WoW Forever dungeons: the nine new five-player instances, with Blizzard's level ranges, locations and access notes

Blizzard's article opens: 'World of Warcraft: Forever introduces nine new five-player dungeons for adventurers from level 13 through level 60. Rooted in the original World of Warcraft, each dungeon brings new threats, quests, and adventures to the Eastern Kingdoms and Kalimdor.' Its two tables, one per continent, are reproduced below. The Eastern Kingdoms has the six dungeons up to level 45, and Kalimdor has the three from 48 to the cap. So a character levelling through dungeons spends the first two-thirds of the journey on one continent and the last third on the other.

The ranges match Kaivax's forum post of 15 September 2026, which corrected a wrong Krol'dok Stronghold range shown at BlizzCon ('In WoW: Forever, Krol'dok Stronghold will be for levels 40-45'). That post called the Wetlands dungeon 'Excavation Site: Wetlands'. The October article shortens it to 'Excavation Site'.

The two lowest dungeons each sit inside a faction capital, and Blizzard gives each an access note. Hall of Thanes (13–18), 'Beneath Ironforge in Dun Morogh': 'Alliance players can reach the entrance easily from within their capital, while Horde groups will need to brave the journey into Alliance territory.' Ruins of Lordaeron (15–20), 'Within the ruined city above the Undercity in Tirisfal Glades': 'Horde players can reach the entrance easily from the Undercity, while Alliance groups will need to venture into Horde territory.'

For a low-level group from the other faction, that means a long trip through hostile territory. On a PvP ruleset it is also a trip where the other faction can attack you. The stories: the Hall of Thanes is 'the carefully tended final resting place of dwarven monarchs', broken into by intruders 'suspected to be Dark Iron dwarves', where 'ghostly whispers still echo through the stone'. In the Ruins of Lordaeron 'the Forsaken are working to reclaim the shattered remains of Lordaeron', a city 'haunted by the Scourge', and 'with reports of a necromancer gathering power, adventurers are called to help secure the city'.

Excavation Site (24–29) is listed 'Above Whelgar's Excavation' in the table and 'Near Thelgen Rock and Dun Algaz in the Wetlands' in its own entry. 'A strange mist drifts down from the mountains above Whelgar's Excavation, accompanied by flashes of light along the horizon. Beyond the dig site lies a place seemingly frozen in time, where errant titan constructs and dangerous wildlife guard mysteries sure to draw the Explorers' League.'

City of Dalaran (28–33, Alterac Mountains) is the only one of the nine with an attunement. 'Alliance players can begin the required attunement questline with “An Alarming Request” from Emissary Jacques in Southshore. Horde players begin with “Key to the City” and “Prison Break-In” from Magus Wordeen Voidglare in Tarren Mill.' Inside, 'the magical barrier concealing Dalaran's restoration efforts has fallen, revealing a city alive with arcane chaos'. After 'earning the Kirin Tor's trust, your group will enter through the sewers and make its way into the city proper, choosing among multiple paths and encounters on the way to the source of the disruption.' Blizzard names only the first quests of the attunement. The rest of the chain, and whether each group member needs it, are not published.

The Drowned City (35–40) lies 'Off the coast of Stranglethorn Vale, west of Grom'gol'. It is the only one of the nine whose entrance needs a swim: 'Dive below the water to find the entrance, then watch the open-air dungeon change around you as mist and rain build into a full storm before the final confrontation.' The setting is 'ancient troll ruins once lost beneath the waves', now risen, where 'trolls and naga now roam the city, while a nearby pirate ship appears to have met a very unfortunate end'.

Krol'dok Stronghold (40–45) is in the Riverglades, the new Eastern Kingdoms zone. 'Ogre outrunners have been kidnapping travelers and ransacking communities throughout the Riverglades.' The stronghold is 'a sprawling fortress filled with workshops, encampments, and guarded interior passages', and players are asked to 'investigate the strange chanting heard from the stronghold after nightfall'. It is the last Eastern Kingdoms dungeon on the levelling path.

Alcaz Prison (48–53), 'Alcaz Island in Dustwallow Marsh': the island 'has long been wrapped in rumors of high-ranking prisoners—including King Varian Wrynn—but its prison has remained out of reach. Now, its doors finally open.' Inside are 'the Defias Brotherhood and naga locked in conflict'. Blackmaw Hold (55–60, Azshara) is reached 'beyond a long-sealed gate'. It is 'a great furbolg city' where 'the Blackmaw clan is struggling against a corruption spreading through its groves and winding mountain tunnels', and Blizzard calls it 'a substantial max-level adventure with multiple routes and bosses'. The entry ends: 'you may discover a path leading even farther below Azeroth.'

That last line matches the raid overview, which lists Blackmaw Hold as one of the three places with entrances to the Barrow Deeps, the 10-player raid. Shaper's Terrace (58–60), 'The northern hills of Un'Goro Crater', is 'an ancient titan facility' among 'dinosaurs, titan structures, tar pits, and powerful crystals'. It is the one dungeon that asks for outdoor preparation: 'Bring power crystals gathered throughout Un'Goro and use them at consoles within the terrace.' Blizzard does not say how many crystals are needed or which colours.

The Deep Dive's combat section is the design brief for every one of these instances: 'Dungeon gameplay is also meant to stay tactical, where crowd control can be the right answer when there are too many enemies for a tank to safely control at once. Polymorph, Banish, Fear, Root, and similar tools continue to have a place, and damage dealers still need to respect Threat, focus targets carefully, and use area damage only when it is safe.'

Two systems also route through dungeons. Camping's advanced objects (the Alchemy Lab, the Tanning Rack, the five- and ten-object Campfires) 'come from Blueprint recipes that drop from specific dungeon bosses'. And professions gain 'advanced Blueprint recipes from dungeon bosses'. Which bosses in which dungeons is not published.

This is the one dungeon-wide change with specifics. From the Deep Dive: 'These itemization updates reach across the entire game. Every dungeon drop has been re-examined, memorable items remain memorable, less exciting items have been adjusted, and hundreds of new drops have been added. Unique dungeon boss items are now blue quality and set bonuses have been improved to feel more useful and exciting.' That applies to the original dungeons as well as the nine new ones.

The stat changes behind it (merged hit and crit, bonus healing carrying a third as much bonus damage, caster weapons with spell damage 'so spellcasters can look forward to level-up weapons in the same way Warriors, Rogues, and Hunters do') are what 're-examined' means in practice. The itemization page lists them all.

The Legacy system gives dungeons their own category, 'Dungeons: Total of 3 points': 'Defeat the final boss in all level 15 to 25 dungeons', 'Defeat the final boss in all level 26 to 45 dungeons' and 'Defeat the final boss in all level 46 to 60 dungeons'. Each challenge 'earns you one Legacy Point', shared across the account's non-Hardcore characters. Blizzard does not list which dungeons it counts in each bracket. The brackets do not line up neatly with the new dungeons' ranges (Hall of Thanes starts at 13 and Krol'dok Stronghold ends at 45, for example), and the article does not say whether the original Classic dungeons are included. So this page does not assign dungeons to brackets.

One Adventure challenge is also dungeon content: 'Complete the Lord Valthalak dungeon set questline'. Together with the three raid challenges, Blizzard's per-character count gives '6 from Dungeons and Raids'.

The October article settled most of the practical questions: group size (five players), level ranges, locations, the Dalaran attunement's first quests and four access notes. It still names no bosses (apart from what each story implies), no loot tables, and no coordinates beyond Blizzard's location lines. The realmless design limits groups: players 'can group, run dungeons, and raid with others who have chosen the same ruleset', so a Normal-ruleset character cannot run a dungeon with a PvP-ruleset friend. Nothing in Blizzard's Forever material mentions a dungeon finder.

The dungeons are launch content on 4 November. The three raids (the Barrow Deeps for 10 players, Hyjal Summit for 20 and Onyxia's Lair for 40) unlock on 9 December. The Onyxia attunement also sends players through original Classic dungeons: Blackrock Depths for the Alliance, Lower Blackrock Spire for the Horde, and Upper Blackrock Spire for both. Blizzard's roadmap promises 'more raids, dungeons, PvP updates' after that, without dates.