Excavation Site

Where it lies

In the Wetlands, above Whelgar's Excavation - the dig site anyone who levelled through the zone has walked past. Forever turns the ground beneath it into an instance. Blizzard lists the dungeon as "Excavation Site: Wetlands", which suggests the naming is meant to carry further; a second site elsewhere would fit the pattern. Blizzard's overview of 20 October places it near Thelgen Rock and Dun Algaz: a strange mist drifts down from the mountains, with flashes of light on the horizon.

What it is about

A titan dig site, wrapped in mist and lit by flashes, with active titan constructs inside and an area that appears to be stuck in time. The Explorers' League is tied into it - the faction whose whole purpose in Classic was to dig where nobody had dug yet, and which rarely got to find anything. Here it does.

What it is built for

Levels 26 to 31, from the development notes of 1 October - two higher than the 24 to 29 in Blizzard's table of 15 September. Blizzard did not comment on the change; the later number is the one in the build. That places it next to Shadowfang Keep and the Stockade in the Classic order rather than before them, and it gives the Wetlands something they never had: a reason to stay. The zone was a corridor between Menethil and Loch Modan; now it has group content of its own. Blizzard's own dungeon overview of 20 October muddies this again: its table prints 24 to 29. The client says otherwise - in build 1.60.1.70450 the dungeon's level tuning starts at 26, exactly as the notes of 1 October have it. We keep 26 to 31 and treat the overview as reusing the older table.

What the beta can show of it

It is open. The build of 1 October raised the cap to 30 and lists "New Dungeon - Excavation Site: Wetlands (26-31)" as its one new dungeon; the City of Dalaran followed a week later, with the build of 8 October. At 30 a group sits inside the bracket for all but its last level. What is on this page about the place still comes from before that build - encounters and loot will follow once they can be described from the client rather than from a preview.

What is not known yet

Bosses, quests and loot - Blizzard's notes name the dungeon and its range and nothing else. The entrance is not in any announcement either. The beta has been inside since 1 October, so this is the one new dungeon where the gap can close before launch.