WoW: Forever City of Dalaran Dungeon Guide – Quests, Bosses, and Loot

Alliance Quests

Most of the Alliance quests are pretty straightforward. For Heart of Disruption, don’t forget to loot the Shade of the Archmage at the end of the dungeon to nab the mote. This dropped first time on both toons we ran CoD on, so it should be a guaranteed pickup, though the sample size is too small to tell for sure. As for A Green Sample, Fel Infused Blossoms are found around the central park area — just make sure you fell the Fel Ancient first. Power Overwhelming, meanwhile, is self-explanatory.

The only quest that’s slightly annoying is Starving Arcane. There aren’t actually enough of all three mobs in the dungeon to complete it in one run, but the XP and chance at snagging more blues are well worth a second bite at the cherry.

Horde Quests

As noted above, completing Heart of Darkness should be a simple case of killing the Shade of the Archmage and yoinking the mote. Opportunistic Education kicks off as soon as you enter the dungeon. Have a quick word with Rexxie Copperclutch who’s behind the bars directly to the right of the entrance pipe to get the ball rolling. Once you’ve cleared through to the Violet Citadel, head into the building (The Silver Enclave) to the left of it, as if you’re looking at its staircase. Continue up into the Atrium of Fortune, and then ascend the stairs to the bookcases stationed behind the mage statue. One of said cases can be interacted with, yielding The Founding of Dalaran.

Source of Power, like Starving Arcane for the Alliance, will require multiple runs, owing to the fact that there aren’t nearly enough Fragmented Sentries in CoD for everyone to get their fill of cores. Fortunately, this annoyance is counteracted by The Grave Knight, in which you simply have to kill off Atrexis the Grave Knight. Lovely stuff.

City of Dalaran Bosses

There are eight City of Dalaran Bosses: Atrexis the Grave Knight, Lyn the Ignored, Arcane Anomaly, Mana Devourer, Fel Ancient, Unstable Sentinel, Arcanic Enigma, and Shade of the Archmage. Some of these bosses are immune to Arcane damage, so prepare accordingly.

Lyn actually comes with his own mini-attunement, requiring the Tome of Dalaran to summon him. To retrieve this, first head into Shadowfang Keep and run the instance to its conclusion. Then, after defeating Archmage Arugal, pick up the Black Tome from the table next to where he spawned. Now, head to the Ambermill Town Hall (63.4, 64.3). Inside, on the desk at the back you’ll find a blue crystal that, when interacted with, will transform the Black Tome into the Tome of Dalaran.

With the tome in-hand, head to the north-eastern-most room in the sewers after defeating Atrexis, and activate it while standing on the ritual glyph on the ground. After a short delay, Lyn will appear. This can be quite an awkward room to clear out beforehand, so pull from one side at a time, before snagging the last couple of mobs at the back.

Atrexis the Grave Knight

Getting to Atrexis can be quite awkward, as you’ll want to carefully pull at least two of the Kirin Tor Necromancers near him before getting to the main course. The boss moves from necro to necro, so there’s apt opportunity to grab a couple of them as his aggro radius is hilariously low.

Atrexis is a bear tank’s dream. He summons plenty of skeletons (as does the remaining necromancer he’ll bring with him) that can be swiped away at, but this also makes it a dangerous game for damage dealers who are trigger-happy with their own AoE. Go too hard too early, and suddenly you’ll have mobs all over you, causing the encounter to devolve into chaos (we may have had a small Blizzard incident). Take it slow, and you’ll be fine.

As for notable abilities, Atrexis can can Thrash for extra attacks, amp himself or one of his skellies with Unholy Frenzy for extra attack speed, and land some hefty hits with Strike. Healers, keep your tank topped up — they’re going to need it. Atrexis can also Disarm his target, causing them to drop their weapon.

Lyn the Ignored

Lyn, like Atrexis, has the means to summon skeletons, so don’t assume he’ll be alone for long when the fight kicks off. He also packs a considerable punch, with Shadow Bolt Volley dishing out DPS to your entire squad. Even worse, you can also do plenty of damage to yourself if you’re inflicted with Curse of Thorns, which gives a 50% chance of self-inflicted pain with each attack — this should be dispelled ASAP.

Arcane Anomaly

At first, Arcane Anomaly may seem fairly unassuming. It initially dishes out an Arcane Bolt or two, which isn’t much to write home about. However, it also earns the award for the coolest City of Dalaran boss mechanic. Focus Blast is an arena-length beam that it channels while slowly spinning either clockwise or counter-clockwise. Get away from this or your health will get zapped real quick. Big beam, heck yeah.

Mana Devourer

The next boss you’ll likely come across is Mana Devourer. We’d recommend pulling the mobs to the right of the doorway you enter through for safety, though nothing else in the room will need to be cleared (unless for quest purposes).

The encounter itself is a sprint, rather than a marathon. Living up to its name, the Mana Devourer will sap the group’s mana (and deal a chunk of damage) with Debilitate, and applies DoTs through Drain Vitality. As such, damage dealers will be earning their loot here, as the fight gets worse the longer it drags on.

Fel Ancient

Fel Ancient may just look like a big, glowy tree, but it’s arguably the flashiest encounter in City of Dalaran. It also comes with a nasty combo, locking down a teammate with Entangle, before casting Fel Timbers. This ability deals damage and creates a poisonous pool beneath you, which will continuously hurt those standing in it. Fortunately, there’s a visual indicator — a bright green root that spirals towards the target — that offers ample opportunity to avoid it, provided you aren’t rooted. Abilities that cleanse movement impediments are ace here.

Unstable Sentinel

Unstable Sentinel is a pretty simple encounter, though you will need to watch out for its powerful AoE Malfunction attack. This continuously deals damage to players in a wide area, which is a healer’s worst nightmare. The good news is the wind-up can be interrupted, so keep the boss CC’d and you’re good to go.

Arcanic Enigma

Arcanic Enigma and the gang — the gang being two meddlesome Mana Phantoms that will eat away at their target’s mana — is a mini-marathon. The boss can polymorph a squaddie with Manamorph, and will AoE silence players close to it. What’s more, it will spawn in Arcane Manalings, making for a real party.

The plan of attack here is to get rid of the phantoms first, before turning your attention to the boss. It will spawn manalings as fast as you can kill them, so have your tank take aggro and deal with them after the big guy’s down.

Shade of the Archmage

The grand finale of City of Dalaran (depending on the order you clear the bosses in) is the Shade of the Archmage. To open up this encounter, speak to Archmage Modera on the stairs of The Violet Citadel. She’ll crack open a portal, leading you to the spire. The fight begins as soon as you enter the room at the citadel’s peak, so prepare youselves appropriately beforehand.

The shade, like the Arcane Anomaly, is a big fan of Arcane Bolt, but there’s way more where that came from. He also packs Arcane Explosion, which requires ranged DPS to keep their distance, and Bounding Mana. This is a powerful orb that is sent towards a player, before returning to the Archmage. If you’re targeted by this, move if you don’t want to take a double-dipping of damage.

If all of that wasn’t enough, the Archmage will Mass Polymorph everyone in the room when he’s out of mana, taking the opportunity to use Evocation to top himself back up. The polymorph isn’t much of an issue in the sense that he won’t sling spells at your sheepish selves while channeling Evocation, and if you have the means to get out of it, you can continue your assault.

City of Dalaran Loot

Alliance Quest Rewards

Horde Quest Rewards

Boss Loot

With all of this info in-mind, you’re now ready to work your dungeoneering magic on the City of Dalaran. If, at this point, you’re getting the urge to start leveling an alt or two, we’ve got full guides for the Hall of Thanes, Ruins of Lordaeron, and Excavation Site: Wetlands that provide the perfect refresher for drops, strats, and more.