The Deadmines

The Deadmines Route & Boss Strategy

The Deadmines runs in one direction: mine tunnels, three workshop rooms each sealed by a door its boss guards, then Ironclad Cove and the ship. A steady group clears it in about an hour. Two habits carry the whole run: kill fleeing Defias before they fetch help, and look back down the tunnel after each of the first three bosses, because a patrol walks in behind you.

1. Mine tunnels to the first door

   • From the portal the tunnels wind downhill through Defias miners, overseers, and casters. Packs stand close together and elites walk between rooms, so pull small and fight where you already cleared.
   • Stun or interrupt the casters first: their fire on the ground burns everyone standing in it.
   • The tunnels open into a cavern where Rhahk'Zor stands in front of a sealed door.

2. Rhahk'Zor

   Boss

   Rhahk'Zor Slam

   Knocks the tank down for a moment.

   • Two Defias Watchmen flank him. Pull them back up the tunnel and kill them first; they come without the boss.
   • Alone, he is a plain tank fight. Healers keep the tank high so a Slam never lands on low health.
   • The door behind him opens when he dies.

3. Miner Johnson

   Optional

   Pierce Armor

   Cuts the tank's armor, so every hit lands harder while it lasts.

   • A rare spawn, so the tunnel is often empty. Go through Rhahk'Zor's door and check the short tunnel on the left.
   • Kill the non-elite miners around him before the pull, then keep extra healing on the tank while Pierce Armor is up.

4. The Mast Room

   • The next room is a lumber workshop full of Goblin Woodcarvers, with Sneed's Shredder walking the floor.
   • Clear every Woodcarver before you touch the Shredder. Paladins on The Test of Righteousness collect their Whitestone Oak Lumber from these goblins on the way.

5. Sneed

   Boss

   Terrify

   The Shredder sends one player running in fear for a few seconds.

   Distracting Pain

   The Shredder slows its target's casting.

   Disarm

   Sneed knocks the weapon out of the tank's hands.

   • Two fights back to back: destroy the Shredder and Sneed jumps out of the wreck swinging.
   • A feared player runs wherever the room lets them, which is why the room is cleared first.
   • When Sneed appears, damage dealers hold for a few seconds. A disarmed tank builds threat slowly, and Sneed hits hard enough to punish whoever pulls him.
   • The Shredder drops the quest item for Underground Assault.

6. The Goblin Foundry

   • The most dangerous trash of the run. Goblin Engineers cast Summon Remote-Controlled Golem and call an elite machine into the fight. A stun, Gouge, or Polymorph stops the cast. If a golem arrives anyway, kill the Engineer that called it and the golem vanishes with him.
   • Goblin Craftsmen stack Melt Ore, a burn that also slows you. Take them one at a time and watch the goblins that walk the room.
   • Alliance players on Destruction in Deadmines plant the Extra-Destructive Explosives in this room.

7. Gilnid

   Boss

   Molten Metal

   Burns its target and slows both movement and attack speed.

   • A Goblin Engineer stands with him and joins the fight. Crowd-control it before the pull or kill it first, exactly as you did on the way in.
   • Gilnid himself has nothing to dodge. His door opens when he dies.

8. The cove door

   • Past the foundry a heavy door blocks the way to Ironclad Cove. Pick up the Defias Gunpowder, load the cannon facing the door, and fire.
   • Each step brings an elite ambush, so do both with the whole group together and at full health. A rogue can pick the lock instead and skip both waves.

9. Ironclad Cove

   • The door opens onto the cove with the ship straight ahead. Defias Squallshapers cast Frost Nova here: stand on the tank so nobody is frozen alone, and watch for the ones that patrol.
   • Keep your feet on the walkways. Jumping under the scaffolding can catch the eye of enemies on the platforms above.
   • Follow the docks to the gangplank where Mr. Smite waits.

10. Mr. Smite

    Boss

    Smite Stomp

    At two-thirds and one-third health he stuns the whole party for about ten seconds and walks off to change weapons.

    Smite Slam

    A crushing blow on the tank once he carries his last weapon.

    • Two stealthed Defias Blackguards join as you step toward the gangplank. Kill both before Smite drops to two-thirds health, or they keep hitting a stunned party.
    • Fight him back along the dock, away from the ramp. He has to walk back after each weapon change, and the stun wears off before he arrives.
    • He hits harder with each new weapon. Healers top everyone up before both thresholds and keep the tank full through the final third.

11. Cookie

    Boss

    Acid Splash

    Poisons the party for damage over time.

    Cookie's Cooking

    He heals himself. Interrupt it.

    • At the top of Smite's ramp turn left: Cookie paces the stern side at the foot of the ship.
    • Pull him away from the hull so nothing on the lower deck joins in.
    • He runs at low health. Finish him before he reaches other enemies.

12. Up the decks

    • Back at the ramp, go right and climb the ship deck by deck. Squallshapers and Defias Pirates crew every level, and the Frost Nova rule from the docks still applies.

13. Captain Greenskin

    Boss

    Poisoned Harpoon

    Leaves one player taking damage over time.

    Cleave

    Hits everyone standing in front of him.

    • He patrols the top deck with a Defias Squallshaper, a Defias Pirate, and a non-elite Defias Companion. Pull the pack back down the deck you just cleared.
    • Crowd-control the Squallshaper, kill the Companion, then the Pirate, then Greenskin, and finish with the Squallshaper.
    • The tank faces him away from the group so Cleave lands on one player only.

14. Edwin VanCleef

    Boss

    VanCleef's Allies

    At half health he calls two more Defias Blackguards.

    • VanCleef waits at the very top of the ship. Two stealthed Defias Blackguards open the fight beside him: control one, kill the other, then finish the first before anyone turns to the boss.
    • No one in the dungeon hits the tank harder. Every heal goes there, and hybrids help when the tank dips.
    • When the second pair arrives, keep them off the healer with Polymorph, Psychic Scream, or Intimidating Shout and burn VanCleef down. Kill them first only if the tank is already struggling.
    • If the group wipes before the guards die, they stay for the next pull, and nobody can release their spirit until VanCleef leaves combat.
    • He carries the head for The Defias Brotherhood, and An Unsent Letter that opens a Stormwind chain.

15. The way out

    • A tunnel at the back of the cove leads out to the Westfall coast, so nobody walks back through the mines. Alba Fairmoon waits outside this exit to close Destruction in Deadmines.