Blackrock Depths is not really a dungeon.
It is an underground city that happens to contain enemies, a prison, a bar, a forge, an arena, enough side routes to ruin an evening and approximately seventeen moments where somebody says, “I thought the boss was this way.”
WoW Forever may be getting something built in exactly that spirit.
Senior Game Designer Josh Greenfield was recently asked whether Forever would include “a good BRD-like mega dungeon.” His response was wonderfully short:
“Hold our beer(s).”
That is not an official dungeon announcement by itself, but it is about as subtle as a Dark Iron Dwarf throwing a keg through your window. Blizzard is very clearly teasing something larger than the usual five-boss corridor.
Blackmaw Hold Is the Obvious Candidate
The most interesting question is which of Forever’s new dungeons Greenfield is referring to.
Blizzard has already confirmed that Forever launches with nine entirely new dungeons, ranging from the early Hall of Thanes and Ruins of Lordaeron to the two level-60 destinations Blackmaw Hold and Shaper’s Terrace. Our complete guide to everything changing in WoW Forever covers the full spread of new regions, dungeons and raids.
Wowhead currently identifies Blackmaw Hold as the most likely mega-dungeon candidate. The dungeon is designed for levels 55 to 60 and sits behind the Furbolg gates in northern Azshara, where it has been described as a Great Furbolg City. That combination already sounds considerably more like Blackrock Depths than a compact instance built around three hallways and a boss room.
Still, that part remains inference. Blizzard has not yet said, “Blackmaw Hold is the mega dungeon.”
What Greenfield has teased is the concept.
BRD Is a Very Specific Comparison
Comparing something to Blackrock Depths sets expectations rather higher than simply calling it a large dungeon.
BRD stretches across roughly twenty notable encounters, multiple districts, optional bosses, quests, keys, shortcuts and entire sections that many players can run without ever seeing the rest of the instance. A complete exploration can take hours, particularly if the group consists of people who remember the route slightly differently.
That sprawling design is exactly what modern WoW dungeons largely abandoned in favour of shorter, more repeatable routes.
Forever has already shown that it wants dungeons to feel more like destinations again. Blizzard is reducing the value of repeatedly grinding dungeon mobs while making dungeon quests more rewarding, encouraging players to gather objectives, travel there, complete the adventure and then return to the open world.
A proper mega dungeon would fit that philosophy beautifully.
Forever’s Dungeons Are Already More Than Nostalgia
The first beta phase gave players Hall of Thanes and Ruins of Lordaeron, while later levels will open places including Excavation Site: Wetlands, City of Dalaran, The Drowned City, Krol’dok Stronghold, Alcaz Prison, Blackmaw Hold and Shaper’s Terrace.
As we covered when the Forever beta opened with its first two new dungeons, these are not remastered Classic instances with new loot tables. They are new content inserted into the old version of Azeroth, often using places players have spent twenty years staring at and wondering what was behind the door.
That makes a BRD-sized dungeon particularly exciting. Forever already has plenty of normal instances. What it currently lacks is a new place that feels less like an activity and more like somewhere you could genuinely get lost.
Do Not Start Drawing the Blackmaw Hold Map Yet
There are still several unknowns.
We do not know how many bosses the teased dungeon will contain. We do not know whether it will have BRD-style branching routes, keys and optional encounters. And we do not yet know with certainty that Blackmaw Hold is the dungeon Greenfield was hinting at.
Forever is also still in beta, and the current dungeon catalogue has not been completely opened for testing.
But one thing is becoming clear: Blizzard does not appear satisfied with merely recreating Classic’s dungeon structure.
It wants new places that feel like they could have existed alongside Blackrock Depths twenty years ago.
If “hold our beer(s)” really does mean another multi-hour labyrinth full of bosses, side rooms and groups confidently walking in four different directions, Forever may be about to rediscover one of Classic’s greatest pleasures.
Getting completely lost underground.
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