Scourge Invasion

The Scourge Invasion was a world event that came with patch 1.11 in June 2006 and heralded the arrival of Naxxramas, the floating citadel of the lich Kel'Thuzad. Flying necropolises appeared over six high-level zones and over the capitals of Stormwind City and the Undercity, and players fought the undead beneath them for the Argent Dawn, earning Necrotic Runes, new gear and server-wide blessings. Unlike the holidays, it was not tied to a date: it ran for weeks, and each realm's progress depended on how hard its players fought back.

Background

With patch 1.11, the necropolis Naxxramas rose over the Eastern Plaguelands, carrying Kel'Thuzad and his elite, and the Lich King's armies struck far beyond the plaguelands. Smaller necropolises appeared over the Eastern Plaguelands, Burning Steppes, Blasted Lands, Tanaris, Azshara and Winterspring, each anchored to the ground by glowing shards, while undead poured from summoning circles beneath them. The Argent Dawn organized the defense from Light's Hope Chapel in the Eastern Plaguelands and from camps in the capitals, and asked every adventurer for help.

Fighting the necropolises

Argent Dawn officers in the capitals pointed players toward the attacked zones, which were marked on the map with purple skulls. Lieutenants in each capital, such as [[forever:npc:16478]] in Stormwind, gave a first quest, [[forever:quest:9260]], with low-level undead to fight right outside the city.

Under each necropolis, a [[forever:npc:16136]] stood amid swarms of non-elite undead such as [[forever:npc:16141]] and [[forever:npc:16299]]. Killing them weakened the shard and dropped [[forever:item:22484]]. When a shard's strength ran out, four [[forever:npc:16230]] arrived to repair it; players could spend eight runes to disrupt each one, which turned it into a [[forever:npc:16143]], a level 60 elite shadow. Destroying all four shadows broke the shard, and breaking every shard of a necropolis destroyed it, freeing the zone until the Scourge brought in another.

Quests and rewards

The main quests were given by [[forever:npc:16361]] at Light's Hope Chapel:

• [[forever:quest:9153]]: bring ten Necrotic Runes as proof of the fight.
• [[forever:quest:9085]]: destroy Shadows of Doom, for [[forever:item:23122]] or [[forever:item:23123]], both made to fight the undead.

Runes became the event's currency. The [[forever:npc:16786]] in Light's Hope and the capitals traded them for gear made for fighting undead:

The rest of each set came from the fight itself: the Shadows of Doom sometimes dropped the chest pieces, such as [[forever:item:23087]], and three rare undead that appeared at the shards, the [[forever:npc:16380]], the [[forever:npc:14697]] and the [[forever:npc:16379]], dropped the bracers, such as [[forever:item:23090]].

Non-elite undead also dropped six torn letters, such as the one that starts [[forever:quest:9295]], which told small stories from the Third War and were turned in to the [[forever:npc:16281]].

The cities and the dungeons

Above Stormwind and the Undercity, necropolises sent small raids into the streets. Passive [[forever:npc:16383]] wandered the cities, and elite [[forever:npc:16394]] marched toward the throne rooms until guards and players cut them down.

New undead bosses with a purple glow also appeared in six dungeons, each with its own loot: [[forever:npc:14682]] in Shadowfang Keep, [[forever:npc:14693]] in Scarlet Monastery, [[forever:npc:14686]] in Razorfen Downs, [[forever:npc:14690]] in Dire Maul, [[forever:npc:14695]] in Scholomance and [[forever:npc:14684]] in Stratholme.

Victories and the end

Every destroyed necropolis counted toward the realm's total. After 50, 100 and 150 victories, Argent Dawn officers in Light's Hope and the capitals began to hand out the [[forever:item:23194]], the [[forever:item:23195]] and the [[forever:item:23196]], buffs that raised Stamina. When the invasion ended, the dungeon bosses disappeared with it, and Naxxramas remained as the game's last raid.

Later history

• A second Scourge Invasion came with patch 3.0.2 in 2008, before Wrath of the Lich King, retuned for level 70 and leading into attacks on the capitals. It is the only world event of its kind to have run twice.
• World of Warcraft Classic brought the invasion back with Naxxramas in its last content phase in 2020.

Sources

• Scourge Invasion, Warcraft Wiki
• Tabard of the Argent Dawn, Warcraft Wiki