The Briarwood Maze
The Briarwood Maze: an old pleasure garden whose head gardener never stopped pruning when the house died. Mother Thornwick clipped the hedges into a maze, the hounds and stags into topiary, and in the end herself into its heart. Mid-game, between the Lychfield and the Undead Lair. Entrance lawn, then a choice: the Maze (a labyrinth with loops, and a lever that opens the hidden Gardener's Shed) or the Rose Terraces. Both meet at the Fountain Court; from there two optional wings (Sir Boxwood's Topiary Gallery, Old Bramblemaw's hollow) and the Spiral Walk in to the Heart. Crew drops T7-T8, the wing bosses T8-T9, Thornwick T9-T10, stat potions and three uniques.
Getting in
- Portal: Briarwood Maze Portal
- Key:
Briarwood Maze Key — type /key briarwood mazein chat to get one, use it, walk in. - The portal drops from
Night Elf King (8%), 
Night Elf Veteran (4%)
Difficulty
Grade 6 of 10 on this server's dungeon scale: the bosses have 49,600 HP counting defense, the heaviest hit is 110, the busiest phase fires up to 12 shots a second.
Boss: Mother Thornwick, the Topiarist
| HP | 32,000 (+30% per other player within 16 tiles, up to 6 players) |
|---|---|
| Defense | 22 |
| Level | 20 |
| Hits up to | 120 |
| XP multiplier | 1.0 |
| Immune to | stasis |
Phases
waitingprunebloomovergrowthuprootfullbloomhuntsnip
Lines
Who tracked mud on my lawn?
Hold still. You are growing crooked.
Snip. Snip.
Every garden needs a firm hand.
There. Much tidier.
Grow. GROW.
The hedge remembers every path you take.
Stay. Take root.
Drops
| Loot | Chance | Bag |
|---|---|---|
 Thornwick's Shears | 3% | own bag, each player with 2% of the damage |
T11 weapon      | 3% | own bag, each player with 2% of the damage |
T11 armor   | 3% | own bag, each player with 2% of the damage |
T10 weapon      | 12% | own bag, each player with 2% of the damage |
T10 armor   | 12% | own bag, each player with 2% of the damage |
T9 weapon      | 30% | shared bag |
T9 armor   | 30% | shared bag |
T6 ability            | 8% | own bag for the cyan-and-better ones, else shared |
T5 ability            | 30% | own bag for the cyan-and-better ones, else shared |
T5 ring        | 25% | own bag, each player with 2% of the damage |
 Health Potion | 100% | shared bag |
 Magic Potion | 100% | shared bag |
 Potion of Defense | 45% | own bag, each player with 2% of the damage |
 Potion of Vitality | 45% | own bag, each player with 2% of the damage |
 Potion of Speed | 30% | own bag, each player with 2% of the damage |
 III - The Empress | 10% | own bag, each player with 2% of the damage |
 Potion of Life | 4% | own bag, each player with 2% of the damage |
Chance per kill. A shared bag is one roll for everyone. An own bag is rolled separately for every player who did at least that share of the damage, and only they see it: soulbound items and everything that comes in a cyan or better bag drop this way. A tier row splits its chance over every item of that tier. Loot rules
Unique drops
30–50 ×2 · 5.9 tiles · +2 SPD
From Mother Thornwick, the Topiarist 3%
+15 DEF, +5 VIT, +40 HP, -3 SPD
From Sir Boxwood, the Clipped Knight 2%
Enemies
| Enemy | HP | DEF | Hits up to | On map | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Mother Thornwick, the Topiarist | 32,000 | 22 | 120 | 1 | |
 Sir Boxwood, the Clipped Knight | 9,000 | 30 | 100 | 1 | Sir Boxwood, the Clipped Knight, at the end of the Topiary Gallery. Advance: walks at you swinging arcs of three blades. Guard: plants his blade, Armored, two offset rings of thorns (stop shooting, dodge). Joust (under 50%): a telegraphed charge down the hall; where he lands the turf flashes, then two rings. |
 Old Bramblemaw | 8,000 | 15 | 75 | 1 | Old Bramblemaw, rooted in its hollow. Spits fans of thorns, grows Bramble Snares round itself, and lashes vines: four straight lines of thorns that turn a little each time. Under half health it opens wide: the lashes come faster and a slow ring of petals rolls out between them. |
 Rose Sentinel | 1,300 | 20 | 70 | 5 | A rose the height of a man, grown into the shape of a guard. Stands its ground and turns a two-armed spiral of petals: step through between the arms. Close up it spits a heavy petal at you. |
 Hedge Stag | 1,100 | 15 | 65 | 4 | A stag of clipped yew. Circles you at a canter, throws fans of three antler thorns, and every few seconds lowers its head and charges. |
 Shade Gardener | 800 | 10 | 80 | 5 | The ghost of an under-gardener, still at his rounds. He only looks up when you come near; then he keeps his distance, lobs fertiliser that makes you Sick (the shadow lands first) and flings his trowel. |
 Topiary Hound | 700 | 12 | 70 | 11 | A hound clipped from privet. Crouches, lunges down the corridor at you, then worries at your heels. Hunts in pairs: when one lunges, look for the other. |
 Thorn Sprout | 450 | 5 | 60 | 15 | Buried until you come close; then it bursts out of the turf and does not stop: a ring of thorns every two seconds and an aimed pair between them. |
 Gardener's Chest | 400 | 20 | – | 1 | The head gardener's chest, in the shed behind the Maze. Two of her under-gardeners still mind it. |
 Bramble Snare | 400 | 0 | 55 | summoned | A thorn that grows where Bramblemaw or Thornwick wills it. Rooted, slow aimed thorns; withers in 12 s. |
 Pollen Moth | 300 | 5 | 40 | 9 | Flutters at the edge of your range and puffs slow pollen that Slows. Bursts into pollen when it dies. |
 Overgrown Lever | 200 | 0 | – | 1 | A lever half eaten by ivy, in a dead end of the Maze. Shoot it: the hedge that hides the Gardener's Shed swings aside. |