Shadowlands Pre-Patch Event Guide

The Shadowlands pre-patch event goes live October 10, 2020 (US) or October 11, 2020 (EU). Although you do not need to purchase Shadowlands to participate in the event, a Level 50 character is still required.

The most notable rewards include:

• Papa's Mint Condition Bag — a 34-slot bag;
• Accursed Keepsake, an item that spawns a ghost when you have it in your inventory;
• Putrid Geist battle pet;
• Item Level 100 catch-up gear.
• Skadi the Ruthless has a chance to drop Reins of the Blue Proto-Drake.

• Depending on your faction, you will receive the intro quest from your racial leader and learn that the undead Scourge are swarming in numbers not seen since the return of the Lich King.
• Furthermore, you will find out two of your faction's leaders have been abducted by Sylvanas Windrunner.
• The Scourge's unbound hunger has been unleashed, and it is only a matter of time before they will be swarming the streets.
• The Death Knights of the Ebon Blade have stepped forward to aid you and the Argent Crusade has returned to answer the call.
• Bolvar, now free of the Lich King's crown, is recovering in Acherus.
• You are sent to investigate the Scourge Presence in different areas, depending on your faction.
• After arriving back to Stormwind (Alliance) or Orgrimmar (Horde), you will find out that Nathanos Blightcaller has been spotted in the Eastern Plaguelands and you must slay him.

A weekly quest will unlock that sends you to the Eastern Plaguelands (The Marris Stead) to kill Nathanos Blightcaller.

Each week, you will receive 5 Argent Commendations and Deathguard Equipment Cache, which contains a piece of Item Level 115 loot for your Loot Specialization.

You can find Nathanos' exact location on the map below.

As a full-fledged boss, Nathanos uses the following abilities during the encounter.

• Plague-Tipped Arrows — is an AoE attack that affects 3 players and leaves a cloud of toxic gas at their location for 30 seconds. The spell has a 50-yard range.
• Rain of Arrows — is an AoE attack that attacks 3 players. It makes adds fixate on random players for a short duration.
• Shadowburn Shot — deals damage to all enemies in front of the boss.

During Stage 2, you will secure a foothold in Icecrown and unlock Daily Quests in the zone. Icecrown now scales up to Level 50, and the zone has been updated with 20 Elites that rotate on a 10-minute timer. These drop Item Level 110 loot.

The Elites are announced in the chat and are invulnerable to damage for up to 1 minute, giving you ample time to reach and kill them.

The most notable item you can acquire during this stage is a 34-slot bag called Papa's Mint Condition Bag that drops from Bronjahm, an Elite found in Icecrown at 71, 38. Do note that Bronjahm will only be up once every 200 minutes, and the drop chance of the bag is also not 100%, so it will take a while before you can get it.

All Icecrown Elites have a chance to drop Accursed Keepsake, an upgraded Haunted Memento.

Skadi the Ruthless located at 57.8, 56.1 has a small chance to drop Reins of the Blue Proto-Drake.

We recommend you to download and use the HandyNotes: Scourge Invasion of Shadowlands plugin to see all Rare Elite location on the map along with the loot you can get from them. You must also download the HandyNotes addon for the plugin to work.

The main currency that you will collect in the pre-expansion event are Argent Commendations. You will receive them from completing the main storyline, Daily Quests in Icecrown, and for turning in Darkened Scourgestones and Pitch Black Scourgestones that are looted off Scourge corpses.

Argent Commendations can be turned in for:

• Item Level 100 catch-up gear (on par with Normal Ny'alotha) for 15 Argent Commendations each;
• Putrid Geist (battle pet) for 20 Argent Commendations;
• Anti-Doom Broom which costs 15 Argent Commendations. The consumable cleanses an area of the Scourge's plague, preventing the spread of infection during the Death Rising event.

Shortly after the Shadowlands pre-expansion event goes live, you will be called upon to defend Azeroth from an undead invasion as the Scourge sweep across the land. Players will embark on a quest to establish a foothold in Icecrown, where the barrier between Azeroth and Shadowlands has been shattered, and prepare for the coming journey into the Shadowlands. This limited-time pre-expansion event will only be available until the launch of Shadowlands, so make sure to log in to experience it and earn special rewards.

As a ghoul, you will gain access to special abilities and wreak havoc in major cities.

• Mangle! — Inflicts Physical damage to an enemy and increases Physical damage taken by 5% for 12 seconds. The ability has a 3-second cooldown.
• Retch! — Creates slime on the floor that slows enemies.
• Beckoning Groan — Beckon up to 4 zombies to you. They must not be in combat. The ability is on a 20-second cooldown.
• Lurch! — Increases the movement speed of nearby zombies by 100% for 10 seconds to help catch food. Removes movement-impairing or crowd control effects. The ability has a 30-second cooldown.
• Zombie Explosion! — Bursts into pieces, inflicting Physical damage and infecting enemies within 15 yards. 4-second cast, 60-second cooldown.

New players that have just finished Exile's Reach, the new intro experience, are immune to becoming infected, thanks to the New Recruit buff that will be placed on them.

Completing the whole pre-expansion storyline leading up to the events of Shadowlands rewards the Death Rising achievement.