Please expand this article. This template may be found on the article's talk page, where there may be further information. Alternatively, more information might be found at Requests for expansion. Please remove this message once the article has been expanded.

Dire Maul is a location set in Blizzard Entertainments video game and book series, Warcraft. In the MMORPG World of Warcraft it acts as an instance dungeon in the virtual world. Image File history File links Wiki_letter_w. ... This is a list of the major and minor Locations ordered by region (after the events of Third Great War) in the Warcraft universe — a fictional universe in which a series of video games and books are set. ... Blizzard Entertainment is a PC game developer and publisher. ... A computer game is a game composed of a computer-controlled virtual universe that players interact with in order to achieve a defined goal or set of goals. ... The Warcraft Universe is the fictional universe in which the Warcraft series of computer games and announced movie are set. ... Players interacting in Ultima Online. ... World of Warcraft (commonly abbreviated as WoW) is a massively multiplayer online game (MMOG) developed by Blizzard Entertainment. ... In MMORPGs, an instance dungeon is a special area, typically a dungeon, that generates a new copy, or instance, for each group that enters the area. ... A virtual world is a computer-simulated environment intended for its users to inhabit and interact via avatars. ...

Background

Dire Maul is located at the center of Feralas in Southern Kalimdor. This article or section does not cite its references or sources. ...

Nomenclature

While geographical short forms are highly varied in any MMORPG, the most common shortforms referring to Dire Maul is "DM". It should be noted that this can often be confused with a shortform for The Deadmines. DM is usually followed by North, East, or West, to designate the instance being attempted. For example: DM East refers to the Eastern Dire Maul entrance. Players interacting in Ultima Online. ... Orcish Juggernaught derelict from after the Second Great War used by the Defias Brotherhood as there base of operations in th Deadmines. ...

Of special note is the North instance which features a mechanic known as a "Tribute." DM North contains King Gordok, the ruler of the Ogres as a final boss. The way to the King is blocked by several Guards who can either be killed, or bypassed using various tricks including an Ogre disguise. When the King is defeated, a tribute chest appears with various rewards inside. If you have left the Guards alive, each one will contribute an item to the chest, thus making Tribute runs extremely profitable.

This type of run is generally known as a Tribute Run or DM Tribute.

Instance zone

Dire Maul is divided into three parts:

• The East Side - populated by a mix of crazed plants and demons. This is the easiest part of Dire Maul. The Crescent Key is attained here, which allows access to the North Side and the West Side.
• The North Side - populated by ogres, both warriors and spell casters.
• The West Side - populated by undead, invisible ghosts, elementals and crazed plants. Note: This is where warlocks/Paladins complete their epic mount quest.

Enemies

Each part of Dire Maul has its own monsters, ogres to the north, demons and plants to the east, elementals and crazed plants to the west. Nearly all the monsters are elite and they range from Level 57 to Level 61.

Dire Maul was one of the first of the post-launch dungeons and as such it represents the designers latest ideas about how to create dungeons based on real experience with how the players interfaced with the game. The three areas have interesting features and encounters which demand some thought. Dire Maul only requires 5 players.

Dire Maul East

Dire Maul East is the portion of Dire maul accessible by the entrance on the east side of the arena (The Maul), as well as the entrance north of Camp Mojache. The entrance east of the arena is the only entrance accessible to players who do not have the Crescent Key. The Crescent Key can be acquired in Dire Maul East by chasing the imp near the beginning of the instance.

Dire Maul East is occupied mainly by plant-like Elemental monsters and Demons. It is generally the least traversed portion of Dire Maul for its lack of much noteworthy "loot". It is, however, necessary for mages in order to complete the quest to learn the spell to conjure Crystal Water.

Dire Maul North - Tribute

Dire Maul North is what the portion of Dire Maul accessible by the entrance on the north side of the arena (The Maul) is referred to. It is occupied mainly by ogres and requires the Crescent Key (acquired in Dire Maul East) for direct access. It also serves as the easiest access to the library in Dire Maul.

While players can go through Dire Maul North in the traditional hack and slash fashion by slaying all the monsters, it is usually preferrable to do "Tribute Runs". The goal of a "Tribute Run" is to navigate through Dire Maul North without killing any of the "named" ogres except King Gordok (in order: Guard Mol'Dar, Kreeg, Guard Fengus, Guard Slip'Kik, Captain Kromcrush, Cho'Rush the Observer). By leaving these ogres alive, you increase the amount of "loot" at the end of the run, and are also given "buffs" by Guard Mol'Dar, Guard Fengus, and Guard Slip'Kik.

In order to do a "perfect" "Tribute Run", you need to gather certain materials beforehand. Guard Mol'Dar, Kreeg, and Guard Fengus are avoided by simply staying out of their "aggro" range. In order to avoid killing Guard Slip'Kik by activating the freeze trap (an interactive environment object in the dungeon - completely unrelated to the Hunter's freeze trap ability), you need 1 Frost Oil and 1 Thorium Widget. In order to create the ogre costume to avoid killing Captain Kromcrush, you need 4 Runecloth Bolts, 8 Rugged Leather, 2 Rune Thread, and 1 Ogre Tanin (found in the instance). A tailor/leatherworker who turns in the materials for the ogre costume to Knot Thimblejack can learn the recipe, which halves the required materials (you will still need 1 Ogre Tanin). There are two locked doors that must be unlocked by either a Rogue with lockpicking ability, an Engineer with Large Seaforium Charges, and/or a Blacksmith with Truesilver Skeleton Keys. The doors can also be unlocked by keys found in the instance, but the key to unlock the second door can only be acquired by killing Guard Mol'Dar, which is detrimental to the final tribute.

Also of note in Dire Maul North is Knot Thimblejack, a Goblin NPC who will make the ogre costume if you bring him the required materials. Players who find a Gordok Shackle Key (randomly dropped from the ogres in Dire Maul North) can free him from his shackles, which results in a reward in the form of a cache of tailoring and leatherworking supplies. It will also contain a rare/epic tailoring or leatherworking recipe.

One of the downsides of a "Tribute Run" is that the most, if not all, of the "loot" is rewarded at the end of the run. Players can get particularly frustrated if they invest time in reaching the end, only to realize that their party cannot kill King Gordok. However, players successful in completing a "Tribute Run" are rewarded with a number of items, as well as the freedom to explore the area as the new "King of the Gordok" (all the ogres will be "friendly" and no longer attack you). Additionally, three of the named guards will give you 2 hour buffs, and Captain Kromcrush will give you a quest to kill the Prince in Dire Maul West. Kreeg will also sell players alcoholic beverages (including a limited supply of Volatile Rum). When players leave the instance, they will no longer be "King of the Gordok".

Dire Maul West

Dire Maul West is a challenging instance if you are not prepared to face the assortment of monsters within. Bringing a Warlock along is almost a necessity (and many Warlocks will want to go, it is part of their Epic mount quest) because they can cast Detect Invisibility to find the many invisible ghost patrols. Also, they can banish elementals as a form of crowd control. Alternatively you can use a Hunter to flare around your group. The final boss, the Prince, is in the library but cannot be attacked until you defeat Immol'thar the demon dog. Immol'thar is contained in an energy field which must be disabled before you can approach him. That is accomplished by destroying the elementals surrounding all of the 5 crystal pylons in the instance. Once you do that, the Elves guarding Immol'thar will rush in and be killed by the demon. After they are all dead, you may approach and destroy Immol'thar. At this point, the Prince will become attackable.

The Maul

In the center of Dire Maul, outside of any instance, is an Arena. Inside this Arena the rules of PvP become Free-For-All. Only members of your own group will appear friendly. Every so often, a random monster spawns within the Maul. This is announced by an observer NPC to the entire zone. Players from any faction can compete to see who kills the monster first and gets the loots; usually some kind of rare world drop of Blue (superior) quality or two. Prepare to be backstabbed by your own faction if you enter the Maul to conquer the monster!

See also

• Warcraft Universe
• Locations in the Warcraft Universe
• Organizations in the Warcraft universe

The Warcraft Universe is the fictional universe in which the Warcraft series of computer games and announced movie are set. ... This is a list of the major and minor Locations ordered by region (after the events of the Third Great War) in the Warcraft universe — a fictional universe in which a series of video games and books are set. ... This is an alphabetical list of the major and minor groups and organizations in the Warcraft universe — a fictional universe in which a series of video games and books are set. ...

External links

• Dire Maul at WoWWiki, a World of Warcraft wiki