Head to the Ruins of Lordaeron on a Horde character and you'll hit a wall at the quest board: two of the level-15 dungeon quests — The Wrath of Rath'mael and The New Plague — no longer pick up on arrival on live servers, each gated behind a prerequisite chain. Wowhead reported the change early on November 6 Beijing time (midday November 5 Central); both quests were grab-and-go on Beta, and Beta closed back on October 24, so that old route is void. The Alliance side of the dungeon gained no prerequisites at all.
The change landed one day after WoW: Forever's global launch (November 5 Beijing time). Wowhead doesn't say whether it shipped with launch or arrived as a later hotfix, and Blizzard hasn't posted a patch note.
Ruins of Lordaeron dungeon map (source Wowhead, © Blizzard Entertainment)
The quests are the payload now
This dungeon is worth what its quests are worth. Forever nerfed the experience from killing dungeon creatures and buffed dungeon quest experience — dungeon kills now pay roughly 10% of same-level outdoor XP, a figure confirmed by designer Kris Zierhut on the official Beta-era forums (the site's report: /articles/forever-dungeon-xp-nerf) — so showing up without the log filled is a wasted run. By Wowhead's ordering, Ruins of Lordaeron is the second dungeon Horde players are likely to run, with nine quest lines spanning levels 14 to 16. The marathon rundown queues things up from Shadowfang Keep at level 20; the stop right before it is exactly the dungeon whose pickup rules just changed.
Clear 8 creatures, then the level-13 elite Riptear
The Wrath of Rath'mael used to be a direct pickup from Deathguard Kristof. It isn't anymore. The prerequisite is a short level-13 chain starting at Deathguard Linnea in Tirisfal Glades (/way 65.4 60.2) with Rear Guard Patrol: defeat 8 Bleeding Horrors and Wandering Spirits, then take down Riptear, a level-13 elite. Finish those and The Wrath of Rath'mael opens up.
Figure scope: Figures are renders of the site's client basemap with site-made numbered annotations (base map © Blizzard, local client 1.60.1.70862 zhCN); markers reuse the Wowhead /way coordinates cited in the text; numbering follows the chain order; not in-game verified.
Tirisfal Glades — ① Deathguard Linnea (65.4,60.2, Wowhead coordinates cited in the text): the Rear Guard Patrol start, on the road west of Brill
A three-part chain across two maps, low drop rates included
The New Plague's prerequisite is the heavier one: the three-part A Recipe For Death chain, which runs across Tirisfal Glades and Silverpine Forest and starts at Apothecary Renferrel in Silverpine (/way 42.8 40.8). Part one sends you farming 6 low-drop-rate items off bears and spiders, then back to the Undercity to turn them in. Part two returns you to southern Silverpine for a book in an elite area — looting it takes a 5-second channel. Part three has you killing level-18 creatures near the lake for yet more low-drop-rate items, in bulk. Wowhead's verdict on the chain: a lot of running, a lot of low drop rates. Only after all of it does Theodore Griffs in the Undercity (/way 46.6 71.8) hand over The New Plague. Any Beta-era shortcut you memorized for this questline is void.
Silverpine Forest — ② Apothecary Renferrel (42.8,40.8): the A Recipe For Death chain start; ③ Tabitha Heartweaver at The Sepulcher (44.6,42.8): A Frightened Request, still a direct pickup
Undercity — ④ Theodore Griffs (46.6,71.8): he hands over The New Plague once the chain is done; ⑤ Morbin Lightbane (57.8,89.8, the Apothecarium): Light's Justice, still a direct pickup
The other 7 quests still work the old way
A Frightened Request (level 15, Tabitha Heartweaver at The Sepulcher in Silverpine, /way 44.6 42.8), Light's Justice (15, Morbin Lightbane in the Undercity's Apothecarium, /way 57.8 89.8) and Abominable Creatures (16, Captain Truman at the dungeon entrance) are all still direct pickups. Unending Torment (16) and Bloodied Insignia (16) trigger from items looted or dropped inside the run, Remember That I Love You (15) sits on an interactive object near Rath'mael, and there's a level-14 secret quest, Crest of Lordaeron, on interactive objects at multiple spawn points.
All nine quests quick reference (per Wowhead's November 6 write-up)
| Quest | Level | Pickup | Where (Wowhead /way cited in text) |
|---|---|---|---|
| Rear Guard Patrol → The Wrath of Rath'mael | 13/15 | Opens after the chain | Deathguard Linnea 65.4,60.2 (Tirisfal) |
| A Recipe For Death → The New Plague | 14/15 | Opens after the 3-part chain | Renferrel 42.8,40.8 (Silverpine) → Griffs 46.6,71.8 (Undercity) |
| A Frightened Request | 15 | Direct | Tabitha 44.6,42.8 (The Sepulcher, Silverpine) |
| Light's Justice | 15 | Direct | Morbin 57.8,89.8 (Undercity Apothecarium) |
| Abominable Creatures | 16 | Direct | Captain Truman, dungeon entrance |
| Unending Torment / Bloodied Insignia | 16 | In-run trigger | Loot or drop inside the run |
| Remember That I Love You | 15 | In-run object | Interactive object near Rath'mael |
| Crest of Lordaeron | 14 | Hidden | Multiple spawn points |
Run the chains before you queue
Quick reference links
- Related posts: Horde dungeon marathon · dungeon XP nerf report
- Tools: map cheat sheets · Forever-new quests · interactive Undercity map
Your order should be: clear Rear Guard Patrol and A Recipe For Death first, then take the dungeon once with all nine quests in the log — a second run to backfill two level-15 quests costs far more than the detour. Quest and NPC names above follow the English client; Blizzard has not announced Simplified Chinese equivalents. And since this change currently rests on Wowhead's live-server check with no announcement behind it, if a quest is missing from your log at the entrance, check its chain before you assume a bug.