WoW Forever The Drowned City Guide

The Drowned City is the new level 35–40 dungeon of WoW Forever, and the only one you have to swim to. A sunken Gurubashi troll city has risen from the sea off the west coast of Stranglethorn Vale, and naga, undead trolls and a crew of Saltseer pirates whose ship crashed into the ruins are now fighting over it. The quest texts call it the lost city of I'lalai. The portal waits in an underwater cavern just west of the Vile Reef, a short swim from Grom'gol Base Camp.

The quests are the main reason to go, and there are a lot of them. The Horde can take five quests inside the dungeon and four lead-ups in Stranglethorn Vale, the Alliance gets five dungeon quests, a lead-up and two follow-ups that pay blue items, and two pirate quests from Booty Bay are open to both factions. A full set is worth about 60,000 experience for the Horde and 56,000 for the Alliance. Below you will find the entrance with a map, every quest with its giver, experience and rewards, the six bosses as the game data lists them, the two blue items we know about so far and the tips that matter for a dungeon that starts underwater.

The Drowned City at a Glance

These are the numbers to check before you look for a group. Quest experience is the value Wowhead shows for each quest after the November 4 launch, and the totals count the lead-up and follow-up quests too.

How to Get to The Drowned City

The entrance is under the sea off the western coast of Stranglethorn Vale. Swim out from Grom'gol Base Camp to the Vile Reef, the sunken troll ruins full of murlocs west of the camp, and keep going west past them. Around 21.6, 27.3 a large stone tablet leans against the rocks on the sea floor, and right behind it the cavern of Sunken Hollow opens at about 21.4, 27.8. The portal sits inside the cavern, and Brinescale Skirmisher packs patrol the water around it.

The Drowned City entrance west of the Vile Reef and the quest givers in Stranglethorn Vale

Horde players fly to Grom'gol Base Camp, where Kin'weelay also hands out the first quests of the chain. The Alliance has no flight path that close, so the usual way is to fly to Booty Bay and swim north along the coast, or to ride north from Booty Bay and enter the water at the Vile Reef. The dive is deep enough that the breath bar starts to run, so it pays to know where the cavern is before you jump in. A potion or spell of water breathing helps the slower swimmers in the group.

The large tablet on the sea floor marks the cavern of Sunken Hollow

There is no attunement or key listed for The Drowned City. The dungeon also counts toward Experienced Spelunker, the account-wide achievement for ten dungeons from City of Dalaran to Krol'dok Stronghold that earns 1 Legacy Point.

The Drowned City Quests

The Drowned City has a long quest list, but the givers are spread across the map. The Horde chain starts in Stranglethorn Vale, the Alliance chain starts in Stranglethorn Vale and moves to Southshore, and the extra quests come from Mulgore, Dalaran and Booty Bay. Quest experience is not split in a group, so everyone who has a quest gets the full amount. The table lists the quests you complete inside the dungeon, and the lead-ups and follow-ups are explained under it.

The Drowned City Quests by Faction

Horde Alliance

Horde Quests

5 dungeon quests, 47,650 XP

Three quests are Horde only and come from Stranglethorn Vale and Mulgore. The two Saltseer quests from Booty Bay are open to both factions.

Quest	Level	Starts	XP	Rewards
The Drowned City	Level 40, from 30	Most likely Kin'weelay at Grom'gol Base Camp, after Locating the Lost City	8,450	No item, the reward is the experience
The Only Good Brinescale...	Level 38, from 30	Grom'gol Base Camp, after Enemies in the Water	9,500	Choice of Tidesoaked Leggings (green) or Naga Priestess's Mantle (green), plus 1 gold 30 silver
Ancient Gurubashi Idol	Level 40, from 30	Mazu'kon in Mulgore	8,800	1 gold, no item
Shady Saltseers	Level 40, from 34	Krazek in Booty Bay	10,450	Choice of Rusted Troll War Belt (green) or Saltseer's Helm (green), plus 1 gold
The Saltseer Captain	Level 40, from 34	Not listed yet, most likely Booty Bay	10,450	Choice of Mutinous Cuffs (green) or South Seas Shroud (green)

Alliance Quests

5 dungeon quests, 48,250 XP

Two quests come from Loremaster Dibbs in Southshore and lead to follow-ups with blue rewards, one comes from Dalaran, and the two Saltseer quests from Booty Bay are shared with the Horde.

Quest	Level	Starts	XP	Rewards
Take Two With Water	Level 40, from 30	Loremaster Dibbs in Southshore, after An Acquaintance in Southshore	8,450	1 gold 50 silver, then Findings for the Explorer's League pays Ancient Voodoo Pouch (blue) or Intrepid Explorer's Chainmail (blue)
Magics of the Drowned City	Level 40, from 30	Loremaster Dibbs in Southshore	8,450	No item, then The Web of Magic pays Rune-Etched Epaulets (blue) or Apprentice Sorcerer's Slacks (blue)
Ancient Gurubashi Secrets	Level 40, from 34	Archmage Timear in Dalaran	10,450	50 silver, no item
Shady Saltseers	Level 40, from 34	Krazek in Booty Bay	10,450	Choice of Rusted Troll War Belt (green) or Saltseer's Helm (green), plus 1 gold
The Saltseer Captain	Level 40, from 34	Not listed yet, most likely Booty Bay	10,450	Choice of Mutinous Cuffs (green) or South Seas Shroud (green)

Horde Quest Chains in Stranglethorn Vale

The long Horde chain begins with an old classic quest. Kin'weelay at Grom'gol Base Camp sends you to The Vile Reef to recover a Tablet Shard from the tablet of Gri'lek the Wanderer at the bottom of the reef, around 25, 23. Take a group: the Saltscale murlocs at the reef are elite. In WoW Forever the story goes on: The Gurubashi Legends of Old asks for a rubbing of The Third Troll Legend from the tablet Fall of Gurubashi in the troll ruins on the coast north of the reef, around 23, 12. Then Locating the Lost City sends you to the underwater cavern of Sunken Hollow just west of the reef, around 21, 28, and The Drowned City is the dungeon quest itself. Inside you make rubbings of four tablets with the hide and charcoal you get from the chain, so do not delete them from your bags.

The second chain starts with Enemies in the Water: collect 10 Brinescale Tridents from the Brinescale Skirmishers on the sea floor around the entrance, around 22, 26. Wowhead does not name the giver yet, but the quest text speaks for the defenders of Grom'gol, and its follow-up The Only Good Brinescale... mentions Kin'weelay. Do it on the swim to the portal, since the skirmishers are on the way anyway. The follow-up asks you to kill Var'Taka inside and pays the best green items of the Horde quests.

The third Horde quest, Ancient Gurubashi Idol, comes from Mazu'kon in northern Mulgore. He wants an Ancient Gurubashi Idol, and Wowhead lists the Primeval Elemental as the creature that drops it. Pick it up on your way through the Barrens or Thunder Bluff, because there is no reason to return to Mulgore later.

Mazu'kon in northern Mulgore

Alliance Quest Chain from Southshore

The Alliance story starts in Stranglethorn Vale with An Acquaintance in Southshore. Wowhead does not list the giver, but the quest text talks about the madness of Colonel Kurzen and the Skullsplitter fetishes, which points to Brother Nimetz at the Rebel Camp in the north of the zone. He gives you the Savage Coast Report Bundle for Loremaster Dibbs, a scholar of troll lore in Southshore in Hillsbrad Foothills. The quest itself is not sharable, so every member of the group has to pick it up.

Loremaster Dibbs in Southshore

Loremaster Dibbs then offers both dungeon quests. Take Two With Water is the same tablet task as the Horde version: rubbings of The First Tablet of I'lalai, The Second Tablet of I'lalai, The Third Tablet of I'lalai and The Fourth Tablet of I'lalai. Magics of the Drowned City asks for 5 I'lalai Fetishes from the trolls inside. Bring both back to Southshore and he sends you on: Findings for the Explorer's League takes his translations to Historian Karnik at the Explorers' League in Ironforge for a choice of the Ancient Voodoo Pouch or Intrepid Explorer's Chainmail, and The Web of Magic takes the Bundle of I'lalai Findings to Abra Cadabra in Dalaran for the Rune-Etched Epaulets or Apprentice Sorcerer's Slacks. Neither follow-up is a dungeon quest, but each pays 2,350 experience and they hold the only blue items of the whole quest set. An Acquaintance in Southshore itself pays 3,150 experience.

The third Alliance quest, Ancient Gurubashi Secrets, comes from Archmage Timear in Dalaran. Players report that he stands outside the Violet Hold prison in the city, not inside the City of Dalaran dungeon. It asks for the same Ancient Gurubashi Idol as the Horde quest from Mazu'kon.

Archmage Timear and Abra Cadabra in Dalaran

Saltseer Pirate Quests from Booty Bay

Both factions can take two quests about the Saltseer pirates, whose ship crashed into the risen city. Krazek in Booty Bay gives Shady Saltseers: he works for Baron Revilgaz and wants 10 Voodoo-Infused Artifacts from the pirates inside, and Wowhead lists the Saltseer Manhunters as one of the mobs that drop them. The Saltseer Captain asks you to kill Captain Dreadrise and 3 Saltseer Coroners. Its giver is not on Wowhead yet, but both quests require level 34 and give Booty Bay reputation, so look for it in Booty Bay too.

The dungeon quests of both factions are also in our tool below, which updates as the game data fills in. The full list of dungeon quests from level 10 to 60 is in our WoW Forever dungeon quests guide.

The Drowned City Quest Chains Step by Step

Many The Drowned City quests are the last step of a chain that starts far from the dungeon, and the first quest is easy to miss. Open a quest to see every step in order, with the quest giver, the zone and the coordinates. The quests in bold are the The Drowned City quests themselves.

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Quest Items Inside The Drowned City

Most of the quests ask for items rather than kills. These are the ones to watch for, and where each one comes from.

• The four tablets of I'lalai: rubbings for The Drowned City (Horde) and Take Two With Water (Alliance), made with the hide and charcoal from the quest giver.
• I'lalai Fetishes: 5 from the trolls inside for Magics of the Drowned City.
• Voodoo-Infused Artifacts: 10 from the Saltseer pirates for Shady Saltseers.
• Ancient Gurubashi Idol: one per quest, from the Primeval Elemental, for Ancient Gurubashi Idol and Ancient Gurubashi Secrets.
• Brinescale Tridents: 10 from the Brinescale Skirmishers outside the portal for Enemies in the Water.

The Drowned City Bosses

The Drowned City has six boss encounters, numbered in the order the game stages them, and the bosses are level 37 to 40. The shark in the central pool is not one of them. Boss guides are still scarce, so the fight notes below come from the BlizzCon demo, early previews and the first groups that cleared the dungeon. Treat them as a starting point and expect them to change as more groups clear it.

Our dungeon tool shows the bosses and their loot and fills in as the game data is updated.

Zul'Alai

Zul'Alai is an undead troll and the first boss. Previews place him near the top of the hill after the first part of the city, and every early report agrees on one thing: he enrages near death and starts hitting the whole group hard. Save cooldowns for the last part of the fight, and have the healer top everyone up before he gets low.

Var'Taka

Var'Taka leads the Brinescale naga, and the kill completes The Only Good Brinescale... for the Horde. Previews say the boss fights next to two Brinescale Priestesses that heal it, so kill or crowd control the priestesses first. Naga are humanoids, so Polymorph and Sap work on them.

Captain Dreadrise

Captain Dreadrise commands the Saltseer pirates whose ship crashed into the city. Kill him and three Saltseer Coroners for The Saltseer Captain, and pick up the Voodoo-Infused Artifacts from his crew on the way for Shady Saltseers. No one has recorded his abilities yet.

Deathless Marrow and the Primeval Elemental

In the game data Deathless Marrow and the Primeval Elemental share the fourth encounter. Early previews place it in a flooded tomb guarded by Deathless Guardians and Deathless Sorcerers, the risen dead of the old city. The elemental is the creature that drops the Ancient Gurubashi Idol for Ancient Gurubashi Idol and Ancient Gurubashi Secrets. The elemental has its own loot table, listed in the loot section below.

Gill

Gill is the fifth encounter in the game data, an elemental with no recorded abilities or loot so far.

Min'loth the Serpent

Min'loth the Serpent is the last boss. Players who saw the city at BlizzCon say mist and rain build into a storm during the run, right before this fight, and his room has a view of the sunken pirate ship. He drops Ritual-Binder's Gloves, and his name matches Maw of Min'loth, a blue shield that most likely drops from him too.

The Drowned City Loot

Every boss in The Drowned City drops blue items of item level 39 to 42. Seven of the 18 items have been seen dropping in the first clears. The other eleven are from the same batch of new items in the game data, and the Forever Dungeon Journal addon assigns them to the bosses by item ID and required level, so treat them as probable until someone loots them. Drop chances are not recorded yet.

Tips for The Drowned City

The dungeon is new and few groups have cleared it yet, so these tips focus on what you can prepare before the run.

• Collect every quest before you go. The givers stand in Grom'gol, Booty Bay, Southshore, Dalaran and Mulgore, and none of them is inside the dungeon.
• Do Enemies in the Water on the swim to the portal. The Brinescale Skirmishers you need are the same mobs that patrol the entrance.
• Keep the hide and charcoal from the tablet quests. Without them you cannot make the rubbings inside.
• Bring water breathing. The entrance is deep under the sea, and players who saw the dungeon say parts of it are flooded too.
• Go at level 38 or higher. The quests are level 38 to 40, and almost every mob inside is an elite.
• Bring crowd control and interrupts. Naga and pirates are humanoids, so Polymorph and Sap work on the casters, and the Brinescale Priestesses heal Var'Taka.
• Stay away from Zin'aka, the shark that circles the central pool. It is not a boss and is not needed for any quest, but it kills most players in one hit, so swim around it and do not pull it.

What We Still Don't Know About The Drowned City

These are the open questions so far. We will update the guide as more groups clear the dungeon.

• The drop chances, and which boss drops the eleven items nobody has looted yet.
• Boss abilities, beyond the early reports from the BlizzCon demo.
• Who gives Enemies in the Water, The Saltseer Captain and An Acquaintance in Southshore. Wowhead does not list the quest givers yet.
• A map of the dungeon itself. Wowhead has no map for it yet.

If you would rather skip the swim and the wipes, our WoW Forever The Drowned City boost clears the dungeon with an organized team, with quest rewards, gear and experience included.

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More Dungeons for Levels 35–40

These dungeons sit in a similar level range: Scarlet Monastery (30–46), Razorfen Downs (37–46) and Uldaman (41–51). The WoW Forever Dungeons guide lists every dungeon with its levels and quests.

WoW Forever The Drowned City FAQ

These are the questions players ask most often about The Drowned City.