World of Warcraft recently launched a survey to find the most popular dungeons from Warlords of Draenor. The two with the most votes will return in Season 4 of Shadowlands. Among the two winners is one of the worst dungeons – at least according to MeinMMO editor Benedict Grothaus.
What kind of dungeon is this? The Iron Docks are the second dungeon from Warlords of Draenor in terms of level. Originally, it could be entered at level 92, coming directly after Bloodmaul Slag Mines. Today, the dungeon is accessible from level 15-40 through Chromie’s time.
The dungeon is located in Gorgrond in the alternate Draenor. At the docks, the fleet of the Iron Horde is produced under Garrosh, including artillery and dangerous weapons. There are a total of 4 boss fights waiting in the Iron Docks.
Why are the Iron Docks returning? In March, Blizzard announced that Shadowlands will have a 4th Season. For this, 6 dungeons from past expansions will be revived, which will then be playable as Mythic Keystone dungeons (“Mythic+”):
- Mechagon: Scrap Yard and Workshop (Battle for Azeroth)
- Upper and Lower Karazhan (Legion)
- The Iron Docks and the Grimrail Depot (Warlords of Draenor)
A survey was conducted for the dungeons from WoD in the European and US forums. This has now concluded. In both surveys with a total of over 30,000 participants and 63,000 votes across both surveys, the Docks and Depot won quite clearly. Unfortunately.
Loads of trash, unnecessarily long passages
This is why the Iron Docks are just annoying: Of all the dungeons from WoD and even World of Warcraft in general, I find the Iron Docks one of the most irritating. It starts with the instance being swarming with trash mobs.
That’s not a problem in itself if one is careful. But every AoE ability (I’m looking at you, hunters) and every careless fear spell pulls half the instance instantly. And that’s not even an exaggeration: at the beginning, there are countless mobs that one can accidentally engage in combat.
Even if one manages to get through here with some discipline, there are then shortly after enormous tedious passages. First, the group must fight through an obstacle course and constantly hide from incoming fire. Torture for the healer.
After that, mobs that continuously run wild in the area appear. If you don’t dodge, you die. Melee fighters are also left in the lurch and have to follow later. This unnecessarily costs a lot of time.
The bosses themselves also have annoying mechanics. The stupid cat keeps taking a player out of the fight almost continuously, and the final boss forces you to hide again. If you constantly interrupt my fighting, it just drives me crazy.
Why is this a problem? The Iron Docks are meant to come as Mythic+. This means: You have to complete the dungeon in a limited time and kill a specific number of trash mobs. The aforementioned complaints lead to several difficulties here:
- Depending on the affix, the mechanics of trash or bosses are enormously difficult and instantly deadly
- The dragging passages eat at the clock and you have little influence on them
- Many corners and edges force healers to keep moving – depending on the class, this can become really stressful
All of this worked fine in challenge mode before, sure. But Mythic+ also comes with affixes that change the gameplay. An obstacle course with “necrotic” or “grievous” is just annoying.
Consolation Prize: One of the Best Dungeons is Coming Back
Fortunately, the Iron Docks are not the only dungeon returning from WoD. The Grimrail Depot is also coming back as a Keystone dungeon. And it is considered one of the best dungeons overall.
Instead of just slowly wandering around, you fight here on a moving train! This is of course only for aesthetics, but it still looks great. The dungeon is linear – it is, after all, a train – but does not become boring thanks to the mechanics.
The bosses require interaction with the environment repeatedly, but without simply disappearing from the fight completely. The obligatory ground effects are also present, but not much that keeps one from fighting for as long as the barrage from the final boss in the docks.
Due to the tunnel factor, the Mythic+ variant might also be somewhat clearer and even easier. After all, you can only skip a few trash groups. And the dungeon is quite short. This means more time pressure, but also faster runs.
Blizzard is also planning adjustments to avoid motion sickness for affected players. So the Grimrail Depot will also come in an enhanced version.
In any case, I’m glad that dungeons are coming back at all. Some may find that lazy, but I like reliving challenges from the past and still getting something out of it. If it were up to me, dungeons from Legion, WoD, or earlier could come back more often.
I’m also curious how long Season 4 will last exactly. It is supposed to appear in 2022, before the next expansion comes. Blizzard has accidentally revealed the name of the next one:
