Delves are one of the most accessible and rewarding forms of end-game content in World of Warcraft: The War Within. Designed for players who want meaningful progress without dedicating hours to raiding, these short, dynamic adventures offer gear, cosmetics, mounts, and even companion upgrades. This Delves guide for The War Within breaks down how these instances work, where to find them, the best tiers to farm, and what’s changing in the upcoming Midnight expansion.
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WoW The War Within Delves Explained
WoW’s The War Within Delves blend exciting exploration and challenging combat for a steady rewards flow in a short 10-15-minute format. They bridge the gap between outdoor world content and structured dungeon-like instances. Each run gives you a taste of high-end progression - but at your own pace. You can play solo, pair up with your customizable companion Brann Bronzebeard, or bring up to four other players. The design encourages replayability and smooth scaling, rewarding skill, preparation, and consistency.
Each Delve acts like a small adventure set in a personal instance of the expansion’s zones. Inside, you’ll complete objectives, WoW Delve quests, defeat packs of mobs and bosses, and claim loot at the end. Instead of the rigid dungeon roles, you’re free to play your class as you prefer. Brann can fill in gaps, acting as a healer or an extra DPS, depending on what you need most.
You’ll find Delve entrances marked on your zone map by unique icons. Upon entering, you can choose your tier, review the potential rewards, and dive in. The variety of possible layouts and modifiers means every run feels different.
WoW Delve Locations & Map Markers

Delves are scattered throughout the zones introduced in The War Within expansion, especially in dungeons and similar hidden locations that emphasize the whole Delve theme. You can easily find the WoW Delve Locations map - they are marked by a unique cave-icon or similar marker to make them easier to find. Some may be tucked away, behind ruins or environmental cues.
Here’s a list of zones where you’ll find Delves:
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Isle of Dorn
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The Ringing Deeps
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Hallowfall
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The Undermine
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K’aresh
When you reach an entrance, a UI window pops up and shows you key information: the Delve’s name, selectable difficulty tier, description of objectives, and listed rewards. This allows you to pick an appropriate tier and know what to expect before you commit.
War Within Delve Companion System – Brann Bronzebeard
Your trusty old time sidekick, Brann, is a key part of the Delve system. He isn’t just a tag-along NPC - he levels up, equips curios (mini-artifacts that change his abilities), and can fulfill support, healer, or DPS roles. The more Delves you complete, the stronger Brann becomes, making higher tiers easier and faster to farm.
Optimizing your War Within Delve companion matters a lot: upgrading his curios and adjusting his role to complement your class can dramatically improve your experience.
WoW Delves Rewards
Delves are directly tied to your weekly reward cycle. Completing a set number of runs unlocks slots in the Great Vault, similar to raid and Mythic+ tracks. Each run provides immediate gear plus credit toward higher weekly loot. The higher the tiers you complete, the better your weekly WoW Delves rewards will be.
Bountiful Delves, marked on the map, grant bonus chests with superior loot and collectibles. Running these should always be your top priority each reset.
|
Delve Tier |
End-of-Run Loot iLvl |
Great Vault Loot iLvl |
|---|---|---|
|
Tier 1 |
655 |
668 |
|
Tier 2 |
658 |
671 |
|
Tier 3 |
662 |
675 |
|
Tier 4 |
665 |
678 |
|
Tier 5 |
668 |
684 |
|
Tier 6 |
671 |
687 |
|
Tier 7 |
681 |
694 |
|
Tier 8+ |
684 |
694 |
This scaling ensures steady progress for casual players while keeping top-tier WoW Delves loot competitive for those pushing higher levels. Focus on tiers where you can clear smoothly rather than forcing upper limits too early.
WoW Delve Tier List
While most Delves share similar reward structures, some are faster, safer, or more rewarding to farm regularly. The Wow Delve tier list below ranks them by efficiency, layout, and loot-to-time ratio.
S-Tier – Most Efficient and Rewarding
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The Waterworks (Isle of Dorn) – Short layout, minimal trash mobs, excellent boss drops.
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Fungal Folly (Hallowfall) – Compact objectives, consistent Bountiful versions, and one of the easiest Tier 7 clears.
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The Sinkhole (The Ringing Deeps) – Great route density for collectibles and fast companion XP.
These Delves deliver the best return per minute, making them ideal for consistent weekly clears.
A-Tier – Great for Gear and Practice
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Skittering Breach (Undermine) – Slightly longer runs but heavy on currency and crest drops.
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Storm’s Vein (Hallowfall) – High mob density suits AoE classes; solid for farming crafting materials.
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Titan’s Hollow (Isle of Dorn) – Offers a rare mount and some cosmetic drops alongside gear.
These are reliable for mid-tier progression and learning higher mechanics before attempting Tier 8+.
B-Tier – Decent but Situational
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Frostsunder Depths (K’aresh) – One of the best Delves in the War Within, but long pathing makes runs less efficient.
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The Eroded Sanctum (The Ringing Deeps) – Randomized events can either boost rewards or waste a lot of your time.
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Shattered Expanse (Hallowfall) – Excellent companion XP, though gear payoff is significantly lower than others.
These Delves should be run mainly when chasing achievements or specific collectibles.
C-Tier – Niche or Time-Consuming
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Twilight Grotto (Undermine) – Long objectives and tough final bosses.
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Veilbreaker Vault (Isle of Dorn) – High mob HP and annoying mechanics that could slow clear times.
These can be rewarding for completionists or mount collectors, but aren’t optimal for weekly farming.
Maximizing Your Delve Runs Efficiency
Even though Delves are fast to complete, efficiency should still be prioritized. To push through tiers efficiently:
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Target Bountiful versions first each week for superior loot and currency.
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Adjust Brann’s curios to match your build (healing focus for solo melee, DPS focus for ranged).
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Track your revives remaining-fewer deaths often improve end-chest quality.
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Clear familiar Delves repeatedly for faster timing. Knowing routes and event spawns saves minutes.
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Stack consumables and buffs before Tier 6+. Survival consistency outperforms speed in these ranges.
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Focus on objectives efficiently-skip low-value side mobs when time-gated.
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Use Delves as a warm-up for Mythic+ runs: similar pacing but less punishing failure conditions.
Utilizing these tips in your gameplay would allow you to clear as many Delves as fast as possible. Needless to say, there is a lot of content in WoW, and you don’t want to spend all of your time unsuccessfully trying to clear Delves.
WoW Midnight Expansion Delves – New Update’s Changes
WoW's Midnight expansion' Delves are revamping and expanding the system with new mechanics, new layouts, 10 new Delves, and an all-new companion.
Changes highlights include:
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Ten new Delves and a seasonal Nemesis Delve featuring entirely new zones and challenges.
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New companion: Valeera Sanguinar, a customizable rogue NPC replacing Brann. She can fill damage, support, or utility roles depending on your needs.
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Outdoor segments that allow partial mount use for the first time inside Delves.
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Refined objective pacing that cuts downtime between encounters.
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Improved enemy variety with fewer repetitive events and smarter AI pathing.
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Delve-specific storylines are integrated directly into zone campaigns, making each run feel more tied to world progression.
Devs also confirmed that feedback from The War Within has shaped this iteration. Expect smoother runs, higher replayability, and improved loot logic. The team aims to make Delves feel like a core end-game pillar alongside raids and Mythic+.
Conclusion
Delves stand as one of The War Within’s strongest systems - easy to start, rewarding to master, and endlessly repeatable. Each tier feels like a step toward something greater, rewarding skill and efficiency. With Midnight expanding the feature and introducing new companions and mechanics, now’s the perfect time to refine your strategy. Learn the War Within Delve loot table, the best Delves, upgrade your companion, and prepare for a deeper, faster, and more rewarding system ahead.