The Drowned City: WoW Forever Dungeon Guide

Ancient troll ruins have risen out of the sea off Stranglethorn Vale, with trolls, naga and a wrecked pirate ship inside. At levels 35–40, it is the dungeon visitors could actually play at BlizzCon.

Coral and a wrecked sailing ship at the Drowned City dungeon in World of Warcraft: Forever — Blizzard’s own screenshot of The Drowned City, from the BlizzCon press kit. Image: Blizzard Entertainment.

Levels are from Blizzard’s September 15 Kaivax post; the rest is checked against the What’s Next panel video and recap. Last reviewed: October 9, 2026.

What Blizzard has said about The Drowned City

The What’s Next panel described a troll city that sank long ago and has come back up off the coast of Stranglethorn Vale. Trolls and naga are inside, and a pirate ship has run aground on the ruins.

The Drowned City is the only one of the nine that was playable in the BlizzCon 2026 demo, so it is the dungeon people outside Blizzard have actually walked through.

Kaivax’s September 15 table puts it at levels 35–40. Even with the demo, Blizzard has published no boss list and no loot for it.

Where The Drowned City is

The ruins sit off the coast of Stranglethorn Vale; Wowhead’s dungeon overview places them in the water off Booty Bay.

At 35–40 it is the last dungeon before Krol’dok Stronghold in the new Riverglades zone.

Blizzard’s dungeon overview of October 21 puts the ruins west of Grom’gol rather than off Booty Bay: you dive below the water to find the entrance, and in the open-air dungeon mist and rain build into a full storm before the final fight.

Map of Stranglethorn Vale from the WoW Forever beta client, with the areas it names numbered — The beta client doesn’t mark where The Drowned City is yet, so this is the map of the zone Blizzard names for it. Stranglethorn Vale as the beta client’s map draws it (press M in game). The numbers mark the areas it names; hover or tap a marker for its name. Map art © Blizzard Entertainment, from the WoW Forever beta client (build 1.60.1.70009).

The other new dungeons

All nine in level order, and what changes for dungeons in Forever, are on the WoW Forever dungeons page.

Hall of Thanes Levels 13–18
Ruins of Lordaeron Levels 15–20
Excavation Site: Wetlands Levels 26–31
City of Dalaran Levels 28–33
Krol’dok Stronghold Levels 40–45
Alcaz Prison Levels 48–53
Blackmaw Hold Levels 55–60
Shaper’s Terrace Levels 58–60

Not announced yet

The boss list
The loot
How many players the dungeon is built for
Whether the level 20–30 beta includes it

Sources

How we choose and check sources