The Drowned City is a level 35-40 dungeon off the Stranglethorn Vale Stranglethorn Vale coast, described by Warcraft Tavern as "an once-mighty troll city that has sunk in the deep ocean, now risen anew and filled with horrors." Blizzard's panel recap names it simply "the Drowned City," and Warcraft Tavern's dungeon coverage already lists four bosses for it, making this one of the better-documented dungeons of the nine even though it has no dedicated instance record in the local database yet. This page separates what is genuinely confirmed from what is still a reasonable guess.
Overview, location and level range
Warcraft Tavern's dungeon guide sets the level range at 35-40 and places the dungeon off the coast of Stranglethorn Vale. It describes an open layout with water sections running through the instance, along with "strong enrage mechanics" and encounters that require "tactical mob selection" rather than simply pulling everything in sight — an unusual amount of mechanical detail for a Forever dungeon at this stage of the beta. Enemy variety is broad: Warcraft Tavern lists makrura, undead, naga, Risen Sentry, Brinescale Explorer, Deathless Sorcerer and Deathless Guardian among the confirmed enemy types, consistent with a sunken city that has been reclaimed by several different threats at once rather than a single faction.
It is worth ruling out one likely point of confusion: the local zone database contains an existing, unrelated location called The Drowned Reef, but that zone sits in Arathi Highlands, not Stranglethorn Vale, and Warcraft Wiki's entry on it makes no mention of a "Drowned City" dungeon. The two are not the same place, despite the similar name.
Stranglethorn Vale itself is one of the longest-running leveling zones in the game, split historically between a northern and southern half and long known for its dense jungle, pirates, and trolls of the Bloodscalp and Skullsplitter tribes. Placing a sunken troll city just off its coast fits the zone's established themes closely, and it gives Forever a way to add new level 35-40 content without opening an entirely new map for players to learn.
How to get there
The dungeon is reached from the Stranglethorn Vale Stranglethorn Vale coastline. Both factions have an established presence nearby — Alliance and Horde players alike can already reach Booty Bay Booty Bay, the neutral port town in southern Stranglethorn Vale, and from there the coast is a short trip in either direction. Blizzard has not published an exact underwater or shoreline entrance point for the instance as of this beta build, so groups should be ready to search the coastline rather than expect a single obvious cave mouth or dock the way older Stranglethorn Vale content typically presents its entrances.
Bosses and their abilities
Warcraft Tavern names four bosses for the Drowned City: Zul'Alai, Zin'aka, Deathless Marrow and Min'loth the Serpent. Specific ability breakdowns for each have not been published, and the local NPC database has no records tied to these names as of build 1.60.1.69893, so treat the four boss names as confirmed while their individual abilities, order, and difficulty remain not yet in the beta data. Given the confirmed "strong enrage mechanics" and water-section layout, at least one encounter likely involves a submerged or partially submerged fight, though which boss that applies to is not confirmed.
Notable loot
No boss-by-boss loot table has been published for the Drowned City. As with the other new dungeons, Warcraft Tavern's general reporting on the Forever dungeon overhaul confirms that every boss is expected to drop a guaranteed rare-quality item, part of the "hundreds of new items" the site says have been added across new and old dungeons alike — but no Drowned City-specific items have surfaced in the local item database yet.
Quests for this dungeon
No quest chain is confirmed for the Drowned City in the local database. Given the mixed naga, undead and troll threat Warcraft Tavern describes, a questline about reclaiming the city or investigating why it resurfaced is a reasonable guess, but no specific quest names or objectives have been published as of this beta build.
Tips for tanks, healers and damage dealers
This is one of the few new dungeons where Warcraft Tavern's own description already flags real mechanical difficulty: "strong enrage mechanics" mean healers and tanks should expect fights that punish slow damage rather than being pure endurance checks, and "tactical mob selection" for trash means groups should stop and identify priority targets rather than pulling on autopilot, unlike more straightforward dungeons at this level range. The water sections deserve particular caution — swimming reduces mobility and can complicate positioning against ranged or AoE-heavy enemies, so tanks should try to control fights toward dry ground where the layout allows it. For a sense of scale, existing dungeons like Zul'Farrak Zul'Farrak, Zul'Gurub Zul'Gurub and Sunken Temple Sunken Temple share the general troll-and-water theme, though the Drowned City is a distinct instance with its own unconfirmed specifics. Bring standard level 35-40 consumables and expect this section to be updated once full mechanics are confirmed.
As with the other new dungeons, Warcraft Tavern's reporting on Forever's dungeon experience changes applies here: a dungeon's own questline is now the main source of experience, with repeat clears giving noticeably less. Combined with the confirmed difficulty of the Drowned City's mechanics, it is likely to be a dungeon groups run carefully once for quests and gear rather than farm repeatedly for levels in the mid-30s, at least until real boss testing changes that picture.