How Titan Rune dungeons work in Wrath of the Lich King Classic

Wrath Classic leveling guide
(Image credit: Blizzard)

The second phase of World of Warcraft's Wrath of the Lich King Classic arrives on January 17 and sees the (re)introduction of the Ulduar raid and the Argent Tournament, as well as bringing the new addition of Titan Rune dungeons to the popular expansion.

These "Heroic Plus" style dungeons offer a new way to earn loot and virtually eliminate the need to constantly run multiple versions of raids in the hope of getting a specific piece of gear to drop. So, if you're ready to learn more about Titan Rune dungeons in WotLK Classic, here's what you need to know.

What are Titan Rune dungeons? 

(Image credit: Blizzard)

Titan Rune dungeons are a new difficulty that is available for each of the existing Wrath of the Lich King heroic dungeons. Inside the entrance of each instance when set to heroic difficulty, you'll find an aptly named Mysterious Device, and you'll need to interact with this to enable the Titan Rune mode.

Once activated, an Empowered Rune will take effect, which will buff the health and damage dealt by both trash and bosses, along with an additional debuff, depending on the dungeon you are in. This should significantly increase the challenge of familiar dungeons while rewarding a wider range of loot for completing them.

The runes and their effects are listed below:

Utgarde Keep and Utgarde Pinnacle

Empowered: Frost Rune
Damage increased by 30%.
Health increased by 100%.
Melee attacks have a chance to Glaciate a random nearby target.

Azjol-Nerub and Ahn'kahet: The Old Kingdom 

Empowered: Shadow Rune
Damage increased by 30%.
Health increased by 100%.
Attacks have a chance to Web Wrap a victim.

Drak'Tharon Keep and Gundrak

Empowered: Blood Rune
Damage increased by 30%.
Health increased by 100%.
100% Lifesteal when standing in Blood of the Loa.

(Image credit: Blizzard)

Halls of Stone and Halls of Lightning

Empowered: Titan Rune
Damage increased by 5%.
Health increased by 190%.
Pulsing Saronite-Corrupted Titan energy that increases enemy damage done by 1% and damage taken by 2% per stack for 12 sec.

The Nexus, The Oculus, and The Violet Hold

Empowered: Arcane Rune
Damage increased by 30%.
Health increased by 100%.
Attacks have a chance to summon Mirror Images.

The Culling of Stratholme

Empowered: Plague Rune
Damage increased by 30%.
Health increased by 100%
Damaging attacks can infect victims with Zombie Plague.

Titan Rune dungeon loot tables 

As well as bosses dropping Emblem of Valor as they do on regular heroic difficulty, three Emblem of Conquest will also be rewarded for the final boss, though it seems only one player can win these per run. 

As far as gear drops go, the final boss from any of the Titan Rune dungeons will have the Naxxramas 10-man and Sartharion (Obsidian Sanctum) raid loot tables added, meaning 200 item level gear will drop on top of the existing Heroic loot. All other bosses will have drops from Kel'Thuzad, Sartharion, and Malygos at 213 item level.

Wrath Classic leveling tips:How to get to Northrend:Wrath Classic zone levels:How to get to Dalaran:Cold Weather Flying:WoW Classic server:

Wrath Classic leveling tips: Get to 80 fast
How to get to Northrend: The cold awaits
Wrath Classic zone levels: Where you can go
How to get to Dalaran: The main hub awaits
Cold Weather Flying: Take to the skies
WoW Classic server: Which to go for 

Sarah James
Senior Guides Writer

Sarah started as a freelance writer in 2018, writing for PCGamesN, TechRadar, GamingBible, Red Bull Gaming and more. In 2021, she was offered a full-time position on the PC Gamer team where she takes every possible opportunity to talk about World of Warcraft and Elden Ring. When not writing guides, most of her spare time is spent in Azeroth—though she's quite partial to JRPGs too. One of her fondest hopes is to one day play through the ending of Final Fantasy X without breaking down into a sobbing heap. She probably has more wolves in Valheim than you.

Read more
World of Warcraft Mythic Plus screenshot
World of Warcraft's competitive dungeon mode is struggling
Destiny 2 Rite of the Nine: The Emissary, massive, ominously standing at the edge of a water basin.
Everything we know about Destiny 2 Rite of the Nine
Two goblins go for a joyride via the D.R.I.V.E system in World of Warcraft: The War Within.
WoW next big patch, Undermine(d), gets a release date, starting the countdown clock until my gaming time is entirely consumed with doing donuts in my new ride
World of Warcraft The War Within screenshots
Delves have given WoW's devs the confidence to put mandatory grinds firmly in the rear-view, says game director Ion Hazzikostas
Gallywix wears an uneasy smile as he's confronted by Xal'atath in WoW: The War Within.
World of Warcraft guild uses exploits to get world 'first' on the game's new raid, gets banned, puts its name backwards and does it again
World of Warcraft's most recent patch soars with fun additions that last just long enough
Latest in World of Warcraft
A goblin with sharp teeth, wearing goggles, lets out a mischievous cackle in WoW's latest patch: Undermine(d).
The hooligan hacker guild that tore up WoW's newest raid (twice) just posted video evidence of the whole thing, and it's got me feeling weirdly nostalgic
Concept art of WoW's upcoming player housing system, showing a warm homestead with a welcoming figure in shade.
WoW flexes its MMO player housing system in a new blog post, and it really might just beat FF14's dated furniture placement into the dirt
Gallywix wears an uneasy smile as he's confronted by Xal'atath in WoW: The War Within.
World of Warcraft guild uses exploits to get world 'first' on the game's new raid, gets banned, puts its name backwards and does it again
A World of Warcraft dwarf and human character standing in front of the entrance to a delve dungeon
WoW's nerfed its poor Delve companion into a dwarf-shaped crater after his tank spec made them too easy, and people aren't happy
Three goblins from the goblin cartels smile confidently in WoW: The War Within's Undermine(d) patch.
WoW's new Undermine(d) patch had a live jazz ensemble recording its big-band bangers, and they got to improvise: 'Usually those were the takes that ended up in the final version'
Two goblins go for a joyride via the D.R.I.V.E system in World of Warcraft: The War Within.
WoW's new DRIVE system probably won't be used outside of its GTA-style goblin zone, but devs are 'going to think about' recycling its parts elsewhere
Latest in Features
Atelier Yumia screenshot
Help, I can't move forward in this chill crafting RPG because I'm too wrapped up in building bases and making sick tools
midnight murder club
Five new Steam games you probably missed (March 17, 2025)
Geralt, two swords on his back, in the wilderness
2011 was an amazing comeback year for PC gaming
Alligator skull with glowing eyes on human body and cords coming out sitting at piano with "The Norwood Etudes" ready to play
My new most anticipated RPG let me be a kleptomaniac gourmand set loose in a noir city on a quest to make 'the perfect sandwich'
Monster Hunter Wilds' stockpile master studying a manifest
Monster Hunter Wilds' new gyro controls are a fantastic option for disabled and able-bodied players alike
Manhunt 2
I played the notoriously ratings-board-ravaged Manhunt 2 and was quite glad for the censorship actually