Blackmaw Hold sits behind the old gate in Azshara
Blackmaw Hold, one of the new dungeons in World of Warcraft: Forever, lies behind the big stone gate in Azshara. Players have known that gate since 2004. The furbolg dungeon is for level 60 and probably a little bigger than Blackrock Depths, say the developers.
They gave the details in the third episode of The WoW: Forever Podcast on 8 October. Senior Game Designer Rowan Ryder and Jay Hartman of the encounter team spoke about the dungeon with Josh Greenfield.
The gate that said Timbermaw Hold
In Classic, Azshara has a brick gate that never led anywhere. Step close to it and the game says you enter Timbermaw Hold. In Forever, that gate is the entrance to Blackmaw Hold.
It is not the Timbermaw Hold from Felwood, and not the same tribe. Ryder calls it an old legend the team wanted to pay off:
It’s a space in Azshara. It was originally this big stone gate. And when you came up close, it said Timbermaw Hold, right? It’s this kind of old legend that we wanted to pay off. It’s one of those ones where we looked at it and we said, it’s connected to Timbermaw Hold. But in our lore, it actually isn’t Timbermaw Hold, right? It is Blackmaw Hold, that’s where the place is.
Big, but not a mega dungeon
The developers do not call Blackmaw Hold a mega dungeon. To them, a mega dungeon is not just a big dungeon, but one that is closely connected, takes several runs and covers a wide level range. Blackmaw Hold has a tighter level range, and a group should get through it from beginning to end in one session.
It is a long session though. Ryder compares the dungeon to Blackrock Depths and puts it a little above it in size. “You’re probably going to be there a while,” adds Greenfield.
In September, Greenfield answered a call for a mega dungeon like Blackrock Depths with “Hold our beer(s)” and a screenshot of a furbolg cave. More about that in the post of 28 September.
Level 60 and furbolgs
Blackmaw Hold is a high-level dungeon. Players are comfortable inside at level 60, says Ryder, but they can go in a little earlier. The dungeon has quests, and Blizzard gave it a range of 55 to 60 before. Levelling from 50 to 60 there is not the idea.
Inside live furbolgs of a corrupted tribe that deals with demons. “It’s Furbolg heavy. It’s demon heavy,” says Ryder. The dungeon has a lot of secrets, but Ryder cannot say more about them yet.
A place before it is a dungeon
The team wants Blackmaw Hold to feel like a real place that existed long before the players walked in. Classic dungeons are not hallways, says Greenfield: they have many paths and a lot of verticality, and they are not neat. Hartman says a dungeon should feel like it lives in the world, not like it was arranged for the player. Ryder sums it up:
I like to think of it as being a space before it’s a dungeon. You know, it’s more important that it’s a space in the world and we populate it with stuff that makes sense.
Blackmaw Hold is not on the beta yet. When it can be tested, Blizzard has not said. The dungeons that are on the beta are in the dungeon guide.
Source: Icy Veins