Blackrock Depths



Blackrock Depths is an instanced dungeon within Blackrock Mountain. It is intended for players at levels 55 and above. Blackrock Depths is commonly abbreviated as "BRD".

= History =


 * Once the capital city of the Dark Iron dwarves, this volcanic labyrinth now serves as the seat of power for Ragnaros the Firelord. Ragnaros has uncovered the secret to creating life from stone and plans to build an army of unstoppable golems to aid him in conquering the whole of Blackrock Mountain. Obsessed with defeating Nefarian and his draconic minions, Ragnaros will go to any extreme to achieve final victory.

= Overall Map = Map at Worldofwar.net

Detention Block
This area contains both and  as prisoners. Their cell doors can be opened with lockpicking or its alternatives, or with the key which can be obtained from, at the center of this area. If the players' goal is to free Marshal Windsor for his quest, they should first clear the entire detention block of enemies; once Windsor's quest is started, he will walk through nearly every part of this area on his way out, leaving the players little time to heal and buff between encounters. Once Windsor steps out of his cell, he walks clockwise through the Detention Block halls, then across the large entry room, then walks clockwise through the tunnel that is outside the Ring of Law.

The Ring of Law
When a player stands on the mesh circle at the center of this area, it starts a plot event. The entrance to the ring is closed, and High Justice Grimstone appears in the ring. This dark iron dwarf is flagged red, but cannot be attacked; his purpose is to explain what is about to happen.

He releases three waves of non-elite monsters, and then an elite mini-boss. The type of monsters and specific mini-boss which appear vary randomly between several alternatives. Monsters: varies. Bats, scorpions, and slimes are all possible. Mini-Bosses: Anub'shiah, Eviscerator, Gorosh the Dervish, Grizzle, Hedrum the Creeper, or Ok'thor the Breaker.

Once the players are victorious in the ring, the ring's entrance reopens, and a second gate also opens, leading to the ring's upper levels. The arena spectators on the upper level are normally hostile, but become neutral when the ring event is won. Up here, you can choose to fight (some mini boss) and afterwards turn in Ironfel at a huge dwarf statue to obtain The Shadowforge Key.

Players can bypass the ring by travelling past the Shadowforge Lock, but to do so they must have either the Shadowforge key or some method to open a locked door.

The Dark Iron Highway
This long stretch of wide pavement is located directly north of the entrance, and is guarded by patrols of dwarves, dogs, and the occasional fire elemental. At its western end, we find the giant Bael'Gar. The eastern end of the road leads to the Black Anvil.

The Black Anvil
This large metal structure stands at the eastern end of the dark iron highway, with Lord Incendius patrolling around it. This is the only place where blacksmiths and engineers can work dark iron bars into items.

The Black Forge
The Black Forge is used to smelt Dark Iron into Dark Iron Bars, which are used in several high end Smith, and Engineering recipes.

The forge is located just before the bridge leading into Molten Core, and just after the room of The Seven. After exiting the room of the seven, turn right, and then immediately left. there will be a small bridge leading to a single fire elemental. The Forge is directly behind him.

The Hall of Crafting
This rocky region is populated with groups of one elite golem and 3 non-elite dwarves. The area is entirely linear, and slopes upward. Fineous Darkvire patrols from one end of this area to the other.

The Shadowforge City
This area overlooks the Black Anvil, and is divided into two parts. The players pass through the first half as they exit the Hall of Crafting; here, they have access to the Vault and the upper levels of the Ring of Law. The second half is accessible from the Grim Guzzler, and leads to the Chamber of Enchantment.

The Shadowforge Lock
This structure is housed within a small room near the entrance to the depths. The lock controls a movable bridge which connects the upper levels of the Ring of Law to the Manufactory. This bridge is the only way into the manufactory, and thus the only way to reach the back areas of this instance. The lock can only be activated with the Shadowforge Key; despite it's name, the lock cannot be picked, opened with a skeleton key, or demolished with seaforium charges. Releasing the lock will form the bridge by closing the gates on the Dark Iron Highway. Making it impossible to reach the the Black Anvil via the Highway.

The Manufactory
This area is full of golems and weapon technicians. At the back stands Golem Lord Argelmach, flaned by a pair of special golems. Players are advised to clear the Manufactory before fighting him, since the first thing the golem lord does is run through the factory, searching for allies to help him.

The Grim Guzzler
This bar is a marginally safe haven in the depths. It is filled with non-hostile non-elite drunken dwarves, with a scattering of named special NPCs, a variety of plot events, and a quest. There are many special circumstances surrounding this area:
 * If you attack a hammered patron, all of his friends within aggro range will also aggro. Attacking a patron typically results in a swarm of 10-20 dark iron dwarves. They're not elite, but there are a lot of them. Like any neutral creature, losing aggro makes them neutral again; if your party wipes, the patrons won't be hostile when you come back.
 * Upon entry, the player will first notice Ribbly Screwspigot and his cronies, who are friendly to begin with. Ribbly's head is needed for a quest; if you go up to him and ask him for his head, he will aggro, and will not draw the attention of the patrons. To ensure that you do not accidentally attack one of them, it is safest to pull Ribbly into the empty room near the entrance.
 * Within this empty room, the player will notice three selectable beer casks. If you right click one, your character will destroy that cask. Once all three are destroyed, Hurley Blackbreath will spawn with three friends, and they will run into the room to fight you.
 * Mistress Nagmara is a friendly succubus NPC who wanders from one end of the bar to the other. She gives you a quest: "The Love Potion".
 * Plugger Spazzring, on the second level, is the bar's owner. He is neutral, and is a vendor. If you attack him, all the patrons become hostile. Furthermore, if Mistress Nagmara sees you fighting with Plugger, she vanishes.
 * Near Plugger, you will notice a pair of tables with beer and stuffed pigs on them. If you right click on the beer or pigs, you can pick them up, but Plugger notices this and aggros. You can also purchase both types of items from Plugger himself.
 * The bar's rear exit is on the second level, and blocked with an unpickable door. There are four ways to open it:
 * At the top of the stairs between the bar's two floors, close to the door, is the golem Phalanx. He is initially friendly. If you buy 6 Dark Iron Ales from Plugger and feed them all into Private Rocknot (at a table near Plugger), a script starts during which Phalanx destroys the back door and aggros.
 * When you complete Nagmara's quest, she and Private Roknot will exit through that rear door and leave it open. Once her quest is completed you can ask her to open that door anytime.
 * When you kill Plugger, a patrol will bash the back door open and stand in front of it. This patrol is always hostile.
 * If a rogue picks Plugger's pockets, he can get the key to this door, but Plugger notices the theft within about 10 seconds; he doesn't aggro, but all the patrons become hostile.
 * If you acquire some Dark Iron Ale, you will find that using the ale does not get you drunk; instead, using the ale drops a beer onto the floor wherever you indicate. The nearest patron will then wander over to the beer, drink it, and be stunned for about 6 seconds. The patrons will travel quite a distance to reach the ale, so you can use ale to pull patrons away from their crowds one at a time to kill them. This is most useful to draw away the 4 patrons standing near Plugger, so that you can fight him by himself.

When the players leave the bar through the back door, they will find themselves in the second half of the Shadowforged City.

The Chamber of Enchantment
This large platform is entirely empty, except for Ambassador Flamelash standing in the middle. Once he is defeated, players can pass on to the Mold Foundry.

The Mold Foundry
This area is small and insignificant, filled with small groups of elite golems and non-elite dwarves. it's only notable feature is it's chance to spawn Panzor the Invincible. This area leads to the Summoner's Tomb.

Summoner's Tomb
This room is another area which is safe to begin with. It is populated by seven ghostly dwarves, the patriarchs of the Dark Iron nation - and the dwarves who summoned Ragnaros into the world. These dwarves must be killed to pass on to the later areas, but before the attack any miners in the group should speak with Gloom'rel and do his quest, to gain the ability to smelt Dark Iron ore. When the group is ready, speak to Doom'rel and challenge him.

Once the dwarves are defeated, the Chest of the Seven will spawn and the doors will open, allowing access to the Lyceum and the bridge to Molten Core.

The Entrance to Molten Core and the Black Forge
Two groups of fire elementals stand on this bridge - on the far side, the swirling portal to Molten Core. This is where the Attunement to the Core quest can be completed - the core fragment is on the far side of the bridge, next to the portal. Note that you do not need to enter the core to finish this quest; in fact, if you enter the core by mistake, when you exit the core you will appear outside of the depths, next to the questgiver for the attunement quest. You will then need to run all the way back through the depths to rejoin your group.

On the north side of this bridge, a narrow wire catwalk winds out into a waterfall of lava. At the end of this catwalk, guarded by a fire elemental, is the black forge. This is the only place where dark iron ore can be smelted into dark iron bars.

The Lyceum
This room is filled with vast numbers of dwarves. These dwarves are on a fast respawn cycle, with a number of patrols wandering through the area. On the far side, the doors to the Iron Hall stand locked and unpickable. The only way to open them is to kill the flamekeepers on each side of this room, then use the torch which they drop to light the braziers on each side of the door. The torches dropped by the flamekeepers only last 5 minutes, so players must be fast about lighting the braziers. Once a brazier is lit, it will remain lit. The flamekeepers are non-elite, and follow a small, predictable patrol path, with a point in the middle where a high level player could kill them solo. Most parties will send a single rogue or druid to kill each flamekeeper and loot the torches, while the rest of the group works their way to the braziers.

The Iron Hall
This room is lined on both sides with massive statues, and guarded at its end by Magmus. Once Magmus aggros, the statues begin to breathe fire about every 10 seconds; players should be careful to stand in the areas between statues to avoid fire damage.

The Emperor's Seat
This large room has many mixed groups of dwarves, with Emperor Dagran Thaurissian and Princess Moira Bronzebeard sitting at the end. The room must be cleared before engaging the emperor, as he will call them all to his aid when he aggros. The princess is a dedicated healer; if the players are attempting the quest "The Royal Rescue" then she must be alive when the emperor is killed.

Shortcuts
As mentioned earlier, the Shadowforge Key is required to access the Manufactory and following areas. A high level rogue or druid with this key can actually sneak all the way to the Grim Guzzler without fighting anyone or needing to brave the stealth-sniffing dogs. This is useful for rogues who want to farm Plugger for his Barman Shanker.

It is possible to bypass the Mold Foundry and Summoners' Tomb by jumping into the lava from the corner of the Chamber of Enchantment. The player must swim to an island in the lava, then take another, shorter swim to the far shore, ending up beneath the bridge to Molten Core. However, the swim in the lava is long and painful, and the island has 4 fire elementals on it. Moreover, the fight in the tomb spawns a chest with valuable, rare items. Any group with enough manpower to kill the dwarves will want to do so, so the lava route is only useful for small groups or solo players, as a quick shortcut to reach the black forge or molten core entrance. Even then, the player will need a powerful healing or fire resistance potion to survive the lava, and will need stealth or an invisibility potion to bypass the elementals on the island and bridge. An engineer's Parachute Cloak can allow the player to float most of the way to the island, greatly limiting damage taken from the lava. A mage's slow fall spell or a Priest's levitate could theoretically allow them to float all the way to the bridge.

= Minor NPCs = The depths are inhabited by dark iron dwarves, their demonic bloodhound pets, their golem protectors, and their fire elemental allies.

The dwarves in the Depths consist primarily of warrior- and priest-types. Outside the Shadowforged City, the dwarves are all elite. Inside the city, one can find groups of one or two elite dwarves surrounded by a cadre of non-elite citizens. Some other humanoid races appear in the city, and in the ring of law.

The demonic bloodhouds in the Depths are renown for their ability to sniff out stealthed rogues and druids. They will sometimes be grouped into their own pack, and sometimes included into a group with humanoid allies. All of the dogs are non-elite, but their damage capability in large numbers is not to be underestimated.

The golems and fire elementals in the Depths generally fit the stereotypes of their races. The golems are strong and well armored melee attackers, though some exceptional specimens have the ability to release areae-of-effect fire spells. The elementals cause large amounts of fire damage with melee attacks and ranged fire spells.

= Major NPCs = Blackrock Depths contains a vast assortment of bosses and special NPCs to hunt for.

Common Bosses

 * High Interrogator Gerstahn is in the center of the Detention Block.
 * Bael'Gar is found at the western end of the Dark Iron Highway.
 * Lord Incendius guards the Black Anvil, at the eastern end of the Dark Iron Highway.
 * Fineous Darkvire wanders the Halls of Crafting.
 * General Angerforge can be found down some stairs to the south of the Manufactory.
 * Golem Lord Argelmach is found in the Manufactory.
 * Hurley Blackbreath, Ribbly Screwspigot, Phalanx, and Plugger Spazzring are found in the Grim Guzzler.
 * Ambassador Flamelash resides alone in the Chamber of Enchantment.
 * The Seven Ghosts are found in the Summoners' Tomb. The individual ghosts are: Anger'rel, Hate'rel, Dope'rel, Seeth'rel, Vile'rel, Gloom'rel, Doom'rel
 * Magmus can be found in the Iron Hall.
 * Emperor Dagran Thaurissian and Princess Moira Bronzebeard can be found in the Emperor's Seat

Rare Bosses
These characters are just as tough as the common bosses, but do not appear in every trip to this instance.
 * Once the event in the Ring of Law is activated, it will spawn three waves of monsters and then one of these mini-bosses:
 * Anub'shiah
 * Eviscerator
 * Gorosh the Dervish
 * Grizzle
 * Hedrum the Creeper
 * Ok'thor the Breaker
 * Panzor the Invincible sometimes appears in the Mold Foundry.
 * Pyromancer Loregrain sometimes appears near F.F.F.'s statue.
 * Lord Roccor sometimes appears in open area adjacent to the Detention Block.

Friendly NPCs

 * Mistress Nagmara, found in the Grim Guzzler, has a single quest available to both Alliance and Horde.


 * Lokhtos Darkbargainer, also in the Grim Guzzler, has a number of repeatable quests available at level 60 which can increase your faction rating with the Thorium Brotherhood. As your faction increases, he will also serve as a shopkeep to sell a small selection of high-level tailoring, leatherworking, and blacksmithing recipies.


 * Kharan Mighthammer is imprisoned in the Detention Block. He is an intermediate quest target / quest giver in the Alliance quest chain which rewards you for killing Emperor Thaurissian.

= Relevant Quests =

General

 * The Last Element:
 * Hurley Blackbreath:
 * Lost Thunderbrew Recipe:
 * Overmaster Pyron:
 * Disharmony of Flame:
 * Disharmony of Fire :
 * Kill on sight: Dark Iron Dwarves:
 * Kill on sight: Dark Iron Officials:
 * Operation: Death to Angerforge:
 * Grark Lokrub:
 * Commander Gor'shack:
 * The Royal Rescue:

Blackrock Mountain
This quest grants the player the Shadowforged Key. The quest is acquired from a ghostly dwarf in a tomb outside of the depths; the player must be be a ghost in order to see or interact with the questgiver.
 * Dark Iron Legacy

This quest "attunes" the player to Molten Core, so that they can then enter it by jumping through the window/portal to the left of the questgiver.
 * Attunement to the Core

Blackrock Depths

 * The Love Potion

Burning Steppes

 * Ribbly Spewspiggot
 * The Heart of the Mountain
 * Taste of Flame
 * Rise of the Machines:
 * The Rise of the Machines:
 * The Rise of the Machines:
 * The Good Stuff:

The following line of quests begins in the Burning Steppes, and ends with getting the Onyxia key:
 * Dragonkin Menace:
 * The True Masters:
 * The True Masters:
 * The True Masters:
 * The True Masters:
 * The True Masters:
 * The True Masters:
 * Marshal Windsor:
 * Abandoned Hope:
 * A Crumpled Up Note:
 * A Shred of Hope:
 * Jail Break!:
 * Stormwind Rendezvous:
 * The Great Masquerade:
 * The Dragon's Eye:
 * Drakefire Amulet:

Dun Morogh

 * Hurley Blackbreath:

= Other Details =

Dark Iron
Blackrock Depths is one of only two places where dark iron ore can be mined, with the other location being Molten Core. It is also the location of the Black Forge and the Black Anvil. The Black Forge is the only place where dark iron ore can be smelted into bars. The Black Anvil is the only place where dark iron bars can be crafted into items. As such, a run in BRD is essential to any blacksmithing or engineering work which uses that rare metal.

Edit: As of a recent patch dark iron ore nodes can now be found in the Burning Steppes and the Searing Gorge.

Engineering
Several engineering schematics are available only in the Depths.
 * Schematic: Field Repair Bot 74A: appears as a scroll on the ground near Golem Lord Argelmach
 * Schematic: World Enlarger: drops from the weapon technicians in the Manufactory.
 * Schematic: Goblin Jumper Cables XL: drops from Plugger Spazzring.