Deadmines

or Van Cleef


As an Alliance character, the Deadmines will be one of the first instances you
will have a chance to explore and conquer. You must be level 10 to enter this
instance. However, the difficulty would make it smart to wait until you are at
least level 16.

History

The history of the Deadmines extends back to the First War. They were once the
center of gold production in the human lands. However, when the Horde attacked
Stormwind in the First war, the mines were abandoned. The Defias Brotherhood now
call the tunnels of the Deadmines home.

Collecting Quests

You can begin to pick up quests for the Deadmines almost as soon as you enter
Westfall. A couple of the quests are chains.

The main Deadmines quest is "The Defias Brotherhood". The Defias are a group of bandits who all wear red face cloths. This “quest tree” relating to the
Brotherhood in the Westfall consists of several quests that eventually lead to the
thrilling climax of the Deadmines and the slaying of Edwin VanCleef.

The Defias Brotherhood begins with speaking to Gyran Stoutmantle at Sentinel
Hill. You must be level 14 to start this quest chain. You will do a lot of
running, from Westfall to Lakeshire to Stormwind and such. Eventually you will
be led to the entrance of the Deadmines by the Defias Traitor. The entrance is in the
town of Moonbrook, south of the stables.

Once you have completed escorting the Traitor in the Defias Brotherhood quests,
you will be able to pick up the quest "Red Silk Bandanas". This also requires you to
be level 14. You pick this quest up from Scout Riell. She is located in the top of
Sentinel Hill Tower.

You can collect two Deadmines quests from Wilder Thistlenettle in Stormwind
City. He is located in the tavern to the right just as you enter the Dwarven
District of Stormwind from canal that connects Old Town and the Dwarven
District. You can get "Collecting Memories" at level 14 and "Oh Brother" at level 15.
Both of these quests can be completed in the same area of the Deadmines.

You can pick up the first part of a very small quest chain in Ironforge. In
Tinker Town, you will find the gnome Gnoarn. He gives you the quest "Speak
with Shoni"
(you will need to be level 15 to get this quest). This sends you to the Dwarven District of Stormwind to speak with Shoni the Shilent. He is standing
next to the fountain behind the blacksmith trainer area. Shoni will then give you the
quest "Underground Assault".

If you are a paladin, you will have one more quest to complete while in the
Deadmines. At level 20, you will receive your class quest "The Tome of Valor".
This quest leads into the "The Test of Righteousness" in which you will receive
Verigan's Fist, your class-specific weapon! One of the things needed for that
quest is Whitestone Oak Lumber. This will be found in the Mast Room of the
Deadmines.

Now, you have all your quests, you can head out against the Defias! If you have
never been to an instance, you may want to check out our href="http://wow.tentonhammer.com/index.php?module=ContentExpress&func=display&ceid=589" target="_blank">Pocket Guide to Instances.

Moonbrook

You will have, most likely, already visited Moonbrook a couple of times while
leveling around Westfall or while working on the Defias Brotherhood quest chain. It
is located southwest of Sentinel Hill in Westfall. There are level 13-15 Defias
scattered throughout the small town. The entrance to the mines is just to the south
of the stables.

Inside the Deadmines

The inside of the Deadmines is a veritable maze of tunnels. You will
encounter miners around level 15-17 and a few elites that patrol the corridors.
This is how all of the mining tunnels inside the instance are set up, so you'll
want to establish a good pattern of pulling for these outside.

If you are wanting to go straight to the instance, follow all the tunnels to
the right. You will eventually come to a platform at the top of large room. You
can see the swirling blue instance door to the right at the bottom, back of the
room.

There are two quests to complete outside the instance. These are "Oh
Brother" and "Collecting Memories". In the middle of the area outside the
instance, in the left portion, you will find an undead area. The undead in this
area (level 16-18 elites) will drop the miner's union cards. You will find a
named ghost in this area called Foreman Thistlenettle, he is a lvl 20 elite. He
is also surrounded by helpers.

After you have finished the undead, follow the tunnels back to the right area
of the zone and you will come to the big room described above.

Through the Instance Portal

Once you step through the portal, you will see the first of many mining
corridors. This one contains level 17-18 miners. They are spaced about the same as
the corridors outside the instance, with level 17-18 elite overseers and evokers
patrolling throughout.

Your first boss will be at the end of the mining corridor in front of a set of
double doors. His name is Rhahk'Zor. He is The Foreman and a level 19 elite.

When engaging Rhahk’Zor I would suggest getting someone to lure him over to the group (a Hunter with a bow, or a mage with a fireball for example). Beware however; Rhahk’Zor does have other Defias members in the room with him, so try not to lure them in on top of the big blue ogre.

Once Rhahk’Zor gets close have your melee fighters (or as gaming slang goes,
“Tanks) engage him up close and personal while the magic users and ranged fighters
widdle him down from afar. The ogre should not be able to stand up to a concentrated group attack and will quickly fall. If not… well let’s just say this guy is
nothing compared to what’s coming. When he dies, the doors open.

Possible Drops from Rhahk'Zor (Click to View / Hide)

You will want to be careful during the Rhahk'Zor fight and after, because your
first patrol should be making its way towards you. The patrols consist of two
or three of the overseers or evokers (or both).

Past the doors you will go through another set of mining corridors. You will
see the same type of mobs here as before the ogre battle. At the end of this
corridor you will see another set of double doors (labeled "Heavy Door"). Just
right-click on these to open them.

Mast Room

You are now in the mast room. This room is full of Goblin Woodcarvers (18-19
elite). They are not friendly and like to gang up on you. You can practice pulling
techniques in here. The main thing to watch out for is the boss that is located
in this room.

The boss is the Lumbermaster, Sneed's Shredder. It's easy to spot, as it's a
giant machine patrolling on the far end of the room.

*IMPORTANT*: The “boss” monster that inhabits this room has a walking path that can take it out of view, so do not rush blindly forward without checking your
sides or you may be ambushed by a really big and bad enemy!

You will want to try to clear the path of as many woodcarvers as possible before
pulling aggro from him.

This battle has 2 stages. Sneed's Shredder is a level 20 elite. When
the shredder dies, the Lumbermaster Sneed jumps out and starts whaling on you. He
is a level 20 elite as well.

The Goblin Shredder is defeated in pretty much the same pattern as Rhank’Zor;
lure it out and then assault it with everything you have. Watch out for the
goblin that emerges from the wreckage as he could pick off an already wounded
character if things go badly enough.

Possible Drops from Sneed's Shredder (Click to View / Hide)



Possible Drops from Sneed (Click to View / Hide)

Be sure to loot the Shredder, because you will get the quest item for
"Underground Assault" from it. Likewise, if you are a paladin, make sure to loot
the goblins in this room for the lumber you need for the "Test of Righteousness"
quest.

As with the last boss, when the shredder dies, the next set of doors
opens. Make sure to watch for the next patrol that will be coming up behind
you.

Through the doors is yet another mining corridor, but these mobs will be a bit
higher level than the ones in the previous corridors. You will see Defias Strip
Miners (18-19) and for elites, you will have Taskmasters and Wizards. This
corridor also ends with a set of heavy doors. Push them open (right-click) and
walk through.

Goblin Foundry

You are now in the Goblin Foundry. This room is tricky. If you are not
careful, you can pull quite a few mobs at once and get swamped.

Your best tactic is to stick to the left wall on the way down. This will give
you the chance to pull the goblins to you in small groups of one or two at a
time.

In here, you will find Goblin Craftsmen (level 18-19 elites) and engineers (lvl 19
elites).

The engineers need to die quickly. If not killed quickly, they will build a
remote-controlled Golem that's around a lvl 18 elite.
Enough of these will quickly wipe a party.

At the end of the foundry, you will meet your next boss. He is a rather large
goblin named Gilnid, the Smelter (lvl 20 elite) He has a craftsman with him. He's
really not too hard, so just lay into him.

Watch out for the next patrol behind you when you are finished. When Gilnid dies, the next set of doors open into yet another mining corridor.

Possible Drops from Gilnid the Smelter (Click to View / Hide)

You will encounter the same higher level strip miners and elites down this
corridor. Up ahead, there is a small alcove to your left. Someone in your
group will need to pick up the Defias Gunpowder located there. It looks like a
barrel of dynamite.

In order to open the next set of doors, you will need to blast them open with the
cannon in front of them. It requires the use of that gunpowder. This blast will
cause some Defias Pirates (19-20 elites) to run out to check on the noise. You can
have a rogue with lockpicking open this door instead if you wish to avoid the
attack.

Ironclad Cove

We’ve gone from a Mine, to a Lumber mill, to a Foundry, of course we need
something to top this all off and what better then a Pirate Ship? This is the
final part of the Deadmines Instance and it’s by far the hardest. Get ready for
some tough fights.

The cove is the last area of the Deadmines. You must fight your way aboard
the pirate ship to face Van Cleef.

Depending if you blow up the door entrance or not, you will be engaged by a
horde of Defias Pirates, dispatch them as normal and then heal and Rebuff because
this ship is going to be a tough one.

It will take some time to get to the ramp that leads onto the ship itself, be
aware of the patrolling Pirates and deal with them as they come. Once you reach the
Ramp to the ship get ready for a tough battle.

The first “boss” battle in this area is against the large Tauren First Mate of the
Pirate ship; Mr. Smite. Smite is a powerful close combat opponent and will
most defiantly smash even experienced combatants given enough time. Your best
bet to defeat this huge giant is to pummel him with magic and hold him with close
combat specialists. Any Defias Pirates that are drawn into the combat should be
killed ASAP, or if possible polymorph until Smite has been taken down.

This battle has 3 parts. After he loses each 1/3 of his health, he will stun
the group and grab different weapons out of his chest.

Be aware that Mr. Smite is a hard opponent and it is very likely you may
lose a member or two during the fight. Just make sure the healer is kept safe,
you are now at the point of no return as if the healer dies things will quickly go
downhill.

Possible Drops from Mr. Smite (Click to View / Hide)

Once Smite has been smitten (hehehe, I just had to) you will have to scale the
ship to reach the top. Be prepared to engage with Pirates and Pirate Mages as
you make your way to the top of the large sea ship. Once you near the top of the
vessel there is one more “boss” baddie before the infamous VanCleef.

The goblin Captain GreenSkin is not pleased you’ve invaded his ship and he’ll
come out with a small posse of Pirates to show his opinions of you. Depending on
when he comes to meet you in battle, your party might not be ready and may be forced to make a retreat. Remember that if worst comes to worst have the healer jump into the water so they live.

Captain GreenSkin is another straightforward “boss” to kill, it’s his group of pirates that can cause difficulty. Be certain to deal with the pirates (be it killing or polymorphing) before dealing with GreenSkin himself. Once the Goblin Captain is slain get ready for the final battle.

Possible Drops from Captain Greenskin (Click to View / Hide)



Van Cleef

The main reason for coming into the Deadmines is to obtain the head of Edwin
VanCleef, well here is your chance. This battle is the hardest of the entire
Instance and trust me when I say you don’t want to pooch this one.

Van Cleef resides inside the little room on top of the ship and will not leave
unless you attack him or stray to close. Take a quick break before engaging him to
set-up your spells, abilities and any potions you want on hand for the battle.
Also be sure that the healers know if things go sour to hop into the water!

When you’re ready start by pulling out VanCleef with magic or a ranged attack,
this will also drag out a few of his hidden friends. Make sure if you have a
mage to have him polymorph these extra goons, and be sure NOT to cast any area of
effect spells or abilities or they will reverse the polymorphing. If there are no
mages in the party, be sure to kill the goons ASAP.

VanCleef will slice through most things that stand in his way, so make sure your
most powerful melee fighters are engaged with him while magic and ranged attacks
are being thrown at him as well. Under such pressure even VanCleef should buckle
and then victory is yours!

Once VanCleef is dead take his head from his corpse and then be sure to do a
victory dance on the deck of the ship!

Possible Drops from Van Cleef (Click to View / Hide)



Getting the Cook and Getting Out

Taking a quick stroll down the opposite side of the ship will take you on the path
needed to reach the mine exit on the other side of the ship. Also while you make this
trip be certain to pummel on the Murloc Cook of the ship as he usually has
something moderately good to drop.

Possible Drops from Cookie (Click to View / Hide)

Deal with any remaining Pirates on the way out and then head through the portal
in the opposite mineshaft. You will come out just south of Moonbrook in the
Westfall area, but that’s it! You’ve completed the Deadmines!


To read the latest guides, news, and features you can visit our World of Warcraft Game Page.

Last Updated: Mar 13, 2016

Comments

Related Content

Patch 5.4 Profession Changes