Your first dungeon in WoW Forever

What a dungeon is, the tank, healer and damage roles, which dungeons you can run up to the level 20 beta cap, how to get ready, how a pull works, what the first bosses do, loot manners and what to do when you wipe.

The beta's level cap is 20 (30 is expected in mid-October). Blizzard's first beta week brought two new Forever dungeons: The Hall of Thanes (levels 13–18) and Ruins of Lordaeron (levels 15–20). Everything below is checked against the Forever client and Blizzard's posts; anything that comes from Classic is marked.

A dungeon is a private copy of a place that only your group can enter. Players call this copy an instance. The monsters inside (players say mobs) are tougher than the ones outside, and bosses wait at key points with the best loot. You aren't meant to clear one alone at the right level: you go in with a group, and each player has a job.

Why run a dungeon

• Loot. Bosses drop gear that's hard to get anywhere else. Blizzard says every dungeon drop in Forever has been re-examined, hundreds of new drops were added, and unique dungeon boss items are now blue (Rare) quality. More in our Deep Dive recap.
• Blueprints. In Forever, the advanced camping objects that professions place at a campfire come from Blueprint recipes that drop from specific dungeon bosses (Blizzard, Deep Dive panel).
• Quests. Most dungeons have several quests, handed out in towns and camps outside. They give experience and often a choice of reward. You'll want to pick them up before you go in (see below).
• Experience. Every kill and every quest you finish inside gives experience, and a group that works well moves quickly.
• Practice. Dungeons teach group play: holding a monster's attention, healing others, stopping spells and working to a plan. It's the same set of skills raids use later.

The three roles: tank, healer, damage

A normal group, a party, holds up to five players. The usual party is one tank, one healer and three damage dealers. To understand the roles you need one idea first: threat. Each monster keeps a list of how much it hates each player. Damage and healing both add threat, and a monster attacks whoever is at the top of its list. Being the target a monster is attacking is called having aggro.

Tank: keeps the monsters on them

The tank wears the heaviest armor they can, starts every fight, builds more threat than anyone else and keeps the monsters facing away from the group. If something runs at a healer, the tank takes it back with a taunt. In the Forever client three classes have the tools, all from level 10:

• Warrior: Defensive Stance (more threat, less damage taken), Taunt and Sunder Armor, all learned at level 10. See Warrior PvE.
• Druid: Bear Form and Growl, both at level 10. See Druid PvE.
• Paladin: Seal of Fury is new in Forever and learned at level 10. Its Judgement taunts the target, and with a shield equipped each hit also gives you a small absorb shield. Righteous Fury (level 16) adds threat to your Holy attacks. See Paladin PvE.

Healer: keeps the group alive

The healer watches everyone's health and heals the tank first. Four classes can heal from level 1: Priest (Lesser Heal), Paladin (Holy Light), Shaman (Healing Wave) and Druid (Healing Touch). Healers also remove harmful effects, which beginners often forget:

• Magic (sleeps, many debuffs): the Priest's Dispel Magic at level 18.
• Poison: the Paladin's Purify (level 8, also diseases), the Druid's Cure Poison (level 14), the Shaman's Cure Poison (level 16).
• Curses: the Mage's Remove Lesser Curse at level 18. The Mage isn't a healer, but it's the first curse removal anyone gets.
• Fear and sleep: the Shaman's Tremor Totem (level 18) removes fear, charm and sleep effects from the group; the Priest's Fear Ward (level 20) blocks the next fear on one player.

Watch out: Healing makes threat too. If you heal before the tank has a firm hold, the monsters come for you. As a healer, let the tank land a few hits first, and stand where you can see the tank but aren't right next to the fight.

Damage: kills things, in the right order

Damage dealers are often called DPS (damage per second). Your job isn't just to do the most damage: it's to kill the right monster, in the order the tank marks, without pulling aggro off the tank. Every class can deal damage, and Hunters, Rogues, Mages and Warlocks do nothing else. The best damage dealers also:

• Stop spells. An interrupt cancels a monster's cast. In the Forever client: the Shaman's Earth Shock (level 4), the Rogue's Kick and the Warrior's Shield Bash (both level 12, Shield Bash needs a shield) and the Druid's Feral Charge in Bear Form (level 20). The Mage's Counterspell comes at level 24, after the current cap. The Paladin's Hammer of Justice (level 8) is a stun, which also stops a cast.
• Lock monsters out of the fight with crowd control (see the table under How a pull works).
• Shed threat when they pull too much: the Rogue's Feint (level 16), the Priest's Fade (level 8). If a monster turns on you anyway, run to the tank, not away.

Tip: Your class page has a dungeon-ready talent build and a PvE guide: open classes, pick yours and look at Builds and PvE.

Dungeons you can run now

These are the dungeons the Forever client places at level 20 or below. The level is the one the client's dungeon list gives each dungeon (Blizzard's own ranges for the new ones are in brackets). Each name opens the dungeon's page, with its quests, bosses and entrance.

Levels, player limits, entrances, zone factions and boss lists are from the Forever client (build 1.60.1.70009); level ranges in brackets are from Blizzard's list of the nine new dungeons. Quest counts come from Classic data (see Before you go). The new dungeons don't have an entrance or a player limit in the client yet.

Watch out: The player limit is the most players the client lets into the instance, not the group size a dungeon is built for. Classic's client has the same limit of 10 for all of these older dungeons, and in Classic they're run as a five-player party. Blizzard's posts so far don't say Forever's dungeons are built for more than five, and the new ones have no limit in the client yet. Plan for a party of five until Blizzard says otherwise.

Faction is what the client's dungeon list says: it marks Ragefire Chasm as Horde and leaves the others open to both. In practice, where the entrance is matters more. Ragefire Chasm is inside Orgrimmar, the Deadmines sits in an Alliance zone, and Wailing Caverns and Shadowfang Keep sit in Horde zones, so the other faction has a long, risky trip to reach them.

When the cap rises to 30

Above the current level 20 cap. The client lists some bosses more than once (Blackfathom Deeps names Ghamoo-ra three times and spells Gelihast two ways): each is counted once here. All the older dungeons have a player limit of 10 in the client.

The full list, including raids, is on the dungeons page.

Before you go

Pick up the quests first

Dungeon quests are often handed out far from the entrance, in cities and camps, and some are the last step of a chain you start outside. Nothing is worse than killing a boss and finding out you didn't have the quest. Open the dungeon's page before you set off: it lists every quest, who gives it, where they stand (with a Show on map link) and what they look like.

Speculation: None of the dungeon quests above has been confirmed in Forever yet. The quests are in the Forever client, but their givers, places and levels come from Classic's database (CMaNGOS), so every one is marked Speculation: Classic data on the dungeon pages until someone sees it in the beta. In that data, the Deadmines quests mostly start in Westfall and Stormwind: Gryan Stoutmantle at Sentinel Hill gives “The Defias Brotherhood”, the last step of a chain that starts outside the dungeon, and Scout Riell beside him gives “Red Silk Bandanas”. Ragefire Chasm's come from Orgrimmar, Thunder Bluff and the Undercity, and one from Maur Grimtotem inside the dungeon. Two Disciples of Naralex, Nalpak and Ebru, stand by the entrance to Wailing Caverns. In the same data all four Shadowfang Keep quests are level 25 or higher, above the current cap; the dungeon pages mark those Above the cap.

Tip: Playing the beta? The ForeverDB addon records the quests you're offered, who gives them and where. That's how a quest here turns from Classic data into Confirmed in Forever.

Watch out: Don't count on a friend sharing a dungeon quest. Blizzard's September 24 notes fixed several dungeon quests that could be shared (sharing handed out a quest item), so pick each one up from the giver yourself.

Repair, eat, drink, bandage

• Repair. Your gear wears down as you fight and more when you die, and broken gear gives no stats. Repair at a vendor who offers it before you go. Blizzard says Forever's campsites can also offer things like vendors and repairs.
• Drink (for anyone who uses mana) and food (health between fights) are sold by innkeepers and food vendors. From the Forever client: Refreshing Spring Water (level 1), Ice Cold Milk (level 5) and Melon Juice (level 15) to drink; Tough Hunk of Bread, Freshly Baked Bread and Moist Cornbread for the same levels to eat. A Mage can make free water and food with Conjure Water (level 4) and Conjure Food (level 6): ask nicely.
• Bandages heal you without mana. First Aid makes Linen Bandage, Heavy Linen Bandage, Wool Bandage and Heavy Wool Bandage. After a bandage you get the Recently Bandaged debuff and have to wait before the next one. In the Forever client, First Aid can also make healing potions such as Minor Healing Potion and Lesser Healing Potion. See the professions guide.
• Healthstones. A Warlock can make healthstones with Create Healthstone (level 10) and hand them out. If one is offered, take it.
• Buffs. Ask for the long ones before the first pull: Power Word: Fortitude (Priest), Arcane Intellect (Mage), Mark of the Wild (Druid), Blessing of Might (Paladin). In Forever you can also sit at a Basic Campfire for its one-hour buffs.
• Bag space. Empty your bags of junk first so you can pick up everything the bosses drop.
• Your Hearthstone. Hearthstone takes you back to the inn you set as home. Check where that is before you go, so getting home afterwards is quick.

Find your group

• You can only group with players on the same ruleset (Normal, PvP, Roleplaying) and the same faction. Blizzard says cross-ruleset grouping isn't supported. More in rulesets explained.
• Before anyone enters, agree who tanks and who heals, and how loot is shared (see below).
• A known beta issue: forming or changing a party can move players to a different copy of the world. If a group member vanishes after you invite them, that's why. Blizzard says it's working on it.

How a pull works

Most dungeon fights aren't bosses. They're packs of ordinary monsters (trash). Starting a fight with one pack on purpose is a pull. Blizzard says Forever's dungeons should stay tactical: crowd control still has a place, and damage dealers still have to respect threat and only use area damage when it's safe. A clean pull goes like this:

1. Everyone's ready. The healer has mana, everyone has their buffs, nobody is still drinking. If you need a moment, say so.
2. The tank marks the targets. Groups use the target icons (right-click a portrait). A common scheme is a skull for the first kill and a cross for the second, with other marks for the monsters to lock down. Agree on yours at the start.
3. Crowd control goes out. A Rogue saps before the pull; a Mage turns a monster into a sheep as it comes in.
4. The tank pulls. The tank hits or shoots the pack, then often steps back around a corner. Casters can't shoot what they can't see, so they have to walk to the tank. This is a line of sight pull, and it keeps the pack together.
5. Damage starts on the tank's target. Give the tank a moment to build threat, then hit the marked target, not the nearest one. Melee stand behind the monster: from the front it can block or parry, and some monsters hit everyone in front of them.
6. The healer heals from a safe spot, where they can see the tank but aren't in the middle of the pack.
7. After the fight: loot, drink if you need it, and wait for the tank to pull the next one.

Crowd control you'll have by level 20

Crowd control (CC) takes a monster out of the fight for a while, so the group only fights what it can handle. Most CC breaks when the target takes damage, so never hit a monster that's locked down, and don't use area attacks next to it.

Learn levels and what each ability works on come from the Forever client's tooltips. Later: the Paladin's Turn Undead (level 24) and the Warlock's Banish (level 28).

Watch out: Fear and Psychic Scream make monsters run, and a running monster can pull more packs. In a dungeon, use them only when nothing else is close by.

Rules that save lives

• Don't stand in fire. Anything glowing or bubbling on the ground is there to hurt you. Step out first, then carry on.
• Don't pull for the tank. Don't run ahead, don't open on a pack, and don't attack before the tank does.
• Area attacks (AoE) hit everything nearby. Use them only when the tank holds the whole pack and nothing near you is crowd-controlled.
• Stop the casters. Interrupt heals and big spells, starting with the enemy healers. Monsters that cast can also be pulled out of sight to make them come closer.
• Watch for runners. Some monsters flee at low health and come back with friends. Stun, slow or kill them before they get away.
• Watch for patrols. A patrol is a monster or group that walks a route. Wait for it to pass, or pull it on its own. Don't fight a pack while a patrol walks into you.
• Mana breaks. When the healer says “oom” (out of mana), stop. Pulling while the healer is out of mana is one of the quickest ways to wipe.

Your first bosses

Speculation: This section is how these bosses fought in Classic (CMaNGOS classic-db), not confirmed in Forever. The Forever client names every dungeon's bosses and describes every spell, but it doesn't say which spells a boss uses, and Blizzard has already changed dungeon loot for Forever, so a fight may have changed too. What each spell does is the Forever client's own tooltip: hover a spell's name to read it.

To practise, open the raid and dungeon planner. It loads these Classic mechanics for each boss, lets you set up your group and simulate the fight, and you can change anything you see differently in the beta.

Ragefire Chasm (level 13+)

The Deadmines (level 16+)

Wailing Caverns (level 17+)

The Hall of Thanes and Ruins of Lordaeron

These two are new, so there's no Classic data for them. The client names their bosses. The Hall of Thanes: Faldrim Anvilmar, Infurnus, Plunder and Durgen Dirgehammer. Ruins of Lordaeron: Witherfang, The Abandoned, The Butcher, Rath'mael, the Lordaeron Captain, Viktor the Vile and Bjork. It doesn't say what they do. Go in expecting to learn: watch what each boss casts, and add what you see to the planner to work out a plan with your group.

Loot: need, greed and manners

Most groups share loot with rolls. When a good item drops, everyone gets a window with three choices: Need (you'll use it now), Greed (you'd like it to sell or disenchant) and Pass. Need beats Greed, and the highest roll wins. Some items bind on pickup: they become yours when you loot them and can't be traded. Others bind on equip: they can be traded or sold until someone wears them.

• Roll Need only on items for your class and your role that you'll wear now. A healer shouldn't need on a damage dealer's weapon.
• Don't roll Need on a bind-on-equip item just to sell it. Most groups greed those unless someone will wear it right away.
• If you aren't sure, ask in party chat before you roll. It costs nothing.
• Don't leave the moment your item drops. Finish the dungeon with the group that got you there.
• Most quest items are looted by each player who's on the quest, so everyone picks up their own.

Two things are new in Forever. When a bind-on-pickup green (Uncommon) or blue (Rare) item is looted in a dungeon, everyone eligible gets its appearance for transmog, so nobody needs to roll just for the look. And unique dungeon boss items are now blue (Rare) quality, so loot tables you remember from Classic may not hold.

If you wipe

A wipe is when the whole group dies. It happens to everyone, especially on a first run. What to do:

1. Don't release straight away if someone can come back. A player with a Warlock's Soulstone (Create Soulstone, level 18) can resurrect on the spot. A Druid's Rebirth (level 20) works even in combat.
2. Once someone is up, they bring the others back out of combat: the Priest's Resurrection (level 10), the Paladin's Redemption and the Shaman's Ancestral Spirit (both level 12).
3. Otherwise, release and run back. Your ghost appears at a graveyard. Run to the dungeon's entrance (each dungeon page shows it on the map) and walk through the portal to come back to life at the start.
4. Avoid the spirit healer at the graveyard unless you're stuck. Coming back that way gives you resurrection sickness and costs extra durability. (A known beta issue: resurrection sickness lasts the wrong amount of time at low levels.)
5. Talk before the next pull. What went wrong: a patrol, a runner, the healer out of mana, a broken crowd control? Fix it, rebuff, drink, try again.
6. Repair after a few deaths, before your gear breaks.

Later on, the Legacy System has perks for this: The Quick and the Dead gets you back to your body faster and makes party and raid buffs free after you resurrect, and Reinforce means less durability damage when you die.

What's next

• Run them all. Each dungeon has its own quests and loot. Your class's best items at level 20, and where they come from, are on the gear page.
• The level 30 cap (expected mid-October) opens Blackfathom Deeps, the Stockade, Razorfen Kraul, Gnomeregan and the new Excavation Site: Wetlands and City of Dalaran. The client lists Scarlet Monastery at level 30.
• More new dungeons are coming, per Blizzard: The Drowned City (35–40), Krol'dok Stronghold (40–45), Alcaz Prison (48–53), Blackmaw Hold (55–60) and Shaper's Terrace (58–60).
• The Legacy System gives a point for defeating the final boss in all level 15–25 dungeons, and more for higher bands. Most players open it when their first character reaches level 25. See the Legacy System explained.
• Keep leveling with the leveling guide, and if you're new to the game, start with getting started.

Checked against WoW Forever beta build 1.60.1.70009.