"Ogabs, you guys heading to Deadmines?"
As soon as they reached Moonbrook, a whisper popped up from Dreamshade.
"Yeah."
"Running Deadmines at 18 is rough. Back in beta, we didn't even try it till 20. How many you got?"
"Full party."
There was a short pause.
"...Good luck."
Gabryell let out a quiet chuckle. Sounds like they got wrecked back then—probably needed more than five to clear it.
"Dreamshade just wished us luck," he said. "What do you think—should we show Madhouse what we can do?"
"Hell yeah. Let's full clear it and blow their minds," Igor said, already hyped.
Carlos nodded. "They're level 15 already—they'll probably try Deadmines tomorrow. Haven't seen anyone clear it yet. If we do it tonight, we're first."
Gabryell gave a small nod. "Good. Then we make it count. I'll record the whole run—post it on the forum after."
"Stay sharp. Don't screw this up."
He quickly set up his recording, ready to capture everything once they went in.
It was still 2004—no streaming, no live platforms. If it were later, he'd have broadcast the whole run.
Gabryell was already thinking ahead—adding a live feature to the 301 site later on. If they could stream guild runs, Fearless would spread fast.
"Wait… where's the entrance?" Igor said. "I don't see any mines around here."
He spun his camera, scanning the area, but Moonbrook didn't have a single obvious shaft.
Most new players expected something like Fargodeep Mine or Jangolode Mine—no one thought Deadmines would be tucked inside a building.
"Follow me."
Gabryell led them to the northwest corner of Moonbrook and headed inside one of the buildings.
The moment they stepped in, text flashed across their screens:
The Deadmines
Alliance Territory
Defias Hideout
"Damn… that's actually hidden."
Igor just stared. "How are people even supposed to find this?"
"Blizzard wants players exploring," Gabryell said. "There are even harder ones to find later—Blackfathom Deeps, Sunken Temple… stuff you'd never run into unless you go looking."
"There are even dungeons inside the capitals—Stockade in Stormwind, Ragefire Chasm in Orgrimmar. If you don't stumble into them, you'd never know they're there."
"They should just put out a guide or something," Igor said.
Carlos shook his head. "That kills the whole point. Exploring is half the game."
Lunatori and BentArrow in chat:
"Yeah, agreed."
"Same."
Carlos was thinking the same thing. When they got into real dungeon runs later, he wouldn't just hand out full strats—he'd give a few pointers and let the team figure things out, get used to mechanics, and improve on their own.
"Defias Digger."
Igor pointed ahead. "Wait—mobs already? Are we even inside?"
Not what he expected. He figured there'd be a separate instance entrance.
Carlos charged in. The group burned down the Defias Digger in seconds—it only had 328 HP.
"That's it?"
Igor snorted. "This is Deadmines?"
Gabryell shook his head. "We haven't even started. This is just outside trash. The actual instance is further in."
"Stay sharp. Lots of elites ahead—don't be the first one to die before we even get in."
"So we're not even inside yet? No wonder they're so weak."
Igor smirked, already feeling confident.
The path into Deadmines was rough and winding. Not as confusing as Wailing Caverns, but still enough to get new players lost.
Getting turned around in a place full of elites was dangerous—one bad pull and it could turn into a wipe.
With Gabryell leading, the party moved carefully. The Defias Conjurers, Defias Wizards, and Defias Pillagers along the way didn't pose much of a threat to a level 18 group.
"Let's knock out 'My Brother…' and 'Collecting Memories' first."
At the last fork before the instance, he took the left path, leading them down toward the undead area below. They wrapped up both quests they'd picked up earlier in Stormwind.
"Rare—nice. Kill it."
A brainwashed noble was wandering nearby. Gabryell called it immediately—these rares almost always dropped a green.
Level 18, just over 1k HP, no real abilities—it went down fast.
He moved in to loot. With party loot on, the Need window popped up.
Formula: Enchant Bracer - Minor Strength (Uncommon)
Item Level 19
Requires Enchanting (80)
Use: Permanently enchant bracers to grant +1 Strength.
"Need this—everyone else pass."
A formula like this was way more valuable than some random green. Only Grada had Enchanting; Lunatori was running Leatherworking and Skinning.
Back then, there was no Greed option—just Need or Pass. Igor hit Need, and the rest passed.
"Haha—Carlos, treat me to a meal sometime and I'll hook you up with enchants."
Igor was in a great mood after getting the drop.
And immediately started messing around.
He spun in place, jumping and dancing—until a level 17 Defias Watchman Rogue slipped up behind him and opened.
No one moved to help.
A few hits later, his HP dropped to half.
"Yo—help!"
In a group, elites were easy. Solo one at your level? That's a corpse run waiting to happen.
"Still messing around?"
Carlos didn't look like he was in a hurry to save him.
Down to a third HP, Igor immediately folded. "Bro, I'll buy you food, free enchants—just grab aggro!"
Carlos grinned, stepped in, and taunted the Defias Watchman, pulling threat.
He'd already finished his Defensive Stance quest earlier—this wasn't some scuffed Battle Stance tank anymore.
Druids didn't have a normal rez yet, and Rebirth didn't come until 20. No way they were letting him corpse run.
"Keep him up."
Gabryell fired off a Frostbolt, Lunatori dropped a heal, and Hugo sent in his Goretusk.
The Watchman—just over 1k HP—went down fast under the group's damage.
Still a bit shaken, Igor kicked the corpse twice before looting.
A handful of copper, 2 Wool Cloth, and a green:
Inscribed Leather Belt (Uncommon)
Binds when equipped
Waist (Leather)
41 Armor
+2 Intellect
+2 Stamina
Requires Level 12
Everyone passed. Lunatori picked it up without hesitation. With no Rogue in the group, she was filling healer, while Igor's Paladin handled melee DPS.
"Cut the messing around. Mobs ahead hit harder. Graveyard's at Sentinel Hill—I'm not watching anyone corpse run."
The warning was clear.
Up ahead, packs of Undead Excavators, Undead Dynamiters, and Skeletal Miners were tightly grouped. One bad pull could snowball fast.
Lesson learned, Igor stayed right behind Carlos this time, waiting for the pull.