Blackrock Depths

Lord of the Fire Elementals and servant to the Old Gods, Ragnaros has enlisted the entire dark Iron population of Blackrock to serve his needs, creating life from fire and stone in the hopes of conquering Azeroth and ousting Nefarian of the black dragonflight from the Blackrock Spire.

• Levels 52-58
• Nearest flight point: Flame Crest (Burning Steppes)
• Nearest inn: Kargath (Badlands)
• Quests from: Badlands, Searing Gorge, Burning Steppes

Overview

Unlike the dungeons of Outland, in which the various wings of Hellfire Citadel and Coilfang Reservoir form separate instances, Blackrock Depths is notorious for combining two 3-hour long sorties into one area, separated only by an intricate set of locked doors. This Dark Iron Dwarf city is a quite legendary ‘endgame’ experience, combining gruelling 6-man mobs with some tricky class combinations and a slew of impressive bosses. It is also the site of struggle on a literally titanic scale:

Around three hundred years ago the ambitious and ruthless Dark Iron clan initiated a war against their dwarven brethren, the Bronzebeard clan and Wildhammer clan. During this, the War of the Three Hammers, Thaurissan of the Dark Iron lay siege to the Wildhammers’ capital city of Grim Batol and destroyed it. This victory encouraged the Wildhammers and Bronzebeards to unite against the Dark Irons, and the two were ultimately able to push them back to their city, named for their leader. Thaurissan, seeking to summon a supernatural minion that would turn the tide of the war back to his favor, called upon the ancient powers sleeping beneath the world. To Thaurissan’s surprise, and ultimately his doom, the creature that emerged was more terrible than any nightmare he could have imagined.

Ragnaros, fire elemental servant to the Old Gods and a banished prisoner of war with the Titans, was reborn into Azeroth. Thaurissan’s call shattered the Redridge Mountains, creating a raging volcano at the center of the devastation. The volcano, known as Blackrock Mountain, stood high above what are now the Burning Steppes and Searing Gorge. Thaurissan was killed by the forces he had unleashed, leaving his surviving Dark Iron clan brethren enslaved by Ragnaros and his elementals. Many Dark Iron dwarves remain within the lower areas of the mountain, especially Blackrock Depths, toiling away at the behest of Ragnaros and the Firelord’s lieutenants.

~ Edited from WoWwiki

Quests

Blackrock is the site of many quests, and the majority do give us clues as to the dungeon’s pacing. A complete list is given below, purely for reference. A more detailed guide as to the various stages of the dungeon will follow.

Quests which require work or a hand-in inside the instance are labelled in purple.

• The Apothecarium, Undercity: Vivian Lagrave
  Report to Vivian Lagrave at Kargath.
  • Kargath, Badlands: Lost Thunderbrew Recipe
    Steal this most intriguing recipe from Hurley Blackbreath.
• Kargath, Badlands: Disharmony of Flame
  Slay Overmaster Pyron of the slaving quarries.
  • Kargath, Badlands: Disharmony of Fire
    Slay Lord Incendious, guardian of the Dark Anvil.
  • Kargath, Badlands: The Last Element
    Gather 10 Essences of the Elements from the golem smithies.
  • Kargath, Badlands: Commander Gor’shak
    Find Gor’shak of the Kargath Expeditionary Force, held prisoner within Blackrock.
  • • Blackrock Depths: What is Going On?
      Defend Gor’shak, then speak to Kharan in another cell.
  • • Blackrock Depths: The Eastern Kingdoms
      Speak to Thrall.
  • • Grommash Hold, Orgrimmar: The Royal Rescue
      Slay Emperor Thaurissan and rescue his hostage, returning to Thrall afterwards.
• Kargath, Badlands: KILL ON SIGHT: Dark Iron Dwarves
  Kill the dwarves guarding the Ring of Law and prison cells.
  • Kargath, Badlands: KILL ON SIGHT: High Ranking Dark Iron Officials
    Cull the dwarves patrolling the Highway.
  • • Kargath, Badlands: Gark Lorkrub
      Find Gark Lorkrub in the Burning Steppes.
  • • Blackrock Stronghold, Burning Steppes: Precarious Predicament
      Escort the prisoner.
  • • Kargath, Badlands: Death to Angerforge
      Slay General Angerforge.
• Kargath, Badlands: Rise of the Machines
  Gather Fractured Elemental Shards from golems and elementals in the Burning Steppes. The shards will then need to be shown to Lotwil, the gnome practising outside Kargath.
  • Badlands: Rise of the Machines (III)
    Slay Golem Lord Argelmach.
• Blackrock Mountain: Dark Iron Legacy
  Speak to the ghost of Franclorn Forgewright. This must be done while dead, and it is a 2-part quest so as to avoid sharing it. Forgewright asks you to slay Fineous Darkvire and recover Ironfel, after which you will receive the key to Blackrock’s second half.
• Blackrock Mountain: Attunement to the Core
  Retrieve part of the Molten Core from within this instance, in order to unlock the raid beyond.
• The Grim Guzzler, Blackrock Depths: The Love Potion
  Bring 4 Gromsblood, 10 Veins from the giants wandering Azshara and a vial filled with Golakka Spring Water from Un’Goro Crater to Nagmara, the succubus waitress.
• Summoners’ Tomb, Blackrock Depths: The Spectral Chalice
  Deposit 20 Gold Bars, 10 Truesilver Bars and 2 Star Rubies in Gloom’rel’s chalice in order to learn how to smelt Dark Iron.
• Steamwheedle Port, Tanaris: Yuka Screwspigot
  Report to the Screwspigot sister in the Burning Steppes.
  • Flame Crest, Burning Steppes: Ribbly Screwspigot
    Bring Ribbly home from the Grim Guzzler, in one piece or otherwise.
• Flame Crest, Burning Steppes: The Heart of the Mountain
  Steal the Heart of the Mountain from the Dark Irons’ vaults.
• Searing Gorge: Divine Retribution
  Listen to Kalaran’s story. Kalaran is stood just south-east of Thorium Point. This quest begins a chain in which you will gather elemental and golem parts, steal daggers from the Dark Iron dwarves and an icon from Ragnaros’ followers, as a means of forging a torch with which to burn the Dark Irons out of Searing Gorge.
  • Slither Rock, Burning Steppes: A Taste of Flame
    Show Cyrus the Black Dragonflight Molt. You can accept part of this quest before starting Searing Gorge, but the hand-in conditions are the same regardless.
  • • Slither Rock, Burning Steppes: A Taste of Flame (III)
      Slay Bael’gar and cast the molt over his remains.

Pre-requisites

Before you and your party make an attempt on Blackrock Depths, it would be a good idea to gather and complete the following quests. There are also optional reporting quests from Undercity’s Apothecarium and Steamwheedle Port in Tanaris.

Solo quests include:

• Kargath, Badlands: Rise of the Machines in Burning Steppes
• Searing Gorge: Divine Retribution chain in Searing Gorge
  • Slither Point, Burning Steppes: A Taste of Flame as the start of a new chain

You will have to form at least a reduced party in order to complete the following, or you can fit them into a prequel run, ‘hearthing’ to Kargath for hand-ins before running back in:

• Kargath, Badlands: Disharmony of Flame [group] in Blackrock Mountain
• Kargath, Badlands: KILL ON SIGHT: Dark Iron Dwarves [dungeon] around the Detention Block.

Part One

The first attack on Blackrock takes in the southern half of the complex, from the detention block to the highway on which Bael’gar resides. You’ll find that any further progress is blocked by the Shadowforge Dam, locked by the Shadowforge Key. Although a blacksmith, engineer or rogue armed with the appropriate tools or skill can break the lock, the canon method is to accept and complete Franclorn Forgewright’s Dark Iron Legacy quest.

• Kargath, Badlands: Commander Gor’shak around the Ring of Law, leading to a report for Thrall.
• Flame Crest, Burning Steppes: The Heart of the Mountain in the city’s vault.
• Kargath, Badlands: The Last Element at the golem smithy.
• Blackrock Mountain: Dark Iron Legacy taking in Forgewright’s tomb, his monument and Fineous Darkvire at the golem smithy.
• Kargath, Badlands: Disharmony of Fire at the Black Anvil.
• Kargath, Badlands: KILL ON SIGHT: High-Ranking Dark Iron Officials down the Dark Iron Highway.
• Slither Rock, Burning Steppes: A Taste of Flame at the end of the Highway

Once Bael’gar is defeated, there is an easy exit back to the instance portal should you have the Shadowforge Key in hand.

Interstitial

There are a couple of quests which should be completed between runs, after which you can resume the instance and quickly unlock the Shadowforge Lock:

• Detention Block, Blackrock Depths: The Eastern Kingdoms reporting to Thrall in Orgrimmar.
• Kargath, Badlands: Gark Lorkrub in Blackrock Hold, Burning Steppes leading to Precarious Predicament. This escort quest is most definitely a group effort; expect some of the Blackrock clan’s elite to try and prevent their informant’s escape!

It may also be in your interest to gather Dark Iron Residues and Dark Iron Ore for a reputation grind. The Thorium Brotherhood quartermaster within the Grim Guzzler has many plans and patterns on offer.

Part Two

With the appropriate key in hand, you are now able to seal the gap over the Dark Iron Highway and reach the Grim Guzzler, Summoners’ Tomb and Dagran Thaurissan himself.

• Kargath, Badlands: Death to Angerforge in the West Garrison.
• Kargath, Badlands: Rise of the Machines at the Manufactory. There are also engineering and blacksmithing plans to be sought here.
• Kargath, Badlands: Lost Thunderbrew Recipe in the brewery just off the Grim Guzzler. This is also where Brewfest patrons will find Coren Direbrew during seasonal festivities.
• Flame Crest, Burning Steppes: Ribbly Screwspigot on the lower level of the Grim Guzzler.
• More blacksmithing plans lay within the Mold Foundry.
• Summoners’ Tomb, Blackrock Depths: The Spectral Chalice by Gloom’rel’s feet. Miners should speak to Gloom’rel (and only Gloom’rel) before and after completing this quest in order to learn how to smelt Dark Iron.
• Blackrock Mountain: Attunement to the Core just off the Black Forge.
• Grommash Hold, Orgrimmar: The Royal Rescue in Thaurissan’s throne room.

Epilogue

Though it’s likely you will only return to Blackrock in order to smelt more Dark Iron or approach the Molten Core, solo runners in particular may find it useful to complete Nagmara’s The Love Potion in the Grim Guzzler. She will cheerily open the pub door and spare you aggravating the patrons within, and the quest need only be completed once; she will remember your favour in future.

Map

This annotated map is edited from one captured for WoWhead, and offers suggested paths for these three attempts on the instance. Prerequisites are in blue, part 1 in green and part 2 in yellow. Also marked are:

• The Shadowforge Lock, essential for opening the second half of the instance;
• The Black Forge, for the smelting of Dark Iron;
• The Black Anvil, for creating Dark Iron pieces.