Stratholme

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Stratholme
Dungeon Type:	world
Level:	58-60
Player Limit:	5
Location:	Eastern Plaguelands

Stratholme is a location set in Blizzard Entertainments video game and book series, Warcraft. In the MMORPG World of Warcraft it acts as an instance dungeon in the virtual world.

Background

In Warcraft II: Tides of Darkness, Stratholme was noted for having abundant natural resources in the form of oil, which the Alliance and Horde navies required for shipbuilding. Both factions fought at least one major battle for control of the city. It was one of the most prosperous cities of northern Lordaeron before Prince Arthas, ignoring the counsel of his mentor, Uther Lightbringer, slaughtered its inhabitants to stop the spread of the plague of undeath in Warcraft III: The Reign of Chaos. The city succumbed nonetheless. In World of Warcraft, Stratholme is a high-level instance located in the Eastern Plaguelands. Both the undead Scourge and the Scarlet Crusade contest the region.

Nomenclature

While geographical short forms are highly varied in any MMORPG, the most common shortform referring to Stratholme is "Strat", or alternatively, "Strath". Stratholme is also generally divided into two sections by players based on two possible entrances to the instance:

• Scarlet Crusade Side - Variously referred to as Scarlet Strat, Strat SC, Human Strat, HU Strat, Live Strat, Strat SM or SM2 (referring to the Scarlet Monastery theme), and FD Strat (referring to the entrance taken for that part of the instance is the "front" door of Stratholme)
• Scourge Side - Referred to as Undead, or UD Strat, Strat UD, Strat Dead, BD Strat (referring to the entrance taken being the back door, as it is labeled the "Service Entrance"), or more commonly a "Baron run" which refers to the final boss Baron Rivendare who can only be reached by clearing all of this area of Stratholme.

Instance zone

Stratholme is usually divided into two sections:

• The Scarlet Side - where a large temple occupied by members of the Scarlet Crusade are found.
• The Undead Side - where many undead defend unholy ziggurats ultimately leading to the chamber of Baron Rivendare.

The maximum number of people allowed in a single instance is, as of patch 1.11, five.

Enemies

Stratholme Scarlet side is populated by various forms of undead (skeletons, ghouls, zombies, ghosts) and then, inside the Scarlet Crusade's building, a large number of humans. In general, the Scarlet side of Stratholme is regarded as being the more difficult of the two areas.

Stratholme Undead side is populated by undead of every possible type including banshees, abominations, and nerubian "death spiders". Monster levels range from 58 to 61. Most monsters are elite.

Some very important quests can only be finished by fighting through Stratholme, often in a small group of no more than five. The rewards for these quests are impressive and many players consider them worth the effort. Also the two main bosses often reward the players who defeat them with very powerful items.

Scarlet/Live Stratholme

The western side of the Stratholme instance is generally referred to as the Scarlet or Live Side, in reference to the Scarlet Crusade's Citadel that is found there. Players going through the Scarlet Side generally enter Stratholme through the main entrance. However, the main entrance to Stratholme is a one-way entrance, players cannot exit the way they came in when entering through the main entrance. While players must fight through a number of undead monsters to get to the citadel, the majority of the time spent in the Scarlet Side is spent slaying human members of the Scarlet Crusade.

Players on the way to the Scarlet Crusade's Citadel also have the option to kill Fras Siabi, for the quest "The Great Fras Siabi" given by Smokey Larue at Light's Hope Chapel in the Eastern Plaguelands. Players can also do the event to kill Postmaster Malown. However, both monsters are commonly bypassed, since it is generally not worth the time and effort.

Bosses found in the Scarlet Side also include Archivest Galford, Cannon Master Willey, Hearthsinger Forresten (rare), Skul (rare), and Timmy the Cruel. Since patch 1.10, the gauntlets of the Lightforge armor set drop from Timmy. They are Bind on Equip.

The final boss in the Scarlet Crusade's Citadel is Balnazzar:

• Balnazzar - The boss of the Scarlet side of Stratholme drops several powerful items including the pattern for the epic priest robe "Truefaith Vestments" and the boots of the Paladin's Lightforge Armor set.

Undead Stratholme

The eastern side of Stratholme is generally referred to as the Undead Side. Players going through the Undead Side generally enter Stratholme through the side Sewer Entrance, which requires the Key to the City, which is found by killing Magistrate Barthilas.

The Undead Side of Stratholme is completed by disabling the three Ziggurats that protect the final area. The Ziggurats are protected on the outside by bosses (Nerub'enkan, Maleki the Pallid, and Baroness Anastari), as well as a number of easy mobs on the inside.

Bosses found in the Undead Side also include Stonespine (rare) and Magistrate Barthilas, who will be fought at the Service Gate if the party entered through the front door(unusual) or near the gate to Slaughter Square if the party used the back door.

After disabling the three Ziggurats, players must all pass through the last gate before the abominations (players who fail to pass the gate before beginning to kill the abominations will be locked out and separated from the rest of the group). After killing the abominations, a series of events will be triggered involving fights with Ramstein the Gorger, and slew of skeletons, and a number of elite skeletal guards.

After fighting through these, the players finally face the final boss of the Undead Side:

• Baron Rivendare - The final boss of the Undead section drops the leg slot item for every class' blue armor set making him a very popular encounter. "Baron runs" can be completed by skilled parties in less than a hour. (One of the game's most challenging non-raid quest is to complete Undead Stratholme in 45 minutes.) The Baron also drops two extremely rare epic items: his Runeblade and the Reins of the Deathcharger, his epic mount, which can be used by any race in the game.

Trivia

• Many players have pointed out that, after four years since it was destroyed and started burning, the city would have burnt to the ground, but it still remains standing and burning. This is possibly due to its "abundant natural resources in the form of oil".

See also

• Warcraft Universe
• Locations in the Warcraft Universe
• Organizations in the Warcraft universe

External links

• at WoWWiki, a World of Warcraft wiki

 

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