- Author: Luxrah
- Date: January 23, 2025
- Updated: January 23, 2025
- Expansion: WoW Classic
The Scourge Invasion is an event so memorable that Blizzard has replicated it twice for other expansions, with the Zombie Infestation pre-patch event for Wrath of the Lich King and the Death Rising pre-patch event for Shadowlands. The original Scourge Invasion event makes way for the opening of the Naxxramas raid, the final raid of vanilla World of Warcraft. During the event, the Scourge will periodically attack cities, invade six different high-level zones, and add bosses to six different dungeons.
Cities
The Scourge have set up camp outside each of your faction’s major cities, and they’ve grown especially bold in Stormwind and Undercity, where they now periodically attack inside the city itself. Argent Dawn NPCs have also set up tents within each city’s walls to recruit and report from the front lines.
Argent Dawn in Cities
Argent Dawn tents will appear near the bank in all major cities for the duration of the Scourge Invasion. Each Argent Dawn tent has three NPCs. For Alliance, this will be an Argent Quartermaster, an Argent Emissary, and an Argent Recruiter. Horde will find an Argent Outfitter, an Argent Messenger, and an Argent Scout.
- The Argent Recruiter or Argent Scout will offer the quest Light’s Hope Chapel if you are at least level 50. This is a breadcrumb quest to lead you to Light’s Hope Chapel in Eastern Plaguelands, which is the main hub for the Argent Dawn faction and the Scourge Invasion event.
- The Argent Emissary or Argent Messenger can provide information about the event such as which zones are currently under attack.
- The Argent Quartermaster or Argent Outfitter will offer rewards in exchange for Necrotic Runes once you have acquired some.
Scourge at City Gates
Outside every city you’ll find a necropolis floating near the gates as well as some low-level undead and a quest to deal with them. This quest is available at level 1 and involves level 6-7 mobs, so even low level characters can participate.
Once you have the quest, head out the front gate and you’ll find some runic circles surrounded by level 6-7 undead mobs: Skeletal Soldiers and Spectral Apparitions. Kill these mobs until you have looted 3 Dim Necrotic Stones, and stand inside the runic circle to “investigate” it. Then return to the quest giver for your (modest) reward.
Alliance Quests
- Darnassus: Lieutenant Beitha stands as a lone orc along the side of the road inside the gate from Teldrassil and offers the quest Investigate the Scourge of Darnassus.
- Ironforge: Lieutenant Nevell stands just outside the front gate and offers the quest Investigate the Scourge of Ironforge.
- Stormwind City: Lieutenant Orrin stands in front of the statue at the end of the bridge into the city and offers the quest Investigate the Scourge of Stormwind.
Horde Quests
- Orgrimmar: Lieutenant Dagel waits near the main gate, looking a little out of place as the only dwarf in the area, and offers the quest Investigate the Scourge of Orgrimmar.
- Thunder Bluff: Lieutenant Lisande waits near the bottom of he main elevator and offers the quest Investigate the Scourge of Thunder Bluff.
- Undercity: Lieutenant Rukag stands at the bridge in the Ruins of Lordaeron and offers the quest Investigate the Scourge of the Undercity.
Scourge Attacks in Cities
In addition to the low-level Scourge outside, you’ll also find high-level elite undead mobs periodically attacking inside Stormwind and Undercity. These mobs are neutral to players, so you can decide whether you want to get involved or just leave the NPCs to deal with them.
The Scourge that spawn inside cities are Flameshockers, which are level 55 and can spawn in large numbers, and either a Pallid Horrors or a Patchwork Terror, which are level 60 and spawn with a contingent of Flameshockers. These mobs usually spawn in the trade districts, but sometimes they’ll go after the city’s leader (Highlord Bolvar Fordragon in Stormwind or Lady Sylvanas Windrunner in Undercity).
Defeating these mobs will award Necrotic Runes as well as Invader’s Scourgestones if you have your Argent Dawn Commission equipped. Killing the Pallid Horror or Patchwork Terror will make the city safe again for about an hour, and will spawn a crystal nearby that offers a quest. For Stormwind City, this quest is Cracked Necrotic Crystal, while in Undercity, the quest is Faint Necrotic Crystal.
The quest is available to any level 60 character who interacts with the crystal, even if they weren’t present or involved in the attack. It directs you to your city’s Argent Dawn Lieutenant, who will reward you with your choice of Blessed Wizard Oil or Consecrated Sharpening Stone.
Zones
The core of the event revolves around Scourge invasions in six different high-level zones:
You’ll be able to see which zones are under attack at any given time because they will have purple skulls marking them on the world map and continent map. You’ll also be able to speak with an Argent Emissary (Alliance) or Argent Messenger (Horde) in a major city to find out which zones are being attacked and how many necropolises remain in each one.
Light’s Hope Chapel Quests
There are a couple of event quests at Light’s Hope Chapel in Eastern Plaguelands that are worth picking up before you head out to hunt the Scourge.
When you first log in to a level 60 character during the event, they will have a piece of mail in the mailbox containing A Letter from the Keeper of the Rolls. This item starts the quest The Keeper’s Call, which takes you to the Keeper of the Rolls at Light’s Hope Chapel.
As mentioned in the Cities section above, you’ll also be able to pick up a breadcrumb quest in one of your faction’s major cities from an Argent Recruiter (Alliance) or Argent Scout (Horde) if you are at least level 50. The quest is Light’s Hope Chapel, which also directs you to the Keeper of the Rolls.
Once you arrive at Light’s Hope Chapel, you’ll see Commander Thomas Helleran standing right next to the Keeper of the Rolls. He offers a short chain of two quests. First, Under the Shadow, which requires you to bring him 10 Necrotic Runes. Then he’ll offer Shadows of Doom, tasking you with defeating a Shadow of Doom. Both of these tasks are covered in the “Destroying Necrotic Shards” section of this guide.
Letters from the Front
During the event, you may loot any of the following letters from zone invasion mobs. They each begin a quest that can be turned in at the Keeper of the Rolls at Light’s Hope Chapel:
- A Bloodstained Envelope: Starts the quest Envelope from the Front
- A Careworn Note: Starts the quest Note from the Front
- A Crumpled Missive: Starts the quest Missive from the Front
- A Ragged Page: Starts the quest Page from the Front
- A Smudged Document: Starts the quest Document from the Front
- A Torn Letter: Starts the quest Letter from the Front
You can read the letters themselves for a bit of lore regarding the events of Warcraft III.
A week after turning in each letter, you’ll receive a message in the mail and the NPC that was mentioned in it will become a vendor who sells Freshly-Squeezed Lemonade and Friendship Bread. If you complete all of the quests, there will be one such NPC in each of your faction’s cities as well as in Booty Bay, Eastern Plaguelands, and Silithus. Note that these consumables are functionally no different from other level 45 vendor food and water. I bet they taste better, though!
Destroying Necrotic Shards
When each zone is invaded, 2-3 necropolises will appear floating overhead in set locations. Each necropolis is connected to three Necrotic Shards on the ground below which must be destroyed in order to destroy the necropolis and end the attack.
Each Necrotic Shard is surrounded by high level undead mobs: Ghoul Berserkers, Skeletal Shocktroopers, Spectral Soldiers, and occasional rares including Bone Witch, Lumbering Horror, or Spirit of the Damned. These mobs are not elite and will give 5 reputation with the Argent Dawn through Honored as well as an Invader’s Scourgestone if have an Argent Dawn Commission equipped. Killing them will also weaken the Necrotic Shard and net you some Necrotic Runes. The rares can also drop one of four rare BoE Wrist items, which are listed with the Undead Slaying Sets later in this guide.
The undead around the Necrotic Shard will consistently respawn, and you’ll have to kill a lot of them to bring the shard’s health down to zero. When this happens, the shard will respawn as a Damaged Necrotic Shard, and four Cultist Engineers will spawn in a circle around it. You can interact with these cultists to use 8 Necrotic Runes to disrupt their trance. When you do so, the cultist will transform into a hostile level 60 elite, Shadow of Doom.
Defeat the Shadow of Doom to gain 50 reputation with the Argent Dawn and 30 Necrotic Runes for each plus a Corruptor’s Scourgestone if your trinket is equipped. It also has a chance to drop one of the four rare BoP Chest items from the Undead Slaying Sets. Defeat all 4 of these mobs to destroy the Necrotic Shard completely. Destroying the shard will heal everyone in the vicinity and grant them a 30-minute buff, Soul Revival.
Winning Battles
When all of the Necrotic Shards that are linked to a necropolis have been destroyed, the necropolis will disappear. You can see which Necrotic Shards are connected to a necropolis by following the purple bolts that emit from the necropolis toward the ground. You can also see all of their locations marked on the maps below.
When all of the necropolises in a zone have been defeated, the battle for that zone is considered won. While the Scourge will attack the zone again in time, the victory counts toward the total battles won on the server, which will unlock additional rewards.
These rewards become available to everyone on the server for free as soon as they are unlocked. You only need to speak with the appropriate NPC at Light’s Hope Chapel or one of your faction’s cities. When used, each Mark increases your Stamina by a number relative to your current level. At 60, the items give 10, 20, and 30 Stamina respectively.
Battles Won | Reward | NPC |
|---|---|---|
50 | ||
100 | ||
150 |
Necrotic Rune Rewards
Necrotic Runes can be looted from undead mobs in invasion zones. These items can be exchanged for the following rewards from Argent Quartermasters or Argent Outfitters at Light’s Hope Chapel or your faction’s major cities.
Item | Type | Cost |
|---|---|---|
Consumable | 8 | |
Consumable | 8 | |
Hands – Plate | 30 | |
Hands – Cloth | 30 | |
Hands – Mail | 30 | |
Hands – Leather | 30 | |
Consumable | 15 | |
Consumable | 15 | |
Tabard | 10 |
Undead Slaying Sets
There are four item sets that can be collected through zone invasions. Each consists of three pieces of gear that offer a 3% increase to your damage against undead when worn together.
Chest pieces can drop from Shadow of Doom while hand pieces can be purchased with 30 Necrotic Runes. Wrist pieces are bind-on-equip and have a chance to drop from the rares Bone Witch, Lumbering Horror, or Spirit of the Damned.
Battlegear of Undead Slaying (Plate)
Garb of the Undead Slayer (Mail)
Regalia of Undead Cleansing (Cloth)
Undead Slayer’s Armor (Leather)
Dungeons
During the Scourge Invasion, bonus bosses will appear in six different dungeons, offering special loot to characters of various levels.
Sever in Shadowfang Keep
This level 25 elite abomination is found in a room in the upstairs hallway that is frequently skipped (turning right after going upstairs from the kitchen, or taking the path up the hill instead of passing through the kitchen).
Strategy
Sever hits harder than most bosses and enrages at low health, so be prepared for your tank to take some heavy damage. He also casts Intimidating Roar, so clear some space before you fight him so you do not pick up any adds.
Loot
Scorn in Scarlet Monastery Graveyard
Scorn is a level 34 elite lich who spawns after Bloodmage Thalnos has been defeated.
Strategy
Scorn can cut through armor with his hard-hitting magic abilities. His Lich Slap ability has a knockback, so your tank should have their back to a wall and no one else should be standing in front of the boss.
Loot
Lady Falther’ess in Razorfen Downs
This level 40 elite banshee appears as an imprisoned human female who is friendly to players, but once released she transforms and becomes hostile. She can be found in the area north of Mordresh Fire Eye.
Strategy
The boss will cast Banshee Shriek, which will silence your healer, so be sure to keep everyone’s health topped off as much as possible.
Loot
Lord Blackwood in Scholomance
This level 60 elite skeleton wanders the room just beyond the Chamber of Summoning.
Strategy
This is a simple tank and spank fight. All the standard boss strategies apply.
Loot
Balzaphon in Stratholme Undead
This level 60 elite lich appears in Festival Square, which is easiest to reach from the Undead entrance.
Strategy
Balzaphon is a straightforward fight. Just make sure to get the loot from him before he disappears.
Loot
Revanchion in Dire Maul West
This level 60 elite wraith can be found patrolling the hallway with all of the other ghosts directly above/behind Tendris Warpwood.
Strategy
There are no unusual mechanics here. Just deal damage to the boss until it’s dead.
Loot
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