Dire Maul

Dire Maul is the ruined Highborne city of Eldre'Thalas in Feralas, split into three five-player wings for characters from their mid-50s to level 60. Added in patch 1.3, it was the first dungeon built for level 60 players after launch, and it offered something no other dungeon did: in the northern wing, a group could sneak and bargain its way past the ogre guards, kill only their king and walk away with a tribute chest and a set of buffs. That "tribute run" became one of the best-known routines of the Classic endgame.

Background

Eldre'Thalas was built more than ten thousand years ago by Highborne loyal to Queen Azshara, as a vault for the night elves' arcane secrets. When the Well of Eternity was destroyed in The Sundering, Prince Tortheldrin and his sect of mages, the Shen'dralar, shielded the city from the worst of the cataclysm. Cut off from the Well, they bound the demon Immol'thar inside the city and drew on his power for thousands of years.

The arrangement decayed. Keeping Immol'thar chained took more and more energy, and Tortheldrin killed many of his own people so the survivors could have a larger share of what remained. The city crumbled around the shrinking sect. In the Classic era, satyrs and corrupted treants hold the eastern quarter, the Gordok ogres have taken the north, and the last Shen'dralar hide in the western gardens with their prince and their prisoner.

Layout

All three wings are entered from the ruins outside, a courtyard full of ogres in the middle of Feralas. Each wing is a separate instance.

• Dire Maul East (Warpwood Quarter): satyrs, imps and twisted treants, led by Alzzin the Wildshaper. It is the shortest wing and the one where groups first get the Crescent Key.
• Dire Maul West (Capital Gardens): Highborne ghosts, arcane creatures and the prison of Immol'thar, ending with Prince Tortheldrin. It also holds the Athenaeum, the library of the Shen'dralar.
• Dire Maul North (Gordok Commons): the ogre stronghold of King Gordok and his guards.

The [Crescent Key] opens doors in the West and North wings and was needed for both until much later in the game's life.

Bosses

Levels and drops are from our database (patch 1.12). The final bosses of West and East have large loot tables; the items below are a selection.

East

West

North

Every boss in the dungeon also has a very small chance to drop [Foror's Compendium of Dragon Slaying], the book that begins the quest for Quel'Serrar.

The tribute run

In Dire Maul North a group can either kill everything in the usual way or try to leave the king's guards alive. By Gordok custom, whoever kills the king takes his place. If King Gordok dies while his guards (Guard Mol'dar, Guard Fengus, Guard Slip'kik and Captain Kromcrush) still stand, the group is proclaimed the new rulers of the Gordok, and the surviving ogres serve them:

• Each living guard gives a buff that lasts two hours: Mol'dar's Moxie from Mol'dar, Fengus' Ferocity from Fengus and Slip'kik's Savvy from Slip'kik. Stomper Kreeg sells [Gordok Green Grog] and [Kreeg's Stout Beatdown].
• A Gordok Tribute chest appears, holding one item for each guard left alive. Keeping Cho'Rush the Observer alive improves it further. A full tribute chest can hold blue items found nowhere else, such as [Barrier Shield], [Tarnished Elven Ring], [Ogre Forged Hauberk], [Mindsurge Robe], [Rod of the Ogre Magi] and [Cyclone Spaulders], and occasionally the epic axe [Treant's Bane].

Getting past the guards takes care rather than force. Groups time their movement around Guard Fengus's patrol, freeze Guard Slip'kik with a repaired trap from A Broken Trap, and send Captain Kromcrush away from his post by speaking to him in disguise. The disguise is the [Gordok Ogre Suit], which the captive goblin Knot Thimblejack builds in The Gordok Ogre Suit from [Ogre Tannin] found in the wing. Groups that perfect the route can clear the wing for its chest and buffs in a few minutes.

Quests

• Pusillin and the Elder Azj'Tordin: Azj'Tordin in Feralas wants his spellbook back from the imp Pusillin, who runs through Dire Maul East and must be chased down.
• Lethtendris's Web and Lethtendris's Web: Lethtendris's web for the faction camps in Feralas, which rewards [Lorespinner].
• The Madness Within and The Treasure of the Shen'dralar: the Shen'dralar Ancient asks the group to destroy the five pylons holding Immol'thar so the demon can be killed, then rewards them from the Shen'dralar treasure.
• Arcane Refreshment: Lorekeeper Lydros wants the essence of Hydrospawn.
• Librams and class books: librams such as the [Libram of Rapidity] drop throughout the dungeon. The Shen'dralar trade them for enchantments that can be put on a helm or leggings. Class books, such as Garona: A Study on Stealth and Treachery, can be returned for a [Royal Seal of Eldre'Thalas] and similar class rings.
• Foror's Compendium and The Forging of Quel'Serrar: the start of the Quel'Serrar chain, which ends with a tank sword forged with Onyxia's breath.
• Unfinished Gordok Business: Captain Kromcrush asks for the Gauntlet of Gordok Might and rewards class gloves such as [Gordok's Gauntlets].
• Dreadsteed of Xoroth: the warlock epic mount quest ends with a ritual in Dire Maul that summons Lord Hel'nurath and the Xorothian Dreadsteed.
• Dungeon Set 2 (patch 1.10): Isalien is summoned in Dire Maul East with the Brazier of Invocation.

Strategy notes

• Pusillin runs from room to room when spoken to. Follow him rather than attacking early; he finally turns to fight with a few imp friends.
• Zevrim Thornhoof sacrifices a random player to heal himself. Once he dies, the treant Old Ironbark turns friendly and breaks down a sealed door deeper in the wing.
• Immol'thar is protected by a force field until the five pylons around the West wing are shut down by killing their guardians. He summons eye tentacles and does a lot of damage to whoever holds his attention.
• Prince Tortheldrin spins through melee range with a whirlwind attack and uses arcane spells on the group, so melee players should step out when he starts to spin.
• King Gordok fights with Cho'Rush the Observer at his side. Cho'Rush heals the king; groups on a tribute run keep him busy rather than killing him.

History

Dire Maul shipped in patch 1.3 in March 2005. Patch 1.10 made the library book quests non-repeatable. In August 2005 the regular chests in the dungeon were briefly turned off because an exploit involving them was causing instance crashes. Patch 1.11 let librams drop in any wing.

In Cataclysm the dungeon was moved down to the 30s and 40s, and the North wing was cut off from the library.

Sources

• Dire Maul - Warcraft Wiki
• Dire Maul tribute run - Warcraft Wiki
• Patch 1.3.0 - Warcraft Wiki