With the Gold-plated Buckler equipped, Egides found tanking Deadmines much easier. The group quickly pushed forward to the third boss, Sneed's Goblin Lumber Mill.
"Goblins throw axes that knock you down and stun for 2 seconds. Pull them one at a time—overpull and we wipe."
Gabryell reminded them.
BentArrow sent his pet in to pull, shooting the goblin closest to the entrance.
As soon as it spotted him, the goblin hurled a throwing axe, knocking him down and stunning him for 2 seconds.
Egides stepped in and picked up aggro. The level 19 Goblin Craftsman, with 1,347 HP, was higher level than the earlier mobs and had a level advantage over the group, making it noticeably harder to handle.
"Ugh—immune."
Hugo noticed some of his attacks were being resisted—basically missing.
Carlos could feel the difference too—the Goblin Craftsman hit harder than the Overseers earlier. Fortunately, with his upgraded shield, the damage was still manageable.
With the higher-level mobs, the group grew more cautious, pulling and killing each Goblin Craftsman one at a time.
"There's a chest here."
Lunatori spotted a chest behind a fallen log and called out, "It's a Battered Chest."
Gabryell walked over, took a look. "You open it."
She crouched down and opened the chest.
Inside were several items: Light Hide, Red-speckled Mushroom, Wool Cloth, Swiftthistle, and a Recipe: Elixir of Minor Agility.
"Give the Swiftthistle and the recipe to Grada. Keep the rest."
Lunatori didn't hesitate and traded both items to Grada.
"Igor, hang onto the Swiftthistle for now—it'll be worth more later." Gabryell didn't want him wasting it crafting Elixir of Minor Agility.
Swiftthistle grows alongside Briarthorn and Mageroyal. Its main value is crafting Swiftness Potions and Thistle Tea. Right now, Rogues didn't realize how important Thistle Tea was, but once battlegrounds opened and they hit level 60, they'd understand just how strong it is.
Igor nodded.
After a moment, Gabryell still wasn't convinced. "Actually, give me the Recipe: Elixir of Minor Agility. I'll sell it. It's basically useless—the mats cost more than it's worth."
Later on, Swiftthistle would be more valuable than the potion itself. An elixir that only gave 4 Agility wouldn't sell. Selling the recipe now would get a decent price.
Igor handed it over. By now, the four of them were clearly following Gabryell's lead.
"This boss is a shredder."
Carlos looked ahead at Sneed's Shredder. "Level 20 elite—two levels above us."
Not wanting a wipe, Gabryell warned them, "See the goblin on top? Kill the shredder first, but don't rush to loot—it'll jump down. Kill that too, then loot."
"So it's basically two bosses?"
"Pretty much."
"Doesn't matter—one or two, we'll kill them both."
With two pieces of blue tank gear, Carlos was full of confidence.
Sneed's Shredder had two abilities. One reduced casting speed by 35% for 15 seconds—since it only affected melee range, Ogabs and Lunatori just needed to stay back.
The other feared a single target, making them run around for 4 seconds.
They waited until Sneed moved up the slope, then cleared the two Goblin Craftsmen near the door before engaging, avoiding accidental pulls from the fear.
At level 20, Sneed's Shredder actually hit weaker than Rhahk'Zor. Against Carlos's upgraded defenses, it posed little threat. In under two minutes, the shredder went down.
"Careful—there's still one goblin."
Gabryell reminded them as Sneed was thrown off the machine.
Sneed himself was also level 20, but even weaker. He only had a Disarm—once that was dealt with, he was basically a free kill.
After Sneed died, the group naturally let Lunatori loot.
She checked the shredder first. No blues—just a green one-handed sword and a white dagger.
Buzz Saw (Uncommon)
17–33 Damage (10.4 DPS)
+2 Strength
+2 Agility
It wasn't better than Carlos's stamina weapon, so they gave it to BentArrow, who had already learned one-handed swords.
Sneed, however, was generous—dropping the second blue in Deadmines.
Taskmaster Axe (Rare)
Two-Handed
42–46 Damage (19.6 DPS)
+8 Stamina
+8 Spirit
"Why a two-handed axe? The tank needs a one-hander, and I can't even use axes."
Igor stared at the blue, frustrated.
"Igor, take it," Gabryell said. "When we head back, take the Deeprun Tram to Ironforge and train two-handed axes."
His eyes lit up. "Paladins can use two-handers?"
"They can."
He immediately hit Need while everyone else passed. The axe went into his bag.
Getting his first blue put him in a great mood. "Lunatori, you loot from now on. I'm done."
Then he asked, "How do you link gear in chat?"
"Hold Shift and left-click the item," Gabryell replied.
He quickly linked the Taskmaster Axe in guild chat.
Gabryell smiled. As expected—he couldn't resist showing off.
Most players hadn't even seen a blue yet. The moment the axe showed up, guild chat exploded.
"Damn, a blue? 19.6 DPS?!"
"Blues actually exist?"
"That damage is insane. One swing would probably one-shot my mage."
"Guild Master, where did that drop?"
Seeing it was David, Gabryell explained, "From Deadmines. You can try it at 18+, but I'd recommend 20 to be safe."
"Where is it?"
"Westfall—Moonbrook."
"Got a guide?"
"Same."
"Link it."
"Don't worry," Gabryell said. "I recorded the whole run. I'll upload it to the guild TeamSpeak server with commentary when we're done. You can download it there."
The Azeroth forums weren't ready yet, so he planned to share it there first.
"We have a TeamSpeak server?"
"Yeah, it's in the guild notice."
"I'll join now."
Soon, a flood of join requests came in. Notifications pinged nonstop as Gabryell approved them all. The server quickly became active.
He also made David and a few veteran members admins and promoted them to officers in-game to help manage things.
"Thanks, Guild Master. I'll run Deadmines at 20 for blues."
"Same."
"LFG."
"I'm in."
Watching the chat buzz with excitement, Gabryell felt satisfied. Igor's flex had worked perfectly—blue gear had everyone pushing to level faster.
With guild matters settled, they continued their run.
Another reason Alliance mages hated carrying Deadmines was that after each boss room, patrols would respawn behind them. If not dealt with immediately, lowbies would get killed—and mages couldn't rez them.
At the back, Lunatori was almost jumped by a respawned patrol. Luckily, Ogabs reacted instantly with Frost Nova and saved her.
The patrol dropped two green set pieces:
Blackened Defias Leggings
Blackened Defias Boots
"This is a Rogue set. Since we don't have one, give it to the Hunter," Gabryell decided. Selling them wasn't a priority—gearing up the group mattered more.
They also picked up several other greens along the way—two for Lunatori, one for Ogabs, one for Grada.
Compared to when they first entered, their power had jumped significantly. They were easily one of the best-geared five-man groups in the game right now.
"Another blue!"
After taking down Gilnid without trouble, Lunatori struck again—this time looting a blue ring: Lavishly Jeweled Ring.
"Lunatori, let's roll."
Gabryell rolled Need. The ring gave 2 Agility and 6 Intellect—Agility was useless for a Restoration Druid, and Intellect useless for Feral. Since Lunatori was now full resto, it made sense to roll.
"You take it :) ."
She passed, and the ring went to Gabryell.
"She's solid," Carlos said with a nod.
Hugo grinned. "Told you. First time I saw her, I knew she was good."
Igor clicked his tongue, about to roast him, but held it in.
Ogabs equipped the ring. "After this, we'll run it again and grind to 20."
The elites here gave great XP—better than questing if you could clear it.
Carlos checked his XP bar, already over halfway. "Agreed. One more run should level us up. A couple more clears and 20 will be easy."
Motivated by leveling, they pushed forward to the cannon.
Ogabs grabbed the Defias Gunpowder from the left alcove, killed the respawned Defias Overseer, and returned to the cannon to blast open the gate.
Mr. Smite's roar echoed as a group of level 19–20 Defias pirates charged toward them.
"Careful," Gabryell said. "From here on, it's the final stretch—most mobs are level 20."
"Igor—especially you. Don't die. The corpse run is brutal."
He added one last note—it wasn't dying that was the problem. It was when everyone died together, especially the Paladin. The run back would be brutal.