Quick Facts

Screenshots

Videos

Comments

Comment by TheOnyx

In the map listed above, Entrance B requires that you have the Key to the City, which drops from Magistrate Bathilas (#13 on the map). He only drops one key for the entire party, and those not already having the key will have to roll for it.

Comment by Chandrialla

If you're a dwarf priest, there is no better place to use Fear Ward than undead/baron strat. It's a hassle to keep it on the entire team, but not as much hassle as having your main tank run off into a group of mobs. Even keeping it just on your melee guys helps a lot, since there are a lot of cramped quarters.

Comment by Petergriffin

For most normal pug runs to strat or scholo you will need a mage, warrior, and priest. the two others can be but not limited to Druids,Pallies,Shamans,Hunters,Warlocks,Rogues. You may have two mages, warriors or priest but isn't recommened

Comment by 6757

The 'proper' group makeup makes little difference to the actual skill of the players. For example, Feral druids (especially since Patch 2.0) can be extremely viable tanks WITH a considerable DPS contribution while tanking -- freeing up Warriors to do damage as well.

Some AOE is definitely recommended for the Baron fight, but even full caster DPS with the Tank and Healer roles filled is fully viable as well.

On a side note, Fear Ward is never a requirement but can help when pulling (especially in a 45-min run) Rockwing Screechers (Gargoyles that fear).

Comment by 9156

One of the harder level 60 dungeons. Its limited at 5 so if you thought you could bring ten to the party like in UBRS your wrong. The begining mobs are relativley easy unless large groups are aggroed at one time. Strathlome is split into two Seperate kindof dungeons, Live Strat and Undead Strat.

Live Strat is in my opinion the easier and shorter of the two. in Live strat you will fight members of the Scarlet Crusade held up in Strat fighiting the Undead. Strat is supposed to be the Scarlet Crusades Capitol. Anyway the place is pretty straightforward with its boss fights the last boss being balnazzar.

UD Strat is a degree harder than Live Strat is. UD Strat has bigger and harder mobs near its end. Also the end boss is one of the toughest of the level 60 dungeons follwoing that of General Drakk of UBRS only.

Comment by Petergriffin

On the UD side of strathome you must kill the ziggaurts to open the gates that lead to baron.

Comment by zappa

@ level 70
easily cleared with a rogue & mage

Comment by Eblis

very good disenchant blue items one run 25 Large Brilliant Shard 20 greater eternal essance and 15 vision dust. in my serv (Nagrand) 10LBS cost 250-300g money maker. Done all Strat 2 ppl Me(mage 70) and friend Rogue 70 lvl

Comment by 27147

As a 70 sword/Hemmorghage specc I solo scarlet side except Cannonmaster and last boss, making loads of cash, very nice way of getting flying epic mount :)

Comment by swell

is stratholme soloable if your a 70 elemental/resto shaman? because i have been attempting to solo it and it seems impossible for me.

Comment by 64966

Does anyone think strat ud would be possible to solo for a level 70 affliction warlock?

11k health and 800 spell damage unbuffed

Comment by 26793

The Undead Entrance its at 47 23. You can also use a arcanite key to open the entrance s

Comment by 21156

solo'd as 70 enhancement shammy (DW) in half epic gear, VERY hard id say!

Comment by Magmy

I can do full Stratholme clears now as a 31/30/0 Warrior with very good gear. Since I can't heal, Baron and Balnazzar can both down me every now and then, especially if Balnazzar gets lucky and connects with most of his spells.

A tip to anyone with less-than-desired gear, or that cannot heal. Every boss can be dispatched, actually. I'll edit this...Timmy can be done if you blow Retaliation, and Cannon Master Willy isn't bad at all either. Just get ready to grab a cannon ball and blast the pile of gunners as soon as you down him.

Comment by 78714

Dont go in at lvl 50 for 1 thing u wont be any help and just take up room for another you will aggro mobs continously and prob wipe your group. Also u cant use any of the items so there no point in going that early.

Comment by 58060

Hey I was wondering how many people solo this with your seventies, I have a Shadowpriest with about 1000dmg and i really cant see this place being too difficult but i would like to hear some personal experience.

Comment by 72761

Can anyone confirm the new level requirement for patch 2.3 in this place?

Comment by khoros

the lvl req is indeed late 60ties but does any1 know if you can get back to the summon stone 1ce youre in?

Comment by 102788

Ok so in the Slaughter House (area outside of the Barons chamber) there is another enternace portal thing, any ideas why is it there? Are u actually able to get into Stratholme through there?
Pic:
http://i3.tinypic.com/6s9bkaw.jpg

Comment by 24516

Best I can dig up:

It is interesting to note that there is a Raid Instance portal at the end of the instance, outside the building in which Baron Rivendare resides. This cannot lead to Naxxramas, as it is floating above the city, though the teleporter may have once been meant to be inside the ruins. There are ruined flags carrying the insignia of Lordaeron inside the tunnel, which are not seen anywhere else inside Stratholme.

Source: http://www.wowwiki.com/Stratholme

Comment by 66161

Does it bother anyone else that Stratholme has a "Fishing" tab?

Comment by 104949

just a small warning if be sure you check out the rewards for the quests in the outlands because you might get the item you want from here and then replace it a few levels later when you reach outlands and all that time and work will be a waste!

Comment by Avalonia

PAINFUL! If you are looking for a place (as a clothie) to farm for shards this is definately not it. I'm sure a higher geared class with decent aoe (or possibly even a mage) could probably wipe this place no problem. For a warlock though it was death, death, death, death. All I can say is if this was still end game I'm pretty sure I would not be playing.

Comment by 51534

I have a mid kara geared hunter and found this place a bit of a pain to farm solo. At least the starter undead area with the group pulls. It's do-able, but each pull takes a lot of trapping, kiting and running usually ending up with me at half health for each pull and a lot of down time. I'll go back to it a bit better frame of mind and better prepared just to have a good look at the place, but for just now, it's off my regular solo farm list.

As a comparison, i solo Scholomance easily.

Comment by 118577

I farm Stratholme regularly on my rogue. I stealth scarlet side and kill all the bosses. I pickup the medallion of faith to hand in to the guy at the cathedral on baron side to help at the end. I kill through all the bosses baron side and then dissenchant everything. Can usually get some BoE blues out of it too. I've made as much as 300g in one full clear of the instance.

Comment by Dharc

How to clear death side as enhancement shaman level 70
Enter from side entrance.
The 2 aoe pulls in the start can be hard. But down damage migrating totems, and pop shamantic rage. You only need to kill 2 of the packs, the middle pack can be avoided.

After that, work you way to Nerub'enkan first. Try to learn the agro distance on the mobs in the start, its very short. Nerub'enkan is the hardest boss of the 3 zigurat bosses. Just use shamantic rage, and have a pot ready.
Next boss is Baroness Anastari, she is a pushover.
After that, go for Maleki the Pallid.
I use this kill order, so you avoid the scarab trap. enh. shamans has very poor aoe dam. So this is faster.
Magistrate Barthilas is also easy. So just kill.
Go into the butchery. Start pulling abonomations. Beware not to get 2 at a time. And make sure the last abonomation you kill is a venom spitter. This gives you more time to drink/eat for Ramstein the Gorger. The Bile abonomations spawns adds on death. And takes some time to kill without propper aoe.
Ramstein the Gorger is by far the hardest boss in the instance. Use every trick you got. Use Wail of the Banshee if you got that from Baroness Anastari. Remember to pull him back to gate, so you have more time to eat/drink after.
When he is death, many skeleton will spawn. Some singles will come running at the start, just kill them off. When the huge pack comes, pop your fire elemental. And keep healing it.
After they are death, a pack of elite skeletons will come. Pull them to the fire elemental and kill em off.
Now its Baron time. Just go in there, pop bloodlust and shamantic rage, and your earth elemental. The elemental will offtank the waves of skeletons, and you can use fire totems to kill em off.
Happy grinding.

Comment by 69115

This has to be my favorite 5 man instance.

Lots of good drops, some cool trinkets, neat atmosphere.

Also, I'm a paladin. So I get to use Exorcism left and right, and if I feel like RPing I can vanquish some undead and have some fun. :)

Comment by 133837

It's worth noting that once you go through the Living entrance it 'locks' behind you.

so have your hearthstone ready just in case your pug goes t.i.t.s-up Wailing Caverns style, you're trying to solo it for the first time or you're scared of ghoulies and lose your bottle after the first group.

when you're inside look to the skies, it's quite a sight

Comment by 114062

what is the minimum level to enter the entire instance?

Comment by 117834

How hard is it for a 70 hunter?

Comment by 78626

In the areas where the two gates drop and trap you with lots of c0ckoaches or rats that attack you, you can get past them by stepping in then out real fast then tricking it into closing and summoning the critters, after about 30sec most of the bugs/rats run away throughout the instance and the gates open again which wont close on you if you step in, but there will still be 10 critters inside.

Also if you can shrink yourself and use a speed enhancement somehow, you can race in one side and out the other before it closes on you.

Comment by 27078

Seems nobody has mentioned some useful tip for this instance I'll take the liberty to do so.

The ghost humanoids (Ghostly Citizens) can be controlled via dancing with them (/dance target).
They start dancing and stop hitting you for free kills.

Comment by Mortenz

A little tip for Mages looking to solo this.

Pick up Magic Absorption (https://www.wowhead.com/tbc/spell=29447), I strongly recommend 5/5. If you are level 70, you will resist ALOT of the spells in here, giving you 5% of your total mana back. with approx 9k mana, this gives my mage about 450 Mana each time I resist a spell, alowing me to AoE almost non-stop.

Also, getting 3/3 improved blizzard helps alot. Makes grinding 4-5 packs very easy if you are good at AoE grinding with Blizzard.

I usually go with a spec such as 10/0/51, 15/0/46, or the usual 17/0/44.

Have fun!

Comment by 134646

cou ld two seventys just walk through this and destroy anything in path????
or is that and exaggeration

Comment by 148235

Cleared all instance 4 persons in 4 hours - 61 prot paladin, 60l ret paladin,62 rogue and 61priest.
Two pally combo works great here and produces huge amount of damage - both about 34% and rogue 25% of total damage. Pally Holy wrath spell is only used by ret pala - it casts long, so prot pala cannot cast being hitted all time. I am ret pala - when many weak undeads is aggroed i can deal up to 15.000 dmg in one spell cast ( with some spell crits :)

Comment by Zeldendorf

The part wit the rats....was a bit of a suprise......theyre stonger then average rats x.x

Comment by 153431

..my lv 70 holy pallie with s3 gear solos easy till the mana/hp draining guys bet then still easy kill em quick ;)

Comment by linkadoo92

When i was in stratholm with my 70 marksmen hunter and farmed green stuff for illusion dust, something very strange happened..

I don't know if its supposed to happen or so.. but anyways i destroyed the three "towers" and went into the square where all those big guys and the final boss should be.

I killed several, and then suddenly everyone dissapeared and after like 10 sec they all respawned, even those that i have killed..

I was there in good time, like 30 minutes before the execution would appear so i just killed all those monsters again.
I think the boss before Baron should show himself after that, right?
Anyway he didn't so I couln'd save the girl or continue my soloing =( </3

Did i do anything wrong? Please reply so I won't make it again ;p <3

Comment by 130612

what's a good price to offer for run through's? 50G?

Comment by 25227

Regarding the Slaughterhouse part

If you have trouble with the horde of little skeletons then there is a way to make it a little easier.

When you have one abomination left, drink and eat up then kill it right in front of the Slaughterhouse entrance. When door opens to let Ramstein out just run in and fight Ramstein at the door on the bottom – this is important as 5 elite skeletons will spawn at the entrance. This way however, you have enough time to heal up and kill those at your leisure.

Note that if you do choose to go out the skeleton horde will aggro you when you get near the door.

Comment by 89437

Though there was a reference in the stores names.

King's Square

"The Orphanage"
"The Stone Crow Tavern"
"Leeka's Shields & Maces"
"Fras Siabi's Premium Tobacco"

Market Row

"Kirtonos Bros. Funeral House"

Festival Lane

"Goodman's General Store"
"Angelista's Boutique"
"Pierce's Pistols" - probably a reference to "James Bond" and "Pierce Brosnan".

Slaughter Square
"The Bayberry Inn"

The Gauntlet
Enoyls Engineering. Inc.

Comment by 92812

note to all hunters trying to solo this place the rats that come out when you go past the gate(s) can be a pain but i found a easy way around it , pull one of the citizens in the gate with you and drop a explosive trap the rats will not set it off but they will take dmg if the citizen does GL

Comment by 170315

For those who have no idea what to do:
Living ->Undead side
You need to enter via the Living side if you have no key (left entrance, the actual gate to Stratholme)
Upon entering, you'll need to get through a mass amount of trash (3-4 elites and 3-6 non-elites at once or so)

You will need to kill the fat green things which roam around the place, killing them will unlock a gate.
Follow these dots

While following those dots you will come to a gate where specters spawn, as well as the boss, The Unforgiven. She has little hp and should be easy to down, the real problem is her high dodge chance.
At the end of the dots, you reach the undead side, Magistrate Barthilas, with the key will be there waiting for you (his location changes depending on which entrance you went through).

Undead side
Now that you have a key, you can enter the shortcut, and progress through the gate of the undead side, head north of where you found the boss, get prepared before opening the gate, go through it and head to the Gauntlet. When you open the gate you will get the 45 minute timer in which the NPC near the Baron will be alive, you don't need to get to the Baron in time to be able to kill him.

In order to open the next gate, you will need to kill all 3 bosses in the gauntlet to open up the buildings - enter and kill the 5 non-elite humanoids, do this for every boss and the next gate will open. There's no order in which you need to kill the bosses.
map

After heading through the gate, you'll find a lot of those really ugly undeads, kill them all and Ramstein the Gorger will spawn.
NOTE: You MUST NOT feign death, wipe or stealth in this room - it causes a bug and the boss won't spawn. After some testing, I've found that you can do these in the hallway (just after the gate) - so if you need to, do it there.

After you kill the boss, 20-30 non-elites will come out in a few sec, AOE helps here, use Stratholme holy water to your advantage. If you wipe, they'll all come at you upon entering the gate (and anything just before the gate too!)

Once they're all killed, 5 elites come from Baron's door, kill them off and you're up to the Baron.

When you kill the elites, the door to the Baron will open for you to enter, go in, down the stairs and he'll be waiting for you in the room. Prepare and head on in (note, his aura effects most of the room, there's a spot in the corners near the door which aren't effected.
Tip: things like Aimed Shot, which reduce healing effects will work when he heals from his skeletons, but this is NOT a reason to let them live!

The baron occasionally summons 10~ skeletons and if they survive long enough, they all die, giving the Baron HP - kill them if possible (Stratholme holy water is a nice thing to collect for this)
If you die, you can re-enter the Baron's room, the way there won't be as bad if you cleared the trash, the only things which spawn are the roaming bats.

For those getting AD reputation: A full run, killing all trash on the undead side, will get you about 11 turn-ins with the scourgestones (if you have the trinket on) - 50x Invader's and 6x Corrupter's. that's (11*150) 1650 rep (50 turning in the scourgestones, 100 for using the token) That does not include the reputation you get from crypt fiend parts (very little) or killing the trash/bosses.
Baron gives 100 AD rep, the other bosses I think give 10, elite trash gives 2 and non-elite humanoids in the buildings give 1. This is at honored, I think you lose the reputation from everything except bosses at revered.

Comment by goomba

This instance is easily soloable by a 70 holy pally. I do it every now and then for boe greens to DE (on my other char) and a shot at the mount :P My gear is on par with ssc/tk and a few hyjal epics.

Comment by 180403

Surprises me that no one have posted the enormous amount of Lore that binds to Stratholme..

Comment by pigpigpig

Great place to farm if you're an enchanter!
I've been farming the dead side and in 30-40 minutes come out with:
10g From loot
20g From Selling junk
4 Stacks of Rune Cloth (I'm a tailor so I use it to make 51-56 greens to DE)
12x Blues - Which Disenchant into Large Brilliant Shards, which sell for around 10g each.
7x Greens - Which either DE into Greater Eternal Essence*, which sell for 17g each or Illusion Dust*, which sell for 5g each.
* May drop more than one.

I make a good 300g+ each run, reset, and repeat till my bags are full.

Comment by 173812

''Noble countrymen, evil is upon us. Darkness has befallen our shores. Rise and slay thy enemies, strike, strike so other shall live. The meek shall not fade into the night...Live my brethren, live.''

- King Terenas

Comment by 216436

for those who don't already know the side entrance is at 47 23

Comment by Trev81

Does anybody have any information (or even speculation) as to what the raid instance portal in the tunnel south of the slaughterhouse leads to? I thought it might be an alternate entrance into Naxx, but nope.

It's always been there as long as I've been running baron, and I'm really curious about it. If it's purely aesthetic, I'm gonna be disappointed.

Comment by 87064

Soloed as a level 70 Unstable Affliction Warlock, although it was extremely annoying. You need to apply every single one of your DoTs and burn him down as quickly as possible. The microsecond you see him cast his Undead Summoning Ritual, you need to start casting Seed of Corruption so you can get it off before the Skeletons get on you and start causing ridiculous amounts of Spell Pushback. If you can't get the Seed of Corruption off before all of the Spell Pushback starts, chances are you're going to die.

I don't understand why it's taken over four years for Blizzard to finally realize they need to change the Spell Pushback mechanic.

Comment by 202837

Just a side note for those 70's doing solo Baron runs
regarding the "bug" that sometimes happens in the Slaughterhouse.....

As far as I can tell, it is caused by allowing any of the Abominations to reach
the closed gate *without having aggroed anything* after you have initially pulled
and the gate closes. I would imagine the event was scripted this way so the encounter has a way to reset if the party wipes. Remember, if you were at-level running this with a party would you run out into the middle of the courtyard and start randomly engaging multiple abominations? Hell no, you would hang out near the hallway leading into the courtyard and use it as a safe pull/rest spot. At least I hope you would. ;)

Hence, the only way you should encounter this is if you run out there and kill without keeping an eye on the abominations that head towards where it is assumed your party would be. After the initial pull they will slowly come one by one in a certain order towards that gate, make sure you aggro them before they reach it and no bug! Also note-If you drop aggro at any point on an abomination that was near the gate using feign death, vanish, etc. make sure you pick up aggro before it reaches the gate since it will just continue on its merry way after you drop aggro and still possibly bug the event.

Hope that helps. After reading various reasons why this event bugs, (everything from "You have to kill them slowly" to "You can't use certain aggro dropping abilities.") I did a little research and testing myself. As far as I can tell this is it.

Comment by 106733

I just began running stratholme to try and get the mount from barran as a 70 MS Warrior.. started out sort of hard but once i got the hang of it it got easier. I solo'd it with help of Oil of Immolation and some stratholme holy water. They helped a lot when it came to killing the 30 undead that come after the Fat Boss. =) good luck to all of you warriors that want to solo it.

Comment by 95165

I need some help! I'm a level 70 Retribution Paladin and i have cleared the entire instance except for Baron now. I'm in the abomination room before him, i have killed all the abominations but ramstein doesn't appear. Please help!

Comment by 190854

Soloing UD Strat As a Warrior

Soloing it as a warrior isn't too tough, as long as you're careful and know your limits. Bring a lot of food and bandages, and be prepared for some tough AoE pulls. As there are so many different specs and gear qualities for warriors, there is no one strategy that works for all of them, so I won't try to sum it up as such. Below is merely a list of the major things you need to watch out for, and how I countered it:

The Cadaver disease reduces health regen by 100% and does mild nature damage every ten seconds. This makes food useless.
You can still bandage in between ticks, so don't panic. Just avoid all AoE pulls with Cadavers, and if you accidentally get some, kill them first. There are no Cadavers in the Gauntlet, so this is strictly for the two groups before it (side door), or the hellish stealth run through the streets (main door).

If your choice is between fighting the disease ridden ghouls on the walls, or fighting crypt fiends in the open, fight the ghouls. If a gargoyle comes by when you're webbed to the ground, it can get really ugly, really fast. The ghoul disease isn't really that bad anyways, as you shouldn't be trying to outrun anything anyways.

Walls are your friend. Never go into the streets unless you're going straight across to another wall.

The casters are squishy, and their skeleton adds are squishier. At 70, these are your easiest pulls to get through.

Never, ever die in Slaughter Square. Take them one at a time, unless you are at full health. They hit really, really hard for their level. The best way to avoid bugs and glitches, as there are MANY, is to wait by the door. If you don't, you risk having the ones that walk through the door unchallenged respawning on top of you, and that spells death.

Take on Ramstein as close as you can to full health. He doesn't hit overly hard, but there are a lot of mobs that come at you after he dies.

The Baron is a cakewalk if you pop all cooldowns as soon as the fight starts. SS or Cleave, WW or Bladestorm-Any AoE you have will do nicely against the skeletons, and a nigh constant Victory Rush chain will help as well. His Unholy Aura is negligible if you burn fast enough.

With patience and careful foresight, you can solo UD Strat. Good luck!

Edit: As a side note, if you don't have the key or feel like killing Barthilas, he's really quite easy. He hits fairly hard, but he doesn't have a ton of health, and his knockback isn't too bad if you have nothing behind you. He'll be found by the church if you're running in the front door for the key, or in the corner by Slaughter Square if you came through the side door.

Comment by mazhop

My experience last night doing it solo for the first time while being a lvl 70 BM tauren hunter with a gorilla as a pet. I wasn't too worried about the 45 minute timer, I was in for learning and rep. I got all the way up to Baron but didn't engage him, otherwise I cleared all of the undead side.

With a gorilla, volley and some good pvp gear you can solo 4-5 mobs at a time.

I sent in pet, let him tank (his thunderstop does over 1K dmg) and then just volley dps. None were really hard, just maintain a steady attack and don't pull aggro. Even when mana drops lows, fire off a couple of solo shots (AoV) and you're back up. Heal pet when necessary and have fun.

One thing on the Baroness, if you're a BM hunter she will MC you or your pet. Just make sure you're up to full health before you start. It's 2 minutes of wtf while you see yourself either killing or being killed. I'll dismiss pet the next time and see what happens. The beast within might help but for 18 seconds it might be pointess.

The gate with the rats, it was easy. Gorilla attacked using TS, I as a Taruen used mine and just vollyed away. All in all, cleared it quickly.

I wasn't able to get to baron but I'll give it a try later today and see what I come up with. For my first time it took me 90 minutes but I was in no rush.

Comment by Epitaph

3.0 makes for easy farming... Especially as a prot pally.

Runecloth is selling for insane amounts of gold right now (for rep grinders)

Here's a retarded video of a prot pally farming this place easy.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dTFthLKze9Q

Comment by 128241

Takes around 10-12 mins for baron runs solo as ret pally. By far the best place to farm AD rep for the title upcoming in Wotlk especially if u have the blue trinket which allows gathering of scourgestones and grants passive 81ap vs undead.

Comment by ReDeemer

The desease "Cadaver Worms" casted by the Mangled cadaver in strat can be cured using:
Jungle remedy, which can be found in Stranglethorn Vale at the Curzen camp.
(sometimes you have to use 2 bottles of Jungle remedy for it to work)
Powerful anti venom also works, made with Huge Venom Sac (first aid)
(also: sometimes need to take 2 to make it work)

makes it easier then bandaging for 10 minutes

Comment by 240223

I soloed the undead side 2day as a 61 Fury warr with decent gear it was pretty dificult getting passed the mobs without aggroing the hardest part was the giant group of skellies near the end

Comment by 242008

can a 70 MM hunter with good gear solo this?

Comment by 220379

The paradise of solo farming...

Comment by 8775

Elders' Square Service Entrance is @ 43,19.

Comment by Eminence

i've just done 1 run on my lvl 80 death knight, farming to exalted with AD (for the title achievement - i got the mount in the process last night)

however this time i had the quest "the great fras asabi" or whatever its called.

i entered main entrance, and got the fras tobacco thingie, then worked my way towards baron from there, doing the postmaster as well. killing nearly all mobs, which wherent parked in a corner somewhere.

in the end i got 10 corrupters scourge stone (1500 rep), FULL inventory (3 18 slot bags + backpack) of junk.

sold it all, earned 80g, took around 30 minuts.

this is just the slow run. last night i did 3 runs, 10 minuts each, straight to baron, earned 30-40g per run. thats 100g for 3 runs, 200g per hour. :O

that being said, theres also the chance of runecloth dropping, baron rivedares mount, and his sword. :)

Comment by 84234

Hi all i'm a 71 warrior with the dark moon cards crusade and wrath and i want to know if you have disenchant and run this instance after selling and killing every thing in here what amount of gold did you make

money from killing mobs
drops
disenchants

?

thanks

Comment by Fatnub

This instance is a joke to solo as prot warrior at 80 atm, can just pull all and aoe if you want. I pwned the Mangled Cadavers first on every pull as they can do the Cadaver Worms.

If you get infected anyway, you can always use Enraged Regeneration, as it's not affected by the disease.

Comment by 236472

For protadins interested in farming Undead side for the Baron`s mount:

-it is doable at 70 in any type of gear from AH greens to raid epics,with the difficulty and time spent decreasing according to your kit.I recommend the Cobalt plate set made by blacksmiths as an effective minimum.The higher level you are,the better gear you will have,the more spells you`ll resist,the smaller aggro range allowing you to bypass groups of mobs if you are in a hurry.

-get a Argent Dawn Commision (https://www.wowhead.com/tbc/item=12846#comments) from the Dawn officers in Chillwind Camp,the Bulwark or Light`s Hope Chapel,or their upgraded equivalents,the Seal of the Dawn or Rune of the Dawn.Use them while farming the instance as the scourgestones will greatly help you raise your AD reputation.You might end up exalted by the time you get the mount.Also note that gaining exalted rep is a requirement for the achievement "The Argent Champion" (https://www.wowhead.com/tbc/achievement=945).I`ve experienced about 1000-1500 rep per run,depending on number of scourgestones gathered (including boss/mobs kill reputation rewards and turning in scourgestones,bone fragments and crypt fiend parts)

- Whatever you do,don`t let the abominations "exit" through the gate that closes behind you,or the instance will glitch and Ramstein won`t come out of the slaughterhouse,thus breaking your attempt at going for the Baron.Pull the first abomination then simply wait at the gates,as more will gradually venture twards you.After the last abomination is dead Ramstein comes out of the Baron`s chamber`s and will aggro you fast,so make sure you have the mana.He is fairly easy,his special move being that he can stun you on occasion.After he dies two waves of non-elite skeletons will run in the courtyard and attack you.They are easily dispatched.After those are down the doors open and eight elite skeletons with about 8000 health will engage you.

*depending on number of mobs tackled,this instance is a decent source of gold.Runecloth drops in aboundance here,as well as good amounts of money and vendor trash and consumables. Enchanters can disenchant all the uncommon and rares for an extra profit.You can either sell the Runecloth on the AH,but if the demand/pricing is low on you realm,don`t vendor it,make Heavy Runecloth Bandages and vendor those,they sell better than the basic cloth and take up less inventory space (2 cloths=1 heavy bandage).For a non-enchanter,you can typicaly expect around 80-100 gold per run,from money drops and vendoring.

Comment by 118939

any warrior TG spec tried to solo?

Comment by ChillingOut

Good old memories.

I was so excited when Blizzard were to reintroduce Stratholme in WotLK but after being there, it's so watered down and boring.

Why can't they bring the old Stratholme back up to level 80 where it should be? The place was epic! :)

Comment by 168407

At level 80 this instance obviously becomes MUCH easier for any class to farm. It is excellent for Argent Dawn reputation as well. If you're seeking the achievements for that rep this is a good place to get it. There are many bosses who drop Scourgestones. As a level 80 mage in mostly quest blues it is not difficult at all. If you do every boss in the instance you can get 2-3k rep per run. Usually by just running the undead site of Stratholme I net 6 Corrupters Scourgestones per run.

Comment by 161457

The nearest vendor to Stratholme Baron side is really in Light Hope's Chapel?

Comment by 267174

OK im at the Skull door, for the baron i think, there are 13 minutes on timer, im 80 paladin, all ziggs are clear, all abominations dead, and its not opening? am i forgeting something?

Comment by worthit

These are the Horde quests for Stratholme:

Obtained in Light's Hope Chapel, Eastern Plaguelands:

Houses of the Holy
The Archivist
The Great Fras Siabi

The Restless Souls
The Restless Souls - dungeon quest

Obtained in Caer Darrow, Western Plaguelands:

Doctor Theolen Krastinov, the Butcher - quest for Scholomance
Krastinov's Bag of Horrors - quest for Scholomance
Kirtonos the Herald - quest for Scholomance
The Human, Ras Frostwhisper
The Dying, Ras Frostwhisper
Menethil's Gift - dungeon quest
Menethil's Gift - dungeon quest
Soulbound Keepsake
The Lich, Ras Frostwhisper - quest for Scholomance

Obtained in Thondroril River, Eastern Plaguelands

Obtained in The Undercity:

Obtained in Stratholme:

The Medallion of Faith

Drops from Balnazzar in Stratholme after The Active Agent is completed:

The Truth Comes Crashing Down - dungeon quest
Above and Beyond - dungeon quest
Lord Maxwell Tyrosus
The Argent Hold

In addition, there's four quests in the "Dungeon Set 2" quest chain for Stratholme. The chain starts in Orgrimmar with one of the An Earnest Proposition quests (depends on your class) and the four quests are:

Dead Man's Plea - obtained outside Stratholme
Proof of Life - obtained inside Stratholme

and a selection of 1 out of 4 of each of these:

The Left Piece of Lord Valthalak's Amulet
The Right Piece of Lord Valthalak's Amulet

Keep in mind that you have to do a lot of other quests before you can obtain these.

Comment by 299002

has anyone noticed a bug with this instance? ive been on 2 grps to kill the baron, we killed everything else, and the doors to the barons door didnt open? wtf?

Comment by uberwoods

lol i hate this place xcept for the pimp hat that drops 2 manned with a bm hunter and a holy priest not geared at all. we actually had both just hit 70. also got the 2h intellect enchant which sells for a pretty penny. and not to hard of a place for 70s

Comment by 285678

i just got from him the:
Jeweled Amulet of Cainwyn

along with 3 other blues

:)
lucky me :P

it is not even listed as possible drop from him, so i thought i add this here

Comment by 150511

I've just discovered something quite interesting upon my last visit to the good Baron.
After you've slain all the Abominations in front of the Slaughterhouse, of course our good friend Ramstein the Gorger will come lumbering out of the door.
If you're farming the mount and want the fastest runs possible, than stay right by the door as Ramstein is coming out, pull him and walk through the door.
You must kill Ramstein inside, the 5 or 6 skeletons will appear when Ramstein falls.
Upon killing the skeletons you will have access to the good Baron, although upon leaving the Slaughterhouse you will be greeted by a hundred skeletons, give or take.
But at least you took out the Baron faster! :D

Comment by 155974

Ok, when I am done killing Baron, all the exits are closed with a gate that cannot be opened with the Key to the City, what do I do? I heave to hearth every time! ><

Comment by kimblehmoose

Is it just me, or is this place ALWAYS bugged?

Comment by 244865

Service entrance is now at 43.5, 19.4.

Comment by 304733

can someone please tell me which npc's give you the curse? the curse slows down health regeneration by 100% and inflicks 150 shadow damage every 10 secs. i've been farming this on my 80 warrior but i've always had to take a healer with me to cleanse the curse. im sure its one of the ghouls but wowhead doesnt say that in their ablitlys.

Comment by 243044

is this soloable by a lvl 71 dk ? cos i took 5 guards elite no probz but im not sure about rivendare. lemme know

Comment by 313157

As a 73 DK I did it in quest greens no problem. This is as blood spec and in unholy presence the whole time. Rivendare was not a problem, just make sure the skeletons go down...either by holy water, a cleaving Heart Strike, or Death and Decay. I think if you're 71 you'll be fine...especially if you use Frost Presence.

Anything 70 and over can probably run past most of the mobs, and the few that aggro can be able to taken care of no problem. The only issues are the Eyes of Naxxramas which spring up every so often. There are also a fair number of rare bosses in this place.

As a side note, I don't think there's a better place to farm Runecloth in the game. A 15-min Baron run netted 4-5 stacks...not to mention many BOE greens and BOP blues that pay for your repairs several times over. Running Strat is great for farming gold, obtaining Deathcharger's Reins or getting faction reputation (either Argent Dawn or City Reputation).

The aforementioned diseases are the most troublesome part of the place, along with one of the crypt fiend types which seems to spam silences on you (if you're a caster).

Comment by 310791

I killed all the ones u have to kill to summon ramenstein and hes not spawning

Comment by Ferlathin

I killed all the ones u have to kill to summon ramenstein and hes not spawning

I you just scroll up quite a bit mjm7 has a good explanation to that.

Comment by 32877

Just soloed baron side as a level 71 ret pally. did not use shield. Made sure I had seal of wisdom up for mana regen and used ret aura. As long as you can out heal your damage, you're fine. the hardest fight was actually maleki.

So anyway if you are eager to try, no need to wait til level 80 if you are the right class.

Comment by MaxWilder

Why the hell is the actual location of this dungeon not listed anywhere? As if everybody has been playing this game since day one and has all the dozens of instances listed on a map in their head?

Zone: Eastern Plaguelands

Or "Entrance to Zone" if you want to be picky and claim that Strat is a separate zone.

That simple line should be on every instance page!

Comment by Aldones

I recommend doing this on an enchanter, 100+ runs worth of DEs is worth quite a bit of gold.

Comment by 338660

I noticed that you can make quite a bit of money from here, im a level 80 DK to this is fairly easy, all the runecloth that dropsfrom here, not to mention the BoE Items can bring you anywhere from 20-70g a run. (Depending on your drops)

Comment by 195313

Is Strat solo´ble by a 76 blood specced DK ?

Comment by 336283

just a quick overview of the flesh-golem glitch just before rammstein if you're grinding for the mount;

there is a known glitch that, when only afew of the golems're left, they'll all despawn, respawn a second later, but even if you kill them all, the door doesn't unlock and rammstein doesn't appear. this glitch, obviously, sucks :p but you can avoid it by doing the following;

1) slow down on killing the golems. i would much rather stop & drink for 30seconds than haveto hearth & reset >.<

2) there are *some* issues with *temporary* pets, ie. shaman elementals, mage mirror images, dk ghouls. but as far as i know, not with either hunters or warlocks

3) location? i've heard from others they only have the problem if a golem reaches the locked door, i personally haven't, but it's not too much trouble to avoid this :]

gl mount farmers! XD

Comment by 97798

Just a warning for any 80s looking to solo this I tried on my pala ret spec shocking gear, don't chain pull 15 or so like u can in most other 60 instances as you will get killed most of the time on the UD side as u get silenced and feared much too often. Living side was still pretty safe though.

Comment by SpitefulCrow

As of now (April 09) the 'feign death bug' is still in effect in Stratholme. Really frustrating to manage to solo my way to the Slaughter, clear everything and then stand around wondering why nothing was happening and why I was barred in the area.

Comment by WlyWnka

If you ever wanna farm for the mount then this map will truly help you. It will be easier if you have Key to the City because then you can use the entrance to the side where Baron is.

Map if you have Key to the City:
Map with key

Map if you DONT have Key to the City:
Map without key

Magistrate Barthilas drops this key.

Deathcharger's Reins is the mount that drops :D

Comment by 313212

I'm farming this instance and I died right infront of the building where Baron is and I released and went back but when I got back the gate to go into Barons room with the aboms is closed, so I went back to where the people are to kill to open the gate and they're still dead, so I decided to exit and reset the instance but it won't reset... any clue on how to reset it / re-open the gate?

Comment by 294171

Does anyone know why the entrance gates (those at the proper entrance to the isntance, not the service entrance) are locked? And does anyone know how to open them? I've tried butchering every living and undead thing in the instance, including all bosses, but with no luck thus far. :(

Comment by 334191

ABOUT STRATHOLME: The city of Stratholme was the northernmost city of the Kingdom of Lordaeron, and is the city where the Order of the Silver Hand was founded.

The Scourge’s capital in Lordaeron, Stratholme is a city of evil and dark magic. Once a great human city, the mad Prince Arthas ravaged Stratholme in the Third War and the undead moved in soon after. Kel’Thuzad raised undead structures among the human ruins. Undead and necromancers control the city while gargoyles and frost wyrms patrol the sky. Noxious orange mist oozes from the buildings and poisons living creatures, transforming them into servants of the Scourge. Kel’Thuzad’s rule here is absolute, and from here he stretches his skeletal hands to control the surrounding plaguelands.

The largest city after Lordaeron's capital, Stratholme was destroyed by Arthas in the opening hours of the Third War, as he massacred the city's citizenry after they were infected by the Plague of Undeath. Stratholme burns to this day, and its districts have been split between the overzealous Scarlet Crusade led by Grand Crusader Dathrohan, and the Scourge forces led by the death knight Baron Rivendare.

Comment by 111427

Stratholme undead side were ones a 10 man instance.
Before the time of Blackrock Mountain, before BRD, LBRS, UBRS, MC and BWL there was Stratholme. I bet you it was hard ;)

Comment by 290177

The service entrance to Strat is here...the map was a little off https://www.wowhead.com/tbc/maps=139:430186

Comment by 363599

A Lvl 80 Prot Paladin can EASILY do this instance, likely the best char to farm the place with. Gather up a huge amount of mobs, have Ret Aura up, pop a Sacred Shield, drop a Consecrate, use Holy Wrath and Hammer of the Righteous to wipe them easily. If one of them annoying Gargoyles or Crypt Fiends attack you, hit him with a Exorcism (Guaranteed to Crit on Undead/Demons), and he'll likely be dead, or near so. The Sense Undead Minor Glyph is useful here, so make sure Sense Undead is up. You'll spend more time looting/DEing than you do killing. With Enchanting on your Pally, this can be a pretty profitable place to DE.

Comment by 367452

So i have a question? I solo'd this place on my shammy for Argent Champion title and was pretty easy considering i can clense my self from that disease that doesnt allow health regen. and you take mroe physical dmg. Now im planning on working my Dks rep up for same title is their any way i can clense myself w/o having to bring anyone with me?

Comment by 144286

for those of you that farm this place as 70+ hunters, i found that the easiest way to kill Baroness Anastari is to tag her and then let my pet do the work while i feign death. This guarantees she will not possess you and have you kill your own pet or vice versa.
as a 75 hunter i don't even bother with the trash mobs, i just run straight to each of the bosses and kill them on the steps before moving on to the slaughterhouse to get my reigns (currently attempt number 11, the only time they've dropped was when i grouped with a mage for the heck of it, guess who won them...)

Comment by 93783

"Additional instances cannot be launched, please try again later." The bane of all farmers...

Comment by 279991

Not sure if anyone has posted this and I don't feel like scrolling through them all so here ya go.
Argent Dawn Rep Runs
Neutral ---> Honored: all elite undead trash will grant 10 AD rep. Non-elite undead trash will grant 3 AD rep, Bosses will grant 50 AD rep(except Baron Rivendare -- 100 rep).
Honored ---> Revered: non-elite trash will no longer grant AD rep. All other rep remains the same.
Revered ---> Exalted: most elite trash will no longer grant AD rep. Boss rep remains. Elite trash mobs that grant AD rep are as follows: Mangled Cadaver ; Patchwork Horror ; Thuzadin Shadowcaster ; Thuzadin Necromancer ; Wailing Banshee ; Crypt Beast ; Ghoul Ravener ; Venom Belcher ; Bile Spewer ; Black Guard Sentry. All of these mobs will grant 10 AD rep per kill.

For a few side notes, completeing the Gauntlet within the time limit will grant 300 bonus rep, the Thuzadin Acolytes in the ziggurats are the only non-elites that drop Invader stones and will also always grant 3 AD rep per kill, the Mangled Cadavers cast Cadaver Worms and the Scarlet mobs do NOT give AD rep. So save your turn-ins for Revered-->Exalted people! And good luck.

EDIT: Added listing of mobs that grant rep after Revered.

Comment by 276562

there is some type of mailbox about 4-6 groups into the entrence what is that for?

Comment by 424704

Here's a video I made of the full complete "Baron Run" starting from boss kill, spirit run, mob dodge and boss kill again. It's pretty much the same circuit each run, just watch out for flying gargoyles. Each cycle takes about 6 mins from start to finish. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZDAjPhh7h38

Comment by 415651

I recently went into Strat, and after killing the three tower ppl only the first of the gates to the slaughter house opened, how do i open the second one or is it just glitching?

Comment by GravenTerenas

Was just doing a solo run for the mount, and I died due to chain silence from a crypt crawler. Ran back to the side entrance and zoned in again, around 3 minutes after dying, only to find the instance had reset itself; all the bosses were up again, and the ziggurats were respawned (I had destroyed all 3 crystals).

Is it normal for the instance to reset like this if you wipe? Fairly sure this has never happened to me before.

Comment by 434547

Using the boxes technique to open the gates to the Baron ALSO opens the gate to that never used Naxx portal. It's a shame it will be abandoned, but at least now you can feel like you actually earned opening the gate, haha.

Comment by 434567

how do i come in to the room whit baron rivendar in ?

Comment by 380533

hey anyone know whats behind the raid entrance at the end? gates closed i cant get in

Comment by 326968

It seems that Magistrate Barthilas does not spawn if you enter from the alternate entrance.

Guessing it's because im only one person or have Key to the City with me.

Edit: I have most likely found the error. I hadn't seen the two places in which the Magistrate may spawn, nor do I know if he spawns everytime. I'm pretty sure that I didn't find him in either place last run though.

Will finish Stratholme research by tomorrow.

Comment by MegaMan101

As Of Patch Day 3.2

The opening crate glitch that would delete doors no longer does it anymore. Back to legit runs we go.

Comment by collector

A little glitch that is quite amusing in my opinion: You go through the back door(service gate) of strat and Magistrate Barthilas will run to the Northern gate and de-spawn so he can "warn Baron Rivendare of your intrusion". But I found that if you sprint/charge/dash after him and manage to throw your ranged at him just as he's about to de-spawn your ranged attack will follow him to his re-spawn location right in front of the slaughterhouse courtyard. I did this the first time and thought simply "oh well, I missed him." After I cleared the room I noticed he was charging at me with half of the undead side behind him, I practically pee'd myself.

Comment by dragunknight92

The firt time I ever ran Strath was at level 70 ( skipped it for BC content) and so on my 1st run I soloed it, skipping the bosses in the zigurats. Thats when I discovered that breaking the crates opened the gate to the Baron. From then on thats all I ever did and was very confused when it didnt work after a patch. Didnt know that that was a "cheat".

edit: spelling

Comment by Thottbot

How do you get the Key to go in the gate on the East?

Comment by Thottbot

it drops off a sub boss right before you enter the area with all the stiches looking mobs, rolled a 94 and got it :)

Comment by Thottbot

This is one of the best instances ever for those of u whodont know its the first city the undead started to take over in Wacraft 3 and Timmy is the littel kid you rescue in the optinol quest on the first level and is turnd into a ghoul on one of the later levels of the human campaing. But on Wacraft 3 timmy drops a ring with +1 stamina i whis he would drop it on here just for the hell of it like he did on Warcraft 3.

Way to go Blizzard keeping the History ^^

Comment by Thottbot

On top of knowing what to pull when, this little tip will make it much easier to complete. Make sure you have a lock in the party. As soon as you drop Maleki (the humanoid boss) put a SS on the priest, have warrior lead a suicide run to the abominations, about halfway through the room to the aboms will do it. After everything finishes killing you and goes back to original positions, have priest get up and rez party, doesn't take long and allows for a large group of mobs to be skipped. Though many do not like the idea of having an intentional wipe, this method does shave a couple of minutes, which is most often all you need.

Comment by Thottbot

Most of the comments about 10 man parties were made at least a year ago cause back then strat was way harder then it is now and back then there wasn't as much gear. So don't get too confused about the whole 10 man groups.

Comment by Thottbot

If you notice the store signs, many of the people who originally owned them are alive now, for example: Leeka's Shields and Maces... the owner is now an auctioneer in UC

Comment by Thottbot

...I entered Stratholme and...how do I get out?

Comment by Thottbot

i entered but i'm blocked by a gate...do i have to finish it in order to get out if i dont have a hearthstone?

Comment by Thottbot

STRATHOLME

Government: Dictatorship.
Ruler: Lich Lord of the Plaguelands Kel’Thuzad
Affiliation: Scourge.

The city of Stratholme was the northernmost city of the Kingdom of Lordaeron, and was the city where the Order of the Silver Hand was founded.

The Scourge’s capital in Lordaeron, Stratholme is a city of evil and dark magic. Once a great human city, the mad Prince Arthas ravaged Stratholme in the Third War and the undead moved in soon after. Kel’Thuzad raised undead structures among the human ruins and his necropolis, Naxxramas, floats above the city and pours its foul vapors into the streets. Undead and necromancers control the city while gargoyles and frost wyrms patrol the sky. Noxious orange mist oozes from the buildings and poisons living creatures, transforming them into servants of the Scourge. Kel’Thuzad’s rule is absolute, and from here he stretches his skeletal hands to control the surrounding plaguelands.

The largest city after Lordaeron's capital, Stratholme was destroyed by Prince Arthas in the opening hours of the Third War, as he massacred the city's citizenry after they were infected by the Plague of Undeath. Stratholme burns to this day, and its districts have been split between the overzealous Scarlet Crusade led by Grand Crusader Dathrohan, and the Scourge forces led by the death knight Baron Rivendare.

Comment by Thottbot

I solo this frequently as a level 70 enhancement shaman. Not really difficult. I usually only run from the back gate entrance to Baron Rivendare, then leave for my 3g repair bill from the small damage taken, and to sell all the crap. Then I go back and repeat until I'm bored, and move on to something else. Can be soloed all the way through, but gets tight in places. For now, I'll just describe my usual, quick route through the back.

First group directly in front of the gate can be skipped by hugging left wall. The bard that drops the piccolo can be single pulled if he's up by peeking around the corner of the gated area and using lightning bolt, then running back through the gate and tucking around the corner so he can't shoot you with his bow.

Drop Mana Spring and Grace of Air totems, and pull with chain lightning on one of the elite zombies. Drop a stoneclaw totem and a magma totem, and begin killing. Take down the first elite, then the berserker skeletons, then the other elites. Leave the casters for last; you should be resisting the majority of their frostbolts. You are killing the skellies because they generally go down easier, while hitting for only slightly less than the zombies. Heal to full, repeat on the next group. If you have any trouble, don't hesitate to burn shamanistic rage for the defense and heal yourself.

Once you pass through the gate and Rivendare gives you your 45 minute warning, pull the nearest banshee. If it's a shrieking banshee, wait for her to start casting, then nail her with earth shock to interrupt and pull her back. The next pull is tricky. Should be a banshee roaming back and forth to your left, a crypt fiend in front of you, and another crypt fiend to your right. Gargolyes patrol across the entire area, including a rare spawn gargoyle. Wait until the gargoyles are just beginning to leave aggro range, and lightning bolt nearest banshee. Again, if it is a shrieking banshee, interupt with earth shock. Then run it back toward the gate, so it does not have line of sight to you. If done right, you should only have her. If not, you may have 1-2 gargoyles. Not a tough fight.

Next, watch the patrols and pull the gargoyles solo, if possible. Keep a tremor totem down; the ranged gargoyles sometimes fear for 2 seconds, which can be problematic. I'd recommend staying near the gate during the fight, just in case the totem doesn't save you. After all gargoyle roamers are down, pull the crypt fiend in front of you. Be warned: all crypt fiends use webs. Half of them merely root you, half of them silence you as well. Don't be caught below 40% health and silenced... it never works out well.

Now look down to the left. There is a group of three ghouls to the left, along the wall, and a group of casters to your right. In the center, patrolling, are a banshee and a crypt fiend. Use your lightning bolt / earth shock combo to pull the banshee back into a safe area, and kill her. If you get the crypt fiend too, don't worry; as long as you pulled well, you'll only have the two. Easy fight.

You can skip the ghouls and the casters by running directly between them. Pull all other roamers you encounter as singles, until you're in front of the zigguraut. Pull the group of casters with the single crypt fiend that are on the left of the stairs (when facing the zigg). Kill the crypt fiend first, then any necromancers. Finish with the shadowcasters; again, they should generally be resisted 50% of the time.

Once the casters there are dead, rest to full, then drop Mana Spring, Grace of Air, and Strength of Earth totems, lightning bolt the boss Crypt Fiend on the Zigg, and then charge it as it begins to shoot you. Once in range, burn Shamanistic Rage and drop your Fire Elemental totem (you probably won't need it, but it's always fun.) He spawns undead scarabs; ignore them until he's dead. Once he and his scarabs are dead, Totemic call asap, or fire elemental will aggro the second group of casters. Loot, run inside zigg, and kill all 5 casters. Now return to the gate you entered from.

Next pull is the crypt fiend that was on the right of you when you came in the gate. Once he's dead, ignore the ghouls on either side and run up to the next crypt fiend / banshee team, and eliminate them. A couple crypt fiends / banshees wander in front of the zigguraut here; take them down, then take out the gargoyle that roams in front as well. Now rest to full again.

The banshee boss is surprisingly easy solo; do not drop ANY totems, or she will posess you, kill the totems, then drop out of posess and heal. You'll resist most of her attacks; however, watch out for silence just in case. Once she's dead, loot, clear the zigguraut, and leave.

From the stairs of the zigg, pull the banshee on your right (if you haven't killed her yet). Now wait for the crypt fiend to roam close to you, away from the ghouls, and pull him. If done right, he'll single pull. If not, he'll pull most or all of the ghouls. You should be able to handle the 4-pull, but no sense pushing it. Try for the single. The ghouls on the right (the ones you don't want with the crypt fiend) need to die as well, so pull them after. Not a tough fight.

Skim the now-cleared wall towards the gate there, and pull the two ghouls chilling on the opposite wall with chain lightning. Next, put your back against the wall you pulled them from and pull the single ghoul beside the gate. A few gargoyles roam up to where you're pulling; take them out next. Ignore the banshee, and chain lightning pull the two gargoyles on the left wall behind her. They'll come alone, kill them then hug the left wall to where they were standing and kill any worms / rats that may spawn outta the supply crate the sometimes spawns there.

Face the zigg. Next step is to pull the crypt fiend in front of you, then the banshees on your left. Next, wait for the gargoyles that patrol into that area, and kill them. Chain lightning pull the casters on the right side of the zigg, taking out the necros, then the shadowcasters. Repeat this pull for the casters on the stairs. Now rest to full.

Boss is a caster, and an easy one at that. Likes to rely on frost bolt, but as he gets lower, you'll see drain life and drain mana. You may also see him use a spell that will freeze you for 10ish seconds, during which time he will still be able to hit you. Generally, you'll resist both frost bolt and the freeze spell, but if you're feeling uncomfortable, Frost Resistance Totem is an option. Don't mind is drain life and drain mana; they're nuisances, nothing more. Once he's dead, loot and clear the zigg.

From the zigg steps, head down towards the right, ignoring all stationary mobs along the walls. Eliminate any roamers until you're by the gate; all roamers should be single / double pullable. Pull the magister by charging him and putting your back to the far wall, so his knockback can't throw you into any adds. Shamanistic rage + Strength of Earth, Grace of Air, Mana Spring, and Magma Totem / Fire Nova Totem works very well. Loot, then pass through the gate to Slaughter Square.

All abominations in this area are single pullable. You should be aware that after a short period of time, they will periodically decide to walk up to the gate, making single pulls rediculously easy. Just kill one and wait for the next one. Yes, the prisoner will die this way, so if you're hoping for +300 Argent Dawn faction, you'll need to pull faster. But this is the safest route. The "venom" abominations have a poison spit that can be easily interrupted, and are otherwise straight up melee. The "bile" abominations spawn little bile pets during the fight (you should generally kill it before it spawns a second bile), then spawns a group of 4-5 bile upon death. Stoneclaw totem + magma totem help clean these up nicely.

After the final abomination dies, Rammstein will come out of the slaughterhouse. He has respectable melee damage against mail, and his knockback / 5 second stun can become a real pain. Drop Strength of Earth, Grace of Air, Mana Spring, and fire nova totem (drop a searing totem after fire nova goes off), then use shamanistic rage and burn him down. Don't get below 50% health; top yourself off as much as necessary. Get caught stunned below 50% and you may not live to regret it.

Shortly after Rammstein goes down, the large mob of mindless undead will charge you. Drop your earth elemental to pull their aggro and use a magma totem to decimate them. Don't bother with melee unless you're low on mana, in which case, don't be ashamed to use rage to mana up. Keep the elemental alive, and refresh magma totem when it dies. Will only take two magmas.

Next, the blackguards will come out and charge you. You should have enough time left to have the earth elemental tank most of them for you; by the time he despawns, you should only have 1-2 left to kill. (Note: You do NOT need the earth elemental to kill the blackguards, but there's no sense wasting him.)

Once they're dead, Rivendare is the only one left. Rest to full, and let heroism/bloodlust recharge (if at anypoint you burned it.) Once you enter, drop a grounding totem and a mana spring totem, then engage, dropping a fire elemental totem. Heroism / Bloodlust, and activate Shamanistic rage. Once he spawns his minions, drop a stoneclaw totem by the fire ele so his aoe's destroy them. If for some reason the fire ele is NOT killing them, replace it with a magma totem asap. Three ticks of magma should kill the trash. Don't be afraid to heal during the fight; it WILL be necessary. Also, reapply grounding totem asap after he shadow bolts; it'll save you a ton of mana in heals.

ALTERNATIVELY:

If the above strategy for Rivendare does not work for you, let your earth elemental recharge. Enter, drop grounding totem and mana spring totem, then aggro and drop earth elemental. Drop Magma totem, burn heroism/bloodlust, and begin dps. Earth ele will pull all adds, so they generally won't kill magma totem. If it dies or times out, simply refresh it. Keep the elemental healed and use shamanistic rage if mana runs low for some reason. This strategy is much easier to pull off, generally, but is slower. Recommended for shaman without many epics or who are unconfident of their ability to solo Rivendare.

THINGS TO REMEMBER:

Bring water. You shouldn't need more than half a stack per run, but better safe than sorry.
Water shield improves mana efficiency. Keep it up for most pulls; it'll do you more good than lightning shield in the long run.
Make sure to check crates for holy water. Although it doesn't SEEM useful, they reduce the mindless undead swarm to less than 50% health instantly, making a loss to them almost impossible.
If your earth elemental dies while fighting the mindless undead, drop an earthbind totem and kite them by dropping magma totems behind you. It's rough, and can be very difficult to win this way, but it IS doable.
Holy water 1-shots the adds in the Baron Rivendare encounter. You'll generally only get 1 use during the fight, though, so use sparingly.
Don't be afraid to burn your elementals, heroism/bloodlust, and shamanistic rage during the run if at any time the pulls go bad. If you aren't used to this run, the pulls can become very messy.
Potions never hurt.
Stat food, especially food that gives stamina or attack power, is a great way to make this a lot easier on yourself.
Stoneclaw totem is an excellent solution to adds, but don't overestimate it; against 3-4 elite level 58 mobs, it'll only last 5-6 seconds.
Remember to bring ankhs.
During the abomination fight, try to work it so that the last abomination you kill is a "venom" abomination, rather than a "bile" abomination. It'll save you mana, as well as give you more time between the final kill and rammstein to rest up.
The blackguards come out of the Slaughterhouse approximately 2 minutes after the mindless undead spawn, regardless of whether or not you kill them. If you die during the mindless undead, expect the next pull to be harder.
If you die during the mindless undead, be aware that everything in Slaughter Square will charge you pretty much the moment you pass the first gate.

I hope that helps any Shaman out there wanting to run Stratholme for kicks. When I'm not feeling quite so lazy, I'll post my strategy for the rest of the zone. =P

Comment by Thottbot

I wouldn't reccommend trying until you're level 70 and have, at the very least, a few pieces of your gladiator set. Follow the above strategy for pulls (you REALLY want as few mobs as possible, especially in cloth) and use your frost nova to keep enemies away from you as much as possible. Be careful not to nova near potential miss-pulls, and try to rely on your hardest hitting, single target spells as much as possible.

Against the first couple pulls, near the back entrance, I'd probably try to burn the elites from a distance with frost bolt, then deal with the non-elites as safely as possible, likely eliminating the casters first (since they're the only mobs that can hit you while frozen.)

Against the crypt fiends, you should be aware they still have ranged attacks, which come in the form of multiple (6-8) mini scarabs that run towards you, each hit you for a small amount of damage (around 15-30 each in mail armor) and make spellcasting a living nightmare. I strongly reccommend pulling them as far from roamer aggro as possible and then aoe'ing (or relying on otherwise instant or very fast casting spells). Shrieking Banshees also have a ranged attack of sorts, but it comes in the form of a spell; counterspell it and abuse line of sight to pull them away from potential adds and then deal with them normally.

Casters shouldn't pose you much of a problem, aside from the fact that they usually come in crowds. Make sure the necromancers always die first; their soul tap will drain your mana hard, which isn't fun.

Against the Crypt Fiend boss, I recommend you burn damage as quickly as possible, abuse your water elemental, and try to keep the adds dead. He also has a ranged attack that damages the same way the regular crypt fiends do (of course, it hits much harder.)

Against the Banshee boss, I recommend you avoid summoning your water elemental (because posess sucks). The fight could potentially turn into a disaster if she manages to keep you silenced, so I strongly suggest bringing along a relatively high dps 1 handed sword (a level 70 blue sword from the AH should work nicely with its 71ish dps) and having a capped 1hSword skill, for when silence hits. Obviously I don't suggest relying on the sword through the whole instance, or even the whole fight. But the dps from your sword could potentially make the difference when compared to little or no dps when silenced. If you feel confident in your survival ability while silenced, feel free to avoid using the sword; you obviously know your character better than me. ;) Like any level 70, you should probably resist both her nuke and her silence about 50% of the time.

Against the caster boss, you can try counterspelling him, but I doubt it'll work (he can't be interrupted by earth shock, anyway.) Items that boost your frost resist are a great way to make sure he doesn't nail you, but you should resist a good deal of his spells anyway. Burn him down with high damage nukes and watch out for mana drain.

Against Magistrate Barthilas, make sure you're prepared for his melee dps (which grows as he gets weaker) and his knockback. Burn him as quickly as possible. Killing the adds around the gate might let you kite him with blink, if you're careful, but having never been a mage, it's hard to tell.

Against the Abominations, burn them as fast as possible while using as little mana as possible. If they don't die fast enough, it's possible to find yourself stuck with multiple adds, which is bad, but if you burn too much mana, you might get caught in the next fight without enough mana to cover the fight. After one half of the square is cleared, tuck yourself into the cleared area so you have a safer area to drink when necessary and pull to your new camp. AoE the Biles; they'll die fast. Make SURE you drink as soon as the last one dies; you'll need full mana for Rammstein.

I don't honestly know how you should handle Rammstein. He hits as high as 650 non-crit against my Shaman, who unbuffed and dual wielding, has around 5500 armor. He has a decent crit rate (often enough to make me cringe) and I routinely need to heal during the fight. You may find you're able to kite him around the square with blink, if you rely on your fastest casting nukes and can stay supplied with mana (potions ftw!) When he dies, get as much mana as possible, as fast as possible.

When the adds rush you, they'll start out one at a time, and then a couple of large mobs. Burn the small ones quickly; I estimate they have around 900 health, since a holy water drops them to 1/3 of their health readily. A little AoE love will take care of them quite nicely, as long as you don't take too long. I've seen this crowd destroy a level 70 tank without too much difficulty (when they had no healing love, that is), and they take me down in a matter of seconds, so be prepared to kill them before they kill you.

The blackguards should be a cakewalk. Since earthbind works to slow them down, I imagine they should be succeptible to both the snare effect of your frost spells and to being frozen, so take full advantage. Once they're down, drink up and prepare for Rivendare.

Against Rivendare, the strategy will be almost solely up to you. His melee damage is gonna sting, and he has respectable HP. If that wasn't bad enough, his shadowbolt can outright hurt, and I doubt counterspell will work (since earth shock doesn't.) His adds will be no problem; a single AoE should take them out. My advice would be to burn him as hard as you can, keep a health potion handy (and save a healthstone too, if you have a lock friend who can make you one before you come in), and then summon a water elemental when he's at about 50% health (so he's got as much aggro on you as possible). Iceblock when things look nasty; I'm not sure if he'll keep hitting you or turn to the ele, having never played a frost mage, but provided he stays on you, the ele can provide at least a little extra damage for awhile. When block drops, hopefully you can either heal again or finish him off.

Again, I've literally -never- played a mage past level 10, so my tips are based solely from watching mages in the guild and in pugs, from the little I know of the talent tree, and from almost pure guesswork. =p

Comment by Thottbot

The purpose is to get in touch with the WarCraft lore, as well as to experience one of the best 5(?) man dungeons Blizzard have ever made.
To sum it up- to have fun.

Comment by Thottbot

When doing Strat, there will be a couple supply boxes scattered around. Getting near the suppy boxes releases a large number of plague rats, they are critters so they do not set off traps :(, i suggest using a mage to AoE them. There is also one place when all gates close, trap you in, and rats come eating you for dinner, again mage's Arcane explosion comes very handy. I didn't really have much problems in the instance other than plague rats, mainly because they knock down a lot of durability if not handled quickly. Hope this helps!

Comment by Thottbot

Before anyone starts casting insults and figuring yourself to be a genius... I never said this was a level 70 instance, and you need to learn to read before you spout your mouth off and make yourself look retarded.

An earlier post asked me when you should try to SOLO this instance. And my response to that post is, don't try until you're level 70. Never said, hey, this is a level 70 instance, you need 5 people at level 70. And the guides I wrote are how to SOLO the instance... not how to do this with 5 level 70 players.

If you can't comprehend the english language, let alone read a few simple posts written in it before spouting off a bunch of angry (and rather childish) nonsense, then I seriously suggest you not open your mouth in the first place.

Further, I never "trash talked" anyone. I wrote a guide as a shaman, was asked how one might be able to do it as a mage, and I responded. I then went on to say, "hey, I'm no mage, I don't know if this will work."

If you don't believe I can pull it off, I welcome you to look me up on armory (Mdaen of Blade's Edge) to see if you think I'm capable of it, and if you're still skeptical, you just go ahead and just let me know, I'll take a vid of a run from start to finish (I'm down to about 35 minute runs now from back entrance to the baron) and once you see that you've only made yourself look an ass, you can come back here and post what a moron you've been.

Ignorace isn't always bliss.

Comment by Thottbot

Oh and just so ya know, one of the mobs in there puts a disease on you that decreases health regen by 100%. If you're soloing, not a class that can dispell or heal, you NEED to bring pots or whatever to clear the disease, otherwise you'll just slowly die, because food counts as health regen. Therefore you can eat, but it wont heal you. Found this out the hard way on my 70 Prot warrior...

Comment by Thottbot

whats the DR On the mount? from the baron

Comment by Thottbot

if u went here as a zombie during the zombie event, all the mobs and bosses were friendly, you were able to open all doors, and on top of all that, you could kill the prisoner lady!

Comment by Thottbot

For anyone thinking about mount runs, at 80 it is now effortless to solo for any class or spec. It was easy enough to do at 70 but at 80 the mobs aggro range is super small, once you get used to the place its possible to walk to all the bosses without pulling any trash mobs. Just make sure you watch out for the bat patrols and if (when) you do end up pulling a bat try not let him pull anymore as even though the mobs don't do that much damage to an 80 some have silence and stun effects which can kill you if they get you with them a lot. I'm holy priest in blues and a few epics and I have gotten my runs down to 12 mins or so pretty easily, will definitely be doable in sub 10 mins when I get a few more epics.

Comment by Thottbot

Bring the family to Stratholme!

Come experience the thrilling smells and sounds of the newly renovated Strat-town, under new management for all eternity!

You'll meet interesting, squishy people who will be ravenously excited to see you! Take a stroll down our antique Market Row with its charming lines of blackened mailboxes and original, largely intact citizens!

The markets of Stratholme are world class! Your quartermasters back home will simply love our supple, abundant Runecloth. Not to mention the goodies for the guild bank, and Righteous Orbs for the AH, this town is pleasant farming in a friendly, charming atmosphere of old-world nostalgia.

Come today, and see for yourself why Stratholme is a town where nobody ever leaves!

See you in hell, mother^&*!ers!

~ Rivendare.

Comment by Thottbot

how do i get a key to get there?

Comment by Thottbot

Its not the easiest thing in the world for a Destruction lock. Yes, I was 80, but I almost wiped myself out of carelessness, and I was on minimum supplies (3 Soul Shards, 5 foods that were my level, and 4 waters that were my level. Yes,I didn't check.) The debuff that you get from the ghouls when you first enter can be a pain, since if your Destruction, you can only relie on 2 things for healing, your Fel Armor, and your Soul Leech *If you have it. I was lucky to be a Herbalist and had Lifeblood* I had my Succubus out for most of it, till i got to the Baroness and she possessed me, and had me kill her : /. When I got to the abominations, I summoned my Void Walker, and had him pick up ONE WHOLE side. Mistake. Void Walker was left almost at full health, were I, wasn't so lucky, 2k out of 17k left *I was stupid at the time and forgot to use Sacrifice*. So after I had healed my self, I took the other side one by one. The rest is really easy. Another Note: Bring Supplies when you come, and maybe some Purification Potions.
Edit:
I went back later with my rouge, and it was much easier, CoS the debuff off, and your good to go :)

Comment by Thottbot

How do I go through the final gate to get to Slaughter Square? Some people said you need to break certain crates (which I did with no results), and some say you have to kill a certain amount of mobs? Or the bosses of the three ziggurats? What is it?

Comment by Rothia

The Dungeon Set 2 also called Tier 0.5 is aquired through a fairly lengthy, somewhat difficult and expensive quest chain through which you upgrade Dungeon Set 1 pieces.
After completing Return to Bodley which is one part of the chain, you will recieve Brazier of Invocation: User's Manual and Brazier of Invocation.
The manual describes where the brazier can be used to summon a variety of bonus bosses with rare loot in the following dungeons:

BRAZIER OF INVOCATION: USER'S MANUAL - Where to find Haunted Loci

Dire Maul East | Isalien
"The open-aired chamber where Alzzin the Wildshaper resides is one of these haunted loci."
Brazier of Beckoning

Lower Blackrock Spire | Mor Grayhoof
"Should you seek to raise the echo of Mor Grayhoof's spirit, War Master Voone's chamber is a haunted location."
Brazier of Beckoning

Live Stratholme | Sothos and Jarien's Heirlooms appears after defeating Sothos and Jarien
"Thus it is that another of these haunted loci is The Crimson Throne (Balnazzar's room) inside The Scarlet Bastion at Stratholme."
Brazier of Beckoning

Scholomance | Kormok
"This makes Ras Frostwhisper's chamber one of the haunted locations where the brazier can be successfully utilized."
Brazier of Beckoning

Upper Blackrock Spire | Lord Valthalak
"As you must know, this makes Lord Valthalak's abode, what is now The Beast's chamber in Blackrock Spire, the last of the haunted locations."
Brazier of Beckoning

Links

Stratholme

StratholmeMain GateEzra GrimmSkulHearthsinger ForrestenThe UnforgivenPostmaster MalownTimmy the CruelCommander MalorWilley HopebreakerRisen HammersmithInstructor GalfordBalnazzarService GateMagistrate BarthilasStonespineNerub'enkanBlack Guard SwordsmithMaleki the PallidBaroness AnastariRamstein the GorgerBaron RivendareStratholmeEastern PlaguelandsBaron RivendareDeathcharger's ReinsHistory

Once the jewel of northern Lordaeron, the city of Stratholme is where Prince Arthas turned against his mentor, Uther Lightbringer, and slaughtered hundreds of his own subjects who were believed to have contracted the dreaded plague of undeath. Arthas' downward spiral and ultimate surrender to the Lich King soon followed. The broken city is now inhabited by the undead Scourge -- led by the powerful lich, Kel'Thuzad. A contingent of Scarlet Crusaders, led by Grand Crusader Dathrohan, also holds a portion of the ravaged city. The two sides are locked in constant, violent combat. Those adventurers brave (or foolish) enough to enter Stratholme will be forced to contend with both factions before long. It is said that the city is guarded by three massive watchtowers, as well as powerful necromancers, banshees and abominations. There have also been reports of a malefic Death Knight riding atop an unholy steed, dispensing indiscriminate wrath on all those who venture within the realm of the Scourge.

Stratholme

As Stratholme Live and Stratholme Undead are both a level 55-60 dungeon, many items that drop within will be considered pre-raid Best in Slot. You can find more information on these items in the "Best In Slot" section of our Stratholme Undead Strategy Guide/Stratholme Alive Strategy Guide

Both Stratholme Live and Dead drop several pieces that make up the Tier 0 / Dungeon Set 1 armor sets.

Argent Dawn Commission - With this trinket equipped, it will allow you to collect Scourgestones from various Undead mobs in the Plaguelands. Each Scourgestone turned in will grant you 50 Reputation with the Argent Dawn as well as an Argent Dawn Valor Token for an extra 100 reputation. Be sure to check out our Argent Dawn Reputation Guide for more information.

There are several several Profession items that can be located in Stratholme such as Righteous Orb which is required for Crusader, Bottom Half of Advanced Armorsmithing: Volume II from Risen Hammersmith and Plans: Hammer of the Titans from Maleki the Pallid.

Other notable items that can be obtained from within Stratholme include Stoneskin Gargoyle Cape, Deathcharger's Reins, Cannonball Runner and Piccolo of the Flaming Fire.

Stratholme Undead Strategy GuideStratholme Alive Strategy Guide

Stratholme

Related

Contribute