Blackrock Depths (BRD),BRD Walkthrough

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Blackrock Depths(BRD) Guide Trip1
Blackrock Depths(BRD) Guide Trip2
Blackrock Depths(BRD) Guide Trip3
Jame's Blackrock Depths Guide (BRD) Part1
Jame's Blackrock Depths Guide (BRD) Part2

INTRODUCTION

Blackrock Mountain, which sits on the border of Searing Gorge and Burning Steppes in northern Azeroth, is home to two instanced dungeons: Blackrock Depths (commonly abbreviated to "BRD") and Blackrock Spire (or "BRS"). The huge city inside the bowels of the mountain was originally constructed by the Dark Iron dwarves when Emperor Thaurissan summoned the elemental firelord Ragnaros in an effort to win a civil war. There are entrances to the fortress from both the northeastern part of Searing Gorge, as well as the western end of Burning Steppes.

BRD is the lower of the two instances in Blackrock Mountain, and is listed as a level 48-55 dungeon. However, not a lot of teams will consider taking you with them unless you are over 50. Of course it all depends on which areas of BRD you will be venturing into, since the level of difficulty varies greatly within the instance. Unless you have level 60 friends who wouldn't mind "running you through" BRD, I would recommend waiting until you are in your mid-fifties. At that point, you should be eligible for all the BRD quests so you won't have any "gray exclamation point" problems.

HOW TO GET THERE

From the Searing Gorge entrance, turn left and follow the path up until you see a large chain. Hop on the chain and follow it down towards the center of the structure. This area houses the tomb of the architect Franclorn Forgewright. Go through the tomb, exit at the other end, and follow the path down to another chain bridge leading down into the depths. At the platform, go through the doorway on your right and step out into a huge cavern filled with dark iron dwarves mining ore. The entrance to the BRD instance is at the end of a hallway in the northwestern portion of this cavern.

QUESTS

There are several quests that require a journey into BRD, the most prominent of which are the series of quests needed to obtain a key to Onyxia's lair for Alliance players.

Because of the difficulty variation and the sheer size of the dungeon, the best way to tackle quests is to group them by area of difficulty and make multiple trips into BRD, concentrating on a few quests at a time. This approach will allow you to get considerable experience points (xp's) for killing and completing the easier quests early, rather than waiting until you are old enough to get to the Emperor's throne room.

This guide spreads the quests out over three trips but it all depends on how much time you can spend on any given trip. If you are prepared to spend around 4-6 hours in BRD, depending on your party's overall level, you could combine trips 2 and 3 into one.

In addition to quests, there are a few other reasons for making a trip to BRD, particularly if you are a crafter of any kind. Plugger Spazzring, a merchant who plies his trade in the Grim Guzzler Bar, sells a couple of useful patterns and formulas. If you are a miner, the ghost of Gloom'Rel in the Chamber of Seven can teach you how to smelt dark iron ore. Subsequently, you will need to make a trip to the forge past the chamber whenever you have dark iron to smelt. Engineers can also pick up the repair bot schematic near Golem Lord Argelmach, something you would definitely want to have once you start making regular trips into Molten Core and the other high-level instances.

Alliance
  1. Marshal Windsor
  2. Abandoned Hope (obtained in BRD)
  3. A Crumpled Note (obtained in BRD)
  4. A Shred of Hope (obtained in BRD)
  5. Jailbreak! (obtained in BRD)
  6. Kharan Mighthammer
  7. Incendius!
  8. The Good Stuff
  9. Hurley Blackbreath
  10. The Fate of the Kingdom
Horde
  1. Disharmony of Flame
  2. Disharmony of Fire
  3. Commander Gor'Shak
  4. Lost Thunderbrew Recipe
  5. Kill on Sight: Dark Iron Dwarves
  6. Kill on Sight: High-Ranking Dark Iron Officials
  7. The Last Element
  8. The Rise of the Machines
  9. Operation: Death to Angerforge
  10. The Royal Rescue
Common
  1. Dark Iron Legacy
  2. Heart of the Mountain
  3. Ribbly Screwspigot
  4. A Taste of Flame
  5. Attunement to the Core
  6. The Love Potion (obtained in BRD)

PARTY COMPOSITION

Except for Attunement to the Core, all of the quests in BRD must be done with a 5-man team. The maximum number of people on a raid team that can go into the instance is 10.

A mage is very important in BRD if you need to go into the Emperor's throne room. Instant arcane explosion knocks whole mobs down in the Lyceum in seconds. Warlocks are useful for banishing fire elementals, if you need to go past the Manufactory into the bar or if you are going for Attunement to the Core.

Other than that, it's the same as all other dungeons, ie. always go with a balanced team. As a rule, you will need a tank (someone who can take lots of damage), a healer, and damage dealers. This may sound too simple to mention but you'll be surprised how many people still attempt to go into dungeons without a healer or a tank.

STRATEGY AND WALKTHROUGH

This walkthrough is organized into three parts, keeping in mind the level of quests and the area you need to cover and have access to during each trip. Maps of the instance can be rather confusing because areas overlap each other so rather than present you with a confusing map, I will just describe how to get around and supplement the description with minimaps and pictures where applicable.

TRIP ONE


Gathering Quests (Alliance)
  1. Visit Royal Historian Archenosus in the throne room in Ironforge to obtain the quest The Smoldering Ruins of Thaurissan. This quest requires you to go to the Ruins of Thaurissan in Burning Steppes to collect some tablets. Upon completion of this quest, Archenosus will give you the quest Kharan Mighthammer.
  2. While in Burning Steppes to complete Smoldering Ruins, stop at the Alliance outpost (Morgan's Vigil) and talk to Jalinda Sprig to get the quest Overmaster Pyron (Elite). The Overmaster can be found roaming the hallway right outside the entrance to BRD. Complete this quest before you head into the instance and run back to Morgan's Vigil to get the next quest Incendius!
  3. Also at the Alliance outpost is Oralius, a dwarf NPC who will give you the quest The Good Stuff (Elite). This quest requires you to gather 20 Dark Iron Fanny Packs, which are dropped by Dark Iron dwarves both inside and outside the BRD instance.
  4. Talk to Helendis Riverthorn (also in Morgan's Vigil) to obtain the quest Dragonkin Menace. This quest requires you to kill some dragonkin, which can be found near and to the north of the outpost. This is a pre-requisite to the Onyxia key quest chain so complete it as soon as you can. After completing it, Riverthorn will give you The True Masters, a series of quests that will have you running around from Redridge to Stormwind and back to Burning Steppes. Just when you're ready to kill Maxwell for sending you all over town, he will give you the quest Marshal Windsor.

Gathering Quests (Horde)

  1. Get the quest Disharmony of Flame from Thunderheart in Kargath Outpost in the Badlands. This requires you to kill Overmaster Pyron, who roams the hallway right outside the entrance to BRD. Complete the quest before your first trip into the instance and return to Thunderheart to get the chained quest Disharmony of Fire.
  2. Completing Disharmony of Flame also unlocks the quest Commander Gor'Shak, given by Galamav the Marksman in Kargath, Badlands.
  3. Click on the Wanted poster in Kargath, Badlands to get the quest KILL ON SIGHT: Dark Iron Dwarves.

Gathering Quests (Both Alliance and Horde)

  1. Get the quest called Dark Iron Legacy from Franclorn Forgewright. The quest giver is a ghost and you can only talk to him if you are also a ghost. You can find him inside the mausoleum in the center of Blackrock Mountain. If you plan on committing suicide, consider taking a plunge into the lava pool but remember to take all your armor off beforehand so you don't incur any repair costs.
  2. Get the quest called Heart of the Mountain from Maxwort Uberglint in Burning Steppes. This goblin can be found in Flame Crest, a cave north of the Ruins of Thaurissan.

Walkthrough

From the instance entrance, you will see an archway leading into a large circular area patrolled by Dark Iron dwarves and their hounds. There are three sets of hallways out of this foyer. The rightmost hallway curves and connects up to the second one in a semi-circle. This is where you will find Commander Gor'Shak (Horde), Marshal Windsor (Alliance) and Kharan Mighthammer. The third and fourth hallways also curve into each other and lead to the Ring of Law and several other jail cells which you don't have to worry about unless you are doing Jailbreak!. The fifth hallway leads to the Shadowforge Lock, which we can forget for now, since we don't have the Shadowforge Key yet.

Detention Block (Alliance)

Your first stop in BRD will be the Detention Block, where you will find the object of two Alliance quests: Marshal Windsor and Kharan Mighthammer. Proceed to the second hallway from the right and start clearing the pockets of mobs standing around outside the cells. If you have a rogue in the party, you can make your way to the cells you want immediately and have the rogue pick the lock on the doors. Otherwise, you will have to kill High Interrogator Gerstahn to get the key. Gerstahn is in a room further down the hall, at the point where it connects up to the first hallway. I would suggest killing Gerstahn while you're in the area anyway, because you will need to make a couple more visits to Windsor in the future and the key will certainly come in handy then. The drop rate on the key is 50% so on the off-chance that you don't have a rogue AND the key doesn't drop, you might have to reset the instance and try again, or forget about doing these two quests and proceed to the Ring of Law.

Windsor will give you the follow-up quest Abandoned Hope, which requires you to take a message back to Marshal Maxwell in Burning Steppes. Make sure you complete this quest before coming back to BRD because it triggers a note drop from a random BRD mob that starts the quest A Crumpled Note, still part of the Onyxia key quest chain.

Mighthammer will give you a message to deliver to King Magni Bronzebeard in Ironforge.

Detention Block (Horde)

Your first stop in BRD will be the Detention Block, where you will find Commander Gor'Shak. If you have a rogue in the party, you can make your way to his cell immediately and have the rogue pick the lock on the cell door. Otherwise, you will have to kill High Interrogator Gerstahn to get the key. The drop rate on the key is 50% so on the off-chance that you don't have a rogue AND the key doesn't drop, you might have to reset the instance and try again, or forget about doing this quest and proceed to the Ring of Law.

Before talking to Commander Gor'Shak, clear the mobs around his cell. Talking to him activates a rescue quest, and a huge mob will all swarm into his cell, trying to kill him. You MUST keep him alive to complete the quest so watch his health and draw aggro from any mob attacking him, whether or not you are a tank. It is imperative that you keep the aggro from Gor'Shak because he does not have a lot of health points. Warriors should spam demoralizing shout and do your best to keep the mobs on you and away from him.

If you succeed, go talk to Kharan Mighthammer in the opposite cell and listen to his story. He will ask you to take a message to Thrall in Kargath, Badlands.

If you fail the quest, you can either reset the instance and try again, or forget about this quest and move on to the Ring of Law.

Ring of Law

Once you've completed the quests in the jail area, head back to the foyer and take the hallway east to the Ring of Law, a gladiator's arena above which there are hostile spectators. If your group successfully defeats the mobs thrown at you, the spectators decide that they like you and will turn neutral.

To trigger the event, enter the arena, make sure your whole party is inside the room, and go stand over the grate in the center. The script will then unfold, locking you inside the room until you have defeated three waves of mobs. Defeating all three waves causes the gates to reopen.

Now, take the West gate and go up the ramp into the East Garrison. Without venturing into the room, go up a second flight of stairs into the spectators' gallery. Walk through the gallery and over to the other side. Right outside the gallery, you will encounter a group of hostile mobs. Pull and fight these with caution into the gallery, but take care not to use any AoE (area-of-effect) spells or attacks, lest you turn the friendly spectators against your party.

The hallway outside runs left to right. Turn left into the Domicile area and make your way through, keeping left and pulling the mobs carefully so you don't aggro more than one group at a time.

Relic Vault

Beyond the Domicile area is a balcony, off which is the Relic Vault, where you can find the Heart of the Mountain. Before going into the vault, make sure your party has 12 relic coffer keys with you. These keys are random drops from the dwarf mobs you've been fighting so far, so chances are that you will have 12 by the time you get to the vault. If you don't have 12 keys, you can proceed to Fineous Darkvire ( see next section) and come back to the Vault later.

Fight the mobs in the first room and the three elite dwarves inside the vault room. There are also three inactive golems here that will come to life once all twelve coffers are opened. An elite mob called Watchman Doomgrip also spawns so be ready for a fight before you open the last one. Killing Doomgrip spawns the Heart of the Mountain. The gem respawns after a few seconds, so everyone in the party who has the quest can loot it.

Above the Heart of the Mountain is another locked coffer, which can only be opened with a Dark Coffer Key. To find that key, go back to the first room and click on a portrait on the left wall. This portrait contains a message telling you where to find the Dark Coffer key keeper. The key keeper spawns in several locations around the vault area, usually in the Domicile and Arena, and is accompanied by two non-elite guards. For this reason, it's not advisable to do this quest unless you have done the Ring of Law event. Otherwise, you run the risk of getting mobbed by the spectators while trying to get to the key keeper and his guards.

After killing the key keeper and looting the Dark Coffer Key, go back into the Vault and open the Dark Coffer to find some nice loot.

Fineous Darkvire

As you exit the Vault, turn right and go through the next door into the Hall of Crafting. Here you will find several golems guarded by two or three non-elite engineer mobs. Clear the riff-raff and you will eventually come across Fineous Darkvire, the Chief Architect who holds Ironfel, the quest item you need to complete your Dark Iron Legacy quest. Slay him, loot Ironfel, but hang on to it because the nasty fire lord Incendius is just around the corner.

Incendius

Continue making your way through the Hall of Crafting and out into a hallway guarded by single-pull fire elementals. It is actually possible to walk right by these elementals without aggroing them, IF you have a full party of level 60's but if you are not sure of your aggro range, it's safest to pull them singly and fight them all. As you emerge from this hallway, you will find Incendius. Pull him back into the hallway and fight him in there, to avoid getting any of your party knocked back into the lava below.

Ironfel

After disposing of Incendius, retrace your steps all the way back to the Arena gallery. Do not go into the gallery, but keep going down the hallway. You will need to fight a couple more groups here before you reach the end of the hallway, where you will find the statue of Farnclorn Forgewright. With Ironfel in your inventory, clicking on the statue will get you the Shadowforge key, and complete the Dark Iron Legacy quest.

Now that you have the key to open the rest of BRD, it's a good time to teleport out of the instance, turn your completed quests in, and prepare for your next trip.


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