Shadowfang Keep



Shadowfang Keep is a haunted castle fort in southern Silverpine Forest, near Pyrewood Village. It is the base of operations for the evil archmage Arugal and his worgen progeny.

History

 * During the Third War, the wizards of the Kirin Tor battled against the undead armies of the Scourge. When the wizards of Dalaran died in battle, they would rise soon after - adding their former might to the growing Scourge. Frustrated by their lack of progress (and against the advice of his peers) the Archmage, Arugal elected to summon extra-dimensional entities to bolster Dalaran's diminishing ranks. Arugal's summoning brought the ravenous worgen into the world of Azeroth. The feral wolf-men slaughtered not only the Scourge, but quickly turned on the wizards themselves. The worgen sieged the keep of the noble, Baron Silverlaine. Situated above the tiny hamlet of Pyrewood, the keep quickly fell into shadow and ruin. Driven mad with guilt, Arugal adopted the worgen as his children and retreated to the newly dubbed 'Shadowfang Keep'. It's said he still resides there, protected by his massive pet, Fenrus - and haunted by the vengeful ghost of Baron Silverlaine.

Pyrewood Village is shadowed to the north by Shadowfang Keep, once a bastion of Alliance power but now the dark residence of a mad former mage of the Kirin Tor, named Arugal. The worgen that stalk the Keep, as well as the cursed villagers of Pyrewood are the doings of this madman. During the Third War, Arugal made these Worgen as allies but they could not be controlled and turned on him and the other soldiers. He went mad after this and now accepts them as his "children." His worgen run rampant throughout much of the forest.

During the events of World of Warcraft, agents of the Banshee Queen Sylvanas Windrunner were dispatched to both solve the mystery of the enigmatic worgen and ultimately terminate the source of the creatures infestation in Silverpine. Eventually they were able to discover that the mad archmage, Arugal, was behind the worgen's presence, and the Forsaken command ordered him slain.

Overview
SFK is the first vaguely challenging instance that players are likely to encounter. In addition to the volume of mobs present, several of the mobs here cast various curses, and the undead Humans make use of Silence, which means that a tank can be caught without healing in some fights if the healer(s) get hit with it.

Another major issue with this instance is the tendency of players levelling alts to underestimate the level of difficulty present here, and who thus believe that the mobs here can simply be chain pulled without regard to the consequences. A well-defined pull order is still highly desirable, (if marks are not actually used) as is an appropriate level of attention and caution. Recklessness here will result in repeated wipes, and player frustration.

Necessary classes in a group are a Mage and Warrior, although the others are still largely optional, as long as some form of main healer is also present. The Mage is needed to remove the curses that the Sons of Arugal place on player characters. Additionally, the Mage may be useful for casting Counterspell in order to prevent Arugal from Blinking, which he does quite regularly. Groups may also find the presence of a Hunter useful against Arugal, since a Hunter can maintain ranged DPS against him independently of his location, whereas Arugal's Blink means that melee DPS can have a much more difficult time.

Solid tanking is also needed here in order to prevent wipes, hence the Warrior. A Warrior is also likely a marginally better choice for tanking here than a Paladin, since although multi-mob tanking is required here, the mobs' use of Silence means that a Paladin can become unable to use his abilities.

For the level, the loot here is highly desirable, with a few different items that can sell well via the twink market. Several bind on pickup blue items are also to be found here, primarily for Mages and Warriors in particular. Although the level is still low enough that cash isn't hugely abundant, there is still some silver dropped at least.

Encounters

 * End Boss: Archmage Arugal 21+
 * Mini Bosses:
 * Rethilgore 20+
 * Razorclaw the Butcher 20+
 * Odo the Blindwatcher 21+
 * Baron Silverlaine 20+
 * Commander Springvale 20+
 * Fenrus the Devourer 21+
 * Wolf Master Nandos 21+


 * Rare Spawn Bosses:
 * Deathsworn Captain 21+
 * Scourge Invasion Only
 * Sever 25+

Walk Throughs and Maps

 * Walkthrough from Infoceptor.
 * Map from World of War.

Sub Regions
None

Notable Loot NPCs
All items reflect upcoming patch 2.3.0 changes.

Rethilgore  Archmage Arugal '''Wolf Master Nandos Fenrus the Devourer

Odo the Blindwatcher Commander Springvale

Baron Silverlaine Razorclaw the Butcher

Deathsworn Captain (rare)

Sever (Scourge Invasion event)

Notable rare random loot drops (all BoE)
Weapons
 * - 19 Dagger: [15.5 DPS 20-39 1.9 +3 Str, +4 Agi]
 * - 16 Two-Hand Mace: [19.4 DPS 48-73 (+1-6 Shadow) 3.3 Proc: 55 to 85 Shadow damage]
 * - 20 Two-Hand Sword: [21.0 DPS 57-86 3.4 Proc: 60 to 100 Shadow damage]
 * - 16 One-Hand Mace: [14.0 DPS 25-48 2.6 +3 Str, +3 Stam]
 * - 18 Main-Hand Axe: [15.0 DPS 28-53 2.7 +3 Str, +3 Agi]
 * - 18 Two-Hand Axe: [20.6 DPS 52-78 (+1-5 Shadow) 3.3 Proc: 60 to 90 shadow damage]
 * - 19 Main-Hand Sword: [17.8DPS 29-55 (+4-8 Shadow) 2.7 Proc: 30 Shadow damage]
 * - 17 Staff: [19.2 DPS 55-83 3.6, +8 Int, +11 Shadow Spells]

Armor
 * - 20 Leather Chest: [94 Armor, +5 Str, +12 Spi]
 * - 17 Cloth Wrist: [17 Armor, -5 Stam, +9 Int]
 * - 20 Cloth Chest: [43 Armor, +3 Stam, +12 Int, +5 Shadow Resist]

Resources

 * Medium Leather
 * Light Leather

Dungeon Denizens

 * Bats
 * Felsteeds
 * Forsaken
 * Ghosts
 * Humans
 * Rats
 * Voidwalkers
 * Wolves
 * Worgen

Notes, Tips, & Additional Info

 * Also known as: SFK (Not to be confused with RFK, which is Razorfen Kraul)
 * Enemy Level Range: 18-21
 * Gain entrance at level: 18
 * End Boss: Archmage Arugal 21+
 * Bring a Mage when fighting Arugal. Arugal casts a spell that turns you into his minion and forces you to attack your party members. Mages can Counterspell this, saving your group the extra damage from that attack.  (Needs verification- Arugal's Release your Rage attack doesn't seem to have a castbar and thus may be dispellable but not counterable.)
 * Players will farm SFK for the two level 19 BoE rare weapons – and  – which sell for upwards of 80 gold for twink PvP characters.