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One of the most popular dungeons available inWorld of Warcraft: Dragonflight, Freehold takes the classic pirate aesthetic to a whole new level. Hailing from the Battle for Azeroth expansion, the instance has you contending with the Irontide Pirates and their maniacal leader, Harlan Sweete.
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A straightforward yet enjoyable dungeon, Freehold certainly ranks as one of the best instances in the modern era of WoW. This guide will take you through how to navigate and complete the Freehold dungeon. All enemies will be discussed, alongside displaying the best route and all available loot drops.
Skycap Trash
The first pull of Freehold is typically a large one. You canpull the first three packstogether withBloodlustfor a big burst of trash percentage.
Remember to watch out for the Irontide Enforcers, especially on Bolstering weeks, as theirShattering Bellowwill deal high damage.
Afterwards, you’re able to sneak around theright side of the upper level, dragging the single pack around the pillar near the first boss' arena to line of sight it.
Until the first boss is defeated, Squawks will periodically bombard your party withVile Coating, unleashing a nasty puddle of parrot guano that deals high damage if you remain inside its area.
Dodge the white frontal.
Shattering Bellow
Inflicts High Physical damage to all players and interrupts any spell casts.
Avoid castingwhile this ability finishes. A good time to use personal defensives.
Irontide Mastiff x4
Bestial Wrath
Buff that increases this enemy’s Physical damage by 50 percent for one minute.
Try toSoothethisEnrageeffect, as although having low health this enemy can deal deceptively high damage.
Irontide Crackshot x2
Azerite Grenade
Throws a big AoE bomb that deals high Fire damage to any player hit.
The AoE is quite big so focus on running out of it as soon as possible.
Irontide Bonesaw x3
Healing Balm
Cast that heals an ally for 30 percent maximum health over six seconds.
Dispel thisDiseaseeffect.
Filthy Blade
Nasty Tank hit that deals Physical damage and applies Infected Wound.
Good time for a personal, especially if nobody in your group can dispel Diseases.
Nothing special.
Skycap’n Kragg
The first boss of Freehold is a very simple encounter, althoughhe does deal high damage with his limited abilities.
InPhase One, Skycap will fight atop his mount; Squawks. He will only have two abilities during this phase, so dodge the charge and heal up anyone who gets shot.
His second phase begins at 75 percentand sees you facing Skycap on the ground.Focus on spreading outanddodging any incoming Dive Bombsand you will be fine.
Strategy
Charrrrge
Charges at a random player, dealing Physical damage to anyone caught in the blast zone.
Dodge the white swirlie.
Revitalizing Brew
Chugs a brew, healing for an increasing amount of health over five seconds.
Pistol Shot
Shoots a random player.
This can be nasty onTyrannicalweeks, so try to quickly spot-heal people.
Azerite Powder Shot
Blasts a player for Fire damage, leaving a DoT and hitting any players within the shot’s hitbox.
Stay spread outaround the boss, so only one player gets hit at a time.
Dive Bomb
Squawks charges across the arena dealing huge Physical damage to any player hit.
The parrot will periodically appear at the edge of the arena, flying straight across. Run to the side when you see him land.
Vile Coating
Random players will be targeted by a pool of green parrot guano, dealing Nature damage to anyone inside and slowing them.
Run out of the green puddles.
Council Trash
After beating Skycap’n Kragg,head over the long rope bridge, dragging the singleIrontide Enforcerwith you.
You can then sneak through theright side of the townpulling only a couple of packs, before jumping down into the next boss arena.
Try toclear up the packs at the sides before tackling the boss, as you will want some room to manoeuvre.
Vermin Trapper x2
Rat Traps
Throws traps at random players, placing a small AOE on the ground after a delay. These traps root players and inflict a nasty five-second Bleed.
Avoid the blue circles. You should always have time due to the high delay.
Irontide Oarsmen x1
Sea Spout
Water erupts under every player, bursting after a small delay for high Frost damage and a large knock-up.
Remain vigilant for this and don’t try greed a cast. Move immediately andavoid fighting these enemies in narrow choke pointssuch as a bridge.
Blacktooth Brute x2
Earth Shaker
Smashes the ground to inflict AoE Physical damage to players within four yards.
This has a very small radius so position yourself at a reasonable melee range and you should be fine.
Cutwater Duelist x1
Duelist Dash
Charges to a random player, inflicting Physical damage and stunning any players caught in the path.
The stun is the worst part of this ability, so avoid standing between this enemy and their chosen target.
Soggy Shiprat x8
Scabrous Bite
Stacking healing reduction effect onto your Tank.
These enemies have low health so quickly burst them down unless it’sBolsteringweek.
Bilge Rat Buccaneer x1
Goin' Bananas
Inflicts high Physical damage to all players in a five-yard radius over seven seconds.
Move out of the yellow circle or crowd control this enemy to stop the ability.
Bilge Rat Swabby x1
Slippery Suds
Inflicts a debuff onto players that causes their jumps to stun them for two seconds.
Spare interrupts can go onto this, but prioritiseFrost Blast.
This deals very high damage and should always be kicked.
Blacktooth Knuckleduster x1
Council O' Captains
The second boss is a double fight, seeing you take onCaptain EudoraandCaptainRaoul. One will focus on ranged gunshots, while the other smashes barrels into the ground.
The key to this fight is utilising the incoming barrel tosses.Blue barrelswill provide you with a large stat buff, while theGreenwill place a DoT on either you or the boss.
attempt to position the boss inside the Green swirlies while standing in the Blue ones.
Always focus onCaptain Eudora, as the fight becomes trivial after she has been defeated.
Grapeshot
Eudora jumps to a corner of the arena and blasts AoE shots from left to right, dealing High Fire damage and leaving behind a DoT.
Always move to the right side of the bosswhen she jumps, and run behind her to avoid taking any shots.
Run out of the big brown circle.
Blackout Barrel
Throws a barrel at a random player, disorienting them until freed.
Nuke down the barrelto free the player or use an immunity to escape.
Ring Trash
After beating the Council,move right, clearing out packs on your way to the Ring of Booty. There is potential for some large pulls here, so you might want to tryBloodlustingto save some time.
While the role-play is going on, you may keep pulling trash to avoid standing around.Ludwig counts as trash, so if you time your pulls with the event, you can make up a lot of time in this section.
After the event begins, you will need to catch a greased pig,Lightning,which can be done solo or by the party.After that, there is a delay before Ludwig spawns, so you have time to kill a pack.Kill Ludwig then pull another pack while you wait for the real boss.
A player withStealthshould sneak through andbegin the Ring of Booty role-play eventby talking to the NPC in the middle of the arena.
Bilge Rat Buccaneer x4
Cutwater Harpooner x6
Dragging Harpoon
Pulls a random player to this enemy and inflicts low Physical damage.
This ability is only really a problem in combination with ground effects such asGround Shatter, so attempt to crowd control this enemy if such an ability is being cast.
Blacktooth Knuckleduster x4
Blacktooth Scrapper x7
Blind Rage
Fixates a random player and charges towards them, increasing this enemy’s Physical damage done by 50 percent.
This effect can beSoothed, but if not, just kite or crowd control this enemy as they do not move very quickly.
Irontide Crusher x1
Boulder Throw
Throws a large rock, dealing high Physical damage and knocking down any player hit.
Dodge the big brown swirlie.
Ground Shatter
A large AoE stomp that deals high Physical damage and knocks back any player hit.
Ludwig Von Tortollan x1
Shell Bounce
Throws a spinning shell that will continuously bounce around the arena, dealing high Physical damage to players hit.
Dodge the shells, trying not to position yourself close to a wall.
Ring Of Booty
The Ring of Booty is athree-part event, but only the last NPC,Trothak, is a real boss. The key to this fight isproperly kiting the sharks through the Chum pools, as they will annihilate you in melee.
Ranged players should focus on shark management, as you do not want a shark aggroed onto your Tank.
Ripper Punch
Punches a random nearby player, dealing Physical damage and leaving behind a nasty 12-second Bleed.
Spins, dealing Physical damage in a nine-yard radius
Run out of the big white circle.
Shark Toss
Throws a shark at a player, which will deal impact damage and begin to chase them.
The shark will aggro onto the nearest player, so ranged should try to kite the sharks away from melee as much as possible.
Rearm
Charges to a shark, reattaching it to his arm and dealing low Physical damage to players caught in the path.
Very light damage but attempt to position yourself out of the way of the sharks, especially if in melee.
Throw Chum
Throws a bloody pool at a player, which deals ticking damage to anyone inside.
Kite the sharks over these chum pools to slow their movement and consume the pool.
Harlan Trash
Upon killingTrothak,head back the way you came, andrun across the long rope bridge. You only have three packs to go, but they can be nasty if not properly managed.
Utilise your interrupts and avoid being hit bySea Spout. The pack before Harlan is quite large, so don’t be afraid to use some cooldowns.
Blade Barrage
AoE Physical damage within four yards.
Move out of the white circle or crowd control this enemy to stop the ability.
Irontide Ravager x2
Painful Motivation
Increases the damage done to all nearby enemies by 50 percent but also inflicts a maximum health DoT to them.
Letting this ability go off will increase the speed that the enemies die, but if it is too much incoming damage to handle, then justinterruptit.
Lightning Bolt
Standard Nature damage cast.
Use spare interrupts on this, but make sure you have one forThundering Squall.
Irontide Officer x2
Letting this ability go off will increase the speed that the enemies die, but if it is too much incoming damage to handle, then just interrupt it.
Oiled Blade
Tank buster that deals Fire damage and applies a 75 percent healing reduction for eight seconds.
Irontide Mastiff x2
Use a Tank defensive.
Harlan Sweete
The final boss is relatively simple, so focus on dodging mechanics andcrowd-controlling the Irontide Grenadier. attempt to limit your movement to avoid covering the arena in fire puddles, and watch out for sneakyWhirlwind Sabers.
Cannon Barrage
Fires a series of delayed blasts at a player’s location, which deals Fire damage and leaves behind a pool of fire.
Stutter stepin a circle, as you can minimize the amount of ground taken up by the puddles.
Whirling Dagger
Throws a dagger at a random player, dealing Physical damage and applying a Bleed.
Spot heal the affected players.
Swiftwind Saber
Fires a tornado forward that deals Nature damage and knocks back any player hit.
Dodge the white tornado.
Irontide Grenadier
This add will charge a random player, exploding on contact in a big Fire AoE or after a few seconds.
Crowd control this addand let it blow up on its own. If it gets free,kite for your life.
Loaded Dice
Previous abilities now affect all players.
Dodge more white tornados, dodge more red swirlies, and heal up more bleeds.
Harlan’s Loaded Dice
Agility Trinket
Passive: Your attacks have a chance to grant you a random secondary stat buff
