Have you ever found yourself thinking, "There has to be a faster way to get to Blackhand in Blackrock Foundry!"? Whether you're farming for that elusive Ironhoof Destroyer mount, a specific transmog piece, or just want to quickly clear the final boss for a weekly quest, the Blackrock Foundry skip is your ticket to saving a ton of time. No more slogging through all ten bosses every week!
This comprehensive guide will walk you through every step to unlock and utilize the Blackrock Foundry skip. Let's get started, shall we?
Unlocking the Blackrock Foundry Skip: The "Sigil of the Black Hand" Quest
The key to bypassing most of Blackrock Foundry (BRF) lies in a specific quest: Sigil of the Black Hand. This quest, once completed, grants you the ability to activate a mechanism that opens a shortcut directly to Blackhand's Crucible, the final boss's chamber.
Step 1: Locating the Quest Giver
First things first, you need to pick up the quest.
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Entering Blackrock Foundry: Head to Gorgrond on Draenor. The entrance to Blackrock Foundry is a massive industrial gate located at coordinates roughly 51.4, 28.7. The closest flight path is Arcanist Windlebop.
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Navigating to Goraluk Anvilcrack: Once inside BRF, you'll need to progress through the first two wings, or at least past the bosses that guard the path to the Iron Maidens. The quest giver, Goraluk Anvilcrack, is found after defeating the Iron Maidens. He's located in the Dread Grotto, just behind the crates in that area.
- Important Note: You can pick up this quest on Normal, Heroic, or Mythic difficulty. While the quest itself is distinct for each difficulty, recent changes have made the skip functionality account-wide once completed on any difficulty (though Mythic is often recommended for the best overall utility and potential benefits).
Step 2: The "Sigil of the Black Hand" Quest Objectives
The quest "Sigil of the Black Hand" requires you to collect 4 "Embers of the Mountain" from the final bosses of each of the main wings of Blackrock Foundry, repeated over a few weeks. These bosses are:
- Blast Furnace (from the Slagworks wing)
- Kromog (from The Black Forge wing)
- Iron Maidens (from the Iron Assembly wing)
- Blackhand (the final boss, but you need to defeat him once for the quest item)
Yes, you read that right – you'll need to kill Blackhand once before you can use the skip to get to him easily. Think of it as proving your worth to earn the shortcut!
Sub-heading: Weekly Progression
Since you can only obtain one "Ember of the Mountain" per boss per week (meaning if you kill Blast Furnace on Tuesday, you can't get another Ember from him until the weekly reset), this quest typically takes four weeks to complete on a single character for a specific difficulty.
- Tip: If you're eager to unlock the skip faster, you can run Blackrock Foundry on multiple characters (each picking up the quest) to gather the "Embers" more quickly. With the recent changes to account-wide skips, you only need to complete it on one character!
Utilizing the Blackrock Foundry Skip
Once you've turned in the "Sigil of the Black Hand" quest, the real magic begins!
Step 3: Entering the Raid and Locating the Skip Mechanism
After a weekly reset, or if you're entering a fresh instance on a character that has completed the quest, you can now use the skip.
- Go to Blackrock Foundry: Enter the raid as usual.
- Proceed to the Main Hall: You'll need to clear the initial trash mobs.
- Locate the Blackrock Artifacts: After the very first few trash packs, before the path diverges into the different wings, you'll see a large, flaming gate that normally blocks the path to Blackhand's Crucible. On either side of this gate, you'll find a Blackrock Artifact (they look like glowing, clickable pillars).
Step 4: Activating the Skip
- Click the Artifact: Simply click on one of these Blackrock Artifacts.
- Witness the Gate Lower: The fiery gate will lower, and the flames will extinguish, creating a direct path to Blackhand's Crucible. Voila! You've successfully activated the skip!
Step 5: Proceeding to Blackhand
Now that the path is open, you can simply run through the newly accessible area straight to Blackhand's platform. You've just saved yourself a significant amount of time bypassing the other bosses!
Advanced Skip Strategies and Considerations
While the primary skip is straightforward, here are a few advanced tips for the seasoned farmer:
- Difficulty Specific Skips (Pre-War Within): Historically, you had to complete the "Sigil of the Black Hand" quest for each difficulty (Normal, Heroic, Mythic) to unlock the skip on that specific difficulty for that character. However, with the recent War Within pre-patch changes, raid skips like BRF are now account-wide! This means completing it once on any difficulty should unlock it for all difficulties across all your characters.
- Lockout Sharing (Pre-War Within Method): Before the account-wide skip implementation, players would use lockout sharing to run Blackhand multiple times a week on different characters. This involved having one character with a cleared raid up to Blackhand (but Blackhand not killed), extending their lockout, and inviting alts to that instance. While the account-wide skip has largely superseded this for BRF, it's a good concept to understand for other legacy raids without direct skip quests.
- Efficiency for Mount Farming: The Blackrock Foundry skip is incredibly valuable for farming the Ironhoof Destroyer mount, which drops from Mythic Blackhand with a low chance. Being able to go directly to Blackhand on multiple characters each week dramatically increases your chances of getting this rare mount.
- Soloing Blackhand: At current power levels, Blackhand is generally soloable on all difficulties for most classes. However, be mindful of his mechanics, especially the knockbacks in Phase 2 and 3. Positioning yourself with your back to a wall can help prevent being knocked off the platform.
10 Related FAQ Questions
How to get to Blackrock Foundry?
To get to Blackrock Foundry, travel to Gorgrond on Draenor (you can use the Ashran portal in Stormwind/Orgrimmar). The raid entrance is located at approximately 51.4, 28.7 in northern Gorgrond.
How to start the Blackrock Foundry skip quest?
The Blackrock Foundry skip quest, "Sigil of the Black Hand," is given by Goraluk Anvilcrack, who is found after defeating the Iron Maidens within the raid instance, specifically in the Dread Grotto area.
How to complete "Sigil of the Black Hand" quickly?
The quest requires you to collect 4 "Embers of the Mountain" from Blast Furnace, Kromog, Iron Maidens, and Blackhand. Since you can only get one from each boss per weekly lockout, it typically takes 4 weeks. With account-wide skips, you now only need to complete this quest on one character to unlock the skip for all your characters.
How to know if I have the Blackrock Foundry skip unlocked?
Once you've completed and turned in the "Sigil of the Black Hand" quest, the skip is active. You will see clickable "Blackrock Artifacts" near the initial flaming gate in Blackrock Foundry that, when activated, open the path to Blackhand.
How to use the Blackrock Foundry skip on alts?
Thanks to recent updates, the Blackrock Foundry skip is now account-wide. Once you've completed the "Sigil of the Black Hand" quest on any one character, all your other characters on that account will be able to use the skip by simply clicking the Blackrock Artifacts inside the raid.
How to avoid Blackhand's knockbacks?
When soloing Blackhand, especially in Phase 2 and 3, he has abilities that can knock you back. To counter this, try to position yourself with your back against a wall or an immovable object on the platform to prevent being knocked off and resetting the fight.
How to farm the Ironhoof Destroyer mount efficiently?
The most efficient way to farm the Ironhoof Destroyer (which drops from Mythic Blackhand) is to unlock the Blackrock Foundry skip. This allows you to go directly to Blackhand each week, maximizing the number of attempts you can make across your characters.
How to check my quest progress for "Sigil of the Black Hand"?
You can typically check your quest log for "Sigil of the Black Hand." If you're unsure if you've completed it in the past, you can often use a script command like /script print(C_QuestLog.IsQuestFlaggedCompleted(37031)) (for the normal version, IDs vary for heroic/mythic) in your chat window, which will return "true" if completed.
How to reset a raid instance for another attempt?
Raid instances reset weekly with the server reset. If you're referring to resetting a solo instance to clear trash or retry a boss, you can often leave the instance, right-click your character portrait, and select "Reset All Instances." However, for raid lockouts, once a boss is killed, it remains dead for that week's lockout.
How to find Blackrock Foundry's closest flight path?
The closest flight path to Blackrock Foundry is Arcanist Windlebop, located in Gorgrond, near the raid entrance.