Season 4 has brought the Iron Docks instanced dungeon into the Shadowlands Mythic+ pool. The WoD dungeon being infused with new mechanics may raise questions among both old and new players. Those who remember farming that dungeon in WoD need to know the effect of M+ on its mechanics, and those who didn’t get to visit it earlier need to know something about those mechanics.
This little guide aims at satisfying everyone interested. By the way, those who were afraid of not getting the WoD loot in this dungeon will be satisfied too. It has been told recently that loot tables of the old dungeons in Shadowlands Mythic+ will save the items which are unique to these instances and adjust them to the current values. For example, here you can find out how the Iron Docks trinkets were updated to modern standards.
Iron Docks Location
The first difficulty for a new player may be getting to the Iron Docks location. Especially if someone told them that for doing that you need to complete the WoD introduction questline. But that’s not true: developers have added a portal to Gorgrond right in the Oribos. You can find it near its flight point.
That’s the shortest way to get to the entrance of Iron Docks. But if you visit Oribos rarely, there’s always a way to teleport to Ashran in the portal rooms of the Horde and Alliance capitals. By using them, you’ll find yourself in Draenor. And even if you didn’t unlock any Draenor’s fight points yet, Gorgrond is open to you via the fly mount. Finally, a game veteran shouldn’t forget about the Garrison Hearthstone.
Iron Docks Route
Players suggest plenty of routes for the Iron Docks Mythic+ run. They differ depending on your keystone’s level and on the affixes which are in rotation this week. Some routes advise taking a very big pull right at the beginning of the dungeon, while others prescribe moving more smoothly and without skips. You’d prefer to think twice about the correct way to pull, considering the effect of the special Season 4 Shrouded affix. It hides a mini-boss Zul’gamux among the mobs not far from the entrance to the dungeon.
But every possible route will contain a certain number of similar problems and threats. For example, the very first area of the dungeon contains a lot of mobs. And pulling them carefully is simultaneously a mandatory requirement and a matter of survival.
Moreover, that area contains three mini-bosses — Champion Druna, Siegemaster Olugar, and Pitwarden Gwarnok. There is a way to skip them, but if you engage in a fight, beware of their deadly skills. Druna will order her minions to cast the Barbed Arrow Barrage and Burning Arrows spells. Players must be carefully spread around to reduce their group damage.
In the case of Olugar, serious attention must be paid to his Shattering Strike. It’s easy to avoid if you notice the beginning of the cast in time. Finally, Gwarnok is very dangerous: he can charge one of your allies with Charging Slash or hook one of them with a Chain Drag and then cast the Bladestorm, dealing bad AoE damage to everyone around. And Gwarnok’s ability to cast Brutal Inspiration to buff his allies with increased damage and attack speed is one more reason for you to move extremely carefully through this area.
After dealing with the first boss Nok’gar you’ll follow to the craziest places on the Iron Docks map — the first of them is the Iron Star area. Here you are met by the quite tough mobs called Ogron Laborers. The best way to fight them quickly is to ride one of the Iron Stars at the borders of the area. One player (not Tank!) must get in a Star and direct it at the enemies. The more enemies in the area are killed by it, the more Iron Docks M+ run time will be saved.
The Ogrons are killed as instant as any other mobs, and all four of them on your way must definitely be killed with Iron Star. They are of the highest priority even before the dangerous Grom’kar Chainmaster at the end of this area. He and his allies can also possibly be pulled under the Stars, but you shouldn’t risk doing it if you have any doubts. Better kill it without the help of the Iron Stars, but make sure to avoid the annoying Whirling Chains cast by the mob on the ground under your feet.
The next area is even crazier, as the last boss of the dungeon begins to cover different sections of your road to the second boss with the Cannon Barrage. Moving further becomes a very dynamic process as you must fight the remaining mobs while hiding behind the covers and corners of this part of the Docks, which save you from instant death under the fire.
But you won’t hide from every kind of fire, as Grom’kar Flameslingers will try to burn as much of the ground around you as they can — be sure to avoid the flaming puddles, and the puddles that can possibly be caused by the Sanguine affix: they will be especially dangerous among other AoEs at this part of your road.
Mobs after the second boss encounter won’t cause as many problems as the previous mobs you’ve read about in this Iron Docks Guide. The Siegemaster Rokra is a simple reuse of the mini-boss Olugar from the beginning of the instance. But it’s more dangerous because of Grom’kar Technicians and Battlemasters being his allies.
That can be really bad, as Technicians throw out Grease Vials. If you’re affected by them, it becomes impossible to cast any spell without being knocked down and stunned. And at the same time mini-boss can cast one of its AoE at the same place with the vial, forcing you to cast something to defend yourself.
Iron Docks Bosses
Fleshrender Nok’gar
The Iron Docks instance has four bosses. The first is Fleshrender Nok’gar. In the first phase of the fight, you must reduce HP of his wolf Dreadfang to 50%. Then the boss will dismount it, but before that he will bother you with the Barbed Arrow Barrage and Burning Arrows AoE skills that you should be familiar with at this point.
Besides, dismounting won’t make it weaker, as then Nok’gar starts to use the Reckless Provocation, forcing anyone who tries to attack him to run away from the boss. Dreadfang is also going to become a problem because of the Shredding Swipes spell, with which he instantly rushes forward and damages all the players in his way. The best advice on this boss is to deal with the Dreadfang after it’s dismounted so that Burning Arrows don’t mix with Shredding Swipes.
Grimrail Enforcers
The second boss is actually three bosses at once. Unusual for the Council-type fights, they don’t share HP and the death of one of them doesn’t empower their comrades. Thus, there’s a possibility to rush one boss, but that rush should be done very carefully.
A tank must somehow avoid the effect of Ogre Traps cast on his allies by Neesa Nox and turn away the Makogg Emberblade so that he doesn’t throw lava waves at the party. At the same time, Ahri’ok Dugre will try to ruin your plans to rush any boss. He will cast the Sanguine Sphere spell on his most damaged ally. And if you continue damaging it, the Sphere will explode, healing 15% HP to all the bosses. One more reason for dealing with Ahri’ok first and swapping the target for some time if he casts a Sphere on himself.
Oshir
Oshir is considered one of the easiest bosses in many Iron Docks guides. This saberon likes jumping. One type of its jumps is the Breakout, with which the boss appears near one of the cages around and unleashes five Ravenous Wolves or one Rylak Skyterror. With another jump, the boss tries to strike a tank with a rush from a distance using the ability Primal Assault, and that rush can be fatal for any player on its way.
The mentioned Wolves can easily be struck down, although there is some danger in the Strength of the Pack spell. It’s cast by one of them but increases the whole pack’s damage. Acid Spit cast by Rylak can be interrupted, or you can just get away from the puddle that appears as the result of that spell.
And the most dangerous mechanic is connected with Oshir’s skill Time to Feed. The boss suddenly tries to rip one of your allies to pieces while immobilizing it, and that’s until you reduce Oshir’s HP by 8%. He is really sure it’s time to feed, so don’t hesitate to feed the saberon with your most powerful skills at this part of the encounter.
Skulloc
The last boss guarding the Mythic+ treasures within the Iron Docks loot chest is Skulloc. This boss is also followed by two allies. One of them is orc Koramar, who randomly jumps at players with a Berserker Leap and has a dangerous Shattering Blade cleave spell. It must be avoided by everyone except Tank. And another Skulloc’s ally is another orc called Zoggosh, who sits in the turret at the beginning of the fight and shoots at different players with Rapid Fire, hitting everyone between his turret and its target.
But the deadliest shots are done by Skulloc himself. From time to time (approximately every 40 seconds) he pushes all the players to another corner of the ship and strikes everything in front of him with a familiar Cannon Barrage ability. Gaining damage from it is lethal, and every strike also causes damage from the Backdraft spell. The last one becomes stronger with each shot. And it makes the hard work of a healer who must try to follow you on the run almost unbearable.
The only way to avoid inglorious death is to hide behind big boxes on the platform and quickly but carefully try to reach the boss and fight him in melee range. That will end this sort of phase of the encounter. The worst thing is that when Koramar is dead, that will trigger Zoggosh to leave the turret and fight against you side by side with Skulloc. He’s almost harmless during the stage of the direct fight, but his Bladestorm can seem much more terrifying during the Cannon Barrage. One more reason to deal with him quickly too, and then finish your long talk with Skulloc.
