WoW Forever Deadmines Guide: Quests, Loot, Bosses & Map

The Deadmines is a five-player WoW Forever dungeon beneath Moonbrook in Westfall. The current dungeon range is approximately level 17–26, while level 18–23 is the most practical range for a normal first clear and level 19 is a strong at-level target.

The instance is mostly linear and contains seven standard bosses plus the rare Miner Johnson encounter. A complete run combines Alliance dungeon quests, the Forever-specific Destruction in Deadmines storyline, Paladin class objectives, new profession blueprints and several new or heavily changed Forever items.

Deadmines Location and Entrance

The Deadmines entrance is hidden beneath Moonbrook in Westfall. The visible entrance in Moonbrook only takes you into the non-instanced mine. The actual dungeon portal is much deeper underground.

Alliance Route

Travel to Sentinel Hill in Westfall and head south to Moonbrook. Enter the large building and follow the mine tunnels underground.

Do not rush directly toward the instance portal. Collecting Memories and Oh Brother... are completed in the outer mine rather than inside the actual dungeon.

Horde Route

Horde has a much longer trip because Westfall is Alliance territory. A practical route is to take the Zeppelin to Grom'gol Base Camp in Stranglethorn Vale and travel north along the western coastline into southern Westfall.

This route matters especially for Horde Paladins completing A Moon-Kissed Blade.

Deadmines Maps

The Deadmines effectively has three navigation stages: the outer Moonbrook mine, the workshops and foundry section, and the Ironclad Cove ship section.

Outer Moonbrook Mine

Deadmines Workshops and Goblin Foundry

Ironclad Cove and VanCleef's Ship

All Deadmines Quests in WoW Forever

The normal Deadmines quest package is overwhelmingly Alliance-focused. There are seven major Alliance dungeon-related objectives, plus one Alliance Paladin class objective and the new Horde Paladin objective A Moon-Kissed Blade.

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Destruction in Deadmines: Where to Plant the Explosives

Destruction in Deadmines is a Forever-specific quest in the Toxic Soil storyline. It begins after the chain that starts with Testing the Wells from Alba Fairmoon in Westfall.

Your objective inside the dungeon is the large forge in Gilnid's room. Move close to the central forge and use the provided Extra-Destructive Explosives.

After completing the dungeon, do not Hearthstone immediately. Use the rear dungeon exit and meet Alba Fairmoon outside so you can continue the chain without travelling back around Moonbrook.

A Moon-Kissed Blade: Deadmines Paladin Objective

A Moon-Kissed Blade is one of the most important new Deadmines-related searches in WoW Forever. It is a Horde Paladin quest added for the new Paladin progression available to Horde races.

The quest requires several materials:

• Whitestone Oak Lumber — from Goblin Woodcarvers in The Deadmines;
• Enchanted Silver Ingot — connected to Shadowfang Keep;
• Purified Kor Gem — connected to Blackfathom Deeps;
• Trevan's Weapon Notes.

Inside The Deadmines, focus on the Goblin Woodcarvers around the Sneed section. Make sure you are on the correct quest stage before entering, otherwise the required lumber may not be useful for your progression.

Best Quest-Loaded Deadmines Route

1. Pick up Collecting Memories, Oh Brother... and Underground Assault in Stormwind.
2. In Westfall, progress The Defias Brotherhood and Red Silk Bandanas.
3. Progress the Toxic Soil chain until Destruction in Deadmines is active.
4. Paladins should activate The Test of Righteousness or A Moon-Kissed Blade before travelling.
5. Enter the Moonbrook mine and finish Collecting Memories and Oh Brother... before the dungeon portal.
6. Enter the instance and kill Rhahk'Zor.
7. Check for rare Miner Johnson.
8. Clear Goblin Woodcarvers around Sneed and collect Whitestone Oak Lumber when needed.
9. Kill Sneed's Shredder and Sneed, completing Underground Assault.
10. At Gilnid's forge, plant the explosives for Destruction in Deadmines.
11. Continue through Mr. Smite and onto the ship.
12. Kill Captain Greenskin.
13. Kill Edwin VanCleef, collect his Head when needed and loot The Unsent Letter.
14. Kill Cookie before leaving.
15. Use the rear exit if you need to meet Alba Fairmoon.

Deadmines Bosses

Rhahk'Zor Strategy

Rhahk'Zor is accompanied by two Defias Watchmen. If possible, pull the Watchmen separately. Otherwise crowd-control one and eliminate the other before committing to the boss.

Rhahk'Zor Slam stuns its target for several seconds. Also check for patrols before pulling; accidental chain aggro is more dangerous than the boss itself.

Rhahk'Zor Loot

• Rhahk'Zor's Hammer — Two-Hand Mace
• Rockslicer — Two-Hand Axe
• Ogre Loincloth — new Forever Cloth Legs with Strength, Stamina and caster/healer value

Miner Johnson Rare

Miner Johnson is not guaranteed to appear. His main mechanic is Pierce Armor, which reduces the tank's armor and increases incoming physical pressure.

Remove the nearby Defias Miners before engaging if you want the safest pull.

Miner Johnson Loot

• Gold-plated Buckler
• Miner's Cape

Sneed's Shredder and Sneed Strategy

Clear the entire room before engaging. Sneed's Shredder can use Terrify, and a feared player running into Goblin Woodcarvers can quickly turn the encounter into a wipe.

After the Shredder dies, Sneed jumps out and continues the fight. His Disarm can make tank threat unstable, so DPS should give the tank time to regain control.

Sneed and Shredder Loot

• Buzzer Blade — Dagger
• Buzz Saw — One-Hand Sword
• Dull Sawblade — new Forever Thrown weapon
• Taskmaster Axe — Two-Hand Axe
• Gold-flecked Gloves — Cloth Hands
• Bandsaw Wristbands — new Forever Mail Wrist with a block-damage effect
• Blueprint: Repair Bot — Engineering 140 camping blueprint

Gilnid Strategy

Gilnid is accompanied by Goblin workers and an Engineer. The Engineer can summon a Remote-Controlled Golem, so crowd-control or kill the Engineer quickly.

Molten Metal damages and heavily slows its target. Movement-removal effects such as Blessing of Freedom are useful.

Gilnid Loot

• Smelting Pants — Leather Legs
• Lavishly Jeweled Ring
• Goblin Hammer — new Forever Main-Hand Mace with Stamina and Bonus Armor
• Blueprint: Anvil — Blacksmithing 140 camping blueprint

Mr. Smite Strategy

Mr. Smite starts with two stealthed Defias Blackguards. Kill or crowd-control them before pushing the boss through his health thresholds.

At roughly 66% and 33%, Smite Stomp stuns the party while Smite changes weapons. The final phase hits harder and can include Thrash.

Mr. Smite Loot

• Smite's Mighty Hammer — Two-Hand Mace
• Smite's Reaver — One-Hand Axe
• Thief's Blade — One-Hand Sword
• First Mate Band — new Forever Strength ring and one half of the Partners in Crime set

First Mate Band is worth keeping. Its second set piece, Band of the Better Half, is a level-60 item. If both pieces are eventually obtained, the set provides a large Strength-oriented bonus.

Captain Greenskin Strategy

Captain Greenskin is surrounded by several adds. The most dangerous is the Defias Squallshaper, which can disrupt melee positioning.

Greenskin uses Cleave, so face him away from the group. Poisoned Harpoon adds sustained pressure to the tank.

Captain Greenskin Loot

• Emberstone Staff
• Impaling Harpoon
• Blackened Defias Belt

Edwin VanCleef Strategy

VanCleef begins with two stealthed Defias Blackguards. Remove them quickly instead of allowing the tank to hold all three targets for the entire encounter.

Around 50% Health, another pair of Blackguards joins the fight. Save crowd control, defensive cooldowns and healer Mana for this point.

After the kill, remember both quest-related drops:

• Head of VanCleef for The Defias Brotherhood;
• The Unsent Letter to begin the Stormwind follow-up chain.

Edwin VanCleef Loot

• Cape of the Brotherhood
• Corsair's Overshirt
• Cruel Barb
• Blackened Defias Armor

Cookie Strategy

Cookie patrols around the ship and is commonly killed after VanCleef.

Interrupt Cookie's Cooking every time. It heals the boss and unnecessarily extends the encounter. Acid Splash deals Nature damage over time to the primary target.

Cookie Loot

• Cookie's Tenderizer — One-Hand Mace
• Cookie's Stirring Rod — Wand with a Forever Cooking-speed effect
• Lookie's Spyglass — new Forever Trinket
• Blueprint: Cookie's Feast — Cooking 140 camping blueprint

Deadmines Full Boss Loot Table

Blackened Defias Leather Set in Forever

The Defias Leather set has been substantially changed in WoW Forever and should not be evaluated with old Classic set bonuses.

Current Forever set bonuses:

• 2 pieces: +5 Arcane Resistance.
• 3 pieces: +15 Attack Power against Humanoids.
• 4 pieces: melee attacks from behind have a 5% chance to inflict a Physical bleed for 5 seconds.
• 5 pieces: +1 Daggers.

This makes the set especially interesting for Rogue and Feral-style melee leveling, although farming all five pieces is not automatically efficient if you are quickly outleveling the dungeon.

New Profession and Camping Loot

Deadmines is more valuable in Forever because several bosses can drop new profession-related camping blueprints.

Best Deadmines Loot by Role

Rogue / Feral / physical melee: Cruel Barb, Thief's Blade, Blackened Defias pieces, Dull Sawblade and First Mate Band are the main targets.

Warrior / Paladin / Strength melee: Smite's Mighty Hammer, Smite's Reaver, Rockslicer, Goblin Hammer and First Mate Band provide strong weapon and stat options.

Hunters: Dull Sawblade is a new ranged-slot option, while several leather pieces and melee weapons can also be useful depending on current gear.

Caster DPS and healers: Emberstone Staff, Lavishly Jeweled Ring, Ogre Loincloth and Cookie's Stirring Rod are worth checking against current gear.

Tanks: Gold-plated Buckler, Goblin Hammer and Bandsaw Wristbands have particularly relevant defensive value.

Professions: Engineers, Blacksmiths and Cooks have unique blueprint targets that did not exist in original Classic.

Important Deadmines Trash

Defias Overseer

Uses Battle Command to increase nearby allies' attack speed. Kill or control it early in dense pulls.

Defias Evoker

Casts Flamestrike. Interrupt it or move out of the target area.

Defias Taskmaster

Piercing Shot substantially reduces armor. This can make the tank much more vulnerable during large pulls.

Goblin Woodcarver

Uses Axe Toss to stun and Cleave to hit adjacent targets. These are also the mobs Paladins need for Whitestone Oak Lumber.

Goblin Engineer and Craftsman

Engineers can summon Remote-Controlled Golems. Kill the Engineer first because its summoned golem disappears when the summoner dies.

Craftsmen can apply Melt Ore, dealing Fire damage and reducing movement speed.

Defias Squallshaper

Uses Chilled and caster abilities around the ship. Control it during Captain Greenskin pulls where possible.

Recommended Group and Preparation

A conventional one tank, one healer and three DPS composition is the safest setup.

Crowd control is especially useful in Deadmines because several dangerous encounters become much easier when a Blackguard, Engineer or Squallshaper is temporarily removed from the fight.

• Bring reliable interrupts.
• Repair before entering.
• Bring food and Mana drinks.
• Leave bag space for quest items and profession drops.
• Paladins should verify their Whitestone Oak Lumber quest stage.
• Alliance should finish the necessary Defias Brotherhood prerequisites before travelling.

Deadmines Mistakes to Avoid

• Running past the outer-mine objectives for Collecting Memories and Oh Brother....
• Entering without the final Defias Brotherhood quest unlocked.
• Forgetting to activate Destruction in Deadmines before reaching Gilnid's forge.
• Paladins entering before their Whitestone Oak Lumber objective is active.
• Pulling Sneed before clearing the room and then being feared into extra mobs.
• Pushing Mr. Smite through a weapon transition while Blackguards are still alive.
• Ignoring VanCleef's second Blackguard wave around 50% Health.
• Forgetting The Unsent Letter after VanCleef.
• Skipping Cookie and missing his new Forever drops.
• Hearthing immediately instead of using the rear exit for the Alba Fairmoon follow-up.

Is Deadmines Worth Repeating?

The first quest-loaded clear provides the highest guaranteed value. Repeat runs make sense if you are targeting Cruel Barb, Blackened Defias pieces, First Mate Band, a profession blueprint or another specific boss item.

First Mate Band is a particularly unusual long-term target because it belongs to a set whose second piece is designed for level 60.

Deadmines Carry

Players who want to complete The Deadmines for quests, VanCleef, Paladin materials, profession blueprints or specific loot without assembling their own party can use our WoW Forever Dungeon Carry.

Sources

• Wowhead — Deadmines Forever Guide
• Method — Deadmines Dungeon Guide