The Forge of Souls is the first wing of the dungeon complex known as the Frozen Halls, located within Icecrown Citadel. The instance portal is located to the left inside the secured area of Icecrown Citadel, near the meeting stone. No attunement is required for entry, but completing the instance is required to gain entrance to the Pit of Saron.

Lore

Serving as the first wing in this expansive dungeon, the Forge of Souls will quickly put players to the test of carving through the Scourge stronghold into deeper, more treacherous locations. Jaina will command Alliance forces, and Sylvanas will direct Horde forces. The goal is to ruin the twisted engines known as soul grinders found in this portion of the citadel, and then players can advance — that is, if the Horde and Alliance forces can overcome the foes who confront them.

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Halls of Reflection is the third and final wing of the dungeon complex known as the Frozen Halls, located within Icecrown Citadel. The The Forge of Souls and Pit of Saron must be completed before a player can enter the Halls of Reflection.

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The Forge of Souls is the first wing of the Frozen Halls instances in Icecrown Citadel, released in patch 3.3. The Forge is a massive production facility that builds Soul Grinders, the latest foul construct in the Lich King’s arsenal.

Serving as the first wing in this expansive dungeon, the Forge of Souls will quickly put players to the test of carving through the Scourge stronghold into deeper, more treacherous locations. Jaina will command Alliance forces, and Sylvanas will direct Horde forces. The goal is to ruin the twisted engines known as soul grinders found in this portion of the citadel, and then players can advance — that is, if the Horde and Alliance forces can overcome the foes who confront them.

Bosses

Bronjahm, the Godfather of Souls
An instrument of reckoning, Bronjahm watches over the engines in the Forge of Souls. He must be killed if the soul grinders are to be destroyed.

The Devourer of Souls
As the chief operator of the engines found in this wing, the Devourer stands guard over the souls stolen by the Lich King.

The Frozen Halls is a three-winged dungeon released in Patch 3.3.0. This dungeon is likely to be the last one released in the Wrath of the Lich King era.

The entry chamber to the Frozen Halls instances has been designated a sanctuary and can be found on the northwest side of the citadel on the upper parapet. A meeting stone can be found inside the halls near the three instance lines.

Every loot item which drops in both Normal and Heroic modes for those instances is of epic quality. The loot for Normal mode equals or surpasses 10-man Ulduar drops in some slots. The loot for Heroic mode equals or surpasses 10-man Onyxia’s Lair and 10-man Trial of the Crusader normal mode drops in some slots. However, its difficulty should not be underestimated though. And just like Trial of the Champion, it is by no means a “get epics quick” scheme for under-geared players!

Icecrown Citadel: The Frozen Halls will feature 3 wings and 7 bosses where the players accompany Jaina Proudmoore (for Alliance players) or Sylvanas Windrunner (for Horde players). Only the Forge of Souls is available at the start; players must complete each wing in sequence to unlock access to the others.

The Forge of Souls
The first wing in the instance will have the players destroy Soul Grinders under watch of Bronjahm and the Devourer of Souls, wicked machines that serve some dark purpose of the Lich King. When this is complete the players can advance into the next wing.

Pit of Saron
The second wing of the instance involves entering a saronite mining pit and freeing captured champions of the Alliance and the Horde, put to slave labor by the Scourge under watch of Forgemaster Garfrost, Krick and Ick, and Scourgelord Tyrannus.

Halls of Reflection
The last wing of the instance will have players and their guides attacking the private chambers of the Lich King along with his two Scourge commanders, Falric and Marwyn.

The Halls of Reflection is the third and last wing of the Frozen Halls instances of Icecrown Citadel, released in patch 3.3. These are the private chambers of the Lich King, the only place where he lets his guard down. Judging by the loading screen and map, it appears to be a dark, twisted replica of Lordaeron’s imperial chamber.

To become “attuned” to the Halls of Reflection, players are required to complete the quest Deliverance from the Pit (Alliance) / (Horde) in the Pit of Saron as part of the Frozen Halls story line quest chain. Pit of Saron has its own “attunement” prerequisite quest that must be completed in the Forge of Souls.

The Devourer of Souls is the second and final boss of the Forge of Souls in Icecrown Citadel. He resembles the similarly-named Reliquary of Souls in the Black Temple.

The Devourer fairly continuously casts Phantom Blast on the main tank if he is not doing anything else. If possible, this should be interrupted as a sequence of successful casts can quickly kill the tank.

Somewhat frequently, the Devourer will leap to another player in the party and create a Well of Souls at that player’s position. The well lasts upwards of 15 seconds and does some fairly intense damage to anyone still standing in it.

Devourer of Souls begins to cast Mirrored Soul!

While Mirrored Soul is active, any damage dealt to the Devourer will be mirrored proportionally with whoever has the debuff. Thus, it is imperative to stop DPS while the debuff is up.

Devourer of Souls begins to Unleash Souls!

The Devourer will on occasion stop whatever else he is doing and summon a very large number of wraiths. They do not hit very hard but there are a lot of them and they cannot be targeted. Run away if the damage taken winds up being too great.

Devourer of Souls begins to cast Wailing Souls!

Finally, the Devourer will unleash a wail of souls. He does a 90 degree sweep of the room (either clockwise or counterclockwise) starting from the position of a random, but debuffed player. He starts wailing around three seconds after casting the debuff, and will wail for 15 seconds. Anyone caught in front of him takes a very high amount of damage ticking every 0.4 seconds.

Bronhahm, the Godfather of Souls, is the first boss in the Forge of Souls. He oversees some of the most disturbing devices the Scourge engineers have ever created – the Soul Grinders.

Bronjahm casts Shadow Bolts at the party and also casts Corrupted Soul, a Drain Soul-like spell that creates a Corrupted Soul Fragment that heals Bronjahm as long as he is within range of it. He can be kited around the room to keep his distance from the fragment while the DPS destroys it. If a player begins getting Corrupted Soul cast on them, it is recommended that he or she run to the side of the platform opposite of the boss in order to maximize the distance the orb will have to travel.

At about 30%, Bronjahm teleports to the center of the room and casts Soulstorm, a swirling magic AoE effect around the edge of the room. All party members are advised to stand in the middle when he teleports to avoid being caught in the Soulstorm. He will also fear members of the party into the Soulstorm, which will cause them to take excessive damage and slow their movement speed; healers should keep an eye on feared targets (in the event there is no shaman with a Tremor Totem) to make sure they live through the Soulstorm long enough to make their way back into the center.

The Pit of Saron is the second wing of the Frozen Halls instances of Icecrown Citadel, released in patch 3.3. The enormous pit in the dungeon is filled with large extracts of saronite ore and the Scourge have taken many Alliance and Horde prisoners forcing them to mine the saronite or face torture and reanimation into undeath. The players help Jaina Proudmoore or Sylvanas Windrunner rescue the prisoners and put a stop to the Scourge’s operations and defeat the brutal scourge master of the area and his lieutenants.

To become “attuned” to the Pit of Saron, players are required to complete the quest Echoes of Tortured Souls (Alliance) / (Horde) in the Forge of Souls as part of the Frozen Halls story line quest chain.

The Pit of Saron, accessible only to those who have laid waste to the Forge of Souls’ unholy operations, will bring Horde and Alliance forces deeper into the Lich King’s domain. Players who venture here will immediately be confronted by the lord of this lair, Scourgelord Tyrannus. But defeating him will not be as easy as it seems. Before they can present a threat to Tyrannus, the adventurers, instructed by their leaders, will need to free enslaved allies who have been trapped by the Scourge. Until that happens, Tyrannus will leave all adversaries to his minions, workers of the citadel’s mines. Perhaps the challenges here will lend clues as to the whereabouts of the Lich King’s private chambers outside of the Frozen Throne, deep within the Halls of Reflection.

Quel’Delar, the Sister Blade is a prismatic blade forged by the night elves and the five dragonflights along with its sibling, Quel’Serrar. Quel’Delar serves as an idol of opposition against the Scourge, and the elven factions of Dalaran would therefore like to see the blade play a pivotal role in the assault on Icecrown Citadel.

Coming Patch 3.3, players are able to embark on a mission to assemble the sword and either wield it themselves or trade it with their respective Dalaran faction for a weapon they can use. Doing so will reward the achievement  The Sword in the Skull.

After its creation, the sword was given to the quel’dorei and passed down from father to son until it was wielded by Thalorien Dawnseeker against the trolls and the Scourge. Thalorien eventually fell at the hands of Arthas’ lieutenants and the blade was susequently brought to Icecrown by Lana’thel, one of the followers of Kael’thas. Lana’thel originally intended Quel’Delar to be an instrument of vengeance, but after her own demise began to harbor hatred for the sword.

Now that the Ashen Verdict, alongside the Horde and the Alliance, are ready to march upon Icecrown Citadel, interest in the sword has been renewed. When Lana’thel defiles the sword at Quel’Delar’s Rest, the Silver Covenant and the Sunreavers immediately vow to return the blade to its former glory, so players are asked to reforge and cleanse the sword. The whole process takes players to distant places like the Halls of Reflection, the Sunwell and Dalaran.

The Quel’Delar Quest is part of the WOW 3.3 update that involves completing a 5 man instance, which from all reports will take you back into Sunwell, although it is not clear exactly how much work will be involved in Sunwell.  The Quel’Gelar Quest is set up as a chain quest which has at least 11 sub quests which include; The Battered Hilt, What The Dragons Know, The Sunreaver Plan, and several others.

This chain quest will feature separate versions and loot for both Alliance and Horde respectively.  Although, the loot rewards will be similar in stats, just have different names.  The overall point of this chain quest is to aquire the Quel’Delar blade by first finding its hilt and you retrieve the hilt from the Forge of Souls inside Icecrown Citadel.  Once you have the hilt you will head to Krasus’ Wyrmrest Temple and get your instructions that tell you the the blade you are searching for is infact is Quel’Delar.

This 3.3 quest chain will take you to Silver Enclave in Dalaran to to do some covert spying and steal Ancient Dragonforged Blades tome for Magister Hathorel.

You will eventually make your way to Quel’Delar’s Rest located outside the Coliseum to in order to find Myralion Sunblaze (Horde) or Caladis Brightspear (Alliance), that give you the quests to head to the Pit of Saron to reforge the sword.  One the sword is reforged, you will learn that it is possessed by the Lich King, and sends you to the Halls of Reflection.

Eventually you will need to travel to Sunwell to cleans the blade and return it to your appropriate faction Sunreavers, the Alliance version will most likely have you give it to the Argent Crusade.  This is a prime example of Blizzard taking a pro-active role with not only adding new content to the game but also encouraging players to revisit previous areas of the game that have in many cases become stale.

Fall of the Lich King, the latest World of Warcraft content update, is coming! The heroes of the Horde and the Alliance have faced unimaginable horrors and suffered terrible losses in their desperate struggle against the Scourge. Now the time has come to break through the fortified gates of Icecrown Citadel and confront the Lich King in the frozen heart of his domain. Follow Jaina Proudmoore or Sylvanas Windrunner through the Forge of Souls, Pit of Saron, and Halls of Reflection in an attempt to subvert the Lich King’s army in a new multi-wing 5-player dungeon. Join the Ashen Verdict as they charge through the citadel’s main gate to take on the Scourge’s most powerful leaders and fearsome monstrosities in a new 10- and 25-player raid. Fall of the Lich King also introduces the cross-realm Dungeon Finder interface, new quest-tracking features designed to make it easier to find objectives, and much more.

The latest test realm patch notes can always be found at http://www.worldofwarcraft.com/patchnotes/test-realm-patchnotes.html

The latest patch notes can always be found at http://www.worldofwarcraft.com/patchnotes/

Icecrown Citadel: The Frozen Halls

Looming over the stark wastes of Northrend, Icecrown Citadel awaits those who would see the Lich King and his Scourge brought low and the threat they pose wiped from the face of Azeroth. The heroes who venture within will face some of the greatest horrors yet seen. But before you burst into the front gate of the citadel, an alternate means of entry beckons. Journey through three separate wings of the new five-player dungeon, Icecrown Citadel: The Frozen Halls, and follow Jaina Proudmoore or Sylvanas Windrunner into the Lich King’s domain.

Icecrown Citadel: The Frozen Throne

All across Northrend, many battles have been fought against the vile Scourge. Countless lives have been lost since the Alliance and the Horde first reached these frozen wastes, but the champions of Azeroth continue to march forward — and Icecrown Citadel, the cornerstone of the Scourge’s power and the home base of the Lich King, is their final target. Tirion Fordring and the Argent Crusade have forged an accord with Darion Mograine and the Knights of the Ebon Blade to form the Ashen Verdict. This coalition’s strongest combatants, along with the champions of the Alliance and the Horde, will lead the charge against the citadel. In the new Icecrown Citadel raid dungeon, Azeroth’s mightiest will face terrifying challenges before ascending to the Frozen Throne, where the Lich King and his runeblade, Frostmourne, await to deliver the heroes to their deaths….

Cross-Realm Dungeon Finder

The Dungeon Finder is now available, providing players with quick and easy access to five-player parties. This feature connects all realms within a battlegroup using an advanced matchmaking system, making it easier for players of all levels to find a dungeon group. In addition, players can reap additional rewards through the Dungeon Finder by choosing the Random option, which is available to both pick-up and pre-formed groups. Check out the User Interface section for more details.

Getting Started and Quest Tracking

A number of changes have been made to World of Warcraft’s introductory experience, including updated character and class information at the character-selection screen, more robust tooltips with images, improved health and mana regeneration at lower levels, and adjustments to various classes designed to make it easier for players to get started. In addition, all-new quest-tracking features have been added to assist players in finding objectives, including new interface functionality in the quest log, the map (“M” key), and the Objectives pane.

Quest Tracking