All 9 New WoW Forever Dungeons and When to Run Them

WoW Forever dungeons come in two layers: every instance you remember from the old 1–60 game, and nine brand-new ones stacked on top. The new set starts with Hall of Thanes at 13–18 and ends with Shaper's Terrace at 58–60. Between them, per Blizzard's own list, sit Ruins of Lordaeron (15–20), the Wetlands Excavation Site (26–31), City of Dalaran (28–33), The Drowned City (35–40), Krol'dok Stronghold (40–45), Alcaz Prison (48–53) and Blackmaw Hold (55–60).

Four of them are playable on the beta right now. Hall of Thanes and Ruins of Lordaeron have been open since week one, Excavation Site since the level 30 build of October 1, and City of Dalaran since October 9. The first two get the deep dive below. For the rest, Blizzard has only shared a location and a story hook so far.

• Nine new instances go live with the game on November 4, 2026, covering level 13 up to the cap.
• Nothing old gets cut. You still get Deadmines and Scarlet Monastery and Blackrock Depths and the rest, only the loot got a pass.
• The two starter dungeons lean toward a faction. Hall of Thanes is in Ironforge, Ruins of Lordaeron right by Undercity. The other side can still walk in if it's stubborn.
• Five players per group in both beta instances, going by the Wowhead database.
• Krol'dok Stronghold is 40–45. You may have read 40–55 after BlizzCon; Blizzard fixed that on September 15.
• Dungeon XP is still being tuned: extra quest XP was cut by 50% on October 1, mob XP went up about 20% on October 8. One run per instance with its quests remains the reliable plan.
• More later. Blizzard's roadmap wants two extra dungeons out by spring 2027 and two by summer.

What Level Are the WoW Forever Dungeons?

Each one has a fixed level window, and Blizzard posted all nine on its forums. Hall of Thanes opens the list at 13–18 and Shaper's Terrace closes it at 58–60. Excavation Site was first listed at 24–29, but Blizzard's October 1 beta notes give 26–31. We only list an entrance where Blizzard or the beta client actually shows one.

Your level	Head to	Where the door is	Testable?
13–18	Hall of Thanes	Under Ironforge, reached from the High Seat	Yes, beta week one
15–20	Ruins of Lordaeron	The burned city on top of Undercity	Yes, beta week one
26–31	Excavation Site	Wetlands, over Whelgar's dig	Yes, since October 1
28–33	City of Dalaran	Alterac Mountains, exact spot TBA	Yes, since October 9
35–40	The Drowned City	Stranglethorn coastline, exact spot TBA	Only at BlizzCon
40–45	Krol'dok Stronghold	Riverglades	No
48–53	Alcaz Prison	Island off northeast Dustwallow	No
55–60	Blackmaw Hold	Furbolg gates, northern Azshara	No
58–60	Shaper's Terrace	Un'Goro highlands	No

What the table leaves out on purpose: faction ties and group size. Hall of Thanes leans Alliance and Ruins of Lordaeron leans Horde, though both let the other side in. For the remaining seven nobody has named an owning faction, and the player cap is TBA too. Two naming quirks while we're here. Blizzard's level post says "Alcaz Prison", some of the BlizzCon slides said "Alcaz Island Prison". Don't let that confuse you, it's one jail. The Wetlands one is written "Excavation Site: Wetlands" in that post. And since WoW Forever doesn't scale levels, those windows really are fixed. Walk into Hall of Thanes at 30 and you'll flatten it, then pick up gear you've already replaced.

Hall of Thanes: Location, Bosses, Loot and Quests

Dark Iron dwarves have cracked open the crypt where Ironforge buries its old kings. Now the place is full of restless spirits. It's the first new group content most Alliance players will see, and judging by searches it's the one people care about most.

Where is Hall of Thanes?

Right inside Ironforge. Go into the High Seat, where the king sits, and on the left you'll find a door into Old Ironforge that wasn't open before. Follow the path down through the old city until you hit the portal. If you wipe, the spirit healer waits just past the city gates, so the corpse run is short.

Horde players have a much worse time. The beta has no shortcut for them. Start in Hillsbrad and head over Arathi Highlands into the Wetlands. From there it's Loch Modan, then Dun Morogh, then the gate guards, who won't be happy to see you. Blizzard basically shrugs and says the Horde can sneak in or fight in. Pick one. Neither is quick.

Hall of Thanes bosses

Four fights in the beta build, with the final boss at level 16 and a five-player cap listed in the Wowhead database.

Faldrim Anvilmar wanders his own tomb and isn't hard, but his curse sits on the tank for ten minutes. Have a decurse ready. Magmatus is a fire elemental who shows up with a Summoner. Kill the Summoner. Then turn Magmatus away from the group, because standing bunched up in his burning ground adds up fast. Plunder throws people back and charges whoever he likes, so drag him into the tunnel behind you and keep your back to the stone.

The last one is Durgen Dirgehammer. That's the beta spelling, and "Dirgen" floats around too, so the name may still change. He fears the party, puts a bleed on the tank and brings two Lesser Stone Golems along. Clear the Looters standing along the walls before you pull, then burn the golems one at a time.

Honestly, the trash is what kills low-level groups here. Looters hit hard and quick. Engineers toss bombs, which you can walk out of. Summoners are best pulled around a corner so they come to you. A mage's Polymorph or a rogue's Sap calms the Dark Iron packs down a lot.

Hall of Thanes loot and quests

Everyone's linking the same thing in chat: Durgen's Crescent Axe, a one-hander off the last boss. Faldrim gives you a shot at a cloak, a necklace and some cloth bracers, named Spiritwraith Drape, Ephemeral Choker and Aetherwisp Bracers.

There are five quests tied to the tomb. Important Heirlooms and The Restless Dead are picked up in Old Ironforge close to the door. A ghost inside hands out An Ancient Grudge. The Treaty of Understanding starts from a tablet in the final room. The odd one is Old Ironforge Incursion, which begins when a Dark Iron dwarf in Dun Morogh drops a Dark Iron Map. Rewards worth chasing: Ironforge Greathammer, the Deepblaze wand, a Dwarven Tome for your off-hand and the Catacomb Cloak. In the beta most of these are marked Alliance-only, which makes a Horde trip here pretty thin. Hover Hall of Thanes to see the zone at a glance.

Our advice: go at 15 or 16 with all five quests picked up. Would you rather skip the group hunt on launch week? The Hall of Thanes carry can be ordered now, and work on it starts November 4.

Ruins of Lordaeron: The Horde-Side Dungeon

Arthas and the Scourge burned the old human capital years ago. The Forsaken are trying to rebuild up there, while leftover undead and a necromancer get ready to hit them. Blizzard pitches this one as the Horde's answer to Hall of Thanes. In the beta it's open, tuned for 15–20.

Beta players put the portal on the east side of the ruined keep's courtyard, a few steps from Undercity. You'll get most quests in Undercity and around Tirisfal. Deathguard Kristof near Brill, for example, gives The Wrath of Rath'mael. There's also a quest in the beta data called Bloodied Insignia, credited to General Marcus Jonathan in Stormwind. That hints Alliance visitors might get something of their own here, but the entry is still marked incomplete.

Testers count six bosses, and two of those are optional ones you summon yourself. First comes Witherfang, a spider walking the long opening hall with adds and a poison. The Baron cleaves anyone near him and can knock your tank out of place; loot his head and you start a chain called Unending Torment. Rath'mael is a caster, and his Flamestrike needs an interrupt or a stun. Bjork just hits hard and knocks people back.

The summoned pair are more interesting. Clear three waves at a statue and The Abandoned appears, casting Frost Nova and Drain Life. Viktor the Vile shows up at a fireplace after a string of fast waves, and that bit is really a test of how much mana your healer has left.

A caveat. That boss list traces back to one beta walkthrough, and Rath'mael is the only name that also shows up in a quest title in the database. So some of this could shift before launch. So far Ruins of Lordaeron has twelve known quests.

Mid-Level Dungeons: Excavation Site, City of Dalaran and The Drowned City

Three instances fill the stretch between the starter dungeons and your 40s. Two of them you can already walk into on the beta, the third one you can't.

Excavation Site (26–31)

This one sits in the Wetlands, directly over Whelgar's Excavation, and Blizzard calls it a dig stuck in time. The titan constructs there have quit obeying anyone. Mist creeps down off the mountains and there are flashes of light out on the horizon. Level-wise it plugs the hole between the starter instances and Scarlet Monastery. For Alliance characters questing through the Wetlands it's basically on the way. It has been open on the beta since October 1.

City of Dalaran (28–33)

The Kirin Tor put their city back together in the Alterac Mountains and hid it behind a magic wall. In WoW Forever the wall has come down. Spells go off wrong, arcane constructs roam free and demonic energy is seeping in. The devs kept repeating that it's a whole city you can explore. So forget the idea of a quick corridor and keep an evening free for it. No faction has been tied to it. Testers can run it since October 9.

If you can only fit one mid-level detour into your leveling, this is probably the one to plan around, simply because of the size Blizzard is promising.

The Drowned City (35–40)

Ancient troll ruins have come up out of the water next to Stranglethorn Vale. Trolls and naga share the flooded streets, and there's a smashed pirate ship stuck between the buildings. BlizzCon had it playable on the show floor, which makes it the first of the nine anyone outside Blizzard got to try. You'll see a few sites put it in the Riverglades. Blizzard puts it on the Stranglethorn coast. The beta stops at 30, so you won't test it at the right level before launch.

High-Level Dungeons: Krol'dok Stronghold to Shaper's Terrace

Krol'dok Stronghold (40–45) is a big open-air ogre fortress in the Riverglades, the new frontier zone on the eastern side of the Eastern Kingdoms. People nearby keep going missing and there's chanting after dark. Blizzard's only comment was a question: could cultists be behind it? A lot of early write-ups said 40–55. A Blizzard forum post on September 15 corrected that to 40–45. For the zone itself, see our guide to the four new regions.

Alcaz Prison (48–53) reopens an old sealed jail on Alcaz Island, just off the northeast corner of Dustwallow Marsh. The rumor goes that the Defias kept nobles there for ransom, possibly even Stormwind's king. Now Defias and naga are fighting over what's left.

Up in northern Azshara, Blackmaw Hold (55–60) is a furbolg city behind its gates, and corruption has got hold of it. Its tunnels run on toward The Barrow Deeps raid. Shaper's Terrace (58–60) sends you up into the hills of Un'Goro, to titan halls that look like time never touched them. The local wildlife has wandered in since, and you'll see power crystals sticking out of the walls everywhere.

Which Classic Dungeons Stay in WoW Forever?

All of them. Ragefire Chasm is still at the bottom and Upper Blackrock Spire at the top, with Deadmines, Stratholme and Scholomance in between, same as you remember. Wowhead's quest guide already lists their quests right next to the new ones, so nothing old got quietly dropped.

The loot is what's different. Blizzard says it went through every dungeon drop: the memorable items stay memorable, weak ones got tuned and set bonuses were made better. You can already see it in the beta. Embrace of the Viper, the Wailing Caverns set, has a hidden five-piece bonus that turns a Druid into a snake. Then there's First Mate Band, a ring Mr. Smite drops in the Deadmines. It's one half of a two-piece set, and the epic other half is a level 60 item. So an old low-level instance can matter for months.

Dungeon Loot Rules

A handful of loot changes touch every instance, new or old.

• Boss uniques are blue at worst. You won't see a white or green one.
• Someone rolls a bind-on-pickup green or blue? Everyone who could have looted it still gets the look for the opt-in transmog collection.
• Blueprints, the advanced recipes for camp objects, come off dungeon bosses. Crafters get a reason to queue up too.
• Forgot something on a corpse? In the beta it shows up in your mailbox from the Steamwheedle Lost and Found.
• Rare spawns out in the world got several hundred new items, set pieces included. Dungeon gear isn't the only option anymore.

How Much XP Do WoW Forever Dungeons Give?

Short version: the numbers are still moving on the beta. After BlizzCon, Blizzard described a model with less XP from dungeon monsters and much more from dungeon quests. Since then it has turned the dial twice, once down and once up. If you plan your leveling around instances, this part matters more than anything else on the page.

On October 1 the extra XP from dungeon quests was cut by 50% after feedback on leveling speed. On October 8 mob XP inside dungeons rose by about 20%, together with a fix for a party penalty that based XP on the highest-level group member. Blizzard expects those two October 8 changes to raise dungeon XP dramatically for most players.

One thing that did not change is the total XP to reach 60. A datamined claim said otherwise, and it was pulled after Blizzard clarified. Until live values settle, the routine stays simple: grab the quests before you zone in and run the place once while they're fresh. Whether repeated clears beat questing is something launch week will show. If you want that one run done properly with every quest finished, there's a dungeon leveling boost with a full group set up for exactly that.

How Many Players Fit in a WoW Forever Dungeon Group?

Five, going by both beta instances and the Wowhead database. Nothing hints the other seven will be different, though Blizzard hasn't confirmed it. There's no dungeon finder announced, and no heroic mode or other harder setting either, so you find those four other players yourself.

You can't group with the other faction, and you can't group across rulesets. That means you're building parties from your own side and ruleset, usually in chat or by hanging around the entrance. Blizzard also wants fights to stay tactical. Its words: crowd control is often the right answer to a big pull. That lines up with what testers report from Hall of Thanes.

Which Dungeons Can You Run at Level 60?

Only two are really made for the cap: Blackmaw Hold and Shaper's Terrace. Alcaz Prison covers the late 40s into the early 50s. The first raids open on December 9, 2026, with The Barrow Deeps, Hyjal Summit and Onyxia's Lair. So a fresh 60 has about five weeks where these instances and the reworked old ones are where gear comes from.

Want to show up to raid night already kitted out? Our pre-raid gear service collects those pieces for you. Further out, Blizzard's roadmap has two more dungeons in spring 2027 and two after that in summer 2027. No names yet.

What Is Still Unknown

Quite a lot, since most of the list hasn't reached the beta yet. These are the gaps we're watching:

• Bosses, drops and quests for the seven instances missing from the beta.
• Whether any later dungeon belongs to one faction the way the first two do.
• Exact entrances for Excavation Site, City of Dalaran and The Drowned City.
• Final XP numbers for dungeon quests and mobs.
• Whether more new instances open on the beta before testing wraps up on October 21.

We'll keep this page updated as each instance opens up for testing. Meanwhile, the WoW Forever dungeons are also laid out side by side, with levels and themes, on our page covering all nine new instances.

WoW Forever dungeons FAQ

How many dungeons are in WoW Forever?

All the instances from the original 1–60 game, plus nine new ones: Hall of Thanes, Ruins of Lordaeron, Excavation Site, City of Dalaran, The Drowned City, Krol'dok Stronghold, Alcaz Prison, Blackmaw Hold and Shaper's Terrace. And the count keeps going up after launch, since the roadmap has two more due in spring 2027 and two after that in the summer.

Where is Hall of Thanes in WoW Forever?

Under Ironforge, built for levels 13–18. Walk into the High Seat, take the door on the left into Old Ironforge and follow the path down to the portal. Horde can get in too, but there's no shortcut: you cross Arathi, the Wetlands, Loch Modan and Dun Morogh, then slip past the guards. Most quests there are Alliance-only, so Ruins of Lordaeron is the Horde's own pick.

What loot drops in Hall of Thanes?

The big one in the beta is Durgen's Crescent Axe, off the final boss. Faldrim Anvilmar can drop Spiritwraith Drape, Ephemeral Choker and Aetherwisp Bracers. Among the quest rewards you'll find Ironforge Greathammer, the Deepblaze wand, a Dwarven Tome and Catacomb Cloak. Unique boss items are always blue or better. Keep in mind drop tables can change before November 4.

Where is The Drowned City in WoW Forever?

Just off Stranglethorn Vale, where old troll ruins have surfaced from the sea. It's a 35–40 instance with trolls, naga and a wrecked pirate ship, and it was the only new dungeon you could play at BlizzCon. A few early articles placed it in the Riverglades. Blizzard's own description puts it along the Stranglethorn coast.

What level is Krol'dok Stronghold?

40–45. Several BlizzCon recaps printed 40–55. On September 15, 2026 Blizzard posted a fix on its forums, together with level ranges for all nine new dungeons. You're looking at a sprawling outdoor ogre base in the Riverglades, the zone added for characters somewhere between their mid-30s and mid-40s.

Does WoW Forever have a dungeon finder?

Nothing like that has been announced. You put groups together yourself, and everyone has to be on the same faction and the same ruleset, since WoW Forever blocks cross-faction groups and grouping between rulesets. Heroic or tougher dungeon modes haven't been announced either. Both beta dungeons take five players.