Zombie Invasion

The Wrath of the Lich King Scourge Invasion has begun, as of October 23rd. Exactly 3 weeks until the release of WotLK. The following information is also found at our sister site WoWhead at this link.

Phases of Infection - The Beginning

Found in the rotting diary of Eric Farrington in the dead city of Andorhal...

Wednesday
My beloved home, Andorhal, has fallen victim to an evil plague. I have witnessed the horrors of the Scourge firsthand, and seen unimaginable things. Death was not granted to my loved ones. Instead, everyone I've ever known has turned into monsters. Monsters of unfathomable, relentless viciousness!
I thought naught of a few illnesses, a few fevers. We continued to ship out crates of grain to Lordaeron, and we weren't fearful of this new sickness - we were confident our healers could handle it. I know now that was foolish, blind.
The denizens of Andorhal turned into vile zombies of the Scourge. These monstrosities no longer held any thoughts or abilities from their mortal lives. Most certain of all, they readily used new powers we had never seen before to further spread the disease and hasten the destruction of the city.
I have been hiding for two days in the sewers, but I must venture out soon to find supplies or possibly a way out of the city to the forests.
Friday
Help me, I've been bitten!
I cannot believe I was foolish enough to think I could sneak past all of them on the streets. The zombies are everywhere now, and Andorhal is only a shell of its former glory, a sad and twisted remnant of my beautiful home.
I can already feel the disease taking me. May the light bless me as I go to be with my family and friends once again. I'm not sure how much longer I can keep my sanity. I am weak. I hunger, and must eat...
Eat...
Brains...

Phase 0 (10/23)

The beginning of the end
The Scourge plague is affecting us all in the form of a zombie plague! Strange, foul smelling crates have appeared in Booty Bay, apparently spreading a deadly plague. Beware for they are corrupting Horde and Alliance players alike! If this contagion is left untreated, we will have a plague the likes of which this world has never seen on our hands!

Phase 1 (10/23)

Plagued roaches and more crates
It appears that this plague is more virulent than we at first thought. The crates seem to have found their way into our capital cities and are beginning to affect our denizens. Not only that, but the plague is spreading through infectious Plagued Roaches! Even killing them cannot stop it, as killing these foul pests only spreads the contagion further! There seems to be no way to prevent this madness from spreading! Wait, there are healers showing up that seem to be able to forestall the spread, but they appear to be overworked. I hope they can hold on!

Phase 2 (10/24)

Plagued residents, shorter infection times and the spreading of madness!
The healers were not as effective as we hoped and several of these so-called "Argent Healers" have simply given up on us. As if that wasn't bad enough, the roaches are spreading and even more crates have appeared, spreading this disease further. Of the citizens who have been healed, they are reporting that the cures are proving ineffective on others around them, as they succumb to this plague and fall, only to rise within 5 beats of the heart as minions seeking the flesh of their former neighbors!^[1] We have managed to effect a quarantine in the cities of sorts but now we are starting to see smatterings of the populace wandering outside the gates so at least one infected person has managed to escape the quarantine and spread this outside the walls...^[2]

Phase 3 (10/25)

Citadels, Scourge Invasion and a new boss in Karazhan
Gods, we have never seen anything spread this fast or this virulently, it must have mutated! The citizenry is falling faster than ever to the foul clouds of greenish dust that swirl through our city streets!^[3] Those of us left have begun hearing frenzied whispers of a new master in the ruins of Karazhan as well, fearsome and powerful in his mad desire to control that pile of stone. To add to our mounting dread at this news, we are also starting to see the appearance of seeing gigantic floating citadels around every city in Azeroth! It's almost as if they are waiting for us to fall...

Phase 4 (10/26)

No escape!
We are able to find even fewer healers now, they seem to be sneaking off in the darkness. With the lessened numbers of healers available to help the populace, our people are falling faster than ever to this horrid plague. Already the stench of burning bodies and the smoke from the pyres rises, blotting out the skyline and giving it an ugly, greenish cast. And not only that but people cower in their homes now as hordes of undead slaver and root through the bodies of the slain, falling upon any that are foolish enough to venture out for supplies.^[4]

Phase 5

Phase 5 has begun...

This phase brings with it a host of new quests available from any citizen in the main cities. The quest you get is going to send you to NPCs outside of A'dal's room. From here you get sent to your faction leader to continue. During the time you have this quest, you'll be whispered by either a Frozen Shade or a Dual-plagued Brain. the whispers will taunt you and tempt you to join the forces of the Lich King with promises of death or despair if you don't. When you interact with the common citizens, they all seem to hint at a cure the plague. However, there are already new structures starting to appear in Shattrath and seem to be commanded by Grand Apothecary Putress.

Quotes from the Dual-plagued Brain

There is fire in my eyes! My mind!
Cling to your hope, mortal!
Hope sweetens the soul, and yours will be a fine desert for the Lich King!
Give me your brain!
I must feed...
You... I've seen you in Shattrath...
My King knows of you. He wants to see you.
Please! ! Destroy me!
Let the torture end!
Show mercy! Give me peace!
Where am I? So dark...
Living flesh eases the pain...
Please, I just need a little. A finger or an ear will do.

Quotes from the Frozen Shade

There. I found you...
Your kingdoms shall fall, (race)!
Your mighty castles will crumble and your loved ones will join the Lich King's ranks!
Greetings...
My master has a message for you...
It is this: Welcome.
Welcome to a cold death.
Greetings...
The stench of that holy trinket you carry disgusts me...
Why don't you discard it...
I see you...
Join us, (name). Swear allegiance to the Lich King. Give yourself to him and know peace... the peace you have been denied since your wailing, terrified birth.
Ahh, there you are...
Say goodbye to the ones you love, (class).

Phase 5 Summary

A cure for the plague is being worked on.
New quests given by "commoners" in all capital cities.
Quests leading to Putress and faction leaders.
Grand Apothecary Putress appears as a level 80 elite NPC in Shattrath.
Putress has some interesting idle conversation while in Shattrath.
The Night Elf faction leader hints at a new World Tree upon quest completion.
A Frozen Shade or a Dual-plagued Brain will have a conversation with you while you're completing the quests.

Scourge Invasion

With the advent of the invasion, there are now a host of Quests available to lower level players.

Quests
Low level quests have become available outside of the major cities asking players to investigate Dim Necrotic Circles that have spawned outside the cities, and to defeat the Scourge and return with 3 Dim Necrotic Stone.

Argent Scouts have spawned at an Argent Dawn camp in the main cities and give a new quest, Light's Hope Chapel. The quest asks players to deliver the Call to Arms Announcement to the Keeper of the Rolls at Light's Hope Chapel, in Eastern Plaguelands.

Two classic Scourge Invasion quests are also available from Commander Thomas Helleran - Shadows of Doom, which asks players to kill an elite Shadow of Doom, and Under the Shadow, in which players are tasked with collecting 10 Necrotic Runes. These quests each award you your choice of either 5 Blessed Wizard Oil or 5 Consecrated Sharpening Stones.

Scourge Attacks

Throughout select zones in Azeroth (Azshara, Burning Steppes, Eastern Plaguelands]], Tanaris, and Winterspring), Necrotic Shards will occasionally spawn, surrounded by level 69-70 Skeletal Shocktroopers, Ghoul Berserkers and other undead mobs. The Scourge commonly drop Necrotic Runes, which are used as a currency to purchase items from the Argent Quartermaster.

You will be able to see which zone is under attack by checking your world map and looking for a purple skull icon in a zone. You can also speak to an Argent Messenger in any major city and inquiring about locations. Areas that are under attack will have floating citadels empowering Necrotic Shards. The shards can be damaged by killing the Scourge hanging around them, and when the shard is extremely weakened, four Cultist Engineers will spawn and begin channelling the damaged shard. Speaking to these will give an option to spawn a Shadow of Doom at the cost of 8 Runes. Each Shadow of Doom will drop 30 Runes as a stack that can only be looted by one person. When all four Shadows have been defeated, the crystal can be destroyed and Scourge will no longer spawn at that location until next attack.

Occasionally, Alliance or Horde major cities may come under attack directly from the Scourge! Undead mobs will invade the city and attack anything in their path. Faint Necrotic Crystals will spawn around the city, guarded by a small legion of Scourge warriors which must be defeated. Once this is done, the Faint Necrotic Crystal will give you a quest, Faint Necrotic Crystal.

Anti-Undead Armor Sets

Rare spawns and Shadows of Doom located at the shards have a chance of dropping chest and leg armor as follows:

Cloth: Blessed Regalia of Undead Cleansing
Leather: Undead Slayer's Blessed Armor
Mail: Blessed Garb of the Undead Slayer
Plate: Blessed Battlegear of Undead Slaying

The gloves and shoulders for these sets are sold by the Argent Quartermaster for 15 Necrotic Runes each.

Argent Quartermaster

This NPC is located outside of Light's Hope Chapel by the forge, and sells items in exchange for Necrotic Runes. They also can be found in major cities but those will only tell you to head out to Eastern Plaguelands and do not sell items.

In order to purchase items from the Argent Quartermaster, you must first complete the quest Under the Shadows before she will show you what is available.

The Argent Dawn Banner places an Argent Banner on the ground and casts Argent Glory (similar to Consecration) on the ground around it, dealing 38 Holy damage every 2 seconds to anything in range.

The Argent Tome summons a large tome that will sit idle for about three seconds before exploding with Argent Wisdom (similar to Holy Nova) and hitting anything within a 10 yard radius for around 249 to 373 Holy damage. (screenshot)

The Argent War Horn summons a level 60 Argent Knight (human for Alliance, blood elf for Horde) decked out in level 60 PVP gear to your side to aid you in battle. The Knight uses regular melee attacks and Crusader Strike, and while he doesn't hit very hard and only lasts 30 seconds, the best part comes when he's about to leave! Instead of simply despawning, the paladin will bubble and hearth! (screenshot)

The Tabard of the Argent Dawn awards a Feat of Strength and this tabard can only be obtained during the Invasion.

New Boss: Prince Tenris Murkblood

Available from October 25th to approximately November 3rd.^[5]

A new boss has been added to the game, Prince Tenris Mirkblood. He is located in the (previously locked) Servant's Quarters located up the stairs just past Attumen the Huntsman in Karazhan. He can be a tough fight but he is doable by 5 to 10 decently geared players who pay attention.

As of 10/26/08, his drop table consists of only three specific items:

Arcanite Ripper - This rather impressive two-handed axe has an awesome hidden "use" effect. When activated, it changes your character's appearance into that of Bergrisst of L80ETC and causes you to rock out (or as the spell effect tooltip puts it, "melt face")!
Vampiric Batling - This vampire bat companion is lootable by everyone in the raid! Great for pet aficionados!
Badge of Justice - Two of 'em, yeah baby!

Defeating Tenris Murkblood will also save you to that specific Karazhan raid.

Chamber of Secrets

When arriving at Light's Hope Chapel, players will find the Argent Emissary, who gives the quest Chamber of Secrets, asking players to search the the chamber of Tenris Mirkblood. The quest item can be found on a table in his room, which you then right click to complete. Completing this quest will get you a Monster Slayer's Kit.

Scourge Invasion Bosses

While slightly less impressive than a cool looking boss in Karazhan that drops an axe you can play as a guitar but still worth mentioning, it appears that all of the previous Scourge Invasion, pre-TBC, bosses can be found in their respective instances^[6]. The available bosses are as follows:

How to Become a Zombie

Become infected by interacting with a conspicuous crate, or by killing a plagued roach â€“ both commonly found throughout capital cities and Booty Bay. And of course, when zombies attack, their victims can be afflicted by the disease as well.
You will gain a 2-minute infection disease that can be cleansed by paladins/shaman/priests (?), or by standing near an Argent Healer - but where's the fun in that!
When the infection has run its full course you will instantly be transformed into a zombie! You cannot mount, and walk incredibly slow but are granted an arsenal of new skills (see below) which you can use to spread the plague to the unsuspecting!

Zombie Skills

Mangle - Increases your next attack by 20 damage and reduces the target's armor by 3%.
Retch - Retch on the ground! Humanoids in it are slowed and infected. Zombies in it are healed.
Beckoning Groan - Beckon up to four zombies to you. They must not be in combat.
Lurch - You and nearby zombies gain a temporary burst of speed, to help catch your food. Removes any move impairment or crowd control effect.
Zombie Explosion - Burst into pieces, destroying yourself but infecting those around you.

Infecting Others!

Use Retch or Zombie Explosion
Kill any NPC and they will be converted into a zombie. Use Beckoning Groan to call any idle zombie NPCs to your aid!
Kill any player and they will be converted into a zombie that can fight alongside you. You can be healed by their Retch.

A Cure!!!

When all hope seemed lost, an Argent Healer is reported to have made a startling discovery -- a cure! Scores of citizens, turned to rotting, flesh craving zomnies, began to slowly metamorphosize back into their respective racial forms. Slow the cure began to spread and reverse the course of the hideous infection decimating the populace but alas, the actual notes for the cure have not been found. Sadly, the healer who discovered the cure died before he could write down the secret of this cure but even now, hope is returning to the ravaged cities across the face of Azeroth.

We'd like to thank players for participating so zealously (and valiantly!) during the Great Zombie Plague of '08. Our intention with this event was to create something memorable and to literally change the face of Azeroth for a few days. This event is just one of many leading up to Wrath of the Lich King. As you know, the Scourge Invasion is now live as well and there is some other cool stuff coming up before all is said and done. Also, Hallow's End continues on!
While we recognize that the event could prove to be disruptive at times, we hope you made the most out of it while it lasted. Part of playing in a "living and breathing world" means that things are going to change from time to time. We meant no harm but only wanted to create a lasting impression on players as they head to Northrend to defeat the Lich King. The Lich King's goals (as you will soon learn) are to turn the Horde and Alliance not only on one another, but on their own kind as well. I think the plague truly demonstrated this firsthand.
So it looks like a cure has finally been foundâ€¦ for now.
Thank you for participating in our most memorable event to dateâ€¦ for better or forâ€¦. brrrrrrraaaaaainsâ€¦

Cure Summary

Couple of other important notes:

The scourge invasion will continue for a few more days.
The prologue event is not over! More to come!!
The Karazhan boss will be up for approximately another week still
We increased the respawn rate of the Necropoli
Zombie cure should kick in by around noon PST

Notes

Zombies will gradually lose health over time so be sure to watch your health and stay healed by attacking enemies! Retch will also heal you for about 350 per tick.
You can skip the 2 minute waiting time on You're Infected by killing yourself.^[7] or by losing a duel to another player. Other methods: Stoneform (Dwarf), Divine Shield (Paladin), Ice Block (Mage).
To make sure you don't lose any durability, feel free to take off all your gear. Your gear stats will not help you as a zombie.
As a zombie you become friendly to all other zombies and hostile to every player faction. Players of your faction will show up with red names and everyone becomes your prey! This effectively allows you to talk to any other zombie, including those of the opposing faction!
As a zombie your melee power is not amazing (you'll basically be spamming Mangle!) and survivability is key. Be sure that you are using and standing inside Retch! so you are getting healed while you attack. Attacking living enemies will also heal you.

^ The duration of the infection disease was reduced to 5 minutes
^ Lvl 10 Plagued Residents can now be found outside capital cities.
^ The zombie infection now lingers for 2 minutes before players become zombies.
^ The zombie infection now only lingers for 1 minute before players become zombies
^ But there is no official word as yet on this part.
^ These bosses drop blue quality loot within the level range of the instances they are located inside.
^ You will lose 10% durability on your equipped items

	Allakhazam credits Wowhead for some of the info in this article. WoWHead is also published by ZAM Networks, LLC.

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This page last modified 2008-12-09 12:52:58.