Dark Iron Ore farming in WoW Forever happens in the same places as in WoW Classic: the Burning Steppes, which has the most Dark Iron Deposits, and Searing Gorge, plus the dungeons and raids inside Blackrock Mountain. WoW Forever keeps Classic’s node spawns in the original zones, so both routes below work in WoW Forever and WoW Classic. You need Mining 230, and the ore still smelts only at the Black Forge in Blackrock Depths, 8 ore per bar. What Forever changes is demand: in SeeMeta’s beta recipe tables, Dark Iron Bars go into 28 recipes, all at skill 240 or higher, and the Artisan ore crate takes 20 Dark Iron Ore.
Updated November 3, 2026: now covers WoW Forever, which keeps Classic’s ore spawns.
Dark Iron ore farming
In order to mine this ore, you will need a mining skill of at least 230. Dark Iron ore can be a great bridge between Mithril and small Thorium Veins, which sit at 175 and 245 respectively. One downside is that, this ore only spawns in two zones: Searing Gorge and Burning Steppes. Apart from the dungeons and raids inside the Blackrock Mountain, of course, which also have this ore.
Dark Iron Ore in WoW Forever: What Changes
Dark Iron Ore in WoW Forever spawns where it does in Classic, needs the same Mining 230 and smelts at the same Black Forge. The differences are in what it’s for:
- Recipes: SeeMeta’s beta recipe tables list Dark Iron Bars in 28 recipes, all at skill 240 or higher, so demand starts late, once crafters reach Artisan.
- Ore crates: the Artisan Waylaid Crate takes 20 Dark Iron Ore, and the Artisan ingot crate only 2 Dark Iron Bars (16 ore), paid in Merchant’s Favor, the recipe currency (Zockify’s beta data; level 35 in the client).
- New metals explained: the Azerothium and Legionite Bars from Blizzard’s BlizzCon slides are in the beta client. Azerothium smelts from 2 Pitchblende, a Scarce ore, and 1 Coal at Mining 275; Legionite is an Alchemy transmute of a Heavy Thorium Bar and a Fel Crystal. Where Heavy Thorium Ore spawns and where the Fel Crystal comes from are unknown.
Our WoW Forever ore farming guide ranks the farming zones for every other ore, and our WoW Forever mining leveling guide covers Mining 1 to 300.
Burning Steppes: Dark Iron ore farming
Of the two zones that contain this ore, the Burning Steppes has the most spawns. In addition to that, while it is a bit larger, one could argue that it is a lot easier to traverse. This is because of the lack of The Cauldron, which has its home in the Searing Gorge. One more advantage of farming dark iron ore here is that if you also have Herbalism, you can gather Black Lotus here as well.
The Searing Gorge
While this is clearly the inferior zone for Dark Iron farming, the monsters here are not as high level. This makes it easier for lower level players (47+) to farm here. Also, there is more Mithril instead of Thorium here, making it the perfect zone to level up your mining skill. Do this until you reach 245, at which point I would recommend switching to a zone with more Thorium.
[the_ad id=”1092″]
What Dark Iron ore is used for
The primary use for Dark Iron Bars, which are smelted from Dark Iron Ore, is as a material for fire resistance gear. The recipes for these items can be obtained from the Thorium Brotherhood faction, in the Searing Gorge. You can also get some other useful items here apart from the resistance gear. Wowhead’s Classic database has a list of the items that use Dark Iron.