[20-27] Blackfathom Deeps Guide

Guide for Black Fathom Deeps

Map of the instance: http://www.goblinworkshop.com/pics/maps/blackfathom-deeps-map.jpg

Quest Involved:

• Allegiance to the Old Gods Ashenvale H 26 Je’neu Sancrea Choose: Band of the Fist (1) or Chestnut Mantle (1)
• Allegiance to the Old Gods Ashenvale H 22 Blackfathom Tide Priestess
• In Search of Thaelrid Darnassus A 24 Dawnwatcher Shaedlass
• Blackfathom Villainy Blackfathom Deeps A 27 Argent Guard Thaelrid Choose: Gravestone Scepter (1) or Arctic Buckler (1)
• Knowledge in the Deeps City of Ironforge A 23 Gerrig Bonegrip
• Researching the Corruption Darkshore A 24 Argos Nightwhisper Choose: Beetle Clasps (1) or Prelacy Cape (1)
• The Essence of Aku’Mai Ashenvale H 22 Je’neu Sancrea
• Amongst the Ruins (Elite) Ashenvale H 27 Je’neu Sancrea
• The Orb of Soran’ruk The Barrens B 25 Doan Karhan Choose: Orb of Soran’ruk (1) or Staff of Soran’ruk (1)
• Twilight Falls Darnassus A 25 Argent Guard Manados

Loot Drops from Blackfathom Deeps

• Aku’mai
• Gelihast
• Ghamoo-Ra
• Lady Sarevess
• Old Serra’kis
• Twilight Lord Kelris

The Instance:

The instance isn’t that bad of a place for a level 21-29 player with a decent group. The only thing I don’t like about this instance is the constant disarm I get from 95% of the monsters you fight up to the temple at the end. Other than that its an easy and fun instance to run though and get some decent drops while your at it.

Monster Types:

Beast/Humanoid/Elemental/Demon

Right off you feel like a rat in a maze getting to the instance for this dungeon. You will need to follow the map that will be listed with this guide for more information on what path to take. I will elaborate on some of the types of fights you will have here so there will be no surprises.

Most of the monster types in here are either warrior/rogue/mage class based. Meaning that they use talents from those char classes.
Blackfathom Myrmidon – Warrior based class with a two hand weapon can inflict fast and powerful damage to lower level players. Skills include Disarm/Puncture/heroic strike
Blackfathom Sea Witch – Mage class monster with a low defense and a slowing attack. Skills include Frost Nova/Ice bolt/Blackfathom Curse
Fallenroot Rogue — Rogue based monster with high attack power and high damage. Stealth until you get to close then begins to beat on you, cant be sheeped. Although I do believe this monster can be seduced by a warlock pet.

Those are just a few of the monster types you will find in Blackfathom deep, the rest are beast etc, and I will cover how to deal with those latter in the guide.

Getting to the Instance:

Standing at the top of the instance you will be looking down into a pool of water. You have two choices, you can jump or you can walk down the stairs. I prefer to jump but I have seen people that the water for whatever reason didn’t spawn and they hit the bottom and die. LMAO, so funny!

Once you are in the water by either of the means listed above swim under the water and you will see a way to your east on the map to enter the underground tunnels. There is a small beach here that you can stand on if your full party is not there yet. The start of this area is level 21-24 monsters and fairly easy for a level 25-29 to sweep though them to get to the instance entry point. Follow the path leading into the area killing the various monsters as you go. Pretty standard for pulling, just have your tank do the pulls back to the group and then begin your combat. The simplest way to remember the path to get to the instance is: Right Right Left. Follow the path till it ends then make a right. At the next path make a right and then a left at the end. The instance will be on your left as you make your last turn.

Instance First Stage:

This is a basic instance and no real threat at any time of a huge mob unless someone pulls a huge mob to you. Keep that in mind when pulling in this instance. As soon as you enter the instance there is a Blindlight Murloc and a Murkshallow Snapclaw in your path. You will encounter these all over the instance and for the most part sheep the murloc and kill the snapclaw first. This entrance area is loaded with these in the wter and it is a good idea for lower level groups to clear this area before trying to cross the water.

Crossing the water can be done two ways. One is to clear the water on the left side and swim to the other side, kill the snapclaw and go up a hidden path along the wall to cross over. The other is to clear the water and then swim to the other side and jump along the raised stones to the other side. Jumping is just something I don’t intend to do in an instance and I would rather lead my group along the wall.

Ghamoo-ra:

Instance boss number one level 25 elite Turtle; high attack rating, high defense, high damage. Need I say more? He is a tuff cookie but drops really decent items for the level. As you come across the wall you will see a couple snapclaw or a couple murloc depending on the instance reset etc. Once you deal with those you will be facing the island of Ghamoo-ra. He has 12 minions that are non-aggressive, but he is very aggressive. Using area of effect attacks in this are is a very bad idea. His minions have a slightly lower def and just as much attack and damage as Ghamoo-ra does. Have your tank pull Ghamoo-ra back to the entrance of the area before you start to attack him. There are other monsters in the water and you don’t need interference or adds from others while dealing with Ghamoo-ra. Make sure your party knows to use every skill they have to lower the defense of Ghamoo-ra to make it a faster fight to bring him down. Once he is dead collect the loot and proceed to the west side of the island.

Alliance Quest:
In Search of Thaelrid — This quest is in the northern tunnel under the water. Clear a path to the area and when you come up on the far side you will need to clear the monsters in the room. He is laying on the floor dead but still blinks at you. 0_o

Knowledge in the Deeps — The box for this note is in the water on the north-west end of the island. You will need to pull each of the Witches and Myrmidon out of the water or away from the adds to deal with them due to the fact that they will run and get more to come help. The chest is slightly hidden behind some plants etc and is guarded by three Myrmidon. Once you clear the area open the chest and return back to the Island.

Lady Sarevess:

Lady Sarevess is a level 25 elite humanoid monster that is in a hidden tunnel under the water on the west side of the island. Two reasons to kill her: One she can drop nice gloves for an agi based char, Two she can drop a nice one hand sword. With that said lets see what it takes to kill the old hag. You should have this area 98% clear after doing the Alliance quest for the chest. Horde chars will need to start here clearing the area slowly to get to the tunnel to get to her. Once you have the area cleared, swim under the water and then back up on the far side. Make sure that you are on the far right side of the tunnel as when you come up there will be several monsters around you. It is possible to get on the shore on the far right without pulling agro if you are a high enough level. Either way, deal with the Myrmidon and the Witches as needed in this room pulling each one by one.

*CAUTION!*

Lady Sarevess wanders out of her cave on the far side from time to time to inspect the troops or what-not. Make sure you keep an eye out for her as she looks like the witches and may be pulled at a time when you are not ready for her yet.

Once the area is cleared, wait in this room for her to wander back out. She has a guardian in her cave with her and both at one time on a low level group may be too much to handle. She likes to frost nova you in place and run to an area to cast frost bolt on you. Just deal with her as she doesn’t do that much damage and just has a large life bar.

Instance Second Stage:

After you have Lady Sarevess dead and you are back on the island, head to the east side of the island where you can start clearing the Myrmidon and the Witches as needed to cross over the water. When your reach the other side you will see a tunnel to your left. There are 2 things to note here, one is that you need to clear the 4-5 monsters in front of this area before going into the tunnel, two is that there are two patrols that wander in and out of that tunnel entrance that will add on your group while you are fighting the mobs in front.

Once all those have been dealt with, follow the tunnel all the way to the far end killing the mobs along the way. There are 2 bosses at the end of the tunnel. One is in front of you where the murloc are. The other is to your right and the back in the left covey. First we will dispose of the murloc boss as he drops some fairly nice items.

Gelihast:

Level 26 elite murloc class monster, VERY fast attack speed and high damage to boot. This boss is unlike any you will find in BFD, in that he will beat on you repeatedly and kill your tank very fast at low levels. Dispose of all his minion murloc before agroing the main boss. Pull them by 1 or 2 at a time as you move back into the area where Gelihast is. After all his minions are dead, have the tank agro Gelihast and just keep sunder armor and gouge on him as much as you can. He will knock you down a few times and has an unbelievable speed for a low level elite. But in the end his drops are well worth it. Touch the Blackfathom Alter for a Blackfathom Deep blessing and then move back out into the area before this section.

Instance Third Stage:

Pull the few monsters that are to your left as you exit the section from Gelihast and proceed to the area behind them. There is a small tunnel that will lead to Lorgus Jett. As far as I can remember this is a horde only quest for BFD in that you are to kill the sorry alliance guy… (MU HA HA HA) He isn’t PvP so you don’t have to worry about that (dang). He is a straight up mage class humanoid type, fairly easy to beat. No loot other than standard stuff, which makes killing him other than for the quest pretty worthless. Move back into the main tunnel and head further into the deep. Kill the mobs as you encounter them pretty standard stuff until you reach the temple.

Temple of Kelris:

In this area the pulls are tricky and the monsters are tuff. Most monster levels are in the range of 26-27. I don’t recommend that low level parties try this area although I have completed this entire instance with a level 23 – 24 party. Twilight Loreseeker in this area will be the biggest problem in that they have a voidwalker minion with them. Also the fact that they are seldom alone until you get into the temple. If you need the quest for the core of Blackfathom Deep, it is located under the bridge in the water on your right side looking at the temple just as you exit the tunnels. Lets get that first.

After disposing of the 4 guards at the steps of the temple you can now enter the water on the right side. Swim down to under the bridge for the core of Blackfathom. Be careful as all monsters in the water in this area are hostile. Once the first party member gets the core, stop and kill Baron Aquanis that has now spawned to stop you from leaving Blackfathom with it. He is a level 28 elite and rather ruff to handle at low levels. But at level 28-29 should be your standard kill and loot. He has a large drop list and most isn’t worth more than a fast disenchant. Once you have the core you have two choices, you can swim farther in and kill Old Serra’kis or you can go back to killing twilight minions.

If you chose to kill Old Serra’kis, then swim farther into the deep under the bridges making sure you kill all the monsters along the way so that you don’t get adds when you start your boss fight. Old Serra’kis hits pretty hard for a water/beast type if you ask me, but manageable all the same for a good defensive warrior class. Kill him loot is decent for him, then get back to the twilights.

Make your way down the stairs pulling the patrol then the ones behind him etc. to the next set of steps going up. As you start up the steps there is a tricky pull of two twilight humanoid. Get those to your party then move forward while you party stays back at the stairs. The next pull is a ruff one and if you have a mage and a warlock with you, you are luckier than I am. It’s a four monster pull with a minion, so that’s 5 you have to deal with and one of the hardest pulls in this area. Sheep one, seduce one if possible and tank the others best you can. Sorry to say there is no way around this part and the best you can do is to pull them back to your party and give them room to run around. Next pull is a standard three pull and so on. Once you have that area cleared you can move to the inner temple steps.

The Inner Temple:

Starting from the ramp going into the temple keep your party back and let your tank get the agro as the temple is crowded at first. Pull the first two from the temple front and dispose of them. Then as you enter the door on either side is a monster that will need to be pulled out of the temple to deal with them. Simplest way to accomplish this is to shoot/agro the monster then run back out of the temple to your party. Once you have the monster on either side cleared take the party into the temple and move to the right side. Pull each of the warlock based monsters to you by agro then run behind the wall where they can’t see you. As they run to find you your party ambushes them and so forth. Clear all the monsters in this room before agroing Lord Kelris. He also is a warlock based monster level 27 elite, and will put your tank to sleep repeatedly in a trance called “Kelris Nightmare” the spell can be debuffed/removed to get your tank back into the fight as fast as you can. His drops are really nice for the level and worth the effort to kill him.

After the Battle What Now?:

The alter of Kelris has four trays that can be lit to summon the four elements. Light each one by clicking it then waiting for the monsters to spawn. Deal with each wave as efficient as you can. You will be dealing with two level 27 elite water elemental, four level 27 elite turtles, six level 26 elite crabs, and twelve level 26 non-elite snapclaws.

After you light all four of the trays the doors at the back of the room will open allowing you to access the area where Aku’mai resides.

Aku’mai:

Pull each of the turtles in the inner area into the temple, and dispose of them. Make your way into the inner area along the right hand wall. Be careful that you don’t agro Aku’mai in that he roams back and forth along a path in the inner area. Pull the remaining three turtles as Aku’mai walks back to the back of the area so that you have no adds while attacking him.

Description of Aku’mai: Hits like a tank, Does insane damage for his level, Impossible to hold agro on him. (based on a level 27-29 group)

Once you have the area clear let your tank pull Aku’mai to your party, which better be close as he will re-agro the next in line very fast. Use taunt to keep agro on you as you start tanking Aku’mai to keep him from taking out your priest or mage. Mages should hit him with as much cold damage as possible to slow him down, same for shaman. Shadow spells do little to Aku’mai for some reason and its better for the priest to be healing the main tank than to be worried about doing damage at this point. Aku’mai has a huge life bar and a huge defense, this alone will make him hard to beat at low levels. Once he is dead loot him for drops and then move to the back of the room where there is an alter. Clicking this alter will transport you back to the area before the instance where you jumped off into the water. Makes for a speedy reset for those doing the instance for drops.

That’s it, Hope you have fun and hope it helps a bit.
Techy