Nostalgia

The first Scourge Invasion was introduced as a world event in Patch 1.11 which heralded the opening of Naxxramas, the citadel of Kel’Thuzad. Reintroduced into the game in preparation for the Wrath of the Lich King and tuned for the new level cap of 70, it’s the only World Event to have ever been repeated.

This is how Tanaris looks today – sun, sand and giant plants, among the other usual stuff.

Back in 2008, during the the second Scourge Invasion, the rare spawns were level 71 and dropped the pants for the new Blessed Undead Slaying sets with 100% chance of drop. They could be easily taken down by a tank and DPS / healer if fought without any adds. Although you had to be fast to tag them since they didn’t spawn all that often, especially at high populated times.

During the Invasion, numerous high-level zones were placed under attack by one or two flying necropoli each. The zones under attack had purple skull markers on the continent-level maps. The zones were the Eastern Plaguelands, Burning Steppes, Blasted Lands, Tanaris, Azshara and Winterspring.

Assaulting the Necropolis

The necropoli were accompanied by Necrotic Shards, which were visible on the ground near each of the flying citadels. These shards were always surrounded by a large number of undead who were non-elite, granting 5 Argent Dawn reputation until revered, unlike normal undead. They also yielded [Invader's Scourgestones] if slain while having the [Argent Dawn Commission] equipped.

The Shards near the undead were weakened as the undead were killed. When the strength of the shard reached zero, four Cultist Engineers would appear and begin to heal it. Each of these engineers could be “disrupted” through the use of eight Necrotic Runes. The Acolyte would then convert into a Shadow of Doom, which was a tough 70 elite mob. Defeating them would yield a [Corruptor's Scourgestone], 50 reputation with the Argent Dawn, 30 Necrotic Runes with a chance to drop the chest piece of the Undead Slaying set.

Destroying all four Shadows of Doom would destroy the Necrotic Shard, healing nearby players for 10,000, granting them a powerful buff and stop new Scourge from spawning there for a short time.

Today I took the opportunity to go back to Tanaris in my Blessed Regalia of Undead Cleansing set and re-enact what it was like back then. I can’t remember what I had as a weapon so I substituted my Scythe and veil for the occasion. With the plant playing the role of the evil scourge.

Aside from the necropolis events outdoors, Scourge mobs would occasionally appear in Stormwind and Undercity. Their spawns were seemingly random, causing city NPCs to yell for help. The most common were Flameshockers, level 63 mobs which didn’t hit very hard but had a lot of health. The city NPCs were capable of killing the Flameshockers on their own, but if a player or group chose to tag them, they would receive 5 Argent Dawn rep (at Honoured). Flameshockers could also drop Necrotic Runes.

There were also groups of tougher elite mobs called Pallid Horrors that would periodically spawn in Stormwind and Undercity and attempt to get to the city leader, causing him/her to yell that he/she is under attack. They did not pose an actual threat to racial leaders as they were able to defeat the creatures quite easily themselves. When all the mobs were defeated, the city leader would yell that they were safe, and a dead Necrotic Shard would spawn. The shard would provide a quest to talk to an NPC at Light’s Hope Chapel. Any player could receive this quest, even if they didn’t tag the mobs that spawned the shard.

All the mobs that spawned inside cities were yellow and did not attack players who hadn’t attacked them first. They also didn’t appear to attack vital NPCs such as bankers and vendors so players who weren’t interested in the city events could simply just ignore them and go about their business.

Prince Tenris Mirkblood was introduced in October 2008 as a part of the Scourge Invasion. He could be found in Karazhan secluded in The Guardhouse above the stables where Attumen resides. Going up the stairs immediately after Attumen, he could be found behind a Bloodstained Door. His death was required to loot the papers which were the objective of the quest Chamber of Secrets.

You can read about our first encounter back in 2008 where his most popular drop was the Arcanite Ripper. We managed to do this boss twice for our axe wielding tanks back when 10P raids weren’t really common. However, I was happy to see that the Vampiric Batling was able to be looted by all.

On November 10, 2008 the forces of the scourge attacked Stormwind Harbor and Orgrimmar’s Valley of Honor every thirty minutes with actively hostile 72 elite Frost Wyrm Raptors and 71 elite Towering Horror abominations.

The Haunted Memento could drop from any of the invading undead mobs during the Invasion. Having this item in your inventory would give you the Haunted buff, resulting in an untargetable and harmless Scourge Haunt to follow in your tracks. The effect lasts as long as you have the item in your possession. The item can be given/tossed to any friendly player by targeting the player and right clicking the item for its use, much like a Heavy Leather Ball or Happy Fun Rock. However, if they have no space in their bags, the item is destroyed with no confirmation. Sadly this happened to me :(

The shadow will be dismissed if the memento is placed in the bank. Catching this item triggers the /cower animation. The shadow can also be dismissed by summoning a companion though the buff remains. Likewise, if receiving the Memento while your companion is summoned, it will dismiss your companion. Stealthing dismisses this pet, even though the buff remains.

Do you have any memories of either Scourge event?