Origins, History, and Lore
In the Warcraft universe, Scholomance (also know as Scholo) is an academy for the teaching and practices of
necromancy located at Caer Darrow in the Western Plaguelands. Originally owned by the Barov family, they traded the land off for immortality from the
Lich King. The powerful wizard
Kel'Thuzad then used the academy as a way to raise the numbers of the Scourge army before using them to sack and destroy Lordaeron. These Scourge were created and trained mostly by Ras Frostwhisper, a lieutenant Lich in Kel'Thuzad's ranks. Despite Frostwhisper's leading status at the academy, Darkmaster Gandling (another of Kel'Thuzad's sevants) remains the headmaster of the academy.
In the past, the doors to the dungeon were locked and it was necessary to obtain The Skeleton Key from the quest Araj's Scarab in the Western Plaguelands or use blacksmith's skeleton key, or have a rogue lockpick the doors. As of the release of
Cataclysm, the doors to the dungeon are no longer locked.
With the release of Cataclysm, Scholomance went from a level 57-60 dungeon to a level 40-43 dungeon, with all loot and mobs adjusted accordingly. Currently, level 37 is required to enter the instance and level 38 is required to queue for the instance with the Random Dungeon Finder.
Dungeon Bosses in World of Warcraft
The "Multi-Boss Room"
In the last "room" of Scholomance, there are six separate rooms with six separate bosses. All of the bosses must be defeated in order to summon the dungeon's end boss, Darkmaster Gandling
- The Ravenian - a level 43 elite wight
- Instructor Malicia - a level 43 elite high-elf
- Lady Illucia Barov - a level 43 elite ghost - may mind control one of the group members
- Lord Alexei Barov - a level 43 elite death knight - has 2 elite guards and an AoE aura that damages group members
- Doctor Theolen Krastinov - a level 42 elite human
- Lorekeeper Polkelt - a level 43 elite zombie - the Unstable Corpses in this room explode when killed and can cause massive amounts of damage as they die.
Main Bosses
- Ras Frostwhisper - a level 43 elite Lich located in the Alchemy Lab of Scholomance; the only known Lich who does not have a phylactery to contain his soul
- Rattlegore - a level 43 elite bone golem located in the lower levels of Scholomance; before the release of Burning Crusade, he was considered one of the hardest and most resilient regular dungeon bosses due to poor damage mitigation and stamina capabilities for players
- Darkmaster Gandling - a level 43 elite human and the final boss in the dungeon; dropped the Tier 0 Dungeon Set helm for all classes prior to Cataclysm. Will randomly teleport group members into one of the rooms of the multi-boss room, where they must fight their way out past 2-3 non-elite mobs before being able to rejoin their group.
Optional Bosses
- Kirtonos The Herald - a level 43 elite undead that turns from a skeleton to a gargoyle; must be summoned with the Blood of Innocents item
- Vectus - a level 42 elite skeleton located in the Viewing Room of Scholomance, partnered with Marduk Blackpool
- Marduk Blackpool - a level 41 elite Scourge located with Vectus in the Viewing Room of Scholomance
- Death Knight Darkreaver - a level 62 elite Scourge that is summoned in Rattlegore's room, he is part of the questline for Paladins to obtain their epic Charger mount; this is no longer required after the release of The Burning Crusade expansion set. Unknown if this mob remains level 62 after the release of Cataclysm.
- Kormok - a level 60 elite ogre that must be summoned in Ras Frostwhisper's Alchemy Lab; he must be summoned to continue the questline for players to upgrade their Tier 0 to Tier 0.5. Note: This mob can still be summoned if the proper item is used. He will still be level 60 even though his drops will be appropriate to the level of the instance
- Blood Steward of Kirtonos - a level 43 elite succubus that dropped the Blood of Innocents prior to Cataclysm
- Jandice Barov - a level 43 elite human ghost located in the basement of Scholomance; killing her complete the quest "Krastinov's Bag of Horrors"
Seasonal Bosses
- Lord Blackwood - a level 60 elite skeleton that appeared during the Scourge invasion in WoW patch 1.11
Paladin and Warlock Mount Questlines
Before the release of Burning Crusade, Paladin class characters had to clear out the room where Rattlegore resides. Once this was done, the group would take on waves of enemies in order to fight Death Knight Darkreaver, a special boss that would allow the Paladin to gain his/her epic Charger mount.
Warlocks, in the meantime, would need an Alchemy Lab in order to continue their Dreadsteed mount quest lines. Scholomance housed one of the only two Alchemy Labs at the time (the other being located in Blackwing Lair raid instance inside the Upper Black Rock Spire dungeon).
These quests were still available after release of Burning Crusade (and are still available to this day) but are unnecessary as paladin and warlock mounts are trainable.
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