Hard mode is... hard.

All of the five man instances in the Outlands allow you to choose a difficulty level before zoning in: Normal or Hard. Lower 60's instances on hard mode get bumped up to level 70 difficulty. Instances that were already level 70 difficulty get bumped up to unrelenting assbeat mode.

Take Shadow Labyrinths, for example. The first boss, Ambassador Hellmaw, gets upgraded to a level 72 monster with a room-wide AE fear and Chromaggus' poison breath. At 67, you'd better have a bank full of +hit gear, if you want on this ride.



It was a painstakingly long fight, but we finally whittled him down and killed him. In a solid level 70 group, he would probably be a joke, but at 67 he's a challenge. Upgrading a tier 2 helm makes it worth the trouble though:



The Badge of Justice is a token used to purchase any of these items.

The second boss was a completely different story.



That's Blackheart the Inciter. Anyone want to take a guess why he's just standing there watching us, laughing? I guess I'd laugh too, if I were able to mind control five people at once and have them kill each other while I watched.