Where it isabove Whelgar’s Excavation
The portal is in the Wetlands at about 47.8, 56.3, in the hills between Thelgen Rock and Dun Algaz, southeast of the old Whelgar’s Excavation Site and higher up. It is a column of blue mist under a large tree. Forever adds a new area around it, also called Excavation Site: Wetlands: a second dig camp with tents, crates and huge horned skulls in the ground, and a large green stone behind a wooden barricade.
Players of level 16 to 20 already reach it in the beta. FocustaGuides’ video shows the way up from Thelgen Rock. Around the portal live level 26 Highland Tortoises and elite Highland Lurkers of level 28 and 29.
No video shows anyone going in: the portal is most likely closed until the beta reaches the dungeon’s levels.
The story
At BlizzCon, Blizzard presented “a place trapped in time” in the Wetlands, just above Whelgar’s Excavation: “A strange mist has been floating down from the mountains and flashing lights have been spotted on the horizon.” The danger comes from “errant Titan constructs”, and “the Explorers’ League might be interested in those findings” (What’s Next panel, 22:41).
In Classic, Whelgar’s Excavation is already an Explorers’ League dig: Prospector Whelgar and Merrin Rockweaver work there, and the chain starts in Menethil Harbor with In Search of the Excavation Team. No Explorers’ League character or quest for the dungeon is in the files yet.
The files name four areas inside: Lost Marsh, Stalker’s Thicket, Site of the Guardian and Lost Dig Site. Blizzard’s picture above was taken in Lost Marsh. The loading screen shows two stone arches on the mountainside, fossils along the path and a dwarven wagon.
Bosses
The game’s files name four bosses, in this order. Nobody has seen them fight yet: what they look like comes from their models.
Swipe horizontally to view the full table
| Boss | Creature |
|---|---|
| Saltspine A white crocolisk. | Beast, elite |
| Shadetooth A giant violet raptor. | Beast, elite |
| Highland Horror A bog beast with the look of the Mire Lord of the Swamp of Sorrows. The files added it later than the other three, as the third fight. | Elemental, elite |
| Relic Guardian A grey stone golem, the last boss. The Legacy challenge counts the dungeon as done when he dies. Blizzard spoke of Titan constructs, and he is the only construct of the four. | Elemental, elite |
The other creatures made for the dungeon are raptors (Thicket Lurker, Thicket Hunter, Thicket Matriarch), crocolisks, Highland spiders, a bog beast (Highland Creeper) and turtles. Their names match the areas.
The files’ Group Finder lists the dungeon at levels 26 to 33, and its creatures scale from level 26, while Blizzard announced 24 to 29.
Names, order and fights can still change before the dungeon opens.
Videos and music
Nobody has filmed inside the dungeon yet, not even at BlizzCon. Videos of the outside, in the beta:
- FocustaGuides, the way to the portal
- Morris, the portal and the dig camp
- Inorad, from Dun Morogh over the mountains
The dungeon’s music, also heard at the portal, is “Dungeons Wetlands” by David Arkenstone (put online by Wowhead).
