Related Quests:

• [22] Deathstalkers in Shadowfang (Nalpack, Sepulcher)
• [24] Tome of Power (Nalpack, Undercity)
• [25] Arugal must Die (Apothecary Zemah, Sepulcher)

Shadowfang Keep will be a step up in difficulty from the instances that you are previously used to. The key feature of the instance is the sharp gradient in the level of the monsters within it. Where they range from Level 18 to begin with, and get up to Level 27. This means that should a party want to gain decent experience from the instance, they will not want to be beyond Level 25, which at the same time make the final encounters challenging. That is,, iif you want experience, and not wade through rooms of grey mobs at level 30, you're going to need a few tips!

Getting All the Quests:
First, make sure you have all five quests listed.

Deathstalkers in Shadowfang:

A simple a quest which you can get inside the inn in Sepulcher. The Deathstalker is in the front courtyard and can be found within the firs 15 minutes of the instance. Even if your group consists of all level 18 players, this quest is still possible.

Tome of Power:

A more difficult quest that requires you to defeat a giant wolf within the Inner Sanctum. Get the quest from a wondering undead at the entrance of the Apothecorium in Undercity, you can't miss him.

Arugal Must Die:

The main quest of this instance, and a difficult one at that. Many groups have had no problems with the entire instance, and yet wiped when fighting this boss. We will, however, give a number of tips on how to defeat him.

Every quest featured can be shared, so you may not need to wait time getting them. However, as Shadowfang keep is located in the Silverpine, all the quest givers are basically on the way from Ogrimmar, and don't take much effort to visit at all.

Party Makeup:

While Shadowfang Keep can be done with any mix of parties, a few classes are especially useful. The vast majority of the instance contains Undead, which means Priests are able to use Chain Undead to automatically take one enemy out of battle. This, in addition with the high healing requires of this dungeon, makes a Priest ideal. Also, the final boss of the instance is a caster, and there's no better anti-caster as a Shaman.

Finally, the encounter does include a lot of units that are anti-caster in nature, such as Wailing Guardsmen who cast silence, or magic immune werewolves, so it's a good idea to have at least one or two classes that do not depend on spells to do their damage, namely the Warrior and Rogue.

To the Deathstalkers:

The Deathstalkers are within sight the moment you enter the instance, but unfortunately the way to them is blocked by a portcullis that simply will not open. Nope, the game is not bugged, you'll have to take a side route by going through the room to the right. The first monsters you fight will be mixture of low level (Level 19) worgs and whitescalps. These are all melee mobs, and standard pull techinique will work fine. However, at this point, you shouldn't need to pull. If you plan on defeating Arugal, the monsters here should be pushover.

Free the Deathstalker in the Jail to have him unlock the door to the courtyard.

Go up the staircase, and follow the passage till you see a door to the courtyard on the right. Again, this is locked. If you have a rogue, you can unlock the door and head straight to the courtyard, otherwise things are slightly longer. Go down the flight of stairs on the left to the jail house. Flick the lever to release a Deathstalker locked within the cell, in return, he will unlock the courtyard door.

The courtyard is filled with a lot of mobs, and pulling is definitely recommended. Have the party stand by the door, while one person leads packs of monsters inside the be slaughtered. Once half of courtyard is cleared, jump down the staircase on the right side, and talk to the Deathstalker. First quest complete!

Beware that the Werewolves here are capable of casting anti-magic shell on themselves, making them immune to all magic. Since AOE will not work, it's essential you don't accidentally aggro too many.

Through the Courtyard to the Battlements:

Use standard pulling techniques the clear the courtyard till you make your way to the stables. There will be 3-4 Nightmares stationed inside. Do not attack them till everything is cleared! The Nightmyres remain neutral until provoked. Once your ready, keep the mages back, and have a tank attack the stallions. These nightmyres are fast and quite deadly, and taunt is essential to keep them off your healer. The reward is well worth it, each Nightmyre has a chance of dropping a 10 slot bag.

Now there are two routes to get to the Battlements, either through the spiralling ramp outside, and via the basement of the tower. I recommend the tower, since there are two bosses inside that can drop good loot. Both are standard melee mobs, and can be killed with conventional techniques. Tank taunt, priest heals. Possible drops include a nice Cleaver, a nice mace, as well as a good robe. Just remember to kill each one after you've pulled all their adds.

Go up the staircase, turn left and you'll arrive at the battlements.

Fighting through the Battlements

The fight through the Battlements goes up in difficulty by a notch. The enemy worthy of note are the Wailing Guardmen, who produce the ability the silence all party members near them. Therefore, it is essential that when you fight them, pure spell casters are far away! There's nothing worse than having your healer silences when the warrior is about to die, or a mage uselessly running around with his staff! Shamans should empty as much mana first with totems and shocks before engagement while Druids should either stay back to heal, or shapeshift.

You'll meet a few sub bosses on the way, Commander Springvale, an Undead Paladin capable of Holy Shield for example. Each drops green loot, and are not especially difficult to defeat.

After going through a few towers, you'll finally reach the Inner Sanctum.

The Inner Sanctum:

The Inner Sanctum consists of a spiral staircase, followed by a few nasty encounters. The difficult here is that visibility is very low due to the twists and turns, and a person could conceivably aggravate every monster in a spiral staircase. This is where pulling becomes essential. Unless you've party is well versed with the instance, always send a person in front to scout and pull mobs down the staircase and lead the mobs to you. You'll fight Songs of Arugal (level 25), Shadowfang Ragetooth (Level 24) and Lupine Wolves capable of creating an illusion of themselves. These are all tough melee mobs that can overwhelm you.

Funrus is one big wolf.

Once you reach the top of the first set of spiralling staircase, you will step into the chamber of Fenrus the Devourer, a giant Level 25 Wolf. Treat him like a tough melee mobs, but make sure to lead him outside his chamber. You see, when he dies, 4 Voidwalkers spawn, and there's no way you want to be surrounded. The mage, or Warlock should conserve some mana for the AOE at the end.

In this room, there will be a bookshelf with a book highlighted. This is the Tome of Power, and complete your second quests.

Process through the room, up the staircase, and back across for more stairs. When you reach the top, you will fight Arugal's final bodyguard, the Wolfmaster. This is a tricky encounter! The Wolfmaster will firsts end in four elite wolves at you, which you must kill simultaneously. Aftrer which, he will charge in himself, and possibly resurrect a few wolves in the process. Remember, Wolves are elite, and it'll be to your advantage to immobilise one with Chain Undead. Other great spells here include Blizzard, Flamestrike, and the Shaman's Fire Nova Totem (Use the Taunting Totem to draw aggro first).

Destroying Arugal:

Arugal resides in the next chamber, and he won't be an easy kill. The archmage is listed as Level 27+, though he is much more difficult in actuality. Arugal's primary attack is a Shadow Bolt that deals over 300 damage, and when cornered, he is able to use 'Blink' to teleport around the room. You will notice that he's lair is set up with 3 different platforms, one in the corner where he stands, another on the right hand side, and the final platform being the one you used to enter the room. Arugal's favourite trick is to teleport about the three, forcing you to climb down up up flights of stairs to get to him.

Arugal's Protection Spell costs a lot of mana, and forcing him to recast this over and over is the best way to drain his mana supply.

Arugal has a huge mana pool, and conventional methods of mana drain do not really work. The one exception here is the Shaman's Purge, which purges Arugal's protection spell that he casts on himself. The AI is programmed in such a fashion that Arugal's will recast the spell each time it's dispelled, and with such spells costing near 1000 mana, it's not only a good way to destroy his mana pool, but also to slow down his casting.

The key to defeating Arugal is that the mage can only target a single person at the time. Make sure to keep that person healed! His shadowbolts can destroy even warriors at the blink  of an eye, and requires one dedicated healer healing constantly to counteract the damage. Provided your main stays level, Arugal will eventually run out of mana or life, he is after all, a clothes wearer!