The Shadowfang keep is an instance that often times is ignored by Alliance players due to its location and low level. The instance contains many fun encounters for the level range though, and many powerful items. All players really should make an effort to explore it.

Shadowfang Keep is home to Arugal and his Worgen allies. He lives in the upper most reaches of the keep protected by a huge wolf pet named Fenrus. The lower parts of the keep are swarming with ghosts and worgen, so all intruders should be very cautious.

The MOBs in Shadowfang Keep range up to 24 elite and are generally found in groups of 2-3, with the occasional group of 4 or 5. Groups are often found close together so pulls must be done with caution. Low level players will also need to be worried about aggro range and hang back when fighting occurs in areas surrounded by other MOB's. Being a level 20-30 instance, with the MOBs being 20-25 elite you will HAVE to work together as a team, especially if you are at the low end of the level scale. Most players in the correct level range will not be able to handle an elite MOB of their level or higher on their own.

Shadowfang Keep is located in the far south of the Horde controlled, Silverpine forest. Silverpine forest (for all you Alliance only players) is in the northern areas of the Eastern Kingdoms, just west of Hillsbrad Foothills. It is generally the second zone that Undead players explorer. It is relatively easy for Horde players to reach at the correct level, however it takes a little more effort for Alliance to reach, which have to get to Southshore and then follow the road west.



Shadowfang keep is a relatively small instance, but it contains a ton of MOBs for its size. It should take a group a little less than 2 hours to complete it depending on party level and skill.

To make getting around and finding everything easy in Shadowfang Keep we have put together a map that marks the locations of all key named Mobs. The maps can be found here.

For those wanting to see more of what awaits you in Shadowfang Keep we have a gallery of screen shots that can be found here.

There are 6 quests to be completed in Shadowfang Keep. Three of them are faction specific quests for the Horde, while the other three are class specific, 2 for Paladins (one for Alliance the other for Horde) and 1 for Warlocks (both factions). What follows is a brief outline of each quest, where to collect it, and how to complete it. While reading the quests you may want to refer to our instance map of Shadowfang Keep for the exact location of the required MOBs.

Horde Quests

Deathstalkers in Shadowfang - Go to Shadowfang Keep to the south and find the Deathstalkers Adamant and Vincent. Find them, and if they require aid then give it.

You can find Deathstalker Adamant in one of the cells where you locate the key to enter into the keep itself, he is not marked on our map as you need to go right past him. You can find Deathstaler Vincent's body near the beginning of the instance. He is marked with the light blue dot on our Shadowfang keep map.

The Book of Ur - Enter Shadowfang Keep and find the book. Bring it to me, and I will report your service to our Dark Lady...

The book can be found on the shelf immediately to you left when you enter the round room in the keep where you fight Fenrus the Devourer. He is marked by a green square on our Shadowfang keep map.

Arugal Must Die - Kill Arugal and bring his head to Dalar Dawnweaver at the Sepulcher.

Arugal if found at the very end of the instance and is a powerful level 25 elite mage. While fighting him he will teleport around his room. When he does so it is critical that you let the tank re-gain aggro before stating to dps him again. He is marked by a white square on our Shadowfang keep map.

Horde Paladin Quest

The Blood-Tempered Ranseur - Travel to Shadowfang Keep and find the crate of Blood Ingots.

Stilwell can be found in one of the jail cells beside Rethigore. Once you talk to him he tells you they are in the stables across the yard. You can find them there.

Alliance Paladin Quest

The Test of Righteousness - Find Jordan's Smithing Hammer

This is the one of four parts a quest tree for paladins to gain Verigan's Fist, which is an amazing paladin only mace for the level. It is a two-hand mace that does
65-99 damage with a speed of 3.20 for 25.6dps!! Even better is has +7 stamina, +6 intellect and +12 spirit! The hammers location is marked by a dark blue dot on our Shadowfang keep map.

Warlock Quest

The Orb of Soran'ruk - Find a large Soran'ruk Fragment

This quest also involves a trip to Blackfathom Depths. The part you need from SFK is dropped by the Shadowfang Darksouls located throughout the instance. The Shadowfang Darksouls
are however immune to shadow magic so be careful as a warlock and ensure you have other damage methods.

There are several key tactical issues to keep in mind for dealing with the trash MOBs in Shadowfang Keep.

Several of the MOB's have some sort of anti-caster ability. For example the Shadowfang darksoul werewolves are immune to all shadow damage and the Undead guardsmen can cast an AOE silence. It is important to spot these units and ensure your casters and healers know to stay away from them and to have some other form of damage available.

Most of the MOBs in the instance will not flee, so you do not have to pull back as far as you normally would to give yourself time to react.

You come across Rethilgore very early in the instance in the jail cell area. He is a caster based worgen and while he has a nasty soul drain ability that can do up to 200 damage, he is relatively weak. Just make sure you kill the adds in the room before pulling him, or if any get added drop them quickly then back onto him.

In the lower half of the keep you will find the first three additional mini-bosses. They are Razorclaw the Butcher, Baron Silverlaine and Commander Springvale.

Razorclaw can be found in the kitchen and is a very nasty Worgen. The fight itself though is easy as he has no real abilities that cause trouble. The biggest thing to worry about with this fight is clearing the area before hand of patrols, or pulling him far enough back to not worry about them.

The Baron is nothing more than a named ghost that needs to be dispatched. No real abilities to worry about.

Commander Springvale is another ghost, but one with some paladin powers and two guards. He has a 6 second bubble, 3 second stun and heals, so take time off when he bubbles and try to interrupt the heals as often as possible. His adds can cast silence, so make sure they are taken care of quickly or your tank could disappear fast when the healer is silenced.

Odo is a worgen boss that you must fight along with two lesser pets. The trick to this fight is dropping his two pet bats quickly before he starts using his abilities. His main ability is:

• Howling Rage - This ability is a buff that increases Odo and his pets attack power. It stacks up to three times.

Once the bats are down, his ability is still powerful, but should not make for a wipe. Just keep the tank up and you should be good.

Fenrus the devourer is the last boss before the Archmage. He is a huge wolf that must be dealt with, while keeping some mana and health left over for the post fight.

As soon as you manage to drop him, 4 void walkers are summoned. They are non-elite and easy to deal with if you still have some mana and health, otherwise you could wipe.

The final boss in the instance is much more difficult than the others and usually leads to a wipe or two for those learning the instance. He is the Archmage Arugal, and has the following abilities.

• Teleport - During combat he can teleport away from the tank and will then start throwing shadowbolts until someone is in melee range with him.
• Shadowbolt - Deals lots of damage to a random target
• Transform - He can turn one of your party into a wolf, which will then attack the rest of the group.

Arugal, as mentioned is a very difficult fight for the level. The best tactic is to have the ranged players on top of each raised area in the room and tank him in the middle bottom area. In this way, someone can pick him up when he teleports away from the tank, and so that they will not lose LOS when he teleports.

Other than that, move fast when he teleports and try to keep everyone alive. Players other than the main tank should remember to use potions and bandages as this fight can be difficult for the healer.

We now get to probably the main reason you are in the instance, the loot! In Shadowfang keep there are many good drops for the level required. Despite this being mainly a Horde instance it is well worth the trip for alliance based cloth armor wearers as some of the best cloth items for the level range are found here The Belt of Arugal, Feline Mantle (shoulder) and Robe of Arugal (chest). If gained these items will be used for many levels and are worth the effort required to get them. The complete list of loot items is provided here:

As I mentioned before, this instance is often ignore by Alliance (other than Paladins) and sometimes even by Horde (due to being in the Undead starting area. It really shouldn't be though. As shown it has lots of cool encounters that will challenge and reward players. Speaking of reward it has some of the best cloth items in the game for their level range.

So, what are you waiting for, get over to Shadowfang Keep

Comments or questions? Email me, Byron Mudry at [email protected] or post on our forums!