The dungeon, and the level

Excavation Site: Wetlands is one of WoW: Forever's new dungeons. The 1 October 2026 beta notes put it at levels 26 to 31, the same build that raised the level cap to 30 and opened Razorfen Downs and Uldaman alongside it.

Most of the outside quests tied to the dungeon list a pickup level of 24, two levels under the instance's own floor. That gap is useful: you can collect nearly all of them well before you are geared to walk in.

Dee stands in a Wetlands marsh reading a map, trail markers planted along a muddy path leading up to a timbered mine cut into a mossy hillside.
The markers outside are the pickups. The mine is where the chain finishes.

How to sort Excavation Site quests before you ride

Split them into three piles. Before the run: quests an NPC out in the world hands you. Get these first, or you clear the dungeon and have to ride back for them. Inside the run: quests that start on an NPC you only meet inside the instance. After the run: turn-ins and follow-ups that send you back outside.

Fourteen quest records are tied to Excavation Site: Wetlands as of 4 October 2026, split five to Horde and nine to Alliance. Neither faction sees the other's chain, and most of these ride in chains of two or three, a pickup and one or two follow-ups, rather than fourteen separate rides.

Horde: Open the Maw and the relic chain

Changing Tastes stands alone. Borstan in Orgrimmar sends you to collect Thicket Raptor Meat from Shadetooth and the Thicket pack inside the dungeon, and the quest is shareable with your group.

Dragonmaw Rumors to Open the Maw is the real before-and-inside pair. Zaruk in Hammerfall, Arathi Highlands, starts the breadcrumb; the Deathstalker Agent posted at the instance entrance hands off Open the Maw itself, which sends you back in after the Dragonmaw forces. You come out holding a Bloody Map, a flavor item written in untranslated Dwarvish that nothing in the beta currently uses.

Elder Knowledge and its follow-up, Earthen Echo, both run on the Titan Relic that drops from Relic Guardian, the dungeon's last boss, and lead to Thunder Bluff and Mulgore. As of 4 October the chain is bugged: turning in Elder Knowledge removes the relic you still need for Earthen Echo, which strands the chain until Blizzard fixes it. The wider Titan Relic chains have their own article; they are not part of this dungeon's Seeking Caitlin line.

Alliance: Seeking Caitlin to Heartwoven

Seeking Caitlin is the one chain worth tracking closest, since one of its four stops sits inside the dungeon.

One Wowhead comment reports picking up Lost in the Thicket Things directly from Caitlin, skipping the Ashenvale stop. That is not confirmed in the quest data itself, so treat it as a shortcut to test rather than a rule to plan around.

The rest of the Alliance list stays local. Horrors in the Highland and Highland Hides are both self-contained pickups from NPCs in Wetlands. Songblade Search runs from Dorin Songblade in Redridge Mountains to Daewyn Songblade at Whelgar's Excavation Site, then back out with Fallen in the Fen. Lost Relic Carry and its follow-up, Prehistoric Prism, use the same Titan Relic drop as the Horde chain, but route you to Ironforge instead of Thunder Bluff and Mulgore.

Wowdee will turn this list into a checklist: every outside pickup sorted by faction and zone, checked off as your character picks it up, so an alt does not repeat a ride your main already made.

  1. Llana in Ashenvale gives Seeking Caitlin.
  2. Turn it in to Caitlin Grassman in Menethil Harbor, who gives Lost in the Thicket Things.
  3. Inside the dungeon, Ardin Grassman takes the hand-off and gives Heartwoven.
  4. Ride back out to Caitlin Grassman in Menethil Harbor to close the loop and collect the reward potions, including four Greater Healing Potions and four Mana Potions.

Still to come

Not yet settled by our sources or tested in game:

  • Whether Seeking Caitlin's Ashenvale stop is required or skippable; one report says Caitlin in Menethil can start the chain directly.
  • Whether Highland Hides and Lost in the Thicket Things carry item rewards beyond experience; none are listed yet.
  • What, if anything, the Bloody Map from Open the Maw unlocks.
  • When Blizzard fixes the Elder Knowledge turn-in that strands the Earthen Echo follow-up.

Sources

Beta notes are dated because Forever is still changing.