Paed, Maanae, and Skykomish have just crossed the critical 52 mark, signifying access into the realm of endgame instances. Although with good babysitting, lower level characters can enter these instances, the minimum level is typically determined by how early you can acquire at least one of the quests that go along with the instance. Blackrock Depths (BRD) is considered the first of the real endgame instances, and a character must be 52 to unlock the quests.

Some of the other instances, and their minimums:
• [54] Dire Maul, East (DM)
• [55] Blackrock Spire, Lower (LBRS)
• [56] Dire Maul, West & North (DM)
• [56] Scholomance
• [58] Stratholme

But… back to BRD! The great thing about BRD, is it is great for the grinding of Thorium Brotherhood reputation, has several great drops, and due to its size and layout, areas can be done as desired, in a relatively non-linear order.

To take full advantage of BRD, there are some preliminary quests that should be acquired and pursued, but since you will likely want to do BRD several times, they are not a requirement for even your first visit. Keep in mind, since most of these are chains, they will not be sharable. You will (eventually) need 12 open quest slots… Don’t go out of your way to pick up quests, as others will have you go to the general area while they are chaining. For instance, don’t worry about getting #7 right away, as it will be something you can grab while doing #3…

1. Steamwheedle Port, Tanaris: Yorba Screwspigot: [53] Yuka Screwspigot (Burning Steppes).
2. Kargath, Badlands: Thunderheart: [52] Disharmony of Flame (Blackrock Mt).
3. Kargath, Badlands: Hierophant Theodora Mulvadania: [54] The Rise of the Machines (Burning Steppes).
4. Kargath, Badlands: Wanted Poster: [52] KILL ON SIGHT: Dark Iron Dwarves (BRD).
5. Kargath, Badlands: Vivian Lagrave: [55] Lost Thunderbrew Reciepe (BRD).
6. Kargath, Badlands: Lexlort: [58+] Grark Lorkrub (Burning Steppes).
7. The Cauldron, Searing Gorge: Kalaran Windblade: [48] The Flawless Flame (Searing Gorge).
8. Blackrock Mountain: Lothos Riftwaker: [60] Attunement to the Core (BRD).
9. Flame Crest, Burning Steppes: Maxwort Uberglint: [58] The Heart of the Mountain (BRD).
10. Blackrock Mountain: Franclorn Forgewright (must be ghost!): [52] Dark Iron Legacy (BRD).
11. Kargath, Badlands: Galamav the Marksman: [52] Commander Gor’Shak (BRD).
12. Grim Guzzler Tavern, BRD: Mistress Nagmara: [54] The Love Potion (BRD).

Then things start to chain… I won’t go into all the details about the chaining, but if you are interested, Dixi’s original post about all these quests, and their chains is available here.