Blackfathom Deeps

Blackfathom Deeps is an instance on the Zoram Strand of Ashenvale in the Northwest. The level range for mobs in the instance is 20-29. A recommended level range for this group would be 25-30. This instance is medium length taking about 75-145 minutes depending on group levels and how much you skip.

External Guides and Map

Annotated Map from gameamp.com

Quests

There are two class, four Alliance, three Horde and one shared quests that involve Blackfathom Deeps.

Class quests

Seeking the Kor Gem
Rewards: Verigan's Fist
One is a part of a Paladin class quest series The Test of Righteousness, this is but a small step of the quest. You can get the gem from any of the naga inside or outside the instance.

The Orb of Soran'ruk
Reward: Orb of Soran'ruk or Staff of Soran'ruk This one is a warlock class quest. Just any of the twilight hammer cultists can drop it. They are about halfway into the instance.

Alliance quests

Ironforge
10 (23) Knowledge in the Deeps
Rewards: Sustaining Ring
This quest is obtained from Gerrig Bonegrip in the Forlorn Cavern section of Ironforge.
The chest is under the water just to the north of where Ghamoo-ra (the big turtle) is.

Darnassus
19 (24) In Search of Thaelrid
Reward: XP only
This quests starts with the gryphon master Dawnmaster Shaedlass in Darnassus. It leads into Blackfathom Villainy at an NPC inside the instance.

20 (25) Twilight Falls
Reward: Nimbus Boots or Heartwood Girdle
This starts in Darnassus at Argent Guard Manados.

Auberdine
18 (24) Researching the Corruption
Reward: Prelacy Cape or Beetle Clasps
Starts at Gershala Nightwhisper in Auberdine.
The brain stems are easy to acquire from Naga and Satyrs both inside and outside the instance.

Blackfathom Deeps
18 (27)Blackfathom Villainy
Reward: Arctic Buckler or Gravestone Scepter
This quest is obtainned from Argent Guard Thaelrid in a room through an underwater passage to the NE from Ghamoo-ra.

Horde quests

Zoram Strand
Essence of Aku'Mai
This quest doesn't seem to be part of a quest line any longer. The Saphires are crystals on the walls of the cave before you get to the instance.

Allegiance to the Old Gods
This quest line starts as a random drop from blackfathom (possibly only outside the instance, not sure) of a damp note. After returning the note you get a quest to kill Lorgus Jett inside the instance.

Amongst the Ruins
The fathom core is found underwater near the twilight ruins not far from Ol' Serrakis. Be prepared because when clicking it a boss will spawn. It seems to have a level 25 requirement as well.

Blackfathom Deeps
Baron Aquanis
Rewards: Outlaw Sabre or Witch's Finger
The baron spawns after clicking on the Fathom Core and drops an item for your entire group to start this quest.

Blackfathom Villainy
Reward: Arctic Buckler or Gravestone Scepter
This quest is obtainned from an NPC that is in a room through an underwater passage to the SW from Ghamoo-ra.

Boss List

Ghamoo-ra - 25 Elite

• Ghamoo-ra's Bind - Cloth Waist, 4 Sta / 4 Int
• Tortoise Armor - Mail Chest

Lady Sarevess - 25 Elite

• Darkwater Talwar - MH Sword, 13.4 dps, Chance on hit: Shadow-bolt for 25 dmg.
• Naga Battle Gloves - Leather Hands, 4 Str / 4 Sta / 7 Spi
• Naga Heartpiecer - Bow, 10.6 dps

Gelihast - 26 Elite

• Algae Fists - Mail Hands, 10 Str / 4 Sta
• Reef Axe - 2H Axe, 18.3 dps, 5 Sta / 7 Spi

Old Serra'kis - 26 Elite

• Glowing Thresher Cape - Back, 3 Str / 8 Spi
• Bands of Serra'kis - Leather Wrist, 4 Str / 2 Sta
• Bite of Serra'kis - Dagger, 17.7 dps, Chance on hit: 4 dmg / 2 sec for 20 secs.

Twilight Lord Kelris - 27 Elite

• Rod of the Sleepwalker - Staff, 23.8 dps, 11 Int / 10 Spi
• Gaze Dreamer's Pants - Cloth Legs, 7 Int / 6 Spi

Aku'mai - 28 Elite

• Leech Pants - Cloth Legs, 1 Sta / 5 Int / 15 Spi
• Moss Cinch - Leather Waist, 5 Sta / 11 Int
• Strike of the Hydra - 2H Sword, 25.6 dps, Chance on hit: 7 dmg / 3 sec and lower armor 50 for 30 sec.

Item List

Cloth

• Ghamoo-ra's Bind - Waist, 4 Sta, 4 Int
• Leech Pants - Legs, 5 Int, 1 Sta, 15 Spi
• Nimbus Boots - Feet (Alliance)

Leather

• Naga Battle Gloves - Hands
• Moss Cinch - Waist
• Heartwood Girdle - Waist (Alliance)

Mail

• Tortoise Armor - Chest, 311 Armor
• Beetle Clasps - Wrists (Alliance), 83 Armor, 5 Sta, 2 Agi
• Algae Fists - Hands, 132 Armor, 10 Str, 4 Sta
• Martyr's Claim - Chest, BoE, 204 Armor, 8Str, 8Sta, 5Spi

Weapons and Shields

• Outlaw Sabre - 1H Sword (Horde)
• Darkwater Talwar - MH Sword
• Bite of Serra'kis - Dagger
• Onyx Claymore - 2h Sword, BoE, 21.6 DPS, speed 2.8, 9 Str, 5 Sta, 6 Spi
• Reef Axe - 2H Axe
• Strike of the Hydra - 2H Sword, 25.6 DPS, 3.3 speed, Corrosive acid that deals 7 Nature damage every 3 sec and lowers target's armor by 50 for 30 sec.
• Verigan's Fist - 2H Mace (Paladin)
• Arctic Buckler - Shield
• Rod of the Sleepwalker - Staff, 11 Int, 10 Spi, 23.8 DPS,
• Staff of Soran'ruk - Staff (Warlock)
• Witch's Finger - HiH (Horde)
• Orb of Soran'ruk - HiH (Warlock)
• Naga Heartpiecer - Bow
• Gravestone Scepter - Wand

Jewelery

• Sustaining Ring - Ring, 1Sta, 4 Spi

Misc

• Prelacy Cape - Back, 5 Spi
• Glowing Thresher Cape - Back, 3 Str, 8 Spi
• Murloc Skin Bag - 10 slot bag

Bestiary

Blackfathom Tide Priestess 21 Elite

Fallenroot Rogue 21-22 Elite

more stuff goes here

Gelihast 26 Elite

Lorgus Jett 26 Elite

Twilight Shadowmage 27 Elite

Aku'mai Snapjaw 27 Elite

Twilight ELementalist 27 Elite

Twilight Lord Kelris 27 Elite

Baron Aquanis 28 Elite

Aku'mai 29 Elite

Walkthrough

First off Blackfathom Deeps is located underneath some ruins in the north along the Zoram Strand. The Zoram Strand is the beach in the far Northwest of Ashenvale. Horde have an outpost in the south of the Zoram Strand and can get there quickly. Once you get to the ruins you will see a winding staircase going to water filled ruins at the bottom. You swim under the water into a cave full of Satyrs and Naga. In this pre instance cave are there are some quests you can do while waiting for the whole group to show up. However these creatures are elite and you will have some pulls of 2 so it might be too tough to solo depending on level. As you go along the cave you will eventually come to the instance portal. There are a few dead ends but the cave is pretty straightforward.

As you zone in you will be greeted by some neutral crabs and further along some hostile Makura along the waters edge. Fight your way to the water and swim to the other side. Here you will have to do a series of jumps with a difficult jump or 2 in there. If you miss a jump along these ruins you can swim back and try again. Once past this little jumping puzzle you will have a few murlocs along the path leading up to the turtle section. The turtle section is an island surrounded by a ring of water. Walk to the island and battle the first boss Ghamoo-ra the turtle. None of the other non-hostile turtles should add, but be carefull with AoE skills like Demoralizing shout and Frost Nova. Like all turtles this guy has super high armor but goes down fast to casters. Once you have slain Ghamoo-ra you have another boss nearby.

Just to the west of the entryway to the large room there is an alcove along the northern arc of the wall. In the alcove, at the bottom of the water, is a chest for the Knowledge in the Deeps quest.

Swim to the north-west underwater to a secret cave guarded by naga to find Lady Sarevess. Fight a few naga to clear the way to her and defeat her as well. She is a pretty easy fight, easier than the turtle IMO.

After killing her you can get a quest from an Argent Dawn member in another secret cave. Swim out of the naga cave and follow the wall south till you find another underwater passage leading to the cave with this Argent Dawn member. He will give you a quest to kill the leader of the Twilight Hammer deeper in the instance. After getting that quest continue out the northern exit of the turtle room.

Out here you will be back in a cave system full of naga and satyrs. Be warned some satyrs are stealthed so it can be hard to guage how many you are pulling when you cannot see all the creeps. Also you might find a chest somewhere in this area. It is not long before the path comes to a sharp Y instersection with the left path leading to murlocs. Back there with the murlocs you will find Gelihast a dual wielding murloc warrior. That path dead ends, but you can clear it and pull him for some good warrior drops, or maybe a 10 slot bag. After killing the murlocs head in the only direction you haven't gone yet, the other direction at the Y intersection.

It will put you in a room with a few short dead ends to the North and East. However Lorgus Jett for the Allegiance to the Old Gods (Horde) quest is down one of those paths. Also a treasure chest can be found in this area too. After killing Jett and/or getting your chest continue on down this path a bit and find the Twilight Hammer guarding some old ruins. Before we get to exploring the ruins there is a boss we can reach by swimming under the ruins to the north. As you swim north you will pass the Fathom Core underneath the ruins for a horde quest. If you have the quest and click the core a boss will spawn, so be prepared and only click the core when everyone is ready. The boss is a giant water elemental so is cold immune and deals all magic damage so armor means nothing, although Dampen Magic can help. After passing the core you will find an underwater passage to a large room to the north. You can see it on your minimap if you are having trouble finding it. In this room is Ol' Serrakis a giant thresher with an AoE lifetap. At lower levels the lifetap can make this fight very tough, but with good DPS you proboably wont even notice it. If you are having trouble back as many people off him as possible and attack him from range.

After killing Serrakis back up to where you entered the water and start into the ruins. After going down the stairs into the ruins just stick to the right and take the first path to the right going out. However you might see a treasure chest down one of the other paths, it is usually locked but if you see it feel free to clear the path to it. Ok so you went in and took the first right you are now on a bridge like structure that leads into a large building. Fight along the bridge until you reach the building. Inside is Twilight Lord Kelris, however the room is full of warlocks and elementalists and you might have some difficult pulls here because they do not like to be pulled to the hallway outside. Once you clear the room it is safe to attack Kelris. He casts a PBAoE sleep so dispel classes should be out of melee range, or if you have a shaman tremor totem can help. I believe he can charm a player as well, but solo he is a very easy fight and goes down like many of the casters in the game. With him dead you are very close to Aku'mai all you need to do is get that big door in the back open.

To open the door you need to light the 4 torches around the statue. Each time you light a torch some monsters will spawn and run to the center of the room. The non elites are best handled with AoE spells, while you should try to CC the elites as best you can. There can be some difficult fights here and you should make sure you don't spawn 2 waves at one time or you could be overwhelmed. After fighting your way through waves of enemies the doors will open leaving the path to Aku'Mai the hydra a short one. Go down this path and clear any other hostile spawns in the room before battling him. You might need to wait for him to path to the back of the room before you can clear the room out. However once cleared you can rush in and attack him. He is a tough melee fighter and your healer will be busy with heals, but he doesn't have any tricky attacks to worry about, just keep the tank alive and waste him with your DPS classes.

After killing Aku'Mai you can click the altar in the back of the room to receive a teleport to outside the instance. There is also a Dwarf that spawns after the battle. Alliance toons can talk to the Dwarf and be ported to Darnassus.