Stratholme

Stratholme is a level 55-62 instance in the northern part of Eastern Plaguelands. Recommended player level is 57+. There are multiple ways that this instance can be approached. Each method takes a different amount of time.

It actually has two entrances - one (the front) is in the northwestern end of the zone, and the other (the back, or service gate) is just east of Plaguewood. The service gate entrance requires the Key to the City, which drops off of Magistrate Barthilas inside the instance.

As one might guess, the instance is effectively split into two halves, which I'll refer to here as the Scarlet side and the Scourge side.

Quests

Alliance

None

Horde

61 The Scarlet Oracle, Demetria Horde Eastern Plaguelands Nathanos Blightcaller <Champion of the Banshee Queen> Eastern Plaguelands or or 8550 XP

62 Ramstein Horde Stratholme Nathanos Blightcaller <Champion of the Banshee Queen> Eastern Plaguelands or 7050 XP

Neutral

53 (60) Of Love and Family - This quest is a continuation of the Fordring series. It is obtained from Artist Renfray in the Western Plaguelands. The object needed is found in the Scarlet Bastion.

55 (61) The Archivist - This quest is obtained from Duke Nicholas Zverenhoff in the Eastern Plaguelands. The objective of the quest is to kill the Archivist and burn his room. The Archivist can be found in the Scarlet Bastion.

(61) Houses of the Holy - This quest is obtained from Leonid Barthalomew the Revered in Eastern Plaguelands.  The objective is to collect Holy water from chests scattered around the instance.  These items can be collected while part of a raid group.  The possible rewards are the cloth Crown of the Penitent, or the Band of the Penitent ring plus healing/mana potions.  

55 (61) The Flesh Does Not Lie - This quest is obtained from Betina Bigglezink in Eastern Plaguelands. The required objects drop from undead inside the instance.

55 (61) The Great Fras Siabi - This quest is obtained from Smokey LaRue in Eastern Plaguelands. The reward is Smokey's Lighter, a trinket that does 125 fire damage like a flamethrower.

58 (61) The Active Agent - This quest is obtained from Betina Bigglezink in Eastern Plaguelands. The reward is the Seal of the Dawn trinket (+81 Atk Power when fighting undead).

57 (62) Above and Beyond - This quest is obtained from Duke Nicholas Zverenhoff in Eastern Plaguelands. The object of this quest is to kill Baron Rivendare and bring his head back to Duke Nicholas Zverenhoff.

62 Cap of the Scarlet Savant Horde and Alliance Winterspring Malyfous's Catalogue Winterspring

62 Breastplate of Bloodthirst Horde and Alliance Winterspring Malyfous's Catalogue Winterspring

62 Leggings of Arcana Horde and Alliance Winterspring Malyfous's Catalogue Winterspring

62 Breastplate of the Chromatic Flight Horde and Alliance Western Plaguelands Catalogue of the Wayward Western Plaguelands

61 Sweet Serenity Horde and Alliance Blacksmithing Lilith the Lithe Winterspring 8550 XP

61 Corruption Horde and Alliance Blacksmithing Seril Scourgebane Winterspring 8550 XP

Bosses

Hearthsinger Forresten (57+)

• Piccolo of the Flaming Fire (trinket)
• Rainbow Girdle (plate belt)
• Songbird Blouse (leather chestpiece)
• Woolies of the Prancing Minstrel (mail leggings)

The Unforgiven (57+)

• Mask of the Unforgiven (leather helm)
• Soul Breaker (MH axe)
• Tearfall Bracers of... (cloth wrist)
• Wailing Nightbane Pauldrons (plate shoulders)

Postmaster Malown (60+)

• Magister's Boots (cloth boots)
• Malown's Slam (2h mace)
• The Postmaster's Band (cloth helm)
• The Postmaster's Seal (ring)
• The Postmaster's Treads (cloth boots)
• The Postmaster's Trousers (cloth leggings)
• The Postmaster's Tunic (cloth chestpiece)

Archivist Galford (60+)

• Devout Gloves (cloth gloves)
• Tome of Knowledge (off-hand item)
• Archivist Cape of... (cloak)

Grand Crusader Dathrohan (62+)

Balnazzar (62+)

• Crown of Tyranny (mail helm)
• Demonshear (2h sword)
• Fire Striders (cloth boots)
• Gift of the Elven Magi (dagger)
• Lightforge Boots (plate boots)
• Star of Mystaria (necklace)
• Wyrmtongue Shoulders (leather shoulders)

Timmy the Cruel (58+)

• Grimgore Noose (cloth belt)
• The Cruel Hand of Timmy (1h mace)
• Timmy's Galoshes (mail boots)
• Vambraces of the Sadist (plate wrist)

Stonespine (60+; rare spawn)

• Gargoyle Shredder Talons (off-hand fist weapon)
• Stoneskin Gargoyle Cape (cloak)
• Verdant Footpads (leather boots)

Baroness Anastari (59+)

• Banshee Finger (wand)
• Dreadmist Sandals (cloth boots)

Nerub'enkan (60+)

• Beaststalker's Boots (mail boots)
• Husk of Nerub'enkan (shield)

Maleki the Pallid (61+)

• Devout Boots (cloth boots)
• Plans: Hammer of the Titans (blacksmithing plans)
• Skull of Burning Shadows (off-hand item)

Magistrate Barthilas (58+)

• Royal Tribunal Cloak (cloak)

Ramstein the Gorger (61+)

• Band of Flesh (ring)
• Crest of Retribution (shield)
• Gauntlets of Valor (plate gloves)
• Ramstein's Lightning Bolts (trinket)
• Slavedriver's Cane (staff)
• Soulstealer Mantle (cloth shoulders)

Baron Rivendare (62+)

• Runeblade of Baron Rivendare (2h sword; epic drop)
• Deathcharger's Reins (epic mount; epic drop)
• Bonescraper (dagger)
• Cape of the Black Baron (cloak)
• Dracorian Gauntlets (mail gloves)
• Robes of the Exalted (cloth chestpiece)
• Scepter of the Unholy (MH mace)
• Seal of Rivendare (ring)
• Skullforge Reaver (1h sword)
• Beaststalker's Pants (mail leggings)
• Devout Pants (cloth leggings)
• Dreadmist Leggings (cloth leggings)
• Leggings of Elements (mail leggings)
• Legplates of Valor (plate leggings)
• Lightforge Legplates (plate leggings)
• Magister's Leggings (cloth leggings)
• Shadowcraft Pants (leather leggings)
• Wildheart Kilt (leather leggings)

Item List

Cloth

Leather

Mail

Plate

Weapon/Shield/Ranged

Jewlery

Misc

Walkthrough

The Scarlet side, despite nominally being the 'first' half, is very time-consuming. I would estimate that it takes about two and a half hours to complete, and that the zone respawn is one and a half hours. What follows is a walkthrough from the front instance portal to the end of the Scarlet Bastion.

The first few pulls on the Scarlet side consist of ~3 elite zombies, all melee, and ~4-5 non-elite skeletons, evenly split between casters and melee. Upon dying, the zombies will reanimate; if not killed quickly, they will explode and do ~800 AoE damage.

Monsters other than the zombies and skeletons include various forms of ghouls (Plague Ghouls, 57+) and abominations (Patchwork Horrors, 58+). These wander around and are not linked to the zombie/skeleton groups, so they can and should be pulled singly. The abominations here, like those outside the instance, have knockback.

Also of note are the non-aggro Spectral Citizens that wander the streets. To free them, you'll need the Egan's Blaster quest item. Otherwise, avoid damaging them, as they pose no threat to you. Turn left at the first intersection to proceed toward the Scarlet Bastion; on the right you'll see an open gate. This is one of Stratholme's many gate traps--once somebody clears the gate threshold, it will drop, and mass AoE fodder will pour in from a side passage. It is possible to fake the gate out by crossing and re-crossing the threshold, but if it goes wrong, keep in mind that the gate blocks LoS and will thus prevent healing.

Once you pass the gate trap, you'll see another fork in the road. Hearthsinger Forresten (57+, initially non-aggro) often spawns in this area. If you proceed left, you should see a large raised iron gate--this is your goal. The pulls in this area remain the same as those at the entrance. Once you make it to the gate, you'll see the first signs of life in Stratholme--an imposing barrier of Scarlet Crusaders standing amongst some boxes and crates.

From here on out, you will be dealing mainly with humanoids. It's standard procedure to sheep pull from this point onward; this is because each pull consists of 3-4 Scarlets--two melee and one to two casters. Kill the melees first (they have the annoying ability to charge in combat), then turn your attention to the sheep and have a mage Counterspell to force the mob to try and melee. The entire section pulls this way.

Clear the courtyard and make your way to the door of the Bastion; it requires the Scarlet Key from Scarlet Monastery, but can be lockpicked. Go through the short entrance hall and hang a left. Welcome to the Scarlet Bastion!

Systematically begin clearing the pulls as described above. Be advised that when you clear a room, a Scarlet Crusader will yell something about the Scourge breaking in--this means that you should expect undead adds (non-elite skeletons) from the rear. If your group knows they're coming, they'll be easy to dispatch. Of note in the first real hall: a patrol of two Scarlet Conjurors comes all the way to the end, and may aggro you while you're in the entrance hall if you're not careful. At the far end of the hall, in a side room to the left, is Malor the Zealous (60+), who drops nothing of note.

Eventually you'll come to a hall with two locked doors--the door to the Hoard at the near end, and the door to the Hall of the High Command at the far end. The Hoard is home to Cannon Master Willey (60+) and resembles the Barracks in SM. Trash mobs include Scarlet Defenders (paladin NPC's, 58-59+) and Scarlet Priests, in mixed groups of (you guessed it) 3-4. The Scarlet Hammersmith (60+) also spawns here from some blacksmithing plans on a table.

(more)

Congratulations, you've reached the final hall of the Scarlet Bastion. Keep doing what you've been doing. Once you clear the far pull, a group of four Scarlets will filter in from the right--if you've been careful enough to stay back, they won't aggro immediately, and you can treat them the same as any other pull. Dispatch them and turn your attention to the side room on the left; this is the room of Archivist Galford (60+), quest objective of The Archivist. Kill him and burn his archive to complete the quest. On the right wall of this room, you'll find a painting of twin moons; this is the painting, "Of Love and Family," that Artist Renfray in Caer Darrow sends you to recover and bring back to Tirion Fordring as part of that quest line.

Turn around and look across the hall. Sitting on the Crimson Throne is Grand Crusader Dathrohan (62+), the final boss of the Scarlet side. Don't be intimidated; he has strong physical attacks, but he's by himself and doesn't summon any adds. That's the good news. The bad news is that he's really a dreadlord. At some point, Dathrohan will transform into the mighty, and much larger, Balnazzar (62+); he may also regenerate all his health. Balnazzar hits hard in melee and can AoE fear. [I need to figure out what his special abilities are.]

Eventually he will die. If you've already completed and turned in The Archivist, you'll be able to loot Balnazzar's head to deliver to Duke Nicholas Zverenhoff at Light's Hope Chapel. Drops include Demonshear (53.9 dps 2h sword), Star of Mystaria (necklace), Wyrmtongue Shoulders (+23 agi, +10 sta leather shoulders), Crown of Tyranny (mail helm; +20 sta, -10 spi, +48 atk pwr, +1% crit), Gift of the Elven Magi (41.6 dps dagger).

You'll have to exit the Scarlet Bastion to continue, but you'll notice that it's been overrun with undead. You'll have to fight your way out through about a dozen spawns of 1-2 elite ghouls and non-elite skeletons. Once outside, you'll see a ghoul doing laps around the front courtyard of the Bastion; this is Timmy the Cruel (58+). Other than his yelling "TIMMY!" there's nothing special about him. Drops include the Grimgore Noose (cloth belt), Hand of Timmy the Cruel (40.1 dps 1h mace), Vambraces of the Sadist (plate bracers; +7 sta, +6 spi, +2% chance to hit; +1% crit).

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(more to be added later)