Blackrock Depths Walkthrough, Part 1:

Blackrock Depths Walkthrough, Part 1:
Your First BRD Run

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ALTHOUGH YOU CAN HAVE UP TO NINE QUESTS for Blackrock Depths at this point, you don't have to finish all of them on your first run. The immediate goal is to complete at least five quests, possibly as many as seven, depending on how long your group wants to stay.

The must-completes on your first trip are "Marshal Windsor," "Kharan Mighthammer" and "Dark Iron Legacy," and you'll also want to do "Incendius!" and "Heart of the Mountain" while you're here. Along the way, you'll get drops for "The Good Stuff," but it may take more than one run before you finish it.

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1. Your run starts at the Detention Block, which has a maze of tunnels spread out in front of you. Most of the Block is made up of two large loops; it can be a little disorienting at first, so here's an image to help it out.

Basically, looking at the mini-map, paths 1 and 3 are opposite ends of the same loop, as are 4 and 5. (6 leads up to the Shadowforge Lock, and E leads back to the instance entrance). Got it

Entering the main room, you'll want to head for opening #3, which is the quickest route to Marshal Windsor and Kharan Mighthammer. If no one in your group has the Prison Key, you'll have to clear to the midpoint of this loop, where High Interrogator Gerstahn drops the key you need. Upon opening the cells, Mighthammer gives you "The Bearer of Bad News," while Windsor gives "Abandoned Hope."

2. Once you've spoken to Windsor and Mighthammer, return to the central detention block area. Now you're going through opening #4, where you'll immediately find an opening that leads to the Ring of the Law. Once the group is in, the gate shuts behind you and an event starts with several waves of mobs to fight. (The fights are easy.) After the event, take the exit to the west and hang a hard U-turn right and up into the spectator area. The spectators turn yellow (neutral) when you beat the Ring of the Law event, so just don't talk to them and you'll be fine.

3. On the far side of the spectator area, go down the ramp and clear to the right, where you'll find the statue of Franclorn Forgewright. This is where you'll eventually get the Shadowforge Key for "Dark Iron Legacy," but you've got a little more work to do first.

4. Turn around and clear your way across the bridge into The Domicile. Make a sharp left and clear to the center of Shadowforge City. There are a few options as to what to do next: you can jump down and do "Incendius!," go into the Vault for "Heart of the Mountain," or you can head into the Hall of Crafting and slay Fineous Darkvire for "Dark Iron Legacy." We'll start with the easiest first: "Incendius!"

5. Jump down (as a group) onto the two fireguards and kill them. Wait for Incendius to path around and attack. He's an easy kill as long as no one allows themselves to get knocked into the lava (just pull him back to the hallway.) He drops some decent fire resistance bracers for random classes which can come in handy later while raiding Molten Core.

6. Exit Incendius' area via the northeast into the Hall of Crafting. Patrolling this area is Chief Architect Fineous Darkvire, who drops Ironfel, the quest item you need to complete "Dark Iron Legacy." Kill him and clear allllll the way up the ramps in the Hall of Crafting until you reemerge in the center of Shadowforge City, outside the Black Vault. Hey, you've already been here!

7. Before doing the Vault event, my recommendation is to backtrack to the statue of Franclorn Forgewright and turn in Ironfel for "Dark Iron Legacy" and the Shadowforge Key while everything is clear. This way, even if something goes wrong in the Vault, you know you've got the Key.

8. Return to the Black Vault. Hopefully by this time your group will have collected 12 Relic Coffer Keys. Clear the first few groups and start opening the coffers, each of which contains small batches of loot. When the final coffer is open, the four stone relics come to life and Watchman Doomgrip spawns in, who drops the final key needed to get the quest item for "Heart of the Mountain."

9. With the event done, check out the portrait on the wall in the room before the Vault. When opened, this reveals a special named NPC that holds the key to the final safe. The NPC can be found in several locations throughout BRD, and is totally optional, not part of the quest.

10. If your group is up for it, you can now go after Bael'Gar to complete "A Taste of Flame." The first route is to jump down to the same spot where you killed Incendius, and this time go southwest down the Dark Iron Highway until you reach Bael'Gar. The second option is to return to the instance entrance, go left through the locked gate (since you have the Shadowforge Key now), and make another left on the Dark Iron Highway to go straight to Bael'Gar.

Whichever way you go, the Dark Iron Highway is patrolled by many roving five-packs of elite dwarves, which can be tough to handle if your group doesn't have good crowd control or too many low-level members. Sap and sheep all you can, and try not to get caught off guard by the many patrols.

11. With any luck, you've now collected enough Dark Iron Fanny Packs off the Dark Iron Dwarves to complete "The Good Stuff." If not, you'll be back again for round 2, and you'll get more packs soon enough.