 4.0.3.
 * Karazhan No attunement required as of patch 2.4.0. The former attunement questline was removed in patch 7.1.0.
 * Coilfang Reservoir: Serpentshrine Cavern No attunement required as of patch 2.1.2.
 * Tempest Keep: The Eye No attunement required as of patch 2.1.2.
 * Caverns of Time: Battle for Mount Hyjal No attunement required as of patch 2.4.
 * The Black Temple No attunement required as of patch 2.4, but the quest chain still exists.
 * The Eye of Eternity No attunement required as of patch 4.2.0.

Boss attunements
Certain raid and dungeon bosses could also be unlocked through certain player actions. For example, the last two bosses of Molten Core would only be accessible if at least seven raiders achieved reputation with the Hydraxian Waterlords, obtained a specific item from the Waterlords, and brought it with them to the raid. As future expansions are released, prior-expansion bosses are generally unlocked by default and are accessible regardless of party makeup.

Paradigm shift
For April Fool's 2007, Blizzard released a joke attunement page listing all of the impossible tasks that needed to be accomplished in order to enter the Black Temple. This has been taken in retrospect as foreshadowing the attunements' later removal and the fact that subsequent raids (starting with Sunwell Plateau) lacked the ridiculous attunement requirements that had been introduced for the original Burning Crusade content. Blizzard instead decided that it would be better to make content more accessible for everyone and to make the storyline quests optional for the players who want to do them.