How to Prepare for Barrow Deeps in WoW: Forever

Get ten level 60 players together for The Barrow Deeps and agree on which entrance you'll use. Blizzard lists three routes, through Mount Hyjal, Winterspring, and Blackmaw Hold, and eight bosses inside. The raid is scheduled to open on December 9, 2026. The useful preparation before opening day is to choose a route everyone can reach and get the group used to playing together.

1. Build your group around the ten-player size

Start with the characters people intend to bring at level 60. Ask each person what role they can fill and whether they have gear for another role if the group needs it. Agree on who will call a pull, who will handle interruptions, and how people will signal that they need a break. A small group has fewer spare players to cover a job, so name an alternative when you can.

Use a level 60 dungeon run as a trial before the raid opens. The useful test is whether your group can recover from an extra enemy, switch targets together, and wait for the healer without being asked every time. If someone keeps getting separated, practice calling where the next pull will happen. That improvement will help regardless of how Blizzard tunes an individual boss.

2. Pick one approach and publish it to your group

These routes are a feature of the raid's cavern network. They also make “meet at the entrance” too vague for a new group. Put the name of the approach in your guild message, with the expected arrival time. If you're using Blackmaw Hold, distinguish its Azshara dungeon portal from the connection to the raid deeper inside. Our Blackmaw Hold entrance guide covers the approach to the dungeon.

Before opening day, you can practice travel to the zone or dungeon and find out who has the relevant flight paths. The public raid overview gives the connected areas. Use the actual instance entrance when it becomes available for your raid rather than relying on a pin from a preview build.

3. Check access and supplies before the first night

Blizzard calls out a Drakefire Amulet requirement for Onyxia's Lair. The announced Barrow Deeps entrance information doesn't describe an equivalent pre-entry attunement. If you also plan to raid Onyxia on the same character, handle that as a separate task. For Barrow Deeps, confirm that you have reached level 60 and can get to your chosen approach with the group.

Repair before you travel and bring the supplies you normally use for your role. Make room for drops and agree how the group will handle them before the first pull. Give people a time to be at the meeting point, separate from the time you want to start fighting. That leaves room for anyone who arrives through the wrong zone or has to catch up through Blackmaw Hold.

4. Leave time to explore

The eight encounters sit inside a prison built across branching caverns. For the first run, plan a session length and decide whether you will prioritize seeing more of the raid or repeating a fight until you understand it. At each new branch, regroup before moving. A short call naming the current wing or room is more helpful than asking people to follow whoever moved first.

After the run, record which entrance you used and what you learned about getting there. That gives the next group a route it can repeat. If your guild plans to try a different approach, say so in the next signup so returning players don't head to the first meeting point by habit.

If you need to replace someone before the raid, send the substitute the meeting route and their expected role together. A player ready to enter at a different approach can still delay the group.