Bloodmage Thalnos

Bloodmage Thalnos is the last boss of the Graveyard wing of the Scarlet Monastery, a skeletal mage who was once one of the Scarlet Crusade's own. Cruel even by the Crusade's standards, he caught the plague and rose as one of the undead he was sworn to destroy. He is a level 34 elite who mixes fire and shadow magic, and many players know his name better from Hearthstone than from the dungeon.

Background

In life, Thalnos made his name in the Crusade by torturing new recruits to "purify" them, a harsh reputation in an order already known for zealotry. The irony of his fate is the point of his story: the sadistic mage contracted the plague of undeath and rose again as a skeleton. Now he stalks the monastery's graveyard, commanding the ghosts and zombies there against anyone who enters his domain.

His title suggests he practiced blood magic, which the game never explains further. His lines in the fight speak of hunger for vengeance and of the angry dead finding no rest.

Abilities

• Flame Spike: calls down a pillar of fire on an area, burning everyone in it and then burning them more over nine seconds.
• Flame Shock: instant Fire damage on one player, with more damage over time.
• Fire Nova: a burst of Fire damage to everyone near him.
• Shadow Bolt: a single-target Shadow bolt.

Strategy

Thalnos waits just below the staircase at the far end of the Graveyard.

• Clear the ghosts and zombies on the way in. The Graveyard's undead wander, and a stray pull during the boss fight is the most common cause of trouble.
• Melee should expect Fire Nova. Healers and ranged damage dealers should stand back from him.
• Move out of Flame Spike when the pillar lands. It burns for nine seconds, so staying in it costs a lot of health.
• Interrupt Shadow Bolt when you can. Warriors, rogues and mages all have interrupts that work on him.
• He is undead, so paladin abilities that only work on undead, such as Exorcism, can be used on him.

Loot

The Orb of the Forgotten Seer is an off-hand item that adds to spell damage and healing, and the Bloodmage Mantle is a cloth shoulder piece with Intellect and Spirit. Both are good finds for casters in their early 30s.

Trivia

• Hearthstone made Thalnos a legendary card. Its art was borrowed from Turov the Risen, a skeletal mage from the World of Warcraft Trading Card Game.
• Thalnos is voiced by Marc Graue, who voiced several of the monastery's other bosses.

Later history

Mists of Pandaria (patch 5.0.4) rebuilt the monastery and replaced him with Thalnos the Soulrender, an updated version with new abilities. The original encounter returned with World of Warcraft Classic in 2019, and with the Scarlet Monastery of Old in retail patch 10.1.7.

Sources

• Bloodmage Thalnos, Warcraft Wiki
• Scarlet Monastery Graveyard, Warcraft Wiki
• WoWDB NPC and loot data for patch 1.12